'' A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a

game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics during the golden age of arcade games was a pivotal leap in game design, comparable to the move to

3D graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...

during the fifth generation.IGN Presents the History of SEGA: Coming Home
IGN Hardware support of smooth scrolling backgrounds is built into many

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

games and some game consoles and home computers, including

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data buses ...

consoles like the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

and

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

, and

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...

consoles such as the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eu ...

and

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

added multiple layers which can be scrolled independently for a parallax scrolling effect.

Use of side-scrolling

A common use of the side-scrolling format is in

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

s. ''

Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...

'' (1985) is considered to be among the most famous side-scroller game for this type. The side-scrolling format is also popular among

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) leve ...

s, such as the '' Battletoads'' series. Often in beat 'em ups, the screen will lock into place until the enemies on screen have been defeated. Another popular use of the side-scrolling format is in the shooter genre, such as in games like ''

Gradius is a series of shooter video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper. Games *''Scra ...

'' and ''

R-type is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful ...

''. In this game style, the player usually starts with a basic ship that flies from left to right, acquiring

Power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chose ...

s which allow them to face an ever-increasing horde of enemies. This genre traces its roots back to fast-paced games such as '' Defender''. With video games that use side-scrolling, often the screen will scroll forward or backward following the speed and direction of the player character. In other games or stages, the screen will follow the player character but only scroll forward, not backward, so once something has passed off the back of the screen, it can no longer be visited. Some games have stages in which the screen scrolls forward by itself at a steady pace, requiring the player to keep up in order to survive; this is generally referred to as ''auto-scrolling''. The screen in

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...

s, such as in

, often side-scrolls by itself in such a way. The ''

Mario is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

'' series has used all three of these different ways of side-scrolling. Typically, the screen of a side-scrolling video game follows the player character and tries to keep it near the center of the screen. Other games generally adjust the camera with the character's movement, making the character off-center in the opposite direction of its movement, showing more space in front of the character than behind. A game can use the side-scrolling mechanic without being considered a side-scrolling video game. One such game is

Awesomenauts ''Awesomenauts'' is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed by Dutch video game development company Ronimo Games. The game was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in May 2012, and for Microsoft Windows systems i ...

, where a side-scrolling mechanic is used, but since the objective is not simply met by scrolling to the side, it is not considered a side-scroller game.

History

Side-scrolling space/vehicle games (1977–1985)

Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

's ''Bomber'' was a side-scrolling

shooter video game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...

released for arcades in April 1977. Side-scrolling was later popularized by side-scrolling

shoot 'em ups Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...

in the early 1980's. '' Defender'', demonstrated by Williams Electronics in late 1980 and entering production in early 1981, allowed side-scrolling in both directions in a wrap-around game world, extending the boundaries of the game world, while also including a mini-map radar. ''

Scramble Scramble, Scrambled, or Scrambling may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Scramble'' (video game), a 1981 arcade game Music Albums * ''Scramble'' (album), an album by Atlanta-based band the Coathangers * ''Scrambles'' (album) ...

'', released by

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has ca ...

in early 1981, had continuous scrolling in a single direction and was the first side-scroller with multiple distinct levels.Game Genres: Shmups
Professor Jim Whitehead, January 29, 2007. Retrieved June 17, 2008. The first scrolling

was '' Jump Bug'', a platform-shooter released in 1981. Players control a bouncing car and navigated it to jump on various platforms like buildings, clouds and hills. While it primarily scrolls horizontally, one section includes coarse vertical scrolling.IGN: The Leif Ericson Awards
IGN

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. I ...

's first attempt at a side-scrolling platformer was the arcade game ''

Jungle King ''Alpinia purpurata'', commonly referred to as red ginger, also called ostrich plume and pink cone ginger, are native Malaysian plants with showy flowers on long brightly colored red bracts. They look like the bloom, but the true flower is the sma ...

