[Question] Unique game mechanics -- The best and the worst

OP's post over in the BioShock thread about original game mechanics got me thinking: How does the game industry manage to recycle the same mechanics over and over again with shinier packaging? The only answer I can quickly think of is that they do it by combining them or using some minor gimmick as a reason to get us to shoot more bad guys.

But ranting aside, I can distinctly recall some very unique game mechanics that I've never seen before. Persona 3 having something very close to a dating-sim game affecting your performance in the included RPG portion. Katamari Damashii's "roll shit up" mechanic. Those are ones that worked well, and help make the game great.

However, Final Fantasy 2's "You hit something, your strength goes up" mechanic was completely broken. Not only was the cause and effect occasionally bonkers, but you could even hit yourself to raise your stats!

My question to GFF is what are the best and the worst UNIQUE game mechanics you've seen? By UNIQUE, I mean it's confined either to one game or one series, with MAYBE an appearance in another game close to the original. Nothing like "Back in the day, FF had experience points!" That doesn't count, just because it was unique the first time doesnt mean it's still unique 50,000 applications later.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I've been thinking a lot about this game since Qwarky mentioned emulating it in his journal a little while back. Been trying to come up with a good av/sig set for it.

Umihara Kawase's fishing line (under the "best" category)

The game concept, attaching to surfaces with a hook and swinging around a level, is not unique. The grappling hook was a big part of getting around in Bionic Commando, for instance. But no game has gone about the concept the way that Umihara Kawase did.

Instead of having a rigid line attached to the hook, the main character throws an elastic fishing line around. So, you can hook the bottom of a ledge and swing up around the corner to the top; hook onto the floor, walk backwards, and slingshot yourself forward quickly; rappel down and scale up vertical walls; and do all sorts of other cool stuff with the physics engine, which is one of the best ever written. It works fluidly and perfectly; I've never encountered any choppiness or glitches while swinging around levels.

The game is very short, but that doesn't matter at all because it's so much fun just playing with that goddamn fishing line.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I agree, Umihara Kawase was something of a revelation for me. It, to me, seemed like one of the first succesful attempts at slightly more elaborated physics in platformers (apart from Knight Lore and Head Over Heels). The elasticity of the hook line had a wonderful consistency to it and allowed for a lot of depth and freedom in movement around the levels, which was awesome.

Just a note for anyone interested, the PS1 Umihara Kawase Shun is also great~

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The most unique game in the world is Gitaroo Man. The soundtrack varies and dips into every different music genre imaginable. The gameplay feels strange because it's nothing you've experienced before. It's something you can't walk into already half knowing what you're doing because there's no experience from anything else to rely on.

Using the analogue stick along with the buttons to perform proper songs is just weird. There is nothing that comes close. The game is 100% completely original, with it's own style and own personality. Another is Mr. Mosquito. Both for PS2.

The worst unique game would be wordimagesoundplay for the PS2. It was released in Japan, supposedly only with 5000 copies available. It's basically just a glorified equalizer that tries to act like a game just because it has interactivity. The game doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It's just "you press buttons, things happen". Unique? Yes, I'd say it's unique. But it's poorly executed (you knew that line was coming) and it only raises heads for how odd it is.

Games like 塊魂 are a given that they're unique, in fact, I think it's the first game which comes to my mind when I think of unique games. Same for the stuff that's bound to be mentioned, so I'll list them now: Zone of the Enders 2, Rez, Odama, Cosmic Smash, Vib Ribbon, Vib Ripple, Mojib Ribbon, Odin Sphere, and so on. Many people seem to prefer unique games over the rest, which is why they're so sought after.

Along with Gitaroo Man, I think Intelligent Qube and Kula World (Roll Away in US) deserve a mention. Kula World was originally designed after someone in Finland (or Norway, I forget which) had a dream that he was a ball. He was going around on a grid collecting fruit and items while being in mid-air. So, they made a game out of it.

It doesn't make much sense but oh well, whatever. It's a good game and very fun. Intelligent Qube is another puzzle game which brings uniqueness to a new level, with it's fantastic puzzles and PERRRRRRRRRRFECT soundtrack. They ended up releasing I.Q Remix+ for the PS2 and I.Q Final for the PS1. I actually hate puzzle games but oh god, Kula World and IQ are just incredible.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Elixir

Games like 塊魂 are a given that they're unique, in fact, I think it's the first game which comes to my mind when I think of unique games.

