Games don’t have an expiration date any more than a movie is worth less just because it’s old. That said, some games have stood the test of time much better than others, and don’t really need the epidemic of remakes and remasters we’re currently experiencing, but what exactly allows a game to be timeless?
A Good Game Loop Is Forever
What defines a timeless game more than anything is its game loop. That’s the fundamental action or sequence of actions the player takes to advance the game. For example, the game loop in Diablo is delving deeper and deeper into a dungeon. Creatures you kill on each floor become tougher, but your character levels up, and they keep dropping better and better gear.
For me, and many like me, this loot-based hack-and-slash gameplay is addictive to the point where my friends and I lost days of sleep in the late 90s and early 2000s. That core loop became its own genre, and today games like Borderlands extend the idea into other gameplay styles, like first-person shooters.
This is why you can boot up the NES version of Super Mario Bros right now and still have a blast. The run-and-jump platforming game loop is compelling.
Even one of the earliest video games, Pong, is addictive right now. Despite just being two lines and a round dot.
So, if a game has a powerful, addictive central game loop, people will likely never stop playing it.
We Like Our Creature Comforts
Modern games are the product of lots of trial and error. Many of game features, such as saving wherever you want or having a freely-moving camera, had to be invented at some’s point. Some older games simply don’t feel good to play today because some aspect of the game is annoying and was only rectified later after players made it clear it was annoying.
Tank controls, for example, are something I personally hate. In case you didn’t know, this is where your character’s movements are controlled relative to the direction they are facing. So, if you pressed the up button to move the character forward they’d walk in whatever direction they were facing. You need to turn them like a tank turning in place to face the right way and then push up to move forward. Games like the original Resident Evil used this scheme and it made the game needlessly clunky. Some people have nostalgia for tank controls schemes, but I think this is one example of something that’s objectively worse than the alternative, and has no redeeming qualities.
3D Graphics Often Fail the Test of Time
While modern 3D graphics look amazing, they haven’t been around for all that long. Mainstream 3D gaming graphics really only took off in the mid-90s with the original Sony PlayStation, and while I personally have a soft-spot for PS1 graphics, there’s not arguing that it looks pretty rough. Now, compare that to 2D games from that same console era, and it’s clear that the 2D artwork, which was already quite mature by then, outshines those 3D graphics when it comes to pleasing our eyeballs.
I’d much rather look at something like Valkyrie Profile than Final Fantasy VII, which is perhaps why the latter got a remake.
Art Direction Trumps Technology
That’s not to say that there aren’t 3D games that have aged well. Good art direction can overcome the mere limitations of technology. Look at the first Quake which is a very early example of 3D graphics on home computers. Now, there are more polygons in a modern video game character’s pinky than in the entirety of this game, but once you load it up you’ll be immersed instantly. The way the dark, gothic, and industrial art direction hangs together gives the game a timeless aesthetic.
“Art direction” is simply the overall artistic vision for a game. It’s what makes it all hang together, and gives it a unique look and feel. Many 3D games that try for a photorealistic look using the technology of the day quickly look dated, but games like Jet Set Radio still look just fine once you bump up the resolution. Going for a cel-shaded style means the game will always look good, because it looks exactly the way it was intended.
For many 2D games, the art direction is so iconic, and so good, that modern remasters or remakes don’t do much at all to them. Just take a look at the Dragon Quest “HD 2D” remakes.
The visual aesthetics of some games, like Sea of Stars pay direct tribute to the aesthetics of games like Chrono Trigger, itself an example of a timeless game that plays and looks just as good today as it did back on the SNES.
Clearly, when it comes to exploring the long and deep history of video games, some gems have lost their luster, but that doesn’t mean games that haven’t aged that well should be left unplayed. I still have plenty of ugly, clunky games that I nonetheless adore. I’m looking at you, Gothic.