'' (1982), later altered and renamed to ''Jungle Hunt'' due to legal controversy over similarities to

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

. The art of the side-scrolling format was then greatly enhanced by parallax scrolling, which is used to give an illusion of depth. The background images are presented in multiple layers that scroll at different rates, thus objects closer to the horizon scroll slower than objects closer to the viewer. Some parallax scrolling was used in ''Jump Bug''. It used a limited form of parallax scrolling with the main scene scrolling while the starry night sky is fixed and clouds move slowly, adding depth to the scenery. The following year,

Irem is a Japanese video game console developer and publisher, and formerly a developer and manufacturer of arcade games as well. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The full name of the company that uses the brand is Irem Softw ...

's ''

Moon Patrol is a 1982 arcade video game developed and released by Irem. It was licensed to Williams for distribution in North America. The player controls a moon buggy which can jump over and shoot obstacles on a horizontally scrolling landscape as well as ...

'' (1982) implemented a full form of parallax scrolling, with three separate background layers scrolling at different speeds, simulating the distance between them. ''Moon Patrol'' is often credited with popularizing parallax scrolling. ''Jungle Hunt'' also had parallax scrolling, and was released the same month as ''Moon Patrol'' in June 1982.

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

published two side-scrolling

racing games Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

for the

Atari VCS The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...

in 1982: the biplane-based ''

Barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in ...

'' and the top-view ''

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

''. By 1984, there were other racing games played from a side-scrolling view, including

Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

's '' Excitebike'' SNK's '' Jumping Cross''. and ''

Mystic Marathon ''Mystic Marathon'' is a horizontally scrolling arcade video game released by WMS Industries, Williams Electronics in 1984. The game presents a race between horned, shoe-wearing, fantasy creatures called "Benkins" on a course covering small isla ...

'' from Williams Electronics, a footrace between fantasy creatures. In 1985, Konami's side-scrolling shooter ''

'' gave the player greater control over the choice of weaponry, thus introducing another element of strategy. The game also introduced the need for the player to memorize levels in order to achieve any measure of success.Brian Ashcraft (2008), ''Arcade Mania! The Turbo-Charged World of Japan's Game Centers'', p. 76,

Kodansha International is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' and ...

''Gradius'', with its iconic protagonist, defined the side-scrolling

and spawned a series spanning several sequels.

Side-scrolling character action games (1984–1995)

In the mid-1980s, side-scrolling character

action games An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform g ...

(also called "side-scrolling action games" or side-scrolling "character-driven" games) emerged, combining elements from earlier side-view, single-screen character action games, such as single-screen

platformers A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charact ...

, with the side-scrolling of space/vehicle games, such as scrolling space

. These new side-scrolling character-driven action games featured large character sprites in colorful, side-scrolling environments, with the core gameplay consisting of fighting large groups of weaker enemies, using attacks/weapons such as punches, kicks, guns, swords,

ninjutsu , sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some tra ...

or magic. The most notable early example was

's '' Kung-Fu Master'' (1984), the first and most influential side-scrolling

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

action game. It adapted combat mechanics similar to single-screen

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...

Karate Champ ''Karate Champ'', known in Japan as , is a 1984 arcade fighting game developed by Technōs Japan (which would later developing 1995 Neo Geo titles ''Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer'' with SNK) and released by Data East. A variety of moves can be per ...

'' (1984) for a side-scrolling format, along with adapting elements from two Hong Kong martial arts films,

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines th ...

's ''

Game of Death ''The Game of Death'' (Chinese: 死亡的遊戲) is an incomplete Hong Kong martial arts film, filmed between August and October 1972, directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee, in his final film project. Lee died during the making ...

'' (1973) and

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

's ''

Wheels on Meals ''Wheels on Meals'' () is a 1984 Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film written and directed by Sammo Hung, with action choreographed by Jackie Chan. The film stars Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Lola Forner, Benny Urquidez and José ...

'' (1984), and had elements such as end-of-level boss battles as well as

health meter Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the f ...

s for the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

and bosses. The side-scrolling character action game format was popular from the mid-1980s to the 1990s. Popular examples included

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...

action games such as

's '' The Legend of Kage'' (1985) and Sega's ''

Shinobi A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 21� ...

