GamerNode: Columns - Are Simple Storylines Better?

Are Simple Storylines Better?

NB: These Plot Wholes columns are the ones that were due to go up in the time period the site was down. I hope you enjoy them, and I hope even more you'll make the effort not to scream at the sudden wave of articles.

The other week, I was sat on a podcast as a guest, and asked what game I felt had evolved the idea of narrative in games the most in the last few decades, as was Kyle Orland. My response? Super Mario Bros. His response? Space Invaders.

Why these left-field choices? Well, it's because they were so simple, and as a result they worked so well that you didn't really need to think about the storyline of the game so much as just play everything to death whilst dealing with a narrative that was present in everything you did.

Let me explain Super Mario Bros. as a choice a little bit more. In the game, you're an Italian plumber, in a kingdom filled by various fungi and small dinosaurs; already you're aware you have entered a highly fantastical universe, not to mention the potential of said universe to do other surreal things without it seeming out of place. What Miyamoto did was crucial: he presented us with a universe so surreal and odd that flying Goombas didn't seem as illogical as some of the physics you'd see in GTA IV, simply because you'd already seen the weirdest.

Mario was born not out of creativity, but out of necessity. He had a hat because it was easier to represent than actual hair. His gloves were to illustrate his hands more clearly, and his dungarees a simple mechanic that allowed his arms to move more obviously in terms of visuals. His trademark moustache was even only included because it was easier than animating a mouth.

If we take this into account, we can then approach the simple "save the princess" narrative vehicle he rides on with far less scepticism. The fact that he can only run to the right and never back to the left means there's nowhere to go but towards his eventual goal, which is probably one of the most masterfully executed linear game environments in the history of the industry. Take into account that every level has a castle, and every world has a princess, although false in most cases (a disguised enemy), his goal is clear; save the princess, by running from the left to the right, and not dying.

Even the antagonists are clear and easy to spot. Why? Because they move from right to left. They are the Other to Mario's Self. It's simplistic, but it works, and it means you don't have to establish a back-story using ten pages of dialogue, you just get everything good to walk right, and everything bad to walk left. Uncertainty comes in the form of red Koopa Troopas, who patrol the platforms endlessly, but we understand them as guards because they are different in colour: they wear uniform, almost a different rank to the common green ones who head endlessly left.

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