Last week I received the 20th anniversary issue of Nintendo Power which brought back a lot of memories. I’ve been reading NP since I was 3 years old back before the Internet, and I still prefer to get my gaming news and information that way (that will be further discussed in another entry). There are two parts in the magazine that inspired me for this entry.
First was an interview with the creator of Mega Man, Keiji Inafune where he discussed working on Mega Man 9. Now that doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary, except for the fact that it will be released on Wii-Ware and look and sound exactly like the original Nintendo versions. I’ve been a fan of the classic Mega Man series for some time now and have played and beaten every classic Mega Man game on the consoles (Thank you anniversary collection.) . The Mega Man series to me represents some of the best hard core 2d platforming around . The challenge factor was always set on high (remember the laser beams of death in Mega Man 2? ) and demanding expert skills to survive. Granted the story wasn’t exactly award winning but the series had some of the best boss fights back in the day. Fans and the creator agree that Mega Man 2 was the best of the series, personality I liked Mega Man 3 for the title theme music.
Next source of inspiration came while I was reading what NP picks as the 20 best games on each Nintendo platform. Which was one hell of a trip down memory lane, as I played the majority of the games on every list (including every game on the SNES list). Now for the reason of this entry and title.The games on the lists (and of course the original Mega Man series) represent some of the best video games of all time. Graphically there is no denying that they can’t hold up to today’s modern consoles, yet their game play is still excellent today as it was when they first released. Take ActRaiser (not the second one of course) I’ve yet to see another game take on the god sim genre with action platforming thrown in. There is a reason why Super Mario Bros 3 and World are considered some of the best platforming games of all time. From replaying them these past few days, the level design is amazing and diverse. The feeling reminds me of playing Super Mario Galaxy almost. In most cases it’s not an amazing amount of replay ability that makes these games classics, but well polished excellently designed game play that turns these games into classics.
In most cases people have tried to recreate the success and haven’t been able to do so. Take X-Com which to this day we’ve yet to see a game take away it’s crown. To me Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 in the US) is the best one in the series and Square Enix hasn’t been able to top it since (12 came close in my opinion).Other times the game was an one shot deal that not even the designers have tried to replicate (Blast Corps on the N64 for example). Most often these games struck a chord with a select group of gamers, and became popular enough to attract a following, but not enough that it was seen worthwhile and profitable to create or port a sequel (Just like Star Control2 or EarthBound). I could go on about “why” but I think you can get the point.
I find it almost funny that when magazines put up “best games” lists that they are populated for the most part by classic games. If the list is for console games I bet Super Mario World (or 3),one Final Fantasy game, and at least one Zelda title will make the list, and for the PC I’ll bet we’ll see a Civilization title, X-Com, and The Sims, so what does that tell us? I don’t think quality wise we’re slipping but you can’t deny the number of unique and original titles have declined over the years. One reason is that the industry is growing up which leaves publishers less likely to give a few million dollars in development money for an unique title. Then there is a fact that back in the 90s we were still creating the genres that have become popularized today. Lastly, publishers want the guaranteed hits, the Halos, GTAs, and World of Warcrafts. I can take some solace in the fact that companies like Nintendo, Sega, and of course Atlus are still supporting the “out there” titles.
I would love to have a game I design become a classic, as to me it is the ultimate reward of a team to have something they’ve worked on become recognized for greatness that holds up over the years past the platform’s life time.
Josh
