Detailed Game Breakdown - MSE504 Research Paper 3

Alex Villescas

MSE504

Research Paper 3 - Detailed Game Breakdown

For this analysis, I chose to analyze the game Super Mario Odyssey, which was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2017. I’ve often referenced the game in my discussion posts for this class as an example of a game with fantastic feel, and that belief still holds true- Odyssey is the best-moving games I’ve played in a very long time, and certainly the among the best of 3d Mario games in that metric, as well. I want to break down each of the metrics provided by Steve Swink in his Game Feel book and analyze how Odyssey hits or doesn’t hit these elements.

Without further ado, I’m just going to jump straight into the individual metrics.

Input Metrics

Input as a metric discusses how much bearing the devices we use to play games has on their feel. It has three different levels.

1. Micro Level - the individual inputs that make up the device being used to create them. These inputs are measured by a lot of hard metrics, including their dimensions and types of movement, the tracking of position and force, and whether they directly or indirectly change things on the screen or not. They can also be measured by their sensitivity, which is a soft metric.

2. Macro Level - the input device as a whole, how the layout and construction imply certain uses. This can be measured by looking at the total amounts of inputs on the device, and the different ways they can be combined.

3. Tactile Level - how the materials and construction of the device affect the overall tactile feel- both the actual sense and the virtual one. This can be measured by the feel of each input, the overall device’s feeling. Both of these are soft metrics.

Micro Level

The Nintendo Switch is unique in the world of consoles in that it can be taken with you like a handheld system, but has all the full power and full control scheme offered to a true console. As such, the system has two modes: docked and undocked. When docked, the JoyCon controllers are detached from the main system’s body. They can be held individually, or attached to a controller base to form a single, cohesive controller reminiscent of other console control schemes. When undocked, the main body of the system is removed, and the player plays on a small screen- the JoyCons can be detached or attached in this mode. The system has 27 potential input methods in total.

This diagram displays the individual inputs that players can do while controlling Mario and Cappy. (There are many actions associated with capture, but I just am discussing the basic control of Mario for this paper- talking about the potentially hundreds of capture actions is a bit beyond the purview of this work.)

What you can instantly note is that despite the plethora of buttons one could potentially press, only a few are actually associated with playing the game and moving Mario around.

Of these buttons, most of them are binary- either they are pressed or not pressed. The only exception, of course, are the sticks- the left one controlling Mario, and the right one controlling the camera. These sticks are sensitive, and can detect a varying amount of input based on how hard and far they’re being pushed. Unlike other Nintendo controllers, they do not have grooves at the extreme outer ranges, but are a circle all around, providing a consistent point of stopping all around.

The overall sensitivity of the button presses and the snappiness to which the related actions are performed with aid in the game’s good feeling. I’ve never felt like the controls were in my way or that I failed an action due to the individual inputs being wrong - on the button side of things.

Motion control is something entirely different from button pressing, but still an important part of the micro level. Motion actions are gesture-based, meaning that a player must perform a certain gesture rather than simply waggling the controller around.

While the actual controllers will be discussed in a different section, I did feel like the motion control was easier to handle when I played with a controller grip, and I could perform certain hat toss actions (of where there are a few distinct ones) easier with that than with two detached JoyCons. Using the motion controls with the console in hand itself is all but impossible, but I feel the overall negative effect it has on the feel is negligible- the option to detach is always there.

Macro Inputs

The strength of Super Mario Odyssey lies in the macro input. The controller has 27 possible input methods, counting the touch screen and the motion controls. Yet, as the controls diagram posted above shows, it hardly makes use of anywhere near all those buttons. In fact, multiple of them are duplicate controls!

While it’s a soft metric and not easy to define, having fewer controls is what helps Odyssey. Oftentimes, players can get bogged down in having to remember multiple combos to perform powerful actions (largely in the fighting game genre.) In Odyssey, even the most important actions are simply combinations of simpler ones. The player is given the basic individual inputs as mentioned in the first section, and then expected to combine them.

There are a few different techniques that are out there, such as cap jumping, that are only discoverable via experimentation- the game does not teach you them. Not only are players discovering new ways of macro inputs on their own, but it harkens back to one of those good-feeling player experiences mentioned at the beginning of the book: Development of Skill, only possible via well-executed macro inputs. The image above comes from the in-game action guide, which describes the different macro-level combinations of button presses to make Mario perform more than just the basic actions.

