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Old Games Through New Eyes
I often wonder how history will treat video games. More so when I read a young(er) person who for the first time experiences a game of an older vintage. Games like Pac-Man, Galaga, Super Mario Bros. and Shadow Warriors (Ninja Gaiden).
A lot of games are given a new life on the various online stores available on many platforms these days. For some games moving to some platforms, there are some problematic conversions and compromises to be done, just to make them function on said platform. As brilliant as the touch screen is for interfaces, it's not ideal for a lot of games, and specially not for games that were originally designed to work with a physical controller of some sort. The experience will be sub-par, unless some really good way has been found to compensate for this. So far, I have not been too impressed with how conversions have been carried out.
One review I read on the app store simply stated that the game was too difficult, for what I could discern as that it simply didn't "hold the hand of the player" enough. Many older video games pretty much tossed you straight into the action without giving you a tutorial or instructions in the actual game. Comparably, modern games are littered with sections meant only to teach the basic mechanics of the game to the new player. Add to the mix that the controls of this game are not as responsive or exact as could be desired.
Have kids these days gotten so "spoiled" by the culture of tutorials and "go here, do that, then go here" mentality of gaming that they are unable to understand and get into the older games that lack these mechanics? I honestly don't know the answer to that one, but I would like to find out. Hopefully my worst fears are completely unfounded and kids are still able to grasp the simple complexity of retro games, even in this day and age.
The games of the NES, SNES, Master System and the MegaDrive were indeed difficult games more often than not. Those of us who started playing video games back then wrapped around brains around those limitations and created strategies for how to deal with them. Exploration and trying everything imaginable was one of those strategies and I still play games by it today, even though games nowadays follow a much more linear path. For my taste, even a bit too linear.
There is an exactness, an eye for crucial details that sometimes leaves the player breathless, when you think about the details of some games. They excel at being artistic and pushing the hardware to its absolute limits, while having a soundtrack that keeps you going and exploiting every possible feature of the limited sound chip. Not to mention the pixel-perfect controls and relentlessly unforgivable gameplay style. So many of these games have nothing to be blamed in terms of how you interface with it and failure is a feature exclusive to the player. Except if you are playing it on an aforementioned sub-par port to a different platform.
Much of the same style and general mechanics still exist, but you won't find it in the mainstream titles by big names in the business. Instead, aim your attention towards the indie scene, where brutal difficulty and pixel graphics still reign supreme. Often times these games are developed by people who grew up with the old games, so I guess the hope is not completely gone.
Like with Growl on the Mac, it could be a case of either loving it or hating it. Either you love the old games with everything that is their style and function, or you simply just despise it for all what it is worth. Everything can impossibly cater to every taste under the sun, so it would make sense that not all gamers like or even can appreciate the old games. I just hope for a future where they are remembered as the marvels of technology, interactive art and entertainment that they are, not being tossed on the garbage pail of the past, only to be forgotten by choice.
Robert Falck
Robert is a freelance tech journalist from Sweden. You can follow his posts here on Bagel Tech and on his site streakmachine.com or you can follow him on twitter @streakmachine.
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Robert Falck