Spikes Around the World

Spikes. You know them, you love them, you hate them, nearly every platformer out there has them. But just why are spikes so popular and in just how many ways are they used? Well, let's look at the types of spikes out there first.

Instant Kill: These are the type found all over the place in older platformers, but they are still probably the most common type even today. Touch them with even a single pixel from any side and you're dead. Even invincibility won't always save you from these things.

High Damage: This is the kind found most commonly in action adventure games like La Mulana and Castlevania games starting from Symphony of the Night. While instant kill spikes are suitable for games such as Mega Man where levels are short and checkpoints are frequent, spikes which deal large amounts of damage, but allow some room for error are more suitable to games which aren't divided into separate levels and/or have significant stretches of time between checkpoints. These are also found in 'easier' platformers, such as the Kirby series.

Low Damage: The last type of damage, and probably the least common amongst spikes. Spikes found in Metroid games and RPG's tend to deal small amounts of damage, although low damage spikes can be found in many other games as well. Generally, spikes deal low damage either because they are just another way of wearing the player's health down alongside normal enemies, such as when they appear in RPG's, or because they are placed in a room containing enemies which are more than happy to knock the protagonist into them over and over.

Why yes, the screen below this one DOES end in a spike-filled pit.

'Falling' Spikes: Plenty of spikes fall. These often are a slightly different color from spikes around them and may be hidden amongst stalactites or even be stalactites. This type rarely is of the instant kill variety, but they often are mixed in with pits and spikes of the more lethal variety. Spikes don't just fall down though and can fly across the screen from any given direction, sometimes from multiple directions at once.

Spike Wall: This type of spike has quite a bit of variety to it. Sometimes a boss will need to be forced into a spike fall to damage it, sometimes an enemy will try to do the same to you, or sometimes it's simply there as a fancy way of blocking progress or making vertical platforming much harder. Of course, some spike walls also move to create a more deadly auto-scrolling level; such moving spike walls may also shoot out spikes periodically at the player for added fun.

Natural Spikes: These are spikes which are a 'natural' part of an enemy, although the enemy itself may be organic or robotic. Spinies, frequently tossed by lakitus in Mario games, and Metroid's Kraid are two of the more recognizable examples of this. Such spikes may only be for the sake of appearance, may be projectiles, or may deal more damage when touched than other parts of the enemy.

Platform Spikes: Mega Man games usually love placing a chain of these in at least one level. These are spikes which occupy one side of a floating platform while the platform itself flips either at timed intervals or shortly after the player jumps on it. These are rarely a direct cause of death, but they may frequently punish players by knocked them into pits and can often appear alongside low-damage enemies specialized in knocking players off platforms.

Direction-Specific Spikes: These are pretty rare, but they seem to be catching on. I personally love these and will likely post an article about them specifically in the near future. These spikes usually damage players when landed on from above, but can be safely walked through when approached from the side. They are usually placed as a way of blocking access to a passage from one direction while allowing access from another; this type is also usually of the high damage variety, so if a player falls into a spike pit he or she suffers a harsh penalty, but can safely walk across the rest of the way.

Fake Spikes: And of course some spikes are simply not spikes at all. Either a few hits will knock them away or they are simply an illusion which can be safely walked on or through. f the only form of progress seems to be blocked off by spikes, they are probably fake and the only way to tell for sure is likely to take the risk and jump into them. Fake spikes can be a fun trick if implemented properly, but more often than not they are simply an annoyance.

While there are likely dozens of other spike varieties out there, these are amongst the most common ones. In the next installment of Spikes Around the World, I'll be taking a look at some of the reasons for why spikes are frequently favored over other environmental hazards.