Best Control Scheme Advancement

[Koeryn]

Which game series, in your opinion, has had the best advancement of control?

To try and narrow things down, they have to meet the following criteria:

1) Games must have at least one sequel, sequel has to be a continuation of the story, and NOT a remake (I.E., Wolfenstein (2009) is NOT a sequel of Wolfenstein 3D).

2) Preferably, the series spans more than one gaming generation. (GameCube, PS2, Xbox -> Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, as an example of what I mean by Generation).

3) Console games only please. PC games generally have a full keyboard at their disposal, I'm looking for thoughts on the best advancement of CONSOLE controls.

What are your thoughts? When stating a series, please mention what console it's for (or that you've played it for), and describe how the controls have improved.

Checking Search Bar before posting: ...Approved!

I'll post my thoughts after I've seen a few others. Or if I get bored later, either one is more than possible.

 

[ohgodalex]

I'd say FPS games. Try playing Doom, then try playing any given FPS for either a computer or the 360/PS3. I can't vouch for Wii games, since the wonderful, innovative control schemes often don't work as well as they should (see Red Steel), but I think the invention of the dual joystick has definitely done wonders for the genre. Not much advancement since then, but lots of polish.

Second choice would be platformers. Play an old Megaman game, then try one of the more recent efforts on the DS. The implementation of Matrix-y walljumps, dashes and the like does wonders for the gameplay.

 

[TaborMallory]

SNES to N64 was pretty radical.

Now that I think about it, Sony and Microsoft both seem afraid to bring radical changes to their controllers, especially Sony. Microsoft made their controller prettier, while Sony added Sixaxis and wireless capability.

EDIT: Whoops, missed the whole point of the thread. Give me a minute.

EDIT 2: Yeah, FPS wins by far.

 

[DYin01]

Halo, if you ask me. The way they converted mouse and keyboard style FPS gameplay to a controller was fantastic. Now, it could be that Goldeneye did this too, but I never really played that game (save for a few minutes).

 

[Koeryn]

Halo, if you ask me. The way they converted mouse and keyboard style FPS gameplay to a controller was fantastic. Now, it could be that Goldeneye did this too, but I never really played that game (save for a few minutes).

I don't think I ever played Goldeneye (I'm not really a fan of Nintendo), so I wouldn't really know either. On the other hand, Halo was a Console shooter first, so you did that a little backwards.

I think I would say Metal Gear Solid series, personally.

I mean, the first one was a glorified top-down shooter. You couldn't shoot and scoot effectively, the only weapons you could aim down the sights were the Stinger missile launcher and the PSG-1 rifle.

The second one was also top down, but expanded the controls to allow first person combat (though it was still limited), corner/cover shooting, and a limited ability to climb, as well as tilt left stick part way to walk, all the way to run.

Third one: Once again added more ways to use the available controls, I don't remember as far as the camera controls however.

Fourth one: Full camera control and much expanded combat and movement abilities.

Between each game, enough stayed the same that if you could easily pick up the next title, but enough changed that if you go back and try the previous title, it's going to be a little trickier. Or if you, say, try to play 1 or 2 after playing 4? It's HARD.

I dunno how it actually compares to others, but it's what I've had the most experience with, and thought it was pretty impressive.

 

[DrDeath3191]

Legend of Zelda. It moved from 2D to 3D without a hitch, and Z-Targeting is downright ingenious.