Retro Video Game Level Design Quirks and Discussion Thread

[Anonymous No.3435443]

>-AIZ ends with the player falling down, into HCZ; which ends with the player being splashed up, into MGZ; which includes a climactic, ariel boss battle that ends with the player being lowered down, into CNZ; which ends with the player being shot out of a cannon, high up into the mountain tops of ICZ; which ends with the player burrowing a tunnel in the snow, falling down into LBZ; which ends with the player riding some falling launch debris and ultimately plummeting down, into MHZ; which ends with the player hitching a ride upwards, into the airship that is FBZ; which ends with the player bailing out, and down in the desert, SOZ; which ends with the player following a hidden passage leading deep down underground, into LRZ; which technically consists of the following zone, HPZ, which ends with the player falling down a shaft and then immediately entering a teleporter that beams them up, into the high heavens of the island, SSZ; which ends with the player racing up a rapidly deteriorating pillar and leaping aboard the ascending DEZ; which ends either with the player riding the Tornado back down to the surface -- or, if all chaos emeralds are unlocked, transforming into hyper form and continuing the pursuit up into outer space, DDZ; which ends with the player -- once again -- flying back down to land.

I think it's interesting that S3K handled level transitions in this "up, down, up, down, etc," kind of way. Compare that to pretty much any other platformer/racing game of the era, say Mario for instance -- where going from World 1-1 to World 1-2 is a relatively unremarkable event involving little more than the protagonist proceeding along a straight path from left to right and then onto an overworld map -- and it becomes clear how far ahead of its time Sonic 3 and Knuckles was in 1994.

What other games did something unusual or uncommon for their time? What are some examples of eccentric design from your favorite retro games? Also feel free to discuss retrogame design

[Anonymous No.3435473]

>>3435443
>Mario's stage transitions are unremarkable
There's a fucking day/night cycle to the level progression, fuck you.

Also, didn't you make this thread a week ago? While I think stage transitions are cool, nobody wanted to talk about it then.

[Anonymous No.3435489]

>>3435443
Cancerous fandoms always read some hidden meanings into everything. And there are always thousands of retards who will eat it up and like and share that shit.

It usually only applies to TV shows with their hordes of braindead fans on Tumblr, but Sonic is perhaps the only vidya that narrows their cancer level.

[Abidah Sevenleaf !AnVbXjgZco No.3435534]

>>3435473
I love seeing day/night transitions in games that aren't RPG's.

I mean, I like seeing them in RPG's too, but there it's kind of expected.

[Anonymous No.3435547]

>>3435473
In what Mario game or stages specifically? I was just referring to 1-3 and World in a broad sense in general.

>>3435534
S3&K does it between Marble Garden and Carnival Night. You actually see the sunset and everything. It's a shame the effect wasn't used anywhere else in the game.

[Anonymous No.3436061]

>>3435547
There's a hack called Sonic 3 Complete that adds another day/night transition by placing an altered version of Flying Battery after Carnival Night.

I've always loved how S3K told a cohesive story without using any words or cutscenes. It's all done through brief stage transitions.

[Anonymous No.3436113]

>>3435443
>Retro Video Game Level Design Quirks
you mean spikes and bottomless pits everywhere?