The first title of this type I recall playing in the arcades was Scramble, but you had lasers and bombs. Of the non-increasingly difficult type, they're a dime a dozen. We did one at MTV with SpongeBob and I think AddictingGames did one for Potty Racers. Pretty common, still fun if the controls are done right.
And that's the hitch.
The controls in the Potty Racers version were poor, to give it a compliment. Getting things in any game exactly "right" is what makes one game better than another. Lots of physics games before Angry Birds, none got the physics exactly right.
I'm sure some of your remember Doodle Jump. There was a game before that, that was the exact same type. Same controls, same type of character. But the controls, and what was expected of the character were both off, so no huge hit.
In the game industry, we'll continue to learn this rule over and over as long as accountants tell us what is a good game and what isn't.
And that's the hitch.
The controls in the Potty Racers version were poor, to give it a compliment. Getting things in any game exactly "right" is what makes one game better than another. Lots of physics games before Angry Birds, none got the physics exactly right.
I'm sure some of your remember Doodle Jump. There was a game before that, that was the exact same type. Same controls, same type of character. But the controls, and what was expected of the character were both off, so no huge hit.
In the game industry, we'll continue to learn this rule over and over as long as accountants tell us what is a good game and what isn't.