A couple days ago, I was watching a couple twitch streamers
when I took notice of what music was being played. It was a collection of OCremix tracks
featuring reinterpreted music from titles such as Sonic, Megaman and Jet-set
Radio amongst other things which very quickly embedded classic melodies into my
head for the remainder of the day. While
this was going on, it got me thinking about how much music, licensed or otherwise,
I got into from the medium of video games which still holds a strong point of
influence to this day. Originally, I was
going to talk about it this week, but as a means to keep the subject of
architecture in context, I thought I would talk about a couple architectural
pieces from games during my childhood / early teenage years that I particular
find great. There may be some crossover with
level design, but the primary subject matter is that of architecture.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2:
Metropolis Zone
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| Sonic and Tails come up against a foe in the Metropolis Zone. Image from the Sonic wiki (http://sonic.wikia.com/) |
For many people, the Casino Night levels aesthetic or
Chemical Plants soundtrack will hold a special place in their heart. But for me, from an architectural point of
view the way Metropolis creates a feeling from its design of ‘overcoming the
odds’ and ‘getting through the machine’ is perfect for its placement within
Sonic 2. As a child I never owned a Sega
Megadrive, so playing Sonic 2 was always on a time limit having to leave the
communal gaming space or a friend’s house.
Usually, I’d end up getting to Oil Ocean and getting stuck on Act 2, but
every so often the moons would align and Metropolis Act 1 would appear to greet
me.
Its heavy industrial feeling and challenging enemies (for me
at the time) was quite appropriate as it tried to ‘keep me down’ and slow my
progress. The series of ups and downs
through pipes, screws and cogs diffused the idea of progress as I tried to
figure out whether I was taking the right path.
A particular moment I can remember is at Act 2, where the play needs to
make a series of drops at the right sections to continue moving forward a
little bit like the later bowser castles of Super Mario Bros.
Looking back at it now, there are a new set of little touches
that I feel make it great. The way in
which the levels physical ground is green makes me think of oxidised copper
that originally shone greatly against its backdrop. The feeling of the level feels like the
industrial machine keeping you from achieving a goal, which of course has seen
a number of iterations in social history with the working class being kept
moving along by the factories they work in.
I do mention this often but Metropolis the film (1927) has some
similarities that go beyond the naming.
Metropolis holds this place because of its way in which it defined
overcoming a challenge in my early childhood, but nowadays makes me think of my
interest in engineering. In particular
my view of ‘Function over Form’ and that defined engineering can create great
pieces of architecture that hold a unique form in their own way.
MediEvil 1: Entrance
Hall / The Time Device (City of Madness)
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| Clocks with a magical symbols bestow upon them. Image From the MediEvil Wiki (http://gallowmere.wikia.com/) |
The MediEvil series will always hold a special place for me
as a game that made my time while having a Playstation One. I never owned a Nintendo console (outside of
the Gameboy colour) so where Zelda or Banjo Kazooee are fond memories of
Nintendo 64 owners, MediEvil 1 and 2 occupies that spot. Anyway, onto the levels…
Zarok’s domain features 3 levels at the climax of the game
being ‘Entrance Hall’; Time Device’ and ‘Zaroks Lair’. All three come under the umbrella title ‘City
of Madness’ which one could draw a couple different conclusions from like the
madness of the population enslaved by Zarok, his tiresome work to rule the land
of Gallowmere or something in-between it all.
The ‘Entrance Hall’ has this rather typical magister / warlock tower
feel to it with its spiral staircases and large library rooms, but the ‘Time
Device’ contrasts this completely with industrial era mechanisms and multiple references
to time. The way in which runes (the
game’s keys) are linked in with the clock-face near the beginning of the level
is enjoyable to solve alongside the later time-based mechanics. While doing this, the industrial vibe of the
gears and railway system don’t feel out of place, but have their own ‘Nightmare
Before Christmas’ aesthetic that the game is somewhat influenced by.
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| Zarok's railway system and personal train in the shape of a skull. Image from the MediEvil wiki (http://gallowmere.wikia.com/) |
For example, the train it’s a steam engine in
the shape of a skull that clicks its bones as it moves along the track.
