Weekend Hot Topic: Which retro video games have aged the best?
Readers discuss old school video games that still hold up well today, including Super Metroid and Beyond Good & Evil.
The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader Dennis, who asked readers to consider what gives older games their longevity and whether they could still benefit from a remaster or remake.
Most of the games mentioned were from the Mega Drive and SNES 16-bit era, with most agreeing that early era 3D titles, especially those on the original PlayStation, have aged the worse.
Near perfect I’ve decided to go with an 80s game for this Hot Topic, as the older the game the harder it would naturally be for it to hold up (though early 3D games of the 90s also have an issue there, aesthetically).
I’ll go with Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES.
It’s not my favourite game on the NES (that’d be Zelda 2), but some now take issue with Zelda’s difficulty, and it is a bit rough round the edges. Super Mario Bros. 3, however, is timeless. It has astonishing variety in its level and enemy design, it’s not overly difficult, with a very generous item storage system, has lots of secrets to find (quite a few like the white Toad house I suspect many never did) and is still perhaps the greatest 2D platformer ever made. The graphics are not going to knock anyone out but they are good late NES era graphics, with excellent art design that help them hold up.
Super Mario Bros. 3 has already been remade as part of Super Mario All-Stars, but though it has nicer 16-bit pixel art, the art direction is not as good (backgrounds in the underground areas and the final world, I especially find less appealing) so I generally tend to play the original.
I can’t think of much I’d change with another remake. I suppose Sonic Mania quality pixel
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