I fondly remember growing up on sprite-based animations and fights. One Minute Melee is a competent throwback to them... but it's limited by its format.
You see, an engaging fight scene isn't just chaotic, nonstop action. It's art with an arc. It needs time to establish a sense of weight (with regards to force, speed, strength, durability, etc.). It takes time to build viewer expectations, escalate the action to shock and excite, and de-escalate for downtime to give the audience a rest... and then get prepped and raring for more. Constant high-octane action just gets stale and boring.
Which is why a one-minute timer can be frustrating. The animators usually have to fit all the action into one minute. You can tell that they're scraping for time, because preliminary action often occurs before the fight even starts (although the fight technically can't start proper until the timer begins).
Then it's one minute of explosive mayhem, and then it's done. Kind of like the 2012 San Diego Fireworks Fail.
The timer also adds predictability; you usually know exactly when the fight starts, and exactly when it ends, which can constrain viewer expectations.
Which isn't to say that it's always bad. Some fights do better than others at using time effectively, and properly charting escalation of the battle. Some cleverly subvert expectations, and some cheat on the timer entirely.
For example, Goku vs Saitama has two minute-long fights. Having two means that there's resting downtime between them, and the second can escalate even further for more energy and adrenaline.
One the whole, it's enjoyable; it's just frustrating that its biggest limit is written into its actual name.
Good, but limited by the format.
I fondly remember growing up on sprite-based animations and fights. One Minute Melee is a competent throwback to them... but it's limited by its format.
You see, an engaging fight scene isn't just chaotic, nonstop action. It's art with an arc. It needs time to establish a sense of weight (with regards to force, speed, strength, durability, etc.). It takes time to build viewer expectations, escalate the action to shock and excite, and de-escalate for downtime to give the audience a rest... and then get prepped and raring for more. Constant high-octane action just gets stale and boring.
Which is why a one-minute timer can be frustrating. The animators usually have to fit all the action into one minute. You can tell that they're scraping for time, because preliminary action often occurs before the fight even starts (although the fight technically can't start proper until the timer begins).
Then it's one minute of explosive mayhem, and then it's done. Kind of like the 2012 San Diego Fireworks Fail.
The timer also adds predictability; you usually know exactly when the fight starts, and exactly when it ends, which can constrain viewer expectations.
Which isn't to say that it's always bad. Some fights do better than others at using time effectively, and properly charting escalation of the battle. Some cleverly subvert expectations, and some cheat on the timer entirely.
For example, Goku vs Saitama has two minute-long fights. Having two means that there's resting downtime between them, and the second can escalate even further for more energy and adrenaline.
One the whole, it's enjoyable; it's just frustrating that its biggest limit is written into its actual name.