2-D Please
"Memories..."
“Castlevania: Symphony of the Night”, “Super Metroid”, “Contra”, and “Super Mario Bros.” What do these games have in common? Well, besides being some of the best selling and most critically acclaimed games of all time, they were all in glorious 2-D.
These relics of the past still hold up remarkably well, even alongside today’s Unreal 3 powered behemoths. The reason is simple; 2-D games are able to capture a part of gaming that today’s games simply cannot match.
Blame the PS1 and N64 for killing 2-D games. Everyone was clamoring for the new fancy polygons and poor little 2-D games, with their simple little sprites, felt out of date. There are even rumors circulating that, early in the Playstation era, Sony refused to approve any games that were not 3-D. What is interesting when looking at the games of yesteryear is that those early 3-D games look terrible, while the few 2-D games from the same era still look good.
As awesome as 3-D games are, there are simply some gameplay styles that work better in two dimensions. Any type of game that throws thousands of bullets at you at once really only works in two dimensions. There is no way that a three dimensional game can recreate the experience of something like “Ikaruga” or “Metal Slug”. Any game that tried would become a terrible, unplayable mess.
The Sonic games are another perfect example of a series that works better in two dimensions. Sonic in 2-D was a gaming icon. Since his switch to 3-D, he is on the verge of irrelevance. His modern games simply cannot compete with the elegance and perfection of his early adventures.
What was once blazing fast and fun is now confusing and uncontrollable. Imagine if Sega were to give Sonic the same treatment that Nintendo gave to Mario in “New Super Mario Bros”. A new Sonic game with old-school gameplay, but with all the modern graphical bells and whistles that would blow people away. The game would control like the original Sonic games, but with new 3-D models rendered into 2-D gameplay. When Sonic goes through corkscrews and loops, the camera could pan around to show off the new graphics engine. This makes so much sense that it causes me, honest to goodness, physical pain that it hasn’t happened. Instead we are treated to Sonic as a werewolf.
A werewolf.
Not even an awesome teen wolf.
For further proof, ask anyone who has played any of the Castlevania games on the DS. They can attest to how great they look on a system as underpowered as the DS. Now imagine a new 2-D Castlevania on the PS3 or Xbox 360. Just think about how amazingly detailed the artists and designers could get when they don’t have to worry about rendering everything in 3-D. That extra processing power could be used for cool particle effects that would make everything pop even more. With the type of artists that Konami has on hand, the results would be breathtaking.
At some point, the gaming gods will bestow upon us updated 2-D versions of our favorite games. Until then, we are left to wait and ponder on what could be.
I am not saying that developers should abandon 3-D games. That would be dumb. I am saying that with the current power levels of modern day consoles, a lovingly crafted 2-D game that truly harnessed that power would be awe-inspiring. Anyone who has played the two recent Bionic Commando games could tell you the 2-D remake was a gajillion times better than the new 3-D version. I just think that we have been overly quick to abandon a play style that works really well.
There have been some signs lately that the tide might be turning. Games like Street Fighter IV or the upcoming Shadow Complex are reminding people why 2-D is still amazing. Developers are starting to realize that there is still a lot of life left in the second dimension. The best way to support these types of games is to buy them and get all your friends to buy them.
What do you think? Would you like to see some sweet new big budget 2-D games?
Tags: 2-D, bionic commando, castlevania, Contra, NES, retro games, Shadow Complex, SNES, Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., super metroid
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:00 am
Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory says:FACT: Super Metroid = Greatest game ever made
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
shaolinjesus says:Just look at that screenshot. Doesn’t the thought of an HD remake give you goosebumps?
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Jonah "spambot" Gregory says:HD Symphony of the Night Sequel would make me very happy as well.
Wii New Super Mario Bros. is definitely a step in the right direction.
July 23rd, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Jeffrey Abt says:@Jonah
Wow, that was the first thing I thought, too. Even if they just released an HD version of the original SotN, I would buy it.
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Dynamo8 says:Yes, i would like to see a big budget 2-D game. Megaman X baby!!!!
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory says:A boy and his blob looks like my kind of game. BEAUTIFUL 2d platformer coming to Wii.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Klee Baker says:It has been forever since there was a new 2-D Metroid game, that is why I am buying Shadow Complex day one.
July 24th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Jonah "spambot" Gregory says:@Jeffrey Abt - I would buy that too, even though I have an XBLA copy
Also, an HD 2d Metroid would be amazing… but Nintendo doesn’t have an HD console yet :/
July 24th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory says:HD or not, the part of Smash Bros Brawl’s Subspace Emissary where you were Samus fighing Ridley looked BEAUTIFUL and made me wish it was a full 2D metroid with those graphics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABSn-7ylHjk
starts at about 0:39
July 24th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
wesley johnson says:Viewtiful Joe was a pretty good 2D jame, despite the awful name. I’d welcome as many Contra 2D’s as the publisher would give me.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory says:Contra 4 (DS) is amazing and Contra ReBirth (coming soon to WiiWare) looks freaking EPIC!!
July 25th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Alex Beech says:The DS Contra was amazing and had Contra 1 and 2 on the cart. Wish more companies would take Capcom lead on updating old game or making sequels using classic assets.