Line #138 Main/TwoAndAHalfD


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7	[[quoteright:324:[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1donkey_kong_country_returns172_9548.jpg]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:324:[[EverythingTryingToKillYou Now even the background attacks you.]]]]
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10	Straddling the line between "style" and "genre," 2½D is an uncommon but generally recognized term. While there is some ambiguity among gamers as to what, exactly, constitutes "2½D," it is most commonly used to refer to one thing: Two-dimensional, side-scrolling {{platformer}}s with some three-dimensional elements, be they just graphics or interactive objects.
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12	In a "traditional" platformer, players can only move in four directions: jumping up, falling down, and walking left and right. That's two dimensions (height and length). 2½D games mess with this formula by adding a third dimension, but not dedicatedly. Players can still only control their character in four directions (generally), but there are some options as to where the extra half a dimension comes from:
13	* The player can only move in two dimensions, but the ''path'' doesn't have to. The "plane" that the 2D character follows curves through three-dimensional space, and the PlayerCharacter follows along that.
14	* Off-path objects. While the player is stuck on one path, there are things outside the path that can be interacted with.
15	* Layers: There are things visible in both the background and foreground, and it is possible to switch between paths to reach the goal. This gives the level a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin layered]] feeling, like a delicious, platforming pastry.
16	* Other tactics that are more localized.
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18	Sometimes, if an otherwise 3D game takes the time to have a [[{{Retraux}} 2D interlude]], those segments will sometimes be referred to as "2½D." Occasionally, 2D {{Platformer}}s that simply use 3D graphics will be referred to as "2½D", though that is less common.
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20	In older material the term 2.5D is sometimes used in reference to 3D games that use 2D surfaces, with various graphical tricks used to make it seem 3D (e.g. ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''), also called pseudo-3D. This specific usage died with the Game Boy Advance, the last well-known platform to use this technology, but it overlaps with the sense of only moving in two dimensions. The term can also be used for IsometricProjection or SpritePolygonMix.
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22	See also BackgroundBoss, which may or may not utilize 2½D characteristics.
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24	Let's not dwell on the confusing terms that are sure to arise for 2½D games on the stereoscopically-3D Platform/Nintendo3DS.
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26	Compare FixedCamera. Do not confuse with the [=2.5D=] theatre phenomenon, in which Japanese stage shows and musicals attempt to emulate the visuals and atmosphere of anime/manga/video games.
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28	If you want to pothole this trope, the Administrivia/WikiWord for it is [=TwoAndAHalfD=].
29	----
30	!!Examples of games that are 2½D or use 2½D segments:
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32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Action-Adventure]]
35	* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'' utilizes full third-dimensional environments with 2D character designs. All areas have fully explorable 3D settings while it switches to 2D for areas where combat occurs.
36	* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedChronicles'' uses 3D models while playing in a 2D style.
37	* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
38	** ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' is a Platform/Nintendo3DS remake of ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' that employs 3D models in a 2D playfield.
39	** ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' follows in ''Samus Returns''' footsteps by playing in much the same way.
40	** Most of the morph ball sections in the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' are 2½D. They use the same 3D graphics as the rest of the game but are shown in a side view and only allow movement on the X and Y axes.
41	* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'': Most of the games ''[[VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge Risky's Revenge]]'' and onward features a "layered" approach, where you can hop between the foreground, regular-ground, and background in certain areas.
42	* ''VideoGame/SuperCastlevaniaIV'' allowed Simon to use gates in the first level to go in front of, or behind, a fence. Doing so would allow him to traverse obstacles in front of or behind said fence. There were other similar parts through the game as well, including enemies that appeared from the fore/background.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Fighting Games]]
46	* One of the downloadable packs for ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' is the Black Mask campaign. In the action campaign, the normally 3D game becomes a side-scrolling beat-em-up that still uses the standard 3D graphics.
47	* The ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' fighting games for the Platform/NintendoDS allow you to 'line jump' between two planes to avoid attacks and play keep-away.
48	* ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ'' follows the same style as the ''Xrd'' games.
49	* Classic Platform/NeoGeo fighter ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' (and its descendants) allow a player to jump from the foreground to the background, and to launch attacks back and forth. The jumps were replaced by slides and the system was progressively refined over the course of the series until being completely dropped in ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves''.
