Retro Revival: Exploring Classic Arcade Games

When “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” made the transition from black-and-white comic books to the big screen, Hollywood replaced the ink look with real actors and used vivid color for the lighthearted fight scenes. However, the Scott Pilgrim video game, which will be released simultaneously with the movie in August, took a very different path.

The designers chose an art style that was reminiscent of the Sega Genesis, a game console that is more than two decades old, rather than matching the movie’s live-action pyrotechnics, which video games have become very good at in recent years. Pixelated characters are deliberately used; The music is intentionally muted. Scott Pilgrim could easily be mistaken for a long-lost Nintendo game if it weren’t programmed for current HD systems.

One of the game’s 2-D animators, Justin Cyr, says, “We all grew up with the Genesis and all the old systems.” These games with a retro look evoke a certain amount of nostalgia. Sometimes it’s better to be simple.”

Scott Pilgrim is the latest game to appeal to the nostalgia of older gamers. Numerous independent developers and major publishers are making new games that look like older games.

Mega Man 9 and 10, developed by Capcom, are games that look and play like Mega Man 1 and 2 from the 1980s. The brand-new Dark Void Zero makes an effort to appear to be the modern 3-D action game’s 8-bit predecessor. A free Facebook game based on the 1987 classic shooter Contra was developed to generate excitement for the Sylvester Stallone film “The Expendables.” “Retro Revival” games were recently highlighted as the top featured category in Apple’s iPhone and iPad app store.

Both nostalgic gamers and game developers are drawn to this vintage aesthetic. Scott Pilgrim was developed by Ubisoft, which also developed Assassin’s Creed 2, a blockbuster game with stunning graphics that required a team of 450 people and a budget comparable to that of summer action films. Scott Pilgrim’s simpler pixel art required only 15 to 20 people. Ubisoft is able to take more risks with such games thanks to this much lower investment, which is why the downloadable game is priced at $15 as opposed to the usual $60.

“What people forget is that 2-D wasn’t broken,” says Scott Steinberg, founder of GameExec magazine, “there was a push for 3-D during the ’90s.” There has unquestionably been a movement to bring back 8-bit games to prominence.

Which retro games consoles are among our favorites? The SNES and NES surely merit a best position with noteworthy and incredible games like The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario World, and James Lake rousing titles that we actually know and love. Naturally, SEGA’s contribution to The Mega Drive, which brought us classics like Golden Axe, Earthworm Jim, and the Sonic series, should not be overlooked either. The handheld Gameboy, which introduced a generation of gamers to Pokemon and Tetris, the cult-classic Dreamcast, and the PlayStation One—which arguably irrevocably altered the gaming industry by introducing impressive graphics and sound and a vast selection of games to enjoy—must also be mentioned.

Naturally, modern consoles cannot compete with these old favorites. Over the past few years, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have all been competing with one another to create the best console. Game exclusives, increased online functionality, bigger memories, faster processing speeds, and better graphics have all played a role. However, despite the most recent advancements, an increasing number of gamers have begun to return to playing games on older consoles rather than the more recent models.

Anyone who grew up in the 1980s or 1990s will undoubtedly be aware of the growing trend toward nostalgia for the past over the past few years. Numerous band revivals and remakes of well-known 1990s movies and television shows are just two examples of the 90s trend’s significant return. Therefore, it is not surprising that, despite the impressive offerings from PlayStation and Xbox, gaming has undergone a similar transformation, with classic titles making a comeback. Even Millennials and Generation Zs are loving the retro trend, possibly yearning for simpler pleasures! It’s possible that Generation X is simply attempting to reclaim the excitement of their lost youth.

There are other options available to you if you don’t have your vintage consoles in the attic or basement or can’t afford to search eBay for a used one. You can play retro games on your modern PC or laptop by downloading game emulators, and you can also buy updated versions of retro consoles that already include some of the most popular games.

The fact that the most recent PlayStation and Xbox games are simply too complicated for an older generation of gamers is one of the biggest issues with them. The gameplay is simply too quick for many people, and the controls are difficult to master. So, it’s not surprising that so many people want to enjoy retro console gaming’s intuitive simplicity.

This isn’t to imply that that the rounds of the 80s and 90s were simple! In point of fact, some previous platform games, such as Donkey Kong, were incredibly challenging to complete, which only enhances the difficulty. Even for complete novices, those older games are much easier to understand than the most recent releases. With no steep learning curve, anyone can sit down, pick up the controls, and begin playing immediately. Also, the games are short, so they work well for our busy lives today, when we only have a few minutes to play them before moving on to the next thing.