The revival of classic gaming

This past week Wario Land Shake It and Mega Man 9 were both released. While both of these games are done in the vein of classic platformers, they also represent the two different schools of thought on how to handle the retrogaming experience.

First, we have modernized approach where high quality designs or in some cases hand drawn animation is utilized along with either remixes or new soundtracks designed to invoke the classic feel. Recently though some developers have opted to re-create the 8 and 16 bit experience right down to the flaws to give the best nostalgic experience possible. Now, both have their upsides and downsides as the modernized retrogames often feel not as difficult or are short with not much replay value while those recreating older games may be faulted for not matching the controls of those games they are trying to invoke.

Personally, I like both approaches cause they give a gaming experience than what is the norm plus they bring things back to the one thing that video games need to be more than anything else, they need to be FUN to play. While we are in an age of high quality 3D engines and graphics, many developers forget this one simple thing when making these games. I'll also state that two of my favorite games in the 6th Generation of gaming were Ikaruga and Guilty Gear XX Reload, both games designed to invoke the nostalgic experience, but also utilizing newer generation capabilities and giving replay value for both games.