2D Platformer Plan

Jim the Reaper

Follow the dark hero, Jim the Reaper, as he traverses the haunted labs in order to save the students' trapped souls from the tyranny of the computers! Only he is able to set them free by stepping on the not-so-precious evil lab equipment! But what horrifying tech waits him at the end?

This was my first pass:

And refined...

About:
I plan on having the enemies die by stepping on top of them. When they die, they drop a soul. There are also spikes that drop from the ceiling that inhibit the player, as well as the many gaps and enemies placed throughout the level. At the end, there is a "final boss fight" where you have to step on top of the computer twice in order to kill it. It's stationary and throws things at you. You should be able to reach it via the rotating platforms. How many souls can you collect?

Conflict:
The students' souls have been trapped inside the computers for all eternity!

Twist:
Jim is a reaper, but he saves souls, not take them.

Where is it?
In the haunted recesses of the labs! Think of a computer graveyard with blue backlight:

Time of day?

Nighttime!

What does the architecture look like?

Tombstones and gothic stuff. Oh and computer desks of ages past! Spoopy!

Who else lives here?:

COMPUTERS. EVIL. COMPUTERS.

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror Platformer Analysis!

Yo this game is rad.

(But on a serious note...)

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror is not only part of my childhood, but an amazing game itself. In my class for game design we were given the chance to analyze a 2D platformer game's first level, or the "tutorial level."

This is me playing the actual game. I apologize for the horrendous sound and the lagg! Fraps wasn't being nice to me:

This is the map I made in Illustrator:

About the layout:

- The level's layout itself first presents the player with the challenge of movement (i.e. Jumping). The clouds pile up to create the first obstacle that player must maneuver over.

- It then throws one enemy at a time towards the player, starting off with very few towards the beginning in the first "act," and then a lot more in the last "act" of the level.

-It introduces platforms and how they can assist the player in getting across areas.

-Once the player reaches the pillars, they're challenged with yellow-stared boxes. The player then finds out how to eat things such as these boxes, and what they can do once they've eaten something. Kirby is famous for his ability to eat enemies and use their abilities. The player can push the down key once they've eaten an enemy and learn what they can do.

-Upon reaching the end of an "act," a player must travel through a door that leads to the next part of the level.

-Switches are then introduced, and so is the mechanic of using your other NPC kirbys following you.

-The last "act" is the hardest part of the level. It provides many more opportunities for the player to engage with the enemies.

-Along the way, Players find food and other items to restore Kirby's health.

-Once they've reached the end, they grab a chest and enter the final door to complete the level.

The pacing is pretty quick. It's a short level. It starts easy but picks up in pace.

Not much is actually told to the player except for the controls. The player must figure things out on their own.

Before this level begins, the player sees Meta Knight fly away, starting up the story that Kirby must chase him down!