Editing Player character (section)

===Character action games===
{{Main|Action game}}
[[File:Prince of Persia 1 - MS-DOS - Level 1 - Sword.png|thumb|left|1989 platformer game ''[[Prince of Persia (1989 video game)|Prince of Persia]]'']]
Character [[action games]] (also called character-driven games, character games or just action games) are a broad category of action games, referring to a variety of games that are driven by the physical actions of player characters. The term dates back to the [[golden age of arcade video games]] in the early 1980s, when the terms "action games" and "character games" began being used to distinguish a new emerging genre of character-driven action games from the space [[shoot 'em ups]] that had previously dominated the [[Arcade game|arcades]] in the late 1970s. Classic examples of character action games from that period include maze games like ''[[Pac-Man]]'', platformers like ''[[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong]]'', and ''[[Frogger]]''.<ref name="RG80s">{{cite magazine |last1=Thorpe |first1=Nick |title=The 80s: The Golden Age of the Arcade |magazine=[[Retro Gamer]] |date=March 2014 |issue=127 |pages=28–31 |url=https://archive.org/details/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_127/page/28/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name="Williams">{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xLVdDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |title=History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction |date=16 March 2017 |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |isbn=978-1-317-50381-1 |pages=79–84, 143–146, 152–154}}</ref>

[[Side-scrolling]] character action games (also called "side-scrolling action games" or "side-scrollers") are a broad category of character action games that were popular from the mid-1980s to the 1990s, which involve player characters defeating large groups of weaker enemies along a side-scrolling playfield.<ref name="Williams"/> Examples include [[beat 'em ups]] like ''[[Kung-Fu Master (video game)|Kung-Fu Master]]'' and ''[[Double Dragon]]'', [[ninja]] action games like ''[[The Legend of Kage]]'' and ''[[Shinobi (series)|Shinobi]]'',<ref name="Williams"/> scrolling platformers like ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Horowitz |first1=Ken |title=Playing at the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games |date=21 October 2016 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-9994-6 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxhmDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT94}}</ref> and ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'',<ref>{{cite book |title=Conference Proceedings: Conference, March 15–19 : Expo, March 16–18, San Jose, CA : the Game Development Platform for Real Life |date=1999 |publisher=The Conference |page=299 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UA-AQAAIAAJ |quote=what do you get if you put ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (or any other character action game for that matter) in 3D}}</ref> and [[Run and gun video game|run and gun]] shooters like ''[[Rolling Thunder (video game)|Rolling Thunder]]''<ref name="Williams"/> and ''[[Gunstar Heroes]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Viewpoint |magazine=[[GameFan]] |date=September 1993 |volume=1 |issue=10 |pages=14–5 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gamefan_Vol_1_Issue_10/page/n13/mode/2up}}</ref>

"Character action games" is also a term used for 3D [[hack and slash]] games modelled after ''[[Devil May Cry]]'', which represent an evolution of arcade character action games. Other examples of this sub-genre include ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'', ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'', and ''[[Bayonetta]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hovermale |first1=Chris |title=How Devil May Cry's arcade inspirations shaped character action games |url=https://www.destructoid.com/stories/how-devil-may-cry-s-arcade-inspirations-shaped-character-action-games-545783.phtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210518055447/https://www.destructoid.com/stories/how-devil-may-cry-s-arcade-inspirations-shaped-character-action-games-545783.phtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 18, 2021 |access-date=30 April 2021 |work=[[Destructoid]] |date=2019-03-10 }}</ref>