Why are Retro Games Suddenly All the Rage?
For those of us of a certain age, there will always be some games that we remember fondly.
Whether it is playing Duck Hunt on the Nintendo Entertainment System or the original Call of Duty on Microsoft Windows, we will always look back on them as being the ‘best’ games because they were ours. Play them now and they will undoubtedly look old-fashioned and the graphics will be poor, but they will always hold a special place in our hearts.
What is fascinating, though, is that such games have suddenly began to enjoy a resurgence.
The question is, why?
Some of it is Nostalgia
Computer video games have been around for decades, with Tennis for Two having been created by William Higinbotham in 1958. Obviously they have come on leaps and bounds since then, arguably first becoming truly popular in the 1980s and exploding in the 1990s.
Games like GoldenEye began to offer people a chance to play a game linked to a film that they were heading to the cinema to watch in 1995, for example, which added to their fun and mystique. People playing games in the 1980s and 1990s and now turning 30 and 40, having kids of their own.
@retrogame007 Top 100 best NES games in 1985 -1994.#retrogame #retrogamer #nesgames #nostalgicgames #nintendogames ♬ original sound – Retro Games
As well as having more time to do stuff as they take part in paternity and maternity leave, they are also reliving their youth and wanting a chance to play the games they played way back when, maybe evening finishing levels that they never thought that they’d be able to master.
For members of those generations, it is about enjoying the nostalgia of their youth whilst also realising that they are entering adulthood, now responsible for a kid or a dog or having to accept that they’ve got a grownup job that means that their youth is well behind them.
They Offer Young People a Real Challenge
The crazy thing about the popularity of retro games is that it isn’t just middle-aged people playing them, longing to relive their youth. For young people, they present a genuine challenge that they need to overcome, getting a hit of dopamine when they manage to do so.
The majority of games nowadays allow you to save them whenever you want, so you don’t need to worry about having to complete a level or beat a boss in order to get to a save point, which is how games used to be when they first hit the market in a meaningful way.
As a result, young people have grown used to not really being challenged by the games that they play, so their minds are blown when they sit down in front of something like Mario Bros. and realise that they have to get to the end of the level before it will be saved.
That is the kind of challenge that they aren’t used to in the modern world, so they relish having to take it on and see how well they can do before they get to save anything. Some of the most challenging games of the 1980s and 1990s will be considered some of the most challenging games ever.
Retro Games Aren’t Disposable
When they first games were brought out, there was no ability to play online. Aside from anything else ‘online’ wasn’t even really a thing back then. As a result, game makers couldn’t issue patches to fix bugs or release updates to the game to keep people engaged. Instead, the makers of the games would spend months, if not years, perfecting the gameplay for those who were going to spend good money buying it. Games nowadays are much more disposable, being churned out quickly to earn as much money as possible.
Elite, 1984. Forty years ago, the game was groundbreaking. Now it has become legendary. pic.twitter.com/Kcz4RrStF7
— Retro Dream (@Retroldies) February 12, 2025
For the modern day game manufacturer, the idea of not releasing a sequel hot on the heels of the previous game seems entirely alien to them. They need to get people hooked and then give them something new to play, year after year, so as to increase their profit margins. It means that games can be fun, but the first versions of them will often be buggy and require an update fairly quickly to make them playable in any meaningful manner. Old games, on the other hand, were perfected before release, so what you’re playing is as good as it can be.
@retropause I’ve built my retro gaming collection with $0 out of pocket over the last 8 months, should I start over and document the process? 🤔 #retro #retrogaming #reseller #gamecollection #nintendo #nostalgia #retrorick #phoenixresale ♬ Wii Shop Channel Trap – OSRSBeatz
You have to remember that the technology on offer to games manufacturers in the early years was incredibly limited. The graphics were, at best, naff, as a re-play of something like GoldenEye will quickly demonstrate. As a result, the gameplay had to be absolutely top-notch in order to engage people for long enough to stop them from simply switching to another game somewhere else. The playability of retro games was such that even young people, so often distracted by smartphones and televisions, are finding them time-consuming and enjoyable.
Retro Games Tend to be Pick Up & Play
One of the biggest issues with modern games is that they often tend to have overly complicated storylines that mean that you will struggle to simply pick one up and begin playing it without any kind of previous experience.
Imagine trying to sit down in front of one of the most recent Call of Duty releases and getting to work at completing a level; you’d be completely lost and dead almost immediately. On top of that, many of the modern games out there are created with online multiplayer in mind, so having a quick go is all but impossible.
We invited developer @ryanpayton.bsky.social from Camouflaj to come shopping for retro games in @kelslewin.bsky.social’s @pinkgorillagames.com store and share stories from games he worked on AND was inspired by. We hope you enjoy this test pilot for Retro Game Treasures! youtu.be/iAatcnwlnh4
— MinnMax (@minnmax.bsky.social) 24 February 2025 at 17:18
When it comes to retro games, on the other hand, you will notice that many of them can be picked up and played with ease. The aforementioned Duck Hunt wasn’t exactly the kind of game that you would need to spend hours learning how it works: you pick up the gun and shoot the ducks.
Even GoldenEye, which was based across countless levels, was easy enough to work out how to play if you’d never touched it before. Gaming is, ultimately, supposed to be about fun and that is something that the game makers of old always kept at the forefront of their minds.