The act of making a game that is “retro” by design, or that closely resembles its earliest predecessors is no new phenomenon. Perhaps the biggest poster child for this trend is Mega Man 9. Games that are designed to pull at nostalgic heart strings, they try to be fresh by channeling what was once tired. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. Another side of this coin is the rerelease or the collection. In my last blog post I talked about Shadow of the Colossus as I had picked up the ICO/Shadow of the Colossus Collection. A more drastic example would be the GameCube releases of Resident Evil and Twin Snakes. We could also call upon the sheer multitude of times Sonic the Hedgehog has been rereleased.
In all of these situations, the games rely largely on their respective legacy to create interest. Even titles that are retro by design are also designed to be evocative of a certain era or play style that will appeal to those of us who have been in the game for a long time. Nostalgia is a powerful motivator, but it is made better when these games are actually well done. Because truly enjoyable gameplay is timeless, and breaking the gaming generation boundaries doesn’t matter unless it’s done properly.
Continue reading “3D Dot Game Heroes – Is Everything Old New Again?”