Is 2D Gaming Making a Comeback?
One thing that I’ve always missed since the debut of the Nintendo 64 is two-dimensional gaming. When “Project Reality” began showing up on the pages of Nintendo Power in 1993, it never occurred to me that 3D would become such the de facto standard that it would push 2D virtually out of existence. The Nintendo 64 was released a few years later. I was amazed by the feats of acrobatic wonder that Mario could perform in Super Mario 64, and the world of Hyrule which was brought to life in Ocarina of Time floored me beyond all reason. Even so, it wasn’t long before I began to wish for another Mario game in the vein of Super Mario World. And I hoped I’d never see the day that unleashed a 3D Mega Man title upon us.
Despite the advances made in gaming over the past decade, I still lamented that 3D seemed the only choice for modern game developers. I loved the new style, but didn’t want to lose 2D altogether. Finally, with the advent of online game delivery through services such as WiiWare, PlayStation Network, and Xbox LIVE Arcade, it’s beginning to look like the circle has come back around.
As Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has stated, WiiWare was specifically intended to be a playground for experimentation, where game designers could try out new concepts without the high cost – and therefore risk – of disc-based publishing. We’ve seen a number of successful 2D releases on this media, such as LostWinds, Bomberman Blast, and World of Goo. The release I watched most intently was, of course, Mega Man 9. (The original Mega Man series is one of my all-time favorites.)
So far, it appears that the return of 2D games has been an unqualified success, and given the terrific popularity of these titles, along with non-Wii releases such as Bionic Commando Rearmed, it’s no surprise to hear that other longtime game developers want to hop on the bandwagon. There is a market for these games, and it’s possible we’ll even see a few of them in traditional distribution channels (Wario Land: Shake It! is one such exception to the rule).
The reaction to 2D’s comeback has been a bit mixed in so-called “hardcore” circles. This isn’t surprising. Two-dimensional games are not hardcore (although they were considered so two decades ago), and many people aren’t sure what to do with them. In many ways, despite the fact that this retro trend is occurring on all three major consoles, it really fits best on the Wii. It fits there because the Wii is all about reaching expanded audiences, which, thanks to Mega Man 9 and Bomberman Blast, among others, now includes people who used to be gamers but fell by the wayside when the era of classic Nintendo ended.
Personally speaking, I believe there is plenty of room in the market for both types of games, and in fact some franchises actually work better in one form or the other. (Although Metroid Prime is an amazing series, I prefer the Super Metroid style. Similarly, I think Zelda was always meant for the 3D realm.) In any case, it’s safe to say that 2D games are back to stay, at least for the next few years. Hopefully we’ll see both new properties and classic comebacks, not only with new graphics but also with 8- and 16-bit styles. Perhaps I hope for too much, but customers are voting with their pocketbooks, and if game developers are listening to us, then we’ll certainly be rewarded with many 2D goodies in the future.
