Not that I don't like new games. I play them, often beat them and enjoy them, but I can't remember the last modern game I played that I had beaten more than once and still want to play now. I mean, I remember beating F.E.A.R. several times and loving it. And I was playing super mario galaxy again the other day trying to beat it for the second time. Hmm and crysis, I think I beat that one 2 or 3 times.

So what's the difference? just nostalgia? well I don't really know. Those last 3 games I mentioned don't have much in common. I think they're just fun as hell and while challenging, are based on simple concepts. I think that's what I like about old games, specially from the NES era. Sure there were a lot of shitty games but the good ones, the classics, are simple, fun, and hard as fuck.

There's also something that I miss from old games, specially PC games. It was the ambition and scope of the big classics. Take star control 2 for example, it's a game where you can explore the galaxy, visit different solar systems, actually drop down to the planets which are different from each other, meet alien races, build a fleet, and all of this in a galaxy filled with hundreds of solar systems. The last game that tried to do something similar was Spore, and it fell short, really short.

Then there's this other game I blogged about some time ago, Covert Action. I could talk for pages and pages about how complex, yet simple and addictive this old PC game is. Then you add other games like alpha centauri... and well, it's sad that all we get today is brown and drag, blood-filled, testosterone-packed action games, and that they're the most celebrated.

Ugh, I got way too sidetracked...

Back to topic, it's a good time to love retro games. The videogame companies are following the trend implanted by hollywood lately: "Let's take and old show or movie, reboot/sequel it, and milk it to hell and back". But unlike the shit that hollywood comes up with, videogame companies are doing it right for the most part. Let's take a few recent examples:

Megaman 9: AWESOME game, worthy of being a classic megaman, and probably right up there with megaman 2 and 3. Also: Megaman 10 is coming to kick some 8-bit ass again.

Bionic Commando Rearmed: Unlike it's 3d counterpart, this game reboots the original while making it awesome and fun and again, hard as fuck. It feels a bit different from the original but it feels right.

New Super Mario Bros(DS/Wii): Some people say this game could have been more, and I agree they got lazy with some stuff (2 toads for player 3 and 4..) but still its a great, classic but modern mario game. I loved it and got all the coins and all the shit you could get.

Contra Rebirth: Digital awesomeness. It screams "silly action movie parody from the 80's" which is what contra was in a sense. Great, classic contra gameplay.

Castlevania Rebirth: Loved it. The Metroidvania games for the handhelds are good, but I love some classic castlevania. Give me a whip and some undead and vampires and I'm set.

A boy and his blob: Haven't played this one yet but I hear good things about it.

And very soon, I will be able to play a new Blaster Master remake, along with Sonic 4, which is the classic 2D sonic-only we have been waiting for.

So far I've got my favorite classic NES games remade in its classic format: Clastlevania, bionic commando, contra, and now blaster master. If I get a new classic ninja gaiden game, It would be the icing on the cake.