50	* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'':
51	** ''Isuka'' features a "line change" system. Now imagine the sheer insanity resulting from a 4-man free-for-all in the already fantastically bizarre ''GG'' verse.
52	** For another example, ''Xrd'' combines this with cel shading, deliberate recreations of [[AmbidextrousSprite certain sprite-based issues]], and animation done so well, you'd almost think that it was 2D like the rest of the series. This continues in ''Strive'' where [[Creator/ArcSystemWorks ASW]] have utilized the high capabilities Unreal Engine 4.
53	* The 2013 reboot of ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' follows in the footsteps of ''Street Fighter IV'' with fully 3D rendered characters and backgrounds, but 2D gameplay.
54	* After years of keeping alive the spirit of "dot art" sprites, ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIV'' went for 3D graphics (previously, the only ''KOF'' games to use 3D graphics was the ''Maximum Impact'' sub-series, but leaned more into the 3D aspect of the game). The game remains a 2D fighter, however. Previously (for ''XII'' and ''XIII''), SNKP had been using 3D character models as templates to create sprites from but did not actually use the 3D models in-game. This style would also be used for ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV'', with a notable update to its art direction.
55	* The ''VideoGame/NarutoUltimateNinjaStorm'' games had combat similar to the Bleach example listed above.
56	* ''VideoGame/SavageReign'' allows an upper and lower plane. Especially notable is that in some stages, the "upper plane" consists of hanging off something [[RuleOfCool while fighting.]]
57	* Modern fighting games like ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' feature 2D combat with 3D engines, allowing different cinematic views during certain moves or scenes. (Such as Ultra Moves in the former, and Fatalities in the latter.) Around the same time, the little known ''VideoGame/StreetFighterOnlineMouseGeneration'' for the PC was also not full 3D.
58	* The ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX'' titles (''SFIV'' actually owes a lot of its design to the ''EX'' series), although many were erroneously under the impression that ''EX'' was purely 3D.
59	* ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'': The main gimmicks of the [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns Jungle Hijinx]] stage are the rocket barrels that launch fighters between two platforms in the foreground and background.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Platformers]]
63	* ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'' utilizes this at times, with you moving between various planes of the level set in the background and foreground. There are also some obstacles that attempt to use 3D perspective, like spiky balls that are attached to a chain and swing towards and away from the screen.
64	* ''VideoGame/AnotherSight'' has three dimensional graphics and two-dimensional gameplay, for the most part, although Kit can hide behind some objects in the foreground and background. Hodge and Kit are actually on slightly different layers of the world, which means Hodge can be blocked by things Kit can walk around and vice versa; usually Hodge is behind Kit, but sometimes he weaves in front of her to jump on foreground elements.
65	* ''VideoGame/AyoTheClown'': The game is rendered in 3D, but [[PlayerCharacter Ayo]] moves in 2D. This can result in him being attacked or pushed off a platform/ the stage from the foreground.
66	* ''VideoGame/BlackTheFall'': The game is rendered in 3D, but the PlayerCharacter moves on a 2D plane. As a result, he can be attacked by enemies in the background.
67	* ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'' uses 3D graphics and powered by Unreal Engine 4, but its gameplay is 2D similarly to past IGA-vania titles. It does play around with this, however, by having the game rotate the screen and Miriam can traverse areas in this fashion.
68	* ''VideoGame/{{Bug\|1995}}'': An experimental take on 2½D, the titular character (a 2D sprite) could move through a 3D maze.
69	* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadowMirrorOfFate'' on the 3DS is one of these, featuring 2D-style platforming but with 3D graphics and a few [[{{backgroundboss}} bosses]] who move in and out of the background [[{{multistagebattle}} as the fight proceeds]].
70	* The 3DS version of ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' uses both polygonal 3D ''and'' stereoscopic 3D graphics instead of pixel art for the character models, platforms, and backgrounds, without changing the side-scrolling gameplay of the original game in any way.
71	* ''CID the Dummy'', an obscure Platform/{{Wii}} platformer, is set on a 2D plane and uses 3D grapics, but the titular character controls in 3 dimensions. This, alongside the poor controls, can cause you to experience several extremely cheap deaths.
72	* Both ''VideoGame/ClockworkKnight'' games are 2D platformers that use 3D graphics.
