History Main / ObstructiveForeground

-->-- '''[=JdG=]''' ([[http://www.joueurdugrenier.fr/joueur-du-grenier-les-jeux-disney/ reviewing]] the UsefulNotes/MegaDrive version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''), ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier''

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' LicensedGame for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, at one point in the Burger World level, the two titular protagonists are supposed to drop a rat that ate [[PlotCoupon a piece of their tickets to a GWAR concert]] and some fries into the fryer so they can serve them to a customer and he can throw the piece of the ticket back up (ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext). The trick to getting the rat in the fryer is to select it, then use the C button, instead of selecting the drop option, as the drop option is only for dropping things on the floor. Thus, if you drop the rat on the floor by accident, you won't be able to see where you dropped it, due to the kitchen's foreground obstructing the view of the floor.

* The UsefulNotes/MegaDrive version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' makes some use of this in the opening castle level with ForcedPerspective and parallax scrolling.

** Oddly, it creates a case of [[TheAIIsACheatingBastard "The Humans Are All Cheating Bastards"]] due to the touch screen map in the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS edition. The human player can remember level structures and traps (besides using the second screen to see weapons and traps from all over the level) while the computer doesn't know better are swerves left and right while slowing down.

* The UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum game ''Saboteur'', for its time, had large (though single-color) sprites, but they could still be masked by foreground objects, particularly [[CrateExpectations crates and barrels]].

* This is one of the suggested uses of the canvas feature of the UsefulNotes/SuperGameBoy, in its accompanying PlayersGuide.

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** Played straight in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid,'' which contains hidden passages completely obscured by, say, a wall. Most of these passages subvert this trope by vanishing under scrutiny when Samus uses the [[XRayVision X-ray visor]], while [[GuideDangIt others do not.]]
** Subverted in ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission,'' in which hidden passages like the ones seen in ''Super Metroid'' turn translucent when Samus walks into them, though you do have to find them yourself first.
* Used subtly in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage 2'' and ''3''. Although not particularly obstructive, it can cause some problems when you're being clobbered behind a pillar in the subway.
** In fact, both games use this feature to hide rare items. The first level in the second game had a 1UP right in the start and the first level in the 3rd game had a 1UP and a Gold bar hidden in the start as well. The fight against Sheva in the bad ending path had several health items hidden in the foreground sprites of the crowd.
* The old Creator/{{Namco}} RunAndGun game, ''Finest Hour'', is pretty bad with this. You assume the role of a robot shooting various enemies on a tropical island, and somehow the game sees fit to have your character placed ''halfway'' in the background -- so every step you take, you'll be obscured by palm trees, rocks, tall grass, wreckage and other obstacles, something that's really ''not'' desirable when you're fending off enemies surrounding you from all corners. There's even a stage where you're battling in a bombed out building, and you can only see (and control) your hero by looking through the windows.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'' also gives players hell with this trope. Especially in the duel mode.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' does this with metal girders in the Star Light Zone, and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog3'' does likewise with plant leaves in Angel Island Zone. ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', however, is specifically programmed to defy this: there are many leaves in the foreground of Aquatic Ruin Zone, but enemies behind those leaves can't hurt you.
** And that's ''toned down'' compared to an [[https://tcrf.net/Prerelease:Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(Genesis)/1990_Tokyo_Toy_Show early prototype of Sonic 1]], which had even more foreground clutter.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ristar}}'' does this in the first level as part of gameplay. The second enemy you encounter is an easily dispatched rabbit enemy. This weak enemy still manages to catch first-time players off-guard enough to forfeit a [[HitPoints star]], because the rabbit spawns behind a bush. Ristar, from his perspective, should be able to see, but the player certainly can't.
* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' has a temple stage with animated candles in the foreground. They don't block the view, much, but they can be distracting at times.
* Arguably the best one-handed weapon in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' - indeed, arguably the most powerful weapon of any kind in Skyrim - has a unique downside: It's enormous. Equipping it blocks a full third of your vision. Have fun.
* Sometimes appears in the ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'' games. While usually there's meant to be a cutaway graphic that surrounds your katamari when you're behind something big, it doesn't always work...
* The Forest of Illusion in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' has several trees blocking your view.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
** In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', the Nintendogs and Mr. Resetti Assist Trophies combine this with InterfaceScrew, and are there solely to take up screen space. Gods help you if you're on a small stage, or worse, a moving one. Not only that, but [[TheAllSeeingAI the AI isn't affected by it at all]].
* ''VideoGame/MarioKart DS'' and Wii have the Blooper item which squirts ink on opponents' screens, obstructing their view. Since CPU opponents don't have to look at a screen, they will swerve back and forth instead.
** Oddly, it creates a case of [[TheAIIsACheatingBastard "The Humans Are All Cheating Bastards"]] due to the touch screen map in the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS edition. The human player can remember level structures and traps (besides using the second screen to see weapons and traps from all over the level) while the computer doesn't know better are swerves left and right while slowing down.
*** Not to mention using the map to drive while your view is obstructed, which is so easy to make the ink blocking your view entirely pointless. It makes the computer opponent getting a Blooper a relief, considering the alternative of getting a Lightning bolt, a red shell or (god help you) a ''blue shell.''

* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' has it in a few locations.
* So does ''VideoGame/{{Gish}}'' when trying to get to some secrets.
* In ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen Episode I'', you could walk through pipes but not see through them. They were perfect for hiding Gargs.
* Level 9 of ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' has too many view-obstructing tubes you have to fight enemies around.

* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' has a couple of trees at the beginning of the Cart segment. Thankfully, they're not used to make the game harder.
* Freaking Air Man's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan2''. No, [[MemeticMutation I can defeat Air Man,]] I just can't defeat the clouds blocking enemies and their attacks around halfway through the stage.

* Used in one stage of the second NES VideoGame/NinjaGaiden, to infuriating effect.
* Several dungeons in the ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' series will have obstructions in the foreground that will block your view of chests and things. While the [[VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile2Silmeria second game]] always puts a prompt on screen to open a chest, the previous game does no such thing, meaning you can walk right by chests without ever even knowing they're there. Thankfullly, there's an item that causes a floating orb of light to appear near your character when there's unopened treasure chests in the room.

* Low-lying foreground terrain can occasionally obscure items or traps in ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'', but fortunately enemies are always tall enough to be easily seen.
* ''VideoGame/{{Sacred}} 2'' has a fixed top-down camera angle, but fades out tree canopies and ceilings so you can see what you're doing without zooming in.

* ''VideoGame/{{Torchlight}}'' has characters and enemies obstructed by 'foreground' very often but shows obstructed portions of all interactive objects as translucent color-coded versions of themselves ''through'' the foreground instead of removing it. Unfortunately non-interactive objects with hit boxes (read: obstacles) aren't given this effect so annoying situations still happen occasionally.
* ''VideoGame/AladdinVirginGames'' made annoying use of this.
* Of all games ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' did fall prone to this with the release of the Firelands raid. Even with the movable camera, one boss in particular (Lord Ryolith) is so huge and massive that it's borderline impossible to target the small adds the ranged have to kill when he is in the way. Oh, and he WILL be in the way, because he aimlessly wanders around his platform and can only be directed in certain limits.
** Also, in ''World of Warcraft'', partway into the main questline of Jade Forest, the Horde version of the "sniper" quest is particularly annoying because you zoom in on the Jinyu village. Said village is underneath trees with large amounts of hanging vines with large leaves which obstructs the view of the things you're supposed to shoot to save the friendly NPC from the enemies. The Alliance version of this quest does not suffer from this particular annoyance; there are no similar obstructions near the Hozen village.
** [=WoW=] has had this problem since the beginning. In forests you can't see your own character or anything else because of trees; indoors you can't see because the camera ends up behind wall hangings. You'd think after Fallout figured it out 22 years ago, that they could too...
* This is one of the suggested uses of the canvas feature of the UsefulNotes/SuperGameBoy, in its accompanying PlayersGuide.

