Number of Enemies in a Full Length Game

[Mariotroid]

Hey everyone, I had a question on my head for the past couple hours. What do you all think the optimal number of unique enemies is for a game? Also the optimal number of clone Enemies in a game?

My observations tell me 30 enemies per game is best of unique ones. And 2 to four redesigns per game. Most games I've played that remain my favorite "study games" do this. Metroid Prime and Super Mario World both do this. I'e also learned it' good to design enemies in a closed environment. What are your observations, if any?

[Saltman]

Why should there even be a number ? Not all games need to have lots of enemies. Wrecking Crew had only 3 enemies for example: Eggplant Man, Gotchawrench and Foreman Spike (A.K.A Wario's lost cousin) and it was still a pretty cool game (even though many people dislike it for some reason).

[Catonator]

It all depends on the type of a game, it's length, and what purpose the enemies serve in the game. Most long action games should have a good number on unique enemies, which server to keep the difficulty curve interesting throughout the game. Meanwhile a horror game where the player character is completely defenseless can do away with just one looming antagonistic enemy. So really, there isn't a number set in stone.

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[VinnyVideo]

It depends. The longer the game, and the more diverse the level environments, the greater number of unique enemies you'll want to include.

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[Yakibomb]

If we're talking Mario, most usually new enemies are kept to a bare minimum per level (like 1-2 new enemies), then they are reintroduced in later levels to keep players on their toes.

Take Super Mario 3D World, for example. In that game, there was like one new enemy or obstacle for every new level, and sometimes the enemies or obstacles weren't seen ever again.

[Syaxamaphone]

There is no one correct answer for this question. Many developers take different approaches to enemy selection and design.

Personally I try to always have at least one enemy specific to every stage I make and then a pool of 'regular enemies' I mix in. You can take these regular enemies and mix them in with stage-specific elements to make unique challenges.

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