Hey, it’s me Dan and I’m an animator.
This is video game animation study, and we’re
looking at a slightly different topic this
time: parallax.
It’s not explicitly animation, but it’s
a visually moving aspect of games that I’d
argue greatly enhances the experience and
makes games seem a lot prettier, so let’s
take a little look at the Beauty of Parallax
in games!
So, what is parallax?
Parallax in games, called parallax scrolling,
is where the background moves at a slower
pace than the foreground, giving the illusion
of depth.
You might notice this if you're staring off
into the distance on a bus or train and you're
staring at the same hill for ages even though
you're moving at, like, 60mph.
It's the same in video games, and the speed
in which the background moves affects how
far away it seems.
A quick & vague history lesson then.
Actual background scrolling was a thing golden
age cartoons began doing, using large rigs
with layers of glass and a camera, particular
in scenes with sweeping panoramas.
Obviously not every cartoon did this, but
those that did looked just that bit more gorgeous.
Video games properly started dropping in parallax
scrolling around the third generation, but
it tended to use a lot of memory so was either
basic or limited, though it wasn't absent
completely and there were tricks around it.
Platform games in particular tended to use
flat static backgrounds, so when a game had
parallax scrolling, it looked bloody awesome,
like in Mega Man for example.
This is one layer of parallax, but some NES
games had two or more, like in Kirby's Adventure
and Bucky O'Hare.
Racing games also used parallax to signify
distant landscapes, notable when turning,
like in Mario Kart or Screamer 2.
Parallax became common from the 16-bit era
onwards, and it was fairly uncommon to see
a flat looking platform game.
Even top down adventure games used it in interesting
ways to signify a vast cliff edge or drop.
Some platform games in the 32 bit era still
used basic one or two layer scrolling backgrounds,
but as time and hardware have progressed so
have technical capabilities, making parallax
scrolling an almost natural aspect of many
2D games, practically a non-issue in 3D games,
and usually being omitted or restricted in
modern games as an aesthetic choice.
So, what does parallax do?
Well as mentioned before, it helps convey
a sense of depth, and using more layers of
parallax will push that perception of depth
further.
Why add visual depth to a game?
Depth helps convey a believable sense of space
for your character to explore, and this in
turn contributes to the immersiveness of gameplay,
and thus your enjoyment as a player and consumer.
That’s not to say that games without parallax
offer any less depth in terms of immersiveness
or your enjoyment as a player.
On the rare occasion, parallax can be handled
in… perhaps not the best way, and it can
be disorienting and distracting.
Okay, so let’s have a look at some examples
and study them.
Donut Plains, Labyrinth Zone and Norfair.
These all have one layer of parallax, which
is fine.
If you care a little more about immersiveness,
then these might come across as just big flat
walls some way back from the stage platform.
It’s simple, but creates a sense of space
which would otherwise be missing on a completely
flat looking screen.
Games like Kirby’s Adventure and Bucky O’Hare
on the N-E-S are some of the earlier examples
of platform games having relatively accomplished
parallax scrolling of two, three or even more
layers.
This is beginning to feel a lot more like
the background is further away, with each
layer seemingly an equal distance apart, almost
extruding the playable area back into the
game.
Green Hill is one of my favourite stages in
any game, and it’s because it has a believable
space.
There’s two layers of hills in the background,
a couple layers of clouds, but it’s the
lake that really lifts this believability.
It has this almost faux-3D effect that stretches
from the base of the nearest hill right up
close to the stage platform.
It helps that the water is animated, too.
Those waterfalls in the background match the
ones you walk over, making it easy to imagine
that what is right here is also far over there.
See, if we compare what Green Hill could look
like with a flat background to the much deeper
background, there’s a greater sense of space
that can be explored beyond what you actually
can, and this is missing when there’s only
one moving layer.
Okay, so how about vertical scrolling?
Shinobi 3 has this great section where you’re
falling down this canyon, and the sides seem
to stretch right back to the edges in the
distance, and it really feels like you’re
in this thin crevice in a mountain, with even
the moon slowly moving upwards right in the
distance.
This is the sort of effect I think would work
in places like Norfair, particularly down
the main shaft.
It’d add to that depiction of a cavernous
lava pit.
An early stage in Shinobi has a similar effect
when going up, as well.
In fact, Shinobi 3 manages parallax scrolling
really well, putting it to good use in boss
fights and other sections to let subtle storytelling
elements play out in the background, something
which wouldn’t feel the same were the background
flat.
A 
particular favourite example of mine is this
part in Symphony of the Night.
When you first enter, the background looks
a bit of a flat mess, but when you start walking
past it, man it just comes alive with depth,
quite literally when you see a creepy huge
eye staring at you from the distance.
Okay, so how could we project depth forwards
as well as backwards?
Muramasa Demon Blade, as well as having many
layers of parallax going back, also has a
few foreground elements which move faster
than the stage platform, appearing in front
of where you’re playing, giving the impression
of being closer.
Sonic games have been pretty good in extruding
the depth forwards as well as backwards, like
in Starlight Zone.
Donkey Kong Country has bananas in battle
arenas that seemed closer than in other stages.
You don’t necessarily always need something
literally closer to the screen, you can have
a few layers to make it seem like, say, the
ground is stretching right up to the screen,
like here in Wonderboy The Dragon’s Trap.
When we begin to look at all of this together,
what you have is a real set piece for immersiveness,
and throw in animated elements to these scrolling
layers, and wham, you’ve got a dynamic environment.
Now, are there examples of parallax being
handled either badly, weirdly or even just
lazily?
One thing that’s always disorientating is
when a background is static.
From a logical sense, it should mean that
the thing is infinitely far away that any
movement our end won’t result in any movement
of the background, like a night sky.
Sometimes it technically makes sense, like
in Death Egg Zone here, but it often results
in it looking a bit...strange.
Having a static back layer after many other
layers is fine, because it almost draws your
eye to the back and it’s a bit more believable.
But static on its own?
That’s confusing.
It doesn’t even have to be static in both
directions, sometimes it’ll look fine from
side to side, but it won’t scroll up and
down, and that can also have a bit of a disorientating
effect.
Okay, so, this one from Jim Power: The Lost
Dimension for the Super N-E-S is particularly
strange if you’re not sure what’s going
on.
So as we can see, the furthest background
layer is moving the fastest, with these middle
layers moving slowest.
That is literally the opposite of what we’ve
experienced so far, so what’s this about?
Instead of our imaginary box of layers with
a camera at the front, what’s happening
here is we actually have a cylinder, and we’re
looking at the closest edge as the main platform,
with the opposite side of the cylinder as
furthest layer of the background, and the
centre of the cylinder are the middle layers,
and the camera is rotating around the centre.
It’s a neat idea but is a difficult thing
to make sense of visually if you’re not
quite sure of the context.
A similar idea is used in the Metal Sonic
boss fight in Sonic Mania.
I do apologise for all the Sonic footage,
but honestly these guys seem to understand
it really well most of 
the time.
The 
fight against Volt Kraken tries this idea
a little, almost using the inverted vertical
scrolling, but it doesn’t quite work.
Also, I have no idea what’s going on with
these bushes in Aquatic Ruin Zone.
There are plenty of examples I didn’t cover,
like I can’t believe I didn’t mention
The Adventures of batman and robin or as if
I didn’t mention Super Castlevania 4.
There are so many lovely examples out there,
do feel free to comment your own for others
to seek out and enjoy, and I’ll just showcase
a few more nice examples of the Beauty of
Parallax.
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Loveyoubye
