Pandemonium and 2.5D gaming.

[tmc]

Anyone remember Pandemonium on the PSX, i remember this game being critisised for being a 2D game wrapped in 3D clothing but i never saw it like that. I always thought it simply gave a 2D game a lot more perspective and scope.

I loved being able to see into the distance and see the level on the horizon before i reached it and the way the camera would sweep above you before you jumped down from some high levels.

I havn't played this game since i got stuck on the last level with that damn big ball all those years ago so i don't know how it would have aged but i miss it all the same.

Anyone got any other thoughts on the game or of 2.5D games in general. I guess the 2.5D 'genre' was short lived as full 3D took over but it was an exiting time for me that gave a taste of what was to come.

[tmc]

just remembered that street fighter ex 2 for PSX was another 2.5D game that was enjoyed (although many others didn't!) Just wanted to add that.

[PapaStu]

Don't forget the amazing Klonoa, Tomba! and Tomba! 2 for the PlayStation and Kirby and the Crystal Shards for the N64.

2.5D was often done right, too bad it wasn't done enough.

[Steven]

I love Pandemonium!

I have the Saturn version and think it's one of the best platformers you could play on the system. 22 levels of pure fun and wonder. EGM rated both Saturn and PSX versions very favorably.

[leicamaster]

Anyone remember Pandemonium on the PSX, i remember this game being critisised for being a 2D game wrapped in 3D clothing but i never saw it like that. I always thought it simply gave a 2D game a lot more perspective and scope.

I loved being able to see into the distance and see the level on the horizon before i reached it and the way the camera would sweep above you before you jumped down from some high levels.

I havn't played this game since i got stuck on the last level with that damn big ball all those years ago so i don't know how it would have aged but i miss it all the same.

Anyone got any other thoughts on the game or of 2.5D games in general. I guess the 2.5D 'genre' was short lived as full 3D took over but it was an exiting time for me that gave a taste of what was to come.


I have pandemonium and i love it!!! My friend gave me a bunch of n-gage games one of them includes pandemonium

[Sudo]

Pandemonium was great, I remember renting it ages ago when it first came out. Klonoa is still my favorite 2.5D game, though.

[Graham Mitchell]

If you guys have a PSP, you should check out Caslevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. It contains a 2.5D remake of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, as well as a translated PC-Engine version of the game, and a funky port of Symphony of the Night. The PSP update of that game is remarkable to look at. In the first level, when Aljiba is burning, you can look into the church and see the details of the pews, etc. Amazing stuff.

I always wished there were more games like this. I really noticed its potential when I played Ecco the Dolphin on the Dreamcast. There are two levels where it uses the same graphics engine but the camera is pulled away, and everything is arranged as a sidescroller. It's done in tribute to the Genesis games. The end result is FANTASTIC! I dare say the 2-D levels in that game look better than the rest of it, and I always wished they just made the whole thing like that. The gameplay was so much simpler as a sidescroller, anyway. Putting it in 3-D made every level take 3 hours, and it was frustrating. Plus, when the camera has some distance between you and the onscreen objects like that, it heightens the realism. Ecco the Dolphin on the DC, for example, looks like a clay model come to life when it's running in 2.5-D.

[leicamaster]

Pandemonium was great, I remember renting it ages ago when it first came out. Klonoa is still my favorite 2.5D game, though.

Klanoa is AWESOME!!!!

[retroman]

i liked the game also, hell i even went as far as getting the NGAGE version when it came out. It was even ok for the Gage.

[E Nice]

I really liked Pandemonium's 2.5D style. It was 2D but the path was 3D, sorta like how when Nights is flying it's 2D but the path is 3D. I wish that style was used more. It could be used creatively, such as Pandemonium's boss levels.

The only good parts of C:The Contra Adventure was that 2D weightless stage and the first level, which was 2.5D, but other than vague 3D path it was no Pandemonium in level design. The last level was also 2.5D but it was just straight 2D scrolling and bland and awful at that.

[Haoie]

This genre doesn't really exist nowadays, right?

Or at least, is exceedingly rare.

[j_factor]

No love for Skeleton Warriors? I really dug that game. That, and Wild 9.

There's also NiGHTS, but I don't really think of it as part of the whole 2.5D thing.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I own both Pandemoniums for PS1, they were fun platformers of that era that hold up pretty well if you know what you're getting going in.

They also get points for Greg Proops (of "Whose Line Is It Anyway" fame) doing the voice-over work as the main male character.

http://www.comedycv.co.uk/gregproops/2003-january-greg-proops.jpg

[fishsandwich]

This genre doesn't really exist nowadays, right?

Or at least, is exceedingly rare.

You're right, not so much. However, a recent PLAY magazine gave a fairly favorable review for a 2.5D "Tarzan" game for the PS2

[mailman187666]

I love 2.5D games. Pandemonium was awesome. There is still quite a bit of a demand for 2D games in today's market, and 2.5D is essentially 2D with a rotating camera. More 2D and 2.5D games would be fantastic. Imagine if they made a New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the wii and gave it the similar look as Pandemonium? now that would be awesome.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Ultimate Ghosts & Goblins on PSP was 2.5 as well.

[SegaAges]

Does clockwork knight on saturn count?

Also, not counting the very few and far between 3d parts of it, NiGHTS

[Rob2600]

Don't forget the amazing Klonoa, Tomba! and Tomba! 2 for the PlayStation and Kirby and the Crystal Shards for the N64.

2.5D was often done right, too bad it wasn't done enough.

I remember some other 2.5D games, too:

Bug! (Sat)
Bug Too! (Sat)
Clockwork Knight (Sat)
Clockwork Knight 2 (Sat)
Crash Bandicoot (PS)
Disney's Tarzan (N64, PS)
Disney's Tarzan Untamed (GC, PS2)
Goemon's Great Adventure (N64)
Mischief Makers (N64)
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Pandemonium 2 (PS)
Paper Mario (N64)
Viewtiful Joe (GC, PS2)
Viewtiful Joe 2 (GC, PS2)
Wario World (GC)
Yoshi's Story (N64)

[Spartacus]

ChainDive is another 2.5D game. SCIE released it in 2003 for the PS2, but it never left Japan.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-r-49-en-70-2me.html

[tmc]

I dunno, do people really see New Super Mario Bros and Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins as 2.5D?

Maybe in the strict sense of the word it is but for my definition it needs to be more then a 2D game that happens to use 3D polygons instead of sprites, I think a true 2.5D game should have a camera that is not fixed on one plane and rotates and sweeps around the action whilst the the range of movement and play remains on one fixed plane. Does that make sense?

To me New SMB and Ultimate G&G's are simply 2d games with a new paint job. Hell even Wikipedia lists Outrun as a 2.5D game for using Psuedo 3D! Although these games might meet the definition of 2.5D they don't really match the spirit of 2.5D in the sameway pandemonium did.

What does anyone think? what are your own definitions?

[megasdkirby]

Pandemonium was pretty good. Yes, it was limited in many aspects, but it was in ono way a bad game. It was pretty solid. Recently I purchased part 2...need to play it though I will admit I remember basically NOTHING about the first part.