Top 5 Games for Game Design Class

I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what makes the games I play good, so I'm a bit nervous about making this list. These aren't neccessarily my top five favorite games of all time; these are just the top five games that I could think of something interesting to say about.

Splatoon 3

I really like the movement in this game. You feel fast when moving in the ink (I notice the game has this dash line effect at the edge of the screen to make this feeling of speed).

I like the sound design. There's a lot of different weapons, but they all have a unique sound, so you can tell what they are. I also like how bullets from behind you will have a unique high-pitched sound, it really makes you feel like the shots are just barely missing your ear, it's intense.

I like how you can also climb up walls by inking them. It means there's lots of ways to move around.

I like the Roll and Surge, I'm not very good at using them yet but they provide a fun way to mix-up opponents.

I like how you can get advice in the lobby, and how sometimes the advice is accompanied by a short training session. Splatoon has a bunch of different weapons and subs and specials and mechanics, so I think this feature will do a good job at teaching. There's some obscure tips there, like the fact that throwing a suction bomb at an enemy splash wall will make the bomb explode instantly.

I like the co-operative mode Salmon Run. It's a nice break from competitive, but still challenging. The story mode has also been good so far.

Kirby's Epic Yarn

Beating this game isn't challenging at all. Kirby has infinite health; even if you fall down a pit, an angel will carry you to safe ground.
The challenge comes in the form of the beads. The beads are the coin analogues that you collect in a level. There are two measures for beads, the 4-digit number and string at the top of the screen that shows the beads you currently have, and a circular meter that shows your bead streak. The meter keeps looping back around and changing color from orange to red to pink the higher your streak is; but if you're hit once, it resets back to zero. In addition, getting hit and being carried back to safe ground causes you to drop a lot of beads. This challenge of collecting beads, combined with the interesting and varied level themes, is what makes this game fun to play.

Metroid Dread

Parry. Linearity. Boss fights increasing in difficulty as the upgrades get better, like infinite jumps lead to having to dodge huge attacks.

I love the parry system in this game. Other games have a parry system in which any attack can be parried as long as you press the button the exact moment the attack lands, and that has its own advantages, but it's really hard to do. In Metroid Dread, only certain attacks can be parried. These attacks are all indicated with a bright yellow spark. The parry timing is very forgiving, too. For many attacks, you can just press the button when you see the spark, and it will work. This easy parry system makes it very easy to look cool.

Of course, it doesn't take away from the intense difficulty of the fights. One thing that's very exhilarating is dodging a bunch of attacks, watching closely for that one attack that you can parry, and then striking! A lot of boss parries will reward you with a little cutscene that lets you get free shots in.

Maybe this is a bit obvious, but I like how the boss fights scale in difficulty with the player upgrading their abilities. When you unlock the ability to jump infinitely, the platforming becomes very easy; but the bosses have these big sweeping attacks that can only be dodged by a character with an infinite jump.

Kirby Mass Attack

A lot of touch screen platformer games are either auto runners, or ports of console games with the buttons mapped to specific areas of the screen. The former is fun, but the latter I always found hard to control, because you don't have the feedback of physical buttons. Auto runners solve this dilemma by taking some control away from the player. I always admired Kirby Mass Attack for being a touch screen platformer with great controls. It wouldn't really be possible to use these controls for a pre-existing series without taking away the series' identity (Mass Attack doesn't even keep Kirby's Copy Abilities!), but for a dedicated touch-screen platformer, it's great. The multiple kirbies run and hop to wherever your cursor is; jumping and attacking is done by flicking the kirbies, and you can fly short distances by gathering the kirbies around the cursor and drawing a line.

After describing the controls, I realize it's a little simplistic, but I think the levels are what keep things interesting for the game's runtime.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

Another really cool touch-screen game. You play as a surgeon and use the touch screen to cut with the scalpel, sew cuts back together, laser, et cetera. Each wound has a specific set of steps for dealing with it; a tumor needs to be drained, then cut out, then carried away with the forceps, and then the empty spot is bandaged. You are challenged on your speed and ability to micro-manage dealing with multiple wounds at a time; it gets tough! It's a game that makes excellent use of the touch screen to create a genre of its own.