'' (1987),

games such as

Technōs Japan was a Japanese video game developer, best known for the ''Double Dragon'' and ''Kunio-kun'' franchises (the latter including '' Renegade'', ''Super Dodge Ball'' and ''River City Ransom'') as well as ''Karate Champ'', '' The Combatribes'' and ''V ...

's ''

Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *''Command ...

'' (1986) and ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The origina ...

'' (1987), and run-and-gun shooters such as

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...

's '' Rolling Thunder'' (1986) and

Treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions le ...

's ''

Gunstar Heroes ''Gunstar Heroes'' is a run-and-gun shooter video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega. It was Treasure's debut game, originally released on the Sega Genesis in 1993. The game's premise is centered around a pair of characters, the ...

'' (1993). ''Legend of Kage'' notably had levels that extend in all directions, while maintained a side-view format. On home computers, such as the martial arts game ''

Karateka (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujia ...

'' (1984) successfully experimented with adding plot to its

action, and was also the first side-scroller to include

cutscenes A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...

. Character action games also include scrolling platformers like ''

'' (1985), ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers m ...

'' (1991) and ''

Bubsy ''Bubsy'' is a series of platforming video games created by Michael Berlyn and developed and published by Accolade. The games star an anthropomorphic bobcat named Bubsy, a character that takes inspiration from '' Super Mario Bros.'' and '' So ...

'' (1993). ''Super Mario Bros.'' in particular, released for the

(NES) console, had a significant impact on the game industry, establishing the conventions of the scrolling platform genre and helping to reinvigorate the North American home video game market (which had crashed in 1983). It combined the platform gameplay of ''

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

'' (1981) and ''

Mario Bros. is a 1983 arcade game developed and published for arcades by Nintendo. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures emerging from the ...

'' (1983) with side-scrolling elements from the racer ''Excitebike'' and the beat 'em up ''Kung-Fu Master'', and was more expansive than earlier side-scrollers, striking a balance between arcade-like action and longer play sessions suited for home systems.

Beat 'em ups

In 1984,

Hong Kong cinema The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of pol ...

-inspired '' Kung-Fu Master'' laid the foundations for side-scrolling

s, by simplifying the combat of ''Karate Champ'' and introducing numerous enemies along a side-scrolling playfield.Spencer, Spanner
The Tao of Beat-'em-ups
''Eurogamer'', Feb 6, 2008, Accessed Mar 18, 2009Kunkel, Bill; Worley, Joyce; Katz, Arnie, "The Furious Fists of Sega!", ''Computer Gaming World'', Oct 1988, pp. 48-49 In 1986,

's ''

Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun , released as ''Renegade'' in the West, is a beat 'em up video game developed by Technōs Japan and distributed by Taito for the arcades in 1986. In the original Japanese version ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun'', the game revolves around a high-scho ...

'' introduced street brawling to the genre. The Western adaptation ''Renegade'' (released the same year) added an underworld revenge plot that proved more popular with gamers than the principled combat sport of other games.Spencer, Spanner
The Tao of Beat-'em-ups (part 2)
''EuroGamer'', Feb 12, 2008, Accessed Mar 18, 2009 ''Renegade'' set the standard for future beat 'em up games as it introduced the ability to move both horizontally and vertically. In 1987, the release of ''

'' ushered in a "Golden Age" for the beat 'em up genre that lasted nearly 5 years. The game was designed as

Technos Japan Technos may refer to: * Technos (watches), a watch brand established 1900 in Switzerland * Technōs Japan, a defunct Japanese video game developer, 1981–1996 * Techno Twins The Techno Twins (later known simply as The Technos) were a British e ...

