History Main / ScreenCrunch

SubTrope to CameraScrew. Also see PortingDisaster and FakeDifficulty. Often goes hand in hand with TrialAndErrorGameplay. Not to be confused with CameraAbuse, when the viewscreen is crunched into smithereens either for humor or adding tension. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant And don't mistake this for a breakfast cereal]]. This is one of the reasons why developers might make a ReformulatedGame instead.

* ''Rayman Advance'', the GBA port of ''VideoGame/Rayman1995''. The original game had big, detailed sprites that didn't translate over to the GBA's screen very well, and this is seen when fighting the first boss. In the original, [[https://raymanpc.com/wiki/en/File:BziiitPC.png you had a lot of space to move]], but thanks to the GBA's lower resolution, the arena became [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rayman_advance_usa_enfrdeesit_1594999488089_5.png ridiculously small]]. The developers were kind enough remove certain obstacles throughout the game and get rid of the knockback but it only helps so much.
* Despite being a ReformulatedGame, ''VideoGame/{{Rayman 3|Hoodlum Havoc}}'' focused more on sprite detail than playability. As a result, finding lums is an absolute chore thanks to the limited view. Its sequel, ''VideoGame/RaymanRavingRabbids'' wasn't any better about this.

* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' is a ''doozy''. As the graphics, which were of a 256×224 game, were ported more or less 1:1 to the UsefulNots/AtariLynx (aside from some sundry alterations such as the player's foot during a kick), this means you're getting only ''2/7'' of what the arcade game offered and character sprites stand at almost ''half'' the height of the screen.

* ''VideoGame/SonicJam'' had assets taken straight from the Genesis Sonic games--big sprites and all. Because of this, you'll often find yourself taking a LeapOfFaith, hoping you survive (or not, given the [[PortingDisaster quality of the port]]).

But what if the system itself was to blame for the camera and not bad programming?

* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' is a ''doozy''. As the graphics, which were of a 256×224 game, were ported more or less 1:1 to the Lynx (aside from some sundry alterations such as the player's foot during a kick), this means you're getting only ''2/7'' of what the arcade game offered and character sprites stand at almost ''half'' the height of the screen.

* The ''Donkey Kong Land'' series and the GBC port of the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' are what happens when you import the art of the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series into a Game Boy game. The result is four games where it's near-impossible to dodge ''anything'', making it one huge TrialAndErrorGameplay fest. Making matters worse is a GameBreakingBug in the first ''Donkey Kong Land'' where falling below the camera kills you even if there's ground below you.

* ''Sonic N'', the N Gage port of the first ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Advance|Trilogy}}'',, was a victim of the N Gage's vertically oriented screen--you can ''barely'' see ahead of Sonic making the whole game one giant LuckBasedMission. There is an option to letterbox the screen allowing you to see more but it's too small to make anything out, making it useless.

If you're a gamer, you've more than likely run into CameraScrew at some point. Whether it's a controllable camera that constantly gets stuck on things or an Auto-Camera that abruptly changes angle mid jump, bad cameras have been the bane of gamers existence for decades.

Enter Screen Crunch. This is what happens when a game's bad camera is caused by the screen resolution (or lack thereof). While it's not a porting specific issue, ports to handheld consoles tend to be plagued by this due to the small screens.

** A large criticism of the ''Videogame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy'' is the fast speed not suiting well with the limited view of the GBA screen. The games' odd enemy placement and increase of sudden bottomless pits gives players less reaction time. The first game fares better due to slower gameplay, but it's annoying when the camera only moves when the characters are at the right side of the screen, not at the center like previous 2D games.

* ''VideoGame/CrashNitroKart'' would have been a PolishedPort of the GBA version... if it wasn't for the aforementioned screen. Its nearly impossible to see anything to the side of you, including the race track. In a misguided attempt to fix this, the camera is much more jumpy which only makes things worse.

* ''[[VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc Rayman 3]]'' was a port of the GBA version (itself a victim of this trope as seen above), trading in horizontal screen space for vertical. The already [[GuideDangIt hard to find]] lums have become even harder to locate thanks to the resolution and fighting enemies has become an absolute chore.
* ''VideoGame/SonicN'' was a victim of the N Gage's vertically oriented screen--you can ''barely'' see ahead of Sonic making the whole game one giant LuckBasedMission. There is an option to letterbox the screen allowing you to see more but it's too small to make anything out, making it useless.