* The final stage of ''VideoGame/TimeSlip''. [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFsUp-o60lg/VCbvsx1Iy6I/AAAAAAAAT-s/iUcwSACI6yA/s1600/ts29.png Vines, trees, moss, assorted floral life]] galore, ensuring you're going to see zilch onscreen half the time.
* ''VideoGame/TowerClimb'' can have creatures totally obscured by bushes, witches, or whatever else is in the foreground. Seeing as this is a NintendoHard action platformer where you're a OneHitPointWonder, this is FakeDifficulty of the highest order.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', which fade any obstructive graphics out in a circle around the player's position.
* In ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII: 3rd Strike'', Chun Li's stage has a table in the foreground, and it is possible for the player to crouch behind it to partially cover themselves. This strategy was actually used by the high-level Japanese player Nuki [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pe_yK71Zqc&feature=player_detailpage#t=144s during the finals of Evo 2008.]]
* ''[[VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures Rocket Knight Adventures]]'' has a clever example in the beginning of the third level. The foreground obstructs your view of certain platforms, but there is a rising and falling pool of reflective lava, which you can use to see your reflection and cross the platforms safely. Just be careful not to fall in the lava, or [[OneHitKill you'll instantly lose a life]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendaryAxe'', the foreground gets in the way in many of the levels.

* In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'', in TheWildWest world there are clouds of smoke(?) that act like this, possibly deliberately.
* In ''VideoGame/TheTwistedTalesOfSpikeMcFang'', the ThreeQuartersView graphics allow the player's view of the action to be obscured by large trees and outside pillars.
* ''VideoGame/{{Terranigma}}'' abuses ThreeQuartersView in [[TheLostWoods Norfest Forest]]. Not only do the tall trees make enemies difficult to spot, there is also one hidden chest.

* The UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum game ''Saboteur'', for its time, had large (though single-color) sprites, but they could still be masked by foreground objects, particularly [[CrateExpectations crates and barrels]].
* A frequent element in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' franchise.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' LicensedGame for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, at one point in the Burger World level, the two titular protagonists are supposed to drop a rat that ate [[PlotCoupon a piece of their tickets to a GWAR concert]] and some fries into the fryer so they can serve them to a customer and he can throw the piece of the ticket back up (ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext). The trick to getting the rat in the fryer is to select it, then use the C button, instead of selecting the drop option, as the drop option is only for dropping things on the floor. Thus, if you drop the rat on the floor by accident, you won't be able to see where you dropped it, due to the kitchen's foreground obstructing the view of the floor.
* ''VideoGame/{{Yahwa}}'', an arcade-style beat 'em up (made by an Indie Korean company on a shoestring budget) trying to emulate ''Streets of Rage'', is quite bad about this. Sometimes the onscreen obstruction will censor more than three-quarters of the screen for ''several seconds'', making it literally impossible to defend yourself. The [[https://youtu.be/8A8Y_E2AjHE?t=683 subway stage]], for instance, is borderline trying to ''stop you from enjoying the game''.
* Quite common in the ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' series and made worse by how some enemies always hide behind bushes, crystals or other things, even though the Yoshis themselves should be able to see them, and react accordingly, just fine.
* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'' likes to hide enemies in bushes; even indoors. The console version allows you to lock on to unseen enemies, but it's disabled on Hard mode. It's always lovely when you are missing one enemy who then shoots you from his hideout, which is especially annoying due to the trial-and-error gameplay.
* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' is a [[{{Retraux}} throwback]] to 1930's cartoons with 1980's gameplay, including obstructive foreground elements.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', the entrance to a certain cave--[[GuideDangIt the only place you can catch Gible, even though the Pokedex misleadingly indicates that a less-invisible cave nearby would also work]]--is under a bike bridge, hidden by the top-down viewpoint.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartsNightmare'', the trees in the foreground of [[HubWorld Windy World]] block your view of anything behind them, whether it be enemies, manholes, or the very pages of Bart's school report you need to complete the game.
* One of the many, many problems VideoGame/{{Daikatana}} had was the titular sword. When in use, it blocked half the screen, and as it leveled up, it got even more annoying, growing sparks that ran up and down the blade, and then purple neon tubes flickering around it, making the tiny, short enemies in dark places you had to hit with it nearly impossible to see.

