Since the popularization of retro-inspired games like Cave Story and Super Meat Boy, the downloadable indie scene has become saturated with 8 and 16-bit visuals. Some of these nods to gaming's past are great, and others feel like they're simply cashing in on nostalgia. Yacht Club Games' polished, inventive Shovel Knight (read my review) suggests that the best of these love letters are still ahead of us, but is that a future you're interested in?
To get the conversation started, I'm personally happy with the gradually improving quality of these modern, NES-inspired gems. There have been so many pixelated indie games in recent years that the novelty has worn off a bit, but games like Super Time Force and Beyond are taking the gameplay far above the old school aesthetic.
What do you think? Did you grow up playing games that looked like these and are thrilled they're getting a second wind? Or maybe you grew up playing Halo on your Xbox and are continually confused why folks would want to play something emulating older games. For more on this topic, tune into episode 208 of the Game Informer Show podcast.