* ''Donkey Kong Land'' is what happens when you import the art of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' into a Game Boy game. The result is a game where it's near-impossible to dodge ''anything'', making it one huge TrialAndErrorGameplay fest. Making matters worse is a GameBreakingBug where falling below the camera kills you even if there's ground below you.

* The ''Classic NES Series'' attempted to combat this by editing the sprites so all the original resolution fits on the more horizontal screen, a literal screen crunch. This results in games having bizarre sprites. For example, in ''Super Mario Bros.'', Small Mario has no neck, and Super Mario's mustache disappears when walking.

* ''Rayman Advance'', the GBA port of ''VideoGame/Rayman1995''. The original game had big, detailed sprites that didn't translate over to the GBA's screen very well, and this is seen when fighting the first boss. In the original, you had a lot of space to move, but thanks to the GBA's lower resolution, the arena became [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rayman_advance_usa_enfrdeesit_1594999488089_5.png ridiculously small]]. The developers were kind enough remove certain obstacles throughout the game and get rid of the knockback but it only helps so much.
* Despite being a ReformulatedGame, ''[[VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc Rayman 3]]'' focused more on sprite detail than playability. As a result, finding lums is an absolute chore thanks to the limited view. Its sequel, ''VideoGame/RaymanRavingRabbids'' wasn't any better about this.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''

* The ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario Advance]]'' games aren't affected as much due to their smaller sprites and gameplay better translated to horizontal movement. All games attempted to make up for this by adding extra content and giving the player more opportunities to get extra lives. ''Super Mario Advance 2: VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' added vertical scrolling for the camera button, while ''Super Mario Advance 4: VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' suffers the least as the original game already had a smaller viewing resolution from the large HUD which the port completely replaces it with a thin status bar and [[https://themushroomkingdom.net/smb3_snes2sma.shtml a lot of levels have been edited]] to better suit the smaller screen.

For reference: the original [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] has a resolution of 256×240, the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES supports several from 256×224 to 512×448 (interlaced), the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem is 256×192 and the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis supports several from 256×224 to 320×480 (interlaced).

For reference: the original NES has a resolution of 256×240, the SNES supports several from 256×224 to 512×448 (interlaced), the Sega Master System is 256×192 and the Genesis supports several from 256×224 to 320×480 (interlaced).

** A large criticism of the ''Sonic Advance'' series is the fast speed not suiting well with the limited view of the GBA screen. The games' odd enemy placement and increase of sudden bottomless pits gives players less reaction time. The first game fares better due to slower gameplay, but it's annoying when the camera only moves when the characters are at the right side of the screen, not at the center like previous 2D games.
** ''Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis''. The original game's assets were haphazardly imported into the ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy Sonic Advance]]'' engine with no regard whatsoever for the engine's art size limits. The result? The engine chokes while trying to deal with the massive sprites.
* The ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario Advance]]'' games aren't affected as much due to their smaller sprites and gameplay better translated to horizontal movement. All games attempted to make up for this by adding extra content and giving the player more opportunities to get extra lives. ''Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World'' added vertical scrolling for the camera button, while ''Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3'' suffers the least as the original game already had a smaller viewing resolution from the large HUD which the port completely replaces it with a thin status bar. [[https://themushroomkingdom.net/smb3_snes2sma.shtml A lot of levels have been edited]] to better suit the smaller screen.

* ''VideoGame/CrashNitroKart'' would have been a PolishedPort of the GBA version...if it wasn't for the aforementioned screen. Its nearly impossible to see anything to the side of you, including the race track. In a misguided attempt to fix this, the camera is much more jumpy which only makes things worse.

* The UsefulNotes/AtariST version of ''[[VideoGame/PacMan Pac-Mania]]'', rather annoyingly, suffers from half of the screen being taken up by the HUD.

* The Tengen console ports of ''Ms. Pac-Man'', rather than fitting the entire maze onto the screen (keep in mind that the original game is designed for vertically-oriented monitors), decide to instead have the screen-wide maze scroll up and down. Not only does this mean you can't see the entire maze at once, which may be problematic if you are trying to escape ghosts or find the last few pellets, but in a 2-player simultaneous game, it is possible for one player to scroll the other player off the screen.

