History Main / DepthPerplexion

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''

* ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' is an early example of a game where your bullets go through walls.
* The ''Mega Man'' series and its spin-offs sometimes flip-flop about it. In ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'', Bass can't shoot past walls with his buster unless you equip a certain item. ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX6 X6]]'' made most basic projectiles unable to pass walls, yet in ''X5'' X's charged shot with the Falcon Armor can pierce both enemies and solid walls. One game later, the armor gets broken and Alia barely fixes it, so among other things the charged shot looks exactly the same but can't penetrate anything.
* In ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow]]'', the Final Boss (Menace) can hit you (for a lot of damage) with a foot that is clearly in the background behind Soma. It even is of a darker shade to emphasize that is indeed in the background. Even worse, there are very many enemies in the game (various forms of Barbariccia, the Valkyries, Demons, the various Mini-Demons, and Gaibon come to mind,) most of whom fly, whose attacks and AI can lead them off-screen, where they can easily prepare or launch attacks that you can't even see. Of course they are out of range of most of your weapons and Bullet Souls. Gaibon, for example, breaths fire diagonally downward, and you fight them in tall shafts. Sometimes as many as three at a time. All hiding off-screen, torching you when you try to climb up to them.

* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' has both DepthDeception and this.

* The "shoot through walls" variety is [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series, where Samus can only shoot through walls if she has the Wave Beam, which explicitly has the ability to penetrate solid matter. ''Videogame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' gives every beam besides the basic and ice the ability to shoot through walls, and it is most welcome in that the game also plays the trope straight without justification for several enemies. The hapless player then realizes the biggest offenders are the metroids themselves, who are all immune to everything but the scenery hampered missiles and ice beam([[ClassicVideoGameScrewYous and even then]], the ice beam only works on one metroid type, although its also the one type that ''can't'' pass through walls, while missiles are OneBulletAtATime in "II" as opposed to the rapid fire commodity they are in other games)

** Gets even more JustForFun/{{egregious}} in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' and later, where this is still in play, ''even though the game is now rendered in 3D''. That's right, now you can see what's behind those buildings thanks to perspective, but ''you still can't actually go there,'' even if it looks like you could. For example, there are several places where you can clearly see one tile of space between the north face of one building and the south face of another, but the game will not allow you to walk onto that space.

* Many strategy games from the 90s and prior had this, as a building would literally be a tile applied to the ground in a box that you couldn't walk through. A soldier would have to walk 'around' the top of a tower from the camera's perspective, for example. This trope vanished for that type of game by the turn of the millennium and thus is a DeadHorseTrope for the genre unless it's done deliberately.

* Many, many ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' hacks come under this if they use graphics not meant for 2D platformers (like isometric ones or three quarters view ones from games like ''VideoGame/SeikenDensetsu3''). Good luck figuring out where the floor is solid and where it isn't in levels like Dark Castle or Dragon's cave in ''VideoGame/BrutalMario'' for instance. Or which bosses are foreground and which are background in the same game.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' there was a cheat code for the Game Genie, STAGEO. It was a true GameBreaker, as it turned every enemy into the DemonicSpiders-esque Hammer Brothers. The Hammer Brothers could noclip through blocks, but it was never actually seen in the vanilla game. The hammers they throw are also able to noclip.

[[quoteright:317:[[VideoGame/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/perplex2b_8754.JPG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:317:The tower is blocking him.]]

* The Digipen Game ''[[https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25930 Perspective]]'' is ''all about this''. You can switch from controlling the camera to controlling a character from a 2D platformer, and you can walk from one wall to another in 2D mode.

* An InvokedTrope in a puzzle in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII''; the puzzle shifts the camera to the perspective of a statue overlooking the area, so that stairs, walkways, aqueducts etc. look like they're connecting to each other when in the 3D world they're nowhere near each other. However, since this is Olympus and the statue is magic, while the effect is active you are able to treat the "illusion" as if it's real, and thus beat the area in ways that would be impossible with normal dimensions. ''VideoGame/MonumentValley'''s core gameplay is based around the same mechanic. ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fez}}'' also have gameplay based around this trope, though invoked in a different manner.