Like with the Sonic example, the industrial feeling of the
area has something special that has influenced my design preference of
engineering, but where MediEvil differs is through its application. The mythical setting gives a nice twist on
the industrial feel which shows we can play with the visuals but still keep the
concept of the function at hand.
Crash Bandicoot 2:
Sewer Tunnel levels (multiple versions)
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| Crash being welcome into the sewers. Image from Crash Bandicoot wiki (http://crashbandicoot.wikia.com/) |
After the first warp room of Crash 2, you’ll find yourself a
level that features a mixture of pipes, ducting, fans and wires that make up
the sewer tile set. The hollow sounds of
Crash moving, the metallic soundtrack (as in the material not genre) and the
aesthetics did much for these levels to remain my favourite in the game;
bringing together a nice mix of challenge and pace that I didn’t feel in other
tile sets. One particular item I feel
makes this possible are the circular doors that define each room, giving the
player a mild sense of interest for what could be on the other side.
As well as its industrial feel, the theme of it being a
sewer opens the level up to some nice additions. Much like MediEvil and its magical / mythical
touches; Crash 2 adds water with electric eels shocking the ground intermittently,
toxic waste in the style of rolling barrels and nitro boxes littered around to
give that impression of a sewer system being hazardous. The way in which I tried to avoid sewer water
for being bad was as much the obstacle of electrified eels as was the fact that
it was sewer water. That being said,
having an aversion to water maybe down to the infamous section of Chemical
Plant Act2 in Sonic 2 which saw many people panic at the rise of the water
level and subsequent frantic music.
Timesplitters:
Spaceport level (SP and MP)
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| Spaceways from a central atrium. Image from Timesplitters wiki (http://timesplitters.wikia.com/) |
Multiplayer shooters are nothing without its ability to
create a diverse range of levels that accommodate a varied mixture of game
modes and weapon types. Keeping with my
Playstation1 => 2 childhood, one such game that lived in my console at the time
was Timesplitters; a fast-paced fps with a great cast of interesting
characters, varied weapons and unique settings across a number of different
eras and potential timelines. To give an
example of this, Cyberden and Spaceways both depict a futuristic setting but go
for different interpretations of what that may incur. Cyberden goes for a more industrial,
dystopian feel while Spaceways goes for a cleaner, more technologically
advanced aesthetic that one may consider utopian.
If you’ve been reading through my influences, you may think
why I went for the cleaner Spaceways over the industrial Cyberden? I did consider this at first but on
reflection it’s probably as simple as Cyberden feeling like not much was going
on / a bit bland while Spaceways has a spectrum of colour injected into
it. Thinking about Spaceways a bit more,
I feel that’s down to the concept of Futurism and our perception of what the
future will look like with our ever expanded access to information and
technology. The way in designers
construct these ideas of the future are a fascinating piece of our cultural
history and for me, the way in which they use our modern times as a benchmark
for the future brings out some nice results.
For this example, at the time I had recently gone on my first holiday
outside of the UK to Gran Canarias (an isle of the west /north-west coast of
Africa) and experienced air travel for the first time. The process of the airport and its checks
though its layout and aesthetics felt similar to the way in which Spaceways
presented itself, be it with stronger contrasting colours. I’m not one for sci-fi really, but the
potential for what could be has always been a thing I enjoy.
Reading through these examples, to which I could probably
add quite a few more, you may notice a strong presence of industrial /
mechanical aesthetics creating an environment to interact with. Looking back at my foray through the world of
architecture (in particular my interests in Brutalism, Futurism and Deconstructionism)
it’s surprising to see how much of my interests have potentially come from the
medium of video games. Even nowadays
when I look at the games I play places that have interesting uses of
engineering stay with my memory the best.
The Black Citadel of the Charr in Guild Wars 2 is a mix of fire, metal
and harsh mechanical workings that feels special amongst the more traditional
settlements of the Human or Norn races to name such an example. Having time to look back at this has
surprised me as much as it’s made me smile and I know it’s going to be a
similar feeling when it comes to my upcoming retrospectives. I hope you found this interesting and possibly
find the little pieces of your history that may have influenced you more than
you know.
*Images from relevant wiki sites of games relating to this post for non-profit use as a means to discuss the subject matter*
