tepples wrote:
mikejmoffitt wrote:
what makes joust challenging and what makes Mario Bros (not?) challenging are two very different ideas.
More challenging, or just less familiar? Perhaps the big reason that you're more familiar with the control method in
Mario Bros. than that in
Joust and its clone
Balloon Fight is that so many more games released after
Mario Bros. have incorporated its control method, including most 2D
SMB series games.
No, I meant more challenging. That's why I wrote that. Joust predates Mario Bros, but I grew up playing both around the same time. Neither was any less familiar than the other.
In order to move left or right, the player must be mounted on a platform, a very vulnerable state, or must be flapping. In other words, in-air direction changes require the player to ascend at the same time; Balloon Fight borrows this mechanic and it's why Balloon Fight is Mediocre Joust With Stages. Different enemies with different AI occupy different regions of the screen, and the player has to be circumspect in response. In order to kill an enemy a player must collide with its lance higher than that of the buzzard, but upon killing an enemy the player is bounced up a bit, which could mean death from another buzzard above. On higher levels kills have to be somewhat planned and executed efficiently.
Mario Bros is a fun game, but it doesn't even begin to approach the level of finesse and detail that Joust requires to be good at.