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you.

Most amazing jew boots

I first thought he was talking about the Mr. Mosquito (or Ka) games and had to look the kanji up.

Also, Kula World is from Sweden.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I don't think people know Mr. Mosquito even exists little less it being their first game which springs to mind when they're asked what they consider their favourite "unique game".

I didn't even know it existed until last year actually. Same with Mad Maestro.

FELIPE NO

But the topic isn't about your favorite unique games to begin with. Mo0 asked about strange, unusual, different and all around unique game mechanics, especially the most and least succesful executions of them.

And it still doesn't explain why you would type Katamari Damacy with kanji like a complete schmuck.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

For action games, I still view Bionic Commando as having among the most competent and unique game mechanics in the genre. Yes the game is old, but introduced a very competent gameplay mechanic which directly correlated with a fun gaming experience.

The mechanics stem around the lack of jump button and the addition of a grappling hook, which you can use to quickly move about from place to place. As much of the levels are sprawling landscapes, each featuring different heights of infrastructure and terrain, it made traversing through each stage very interesting and novel, which is something that has yet to be properly expounded upon in modern games.
For an action game, the ability to jump is almost a given so it was quite strange not to find that element when Bionic Commando was first introduced. However, once the grappling hook was mastered, it was ultimately very effective and added a different layer of depth to BC's gameplay.

Another game with honorable 'grappling mention' would of course be Super Metroid though it didn't quite figure into the gameplay to the extent of BC.

I admire that the new Contra game is going to put a grappling hook at the player's disposal. I can't wait to see how it fleshes out.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Interesting topic, but I can't help thinking that it's going to be very difficult to come up with many good, especially great, game mechanics that haven't been used in loads of games since they first appeared, or at least first gained recognition (for example, I don't know whether Halo was the first to limit you to only carrying two weapons, but certainly that mechanic has been adopted in many games since).

I could certainly name lots of game mechanics I liked and the first times they really caught my eye, but I can't think of any that would be considered unique these days.

I mean, one of the first games to impose a sense of consequence on proceedings, and a feeling of ownership over your characters that I remember was Cannon Fodder. If one of your guys died you could still complete the mission but that guy was dead. But they had names, they were your guys, and the death of one of them was permanent. I remember replaying levels to save my guys.

One of the very first games to suck me into this pastime was Zelda: A Link To The Past, which incorporated many game mechanics that have since appeared in many subsequent titles (the grappling hook that's already been mentioned above would be one), but it was the central concept of the dark and light world. Not only a neat concept that expanded the gaming world far beyond what you initially expected, but it was how those two worlds linked as well. This too has been used, or a version thereof, in a number of games since, not least of all Ocarina of Time.

More recently I've also enjoyed stuff like and increasing level of interaction, like Dead Rising's "weaponise the environment" attitude, though I'm some earlier attempt at the idea could be found. Also, it's an idea appearing in a number of up coming titles, Bourne Conspiracy and Splinter Cell: Conviction amongst them.

As I was trying to say in the BioShock thread, the point is that game mechanics will very rarely be 'original', but it's how a game takes ideas, concepts and mechanics and weaves them into an experience that matters. I can think of a lot of instances of very good use of certain game mechanics that are by no means unique or original, but that doesn't stop their execution being entertaining and involving.

You can give a whole bunch of people the same marble block to carve from, but not all of them will make you a David.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

The worst: Easily/no-contest/undoubtably the Resident Evil 3D controls...When you're NOT in a 1st/3rd person perspective. So you watch you character turn in place and press up to move. NO...Just, no...It's so fucking wrong, I don't how survival horror fans tolerate that shit. I played both RE 1 and Dino Crisis (and various kiosk demos) with it and it's easily the worst I've felt playing a game. It's unique because it seems limited to horror games...So I avoid those, I avoid those awful controls. Problem solved.

Best: Valkyrie Profile's combat system. Beautiful pyro and endless customization at the push of 4 buttons. This is something I wish more games would rip off because it's so damn fun.

