Characters you love to control

[mrfrosty]

And this is just a certain few things while standing, while crouching or while getting up he's got some stupidly good stuff too - most of which also stuns! Best kicks in the game and 6 different uppercuts too XD

Does no one like Ivy as a player? I think she's one of the smoothest characters, especially with some of her attacks hitting from great distances, and some up close, and loads involving dodging and moving around the 3d environment. She has the best throws (and only kilik's throw where he beans you with the stick whilst in the air looks better) and I really want a sword that can turn into a chain at will! Saurian has a point, I always did like Lizardman, but he's been downgraded in SC2, and isn't a playable character with a decent ending or move list, so it's a bit ****e.

But without a doubt my favourite is Seung Mina. Granted she's a scaled down version of Kilik, but I think her moves are so damned slick. And the light path she weaves when she does her twirl moves either side of the opponent just look so amazing. (slightly cheap that she and kilik share the museum mode's skill demonstration though.)

[Saurian]

Lizardman's skill video is wicked! He just sits there looking bored

Yeah man I know a couple of REALLY good Ivy players!

Ivy with someone good at the wheel makes it incredibly difficult for me to keep control of my positioning and range. Lizardman is linear apart from his shield techniques while Ivy is radial, when fighting a character like her you need to keep forcing your game on her and not let hers take over. Lizardman's main strength is that you can inflict stuns effect to your opponent from just about any situation - people cant abuse certain tactics against you cos you can just stop them dead in their tracks and punish them.

The crew I play games with dont play SC2 at all cos of the way the system does not allow for the level of play and tactics we enjoy on DC SC1. Lizardman is apallingly bad in SC2 - I ask for Godzilla and I get given Barney, nice one Namco! XD

[GoodMorningSpider]

Purely from a control point of view, I'd have to say Mario in Mario 64 and the Prince in POP:SOT. These are probably the only games where I haven't felt limited in what kind of actions I can perform by a dodgy control system/poor button layout etc. *adopts Zen master style attitude* It's almost like the control pad just becomes a natural extension of your hands. Just thinking of the fluidity of the triple jump in Mario 64 or the wall running in POP makes me feel giddy with joy.

[dataDave]

Bond/Joanna Dark.

The digital/analogue hybrid strafe system on the Rare shooters is excellent. I love strafing for ages building up my speed until I'm sprinting, then I stop and ease to a standstill, so damn organic, like controlling the bulk of a real human being - unlike ALL other FPSs where everything is too stiff and precise and you feel like you're controlling a floating camera - Which is funny, as when the Spy Cam/Drug Cam/Bomb Cam is used on PD the control system reverts to that of your generic FPS. Nice sarcastic touch there I find.

The varied recoil from the massive selection of guns also adds greatly to the realism experience. When you pick up a Maian gun it actually feels and 'weighs' the same as what you'd expect an alien gun to feel like in real life. The rumble pack is probably utilised most on PD over any other N64 game, forgetting the Stone of Agony of course.

I could go on all day about PD, but I won't.

[mrfrosty]

From a purely anti-Resident Evil point of view, I like the 12 playable characters in Eternal Darkness. After struggling to get decent control of Gill and Rebecca and Chris, it's nice to be able to run away from Zombies without actually having to turn a full 180 degrees first. The combat is childsplay to handle, and it's just refreshing to fight some of the undead without worrying about whether the control pad will obey you.

[112]

Whenever i play a stealth game i always seem to compare the character i am controllin to sam fisher (of splinters cell fame). For example if im playing hitman i compare how bloody slow he is when carrying a body, to how sam fisher would fireman carry his enemies. Also when im snake, i compare his lack ofcrouch and run to his rawl which is so annoying!

112

[spagmasterswift]

Not sure if this counts as a "Character" but the Roadster in Burnout 2 clicked with me straight off. Buzzing oncoming traffic while in Burnout is the mad thrill.

Don't get me started on VJ though... Anyways Joe has been given enough love in the First Play forum. man, can't help myself...Only a character that fantastic to control makes sense in a game that is so unforgivingly precise. You know that if you are still alive its part your skillz and part the fluid way those skillz are reperesented on screen. Like your playing it with your mind... Too far? Maybe. But what a great character!!

[Tig]

Just the simple action of running around in circles is a joy, because the momentum is judged perfectly. I really don't think any other game has even matched up to SM64's feeling of complete possesion of a character.

They got this all wrong in SMS. Something was intangibly different about the control of Mario, which made the navigation of the levels a means to an end rather than a joy in itself. Rose-tinted specs? No.

