History Main / FlipScreenScrolling

* Many classic {{Adventure Game}}s, including those made by {{Sierra}} used discrete 'screens' with no transition effect between them, with [=NPCs=] and monsters (generally) limited to the screen they resided on.
** Sierra's ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series, however, allowed wandering monsters to pursue the player from one screen to the next.
** Early text adventures typically divided the world into a grid, with a name and description for each square "room". When adventure games got graphics, this trope was carried over. Moving towards a compass direction to the next room became walking off the edge off the screen.
* The game version of [[Literature/GreenSkyTrilogy Below The Root]] encouraged the "edge of the screen" trick to avoid hostile [=NPCs=].

* The original ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' scrolled in full-screen intervals, both horizontally and vertically. Dungeon maps were explicitly divided into a grid of discrete rooms, but the overworld map was not.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' had map areas about twice as big as the screen, giving it both a smooth scrolling within a map area and a "flip" scrolling from one area to the next.
** The first GameBoy title, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'', had exclusively "flip" scrolling in both the above-view ''and'' platforming sections.[[note]]And a glitch in the former could be exploited for SequenceBreaking; for the [[UpdatedRerelease DX release]] they wised up and fixed most of the bugs surrounding the scrolling.[[/note]] The [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle games]] also used it on the overworld map, but added rooms bigger than the screen in dungeons.
* In ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'', horizontal scrolling was generally continuous (doors and gates aside), while vertical scrolling occurred in full-screen intervals. Later games have continuous scrolling in all cases, but keep the flip scrolling for the hallway just prior to the boss for the nostalgia factor.
** This led to one ''great'' GoodBadBug in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''. [[DemonicSpiders The Giant Bees]] that dropped nests full of [[MookMaker smaller bees]] that homed in on you could be taken out effortlessly by backtracking just enough for them to leave the screen and thus vanish from existence.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' had continuous horizontal scrolling, with vertical scrolling occurring in intervals of three-fifths of a screen; although offscreen enemies and items were still accounted for and could drop in on the player from above.
* All of the ''VideoGame/{{Glider}}'' games did this until ''Glider Classic'', with a CheckPoint for every room. The drawback of not being able to see surrounding rooms was remedied by 9-room mode in ''Glider PRO''. Rooms were titled in ''4.0'' and ''PRO''; the former even put the title of the room where you died on the High Scores list.

* The UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC oldie ''Mission Elevator'' displayed three floors, and scrolled two floors at a time.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGear1987'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' on the [=MSX2=] used flip screen scrolling, as did the NES version of ''Metal Gear'' and ''VideoGame/SnakesRevenge''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Faxanadu}}''. Averted in the PC88 and UsefulNotes/{{MSX}}1 game it was based on, ''VideoGame/DragonSlayerIIXanadu'', even though those systems lacked scrolling hardware.
* With many games that appeared both on the {{MSX}} and the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, the NES versions featured continuous scrolling within sub-levels in the horizontal direction only, but their MSX counterparts used flip-scrolling exclusively. To name a few:

** ''Castle Excellent''/''{{Castlequest}}'' (the NES version still flipped between rooms, but rebuilt them all to be wider than the screen)

* Creator/{{Activision}}'s ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' had this exclusively, as also did ''VideoGame/KeystoneKapers''. The sequel ''Pitfall II: Lost Caverns'' introduced smooth scrolling, but only for vertical transitions.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mantra}}'', being very closely inspired by ''Zelda'', did this. May qualify as {{Retraux}}, since the classic Mac platforms needed a lot more power than the NES hardware Zelda was built on to do tile-based games because of the lack of hardware sprite support.

* ''Kid Kool'' on the NES had continuous horizontal scrolling, but flipped on vertical transitions.

* ''VideoGame/KidNikiRadicalNinja'' did this in the UsefulNotes/AppleII and UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} versions.
* ''[[VideoGame/BombJack Mighty Bomb Jack]]'' and ''VideoGame/{{Metroid|1}}'' on the NES were careful to keep horizontal corridors separated from vertical shafts by doors.

* The UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC port of ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' (known as ''Gryzor'') scrolled by about two-thirds of a screen, in addition to its RatchetScrolling. The {{MSX}}2 version scrolled at screen boundaries.
* ''VideoGame/NazoNoMurasamejo'' had this throughout the game.

* A lot of early DigitalPinballTables used playfields several screens tall. When the ball moved off one screen, Flip Screen Scrolling would be used to show the next one:

* ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan10 10]]'' faithfully mimicked the scrolling behavior of their NES predecessors.

* ''VideoGame/{{Knytt}}'', '' VideoGame/KnyttStories'', and ''VideoGame/KnyttUnderground''. Creator/{{Nifflas}} actually averted this in his abandoned project ''Knytt Experiment''.

* ''VideoGame/AlienSyndrome'' (SegaMasterSystem version)

* ''Montezuma's Revenge''

* ''VideoGame/SmurfRescueInGargamelsCastle'' and ''Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures In The Park'', both UsefulNotes/ColecoVision games, use screen-flipping.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' had this exclusively. The sequel introduced smooth scrolling, but only for vertical transitions.

* ''[[VideoGame/BombJack Mighty Bomb Jack]]'' and ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' on the NES were careful to keep horizontal corridors separated from vertical shafts by doors.

