Jump Physics [Design Specifics]

Most action games feature the ability to jump, which tells you just how important a move it is. Today I'll dive into the topic in detail, as well as share some insight into a secret jump design of my own!

[FedoraKirb]

One really cool jump thing I want to talk about is Kirby’s jump in Forgotten Land. The devs implemented a system called “Fuzzy Landing, ” where if you input a jump close to the ground, rather than initiating a float, Kirby snaps to the ground and jumps again. This was one of the many little elements they implemented in Kirby’s control to make the transition to 3D easier, since they realized that in these scenarios, players more often than not probably just wanted to jump again rather than float. It honestly makes jumping feel great, and most players only really notice it if they already knew about it beforehand.

[RickachuCXVI]

Gotta love being able to just say "nah" to physics and stopping all forward momentum just to 180° back to where you first jumped

[Dingalow]

I'm really glad he brought up why Ghosts 'n' Goblins' jumps work the way they do, considering how people are quick to dismiss that type of control

[Yarott]

This is one of the most important topics people need to see, next to collision dynamics, when it comes to action game design and programming. And Sakurai is covering it for free!

[lokouba]

Mario 64, Sunshine etc have so many jump mechanics they are so intriguing to explore from the perspective of a programmer.

[Mr_Wallet]

I was really happy to see he wasn't being prescriptive about jumps, even giving a shout-out one pro of the Ghosts 'n' Goblins system. Almost everyone who makes a blog/video on jump physics basically says, "you have to make the jumps floaty to feel good, " but personally I find it kind of annoying when every platformer feels like Luigi from SMB2. Mechanics like floaty jumps and "coyote time" are over-used and can remove the tightness from a game, making it feel too loose and forgiving and asking nothing from the player; it robs some sense of danger and accomplishment from a tricky sequence. For a casual-friendly series like Kirby they're a perfect fit; for other ones it's more debatable according to personal; taste. The most important thing is to realize that these tricks are available... and then apply them as appropriate.

[solidskullz]

If a game requires you to jump, make sure that it’s GOOD. Bad jumping physics can make or break a game especially if it’s a platformer or has a lot of platforming

[Bluesine_R]

I’m surprised he didn’t talk about the defining aspect of the jump in Super Mario Brothers: the faster your horizontal speed is, the taller your jump will be. It’s a really interesting aspect of the physics in Mario games.

[andrew_oid]

Glad you brought up Metroid! I really enjoy its jump physics. Having that floaty essence gives me a degree of control with those front flips and backflips.

[paperluigi]

It probably goes without saying, but it’s highly likely that for every new Mario game, the very first thing they work on is Mario’s jumping.

[Platanov]

One of the things I always appreciate in an action game is the ability to buffer jump inputs before I land. Even if there's only a small window, it can make jumping feel so much better. Mario Galaxy is a really good example of this. When and why to implement input buffering could probably be it's own whole topic (even if you don't just talk about fighting games the whole time!)

[swishfish]

I've been making character jump for a decade, but that last bit genuinely threw me off guard. Amazing little tips and tricks from the Great Uncle of modern gaming.

[megasoniczxx]

As someone whose been trying to get the jump right in my own games this was really nice to listen too and I didn't even consider that last part before now but it makes so much more sense when you point it out.

[CoolRobbit]

0:12 Great to see Virtual On get some recognition! Thank you, Sakurai.

[nintendokenakasuperyoshi]

Sakurai should include these pop quizzes in his videos because this one was actually pretty fun.😄

[CitronFrenchMode]

I absolutely love platformers, and so when I do little game prototypes on Unity (or Game Maker Studio, when I was younger) I love experimenting with them.
And boy, getting the jump physics right is so hard sometimes. It's very easy to feel that something is wrong and sometimes to know what is wrong, but fine tuning it is a lot more work than you'd think.

[nicocchi]

Huh I never noticed that jumping in Smash Ultimate had the same "balloon" physics as Knockback and that basically no other Smash game had it. But it really makes jumps a stronger option both in offense and defense, it's pretty sick

[ChrisBakare]

I struggled and ignored this topic for so long with a full degree and yet he explained it all in one minute. Thank you so much!

[TheHylianBatman]

I've always heard that Nintendo developed their characters and their movement before making the game.
This sure reinforces that notion!

[KyteM]

If you want to tinker and learn more about this, Game Maker's Toolkit (GMTK) published something called a Platformer Toolkit to let you experiment with basic platforming concepts such as jumping and movement. It's a great way to see how different mechanics influence a game's feel and design.