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Are all genres created equal? [roundtable]
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I've been thinking about the controversy over Retro making Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (which really sounds like a frozen drink you can get for a limited time at Dunkin Donuts) instead of making Metroid Prime 4 or some other epic. Part of the disappointment is definitely over the fact that the Wii U already has a decent amount of 2D platformers on the way, but I also think that there's just a general feeling that a company of Retro's talents should be putting their skills towards something more worthy of their time. Of course, in order for this to make sense, there has to be some sort of hierarchy of genres. And I think that is born out in the way different types of games are received. Genres like FPS, 3D action/adventure, RPG, etc. just seem to automatically be considered to be of a different stock than genres like puzzle, SHMUP, 2D platformers, etc. These "lesser" genres often have a much lower ceiling when it comes to review scores. It says a lot that Ikaruga, considered by many to be the pinnacle of the SHMUP genre, is sitting around 85 on Gamerankings. Meanwhile, the "epic" genres are the ones that fans salivate over and that dominate GOTY voting. This seems kind of strange to me. In the end, video games basically come to down to the enjoyment you get playing them. I understand that these epic games require more resources and therefore more advertising and hype than the smaller games. And it's true they often have more variety and more complexity. But in the end, the question is the quality of my time with the game. If a game like Dr. Mario, which I've spent several hundreds of hours playing competitively, gives me more enjoyment over the course of my life than even the most awe-inspiring epic, then Dr. Mario has just as much of a stake at the top of the gaming totem pole as something like Ocarina of Time. Variety is the spice of life, so of course I want as many different types of experiences as possible. But I'm tired of certain experiences being treated like second class citizens. The best games are the best games. Just like the simplicity of a one on one game tennis can be just as great as the strategy and complexity of 11 on 11 football, even the most simple game can be as great as any other. Do you guys agree? Are there certain genres that you think are more worthy than others? URL to share (right click and copy)
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07/20/13, 02:13 |
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I see this way, right now I'm excited for the PS4, but if Sony's line-up was only one genre (be it platformer, FPS, RPG, racing, sports, fighting, what-have-you) I really doubt that I would care. Who wants to play only one specific kind of game and not have anything else available? @TheBigG753Unfortunately I do think "anyone" could have made a decent DKC game. After playing DKCR in it's entirety on the 3DS I don't see anything really that special about it. Sure it has (perhaps) slightly above average graphics/art-design/animation than most other games in it's genre, and there are a couple of levels that are unique and interesting (i.e.: the level with the waves crashing, and then level that is covered in smog until you clear it away with the giant fan), but in the end it's a 90's style 2-D mascot platformer and the history of video games is littered with dozens of such games (many of which are way way better: Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, etc.). Any decent developer could look at all those games and take a few hint from their play books, add some slightly-modern-graphics and a couple gameplay twist, and there you go: decent 2-D platformer. If they truly innovated on the formula, really turned it on it's head, that would be something else, but they didn't, Donkey Kong Country Returns is no Pac Man Championship Edition DX, not even close. |
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