View Full Version : looking for an earlier instance in game history.
girth305
09-18-2003, 01:24 PM
Hey all,
Well the hurricane is coming into NC and work is dead right now till we close early. My roomate and I were talking the other night and though she is not a gamer she tolerates me taking up the common area with videogame goodness. She asked me a question and I wanted to get some input.
What was the first game that involved competing\fighting against a mirror of yourself. The earliest example I thought of was super dodgeball on the nes when you fight the phantom team of yourself at the very end after beating the Russians. They have the same abilities as you do, but the computer may use them in a different way (or cheat horribly with them). I am sure there are earlier examples of this. Any ideas? Thoughts?
Take care all!
Anonymous
09-18-2003, 01:41 PM
Pong.
chadtower
09-18-2003, 03:24 PM
Yeah, pretty much most of the 2600 library and anything at all before that.
Arcade Antics
09-18-2003, 04:06 PM
What was the first game that involved competing\fighting against a mirror of yourself... Any ideas? Thoughts?
Yeah, pretty much most of the 2600 library and anything at all before that.
http://www.dustinland.com/birdy2/birdy133.jpg
Wha? Most of the 2600 library??
Anonymous
09-18-2003, 04:22 PM
Seriously though, I can't thinik of anything before Dodge ball. It's tough to say considering many pre-NES consoles reused sprites due to space limitations. You could say that many intellivision games have you fighting your 'shadow' for that reason.
Oh, how about Donkey Kong Jr. Math? the two player version has two donkey kong jrs fighting it out on the (math) battlefield.
The Unknown Gamer
09-18-2003, 05:31 PM
The first game to have this was one I would guess mostly everyone has never heard of, it was called TENNIS FUN. Built as the very first video game back in 1953.
Griking
09-18-2003, 08:09 PM
How about Combat?
Or almost every Odyssey 2 game
ubersaurus
09-18-2003, 10:54 PM
The first game to have this was one I would guess mostly everyone has never heard of, it was called TENNIS FUN. Built as the very first video game back in 1953.
Sure you aren't thinking of Tennis For Two, from 1958?
Anonymous
09-19-2003, 12:35 AM
Well I think those kind of miss the spirit of the question. Yes everyone uses Running Man in Intelly games, and Yes the Pong Paddles are Identical, but Dodge Ball actually has you fighting yourself. like an evil shadow. DK Jr. Math is the only earlier one I can think of that uses this device, and it's not quite a perfect fit, but it's closer than, say, the identical-except-in-color combat tanks.
Duncan
09-19-2003, 04:44 AM
Actually, DK Jr. Math doesn't count.
Look closely -- the second gorilla's got a little bow on her head. So she's definitely not the same, if ya know what I mean... ;)
Duncan :D
Anonymous
09-19-2003, 05:01 AM
It's um, a metaphor, yeah that's it! DK Jr. is fighting with his innermost desires, trying to subdue them to appease a hypermasculine father figure. It's elegant, really. :P
Duncan
09-19-2003, 05:13 AM
It's um, a metaphor, yeah that's it! DK Jr. is fighting with his innermost desires, trying to subdue them to appease a hypermasculine father figure. It's elegant, really. :P
LOL
Hilarious, thank you.
Duncan :D
girth305
09-19-2003, 08:58 AM
[quote="anotherfluke"]Well I think those kind of miss the spirit of the question...Dodge Ball actually has you fighting yourself. like an evil shadow.
Yes anotherfluke has nailed it right on the head. I thought about the older games where you have the same sprite, but those don't count. I really appreciate the input, I will have to check out the dk jr. stuff that everyone was talking about as well as the tennis one too. So any other games anyone can think of?
take care all!!
Arcade Antics
09-19-2003, 11:18 AM
So any other games anyone can think of?
take care all!!
Not earlier necessarily, but maybe around the same time: In Double Dragon II (arcade) your shadow actually leaps off of the floor in the final round and proceeds to kick your ass. In two player mode, both players' shadows attack. :)
chadtower
09-19-2003, 11:56 AM
What was the first game that involved competing\fighting against a mirror of yourself... Any ideas? Thoughts?
Yeah, pretty much most of the 2600 library and anything at all before that.
http://www.dustinland.com/birdy2/birdy133.jpg
Wha? Most of the 2600 library??
Yep... much of the 2600 library is based on the right half of the screen mirroring the left... and therefore you're fighting exactly a mirror of yourself.