I'm going to date myself--the first video game my parents bought me as a kid was Pong, which was followed up by an Atari 2600. The first console I bought myself in college was a Super Nintendo. I won't lie--I put a ton of hours into games like Super Mario World, Super Metriod, Earthbound, Street Fighter II Turbo, Donkey Kong Country, Ken Griffey, Jr. Baseball, and more. Since then, I've owned all 4 Playstations, a PS Vita, Gamecube, Wii, so many Nintendo handhelds up to 3DS, WiiU, and now a Switch. I love the Switch--back when I got my first Gameboy, I would have never imagined a machine that could so seamlessly go between hand held and docked with such high-quality graphics. The PS4 is also amazing--MLB the Show, Uncharted and Horizon Zero Dawn are visual masterpieces, but more importantly, a ton of fun.
So to the title of my thread--why is it that so many developers (especially indy games) choose to use 16-bit graphics? Stardew Valley, Into the Breach, Golf Story, countless Zelda knock-offs, Necrodancer, etc. I realize graphics don't make the game--there are plenty of bad games with good graphics and vice versa. Games like Link's Awakening 2019 (granted--the original was on the Gameboy and not 16-bit) can capture the straight-forward nature of that 90's era, but feels modern. I'd also love a modern side-scrolling Metroid game instead of the many 16-bit MetroidVania games out there.
Personally, I got my fill of 16-bit games in college and happily moved on to the PS1 when I graduated and got my first "real" job--and I never looked back. So what am I missing in the whole nostalgia thing?
PS--I have 4 daughters who, as you might guess, were all raised as gamers. Last night they all flew in to spend Christmas as a family and the first thing they wanted to do was start a Super Smash Ultimate tournament. They can all roast me--my fingers don't twitch as well as they used to!
So to the title of my thread--why is it that so many developers (especially indy games) choose to use 16-bit graphics? Stardew Valley, Into the Breach, Golf Story, countless Zelda knock-offs, Necrodancer, etc. I realize graphics don't make the game--there are plenty of bad games with good graphics and vice versa. Games like Link's Awakening 2019 (granted--the original was on the Gameboy and not 16-bit) can capture the straight-forward nature of that 90's era, but feels modern. I'd also love a modern side-scrolling Metroid game instead of the many 16-bit MetroidVania games out there.
Personally, I got my fill of 16-bit games in college and happily moved on to the PS1 when I graduated and got my first "real" job--and I never looked back. So what am I missing in the whole nostalgia thing?
PS--I have 4 daughters who, as you might guess, were all raised as gamers. Last night they all flew in to spend Christmas as a family and the first thing they wanted to do was start a Super Smash Ultimate tournament. They can all roast me--my fingers don't twitch as well as they used to!