Are there video games where you can run too fast or jump too high?

The Game Room
#1

I always seem to want to run faster and jump higher in platformer and adventure games. I was thinking back over some of my favorite games and I think every single one of them would be improved by some combination of one or both of these attributes. I’m wondering if there was ever an example of when the developers truly indulged their audience in this desire, and what the results were like.

Of course, if you’re going to run absurdly fast, it should be mapped to a button, like running in SMB 1 - 3 and SMW was, and if you’re going to jump absurdly high, it should be a double or triple-jump. But still, I see no reason they shouldn’t be options.

#2

If you pick up too many speed boots in some versions of Bomberman, you’d move so fast it would be hard to control where exactly to place the bombs

#3

In Oblivion and Morrowind you could super charge the stats that control how high you jump and how fast you run. Such super charging techniques are usually glitches though, so maybe they don’t count.

#4

Also, what does this mean?

In Super Mario 3 and World, at least being able to jump super high had a nice side benefit: Finding secret ledges and nooks and such. At least two of the three 3-Up Moons in SMW could only be found via very high jumping.

#5

Remember how in SMB, if you just pressed right-arrow you would walk, but if you pressed right-arrow + B you would run?

#6

So not a fan of Sonic, huh? :wink:

#7

B was jump, Y was run.

And yes I remember, somehow what you said in the OP made zero sense to me. I could not for the life of me figure out what the hell you meant. It’s all very clear now of course. Stupid me. :smack:

#8

Sonic always appealed to me, but I never owned a Sega.

That was SMW. There was no Y on the NES.

#9

I was talking about the SNES. But technically SMB was never released, that I know of, on an individual basis for the SNES.

Owned yet again in this thread. Maybe I’ll just shut up. :stuck_out_tongue:

#10

There was no Y button on the NES. In SMB, B was run; A was jump.

Edit: Maybe I should refresh next time.

#11

Let’s put it this way, in the Second Zone of Sonic II (Chemical Plant) it is entirely possible to go so fast the screen can’t keep up. In Sonic 3 Hydrocity Zone you can run on top of water (they actually brought this back in Rush, I think, and I know you can do it in Holoska in Unleashed). If you don’t know the levels the speed shoes upgrade can be suicide you go so fast (and in Sonic 1 Springyard Zone you can use it + a ramp to JUMP OVER THE LEVEL and finish it in under 16 seconds, that vid is 28 but I think the world record is 15).

#12

Is it fun?

If I ever played that, I would mute the tv and play Dragonforce in the background.

#13

It’s a blast cause sometimes there would be items a well timed fast moving jump would get, or traps to nail you as you ran.

#14

Sonic is really about momentum more than speed. Knowing when to slow down is also a skill speedrunners use. IIRC Metropolis Zone is pretty much instadeath if you try any hold right bullshit for half of it. The only real knock I have on the early Sonic games are the second Sandopolis level in 3&K (I always forget where to jump on the slides to get off) and the last boss of 2, which screamed “we ran out of ways to make this game harder”. So yes, it’s very fun, Chemical Plant and Springyard Zone are the only levels I really know of where stuff like that works so well, you can use it in other places, but it’s more about exploring and timing jumps (the game is really good at teasing you with platforms just out of reach for “next time.”

#15

Wasn’t there a Sonic anthology for Gamecube? I’ve got to find that for my Wii.

#16

There were a couple of them, but the original Sonic Mega Collection contains the bulk of his 2D adventures (with the only notable exception being Sonic CD), which can be found on its sequel Sonic Gems Collection.

#17

Which is better (and more important cheaper :p)?

#18

Yeah, Sonic Mega Collection (All the original Genesis games + 3D blast) and Sonic Gems Collection (Sonic CD, the Game Gear games, and the two Sonic titles we never speak of. It also has Vectorman!). I heard some of the music was changed in Mega (the best ones Ice Cap and Launch Base) though, but the internet says it was only on the PC collection, so I’m not sure, since I don’t have Mega and can’t check. If it was I’d recommend just getting an coughemulatorcough or the VC versions which I don’t think are altered, but I’ll defer to anyone who actually can check.

And yes, the music is that good that it would be worth it to pursue other avenues. Just check out the sheer massiveness of this article:

Not to mention it has one of the most popular internet radio stations and I’m pretty sure there’s an OC Remix group entirely dedicated to remixing the Ice Cap Zone Act I music ALONE.

#19

The original, Sonic Mega Collection, without question. Not sure about price, but it contains the vast majority of the “good” Sonic games.

#20

Well, good old Sonic games. The Advance/Rush series is still good and the Adventure Games aren’t exactly Satan’s Instrument either, but they’re a much different style so it’s more of a “good in their own right” than saying good Sonic games, a lot like comparing Mario 64 to Super Mario Bros 1. I won’t even touch Heroes and above because of the danger of those discussions…

Actually the Rush games (and Advance? Can’t recall) do have something from the OP (so does Unleashed), it actually has a “make me go faster” button tied to a gauge you fill up by doing tricks and destroying enemies. It’s still dangerous, and luckily the games follow the 2D Sonic formula well so you more often take a longer path if you fail rather than dying (well… until you get to Altitude Limit and above, those stages are HARD sometimes).