Games That Celebrate the Medium

[Foggle]

With the recent rise in cynical video games trying (failing) to be movies and trying (failing) to appear smart by injecting ham-fisted social commentary into their narratives, I thought it would be nice to talk about titles that take things in the opposite direction. Some of the best games are ones where, when you play them, you can sense a tangible love for the medium held by their creators. A few examples:

Bayonetta - Hideki Kamiya sure loves classic Sega games and his co-workers' past projects!

Nier - I was going to post this in my Nier thread originally, but I thought it would be better to expand the topic to include other games as well. One of my favorite things about this game is how it feels like an all-around love letter to video games as a whole. From the direct homages to Zelda and Resident Evil, to the incorporation of top-down bullet hell and isometric hack 'n slash gameplay, to the storyline that turns all the most well-known JRPG tropes on their heads, it's clear that everyone involved in Nier's production had a lot of love for both their progenitors and contemporaries.

Resident Evil 4 - After fighting a lake monster straight out of a light gun shooter, you enter a castle featuring classic video game environments such as the lava level, the creepy hedge maze, and the tower where Donkey Kong throws barrels at you. You also ride a mine cart for no reason, jump over laser beams just to look cool, and encounter the invisible enemies your friends always made rumors about on the playground.

Saints Row IV - If there's one title that truly feels like a loving parody of the medium, it's Saints Row IV. It jokes about everything we all love (and hate) about video games, and it does so without even a hint of malice. It also mashes tons of different genres into an open world stew that outshines any other.


What are your favorite games that celebrate the medium, and why?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Super Mario Bros.

For being a game about doing something many times until you get good enough to beat it.

[Foggle]

That's... not really what I meant.

[gunswordfist]

I thought so. Spark, Foggle basically means games that celebrate video games' history and the many good (or bad) things from it. Super Mario Bros. would be the number one game that gets written love letters.

[Foggle]

I thought so. Spark, Foggle basically means games that celebrates video games' history and the many good (or bad) thing from it. Super Mario Bros. would be the number one game that gets written love letters.

Yes!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Great idea! The only problem is that if you only go by games that reference a lot of other games, there aren't a whole lot to choose from outside of obvious stuff like Platinum and Suda 51, TBH, Foggle. So, I'll have to take some liberties, but here are some of my choices:

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening- When DMC1 came out, it was more of an accidental hit than a game that Kamiya and Mikami really wanted to make. Nevertheless, it was great and got itself a sequel....which was made by a different team that just didn't understand the first game. Then Hideaki Itsuno said "fuck it," and just made the game insane to the max. It was balls-hard for new players, but had such excellent design that you couldn't blame the game, and Dante was such a fun character. The game was like if you took every hack n' slash action game before it and gave it a huge shot of adrenaline.

Ninja Gaiden II- EVERY PREVIOUS NG GAME IS REFERENCED IN THIS. YES, EVEN THE MASTER SYSTEM GAME. So, at the very least I can call it a celebration of NG games. Other than that, this may seem weird at first, but it's a total celebration of action games....just more of one that celebrates what Itagaki loves about action games than just referencing lots of other games. That said, despite having flaws, he really went all-out, here. Rather than limit locations just for a more coherent story that nobody would care about, Itagaki just made a bunch of levels that he wanted to see. A future version of Tokyo, the streets of New York City, a boss fight with a giant German Werewolf in the Roman Colosseum, a flying fortress,  an ancient lair of demons inside Mt. Fuji itself, anything went. On top of that, he made the most visceral and engaging combat system in video game history. I have never seen another gameplay showcase that has ever impressed me nearly as much as thus game did at the 2007 TGS.

TimeSplitters 2/Future Perfect- They may be console exclusives, but these are some of the most fun FPS games ever. They don't take their stories too seriously, the levels are incredibly fun and varied, the humor is top-notch, and the challenge missions are excellent. What other game has you fight Gingerbread Men packing heat in a Chinese restaurant, or a spin on Duck Hunt where the ducks shoot back. This game was glorious, and was also a celebration of all of the things that Free Radical had learned about making console FPS games while working at Rare.

Mega Man 9- Because on top of reminding us why classic MM was and still is great, it also reminded us why 2D platformers are awesome, and is responsibl for starting the modern 2D platformer boom. It's arguably the last genuinely awesome thing that Capcom ever did, back when they were still one of the greatest third-party publishers around.

BTW, Foggle, I think that you could make the argument that ALL PG-developed games celebrate the medium, lol.

[Foggle]

Great idea! The only problem is that if you only go by games that reference a lot of other games, there aren't a whole lot to choose from outside of obvious stuff like Platinum and Suda 51, TBH, Foggle.

I didn't necessarily mean just references, I meant titles that blend a bunch of beloved things inherent to the medium together, but with their own creative twist. I almost used Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando as a fifth example, which doesn't really reference any games outside of Jak & Daxter, but spans something like six different genres across the course of its 10 hour runtime.

It's arguably the last genuinely awesome thing that Capcom ever did, back when they were still one of the greatest third-party publishers around.

I'd say second-to-last, since Dragon's Dogma was surprisingly excellent IMO.

BTW, Foggle, I think that you could make the argument that ALL PG-developed games celebrate the medium, lol.

They do! And so do all the Clover games.

[Spark Of Spirit]

No Wonderful 101 in the OP. Sigh.

[Foggle]

I was listing a small selection of my favorites as an example/thread-starter. Write about it yourself.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

All the same, what I was getting at was that outside of obvious stuff, I don't know of too many other options. Games that combine so many other gameplay styles and do it well are a bit of a rarity, IMO. Now, as for games that celebrate a specific genre or even just the series itself or a company's previous work, I can certainly think of more examples. Either way, it is still a celebration of gaming, but just a more select bit of gaming than being as broad as R&C.

[Foggle]

Perhaps I am explaining poorly. The games don't have to cross genres or reference other games, those are just two kinds of ways to celebrate the medium. Your choices all fit perfectly with my initial thread idea without you needing to take any liberties.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Rocket Knight Adventures. It's got platforming like Mario or Sonic, shoot em ups like Konami's arcade classics, and boss battles straight out of Contra-style action games.

I guess. This is kind of hard.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, I guess I misunderstood you, then. My bad.

Rocket Knight Adventures. It's got platforming like Mario or Sonic, shoot em ups like Konami's arcade classics, and boss battles straight out of Contra-style action games.

I can't believe that I forgot about RKA. That's like the Ratchet and Clank of 2D platformers (in terms of combining gameplay elements, and such).

Also, while I'm not the biggest fan of 3D Sonic, Sonic Generations is a really fun celebration of Sonic's entire history.

[Foggle]

Oh, I guess I misunderstood you, then. My bad.

To be fair, my initial post did favor the genre-crossing and referential type of stuff. I should have provided at least one example similar to yours.

Rocket Knight Adventures. It's got platforming like Mario or Sonic, shoot em ups like Konami's arcade classics, and boss battles straight out of Contra-style action games.

That's perfect!

[Spark Of Spirit]

The Red Star is another one. A tribute to old school beat em ups and shoot em up arcade games. It was a shame it was almost left canceled, because it is a real gem.