Nostalgia Bombs

Why is it that developers seem to be trying to cash in on my love for the games of my childhood? Is it easier to make a game like this? Is this because development teams are getting smaller? Why do I keep giving them money? Tonight we fight our memories.

If you look through game online game catalogs nowadays, you see a ton of games that invoke the style of yesteryear. It’s cool to see pixels around still as they definitely age better than three dimensional graphics from the same period; you show someone Super Metroid next to Star Fox and Samus will win every time. What makes this even better is when someone takes dead mainstream genres and modernizes them like Super Meatboy with precision platforming or Jamestown with old shumps. Each release potentially exposes someone to what gaming used to be, keeping in mind 12 year olds are younger than the Playstation 2 at this point.

So nostalgia can be great! But what about when keeping it old school goes wrong? Rabid fanboys (and girls) hurt the community. We've all been annoyed by them, Sega vs. Nintendo and Crash Bandicoot vs. Kameo; the majority of us could care less. It’s interesting how these scenarios mirror real life, I like to imagine a Sonic vs. Mario filibuster on Capitol Hill.

On another hand, how many times have you gone back to a game that just wasn't as good as you remember it? Sometimes it’s as simple as the version you know and love was terribly localized (Barf!) or poorly ported (anything Neo Geo) from another source. Seriously, go back and play an RPG (Legend of Dragoon) from the PSone era and try to follow every facet of the story while reading the wiki afterward. I guarantee you missed a few things. Badly designed games that got popular are a reality as well; everybody has a bad game (heh…Boogerman) they played the hell out of without knowing better.

I’m getting old. In gamer years I’m practically ancient. It’s probably due to the fact that these “retro” gaming developers are my age and played the same games I did. In the next few years we’ll see independent projects that resemble later systems; A Hat in Time is already happening for 3D platforming…I wonder when we’ll see “Harkens back to the days of Call of Duty!”

We should tread carefully when it comes to our pasts. Do yourself a favor and don’t download Final Fantasy 7 from Steam (keep the memory pristine), install Rogue Legacy instead. Make some new memories with retro inspired games!