Text-Based
Represented a way of making big games with small resources, based all on text so allowed for larger possibilities. The take place on an imaginary space using words and the players imagination, meaning all you have to do is describe the landscape and the player does the rest. They do this by not patronising the player, but rather assuming the player has the ability to imagine these landscapes even with a small amount of description.
The games take place on a map, using description to let the player know the layout and locations. This means if the player is to type in "W" for West, the Western section of the map will be described to you.
Because of this use of text based adventure, the possibilities are opened up for more exciting and outlandish stories than others may be because of their graphical limitations.
You can look up TextAdventures.co.uk for examples of what people are doing with the genre.
Contained 2D Space
Pong and Space Invaders are some of the first examples of these 2D spaces. The use of the term "contained" means that you do not move off of a specific screen, with the action taking place in this one specific location. The edge of the screen is the edge of this area, limiting the player from what they can do. There is a lot you can do in these particular types of games, examples of such being Donkey Kong. These games are defined by the edges of the screen.
Wraparound Space
These are similar to the style of contained 2D space, but allow the player the ability to go off one end of the screen and appear on the other, meaning you can use strategy to avoid danger. Examples of this style would be Asteroids or Pacman. Asteroids is set in this wraparound style because of the infinite nature of space, meaning the player can move to any area, and this style helps allude to the nature of space itself.
Spaces That Scroll Along One Axis
Examples of these are Defender and Spy Hunter. These games allow for changes in scenery, where the player stays in a specific axis and the scenery moves around you. This gives for the illusion of a larger world in the game. These games can scroll upwards or side-ways, with players taking down a number of different enemies from a specific area.
Scrolling Along Two Axes
These games allow the player to move in all different directions, and are 2D top-down games. At the same time they are usually in a contained space still, but allow for greater freedom in the games (see Gauntlet).
Adjacent Spaces One Room at a Time
These games feature self contained rooms, moving from one to another to investigate the environment. A good example of this is Braid, with the player solving puzzles and defeating enemies before completing the room. Other examples of this would be Broken Sword or Metroid.
With this you can put your room on a map, creating a larger space with limited resources.
Scrolling with Multiple Background Layers
(Parallax Scrolling)
This relates to games such as Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, Seperation Anxiety etc. This gives the illusion of deep 3D space through multiple backgrounds, giving the illusion of space. It's a variation of scrolling along one axis, even though you can move up and down. It's the background that makes the style special.
Limited 3D Space: Perspective in the Scene
Before full 3D titles, they used perspective in 2D to create the illusion of 3D areas and depth, as well as speed. Collision detection on the sides of the map give a sense of going through a trench, or along a race track. Examples of this are Night Driver and Star Wars, popularised by arcade machines.
Isometric 3D Space
Zaxxon, Populous and Paper Boy. This space allows you to have something different from the standard top-down view, allowing for a bigger picture of the surrounding area. Sim City and Command and Conquer still use this style.
Window to the Outdoors
There are not a lot of examples of this particular style, although it's very similar to the contained space style of games. Examples of this are Duck Hunt and possibly House of The Dead, although in HotD you move through seperate spaces.
Two Spaces on One Screen
This is the advent of split-screen multiplayer gaming, popularised by Spy Vs Spy. This paved the way for classic titles such as Golden Eye, Mario Kart and Halo. Split screen gaming was a more social version of multiplayer gaming due to the need to play on the same screen.
Video Capture
This took us into the world of motion capture, which has subsequently played a huge role in the world of movies and games. Mortal Kombat was one of the first (and most controversial) titles to use this style. This is not a game space as such, much like 'window to the outdoors', as it's more of a way to render the game.
Mapped Space - Prerendered Panoramas
This is when you have a single scene on the screen, and instead of moving through it you point and click, going from prerendered image to prerendered image, and you don't have any influence over this space other than the point and click. This could be seen as an evolution of the text based adventure.
Early 3D Space - One Horizontal Plane
A relatively late invention to the game space, popularised by games such as Doom, Duke Nukem and Wolfenstien. These exist on one horizontal plane, and give the illusion of infinite space and 3D environments, on limited resources.
Full 3D Space - Horizontal/Vertical Movement
Where we are now, with full freedom of movement in the game environment.
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