's spiritual successor to ''Renegade'', but it took the genre to new heights with its detailed set of martial arts attacks and its outstanding two-player cooperative gameplay.Cassidy, William
Hall of Fame: Double Dragon
, ''Gamespy'', Jan 5, 2003, Accessed, March 24, 2009 ''Double Dragon''s success largely resulted in a flood of beat 'em ups that came in the late 1980's, where acclaimed titles such as ''

Golden Axe is a series of side-scrolling beat 'em up arcade video games developed by Sega. The series takes place in a medieval fantasy world where several heroes have the task of recovering the legendary Golden Axe, the mainstay element of the series. ...

'' and ''

Final Fight ''Final Fight'' is a series of beat 'em up video games by Capcom, which began with the arcade release of ''Final Fight'' in 1989. Set in the fictional Metro City, the games focus on a group of heroic vigilantes who fights against the control and ...

'' (both 1989) distinguished themselves from the others. ''Final Fight'' was Capcom's intended sequel to ''

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

'' (provisionally titled ''Street Fighter '89''), but the company ultimately gave it a new title. Acclaimed as the best game in the genre,Navarro, Alex
Final Fight Review
, ''GameSpot'', May 10, 2007, Accessed Mar 21 2009 ''Final Fight'' spawned two sequels and was later ported to other systems.Kalata, Kurt

''Hardcore Gaming 101'', Accessed Feb 04, 2010 ''Golden Axe'' was acclaimed for its visceral

hack and slash Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such a ...

action and cooperative mode and was influential through its selection of multiple protagonists with distinct fighting styles.Kasavin, Greg
Golden Axe Review
, ''GameSpot'', Dec 1, 2006, Accessed Mar 19, 2009 It is considered one of the strongest beat 'em up titles for its fantasy elements, distinguishing it from the urban settings seen in other beat 'em ups.Cassidy, William

, ''GameSpy'', June 8, 2003. Retrieved March 24, 2009.

Scrolling platformers

In 1984, ''

Pac-Land is a 1984 side-scrolling arcade platform game developed and released by Namco. It was distributed in North America by Bally Midway, and in Europe by Atari Games. Controlling Pac-Man (character), Pac-Man, the player must make it to the end of eac ...

'' took the scrolling platformer a step further. It was not only a successful title, but it more closely resembled later scrolling platformers like ''

Wonder Boy The series, also known as the series, is a franchise of video games published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment (formerly Escape). Beginning with the original '' Wonder Boy'' arcade game released in April 21, 1986, the game has ...

'' and ''

'' It also has multi-layered parallax scrolling. The same year,

released ''

Flicky is a platform game developed by Sega and released in arcades in May 1984. It was licensed to Bally Midway for distribution in the United States. In ''Flicky'', the player controls the eponymous blue bird and must gather all the small birds call ...

'', a simple platformer with horizontally scrolling levels and first mascot character.

followed up ''Pac-Land'' with the fantasy-themed ''

Dragon Buster is a platform, action role-playing dungeon crawl game developed by Namco and released in 1984. It runs on Namco Pac-Land hardware, modified to support vertical scrolling. In Japan, the game was ported to the Family Computer (Famicom), ...

'' the following year. Nintendo's platform game ''

'', designed by

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he ...

and released for the

in 1985, became the archetype for many scrolling platformers to follow. It established many of the conventions of the side-scrolling platform genre, and struck a balance between arcade-like action and longer play sessions suited for home systems, helping to reinvigorate the North American home video game market. Compared to earlier platformers, ''Super Mario Bros.'' was more expansive, with the player having to "strategize while scrolling sideways" over long distances across colorful levels aboveground as well as underground. Its side-scrolling elements were influenced by two earlier side-scrollers that Miyamoto's team worked on, the racer ''Excitebike'' and the NES port of beat 'em up ''Kung-Fu Master''. It used the same game engine as ''Excitebike'', which allowed Mario to

accelerate In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnitude and direction). The orientation of an object's acceleration is given by t ...

from a walk to a run, rather than move at a constant speed like earlier platformers. ''Super Mario Bros.'' went on to sell over 40 million copies according to the 1999

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. Its success contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the 8-bit console generation.

attempted to emulate this success with their ''

Alex Kidd is a platform video game series developed by Sega, and starring the titular Alex Kidd. Games The franchise includes seven titles. * ''Alex Kidd in Miracle World'' - 1986, Master System * '' Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars'' - 1986, Arcade, 198 ...

