R-R-R-Remix
Ladies and gentleman of the jury,
I present exhibit A
How do you feel when someone takes a classic part of your childhood and messes with it? I've been seeing more and more of these hacks lately, from Zelda: Parallel Worlds to Mario DX: Blue Twilight. People take old, beloved games and attempt to make them more "hardcore". Are independent developers becoming lazier, or has the technology just recently became available to enable such games?
Exhibit B
I really don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, it seems like the gaming equivalent of fan fiction: a cheap, mediocre imitation that only rarely surpasses the source material. It lifts aspects wholesale from many Sonic games and mashes them together into a jarring, stilted, unnatural whole. These people are amateurs and these videos can really make you appreciate the work of professionals. I mean, look at the level design, it is a mess.
Exhibit C
However, you have to admire their dedication. They obviously have a deep love for the original games and are looking to add their own creative twist. While watching the Misty Maze video, I realized I wanted to try it. The music fits and the graphics, particularly the background, were nice to look at. I know these were lifted from other games, but as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of plagiarism....er, flattery. It is heartening to know that these communities exist and are trying to further their passion.
Certainly not all copying is bad. "Good aritists borrow, great artists steal." Konami's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night owes a lot to Super Metroid. Cave Story is almost entirely Pixel's homage to 2D Metroidvania titles. However, these examples at least used their own characters and settings. Doubtless, the legality of these games is questionable at best.
I wonder how developers feel about their creations being used in such a way. I heard a talk recently by MIT professor Ian Condry about the divided opinions of anime directors over fansubs; some love the enthusiasm, others feel cheated. Though the analogy is not perfect, I would imagine there is a similar range of sentiments regarding hacks.
I am still not sure how I feel about this treatment of classic games, but no amount of hacking can take away from the originals. At the end of the day, quality speaks for itself.
A sucker for parallax scrolling,
Alucard
2 comments:
I find that I largely ignore hacks, mainly because I am confident that the original is far better anyway, so why bother with something inferior?
Which is kind of a shitty thing to think. I'm sure these people have some good ideas, it just seems kind of sucky to have to rip off the base from someone else.
However, now that the Ocarina of Time map editor is out...well,maybe I can get some kind of involving combat going on.
I would love to see one of these done with Super Mario 64. Hell, I would make Super Luigi 64 myself if I knew how.
Yes, I would want more of the same; there just isn't enough of that game. According to Wikipedia, over 30 courses were planned but only 15 would fit on a cartridge.
I would also want it to be more "hardcore." Most of the challenges presented to Mario in that (totally awesome) game are pitiful considering his athletic prowess. Give me a reason to wall kick out of a long jump so that I'm not just dicking around.
As for whether it would be as good as the original: It probably wouldn't be, but it could be. Sure, I wouldn't be looking for new objects, textures, music, or powerups, but the stuff that's there can be put together in original, logical, awesome ways. A third GOOD Mario 64 snow level is possible, and I dare you to try to argue otherwise.
So yeah, I'd like more of my favorite games, but dkaufman's fan fiction analogy makes me a little wary. Maybe Miyamoto will produce Super Luigi 64 and release it directly to the Virtual Console. At that point, it would take a lot to get me to stop grinning.
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