Life (video games)
In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play.[1] Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over.[2] It is sometimes called a chance, a try, rest or a continue particularly in all-ages games, to avoid the morbid insinuation of losing one's "life".[3] Generally, if the player loses all their health, they lose a life. Losing all lives usually grants the player character "game over", forcing them to either restart or stop playing.
The number of lives a player is granted varies per game type. A finite number of lives became a common feature in
History
Lives may have originated from the pinball mechanic of having a limited number of balls. A finite number of lives (usually three) became a common feature in arcade games. The number of lives usually displayed on the screen (in arcade games, the character that is being played, is also counted as a "life"). Much like in pinball games, the player's goal was usually to score as many points as possible with their limited number of lives.[2][4] Taito's classic arcade video game Space Invaders (1978) is usually credited with introducing multiple lives to video games.[5] Lives were important in these games because the desire to avoid the finality of the player character's death compelled players to insert more quarters, making the maximum amount of profit.[6]
Later, refinements of health, defense and other
Usage
It is common in
Lives set up the situation where dying is not necessarily the end of the game, allowing the player to take risks they might not take otherwise, or experiment with different strategies to find one that works. Multiple lives also allow novice players a chance to learn a game's mechanics before the game is over. Another reason to implement lives is that the ability to earn extra lives provide an additional reward incentive for the player.[2]
Many older video games feature
In modern times, some
Extra lives
An extra life, also called a 1-up or an extend, is a video game
A number of games included an exploitable design flaw called a "1-up loop", in which it is possible to consistently acquire two or more 1-ups between a certain
There are also rare instances where a player may get as many lives as desired in a single life. One such case is possible in Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii. In this game's Supermassive Galaxy level, there is a small disc-shaped dirt planet upon which three Koopas (enlarged, as fits the theme of the level) walk. It is possible to jump and bounce on the shell of one of them, and, over the course of a few minutes of bouncing, cultivate the maximum number of 99 lives.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4303-1305-2. Retrieved 2014-12-10.
- ^ ISBN 978-1449633455. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
- Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 31.
- ^ ISBN 978-1584506072. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
- ISBN 978-1-908843-71-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1118877210. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
- ISBN 978-0132104753. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
- ISBN 978-0240809748. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
- ^ NES Cheats - Contra Wiki Guide - IGN, 7 March 2017, retrieved 2021-06-01
- ISBN 9781559584746. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
- Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 38.