For reference: the original NES had a resolution of 256×240, the SNES supported several from 256×224 to 512×448 (interlaced), the Sega Master System was 256×192 and the Genesis supported several from 256×224 to 320×480 (interlaced).

* The Sega Genesis port of ''Ms. Pac-Man'', rather than fitting the entire maze onto the screen (keep in mind that the original game is designed for vertically-oriented monitors), decides to instead have the screen-wide maze scroll up and down. Not only does this mean you can't see the entire maze at once, which may be problematic if you are trying to escape ghosts or find the last few pellets, but in a 2-player simultaneous game, it is possible for one player to scroll the other player off the screen.

* Downplayed with ''VideoGame/{{beatmania}} IIDX''. The arcade game is designed for 16:9 monitors, but when the games were ported to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 from 2000 through 2009, the porting team had to make the game compatible with those playing on 4:3 screens, which early on in that period were more common[[note]]and in fact, playing on a 4:3 CRT is ''preferred'' for [=PS2=] games, as the system is not designed for HD screens which introduce latency when upscaling the picture, unless you purchase and use a dedicated upscaling device, and 16:9 [=CRTs=] are exceedingly rare[[/note]]. This led to the introduction of a console-exclusive gameplay UI that only shows one player's playfield, the song animation screen, and the HUD at the bottom, designed to fit better on a 4:3 screen than the original arcade games' [=UIs=]. If you wish to play DoublePlay mode, another unique console-exclusive UI exists that again keeps the note lanes looking correct on a 4:3 screen...but eliminates the video screen entirely. This trope comes to a head if one wishes to play 2-player, as this forces the 16:9 arcade UI to be compressed into a 4:3 screen; there's no 4:3-friendly 2-player interface.

* ''Donkey Kong Land'' is what happens when you import ''VideoGame/{{Donkey Kong Country}}'s'' art into a Game Boy game. The result is a game where it's near-impossible to dodge ''anything'', making it one huge TrialAndErrorGameplay fest. Making matters worse is a GameBreakingBug where falling below the camera kills you even if there's ground below you.

* ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Super Mario Bros. Deluxe]]'' is largely contested for this reason. While it has extra modes and a heavily scaled back "port" of ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels The Lost Levels]]'', the fact that you can only see 1/3 of the screen (which isn't helped by the collision detection being [[HitBoxDissonance much worse than the original]] and the physics being a little bit off).

* ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' suffers from the same "sprites are too large" issue as ''Sonic Genesis'' and ''[[VideoGame/Rayman1995 Rayman]]'''s port, which resulted in several unintended traps when trying to jump over pits. The sequel's port was no better.

* ''VideoGame/PacMan Collection'' was an interesting case. In ''Pac-Man'' & ''Pac-Man Arrangement'', only one half of the maze can be on screen at once, though using the shoulder buttons will allow you to see the other half. ''Pac-Mania'' on the other hand wasn't so lucky--due to the big sprites you can't even see so much as a ''fourth'' of the maze, making it incredibly difficult to play.
* ''Rayman Advance'', the GBA port of ''VideoGame/Rayman1995'' had it bad. The original game had big, detailed sprites that didn't translate over to the GBA's screen very well. The first boss is arguably the worst instance of this. In the original, you had a lot of space to move, but thanks to the GBA's lower resolution, the arena became [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rayman_advance_usa_enfrdeesit_1594999488089_5.png ridiculously small]]. The developers were kind enough remove certain obstacles throughout the game and get rid of the knockback but it only helps so much.

** ''Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis'' -- already criticized for being a [[PortingDisaster very sloppy port]] of the original ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' -- must have hit some sort of zenith, with this trope being responsible for the port's massive slowdown problems as the original game's assets were haphazardly imported into the ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy Sonic Advance]]'' engine with no regard whatsoever for the engine's art size limits. The result? The engine chokes while trying to deal with the massive sprites.
* The ''Super Mario Advance'' series aren't affected as much due to their smaller sprites and gameplay better translated to horizontal movement. All games attempted to make up for this by adding extra content and giving the player more opportunities to get extra lives.
** ''Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World'' added vertical scrolling for the camera button.
** ''Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3'' suffers the least as the original game already had a smaller viewing resolution from the large HUD which the port completely replaces it with a thin status bar. [[https://themushroomkingdom.net/smb3_snes2sma.shtml A lot of levels have been edited]] to better suit the smaller screen.