73	* In the original ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen'' trilogy, the games were mostly flat. Starting with ''Keen Dreams'' in 1991, the games change to this perspective. As this was years before the rise of 3D modeling in video games, the developers at Creator/IdSoftware used collision boxes and 2D textures to make the 3D platforms, walls, and terrain. Keen, enemies and other foreground objects are 2D sprites.
74	* ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant'': From time to time, the gameplay is close to entirely a side scroller.
75	* ''VideoGame/CrescentPaleMist'' uses 3D graphics for the environments and visual effects, but the gameplay is 2D and allows players to jump between different 2D planes at key points at a given level. Many of the 2D sprites are also uses pixel art for the characters and hand-drawn sprites for the enemies.
76	* ''VideoGame/CrossbowWarriorTheLegendOfWilliamTell'': Most of the levels are rendered in 3D, but [[PlayerCharacter William Tell]] moves in 2D, barring a couple of levels that have him moving forward in a 3D environment.
77	* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
78	** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' was designed this way. It not only features levels with full-fledged 3D visuals that are still played in 2D fashion, but in some of them Donkey and Diddy have to use barrels to launch themselves to a part of the scenery that is located in the background and keep exploring from there. This reaches a logical conclusion in the Temple level of World 8 (Volcano), where the Kongs complete small tests to proceed further into the level's backside, instead of going forward or backward.
79	** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' expands on what ''Returns'' did by adding curving paths and Camera Perspective Switch during segments like barrel cannon sequences and RocketRide levels. Certain MinecartMadness levels also involve jumping back and forth between parallel rails.
80	* ''VideoGame/DuckDodgersStarringDaffyDuck'', a Nintendo 64 game, was a 3D platformer with 2½D sections.
81	* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemManhattanProject'' constrains the action to a plane, but can make the playable plane go around corners or allow the player to move between planes in certain areas by hitting the up-arrow in locations marked as such.
82	* ''VideoGame/{{Fez}}'' plays around with this considerably. All the action is 2D platforming, but the engine is 3D and allows rotating the level to form a new perspective. Manipulating camera angle to exploit the RuleOfPerception is a core gameplay mechanic. For example, if you have several disconnected chunks of a ladder, and you rotate the camera so they appear to line up, then as long as you stay at that angle you can climb them as if they were a single connected ladder.
83	%%* ''Final Exam'', a HackAndSlash {{spinoff}} of the ''VideoGame/{{ObsCure}}'' series.
84	* ''VideoGame/GarfieldsNightmare'': The game plays like a 2D platformer, but the levels' designs and assets are in full 3D. The cutscenes introducing the bosses, as well as the credits scene, are also played in 3D.
85	* ''Goemon's Great Adventure'' is done in full 3D, but the character can only move along one plane. The paths curve and branch off, but outside of towns, left and right are your only choices.
86	* ''VideoGame/GreyAnAlienDream'': The game is 2D, but has worlds rendered in 3D.
87	* Though ''VideoGames/HeavenlyBodies'' uses three-dimensional models for its characters and objects, you only move through two-dimensions. This makes the game's zero-gravity movement much simpler.
88	* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' spinoff ''VideoGame/HextechMayhem'' has a cartoony SuperDeformed 3D artstyle, but movement is restricted to a 2D plane. [[HeroAntagonist Heimerdinger]] notably attacks you from the background in his boss fights.
89	* ''VideoGame/AHighlandSong'' uses numerous layers, with the player only on one at a time. Each layer is the next mountain further along the path, and your goal is to find the exits that allow you to move to the next background layer (which then zooms in and becomes the foreground), again and again until you reach the goal.
90	* ''VideoGame/KeepOut'': The game is presented in 3D, but [[PlayerCharacter Mr. M]] moves in 2D. This means he can be attacked from any direction.
91	* The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series has a few:
92	** ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards,'' uses 3D character models that move along a 3D curving path.
93	** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' and ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' are traditional 2D Kirby games, but with 3D graphics.
94	** ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' plays with this by having both a foreground and a background available in many stages, with enemies able to attack from the background in a manner similar to Kirby 64.
95	** ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' has some pathways in a similar vein to ''Kirby 64'' and returning the background/foreground feature from ''Triple Deluxe''. There are also bosses that attack in the background similarly to the last two games, such as Gigavolt, Clanky Woods and [[spoiler:Dedede Clone]].
