Home Gaming Braid is just a pretty copy

Braid is just a pretty copy

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Braid Copied

I finally gave into the hype and and downloaded this new XBLA game Braid.

It’s not that I was really avoiding it, I just had been overworked and hadn’t gotten around to checking the latest offerings.

So after seeing a billion and one articles on how uber awesome Braid is so I decided to give it a quick go.

I downloaded the game and decided to have a quick game before going to work… around half way through the the first level my wife got up and wandered through. The first she says is “This is Mario Bros”

I tell her in my patronising know all gamer voice, “No it’s just that they have taken parts of Mario Bros in homage of the game”… suitably impressed she sits back and watches me jump over some horizontally scrolling baddies, jump onto different platforms… bounce on top of scrolling baddies… jump over the plumbers pipe with a plant coming out of it, avoid the baddie shot from a cannon and then walk past the flag at the castle and say hi to a dinosour…

… my wife then looks at me… smiles in that “I’m right” sort of way and wandered off.

I have to admit, so far she is right. It’s a very pretty but blatantly copied version of Mario Bros…

When does a game stop being a blatant cheap copy of a game and rather becomes a homage to a game?

Think about it, if you take away those awesome oil like graphics would this game be getting anywhere near the reviews it is getting?

Hopefully today I will get to play the rest of the levels and change my mind… but for now I am not impressed.

Last Updated: August 11, 2008

12 Comments

  1. PO7H3AD

    August 11, 2008 at 23:08

    Carry on playing, each world from world 2 will change your view even more, it still looks like mario but the way it plays, especially in world 4,5 and 6 changes the game around completely 😉
    Anyway, if you’re going to copy something, why not copy the best?

    Reply

  2. Milesh Bhana

    August 11, 2008 at 23:15

    i was thinking the same thing. Get to the end of world 2 and the little dinosaur thing even says “I’m sorry but the princess is in another castle”.

    Then i got to see the bits of world 3 & 4 in the demo. WoW! What an interesting concept. Definitely picking up the full version when i get some more MS points.

    Milesh Bhana’s last blog post..Budgetgamer’s Guide to Audio – Part 1

    Reply

  3. ewie

    August 11, 2008 at 23:52

    No this is not just another copy of mario, at first it might
    seem that you have to run and jump to get to the end, and you can run through the whole game in minutes, but then you will be missing the whole point of the game, as soon as you realize even on world 2 that your actions around the puzzle effect what you can achieve it became so much more.

    World 3 take it a little but further with ts time bending mechanisms, and slowly it dawn on you this is not just a platformer, but a whole new concept in solving puzzles. with each world adding that little bit extra to draw you into it.

    Soon time will fly by as you solve one puzzle after the other. This game s worth every cent, and a definite GOTY
    candidate.

    Reply

  4. Evilredzombie

    August 12, 2008 at 07:09

    Then ill take it… I love Mario… wish I could download all the original mario’s on 360. Cant wait for Mega man 9

    Evilredzombie’s last blog post..Official Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe characters list

    Reply

  5. JimBob

    August 12, 2008 at 07:30

    Eh? A Mario copy? This is one of the best games on the 360, period, not just one of the finest on the arcade. He does pay homage to Donkey Kong and Mario and other platform games at various points, but this is more of a puzzle/adventure game than a platformer. The unique art-style and approach to narrative alone set it apart even without the mind-bending puzzles.

    Reply

  6. OddSockZA

    August 12, 2008 at 11:00

    This game is so far from being a Mario clone. It has homages to all sorts of games, and upon first glance, does just seem like a simple platformer. It’s not a platformer. This is, at it’s heart, a puzzle game. It has some of the most inventive and clever puzzles I’ve ever encountered in a game. Remember, your goal is not to breeze through each level, it’s to collect every single puzzle piece. Try doing that, and you’ll realise why this game is so highly acclaimed.

    Reply

  7. LazySAGamer

    August 12, 2008 at 11:16

    So I have heard…

    But the issue is that I am not the gathering type and get bored easily…

    Portal I found awesome as the idea was to get to the end and use your brain…. in Braid it seems that thinking is not required which defeats the point really

    Reply

  8. ewie

    August 12, 2008 at 11:22

    a but to finish the game you have to think. And think and think some more

    Reply

  9. JimBob

    August 12, 2008 at 12:12

    If you can honestly say, there’s less thinking in this than in Portal, you can’t have played the game for more than 10 minutes. Portal is quite easy until about the 15th room, anyway.

    Reply

  10. LazySAGamer

    August 12, 2008 at 12:19

    As I said I have only played the first level…

    but I am not comparing this to Portal…

    Reply

  11. Milesh Bhana

    August 12, 2008 at 21:17

    I believe the Portal comparision is a valid one. (They are nothing alike) but the same in what they are attempting to do.

    I think you’ll agree when you get passed the first level 🙂

    Milesh Bhana’s last blog post..Budgetgamer’s Guide to Audio – Part 1

    Reply

  12. Mewo

    January 17, 2009 at 12:01

    Whats the deal here? Its a platform game how much differance can u make one to another? Where are the puzzles i mario bros? where are the unlocking key, shadows, timetravel and other time elements. Its nothing like mario bros except platforming sidescroller just like any other.

    Reply

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