I remember playing Contra 3: Alien Wars in 2014 with friends on an obscure handheld device that could emulate retro games. It was pure fun, even though I already owned a Nintendo DSi and had access to newer consoles at the time. That memory inspired me to revisit retro gaming this summer. Now, as a senior engineering student working on my thesis, I realize how quickly time flies. But one question lingers:
Are modern games better than retro or older games?
In terms of graphics, absolutely! The visuals in Spider-Man 2 on the PS5 are far more advanced than the blocky polygons of the Spider-Man game (2000) on the first PlayStation.
(These screenshots are not mine)
But, what about the ‘fun’ factor?
I haven’t done much gaming lately, but the joy I felt playing The Legend of Zelda on RetroArch via my iPad was comparable to the fun I’ve had playing Super Mario Odyssey on Nintendo Switch. That realization sparked an interesting thought.
Am I weird for enjoying an 8-bit game? At first, I thought so until I discovered thriving retro gaming communities on YouTube, Reddit, and other online forums.
Major companies like Nintendo have also taken notice, offering GameCube and N64 classics on the Switch. We’re seeing more remasters and remakes of older games for modern consoles. Even the indie gaming market is booming, partly due to rising demand for simpler, retro-style experiences that big studios often overlook.
I’m not saying modern games are plainly bad or that we shouldn’t support technological progress. But I rarely find popular modern games that feel like pure entertainment, especially online competitive titles like League of Legends, Valorant, or CS2. To me, they feel like a second job and too performative.
In my opinion, older games were made for a time when people spent most of their days outside and more grounded in reality. When I was 10, I remember playing football in the field and only heading home to play Counter-Strike: Source on rainy days. Now, we lock ourselves in our rooms and call ourselves “couch potatoes”, such a degrading term for humans capable of training our bodies for athletic feats.
Modern gaming seems to cater to this shift, with developers increasingly pushing ultra-realistic graphics, as if trying to replace reality itself.
For a busy person like me, retro gaming feels more complete, no waiting for DLC, no microtransactions. You load the game and play. It’s simple, pure, raw entertainment. A 30-minute break? Stab some monsters in a Hyrule dungeon, then get back to work.
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