'' series, as well as with the ''

'' series. The later ''Wonder Boy'' games were also notable for combining

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

and

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

elements with traditional platforming.

Run-and-gun shooters

In 1984, '' Hover Attack'' for the Sharp X1 was an early run & gun shooter that freely scrolled in all directions and allowed the player to shoot diagonally as well as straight ahead. 1985 saw the release of ''

Thexder is a run-and-gun platform game from Game Arts, originally released for the NEC PC-8801 in 1985. It was subsequently ported to many other systems, including the Famicom. Gameplay In ''Thexder'', the player controls a fighter robot that is ab ...

'', a breakthrough title for platform shooters. Run-and-gun shooters became popular during the mid-to-late 1980's, with titles such as

's ''

Green Beret The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF wh ...

'' (1985) and

's '' Rolling Thunder'' (1986). 1987's ''

Contra Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...

'' was acclaimed for its multi-directional aiming and two-player cooperative gameplay. However, by the early 1990's and with the popularity of 16-bit consoles, the scrolling shooter genre was overcrowded, with developers struggling to make their games stand out.

IBM PC

Side-scrolling was a well-known phenomenon in arcades, and various home computer and

console games A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...

of the 1980's, as they often possessed hardware optimized for the task like the

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness W ...

, but IBM compatible

PCs A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or techn ...

did not. Smooth scrolling on IBM PCs in software was a challenge for developers. There were a small number of PC ports of smooth scrolling arcade games in the early 1980's, including ''

'' and '' Defender''. The second version of '' Sopwith'', released in 1986, also featured smooth scrolling. In 1990

John Carmack John D. Carmack II (born August 20, 1970) is an American computer programmer and video game developer. He co-founded the video game company id Software and was the lead programmer of its 1990s games ''Commander Keen'', ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''Doo ...

, then working for

Softdisk Softdisk was a software and Internet company based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Founded in 1981, its original products were disk magazines (which they termed "magazettes", for "magazine on diskette"). It was affiliated and partly owned by paper mag ...

, developed a smooth scrolling technique known as

adaptive tile refresh Adaptive tile refresh is a computer graphics technique for side-scrolling video games. It was most famously used by id Software's John Carmack in games such as ''Commander Keen'' to compensate for the poor graphics performance of PCs in the early ...

. The technique was demonstrated in the proof-of-concept game ''Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement'', which was a clone of the first level of ''

Super Mario Bros. 3 ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990 and in Europe on ...

'', but with Mario replaced by the character Dangerous Dave of earlier Softdisk games. The success of the demonstration led Carmack and others at Softdisk to resign and form their own company,

id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...

. Id Software went on to develop ''

Commander Keen ''Commander Keen'' is a series of side-scrolling platform video games developed primarily by id Software. The series consists of six main episodes, a "lost" episode, and a final game; all but the final game were originally released for MS-DOS in ...

'' that same year, which was the first publicly available PC

to feature smoothly-scrolling graphics.

References

Sources

Steven L. Kent Steven L. Kent (born August 28, 1960), son of woodworker Ron Kent, is an American writer, known for both video game journalism and military science fiction novels. Career In 1993, Steven started work as a freelance journalist, writing monthly ...

(2001). ''

The Ultimate History of Video Games ''The Ultimate History of Video Games'' is a 2001 non-fiction book by Steven L. Kent. Published initially by Prima Publishing and then by Three Rivers Press, it is an updated version of the self-published ''The First Quarter: A 25-Year History o ...

''. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Side-Scrolling Video Game Video game gameplay Video game graphics

Use of side-scrolling

History

Side-scrolling space/vehicle games (1977–1985)

Side-scrolling character action games (1984–1995)

Beat 'em ups

Scrolling platformers

Run-and-gun shooters

IBM PC

See also

References

Sources