| JWeinCom said: |
With all due respect, that article is wrong and giantbomb are not an authority on this.
The argument being made is that isometric is only a rendering technique instead of also a distinct style of gameplay, which is absurd. It's not just about perspective. That's like saying that Donkey Kong Country Returns is a 3D platformer because everything is rendered in 3D. It's not. It's still a 2D platformer. That game could be rendered in 4D, and it would still be a 2D platformer.
Super Mario 3D World is an isometric platformer because of its level design and because of the isometric limitations placed on Mario's movement. Changing the camera to be behind the back or freely controlable doesn't change that. All it does is make the game worse to play, in the same way that putting the camera behind Donkey Kong's in Returns would. Mario would still be on an 8-way grid, and the levels would still be built on what is essentially an 8-way tileset. Giving players free control of the camera only screws the player's frame of reference when it comes to movement.
Suggesting otherwise is silly and incorrect.
