2D Gaming

Eliminate the Z-Axis!

Article written by Zikron on 1/31/09
Last edited on 1/31/09

Alright, I'm going to sound like the old guy right now but I feel this must be said. 2D games are slowly starting to make a come back and I want to continue to see this growth continue. Games like LittleBigPlanet, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Alien Hominid, N+, Castle Crashers and Braid are showing developers and publishers alike that there is indeed a market for games lacking a Z-Axis. Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix shattered records for DLC. Hopefully this will not go unnoticed and more developers will consider 2D a viable option for their next project.

The 2D realm should be considered for almost every fighting game. Outside of Soul Calibur and Tekken I can't think of a single 3D fighter I would put in my top 10 list for fighting games. Street Fighter 4 will bring 3D Cel-Shaded models but fights will still take place on a 2D playing field.

Look what the 3D age has done to games like Sonic, Street Fighter, Golden Axe, Mortal Kombat, Worms and Earthworm Jim. The only series that is still thriving of those is Street Fighter and that was because Capcom was smart enough to realize not everything is better in 3D. Meanwhile the Sonic Team continues to kill Sonic by putting their 2D hero in a 3D world. I know Sonic is still fun, I played the 2D DS game that came out a few years ago. Then there is the sad story of Earthworm Jim, one of the best games of the 16 Bit era got a late birth into 3D that led to its death. Golden Axe got an even later birth and it appears that it too will go the way of Earthworm Jim.

I'm not saying every game needs to be made or remade in 2D. Fallout 3 got all sorts of shit for turning an overhead 2D RPG into a 3D FPS and it turned out to be one of the best games of 2008 an epic that will not soon be forgotten. All I'm saying is that developers need to understand going 2D is a viable option and may better serve their product.

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