** {{Vertical Scrolling Shooter}}s often allow any primary player weapon to damage both surface and air targets as an AcceptableBreakFromReality. ''VideoGame/{{Xevious}}'' had separate controls for shooting and bombing, but most later shmups have abandoned this. As for enemy fire, it generally has no altitude at all: wherever it is on the screen, it can hit you but [[DamageDiscrimination will pass through flying enemies]].

** {{Vertical Scrolling Shooter}}s often allow any primary player weapon to damage both surface and air targets as an AcceptableBreakFromReality. ''VideoGame/{{Xevious}}'' had separate controls for shooting and bombing, but most later shmups have abandoned this. As for enemy fire, it generally has no altitude at all: wherever it is on the screen, it can hit you but [[DamageDiscrimination will pass through enemies]].

** The series and its spin-offs sometimes flip-flop about it. In ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'', Bass can't shoot past walls with his buster unless you equip a certain item. ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX6 X6]]'' made most basic projectiles unable to pass walls, yet in ''X5'' X's charged shot with the Falcon Armor can pierce both enemies and solid walls. One game later, the armor gets broken and Alia barely fixes it, so among other things the charged shot looks exactly the same but can't penetrate anything.

** ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'' had submarines which could only hit other ships; they could hit over land. This is a limitation of the pathing code of both games, although it's made up by the fact that a unit that shoots another makes itself visible(and thus shootable) even if you wouldn't see it normally.

* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'''s most common enemy is a bat (in two sub-types) that flies "in front of" the walls. And it's definitely of the [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned]] kind.
** And because they are of the same color, they seem to fly BEHIND water and other objects that are behind your character.

** Also seen in ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Super C]]''.

** The same happens in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games.

*** Gets even more JustForFun/{{egregious}} in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' and later, where this is still in play, ''even though the game is now rendered in 3D''. That's right, now you can see what's behind those buildings thanks to perspective, but ''you still can't actually go there,'' even if it looks like you could. For example, there are several places where you can clearly see one tile of space between the north face of one building and the south face of another, but the game will not allow you to walk onto that space.

* An InvokedTrope in a puzzle in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII''; the puzzle shifts the camera to the perspective of a statue overlooking the area, so that stairs, walkways, aqueducts etc. look like they're connecting to each other when in the 3D world they're nowhere near each other. However, since this is Olympus and the statue is magic, while the effect is active you are able to treat the "illusion" as if it's real, and thus beat the area in ways that would be impossible with normal dimensions.
** ''VideoGame/MonumentValley'''s core gameplay is based around the same mechanic. ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fez}}'' also have gameplay based around this trope, though invoked in a different manner.

* This is [[http://kotaku.com/5820692/there-are-unexpected-problems-bringing-old-games-to-the-3ds apparently]] an issue with making 3DS versions of older games. Each sprite has their depth coded into the 3D version, which works great, until, uh-oh, enemy X existed on two planes at once in the original game. Another issue is bullets in an overhead perspective that make their way from a ground shooter to the player in the air; on a flat screen, the player just assumes the bullet was increasing in height as it reached the player, but of course, that was never programmed in; the bullet hits the player as long as the two overlap, with no regard to height.

* **Very** evident in ''VideoGame/GatlingGears''. Almost all projectiles exist on one plane, so bullets and enemy rockets will ignore walls, structures and terrain, no matter what elevation. You can take advantage of this, however - for instance, targeting air units in the same way as you target ground ones.

** While we're on the subject, this trope also affects at least one main series game: ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening''. The game uses isometric perspective but lacks Z-levels, so it's possible to, say, hit an enemy on the ground while swinging the sword at the crest of a jump because Link and the enemy are at the same height on the screen, even though perspective implies that the enemy is below and to the side of Link. This was fixed in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'', which use the same engine.