Tactile Level

Materials

The JoyCons are made of plastic- but the best way I can describe it is that it’s a very smooth plastic. The feel of the controllers is good, and the plastic is reminiscent of the 3DS or the GameBoy Advance SP, both of which have very compact designs and control schemes that feel good to hold for extended amounts of time.

The controller grip, when used, has a very similar feel, though the plastic is a little bit less porous.

When playing in undocked mode, the touch screen is of high quality- I would compare its material quality to that of a smartphone.

The materials definitely help improve the game’s feel, as it makes the controllers feel satisfying to hold no matter what type of play mode you’re using.

Weight

Individually, the Joycons are very light. They fit well in my hands, and are not fatiguing to hold for a long period of time. However, I feel that holding them individually (which is the advised control method for this game leads to an airy feeling, where they’re almost too light for their own good. Additionally, this decentralized method of control hinders the game’s feel in my eyes- it’s much harder to perform certain motion controlled actions.

The weight changes when a controller grip is used, which adds a substantial amount of weight (though it is still very light compared to other console controllers). It centralizes the controls, and makes the motion controls feel a bit smoother. This method of control is where the game feels best, as it allows access to motion controls and allows a traditional controller format.

When the JoyCons are attached to the Switch in undocked mode, the system is quite heavy compared to the other two methods. I’d say it’s a bit heavier than the average console controller, but not so heavy that it’s uncomfortable to hold for extended play. Notably, motion controls cannot be easily used in this form of play, and may as well not be present. The game’s feel does take a slight hit for this control method at times, occasionally leaving the player with the impression they’re missing out on a potential action. It is worth noting that motion controls are also not always necessary for most of the game, and are generally something a more advanced player would use. Many players may never feel that hit in overall feel.

Button Quality

The buttons are quick and responsive when pressed, most of the time. The single exception to this would be the input where the right stick is pushed in, which I felt

was not responsive and needed to push it multiple times for my actions to take effect. I generally feel little to no resistance to movement coming from the sticks, and the Mario controls specifically controls feel tight and well-designed. The Switch’s buttons overall feel more toylike than prior Nintendo home consoles - evoking feelings of the 3DS or the original DS.

The circle sticks are, in my opinion, of lower quality than similar fixtures on other consoles- they are thin and light, and trap dust very easily, which throws off their sensitivity at times. Using them to push down and “click” is rather difficult.

I don’t know where else to put this, seeing as Switch is unique in that it has motion control and not just buttons, but the motion controls are excellently designed for this game. The controls allowing the player to toss the hat are gesture-based, which not only is immersive, but is also highly responsive and avoids any feeling of “waggle” as is so often used to describe the Wii’s accelerometer-based controls. The feel is improved a lot by their presence and receptiveness.

The result of all of this is a general sense best described as simply freedom of movement, where I feel as if the controls are not hindering me from performing whatever action I want. It is overall good for the game’s feel.

Response

Response is best put as the game’s reaction to the input provided by the player- it has three general steps: coming in, being interpreted, and having some sort of effect in the game. When we talk about response, we’re looking at a few hard metrics, and a single soft metric.

Odyssey has two main avatars to control. Mario is the main one that is directly controlled by the player. There is also the camera, which usually follows along without needing to be controlled, but the player can take control of it at any time via the right circle stick. Cappy, Mario’s hat, serves as a third avatar, but only in co-op mode, and only when it is in flight and not on Mario’s head.

As a general rule, I am going to lean more towards discussing Mario as a player avatar in his human form. A large part of this game is involved in using Mario’s hat to “capture” enemies and more or less mind control them, and make use of their unique abilities. However, there are literally hundreds of potential capture actions that can be performed that are not parts of Mario’s move set all the time.

Mario is able to move in any direction horizontally via moving the left circle stick. When it is pushed only slightly, he moves at a walking pace. When pushed all the way, Mario breaks into a run. Notably, the response to Mario being pushed into running is that he gains inertia- when he is suddenly moved in a different direction, he skids to a stop, the vibration motors in the Joycons deliver a momentary rumble, and then he moves in the desired direction. As with other Mario games, basic jumping is at the core of Mario’s toolkit. The length of the jump is determined by how long the related button was held down for. The difference between a longer hold and a short press is minimal, however. While up in the air, Mario may shift to any direction he desires, and the jump’s course is redirected at a reduced distance. There are really only few ways for it to go, though- either “back,” “left,” or “right” in relation to the original intended jump direction.

