Wherein I dissect old video games for no particular reason. This series is a blatant rip-off of Glass Knuckle’s “A Critical Look at Mega Man Stages” thread, which you should totally, totally read.
The premise of this series is to focus on how these games communicate to the player the rules of play through game design rather than overt instruction. If the list seems predominantly Nintendo-heavy, that’s because Nintendo used to be really good at it. If it seems predominantly retro in focus, that’s because hardly anyone bothers to design games this way anymore, leaning instead on mundane tutorials rather than effective stage construction and carefully considered game flow.
You can also buy an ever-growing number of these series as print books or PDFs:
- Castlevania Vol. I (In print at Amazon | PDF)
- Zelda Vol. I (PDF)
- Super Mario Vol. I (PDF)
- Metroid Vol. I & II (In print at Amazon | PDF)
- Mega Man Vol. I (PDF)
- The Anatomy of NES Classics (Coming soon)
Bionic Commando
- 1. OK, we’ll move
- 2. King of swing
- 3. Fumbling toward Section Three
- 4. Meet with enemies and descend
- 5. Born with a heart full of neutrality
- 6. Botany bane
- 7. A tower struck down
- 8. The wheat from the chaff
- 9. The back nine
- 10. The waste land
- 11. No more another castles
- 12. Loose ends
- 13. Top secret
- 14. Heil THIS
- 15. Bionic alternatives
Castlevania
- Part One: Simon Belmont
- Part Two: Stages 01-03
- Part Three: Stages 04-06
- Part Four: Stages 07-09
- Part Five: Stages 10-12
- Part Six: Stages 13-15
- Part Seven: Stages 16-18
- Part Eight: More on Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
- Part One: Basic Design
- Part Two: Interesting Mechanics
- Part Three: Towns
- Part Four: Mansions
- Part Five: NPCs
- Part Six: The World
- Part Seven: The Enemies
- Part Eight: Castlevania
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
- Part One: Beginning
- Part Two: Block 1-01 to 1-03
- Part Three: Block 2-01 to 2-06
- Part Four: Block 3-00 to 3-04
- — SYPHA ROUTE —
- Part Five: Block 4-0A to 4-0E
- Part Six: Block 5-0A to 5-0C
- Part Seven: Block 6-0A to 6-0C
- Part Seven: Block 7-0A to 7-0D
- — ALUCARD ROUTE —
- Part Eight: Block 4-01 to 4-03
- Part Nine: Block 5-01 to 5-06
- Part Ten: Block 5-07
- Part Eleven: The Gang’s All Here
- Part Twelve: Block 6-01 to 6-02 [Castle Route]
- Part Thirteen: Block 6-01 to 6-05 [Ruins Route]
- Part Fourteen: Block 7-01 to 7-07
- — CASTLEVANIA —
- Part Fifteen: Block 8-01 to 8-03
- Part Sixteen: Block 9-01 to 9-04
- Part Seventeen: Block A-01 to A-03
- Part Eighteen: Trilogy afterthoughts
Castlevania: The Game Boy Adventures
Castlevania: The 16-Bit Experience
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Chrono Trigger
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong 3
Donkey Kong ’94
Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest IV
Dragon Quest V
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
- Slave 4 U
- The continuing adventures of ??????
- Terra battle
- Moogle rush
- The didact
- The meretrix of Figaro
- M-m-m-m-magic
- Anatomy of a town
- Martial law
- Down the dolce vita
- Triple triad (part the first)
- Triple triad (part the second)
- Triple triad (part the third)
- Dive alert
- Kefkaesque
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XII
The Goonies & The Goonies II
- I. Good enuff?
- II. Do you boys like tongue?
- III. You smell like phys ed
- IV. But I’m not a Goonie
- V. Never say die
- VI. Pinchers of peril
- VII. Do you really think I’d kill myself?
