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Epic bosses and endgame rivals are commonly the most celebrated contenders in the annals of video game enemies. However, before any adventurer is ready to slay massive fire-puking dragons and power-crazed overlords, he first has to cut through hordes of their hapless minions. The lowliest of these are the hapless baddies that guard the opening levels and dungeons of near every video game.
While they're usually considered little more than cannon fodder to fuel a player's early leveling, a game's first batch of enemies play an important role besides giving would be heroes something to swing their wooden swords at. In my experience, the best way to learn a new game's control intricacies is not through tutorials or reading longwinded instruction manuals, but through facing beginner enemies firsthand. The best of these are tailored to their game's basic components, letting players master them through regular encounters.
Perhaps the most iconic example of a baddie that educates players more than it harms them is the Goomba. They're almost always the first enemies encountered in a Mario game. Because of this they are susceptible to the Italian plumber's most basic jump attack. Their lack of outright aggressive tendencies and leisurely pace makes them an easy target for players to practice this fundamental move on. A successfully timed jump rewards players with success. The penalty for making a clumsy leap is instant humiliating defeat at the hands of a walking mushroom.
Goomba's teach players more than how to attack. The accuracy needed to dispatch them becomes useful latter on when making carefully timed jumps across the platforms and obstacles that fill Mario levels. Jumping comprises the chief gameplay formula of most Mario games and Goombas are the perfect early obstacle to instruct people how to do it.
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The lowly Goomba's educational role is mirrored in Nintendo's other major franchise, The Legend of Zelda. Many different enemies have introduced players to the epic adventure series' mechanics over the years. Octoroks in the original NES game were easy for early gamers to dodge and strike. At the same time gamers to learn how to use the shield to guard against ranged attacks. Deku Shrubs latter served a similar role, giving Link a stationary target to practice deflecting projectiles.
The impish Bokoblins meanwhile offer a weak practice dummy for Link to practice his swordsmanship on. They are especially valuable warm-up opponents in Skyward Sword, where it's prudent to learn how to swing the Wiimote accurately to overcome enemies.
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Quick! Forget everything you've ever learned about fighting Zombies. Aim for the limbs!
Beginner enemies that teach important gameplay skills aren't limited to Nintendo. The zombies of Resident Evil and the Necromorphs of Dead Space promptly encourage gamers to learn to target specific enemy body parts to eliminate them efficiently. In an entirely different genre, the Sectoids of early XCOM missions give commanders a straightforward opposing force to experiment with tactics on.
Helping gamers learn basic mechanics isn't a glamorous job. The various beasts, minions, and mooks that fruitlessly try to obstruct the path past level one will probably never receive the gratitude they merit. Their pointless deaths at the hands of aspiring heroes build the foundations of truly epic adventures.
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