STACK 132 October Issue

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070 OCTOBER 2015
This month Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band 4 head to the shelves at JB.
But where did it all begin?
A Guide To
The History Of Rhythm Games
That Is So Brief You’ll Probably Miss It.
It could be argued that the origins
of today’s rhythm games lay
in the toy that every kid in the
late ‘70s had on their Christmas
list – Simon. Developed by the
grandfather of video games, Ralph
Baer, the circular device had four
buttons that lit up in sequence.
Players were required to memorise
the sequences and hit the keys in
response.
However, it's PaRappa the
Rapper , originally released in 1996
in Japan, that provides the modern
link to the rhythm games
available at JB this month.
A rapping teacher delivers
the lyrics, and you as the
rapping dog must reply by
hitting the correct buttons in
time with the music.
Fast-forward a couple of
years to 1998 and the global
gaming hit that forced gamers to
jump around like idiots in arcades,
much to the bemusement of
onlookers. Yes, in Dance Dance
Revolution, players follow arrows
with their feet
and keep in step
to a techno beat.
A great way to shift
kilos and sear arrows
into your eyes for hours after
you’ve finished playing.
The creators of the Guitar
Hero franchise, Harmonix, began
its rhythm game journey with
button tappers Frequency
(2001) and Amplitude
(2003). 24 months
later, the developer
launched Guitar Hero
on PS2, introducing
the plastic instrument
to the world and turning
couch potato gamers into
shredding rock gods.
The Uncharted Franchise
Gears of War
When you think of a franchise like Gears of War
and Uncharted, it's hard to see the comparison
– until you look at the cover system. Whether
it’s simply ducking out of the way while bullets
whistle past your ears, or leaning behind a crate
to send some lead back the other way, this is
where the influence can be found. In Uncharted
2, Naughty Dog took the concept of cover
further by introducing an aerial variant. Now
players could swing from signposts or peek in
through second floor windows to squeeze off a
few rounds.
Prince of Persia:
The Sands of Time
The platforming sequences in Uncharted are
firm favourites with fans of the franchise.
Whether it’s climbing buildings in South
America, navigating ruins in the desert, or
scaling snow-covered mountains in Tibet,
negotiating these tricky passages of play are
an intrinsic part of the Uncharted series. Play
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and you’ll
see where many of these influences stem
from, including the logic and thought required
to solve puzzles and disarm traps.
Tomb Raider
If it was the Spielberg/Lucas collaboration
Raiders of the Lost Ark that put the wind into
Tomb Raider's sails, then without Lara Croft
there would be no Nathan Drake. Tomb Raider
was one of the first action-adventure franchises
filled with exciting platform stages and puzzle
solving. Clearly influenced by a concept that, by
the middle of the noughties, had turned stale,
Naughty Dog added the cinematic visuals and
driving narrative that has defined the Uncharted
titles and turned it into Sony’s premiere gaming
franchise.
Three Games That Influenced