Mario’s hat, Cappy, is something that I would consider to be several things- and is very nearly an avatar in and of itself. It serves as a boomerang projectile of sorts- it can be cast out and returned to Mario, and does damage to some enemies it can come into contact with. Notably, Cappy can capture enemies as a primary function, giving Mario control over their body. Cappy, when thrown, has a little bit of independent movement that can be guided via motion controls, being able to jerk left or right to strike additional enemies. It can even be thrown certain ways, depending on the motion controls used. The length of the throw for Cappy can be extended with additional time the button is pressed similar to jumping.

Odyssey’s controls feel wonderful, but not all of them are perfect. There are a few instances where the controls very nearly overlap (which is surprising, considering how many buttons the game chooses not to use.) The most glaring offender is the Ground Pound (ZL) and the Hat Dive (ZL+Y while in the air, while Cappy is thrown.) Another instance of this is the Backwards Somersault (ZL+B) and the Ground Pound Jump (ZL + B once you hit the ground.) The controls are very close to each other, and are conflated even further by the presence of the Long Jump, which is (ZL+B) while moving the control stick. From a look at Swink’s book, these control overlaps were also present in Mario 64, meaning that they are not unique to Odyssey, and potentially are present in many 3D mario games. It is of note that 3d Mario control sets tend to build upon one another, with Odyssey as the most recent evolution of the moveset.

Mario’s camera is usually indirectly controlled, as stated before. It follows Mario, tilting and moving to follow the path that the player is moving upon (most of the time, the camera also fixes and changes at irregular times based upon captured enemies or level functions). The camera usually can correct itself when faced at an improper angle, such as being faced down when Mario is climbing a hill. Despite all this, the camera is fully susceptible to player inputs and can be guided around via circle stick to be closer or further, and in 360 degrees. It alsocan be quickly re-centered on Mario at a good angle.

Overall, the responses to inputs with Odyssey are fantastic. Each button press feels as if it has a virtual weight to it, and the motion controls feel similarly consequential. The good feel is there when the player tosses Cappy out to circle around them in how quickly the game responds to that input.

As said before, Mario has a ridiculous amount of potential responses to the actions he performs in-game when in capture mode. I am trying to keep the paper relatively concise, and so I have chosen to gloss over them, but they contribute a great deal to the game’s feel. It is a reassuring and comforting feeling to know that your character isn’t going to handle in a comparatively worse way just because your inputs are now connected to a Goomba rather than Mario himself. There are notable differences in the way Mario moves and the way the game responds to the player’s inputs, but they do not hinder the feel of the game.

Context

Context as a metric is a term used to describe everything related to the effect simulated space has on a game’s feel. It’s hard to apply hard metrics to simulated space, because everything is often subject to player perceptions and subjective impressions.

At the highest level, the space of levels in Super Mario Odyssey has a very positive effect on the game’s feel. The levels in the game are truly massive. Despite this size, they’ve all been constructed very well, and the level designers did not cut corners in making it. Everything is placed where it is for a reason, and everything is the size it is for a reason. There are few accidents in the worlds here.

Swink uses his metrics to review Mario 64’s feel, and there is a quote regarding that game that I feel is applicable to Odyssey.

“Throughout the levels in Mario 64, these relationships are maintained. As you play, you quickly become accustomed to not only the predictable height of the various jumps at your disposal, but the fact that the environment seems tailor-made for the heights of these jumps. It becomes easy to walk around a level to see which ledges are basic jump height, which are Triple Jump or Back Somersault height, and which are too high to reach by jumping.” (Swink 269)

Odyssey feels designed in the very same way, which is no surprise, as it comes from many of the same developers. However, this game does not just recycle the mechanics and distances from 64, it expands them. Mario has an additional method of movement in Cappy that helps him quite literally reach new heights via cap jumps. Additionally, there are cap dives and dive jumps, which involve throwing and then diving after Mario’s cap to bounce on in midair, and then performing another dive immediately afterwards, moving a great distance horizontally.

The world’s distances, in concert with the incredible moveset, are designed to get the player thinking. I would often ask myself while playing, “can I cross this gap if I long jump, then toss my hat over and bounce off of it?” Because Odyssey learns the same lessons that every Mario title since 64 has learned, the game feels good in regards to high level context. There are always consistent relationships between the abilities of the player to perform actions, and the design of both vertical and horizontal spaces in the world. Also, the various capture actions expand the world’s design, and get the player thinking once more. I may not be able to cross a gap with Mario alone, but if I stack Goombas one by one until I have a stack of ten, and then run into the water, I’ll have enough space to reach where I want to, in concert with a hat jump. The game is chock-full of interplay between the construction of the world and the capture actions that can be made in each level- I especially like what can be done with the Wigglers in the swamp level, where a player can anchor them on a moving platform and then extend outwards, collecting coins out in midair that are too far for a hat toss, or for Mario to reach in conventional means.