As I've got nothing to do / no shame, I'm now conducting an experiment whereby SM64 is playing on one channel and SMS on another. A quick switch of channels and control pads reveals that the difference between the control of the two games is actually pretty big. First thing you notice is that in SMS Mario executes all the moves at about twice the speed. Press A, and he's in the air for a second, unlike SM64's two seconds. This makes the action faster, but robs your character of scale and weight.
Basically though, it boils down to momentum... SM64 wins because Mario has a sense of inertia. Push forward on the stick from a standstill, and Mario isn't at top speed straight away. Nor does he freeze immediately when you release the stick. Pull back suddenly from a run, and he digs in his feet to turn - but not when you pull back from a standstill. Run up a slope, and you slow down; you can feel the weight keeping you back. And if you fall into water at speed, you plunge under at speed, rather than stopping at the surface.

It all sounds like obvious stuff, but all these nuances help give the character a physical presence - a physical presence which then extends to the gameworld he operates in. And all of these nuances, bar none, are entirely absent from SMS. Here, Mario starts and stops moving with digital abruptness; bobs on water regardless of the velocity with which he went into it; runs up 45-degree mirrorred surfaces at the same speed he moves across horizontal fields. It adds up to a hollow and forgettable-feeling control scheme. Spin jump? Euurrgh.

I find it amazing that Nintendo of all companies would make these mistakes. It's hardly like these were new ideas when SM64 came out; all the effects I observed in SM64 can be seen in the 2D Mario Bros games. Which also felt great to control, incidentally. So I reckon that for platformers at least, weight and momentum are the ingredients which seperate great control from floaty, forgettable rubbish.

[Standing On The Roof]

2-D Mario of course (except in SML1) for reasons already stated.

For some reason, as far as 3-D games go, I always compare the way a crap game controls, tot he way Link from Ocarina of Time controls. For me, that's the pinicle of controlling realisticlly proportioned 3-D characters.

In my opinion, control is probably the most important part of the game.

[VoyagerFX]

My favourite would be SM64, from the first moment I played the game, the action and control of each movement became so fluid it was stunning - the ease of the triple jump was so amazing and the game felt so natural.

Another mention to Dante which when you learn his moves and the games potential you become a sick game player (again the fluidity with each movement, it is so brutal and amazing to play and watch)

Along with the attitude and style combined with the moves, awesome combos there is nothing better:

Dante - When you absolutely, positively got to kill every motherf***er in the room. Accept no substitutes.

[Paul3704]

I agree entirely with Tig. It's a bit tragic he went to the effort, but worth the result. I'd forgotten how well SM64 handles.

[Tig]

The kit's all next to my PC.

And like I said, I've got nothing to do.

[Wools]

Sonic The Hedgehog: Just lovely to control and like some of the best games, Sonic has only a limited supply of moves. Just run left and right, look up and down, jump and spin. Simple but so lovely to play.

Master Chief, Halo: I see a patern here! It may use every button on the controler but there are no complex controls, just that every function in the game has a corosponding button. Also this game eliminates the theory that FPS controls can not be mapped to a controler.

Gum, Jet Set Radio Future: Apart from looking lovely, the game and characters (Espically Gum) are so fluid and smooth to control. Also grinding is heaven!

Vanessa, PN03: A lot like prince of persia, this game has seemed to of been created with the character in mind. She moves excatly when you want her too and once you learn the controls, playing the game becomes nivarna. Dodge an incomming rocket at the last second, jump over a laser beam and duck just in time for an enemy attack. Perfect.

[Zed]

Lara Croft - call me sad, but i love taunting my semi-feminist girlfriend with making Lara grunt, jiggle and bounce. I always call the GF over when i've got Lara in a corner so i can take maximum advantage of the look controls to do bust/butt and jiggle perviness

Giant Robots - ok the first was a bit silly, but i really love a speedy yet meaty giant robot. From Armoured Core thru to RADs control-each-limb method, its just fun!

Ninja's - games where you can pull off ninja style kills. People complained about Tenchu 3's controls, but i got it down so i could flow from hiding to busts of movement, a quick kill, then off to the darkness or rooftop. You could really get flowing mayhem on the bewildered guards on the more open levels.

I guess i just like to control things i am not - which is basically the same reason for gaming, a bit of escapism...

[RLench]

There's 3 that just have to be mentioned here, IMO, and they've already been said:

Dante - he kicks all kinds of ass, slaughters dozens of demons in every room, looks cool doing it and then goes to work on a huge boss. 2 minute rest and then you do it all over again on a different level

Joe - just...because...it's Joe, dammit!

The Prince from Sands of Time - I've never played a game where such impressive, fluid movement is this easy and enjoyable to do. The controls are perfect, the animation couldn't be better and IMHO the combat is great! Screw the haters, the combat works perfectly...