Roman Cancels from Guilty Gear also get a mention...Once you get used to pressing the three buttons in the midst of a combo or attack string, it opens up a world of new potential. This is what makes GG far deeper than an average Capcom fighter, IMO. Also of note would be Burst, which can be really effective offensively and defensively. On a side note, instant kills would be a candidate for worst mechanics if they weren't so obviously for showing-off/messing around/killing newbs off. The ones in GG1 though...Awful shit, no matter how you slice it.

And I feel like I'm cheating with a novelty peripheral, but the Guitar Hero controller is really intuitive the more time you practice with it. A few weeks ago, I felt awkward moving to the orange fret (people going from medium to hard know what I mean) and I was really stiff moving around on it, but now I feel really comfortable with it and I don't even pay attention to what finger is hitting what fret or panick when I have to switch to a double-strum...It's really fun to play now that I've gotten so used to it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

The worst: Easily/no-contest/undoubtably the Resident Evil 3D controls...

That would be the game's controls, not the game's mechanic. I agree, the Resi Evil controls could be pants, and the whole concrete feet when using a weapon (something Dead Rising is shamefully guilty of) was, and is, rubbish. However, they're not game mechanics.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Worst: Tekken 5/5.1/DR's Crush System. Interesting concept, poor execution. It's simple folks. There are 3 sections to hit opponents. high, mid, and low. Mid attacks can NOT be blocked low. The Crush System was put in to make certain moves dodge/have priority on a high or low attack. For example:

Devil Jin goes for a Hellsweep (which hits low). Bruce goes for a hop kick at the same time. The crush system says that since Bruce is in the air, he will avoid the low kick and score a free launch by crushing the hell sweep. Also, low crushes hit mid because sometimes a character is concidered crouching while doing a low. So a high move would miss (which is a pretty good example of a high crush). The problem here is that this does not always work the way it's supposed to. We see it all the time. In casual AND tournament play. We can only pray that Namco will have better execution with this in Tekken 6...

I was speaking idiomatically.

This one is easy for me: Earthworm Jim series hands-down has the most unique gameplay mechanics because unlike Katamari Damacy for example, it doesn't rely on one unique mechanic but instead utilizes numerous unique gameplay mechanics.

One of the most unique and obvious examples is the Lorenzo's Soil level in EWJ2. You have to shoot the ceiling to make the floor rise up throughout the whole level. Auto-scrolling levels, eat your hearts out! And, when you cleared soil it could reveal things like enemy spawn points, or it could cover up enemy spawn points (enemies were ants in that level).

Or, how about the For Pete's Sake level in EWJ1 where you have to keep Pete the dog going, and whip him to make him jump over pits, and defend him from enemies? This was an "escort" mission before the phrase was even coined, but in no other escort scenario do you whip your co-horts with your head.

Or 5 seconds into EWJ1 where you launch a cow. What other game have you launched a cow in lately? I thought so...

There are endless examples in EWJ1 and EWJ2, and I haven't even played the 3d versions because they were so poorly reviewed.

EWJFTW!

P.S. - I'll also mention Tass Times in Tonetown. Sure, it was an average adventure game. But to survive, you had to "blend in" with the inhabitants of the alternate universe you were in. For example, you had to talk like them, dress like them, etc. It was Metal Gear Solid hide & seek action before there was such a thing. Sure beats Snake's cardboard box, eh?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

As far as the best and worst unique gameplay mechanics go, I have to give both titles to Trespasser. Not only was it the first (or at least, first to use it in a widespread way) use of physics in a game, it's also to date still the only game that uses physics-based animations. This means that physics was not restricted to ragdolls and static objects: virtually everything that moved in the game had physics applied to it, from the dinosaurs to your own arm and gun. If you ran straight into a wall, your gun would run into it and get pushed back, even causing you to drop it if it twisted too far. Enemies too could take advantage of this: if a raptor gets too close to you, it could push your gun to the side to keep you from shooting straight at it when it's right up against you. Enemies could also trip over objects in their environment, rather than simply moving up and down on an invisible plane when they have to "step" over something like virtually every other game does. It was truly a remarkable and still unique gameplay mechanic that made you rethink how to play the game.