Furthermore, the player perception of skill comes into play once again- my experience of the game’s feel consistently improved as I improved at handling Mario within this overall space and understood more about the distances he can travel.

The levels are very open, with little that would truly impede Mario from jumping and moving about freely, though they are far from flat. Mario enjoys a freedom of movement that is unsurpassed by any 3D game in the series yet, and handles incredibly well. As mentioned earlier, Mario gains inertia from running, but can stop on a dime, and the inertia “carries through” to the controller with a momentary, hardly perceptible rumble, feeling much like the jerk an actual person might feel if they suddenly came to a stop and shifted directions.

Mario does feel as if he has friction, and it does shift with the terrain he runs on, being very different on grass or rock than on ice. Additionally, the height and angle of terrain comes into play as well. If Mario is attempting to run up ice that ends up being angled too much, he will slide back down. If he attempts to roll down a hill, he will pick up speed for the duration of the incline down. Walking uphill is notably slower than going downhill. It’s all small, but these details really do add up and into the feel of the game.

Polish

Polish is a way to alter the player’s perception of the game world without actually affecting the game mechanically. It’s a way to give the player messages about certain things- such as the screen shaking when a boss performs a powerful attack, or the controllers rumbling. It doesn’t affect the play itself, but the player is able to understand the strength of the boss, for instance.

I can’t talk about polish without first talking about animations. Mario’s animations are perfectly fluid, and they time perfectly with whatever action the player is trying to accomplish in the game. Not once did I feel like an animation was out of sync with what i was doing, whether it was performing hat jumps and leaps or capturing a frog and performing leaps with it. One particular animation I enjoy is the series of animations that happen as Mario is building up to a combination of jumps (via jumping immediately after landing the last one). Two standard-sized jumps build into a longer, higher one, and that’s reflected in the unique second jumping animation and then the triumphant flip Mario does as he ascends into the third jump. It feels joyous, and that’s an emotion that resonates again and again throughout this game.

Visual effects are in place as well that accentuate the animations and overall feel of the game, as well, from the dust cloud that follows Mario when he’s at running speed to the sparkles that follow Cappy when thrown in certain ways. Not every effect conveys information like the dust cloud, though. Some, like the sparkles, make a player’s actions seem special, or simply manage to make the world pop visually. The ground pound, as discussed by Swink, has a wave of force going out from it that not only conveys the area of effect around it, but also the power of the move.

As far as sound effects go, I feel they are in the same boat as visual effects- conveying the level of impacts when Mario slams into a wall, or the “wa-hoo” given when he performs a long jump. A unique one to this game is the whistle of Mario’s cap- it has a standard whistle when thrown briefly. When the throw is longer, the whistle becomes higher-pitched and faster, signifying it won’t be out there much longer before it returns to Mario. Also, the whistle gets softer the further Mario is away from the cap. The sound effects work in concert with the animations and visual effects to convey messages about the world to the player. However, the sound effects are also not so vital that a player cannot play without them. When I’ve played Mario on the plane, I was able to listen to music without my play experience being impacted terribly.

A part of the polish that I feel is vastly important to the game, but goes nearly unnoticed, are the tactile rumbles of the controller. The JoyCons have rumble motors, and Odyssey puts them to use wonderfully. Actions that tend to be really “solid” such as Mario stopping and reversing course, or performing a hat leap, have a very subtle and momentary rumble. It adds nothing to the function of the game, but it does wonders for the game’s feel, lending the semblance of weight to specific actions. It’s a delightful way to “transfer” sensation from Mario’s digital world to the physical one, even if it is brief.

Metaphor

Metaphor is the metric of player expectations when compared to response, context, and polish. It’s a softer metric that varies by player.

As with other games, Mario is an Italian plumber on a quest to save Princess Peach from Bowser. This is not the first 3d Mario game, but it is the first 3D Mario game in a while to take the approach that it did. Odyssey is a collect-a-thon, a romp through a multitude of crazy worlds to collect coins and power moons and stomp bosses. The previous four entries into the series were Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 and Super Mario 3d Land/World. In the case of the Galaxy titles, players were able to expect any level of fantastical things, because the Mushroom Kingdom, the typical setting of the series, was left behind in the very first level. They could go on a cosmic journey with insane planets and ridiculous gravity and it would be acceptable, because the player could expect that. The latter two titles were set up in a more traditional way, harkening back to Super Mario Bros 3 where the player traversed the kingdom and went around via levels on a world map.

