Retro Gaming - Nostalgia Versus Quality

Are retro games objectively good, or are we wearing rose tinted glasses?

I remember a few years ago I was discussing my love of retro games with a friend, who was also a gamer. His opinion, was that although there are one or two older games that stand up, most of the time they are just not as good as modern games. Essentially, he thought that people only liked the retro games or consoles they grew up with, and playing them today was purely for nostalgia purposes.

My opinion at the time was of course to rebut this, I said that retro games are objectively good, and if something is fun then it doesn't matter when it was made. Over time though, I've come to reflect on this a little more.

When I think about retro gaming, I often think that it's a bit of a strange term. We don't really divide up film lovers and bookworms into how old the media they consume is, rather we tend to do it based on their favourite genres. Gaming is still a young art, having much less history than other forms of entertainment. Perhaps this is the reason we tend to split it out more, because people still exist in the world that were there when this form of entertainment began.

Retro gaming is also somewhat devalued I think in comparison to modern gaming because of the way it can be consumed. If someone wanted too, they could download the entire Super Nintendo library of games, stick it all on their phones and play any game. You couldn't do that with classic films for example, and you couldn't do that with modern games easier. One retro game feels like it is worth less as a piece of media when it is so easily attainable.

I think there is also still a slight societal stigma around some older games. Video games pre PS1 were far more likely to target children, and I wonder if this makes some people feel as if those older games are too childlike for them.

In any case, I have tried to look at my own consumption a little more critically. I still play a lot of retro games, and I tend to do so in quite a specific way. I play with the original consoles and cartridges, in front of an old CRT TV. To me this is the whole experience, and I must admit there is an element of nostalgia in playing this way. I could make arguments over input lag, and how those games are designed for those types of screens, but the real reason I play that way is because it makes me feel how I felt playing them all those years ago.

So, I do think there is some element of nostalgia there. However, a lot of retro games do objectively hold up. I had never played Chrono Trigger as a kid - but I played it as an adult and loved it. I never had a TurboGrafx or 3DO and I love playing those. I have a consolised Neogeo MVS - and it's one of my favourite things to play.

I think if you're having fun, then it holds up. If a story still resonates with you, then that is a good story. I will admit that a lot of the filler games are even more difficult to play today - but largely I think retro games do hold up. There's also a certain magic in playing a game that is just a game. It's not a service, it's not going to be updated, there's no connection but you, the console and the game. And I think that's awesome.

I wonder if a potential way to help resolve this issue would be to stop sectioning off older games as if they are their own genre. Game Pass could include them next to modern games. Playstation is already doing this to an extent with their service, though you need a specific subscription tier to see them. I imagine what Netflix would be like if they had a separate section for ‘classic’ movies rather than just listing them next to new movies as people browse through. In that setup, it would certainly lead to them being treated differently.

Games are unique in the fact that they are always harder to access than other forms of media. Each game requires specific hardware or software to play, and that by definition segregates certain games.

My personal conclusion to this debate is that retro gaming is too often split out from modern gaming, and that creates the illusion that those games are a separate category. This leads people to think of them differently, and treat them separately, which in turn adds to this perception of them being either not as good or just for nostalgia. I think games from all generations can still hold up perfectly fine - even without rose tinted glasses - as a good experience is still a good experience. This is before getting into the fact I think that some retro games are objectively better looking than modern design aesthetics, but that's a different article.

What do you think? Do you think retro gamers are just chasing their childhood feelings or are genuinely enjoying those games? Do you think young people with no experience of those games will still enjoy them compared to modern experiences? Let me know in the comments below!

Images from unsplash.com