Starting Off: January 2014

The 64-bit era was a changing time. And a downfall. You see, as revolutionary as the new dimension was, 3D essentially killed 2D gaming. Now most people didn't really care back then nor did they see the drawback. You see, as limiting as 2D was, it provided for an experience like no other. A much more complete style of gameplay when compared to the new ambitious 3D titles that could usually be broken open like a walnut by comparison with how buggy and inexperienced the field was at the time. 2D was also beautiful when 3D hit which is a real shame as, had 3D not gotten in the way, we could have gotten even more unfathomably eye-pleasing visuals for sidescrollers.

Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4 were proof enough of that. But everyone wanted 3D, and so everyone unfortunately forgot about 2D gaming. Sure there were astounding sidescrollers in that era like Klonoa and Yoshi's Story, but those were so few and far between that the genre had practically died.

Now don't get me wrong, games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie are incredible and I'd play them any day of the week. But they simply could not reach the level of visual quality that a 2D game at the time could. The hardware was not ready for that kind of strain. But even then, many games simply didn't try hard enough with visuals.

Now I know people will hate on me for this but...I like visuals to look good. That's part of why I always like Classic Sonic over NES Mario or Star Fox 64 3D (in many instances) over the original Star Fox 64. Like it or not, graphics ARE part of a game. They don't MAKE a game, but neither does gameplay. Everything put together makes a game, and if one of those qualities is lacking I'm going to like that quality in a game that does it better over the title I'm presented with. That's part of why I can't stand what they did with Mega Man 9 and 10. I'm sorry, but they look like **** compared to 7 and 8.

By this time we should be playing cartoons, not 8-bit sprites. It's fine to poke fun at the old stuff and all, but making entire games utilizing that for professional titles is just wasted ****ing potential. That's why I consider Rayman Origins one of the greatest sidescrollers in recent days. It actually progressed from what Rayman 1 was.

But that's neither here nor there. Point is, things did not look as good as they used to in the 2D era and people simply didn't put the effort forth to make them look as good as they could. That is why I usually remember the 16-bit era as well as I do and usually put it over the 64 one.

That's not to say that it all looked like crap though. Far from it. Many looked nice and molded their own style with the limitations they had. But it wasn't until a certain small gaming company starting in a garage took their stab at the genre that we got a game that brought back the liveliness of the gaming world. I am of course talking about Naughty Dog and their first true success and breakthrough in the video game industry: Crash Bandicoot.

Now Sony was just breaking into the gaming industry in those days. Playstation 1, their very first system to get back at Nintendo for screwing them over with the whole CD-I incident, was fresh on the market and they were bringing in a new light to gamers. With Sega preoccupied by their American division suiciding themselves, it (sadly) wasn't too hard for Sony to fill in their shoes for the time being. But Nintendo had something that Sony didn't. Mario. A mascot. Sony didn't seem that interested in really tackling the situation, but Naughty Dog didn't seem to care. When they were brought onboard to make a game they wanted to make something impactful. Something that could be recognized. An actual cartoon character in the 3D world. One that could compete against the popular plumber.

Naughty Dog wanted to make the best game they possibly could. And that's the real difference between classic gaming and modern gaming. Yes, games brought in money, but the people working on them back then, by and large, wanted to make actual good games. Now that's not to say that people don't still want to do that, but with the industry as bloated and overblown as it's become, it's inevitable (as with any form of medium when it gets popular) that mostly games are made simply to make money due to executives that have no business (or knowledge of gaming even) running things being in charge.

Back then there was a passion and drive for game-makers. It was a testing ground in that time period and pretty much anything was allowed with how new and ambitious the field was. A stark contrast to the marine-filled dark gritty blandness of things today.

No, Crash Bandicoot was lively and vibrant. A world full of color and art, the likes of which had not been seen in the 3D world until that point. Naughty Dog truly wanted to bring a cartoon to 3D, not just another game character. They made the world as detailed as possible and pushed the Playstation to its very limits with each new game they came out with.

To ensure that the characters themselves were able to be felt by the players Naughty Dog had actual cartoonists working in the making of the characters.

It went beyond the simpleness of Mario. The blocky chunkiness that focused more on making obstacles and paths to test how platforming operates in 3D. Crash Bandicoot stuck to a more simplified style of movement with just one path that you followed instead of a more opened world. It wasn't that they didn't pay attention to platforming, not by a long shot. But this more linear style of gameplay understandably lead to a better focus on designing the visuals and flow of the world and characters that Super Mario 64 simply had not the excess to leave room for.

I had seen 3D games before Crash Bandicoot, but the first time I saw him I was young. My dad worked at an animation company in Cincinnati, Ohio by the name of Lightborne and I came in there one day. I still remember the spinal cord-looking staircase they had to the second floor. And they had the biggest TV I had ever seen in my life next to it. And below that? A playstation. I turned it on and this played.

I could not believe what I was looking at. I thought it was some 3D animation project the crew was working on at first, but then I pressed the buttons and started playing the game. I'll never forget that experience. It was like no other. The character was actually alive. He stretched and squashed with his movements. His hops felt like they had actual weight to them. His eyes could get bigger and shrink and wobble. And the death scenes.