The reason I bring the past titles up is that when speaking about a franchise with as storied a history as Mario, player expectations are somewhat informed by the past titles in the series. Bringing the franchise back down to earth after Galaxy meant that player expectations of gravity-based puzzles and play was tamped down, for example. What’s also interesting in regards to metaphor is that players who have experience with past Mario games have a certain way they expect everything to behave, by now. 3D Mario titles share the same lifeblood, from 64 to Galaxy to Odyssey, and the responses are all intentionally kept the same, so that the player can feel as if they’re stepping back into the same world they left in the last title.

Odyssey does something interesting- it bucks the traditional trend of Mario games in the sheer variance in environments we see. Mario’s world is rendered in super high fidelity, but only some things are cartoonish- mainly from the Mushroom Kingdom. In contrast, the Metro Kingdom is modern, with skyscrapers and realistically-proportioned people. Mario, in some ways, is like a fish out of water here- yet somehow it manages to fit into the game world. Despite looking different, the play of the Metro Kingdom fits right into the game, and everything responds as a player would expect them to- even jumping on the heads of people or taxis! Despite having some more realistic-looking things, the cartoon rules of Mario’s world still apply there, and everywhere- including a kingdom of food ruled by spoons and forks. As far as player expectations go, these are certainly showcased well in the Moon Kingdom, where even gravity is changed to be be less than what it is back on the earth. The game still shifts towards an Iconic tilt graphically, on Swink’s triangle.

Rules

Rules are designed relationships between objects in the game, one specifically created by a designer. Super Mario Odyssey has many rules, and I’m going to highlight a few examples from the various types that there are.

Life, Coins, and Health: Mario has 3 chunks of life in his standard state, and most times damage is taken, it removes one of Mario’s chunks. Every damage source, from contacting with an enemy to jumping in lava, deals one damage to Mario. A player can gain one chunk of health when collecting a heart item or be boosted back up to three by touching a power moon. When Mario loses all three, they die, and loses 10 coins. Collecting coins only adds more to the player’s bank of potential deaths they could have, but does not produce an additional life like in other titles in the franchise.

Power Moons & Progression: As the player progresses through the game, take The Odyssey to each location- a ship that’s powered by the resource of Power Moons, which are the game’s main collectibles. Upon arrival at each level, the player generally must collect moons and also beat a boss for the purposes of the story. Players must gather a fair amount of moons to actually head to the next kingdom- and while the story might provide a fair chunk, it won’t give all that are needed for it.

Exploration & Freedom: A high level rule, players are encouraged to explore the levels, gathering what moons they want to get. The amount of moons they need for the aforementioned progression will never come just from what’s easily accessible or part of the main story of each level. They can try and go for all of the ones in a level, or just gather enough to keep moving forwards towards their next goal. Gathering all of the ones might reduce the moons needed in the next zone. If a player doesn’t like playing in the Beach Kingdom, they might be able to go back to the Sand Kingdom and gather more moons there so that they can move on to the next one. Since the game has 899 moons, there will always be ones to go and find if you’d rather play somewhere else, and you’re encouraged to check every nook and cranny to locate them all.

Capture Mechanics: Another higher level rule. Mario can’t get everywhere on his own, despite his expansive moveset. Sometimes, he’ll need to borrow some powers from an enemy. The game encourages players to make use of what tools are available to them- whether it’s expanding a wiggler to hit a power moon in midair, or possessing a stack of Goombas to romance a lady Goomba, or even smashing through rocks as a T-Rex. The game encourages this via having progression through levels only be achievable through capture, as well as having many moons hidden behind use of capture. It eventually gets the player thinking with capture as an essential part of their toolkit rather than a gameplay nuisance.

In conclusion, Super Mario Odyssey is a game that has an incredible feel. Nintendo, when designing this, managed to take many lessons from what worked in past 3D Mario titles and push them into a new, fresh direction. They keep parts that worked, as judging by Swink’s look at Mario 64, while also opening up new avenues with the capture mechanics and usage of Cappy for moves around all the kingdoms. The game functions well with the hardware and controller it’s played on, and the world itself is designed around the player’s moveset, with players gradually intended to gain more and more skill at recognizing and pushing the limits of what they’re capable of.

References:

Swink, S. (2009, October 25). Game Feel: A Game Designer's Guide to Virtual Sensation. Brulington, MA, USA: Elsevier.