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2½D: Difference between revisions
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{{trope|wppage=2.5D}}
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Straddling the line between "style" and "genre," '''2½D''' is an uncommon but generally recognized term. While there is some ambiguity among gamers as to what, exactly, constitutes "2½D," it is most commonly used to refer to one thing: Two-dimensional, side-scrolling [[Platformer
In a "traditional" platformer, players can only move in four directions: up, down, left, and right. That's two dimensions (height and length). 2½D games mess with this formula by adding a third dimension, but not dedicatedly. Players can still only control their character in four directions (generally), but there are some options as to where the extra half a dimension comes from:
▲Straddling the line between "style" and "genre," 2½D is an uncommon but generally recognized term. While there is some ambiguity among gamers as to what, exactly, constitutes "2½D," it is most commonly used to refer to one thing: Two-dimensional, side-scrolling [[Platformer|Platformers]] with some three-dimensional elements.
* The player can only move in two dimensions, but the ''path'' doesn't have to. The "plane" that the 2D character follows curves through three-dimensional space, and the [[Player Character]] follows along that. This is by far the most common, and the trait that is most likely to get a game labeled "2½D".
▲In a "traditional" platformer, players can only move in four directions: up, down, left, and right. That's two dimensions (height and length). 2½D games mess with this formula by adding a third dimension, but not dedicatedly. Players can still only control their character in four directions (generally), but there are some options as to where the extra half a dimension comes from:
▲* The player can only move in two dimensions, but the ''path'' doesn't have to. The "plane" that the 2D character follows curves through three-dimensional space, and the [[Player Character]] follows along that. This is by far the most common, and the trait that is most likely to get a game labeled "2½D".
* Off-path objects. While the player is stuck on one path, there are things outside the path that can be interacted with.
* Layers: There are things visible in both the background and foreground, and it is possible to switch between paths to reach the goal. This gives the level a [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|layered]] feeling, like a delicious, platforming pastry.
* Other tactics that are more localized.
Sometimes, if an otherwise 3D game takes the time to have a [[Retraux|2D interlude]], those segments will sometimes be referred to as "2½D." Occasionally, 2D [[Platformer
In older material the term 2.5D is sometimes used in reference to 3D games that use 2D surfaces, with various graphical tricks used to make it seem 3D (e.g. ''[[Doom]]''). This specific usage died with the Game Boy Advance, the last well-known platform to use this technology, but it overlaps with the sense of only moving in two dimensions. The term can also be used for [[Isometric Projection]] or [[Sprite Polygon Mix]].
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Compare [[Fixed Camera]].
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== Adventure Games ==
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* ''Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie'': In the game for the SNES, you could press the shoulder buttons to flip to the "back" or the "front" to avoid obstacles, such as in the very first level to avoid cars. The enemies could do this as well.
* ''[[Bug!]]'' An experimental take on 2½D, the titular character could move left and right, or "in and out" of the screen, but not both at a time. Vertical movement was possible at all times.
* ''Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a Half Century!'', a Nintendo 64 game, was a 3D platformer with 2½D sections.
* ''[[Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards]],'' mostly with the 3D curving path elements.
* The ''[[Klonoa]]'' series, which uses all of the tricks listed above and more. Klonoa can even be controlled in three dimensions, even if he's limited to only two.
* The [[New Super Mario Bros.|New Super]] [[New Super Mario Bros. Wii|Mario Bros.]] games are a bit like this: 2D side scroller, but 3D characters.
* ''[[Pandemonium (video game)|Pandemonium]]'' was a 2D platformer in a 3D environment. Stuff like spiral stairs, or two paths at different heights splitting into different directions, was common.
* Some of the two-dimensional segments of ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'' are like this.
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** ''[[Sonic Generations]]'' plays with this trope to varying extents with its two playable characters: Modern Sonic's use is similar to [[Sonic Unleashed]] and [[Sonic Colors]] with its 3D/2.5D shifts at certain points of a given level; Classic Sonic's use, on the other hand, is all 2.5D. The 3DS version, meanwhile, is entirely 2.5D except for parts of the final boss battle.
** The ''[[Sonic Rush Series]]'' series plays in 2D (except for bosses, in which the paths curve and twist, thus being 2.5D), but Sonic and Blaze are cel-shaded 3D models. This allows segments where Sonic and Blaze are "closer to or further away" from the screen during certain level specific gimmicks.
** The
** ''[[Sonic CD]]'' had Metallic Madness zone, where you could go behind certain walls to progress and get powerups, before going back infront again to continue the level proper.
* ''[[Mega Man X]] 7'' danced between 2D and 3D without much warning. ''X8'' might be a better example, as it stayed in 2D but had some occasional 3D-esque moments.
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* ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'', despite being nicknamed the "3D Generation" of the main series, is 2.5D; the player walks around in a two-dimensional grid based world, but structures around the player change perspective as (s)he moves around. The one exception to this dynamic is the Distortion World in ''Pokémon Platinum''.
** ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'', on the other hand, are the first main series games to feature full 3D, more or less. The biggest difference between the 3D featured in Generation V and the one in Generation IV is that the camera plays around in the former, while being completely fixed in the latter. It can also be even argued that Generation IV is itself the first true 3D generation, as there are a few hacks for those games that allows you to play with the camera angles, proving that they have fully 3D worlds.
* ''[[Dragon Saga]]'' has an interesting take on this. The game is in full 3D and some sections of the game allow 3D movement. However, most ''combat'' areas only allow the player character to face and aim attacks to the left or right with movement towards or away from the screen causing them to slide sideways. Needless to say the few sections of the game that allow 3D combat take some getting used to and reveal that the hit boxes for attacks are always much longer on one axis than on others.
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[[Category:Various Videogame Views]]
[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]
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