Level Up.pdf

On Moving 257
Many games allow the player to maneuver during this recoil bounce to let
the player chain bounce attacks off of the heads of multiple enemies! Make
sure you award an escalating bonus for each additional bad guy bounced.
Make it a big moment for the player — they ’ ve just done something cool!
You don ’ t have to be a short Italian plumber to do jump attacks. Weapon ­
wielding tough guys can do these moves too. Just make sure you follow
these guidelines:
• Make sure the player ’ s maximum jump is taller than the tallest enemy
you can jump attack. Otherwise you ’ ll be colliding with the enemy ’ s head
or shoulders, which will look strange.
• When the player lands, apply the same rules as an attack impact: stop
the action for a beat by freezing the enemy or world ’ s action, generate
explosive effects, rumble the controller — anything to make the attack feel
more powerful.
• Even if the player misses, the strike could generate some radial effect; a
stun or knock back for nearby enemies, for example.
• Allow the player a quick recovery — they ’ ll want to get back into action
immediately.
• Then again, you could give the player a delay as part of the risk/reward
of perfoming the attack. For example, Mario firmly plants his butt into the
ground after a butt bounce. If he misses an enemy, he ’ s vulnerable for a
beat to getting hurt by an enemy.
If jumping is a little too frivolous for your big bad space marine or soldier,
you can have them vault over obstacles to add variety to battlefield
movement. Vaulting works well with cover systems (see below) and ducking.