I've kind of always felt this way, especially after coming out of the 3D platformer drought of the seventh gen (PS3, 360). When I was younger and experienced the seizmic shift from 2D gaming to 3D in the form of early Playstation titles and Mario 64, I wasn't immediately enamored with 3D platformers. At the time they felt like far less precise/responsive and uglier versions of the excellent SNES/Genesis platformers that I'd been playing up to that point. Over time I grew to really love 3D platformers, however, and now they evoke a particularly fuzzy, nostalgic feeling within me whenever I play one.
The fact that I'm playing a lot of them with my three-year-old son nowadays only ratchets up this resonance even further, but there's just something about the core design and presentation of most 3D platformers that comforts me. They remind me of a time when simply controlling a character in a colorful 3D space was new and exciting, and even today the best 3D platformers (or remakes of classic ones) seem to focus on that same emphasis on freely moving through a vibrant, cartoony environment with a fun moveset.
I really like 3D platformers that treat each stage like a fun, themed microcosm with its own internal conflict.
Games like Mario Odyssey and the recent remaster of Mario Galaxy have been a joy to play with my son, but I've been equally enamored with the feeling I get playing through lesser entries in the genre like the Spyro trilogy remake and New Super Lucky's tale. From a mechanical standpoint those games are far inferior to any flagship 3D Mario release, but it just puts a smile on my face every time I play them. It takes me back to being a kid and exploring these simple, colorful worlds just for the sake of seeing what was around the corner or finding the next shiny trinket.
While the framepacing irks me, I can't deny the quality of the art/animation in the Spyro Trilogy remake.
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What say you, ERA? Any other old fogies around here who feel the same?
The fact that I'm playing a lot of them with my three-year-old son nowadays only ratchets up this resonance even further, but there's just something about the core design and presentation of most 3D platformers that comforts me. They remind me of a time when simply controlling a character in a colorful 3D space was new and exciting, and even today the best 3D platformers (or remakes of classic ones) seem to focus on that same emphasis on freely moving through a vibrant, cartoony environment with a fun moveset.
I really like 3D platformers that treat each stage like a fun, themed microcosm with its own internal conflict.
Games like Mario Odyssey and the recent remaster of Mario Galaxy have been a joy to play with my son, but I've been equally enamored with the feeling I get playing through lesser entries in the genre like the Spyro trilogy remake and New Super Lucky's tale. From a mechanical standpoint those games are far inferior to any flagship 3D Mario release, but it just puts a smile on my face every time I play them. It takes me back to being a kid and exploring these simple, colorful worlds just for the sake of seeing what was around the corner or finding the next shiny trinket.
While the framepacing irks me, I can't deny the quality of the art/animation in the Spyro Trilogy remake.
__________________________
What say you, ERA? Any other old fogies around here who feel the same?
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