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What games popularized certain mechanics? (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 months ago by ApollosArrow@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

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I was trying to think of which games created certain mechanics that became popular and copied by future games in the industry.

The most famous one that comes to my mind is Assassin’s Creed, with the tower climbing for map information.

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[-] smeg@feddit.uk 33 points 4 months ago

Mario 64 definitely paved the way for most of the 3D platformers of the 21st century

[-] Summzashi@lemmy.one 16 points 4 months ago

I'd give that to Tomb Raider but both are exceptional.

[-] Katana314@lemmy.world 23 points 4 months ago

I don’t think it’s just “being 3D”. Mario 64 put a lot of R&D into particulars of how jumping should work, the camera should work, and what the player’s goals should be. Quite a few games unintentionally copied them, while you could see some games not following their lead early in the 3D days that felt very janky to play. Tomb Raider could arguably be among them with the tank controls, though of course it has its own more niche appeal.

[-] Grangle1@lemm.ee 8 points 4 months ago

Legend of Zelda OoT followed up with popularizing a targeting button (good ol' Z-targeting) to focus on one object or enemy in a 3D space and move around it or fight/otherwise interact with it. Such targeting has been a standard feature of 3D action-adventure games ever since.

[-] morphballganon@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

If you want to talk about "how do I get up there" in a 3d environment, Doom did it before TR.

[-] ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

It would be a real stretch to classify doom as a platformer.

[-] frezik@midwest.social 2 points 4 months ago

And it's a bad one if it applies at all. PC shooters of the time always kinda tried, but it didn't work. The original Half Life got dinged a few points in original reviews because of a few janky platforming sections.