History Main / Instant180DegreeTurn

* This can get irritating in ''KingdomHearts: Chain of Memories'' when fighting enemies that guard attacks from the front. Such enemies can also turn around surprisingly quickly in the PS2 remake, but at least they actually need a couple of frames to turn instead of instantly flipping their orientation like on the GBA.

* In the Pokemon games, and person (including NPC's) are able to pull a 180 degree turn at any second without warning. This becomes increasingly frustrating when trying to sneak past trainers you don't want to battle

[[AC:WideOpenSandbox]]
* ''{{Shenmue}}''

*** To be fair, he wasn't complaining about having to turn, he was complaining about how the game forces you to manually face the opponent, and the above quote was about Spike saying '[[WallBanger you don't automatically face the enemy in a real fight]]'...

** Same goes for ''[=~Assassin's Creed~=]''.

* Players and [=NPCs=] can ''generally'' do this in ''WorldOfWarcraft'', so it is really obvious in the few situations where they can't. Several vehicles, such as vehicles on the Flame Leviathan encounter and mounts at the Argent Tournament, have a nonzero turning radius and time. It's generally the same as or close to the radius and time it would take for a player to turn if they used arrow keys, except that it can't be avoided by using the mouse.

[[AC:MMORPGs]]

** Actually, Soma, Julius, Yoko, and Alucard do take a few frames to turn around in ''[[CastlevaniaSorrow Dawn of Sorrow]]'', as well.

* ''DragonQuest9'' uses a touch screen to control the [[GlobalAirship Celestial Express]], so the train will gradually turn to follow the stylus. Even with a directional pad it will gradually turn to face the direction of the pad.

* SuperSmashBros has short turn animations, but allows the player to perform an action while turning around, thus possibly creating an Instant180DegreeTurn. The turn animations during dashes have weird properties, allowing for things such as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yTMrFboN2I Shellshifting]].
* ''Moon Crystal'' on the NES had a smoothly animated sprite which actually turned slowly. However, controls suffered a bit due to that.
* {{Shenmue}}

* ''TheElderScrolls II: [[TheElderScrollsTwoDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' mobile [=NPCs=] and monsters displayed their sprites from various angles. As programmed, this allowed them to turn around and turn corners. In practice, they always ran right at the PC against corners and walls and, depending on the speed of the computer, appeared to turn around instantaneously when approached from behind.
** They do instant turns in Morrowind and Oblivion, too. Since everything is 3D, they should be able to at least rotate gradually, but often they don't.
* ''StarFox Adventures'' for Gamecube had the characters skid a moment and stop before turning around, sometimes causing a bit of frustration when avoiding enemies.
* ''[[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic Battle]]'' averted this. Which Fight Pose Emerl has equipped is usually a cosmetic choice (though Gamma's causes him to explode on death), but it does affect how quickly he turns around. [[MightyGlacier Chaos]]'s, for example, is painfully slow.
* In order to equalize online multiplayer between mouse, keyboard and flightstick players, the ''{{Descent}}'' series has a fixed maximum turning rate. Though it's most like an FPS, this may have something to do with the fact that it also resembles a flight sim to a certain extent.