96	** While ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' is a [[VideoGame3DLeap fully 3D game]], it has an interesting mechanic created accommodate players to the 3D gameplay. The game calculates hit detection based on the camera's angle, so depending on the angle, if an attack looks like it hit an enemy, [[https://twitter.com/gosokkyu/status/1506883854636036098 it will register a hit even if the attack didn't actually connect]].
97	* The ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'' series, which uses all of the tricks listed above and more. Klonoa can even be controlled in three dimensions, even if he's limited to only two.
98	* Most platforming levels in ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' and its sequels take the layered approach. However, thanks to the LevelEditor, a good deal of user-generated levels opt for a different genre or disable moving between layers.
99	* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
100	** ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' danced between 2D and 3D without much warning. ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' might be a better example, as it stayed in 2D but had some occasional 3D-esque moments.
101	** ''VideoGame/MegaMan11'' is the first game in the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series to use 3D graphics, and still keeps the traditional 2D gameplay.
102	** ''VideoGame/MegaManNetworkTransmission'' is the only game in the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series to use 3D graphics, but it features 2D action-platforming gameplay similar to the classic ''Mega Man'' series.
103	* ''Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie'': In the game for the SNES, you could press the shoulder buttons to flip to the "back" or the "front" to avoid obstacles, such as in the very first level to avoid cars. The enemies could do this as well.
104	* ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'' features 3D visuals also powered by Unreal Engine 3, but its gameplay solely 2D like its spiritual predecessor.
105	* Despite its pixel art style, ''VideoGame/MutantMudds'' lets the main character hop into the background of the levels.
106	* ''VideoGame/NappleTaleArsiaInDaydream'' uses 2D platforming and curving, though linear, paths. It switches to FreeRotatingCamera for its HubLevel.
107	* ''VideoGame/NinjaBattleHeroes'': The game is played in 2D, but it has 3D graphics, to the point that enemies can appear in the background and attack from there. [[PlayerCharacter Saizo Kirigakure]] can't go back there to attack them, but he can throw ninja stars at them from the foreground, or summon Kamanosuke Yuri to attack them.
108	* ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'' is a purely 2D side-scroller, but has several levels with two layers. Sometimes the player can go to the background layer, sometimes the background layer simply has enemies that shoot at the player.
109	* ''VideoGame/Pandemonium1996'' was a 2D platformer in a 3D environment. Stuff like spiral stairs, or two paths at different heights splitting into different directions, was common.
110	%% Needs Context * ''VideoGame/RadRodgers'' is a 2D game that's rendered in 3D.
111	* ''VideoGame/ShadowComplex'', an Xbox LIVE Downloadable title uses 3D visuals powered by the Unreal Engine 3 with a 2D movement area. Some enemies and mini-bosses are also fought in the background.
112	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
113	** The 2D segments in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' are really this. The only thing keeping them from being 3D is the complete inability to move to the side under ''your own'' power (which you have in the 3D segments) -- you can easily be, and often are, moved in the third direction by bumpers, spiral paths, and paths with loop-de-loops.
114	** ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' also does this, but with greater focus on the 2D platforming aspect.
115	** ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' plays with this trope to varying extents with its two playable characters: Modern Sonic's use is similar to Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors with its 3D/2.5D shifts at certain points of a given level; Classic Sonic's use, on the other hand, is all 2.5D. The 3DS version, meanwhile, is entirely 2.5D except for parts of the final boss battle.
116	** ''VideoGame/SonicRush'' and [[VideoGame/SonicRushAdventure its sequel]] plays in 2D (except for bosses, in which the paths curve and twist, thus being 2.5D), but Sonic and Blaze are 3D models with outlines put around them to make them look 2D. This allows segments where Sonic and Blaze are "closer to or further away" from the screen during certain level specific gimmicks. The DS version of ''Sonic Colors'' by Dimps uses the same engine and gameplay style as the ''Rush'' games.
117	** The ''VideoGame/SonicRivals'' series for the PSP has 3D graphics, and linear paths that twist and curve.
118	** ''VideoGame/SonicCD'' had Metallic Madness zone, where you could go behind certain walls to progress and get powerups, before going back into the front again to continue the level proper.
119	** ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' brings back Metallic Madness, where it introduces a gimmick that lets Sonic enter parts of the level in the background.
120	** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4 Episode II''. The entire game is in 2½D, more than ''Episode I'' is, Sonic is fully rendered in 3D and the levels are in 3D but you move along a 2D path. In fact White Park Act 2 and the Boss Act has you running along a roller coaster track and there are springs that'll send Sonic to the tracks in the background and vice versa.