The bad comes from the fact that the feature was horribly broken. It was amazing to see barrels smashing into dinosaurs and watching their body react smoothly to the hit as they recover, or having your gun ripped from your hands by a raptor as it plows into your arm, but it was extremely rare to see the system work like it was intended. Dinosaurs (even the T-rex) would get stuck on the TINIEST objects in the environment, it wasn't unusual to see a giant reptile literally have it's foot locked under a 6 inch rock unable to move, just sorta leaning forward like it's trying to get out from under the inescapable obsticle. Boxes never seemed to work properly: for as fancy as the movement controls for held objects were, they always seemed to have a mind of their own, refusing to properly stack or stay where you put them even though there's no practical reason they should move. And sometimes, the physics just seemed to completely bug out, either getting your hand pinched on an object and seeing it stretch across vast distances or finding doors that never wanted to open even when you pushed your hand against it. Sometimes it was almost as entertaining watching the game screw up as it was watching it work right.

So anyway, that's the most notable example I could think of at the moment. Definitely a case of a game being too far ahead of it's time (it was released on the same day as Half-life, back in 1998) and lacking the polish it needed. If a game like that could've been running on the Far Cry engine and had a animation-based physics engine that worked as well as the upcoming Euphoria looks to, it could've revolutionized the entire genre (and probably several others as well). As it stands, we had to wait an extra decade before someone figured out how to get the idea right.

FELIPE NO

I'd have to say the indie game Gish has one of the most unique gameplay mechanics I've ever seen. Basically, you play as this black blob of tar named Gish, and he has all the physics of a ball of tar. There are buttons you can press to make him sticky, slippery or rigid, and lots of puzzles in the game involve weight and tossing blocks around using this mechanic.

I can't really explain it, so just look at this video...

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I never really had any issues with Resident Evil controls. Complaining about them has to me always been akin to complaining RE4 doesn't have a strafe or that Super Metroid doesn't have dialogue in it. Now I can't defend the controls to someone who thought they were awful, but the game wouldn't have had the same impact without them. The autoaim removed most of the frustrations so that's that. The slow turning and such could be akin to the stuff you see in nightmares, where you never move fast enough, even if that wasn't the developer's intention. It works for me. You learned to adjust to the controls, like in every other game (you can't for instance try and say MGS3's controls weren't cumbersome) and the stop start of the combat has been a specific appeal of the series. Barring perhaps RE3, which required you to move around more.

The controls also didn't originate with Resident Evil (Alone in the Dark did them before it), nor were they limited to survival horror. Plenty of adventure games used them succesfully, not least Grim Fandango and Little Big Adventure.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

I never really had any issues with Resident Evil controls. Complaining about them has to me always been akin to complaining RE4 doesn't have a strafe or that Super Metroid doesn't have dialogue in it.

I don't know if that was also aimed at me, but I agree, there's no point complaining. The controls did the job adequately and were catered for within the game, and I love all of the Resi Evil games. However, I'd certainly be inclined to point at the control system as an area that could be improved, but not one detrimental to the overal enjoyment of the games. The concrete feet thing is slightly more annoying in Dead Rising because you need aiming most when facing the very agile human opponents, but again, it doesn't actually make the game less enjoyable to play.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well it was more aimed at goldfish, really.

But I wonder at the people who complain Resident Evil controls should be abandoned in favor of something else, what exactly would they suggest? Analogue control has been attempted, and with the static camera angles of Resident Evil and its ilk, has proved to be extremely disorienting most of the time. The camera angles seemed another thing people bitch about, not considering the limited perspective was the point of the horror atmosphere. If they opted for a third person angle, WITH standard action controls, you'd have a very generic action game with annoying puzzles and limited ammo. RE4 wouldn't have worked half as well if you'd been able to move and shoot and strafe at the same time.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

Well it was more aimed at goldfish, really.