* Some stages of ''VideoGame/BrutalPawsOfFury'' have this, most notably the Screen Room in the Genesis and Sega CD versions; one the middle third of the arena is fully visible, with the fighters being silhouetted behind enormous paper screens on the left and right sides.
* The UsefulNotes/MegaDrive version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' makes some use of this in the opening castle level with ForcedPerspective and parallax scrolling.
* ''VideoGame/DemonSkin'' has the foreground blocking your onscreen character, frustratingly when you're trying to jump over platforms or when battling large number of mooks. From rocks to huge trees, cavern walls, and even passing mooks.
* ''VideoGame/DesertAssault'' have these all over the place. The first stage set in some docks have a crane in the foreground that covers half the screen, while the stage in a ruined city have bombed-out buildings getting in your way of vision. These tends to show up in areas where you're very likely to run into bullets and die.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Common in certain maps and locations for the original SNES game, happens in dungeons and cities which had long invisible corridors inside of what would appear to be normal walls (A example would be the Gotha Castle, having a secret door right to the priest), the simple 2D maps will confuse players during their first stay in the area; the Nintendo DS and [=PS2=] versions avert this by having more detailed maps and camera movement.
* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' has several forms of this. In addition to the ruins of the setting providing many shadowy lumps and angles to pass your field of view during gameplay, there is also an area where creatures crawl rapidly past the camera. Arguably the most unfortunate example, however, are the ridges of gravel and stone that decorate the walls; they block your view of the actual, physical wall your character can touch, which can be a real problem when it comes to timing wall jumps.

* VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy has a couple of trees at the beginning of the Cart segment. Thankfully, they're not used to make the game harder.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yahwa}}'', an arcade-style beat 'em up trying to emulate ''Streets of Rage'', is quite bad about this. Sometimes the onscreen obstruction will censor more than three-quarters of the screen for ''several seconds'', making it literally impossible to defend yourself. The [[https://youtu.be/8A8Y_E2AjHE?t=683 subway stage]], for instance, is borderline trying to ''stop you from enjoying the game''.

->"Note we are in one of those many games where the devs thought 'Yay, cool, I'll put stuff on the foreground, it looks so pretty!' Okay, listen to me, devs: no, putting things in the foreground that block your view isn't cool, it's stupid. When showing the movie ''Fantasia,'' you won't splash a spectator's face in the middle of the screen."

** And that's ''toned down'' compared to an [[https://tcrf.net/Prerelease:Sonic_the_Hedgehog_%28Genesis%29#1990_Tokyo_Toy_Show early prototype of Sonic 1]], which had even more foreground clutter.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Common in certain maps and locations for the original SNES game, happens in dungeons and cities which had long invisible corridors inside of what would appear to be normal walls (A example would be the Gotha Castle, having a secret door right to the priest), the simple 2D maps will confuse players during their first stay in the area; the Nintendo DS and PS2 versions avert this by having more detailed maps and camera movement.

** A similar effect happened with the short-lived [=FoxTrax=] puck-tracking system, in which the blue glow that was superimposed over the puck would end up being layered over the near boards. (Ironically, said glow was put in at least partially so help viewers see the puck better on their TVs, since this was still the age of the CRT and fuzzy pictures.)

->''"Note we are in one of those many games where the devs thought 'Yay, cool, I'll put stuff on the foreground, it looks so pretty!' Okay, listen to me, devs: no, putting things in the foreground that block your view isn't cool, it's stupid. When showing the movie ''Fantasia'', you won't splash a spectator's face in the middle of the screen."''

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid,'' which contains hidden passages completely obscured by, say, a wall. Most of these passages subvert this trope by vanishing under scrutiny when Samus uses the [[XRayVision X-ray visor]], while [[GuideDangIt others do not.]]

-->-- '''[=JdG=]''' ([[http://www.joueurdugrenier.fr/joueur-du-grenier-les-jeux-disney/ reviewing]] the UsefulNotes/MegaDrive version of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}''), ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier''

** A similar effect happened with the short-lived [=FoxTrax=] puck-tracking system, in which the blue glow that was superimposed over the puck would end up being layered over the near boards.

Compare BehindTheBlack.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' does this with metal girders in the Star Light Zone, and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog3'' does likewise with plant leaves in Angel Island Zone.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ristar}}'' does this in the first level as part of gameplay. The second enemy you encounter is an easily dispatched rabbit enemy. This weak enemy still manages to catch many first-timers off-guard enough to forfeit a [[HitPoints star]]. Why? Because the rabbit spawns behind a bush. Ristar, from his perspective, should be able to see, but the player certainly can't.

** The closest ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' had was a Pokemon capable of plunging the whole stage in darkness, but this is more InterfaceScrew.
** Shows up properly in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' with the Nintendogs and Mr. Resetti "Assist Trophies", who are there solely to take up screen space. Gods help you if you're on a small stage, or worse, a moving one. Not only that, but [[TheAllSeeingAI the AI isn't affected by it at all]].

* VideoGame/LaMulana has it in a few locations.