A question I was recently asked has been rolling around in my mind for days. “Why do you always play old games when there are better games out now?” The simple answer that came to me was “I still like the games I grew up on, besides new games are too expensive.” I’ve played that answer in my head over and over because it just didn’t feel like the whole truth to me. Why do I prefer playing retro games to the newer high budget triple A titles being released now? I’ve been really trying to distill my reasons to their roots to find what my real reasoning is. Let’s go through some of my thoughts together and see if you feel the same way… or not, it’s really a subjective answer.
First, the obvious nostalgic joy of reliving those early days in my life of gaming. There’s a joy that comes straight from my core when I SNES music start to play, or hear the ding of the GameBoy starting up. Even the iconic sound of the digitized voice saying SEGA brings back fond memories. There’s a special magic when we, in our adult lives, get to step back into our child minds. It’s the same kind of primal happiness that accompanies the smell of a Mazzio’s Pizza, the sight of a theme park, or the memories that flood back when we see the announcement of some movie being rebooted after many years. We all have different memories and sensations that trigger those memories. I personally can’t help but smile when I see the red glass light fixtures that used to hang in my local Pizza Hut, or when I find an old McDonalds Happy Meal toy at a garage sale. Those memories of a simpler time are comforting. There are days I’d give almost anything to go back to a time when my biggest decision of the day was whether I would eat a PB&J or microwave some chicken nuggets for lunch. The most serious disagreement I would face was Pepsi or Coke. The complexity of modern life can really wear you down, and the brief little moment of joy that comes from a good memory can end up being a vital part of adult survival.
As I continued thinking about this topic, I realized how much I prefer the way older games told stories and challenged me. It’s been many years since I’ve stumbled upon a new release that I could beat in a weekend that still told a complete, compelling story. I recently picked up an Anbernic RG Nano and decided to revisit Kirby’s Adventure from the NES. There isn't much story, but I was able to play a complete adventure, beginning to end, in a day (granted, I’ve finished Kirby’s Adventure many times before) But less than a year ago, I picked up Kirby and the Forgotten Land on my Switch and lost interest halfway through the game. The beautiful graphics, stunning soundtrack, and familiar gameplay couldn’t keep me locked in all the way to the finish line. I enjoy being able to enjoy a complete game without always having to commit 100+ hours to finally achieve victory. BUT, to be transparent, I do still have my games that I’ve spent an embarrassing number of hours in…Skyrim, Fallout 4, Destiny 2, Borderlands 2. But as life moved on and I gained a family of my own, I find fewer and fewer opportunities to knock out the colossal games of the PS5 and Xbox One. I keep falling back on my bite-sized adventures from retro generations of the past.
But the biggest reason I find myself defaulting to my retro library is the ability for those games to be accessible to anyone that picks them up. There’s a more comfortable learning curve for those older games and older controllers. It brings joy to my heart to see my son able to sit with MY mother and enjoy a game of Dr Mario, or Bubble Bobble. Games my mother taught me how to play when I was little, she can still enjoy with her grandkids. Modern games have more of a “get good or go home” mindset, while older games are commonly described as “easy to pick up, difficult to master” In my opinion, that’s how more games need to be. The complexity and difficulty of modern releases sometimes brings to mind a quote from Jurassic Park. Jeff Goldblum’s character says, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” I feel like some big-name game companies today suffer from that same mentality. Depth, complexity, twists and turns, surprise endings…those may be great additions to a game. But, at what point do we make games so convoluted and bogged down with excess fluff that we start to lose the reason people play them in the first place…to have fun. Years ago, I decided to give Bloodbourne a try on my PS4. I’d seen artwork and gameplay videos and was very intrigued by the look of the game. Bloodbourne was my first experience being kicked in the gut by FromSoftware. The feeling of being helpless and unable to play the game was a hard pill to swallow. I deleted it from my PS4 a few days later to make space for something new and I never went back. In fact, my experience with Bloodbourne stuck with me enough that I wrote off any game FromSoftware was making. I never tried any of the Souls games or even Elden Ring. A Game of the Year winner that I didn’t even consider trying purely because of a demoralizing first experience with the Soulslike games.
Maybe I’m just an old fuddy duddy when it comes to gaming, but I think there’s something to be said for how memorable the elegantly constructed games of the past were. I mean, I still hear people singing the praises of the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy IV and VI, and Super Metroid. Those games are still remembered fondly after 30 years. But, on the other hand, I don’t hear anyone talking about the Bioshock Infinite, Elden Ring, or Final Fantasy 16. Those were all great games…but do they have the staying power to be remembered as legends? Will they be spoken of with the same reverence 20 or 30 years from now? I’m no mystic, so I can’t say. I guess the only way we’ll find out is to keep the controllers charged, the discs clean, and continue…to game on.
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