But I wonder at the people who complain Resident Evil controls should be abandoned in favor of something else, what exactly would they suggest? Analogue control has been attempted, and with the static camera angles of Resident Evil and its ilk, has proved to be extremely disorienting most of the time. The camera angles seemed another thing people bitch about, not considering the limited perspective was the point of the horror atmosphere. If they opted for a third person angle, WITH standard action controls, you'd have a very generic action game with annoying puzzles and limited ammo. RE4 wouldn't have worked half as well if you'd been able to move and shoot and strafe at the same time.

I'd have had running with the left stick, aiming with the right, Smash TV style but then I really like Smash TV (Still play it to this day in fact) and I can't stand the Resident Evil games.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

More recently I've also enjoyed stuff like and increasing level of interaction, like Dead Rising's "weaponise the environment" attitude, though I'm some earlier attempt at the idea could be found. Also, it's an idea appearing in a number of up coming titles, Bourne Conspiracy and Splinter Cell: Conviction amongst them.

I can't remember the name of the game, but I remember downloading the demo way back when I was on 56K and playing against other people. In it you played as Norse warriors with big axes, shields, swords, and all that kind of stuff. What was unique about it? You could chop off bodyparts of other people. Not only that, but you could pick them up and use them as weapons. Not only that, but if you died you could pick up your head from a previous life and throw it at whoever killed you to piss them off (and do a bit of damage).

I was speaking idiomatically.

Seeing the little bit of it I'd say that Portal has some pretty unique gameplay mechanics. It's simple yet very engrossing and effective. You just throw portals around getting from point A to point B quickly. This opens up a lot of puzzles and some interesting experiences.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

I can't remember the name of the game, but I remember downloading the demo way back when I was on 56K and playing against other people. In it you played as Norse warriors with big axes, shields, swords, and all that kind of stuff. What was unique about it? You could chop off bodyparts of other people. Not only that, but you could pick them up and use them as weapons. Not only that, but if you died you could pick up your head from a previous life and throw it at whoever killed you to piss them off (and do a bit of damage).

Are you talkling about "Rune"? If so I recall playing that game into 2002 (2003 maybe) or so despite it being old at the time. That game had some truly fun multi player components, If only they made a sequel to that game. I do remember ripping people apart, I don't recall being able to use there body parts though (That could just be bad memory though). Still, It was a very fun game at the time when I played it.

On the topic of uniqe concepts, Half Life 2 always struck me as original in terms of re-energizing the FPS formula. I guess the Gravity Gun stuck out the most, Some of the environment puzzles were just so fun to complete - I guess now it's been played to death but I only picked it up in early 2006 so It seemed mostly new to me.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

I can't remember the name of the game, but I remember downloading the demo way back when I was on 56K and playing against other people. In it you played as Norse warriors with big axes, shields, swords, and all that kind of stuff. What was unique about it? You could chop off bodyparts of other people. Not only that, but you could pick them up and use them as weapons. Not only that, but if you died you could pick up your head from a previous life and throw it at whoever killed you to piss them off (and do a bit of damage).

That reminds me of an old PC game I saw from back during the dawn of 3D games, called Die By The Sword. Your guy's blade was actually controlled manually, rather than just hitting a button to make him swing. I think it was playable with either the number pad or a joystick, and you've direct the angle of the swing to chop people up. Kinda gimmicky, but neat.

Silhouette Mirage is based around fighting enemies with two different color attributes. Your character's facing determines which color you are; shooting opposite color enemies kills them, shooting the same color drains their weapon energy. In addition to having to constantly adjust your facing, the color scheme gets put to some fairly unique uses, like throwing blue color enemies into a stew pot to poison a red colored boss who drinks from it.

Treasure later reused the concept in Ikaruga, where your weapon and shield alternate between white and black (they look red and blue to me, but either or). Your shield totally blocks same color shots, which charges a homing laser, but you're often required to use opposite color shots to properly damage enemies, leaving you vulnerable. It's a great twist on what is normally an almost painfully formulaic genre.

I've also got this freeware game on my computer called Pogo Sticker that's a good example of bad quirky game mechanics. You've got this little guy with a rubber ball for legs. You adjust his tilt with the mouse, and click to increase the bounce of his next jump, and try to get him through a level without caving his skull in. While it sounds neat, the game is ultimately made of artificial difficulty; you spend too much time wrestling with the controls to make it into a game of skill.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?