Over the last year or so we’ve seen quite a few throwbacks to the old school NES-style game in the form of Mega Man 9 & 10, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, and most recently Dark Void Zero. Meanwhile, the “real” games these have been intended as mere adjuncts to have been almost universally panned. Seems a bit weird, doesn’t it?

I mean, the “modern” Mega Man franchise, for instance, is stagnating in weird semi-RPGs for the DS. And then some developers throw down the mega-retro Mega Man 9, and it’s freaking amazing, as well as shockingly difficult.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed was a great remake of one of my favorite NES games, mimicking level layout to the last detail but improving graphics and adding extra features. But they managed not to mess that up, which is more than one can say about the game it was ostensibly a teaser for. I was excited about that one, too.

And now we have Dark Void Zero, apparently a totally awesome prequel to Dark Void, which just received a 5.0 from IGN. Come on, people!

It’s not that it’s just easier to make a good game of the NES type — god knows there were plenty of terrible ones back in the day. I think that developers are losing track of what makes a game good, instead focusing on realistic physics, or meaningless new features, or of course the ever-escalating graphical arms race. But when a team gets really knocked down to the basics, which is to say two dimensions and a bunch of sprites and tiles, they remember why it is they make games in the first place. Fun.

I say, bring ‘em on. Excitebike World Rally is out there, and of course New Super Mario Bros Wii is around as well — unabashed, straightforward fun. When did we start losing track of that?

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Microsoft

2009 is suddenly a holiday of racers. If you don’t believe that, consider the trifecta that dropped–or will drop–shortly: Need For Speed: Shift, Dirt 2, and Microsoft’s holiday tentpole Forza Motorsport 3. All of them promise realistic physics, blazing speeds, and tons of customization, but NFS: Shift and Dirt 2 are multiplatform, while Forza Motorsport 3 is an Xbox 360 first-party exclusive. For my money, though, I’ll take Forza 3. After playing all three, the newest Forza has, surprisingly, won me over–not with realism, but with fun.

I say surprisingly because “simulation racers” generally lie in a calcified place among the hearts of the mainstream gamers: the hundreds of factory-immaculate car models and pitch-perfect world racing circuits, along with the endless class licenses and intricate engine tune-ups, can turn most gamers off completely. Right here in the CNET offices, I told a colleague I was playing Forza 3, and that I actually enjoyed it. “Really?” he asked, somewhat disbelieving. It’s assumed that Gran Turismo and Forza will be inaccessible to those who don’t appreciate racers, just like Madden often erects a wall between NFL fans and gamers and the rest of the world.

I am a casual racer, and Forza 3 sucked me in.

Its first success was employing a calm British man to talk to me. Much like LittleBigPlanet, a gentle voice of authority (although in this case, not Stephen Fry) welcomed me, showed me the basic ropes, and told me everything was going to be all right. Rather than worry about detailed car controls and under-the-hood tinkering, a simple press of a few A and B buttons got me right into a season-long circuit of races. The voice tutorials gently tailed off naturally, until I had the ropes completely. Suddenly I realized that I had been playing for several hours, and was itching to complete just one more race challenge to unlock more credits. That’s when I realized that, fundamentally, Forza 3 is a success.
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