* Averted in the ''PrinceOfPersia'' games after ''The Sands of Time'': walking in one direction and then attempting to walk in the opposite direction without stopping would result in the character skidding to a halt before turning around.
** Same goes for ''[=~Assassin's Creed~=]''.
* The ''PaperMario'' series [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this trope almost the entire game, where if you do an instant 180-degree turn (or an object does) it shows the object or person literally '''turning over''' as if you were flipping the piece of paper over instead of turning it around in a more real-life way. This looks especially funny when long trains and such perform this, as it takes forever for it to turn around in the first place.
* Similar to ''Paper Mario'', ''Elasto Mania'' and its prequel had the main character along with the body of the motorbike turn although the wheels remain intact although their front wheel and rear wheel roles are reversed.
* The main character of ''ResidentEvil 4'' walks slow, but can turn around quickly. Thank goodness for this feature, it is easy enough to get stuck in the middle of group of enemies.
** The quick-spin was first seen in ''Resident Evil 3''. Since the series uses tank-style controls, this was quickly seen as a blessing, and every game since has implemented it (including the Gamecube remake of the first).
* Unfortunately averted in HarryPotter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game), Harry takes a good 1.5 seconds (from memory...) to turn. This is a video game; one second is long.
* This can get irritating in ''KingdomHearts: Chain of Memories'' when fighting enemies that guard attacks from the front. Such enemies can also turn around surprisingly quickly in the PS2 remake, but at least they actually need a couple of frames to turn instead of instantly flipping their orientation like on the GBA.
* The freeware game [[http://sanemethod.com/kCMSv2/index.php?f=viewArticle&ID=8 Sane]] features a version of this, with instant turns only possible if the character isn't moving, or moving very slowly. If the character has built up some speed, when the player tries to turn around, they have to skid to a stop first.
* Averted by the ''{{X-COM}}'' series despite battles being turn-based. Soldiers have to use Time Units to turn in place and it is quite possible to spend an entire turn just twirling around or, more likely, come up a few TUs short of being able to take a shot because you had to turn to face the enemy. On the other hand, it is one of the very very few actions that do not trigger [[CounterAttack Reaction attacks]] from aliens looking at you.
* The WildARMs games were notable for averting this; despite being sprites, turning in various directions will use animation.
* Players and [=NPCs=] can ''generally'' do this in ''WorldOfWarcraft'', so it is really obvious in the few situations where they can't. Several vehicles, such as vehicles on the Flame Leviathan encounter and mounts at the Argent Tournament, have a nonzero turning radius and time. It's generally the same as or close to the radius and time it would take for a player to turn if they used arrow keys, except that it can't be avoided by using the mouse.
* {{Toki Tori}} averts this and has the added bonus of him getting dizzy if you use it to spin him around too quickly.

* Averted from the first series in ArmoredCore, reflecting the size and the apparent difficulty maneuvering the titular HumongousMecha. The turning problem (if you can call it a "problem"; most players simply grow to live with it) are sometimes mitigated by boosters that explicitly allows for quick turns. In the 4 series, the trope is played straight, in that side boosters can be used to perform quick turns.
* ''Super Metroid'' had quite detailed animation for Samus, including turning animations for both standing up and crouching.

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* ''TheElderScrolls II: [[TheElderScrollsTwoDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' mobile NPCs and monsters displayed their sprites from various angles. As programmed, this allowed them to turn around and turn corners. In practice, they always ran right at the PC against corners and walls and, depending on the speed of the computer, appeared to turn around instantaneously when approached from behind.

* Players and NPCs can ''generally'' do this in ''WorldOfWarcraft'', so it is really obvious in the few situations where they can't. Several vehicles, such as vehicles on the Flame Leviathan encounter and mounts at the Argent Tournament, have a nonzero turning radius and time. It's generally the same as or close to the radius and time it would take for a player to turn if they used arrow keys, except that it can't be avoided by using the mouse.

* Unfortunately averted in HarryPotter and the Order of the Pheonix (video game), Harry takes a good 1.5 second (from memory...) to turn. This is a video game, one second is long.

* SuperSmashBros has short turn animations, but allows the player to perform an action while turning around, thus possibly creating an Instant180DegreeTurn. The turn animations during dashes have? weird properties, allowing for things such as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yTMrFboN2I Shellshifting]].

A very widespread trope in video games. All characters, no matter how slow they are otherwise, can turn their backs instantly. This is also due to difficulty constraints of implementing non-instant turning, making it one of the AcceptableBreaksFromReality.

!!Aversions

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** They can still do this in Morrowind and Oblivion, too. It's particularly noticeable if you stand somewhere a melee enemy can't reach, as this often results in them dashing back and forth erratically.

* ''{{Symphony of the Night}}'' may be the only ''{{Castlevania}}'' game to avert this. Alucard takes a few frames to turn around.
** Actually, Soma, Julius, Yoko, and Alucard do take a few frames to turn around in ''Dawn Of Sorrow'', as well.
** Albus, from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia also has a turn around animation. Turning back and forth rapidly results in a wonderful moonwalking impression.
** Charlotte and Jonathan in Portrait of Ruin too.