121	** ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars'' follows ''Sonic 4 Episode II''[='s=] lead, having the playable characters and zones rendered in 3D, but keeping most of the action on a 2D plane. Like the White Park boss (and Metallic Madness in ''Sonic Mania''), certain zones feature gimmicks that transfer characters between the foreground and background.
122	%% Needs Context * ''VideoGame/StitchyInTookiTrouble'' is a 2D game in a 3D world.
123	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
124	** ''VideoGame/VirtualBoyWarioLand'' has foreground and background areas given a 3-D effect with the system's dual projections. There's trampoline blocks in specific places Wario can use to jump between the two layers, and all of the bosses use foreground/background movement as part of their attacks. The first boss demonstrates this perfectly when flinging his ball-and-chain at Wario from the background- the spiked ball appears to come hurtling towards YOU, the player, stopping just short of crashing through the fourth wall.
125	** ''VideoGame/MarioClash'', also on the Platform/VirtualBoy, was basically ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' with action taking place on a separate foreground and background, connected (of course) by pipes. Shells could be aimed from one into the other. The cancelled ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hua4kVJDNKc VB Mario Land]]'' (which ''Mario Clash'' was originally a {{minigame}} from) also let Mario enter the background, and had top-down segments as well.
126	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' did this by occasionally letting Mario and Luigi move behind the background elements. Crouching on white structural blocks (the earliest and best-known is in World 1-3, but they appear throughout the game) would make you fall behind the block, which allowed Mario to walk behind bushes, structural blocks (but not item or breakable blocks), and even the end-of-level "curtains".
127	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' had, in various castle levels, fenced grates that Mario (and Koopa Troopas) could climb and switch from the back to the front.
128	** The ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' games all use 3D models in traditional 2D {{platform\|game}}ers. The final level of ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' takes a step further by having the Koopalings and the final boss attack Mario from the background.
129	** Some of the two-dimensional segments of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' are like this. In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', there are levels which go from 3D to 2D just by walking past a certain point. It's the entire gimmick of the Rightside Down Galaxy, but the Flash Black Galaxy and Honeybloom Galaxy have elements (former starts 3D, becomes 2D and turns back to 3D) while the latter has 3D for a secret star area. Bowser's Gravity Gauntlet is this taken to the extreme.
130	** The ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' theme for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2'' is like this. The objects used in this style have noticeably more "pop" than the ones used in the ''New Super Mario Bros. U'' style, and won't pass through walls or most other objects - donut blocks and springs are fully solid to both the player and enemies, power-ups bounce off enemies, and Bullet/Banzai Bills collide with walls and most objects, blowing up Bullet Bills while Banzai Bills plow through everything but (ground) walls, pipes and [[TemporaryPlatform donut blocks]], much like giant shells and Thwomps do. Both types of Bill will kill enemies, detonate (red) POW Blocks, and destroy bricks, hard blocks, and ice blocks, unlike in the other styles.
131	** The ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' series does this with many of its games:
132	*** While ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'' is mostly 2D, there are brief segments that introduce fire bars and platforms that rotate along a z-axis, as well as a final boss that attacks Yoshi from the background that many future games replicate.
133	*** ''VideoGame/YoshisStory'' on the N64 is another fine example of a 2D platformer with 3D levels, Yoshis, and such. It notably has split paths that branch off into the z-axis.
134	*** ''VideoGame/YoshisWoollyWorld'' has several 2.5D elements, such as bosses who attack Yoshi from the background and doors that let Yoshi go behind the walls. ''VideoGame/YoshisCraftedWorld'' takes things even further by allowing Yoshi to throw eggs into the background and foreground as well as use bridges to travel forwards and backwards in the level.
135	* ''VideoGame/{{Tomba}}'' lets the titular character cling onto walls to enter the foreground and background of many of the levels.
136	* ''VideoGame/{{Trine}}'': 3D graphics, sidescrolling movement. This occasionally gets you an odd camera angle that lets you see something that should be BehindTheBlack.
137	* The Super NES ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' game had doorways that Shaggy and Scooby could enter by walking toward or away from the player.
138	%% * ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' and its sequel are both like this.
139	* ''VideoGame/{{Wells}}'' is rendered in 3D, but plays 2D.
