| One-Hit Wonder |
| The game-specific version of this term refers to a game in which the player character dies after one hit from standard attacks. This was normal operating procedure in the very early days of gaming when nearly anything that wasn't a background or bonus item would kill you. As gaming machines grew more powerful and allowed for more complex program engines, action games slowly began to adopt other methods of punishing players for taking damage (lifebars, health points, losing game time, etc.). One-hit wonder warriors still appeared in games, though some would feature only being stunned by contact with enemies to make the hero look less ridiculous. The 'One-Hit Wonder' term is sometimes used to mock games that would normally have a more complex health system other than dying from everything. Note that this mockery rarely applies to various shooter genres in which characters are usually hit by things that would probably kill them in one hit such as being burned to nothingness by giant lasers or being hit directly in the face with a missile. |
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