Am I the only one who doesn't see the appeal in making games LOOK retro?

[CM30]

I mean, I like the gameplay of many older games and I can see why people would want to revisit that... but why the graphics style and music of older eras as well?

Game designers didn't make their games look like that because they liked the old sprite styles and stuff, they did that because it was the best the hardware could do (or at least the best they could do with the technology given). Hell, games like Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Mega Man 1-8 maybe Wario Land 4, Mario RPG, Final Fantasy 6, etc were impressive for the time and made use of technology that made the most of their consoles. If any of the old world devs had access to modern HD graphics and fancy Wii U level technology, they'd have jumped at the chance to use it!

It's not 'clever' to limit yourself to eight, sixteen or thirty two bit technology to be retro, because to be perfectly honest your 'inspirations' weren't trying to be 'retro' themselves. And their modern day equivalents (game modders and ROM hackers) aren't trying to be retro either, they're actually trying to push the limits of the medium/system.

My honest advice is simple; stop trying to restrict yourself to outdated technology with your indie games and take advantage of all the cool things you can do with sprite based graphics and stuff now. Go on, use sprites, but don't limit them to 54 colours or whatever, or the amount of sprites/layers you can have in use on a SNES. Maybe take inspiration from Super Mario Fusion Revival or the like, they seem to use SNES style sprites well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkBZETAd1IE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns9s6yMHSvg

And for music, take advantage of the fact you can make it sound somewhat 'modern' rather than like an eight bit chiptune. After all, this is on a SNES:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73n7HTcmb5g

Really, I just find it silly to try and replicate the look/technical limits of retro games when you should be trying to improve on it while keeping the same style of gameplay instead. Anyone else agree?

 

[Aensland]

I love Code of Princess' look. It took a sprite-based game and forget the fact it is 3D for a second, the game looks as though it has depth even with #D off. The hair, weapons, knees, thighs, shins, breasts, hands, arms... all move as individual objects when the character is idling. I just tried to find an animated gif but I couldn't. Anyway, that is what I mean when I say I love my sprites. I prefer sprites over CG. Marvel vs Capcom 2 I loved graphically MUCH more than Tatsunoko vs Capcom or Mar vs Cap 3 - forget about the crappy combat system in the last two games.

As for music, I agree... make it sound fitting. The only time it should sound 8-bit is if the game is referencing that style, such as Scott Pilgrim vs The Word.

 

[go away hernandez]

i kinda agree, the whole retro look's gotten old recently, and it's not as original or creative as it used to be ; rather it's just boring now.

some games do it well, like retro city rampage but others just eugh. there needs to be a new way to get a new art style or whatever

 

[xSilentOmenx]

I think it is one of those "it depends on the game" things. There are times that the style can really make for an interesting game when it contributes to the story. What you've highlighted though, is people hoping to get credit for game mash ups with zero originality and zero plot integrity. In that context, I think people need to be more creative. Develop a unique game rather than hyping up a classic with your idea of what "would make it better" tales.