140	* ''VideoGame/{{Wild9}}'' had the usual forward/backward/jump on a curving and branching path for most of its levels. To shake things up, there were also a few sections that changed how the dimensions were presented (e.g. vehicle sections involving steering, but no jumping; or a boss battle fought while fleeing into the camera, so that only sideways and vertical movement looked relevant).
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Racing Games]]
144	* ''Super Scramble Simulator'', on first glance, appears to be a straightforward, always-move-to-the-right SideView game. However, the top-down map below is a few tiles high, and there are in fact obstacles that have to be shifted around.
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]
148	* ''VideoGame/DragonSaga'' has an interesting take on this. The game is in full 3D and some sections of the game allow 3D movement. However, most ''combat'' areas only allow the player character to face and aim attacks to the left or right with movement towards or away from the screen causing them to slide sideways. Needless to say the few sections of the game that allow 3D combat take some getting used to and reveal that the hit boxes for attacks are always much longer on one axis than on others.
149	* There's an example of the "3D game with a 2D interlude" variety in the 2D platforming stages of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsCoded''.
150	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': Some gaming media outlets classify the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series as this, depending on whose reviews you read. While Mario can move in three dimensions, the areas he moves through tend to be narrow and reminescent of traditional sidescrolling levels and ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' gets a lot of milage out of the "Layers" variant. ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' only complicates things by being a 2D platformer you can ''flip'' to 3D in some instances.
151
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Shoot 'Em Up]]
155	%%* If the top entry wasn't enough for you, try its SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/{{Astebreed}}''!
156	* ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'' plays like a linear 2D side scroller, but your homing missiles can home in on enemies in the foreground and background. There are also a few enemies who will attack you in (relative) safety from the background on occasion, particularly bosses. A few gain extra abilities to do this only when the game is played on Hard mode, such as the "monkey" mid-boss of Stage 5 gaining the ability to back-hand your ship from the background if you're not watching out for it; although it has some other forms of background attacks regardless of what difficulty mode is being played.
157	* ''VideoGame/EtherVapor'' takes it a step further, to the point of being marketed as a "2.75D" shooter. The 3D graphics mean that the player can hit background enemies with the lock-on and, at set points in the game, even change perspective in the middle of the stage, between VerticalScrollingShooter, HorizontalScrollingShooter, and behind-the-back corridor shooter.
158	* The Creator/{{Irem}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Horizon'' allows the player to move on the Z-axis between three parallax-scrolling paths.
159	* ''VideoGame/VerticalForce'' for the Platform/VirtualBoy had a button to move the player's ship between two layers.
160	* The VideoGame/RAYSeries is best-known for the limited degee with which the player interacts with the third dimension. Your two basic weapons are a standard shot that attacks same-altitude enemies, and lock-on HomingLasers that can target enemies below you that your shot cannot hit. Additionally, while the latter two games in the series, ''[=RayStorm=]'' and ''[=RayCrisis=]'', use 3D graphics, ''[=RayForce=]'' is notable for achieving 3D effects with ''2D sprites''; the effect is especially pronounced at the end of area 4 when you descend through a fissure into the underground city below.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Strategy Games]]
164	* ''VideoGame/{{Diggles}}'' has a fully fledged 3D-engine, but you can only dig and build in a vertical plane reaching down into the earth.
165	%%* ''VideoGame/{{Worms}} Revolution'', as well as ''Clan Wars'' and ''Battlegrounds''.
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
169	* The ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' series allows you to pan around and explore the school; however, all of the students and props are presented as paper cutouts. ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' continues this, even lampshading it by using 2.5D in a few places where 3D would normally be expected, such as the 2.5D Headphones.
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Other Games]]
173	* ''VideoGame/Progressbar95'': The Screensaver 3D levels. You control the progressbar on x and y axis as usual, while segments come from the background in several directions (and not the top as they usually do). Segments turn larger/closer as they approach, and can only be collected once they're close/large enough.
174	* ''VideoGame/SenseACyberpunkGhostStory'' is a SurvivalHorror game inspired by classics such as ''VideoGame/ClockTower1995'', leading to its focus on horizontal movement with some depth/height instead of fully three-dimensional environments.
175	* ''VideoGame/TailsNoir'' is an AdventureGame which plays like a 2D side-scroller, with 2D characters in a 3D environment.
176	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TwoAndAHalfD