AWE+ GAMES

I recently pulled out my SNES game collection from beneath my bed, and was thinking about how awe+ some of the games are (note: "are," not "were"). One in particular, The Lost Vikings, made me think about gameplay we still see today. I refer to The Lost Vikings as an action puzzle. It has elements of a platformer, but the gameplay elements such as giving special abilities to pass certain obstacles makes the levels more puzzling than skill-challenging.

If you're not familiar with The Lost Vikings, I'll explain the basics. You control three different viking characters. One can run, jump, and headbutt walls. Another can float with his shield, block enemies, and create a platform over his head. The last can fight enemies with a sword and arrows. The puzzle elements involve using each viking, one at a time, to get them all to the end of the level. They introduce warp zones, springs, gravity benders, and hundreds of other obstacles. The characters never gain any new abilities, but their specialties provide to be more useful with each new environment. The challenges are built up gradually, so you learn better ways to overcome obstacles as you proceed.

Another game that came to mind, although I do not own it, was King Arthur's World. This game involved leading troops across a 2D landscape while protecting King Arthur all the way to the exit. You would have to send out men with different specialties to build, fight, cast spells, etc. in order to make your way through buildings and enemies. The problem with this is that they all have a mind of their own, and you have a limited supply. The world never stops moving, so you have to solve puzzles while at the same time have good timing in giving commands.

So what the hell do these two games have to do with Portal? I also define Portal as an action puzzle. Portal requires a lot of thought, excellent timing, and has many of the same gameplay elements as these games, such as keeping limited functionality while introducing increasingly complex obstacles. Another thing Portal has in common with The Lost Vikings is the humor the developers included in the art and dialogue. I'm drawn to these games because they have challenging puzzles, and because they make me laugh, and I am always looking forward to playing the next level.

I didn't really have a direction for this rant, I simply wanted to point out similarities in games that were released 15 years apart, and are drastically different in terms of graphics. I love these games, and I hope to make an "action puzzle" as successful as they were.