With the evolution of gaming, we have experienced everything. Games have moved from little 8-bit graphics and turned into the hyper realistic and colorful graphics we have today. The stories changed and the way we experience ‘the game’ has changed, but a good portion of gamers who grew up with original platforms and pixelated graphics still hold a special place in their memories. I too am one of those gamers who grew up on the old consoles, NES and SNES, and played the best games I still go back to, like Super Mario World, Paper Boy, The Adventures of Link and many others, though not as frequent as I would like. Retro games are a part of who (most of us) we are as gamers, even while we grow older and games become more advanced we still have our roots.
Over the past couple of years, I have noticed a trend of pixelated themed games coming out for all sorts of consoles, like Playstation products and PC. Nintendo still reigns over a lot of this business, but it is making a comeback. One of the big players in this scene is the now infamous Shovel Knight. Shovel Knight, the cute little blue knight who wields his mighty shovel in the battles against his many foes, including the Enchantress and The Order of No Quarter, and makes his way to the lovely Shield Knight. This game has frustrating level designs, beautifully done graphics, and a great soundtrack. It also has every thing that reminds me of my childhood: the cute character, the funky enemies, and the rage quit and returning because you WILL make it past this level.
If you haven’t played Shovel Knight, I highly recommend it. You can purchase it on everything now and it is well worth the time. It takes me back to a time where Mario made me mad because I couldn’t make it past that one level (y’know the ONE) and how fun it was to play around with the secret levels and try to get all the whistles.
Shovel Knight, and many other games that function on old time graphics (like Home on the Playstation systems), serve a great purpose. One, they give the newer generation the opportunity to experience this type of gameplay and to break out of what is normally played on new gen consoles. Two, it serves as a reminder to us gamers who grew up with the older generation of games that as much as games evolve, we still gain pleasure from playing games of this format. Good times then, and great times now.
-Opinion Article by Meghan Rodriguez (Twitter @collins_m81)