* ''VideoGame/{{Flashback}}: The Quest For Identity''

* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' mimics the scrolling of many classic games.

* Early IsometricProjection games such as ''HeadOverHeels'' work this way, out of necessity.

* ''VideoGame/{{Skweek}}'' uses screen-flipping in the UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC and IBMPersonalComputer ports.

** Early text adventures typically divided the world into a grid, with a name and direction for each square "room". When adventure games got graphics, this trope was carried over. Moving towards a compass direction to the next room became walking off the edge off the screen.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' classic, horizontal scrolling was generally continuous (doors and gates aside), while vertical scrolling occurred in full-screen intervals. Later games have continuous scrolling in all cases, but keep the flip scrolling for the hallway just prior to the boss for the nostalgia factor.

* ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie'' had full horizontal scrolling, but flips on vertical transitions, like the ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' clone it is.

* ''VideoGame/MegaMan 9'' and ''10'' faithfully mimicked the scrolling behavior of their NES predecessors.

* ''VideoGame/{{Adventure}}'', with very confusing warping due to the {{Atari 2600}}'s graphics limitations.

* ''VideoGame/{{Faxanadu}}''. Averted in the PC88 and {{MSX}}1 game it was based on, ''VideoGame/DragonSlayerIIXanadu'', even though those systems lacked scrolling hardware.
* With many games that appeared both on the {{MSX}} and the NintendoEntertainmentSystem, the NES versions featured continuous scrolling within sub-levels in the horizontal direction only, but their MSX counterparts used flip-scrolling exclusively. To name a few:

* The AmstradCPC oldie ''Mission Elevator'' displayed three floors, and scrolled two floors at a time.

* The AmstradCPC port of ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' (known as ''Gryzor'') scrolled by about two-thirds of a screen, in addition to its RatchetScrolling. The {{MSX}}2 version scrolled at screen boundaries.

* ''VideoGame/{{Skweek}}'' uses screen-flipping in the AmstradCPC and IBMPersonalComputer ports.

* ''Cybernoid'' (originally for the AmstradCPC) flips from screen to screen when you reach the edge. However, it has a fun unit where an enemy appears just against the side you flipped in from.

Common in games designed for old computers like the {{MSX}} and AppleII which had no special video hardware for scrolling. Even the NintendoEntertainmentSystem only had enough video RAM for scrolling in one direction (though extra VRAM could be put on cartridges), so it wasn't uncommon for NES games to use some flip screen transitions just to avoid the programming complexities of scrolling vertically and horizontally in the same area. More recent games featuring {{Retraux}} themes may purposefully invoke this.

* ''VideoGame/KidNikiRadicalNinja'' did this in the AppleII and {{Commodore 64}} versions.

* ''VideoGame/SmurfRescueInGargamelsCastle'' and ''Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures In The Park'', both ColecoVision games, use screen-flipping.

* ''VideoGame/{{Faxanadu}}''. Averted in the PC88 and {{MSX}}1 game it was based on, ''DragonSlayerIIXanadu'', even though those systems lacked scrolling hardware.

** ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania|1986}}''/''Vampire Killer''

----
!! Early examples

* The game version of [[GreenSkyTrilogy Below The Root]] encouraged the "edge of the screen" trick to avoid hostile [=NPCs=].

** The first Gameboy title, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'', had exclusively "flip" scrolling in both the above-view ''and'' platforming sections.[[note]]And a glitch in the former could be exploited for SequenceBreaking; for the [[UpdatedRerelease DX release]] they wised up and fixed most of the bugs surrounding the scrolling.[[/note]] The [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle games]] also used it on the overworld map, but added rooms bigger than the screen in dungeons.

** This led to one ''great'' GoodBadBug in Megaman 3. [[DemonicSpiders The Giant Bees]] that dropped nests full of [[MookMaker smaller bees]] that homed in on you could be taken out effortlessly by backtracking just enough for them to leave the screen and thus vanish from existence.

* ''Super Mario Bros. Special'', a port of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' for the PC88, flipped the screen not at the right edge, but a few tiles short from the edge. Together with RatchetScrolling as in the NES game, this imposes considerable FakeDifficulty, since the levels (specially redone for this version) make jumping over screen boundaries ridiculously risky.

!! {{Retraux}} examples

* ''HeroCore'' (flip)

!! Other examples

* A lot of early DigitalPinballTables used playfields several screens tall. When the ball moved off one screen, Flip Screen Scrolling would be used to show the next one.

* ''VideoGame/AlienCrush'', like a lot of early DigitalPinballTables, used playfields several screens tall. When the ball moved off one screen, Flip Screen Scrolling would be used to show the next one.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'', which takes place in the same world as ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' (see above), uses this to help maintain continuity between the two games despite being ''A Link Between Worlds'' being set generations after ''A Link to the Past''.

* RagnarokOnline is TwoPointFiveD with a top down view MMORPG. Nearly all the maps are rectangles with transfer gates on the edges.

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' on the Gamecube features a form of this without the justification of limited technology. In addition, objects and characters continued to move and act, even across screen borders. {{Lampshaded}} by calling them "Acres". The DS and Wii games avert this with continuous scrolling, but still use 16x16 "acres" for internal purposes such as building placement (never across an acre boundary), {{cap}}ping geometry density (no more than 6 trees per quarter-acre), and so on.