- VIII. Rocky road
- IX. Truffle shuffle
- X. Farewell, Astoria
Kid Icarus
- I. Angel land story
- II. From hell’s heart
- III. Slippery slope
- IV. Up the long ladder
- V. And me without my thread
- VI. A new plane of existence
- VII. South side of the sky
- VIII. Gunners heaven
The Legend of Zelda
- Part I: The Overworld, Take One
- Part II: Eagle
- Part III: Moon
- Part IV: Manji/Snake
- Part V: ALL OF TREASURES
- Part VI: Lizard
- Part VII: Dragon
- Part VIII: Demon
- Part IX: The Overworld, Take Two
- Part X: Lion
- Part XI: Death Mountain
- Part XII: Overworld Enemies
- Part XIII: Underworld Enemies
- Part XIV: Second Quest
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
- Part I: Genre Shift
- Part II: Parapa
- Part III: Link’s (Dragon) Quest
- Part IV: Swamped
- Part V: Homecoming
- Part VI: Pixie Dust
- Part VII: Combat
- Part VIII: Pear-shaped
- Part IX: Gonna meikyuu sweat
- Part X: The seaward
- Part XI: One final nuisance
- Part XII: The Great Palace
- Part XIII: Into the Breach
- Part XIV: In Conclusion
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Mega Man
- I. Any which way but loose
- II. Any color you like
- III. Color my world
- IV. That means you have huge guts
- V. Cut to the chase
- VI. Current events
- VII. Slippery slope
- VIII. Heat wave
- IX. Bomb threat
- X. Wily ways
- XI. Sophomore slump
- XII. End game
Mega Man 2
- I. Remodeling
- II. Gunbound
- III. Rearmed
- IV. Bubble symphony
- V. Undefeatable
- VI. The quick and the dead
- VII. The rhythm of the Heat
- VIII. War of the woods
- IX. Igni ferroque
- X. In a flash
- XI. Crash clash crush
- XII. Draconic
- XIII. The descent
- XIV. So much larger than life
- XV. Passive threats
- XVI. Xenophobia
Metal Gear
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid (GB)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Metroid
- I. Welcome to Zebes
- II. Shafted
- III. Set up us the Bomb
- IV. Ugh, wrong way, slick
- V. Frozen assets
- VI. The six-billion dollar woman
- VII. Norfair’s secret
- VIII. The hard stuff
- IX. Eponymous
- X. Mother do you think she’s dangerous
- XI. Shafted again
- XII. Breaking badly
Metroid II: Return of Samus
- I. Is this gonna be a standup fight, sir…?
- II. Just another bug hunt
- III. Skipping the beta
- IV. Re-shafted
- V. The alpha and the omega
- VI. Killer queen
Super Metroid
- I. Moving pictures
- II. Silent running
- III. Somebody set up us…
- IV. Shafted anew
- V. I love Zebes in the springtime
- VI. Kraid on bungling bay
- VII. Speed run
- VIII. Free at last
- IX. Hidden depths
- X. The Phantoon menace
- XI. Water-logged
- XII. Enter the Draygon
- XIII. Mutual of Omaha’s “Maridia”
- XIV. En flambé
- XV. A dish best served cold
- XVI. Reprise
- XVII. Family reunion
- XVIII. Zebesinnia, Henry
- XIX. Secrets of Super Metroid
Metroid Fusion
- I. Disempowered but not disenfranchised
- II. First contact
- III. Missile command
- IV. Return of Return of Samus
- V. Fresh air
- VI. A little more rope
- VII. Save Serris
- VIII. Heat of the moment
- IX. Bad mister frosty
- X. Porno for PYR
- XI. Fresh hell
- XII. Twisted mettle
- XIII. Bad dreams
- XIV. Ahh, memories
- XV. Round two
- XVI. Old friends
- XVII. …and the Omega
Super Mario Bros.
- Intro: Super-sized
- World 1-1: Learning the ropes
- World 1-1: Further lessons from World 1-1
- World 1-1: The path not taken
- World 1-2: Whether underground
- World 1-3: Jump in
- World 1-4: Great bars of fire
- Gaiden III: The anatomy of bad games
- World 2-1: The other shoe
- World 2-2: Glub
- World 2-3 & 2-4: Twisted parallels
- World 3-1: Immortal, beloved
- World 3-2, 3-3, & 3-4: Turtles have short legs
- World 4-1: Is it cold in your little corner of the world?
- World 4-2: Double blind
- World 4-3: Shroomin’
- World 4-4: The battle of mid-way
- World 5-1 & 5-2: Bullet the blue sky
- World 5-3 & 5-4: Pleading the fifth
- World 6-1 & 6-2: Re-education camp
- World 6-3 & 6-4: Ashen victor
- World 7-1 & 7-2: Sweating bullets
- World 7-3 & 7-4: The in-fish-ity gauntlet
- World 8-1 & 8-2: Home to roost
- World 8-3: Please hammer don’t hurt ’em
- World 8-4: All good things
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels vs. Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA)
Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Land
Super Mario World
Super Mario Land 2
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Wario Land II
Super Mario 64
Wario Land III
Wario Land 4
New Super Mario Bros. (series)
Super Mario 3D World
Mother
EarthBound
Mother 3
Vagrant Story