history of games where you absorb powers that change control schemes

[kisrael]

Played through the main story in Mario Odyssey. It's capture mechanic ("Remember kids! Keep on a hat lest you get possessed by Mario!") really delivered in one of the things I play video games for: engaging physics and alternate controls. Taking over a Tropical Wiggler to stretch around a bend (with subtle squeezebox sound effects) or using a Poki's beak to sproing up a wall are visceral delights.

 

It seems like a theme you see in a number of games - defeating an enemy and gaining its power - Kirby is one of the more obvious examples, and Mega Man was a pioneer, but it shows up in games like Zelda and some of the powerups in SMB3...

I'm wondering what other examples are, especially early ones... I guess if you really stretch the definition, any game with a vehicle counts. Or if you REALLY stretch, any powerup, going back to "Vanguard" or whatever. But I'm thinking more blatant examples, especially ones where there's an enemy that has a power and then you take on that power...

[Austin]

When it comes to stealing an ability or power-up from an enemy, my mind is drawing a blank pre-NES/SMS. Surely there are examples though. I am curious to see what people come up with.

[mbd30]

Arac/Spiderbot is a 1986 computer game where you capture enemies and use their abilities. At least it predates Mega Man.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arac_(video_game)

[StopDrop&Retro]

Yars' Revenge kind of has this sort of mechanic when you consider that you have to either touch the boss or eat a piece of the shield in order to charge your cannon.

 

Little Nemo on NES is another one where you take over enemies and get their abilities similar to Kirby.

 

Avenging Spirit on Gameboy is probably the best example you're looking for. You play as a disembodied spirit who's out for revenge and you can possess enemies throughout the levels.

 

In the PS2 era there were two games that also let you use supernatural powers to take control of enemies and use their abilities, Psi-Ops and Second Sight. They came out at roughly the same time to compete with one another over a similar gameplay concept. I miss this sort of rivalry you don't see that much in the industry anymore. The games are similar but I personally enjoyed Second Sight more than Psi-Ops because in Second Sight it felt like the game world was crafted more like a sandbox to freely explore those abilities and create your own solutions to obstacles whereas Psi-Ops was more like your typical run-of-the-mill 3rd person shooter with those abilities added onto it, some people liked it for that though.

[Flojomojo]

In Quest for the Rings for Odyssey 2, there's a physical board game token for Possession. When the Dungeon Master plays a Possession token, he or she can take your controller away and kill off you and your partner.

 

In Paradroid on the Commodore 64, robots taking over different robots with different abilities is the main feature of the game. I believe that this is the earliest, purist form of this gameplay mechanic.

 

 

Super Mario 64 has different suits with different abilities. Zelda 64 too. Not quite the same but MO builds on a lot of the old game's ideas.

 

In Space Station Silicon Valley by DMA Design for Nintendo 64, the concept is taken into 3D. This is the company that made Grand Theft Auto. In SSV it's all robot animals. Think of it as Grand Theft Robot Sheep.

 

 

Body Harvest by they same studio around the same time has similar open world gameplay in a monster invasion setting. More violent, less fun in my opinion.

 

Any racing game where you obtain the vehicles you defeat could be considered the same kind of "possession by force" mechanic, no?

 

I think it's a good concept for games. We will probably see more of it since Mario Odyssey was such a hit.

[Eltigro]

Just about anything Kirby.

 

Abe's Oddysee you possess some of the baddies and can then use them to kill other enemies or whatnot.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Eltigro

[kisrael]

Thanks for the thoughtful responses! I should have immediately thought of Space Station Silicon Valley!

 

(Also Paradroid except I was too young or didn't have instructions or something and had no idea what was going on or the graphics were too abstract - reading up now I wouldn't say it's quite the same mechanic, if the robots look and control the same but the difference between them is just numbers describing the laser and laser type and defense rating?)

I wonder if Flojomojo is right that we'll see more of this if Odyssey keeps going gangbusters.
I'd worry about games burning out on it, except by nature it's such a flexible mechanic - much more so than, say, the gravity gun that every game had there for a while. Actually it's a meta-mechanic, since just absorb an enemy with say a gravity gun and you've got a gravity gun.

In fact, like the Mario Party series, I'd say it can be a little bit of retro-gaming poking its way into modern settings: smaller game experiences focused on the joy of virtual physical control.

[kisrael]

Come to think of it, Wario had a lot of this, right? With the transformations?

 

Playing Odyssey I was thinking a lot about the concept of Wario as a parody of Mario, especially their shared love of gold coins...

[Cynicaster]

Gaiares on Genesis.