* ''VideoGame/MarioKart Tour'' got into a lot of controversy upon its release for displaying in ''portrait'' mode instead of landscape like most mobile racers. This meant that the player couldn't see the side of the road (much like Crash Nitro Kart mentioned above) which gave it a bunch of TrialAndErrorGameplay for new players. It wasn't till months after launch that a landscape mode was added.

* The old fangame ''VideoGame/SonicEpoch'' is one the worst examples of this trope as the sprites are '''''massive'''''--Sonic's sprite in particular takes up ''1/8th'' of the screen--despite being an ''MS-DOS game''! This makes the game borderline unplayable at times as you can't see the enemies coming at all.

* ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy Sonic N]]'' was a victim of the N Gage's vertically oriented screen--you can ''barely'' see ahead of Sonic making the whole game one giant LuckBasedMission. There is an option to letterbox the screen allowing you to see more but it's too small to make anything out, making it useless.

* ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Super Mario Bros. Deluxe]]'' is largely contested for this reason. While it has extra modes and a heavily scaled back "port" of ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels The Lost Levels]]'', the fact that you can only see 1/3 of the screen (which isn't helped by the collision detection being [[HitBoxDissonance much worse than the original]] and the physics being a little bit off) made more than a few fans consider it a [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] PortingDisaster.

[[folder: Game.com]]

[[folder: Game Boy (Color)]]

[[folder: Game Boy Advance]]

[[folder: Game Gear]]

[[folder: N-Gage]]

[[/folder]]

SubTrope to CameraScrew. Also see PortingDisaster and FakeDifficulty. Often goes hand in hand with TrialAndErrorGameplay. Not to be confused with CameraAbuse, when the viewscreen is crunched into smithereens either for humor or adding tension. And don't mistake this for a breakfast cereal. This is one of the reasons why developers might make a ReformulatedGame instead.

* The UsefulNotes/AtariST version of ''Pac-Mania'', rather annoyingly, suffers from half of the screen being taken up by the HUD.

* The old fangame ''Sonic Epoch'' is one the worst examples of this trope as the sprites are '''''massive'''''--Sonic's sprite in particular takes up ''1/8th'' of the screen--despite being an ''MS-DOS game''! This makes the game borderline unplayable at times as you can't see the enemies coming at all.

* ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Super Mario Bros Deluxe]]'' is largely contested for this reason. While it has extra modes and a heavily scaled back "port" of ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels The Lost Levels]]'', the fact that you can only see 1/3 of the screen (which isn't helped by the collision detection being [[HitBoxDissonance much worse than the original]] and the physics being a little bit off) made more than a few fans consider it a [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] PortingDisaster.

* ''Sonic Genesis''--already criticized for being a [[PortingDisaster very sloppy port]] of the original ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''-- must have hit some sort of zenith, with this trope being responsible for the port's massive slowdown problems as the original game's assets were haphazardly imported into the ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy Sonic Advance]]'' engine with no regard whatsoever for the engine's art size limits. The result? The engine chokes while trying to deal with the massive sprites.

* The ''Super Mario Advance'' series attempted to make up for this by adding extra content and giving the player more opportunities to get extra lives.

** Interestingly, the first game saw a case of Screen Crunch that benefitted the player. In the first boss of the game, Robotnik floats at the top of the screen, before descending and charging across the bottom of the screen. In the Master System version, he has to be attacked while he descends, but in the Game Gear version, the smaller screen means he can be hit while at the top of the screen, to the point that he can be defeated before he even gets the chance to descend.

* ''VideoGame/MarioKart Tours'' got into a lot of controversy upon its release for displaying in ''portrait'' mode instead of landscape like most mobile racers. This meant that the player couldn't see the side of the road (much like Crash Nitro Kart mentioned above) which gave it a bunch of TrialAndErrorGameplay for new players.