All side-scrolling games are basically the same... and that’s okay

With the recent announcement of Mega Man 11, I’ve been thinking about side scrolling games and how despite the simplicity of their design they have stood the test of time. How is it possible that the simple gameplay of moving in a 2D space from point A to point B could possible tell an engaging story let alone provide for hours of single player gameplay that have fans begging for more? Being a fan of Super Mario Bros. as a kid I decided to rekindle that childhood gaming fire of mine by downloading every side-scrolling Mega Man, Mario, Metroid and whatever else that I could find (onto my jail broken PSP of course), and see what people think is so great about them. The conclusion that I have come to is that these games are all pretty much the same. Timing your jumps right to make it across platforms, while also dodging enemies and whatever projectiles they throw at you, while occasionally taking a detour to try and snag a golden coin (or whatever collectible the game has to offer) that’s near impossible to get to, is the basic premise of these games. Even the mechanics of the boss fights didn’t differ much. Dodge a few attacks that usually come in a predictable pattern, hit the boss, rinse and repeat

All that being said, I still could not get enough of them. There is somewhat of an addicting quality to their gameplay. Platforms being placed in just the right places, enemies movement coordinated in just the right way to frustrate players. Playing a level over and over again, getting closer and closer each time to the end goal. Every time you die you think to yourself “Wow, I totally could have made that jump that time” so you keep trying and trying until you finally make it. While I never found myself fully engaged in any of the stories I can truly say that the creativity in a good side scroller does not come from its story, but from the complexity of its level design.

Single player games often struggle with good level design. Having only a few control options in a side scrolling game (usually move left, right, jump and shoot), developers have to be even more creative when creating levels and that is typically where these games shine. And even though gameplay was basically the same from game to game, having a laser sword while playing as Zero in Mega Man or being able to shoot aliens as Samus in Metroid added just enough variety for me to fell like I was playing something different. I can even say that I enjoyed the different art styles that each game had to offer. I even find myself watching speed running competitions where gamers compete to beat side-scrolling games, that would take normal people around a week, in just a couple of hours. It would seem that side-scrolling games aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and with the recent trend of hd remakes it’s only a matter of time we see our beloved side-scrollers redone in this fashion.