You've probably heard of the platformer video game genre, as it's one of the most popular. But are you familiar with the collect-a-thon subgenre of platformers?
Let's take a look at the rise and fall of collect-a-thon titles, study at some examples, and understand this interesting genre more deeply.
What Is a Collect-a-Thon Game?
A collect-a-thon (also spelled collectathon) is a video game genre defined by its requirement to collect a large amount of items in order to progress. Lots of games allow or force you to collect objects, but collect-a-thons are defined by how what you gather allows you to proceed through the game.
Most of the time, collect-a-thons are 3D platformers, but there are a few examples of 2D collect-a-thon platformers.
The name "collect-a-thon" isn't an official title, and wasn't commonly used when this genre was in its heyday. It's mostly a term used when looking back at games in this style, and while it can have a negative connotation, it's not typically pejorative.
To better understand collect-a-thon games, let's look at how the genre came about and examine the design of some hallmark titles.
The Origins of Collect-a-Thon Platformers
Collect-a-thons came about during the rise of 3D games. With the fifth generation of consoles (particularly the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation), titles that took full advantage of the third dimension were finally possible.
But the shift from 2D to 3D wasn't only about graphics; bigger worlds to explore meant that developers could change the structure of their games too. In 2D platformers, the goal is almost always to simply reach the end of the level. But in a 3D game, there's more potential to make rich, open-ended worlds, where just getting to the goal doesn't make much sense.
Plus, when 3D platformers were new, there were some rough edges, like the camera system and learning curves to players moving around in 3D. So to most efficiently use the 3D worlds they created without requiring precision platforming, developers filled them with all sorts of rewards to collect.
This encouraged players to fully explore the levels and find everything, which made 3D movement fun without being frustrating. It also allowed these early 3D areas to feel full, instead of barren.
Super Mario 64: The First Collect-a-Thon
Super Mario 64, released alongside the N64 in 1996, was a pioneer in 3D gaming. As it turns out, it was also the game that provided the blueprint for collect-a-thon platformers.
In Super Mario 64, your progression is directly tied to the collection of a few important items. Power Stars are the primary collectible, and come as rewards for completing the various objectives in each stage. As you collect stars, you unlock more doors in Peach's Castle (the hub world), allowing you to access more stages and thus collect more stars.
There are secondary collectibles that support your main goal. For example, each level has eight red coins, which provide you with a star once you collect them all. And there are a few boss doors, locked behind a certain number of stars, that unlock Bowser stages. After defeating a boss in those worlds, you'll earn a key that opens a large new section of the castle.
There are 120 stars in Mario 64, but you only need 70 of them to unlock the final level and beat the game. You're free to approach this goal in whatever way you want—as long as you get enough stars, which ones you earn doesn't matter.
Banjo-Kazooie and the Golden Era of Collect-a-Thons
Rare, a second-party developer for Nintendo at the time, took Nintendo's framework from Super Mario 64 and released more hit collect-a-thon games during the N64 era. Banjo-Kazooie (1998) and its sequel Banjo-Tooie (2000) were the two most beloved of this period.
In addition to jigsaw pieces (called "Jiggies"), which are the primary collectible, the Banjo titles have secondary collectibles that help you get more Jiggies. These include tokens that unlock transformations from a shaman, ammo for your characters' abilities, and empty honeycomb pieces that extend your maximum health.
There are also musical notes, which unlock doors that block your progression through the overworld (in Banjo-Kazooie). Every level is packed with 100 notes, 10 Jiggies, and other secondary items to grab. You need to get the majority of them to complete the game, so there might come a point where you have to return to prior levels and collect more to proceed.
The N64 wasn't the only system with collect-a-thon games, however. On the PlayStation, the original Spyro the Dragon trilogy was also a great example of the genre. These games each have a primary collectible that you need to progress through the game, as well as gems that you use to pay for new abilities and similar. Ape Escape is another excellent PS1 game that's a collect-a-thon, as it requires you to catch lots of monkeys across levels to proceed.
What these games all have in common is that they require you to collect a certain amount of particular items to move on. Getting to the end of the levels isn't enough, and there are hundreds of goodies to pick up. But in a good collect-a-thon, these items are placed in a way that encourages you to explore. In a bad one...
Donkey Kong 64 and the Demise of Collect-a-Thon Games
Donkey Kong 64, released in 1999, is a collect-a-thon game taken to the extreme. It features five different playable characters, each one color-coded to certain collectibles in the game. You have to regularly switch characters using the game's tag barrels, which requires you to tread through the same areas over and over in tedious fashion.
For example, you might walk down a hallway filled with red bananas, which only Diddy Kong can grab. But at the end of that hallway, there's a door controlled by a switch that Donkey Kong has to shoot with his weapon. Behind that door, there's a purple collectible item, which only Tiny Kong can collect.
Because the game has so many collectibles for every character, the sheer amount of items to collect is overwhelming. And unlike Banjo-Kazooie or Super Mario 64, which featured a handful of item types, DK64 goes way overboard with its collectible list.
Instead of using collectibles to enhance the platforming experience, Donkey Kong 64 bombards you with trinkets everywhere. As a result, some people consider this the game that killed the collect-a-thon genre.
And as the next generation of video games approached, collect-a-thon games indeed dropped off in popularity. There were still a few scattered examples, like 2002's Super Mario Sunshine on GameCube and Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy in 2001 on PS2, but 3D games grew well beyond their roots after this point.
Modern open-world titles like Grand Theft Auto III had much more to offer than simple collection. They built immersive worlds with a variety of missions to complete and areas to explore and play around in. Even later 3D platformers, like Psychonauts, Sly Cooper, and Ratchet & Clank, had more advanced gameplay mechanics.
Modern Examples of Collect-a-Thon Titles
While collect-a-thons aren't a popular genre these days, there are some modern releases that fit into this classification. Most of these are indie games, inspired by the developers' love of those classic titles.
New Super Lucky's Tale is a charming throwback to simpler 3D platformers, while A Hat in Time takes inspiration from the past while polishing the overall gameplay.
Yooka-Laylee is a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie from former Rare developers, and Super Mario Odyssey on Switch is the highest-profile collect-a-thon game that's released in some time. It hearkens back to the open-ended gameplay of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, instead of the more level-based goals of later 3D Mario titles.
Collect-a-Thons: Best Forgotten?
As we've seen, the collect-a-thon genre was a product of its time in early 3D game development. Developers filled the worlds they created with items to collect in order to maximize efficiency and make the areas feel more alive. But as 3D gameplay evolved, newer titles could create worlds with more varied goals.
Collect-a-thons are nostalgic for many people, but well-reviewed modern examples of the genre are proof that they can still work. They're just one of the game genres you might not know about.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