** ''VideoGame/MonumentValley'''s core gameplay is based around the same mechanic. ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' and ''VideoGame/Fez'' also have gameplay based around this trope, though invoked in a different manner.

** ''VideoGame/MonumentValley'''s core gameplay is based around the same mechanic. SuperPaperMario and Fez also have gameplay based around this trope, though invoked in a different manner.

** VideoGame/MonumentValley's core gameplay is based around the same mechanic. SuperPaperMario and Fez also have gameplay based around this trope, though invoked in a different manner.

** MonumentValley's core gameplay is based around the same mechanic. SuperPaperMario and Fez also have gameplay based around this trope, though invoked in a different manner.

* An InvokedTrope in a puzzle in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII''; the puzzle shifts the camera to the perspective of a statue overlooking the area, so that stairs, walkways, aqueducts etc. look like they're connecting to each other when in the 3D world they're nowhere near each other. However, since this is Olympus and the statue is magic, while the effect is active you are able to treat the "illusion" as if it's real, and thus beat the area in ways that would be impossible with normal dimensions.

* MonumentValley intentionally exploits this to create Escher-inspired levels, becoming the core element it's gameplay.
** SuperPaperMario and Fez also intentionally exploit this as their core game play mechanic.

* The "shoot through walls" variety is [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series, where Samus can only shoot through walls if she has the Wave Beam, which explicitly has the ability to penetrate solid matter. ''Videogame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' gives every beam besides the basic and ice the ability to shoot through walls, and it is most welcome in that the game also plays the trope straight without justification for several enemies. The hapless player then realizes the biggest offenders are the metroids themselves, who are all immune to everything but the scenery hampered missiles and ice beam([[ClassicVideoGameScrewYous and even then]], the ice beam only works on one metroid type and missiles are OneBulletAtATime in "II" as opposed to the rapid fire commodity they are in other games)

* The "shoot through walls" variety is [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series, where Samus can only shoot through walls if she has the Wave Beam, which explicitly has the ability to penetrate solid matter. ''Videogame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' gives every beam besides the basic and ice the ability to shoot through walls, and it is most welcome in that the game also plays the trope straight without justification for several enemies. The hapless player then realizes the biggest offenders are the metroids themselves, who are all immune to everything but the scenery hampered missiles and ice beam([[TheClassicVideoGameScrewYous and even then]], the ice beam only works on one metroid type and missiles are OneBulletAtATime in "II" as opposed to the rapid fire commodity they are in other games)

* The "shoot through walls" variety is [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series, where Samus can only shoot through walls if she has the Wave Beam, which explicitly has the ability to penetrate solid matter. ''Videogame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' gives every beam besides the basic and ice the ability to shoot through walls, and it is most welcome in that the game also plays the trope straight without justification for several enemies.

* The "shoot through walls" variety is [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series, where Samus can only shoot through walls if she has the Wave Beam, which explicitly has the ability to penetrate solid matter.

* Many, many ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' hacks come under this if they use graphics not meant for 2D platformers (like isometric ones or three quarters view ones from games like ''VideoGame/SeikenDensetsu3''). Good luck figuring out where the floor is solid and where it isn't in levels like Dark Castle or Dragon's cave in BrutalMario for instance. Or which bosses are foreground and which are background in the same game.

* As quoted, ''TheWizardOfOz'' for the SNES features some incredible examples. Aside from the mouse, you also need to jump on top of a large hourglass to progress, which looks like a background object, considering that half of it is behind a grandfather clock which you can walk in front of.

* ''VideoGame/LittleRedHood'' is supposedly in a 3/4 overhead view, but if you jump in front of a tree, your head bumps into the trunk. Another AVGN explanation is at the 11 minute mark [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEwgFmL31RQ here.]]

** Against the FinalBoss in the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 second game]], the giant robot's claws are to the sides of its torso, but if Sonic or Tails try to hit the robot while one of the claws is extended, the claw will kill them.