A lot of that can be boiled down to the change in the gaming experience and length of levels. Before, game levels only lasted a few minutes, then it was over. That meant music could be incredibly melodic without getting tiring quickly. The nature of the music also added a lot more excitement to the games. Given the limited abilities of the hardware, incredibly deep, atmospheric immersion wasn’t really a factor in games, so background music that took a backseat wasn’t really something people thought about. It was all about excitement and catchy tunes. Just a simple search on youtube will prove just how much people liked those songs. So much so, that they do renditions that pay homage to them.

Currently gaming music has changed due to longer stages and deeper immersion. Hearing the same melodic piece play over and over for an hour straight as you make your way through a level would probably get really tiring. Instead, composers got smart and stuck to music that picks up during battles and back down afterward. This adds dynamics and variety to the mix. The current trend seems to be having one main, recognizable theme for the game, and adding variations of that one theme throughout. For example, Gears of War plays variations of the same theme throughout the entire game. Even the Metal Gear series is guilty of this. While they are great themes (and in the case of the Metal Gear theme, it is a fantastic and memorable one), it would still be nice to hear a variety of themes. In the past, there were different songs for each level.

To remedy the repetitive nature of that, why not vary those themes up throughout a stage and add climaxes, dramatic crescendos, etc. during battles? That would add variety throughout the levels and throughout the game, giving them multiple catchy themes like the old days, not just one. I understand that they are trying to make a song synonymous with a particular game, but I really do miss the old days of games with a plethora of catchy, melodic songs. Thankfully, some games like the Castlevania series, and even newer ones like Guilty Gear, still maintain that, but I wish others would catch on. At least this is still better than some others, who just play mindless, entirely forgettable techno drivel in the background. I’ll take sweeping orchestral scores over that any day. Let’s just add some variety and more melody to that from here on out, game companies. We want our catchy, exciting tunes back!

80′s Gaming:

• Gameplay: When going from the 2600 to NES, I thought its controller was a god-send. Now we have two buttons to play with…and a gamepad with a start and select button! This was all you needed…or so we thought. Games like Double Dragon II made use of using both B and A buttons simultaneously, combinations of d-pad presses and button presses to do moves (Turtles 3′s Down + B to flip enemies). These told us that controllers were begging to have more buttons towards the ed of the 80′s. Before then, though, most games were so simple that spare buttons would be unnecessary. The games were all 2D and either sidescrolling or above view. The rare “3D” games were either on vectors or just mimicked 3D with animated frames.
• Game Length: This was a non-issue then. Games typically took 15-30 min to beat back then. We didn’t even think about that as being short. Just a nice quick play session with your friends.
• Multiplayer: Most games were up to 2 players, if it were above that then it was something special that required a multi-tap device. They were almost always cooperative as well, or played alternately. Sports games were really where you found competitive gaming.
• Graphics: Man oh man, what we thought about then. Systems competed on having more on screen colors, total colors available, how big you could make sprites and how many you could fit on a screen. Parallax scrolling was a cool new thing that brought depth to a game. Issues with graphics at the time were tons of slowdown and annoying flicker.
• Sound: When Nintendo came out I thought its sound was revolutionary for the simple fact that music played constantly as you played. That never happened on my old 2600. Everyone was also awe-stricken if they ever heard voice on a game…really garbled, static-y voice.
• AI: A-Wha? Oh, you mean a guy running the same pattern over and over? Difficulty in the old days was limited to punishing level design and bosses that were fast, cheap, and strong. The times were different then. You could memorize patterns to beat a game. Don’t get me wrong, there were some punishingly hard games then (Bayou Billy, I’m looking at you) that I am not sure I could beat to this day. One more thing, most games had no saves and checkpoints. If you died, that’s it, game over, start again.
• Popular Game types: Side scrolling platformers and action games ruled this era. Let’s not forget side scrolling shooters as well. Gradius and R-Type were two of the most popular, and in R-Types case, difficult games around.

Now:

• Gameplay: Egad, have controllers gotten complicated! Any non-gamer would be intimidated by the sheer amount of buttons, save but the innovative Wii controller. 3D is king, and has been since the mid-90′s. This whole new playing field not only adds the ability to move in 360 directions, but the ability to manipulate objects and the environment. Thus, more gameplay options open up. No more simple run and jump games. Now players command squads, Climb walls, shoot and load guns, hide behind cover, ride vehicles, blow up and steal cars, you name it, you can do it.
• Game Length: 6-8 is now the average length for action games…and most people are actually complaining that that is too short! Compare that to the 15-30 minutes on a NES game and I think it is fair to say that 6-8 hrs is plenty. RPGs, though, have gone insanely long with gameplay time up to the hundreds.
• Multiplayer: Hello online gaming, how are you? Multiplayer gaming has really branched out into homes everywhere. Now, I can game with my brother across states, thanks to online gaming. Now games can go up to as many as 64 players at a time. The shift has really changed, though, to competitive gaming. Luckily, cooperative gaming is making more of a comeback, though, and I welcome it.
• Graphics: The fight over colors is no longer an issue. Now we have fancy things like textures, lighting effects, water effect, advanced skeletal systems, and physics engines. It’s like a Hollywood production. Let’s not also forget a thing known as 1080p.
• Sound: Once again, like a Hollywood production! Companies are pulling all the stops with full musical scores, voice acting, and 5.1 surround sound.
• AI: Wow have we evolved. Enemies now react to our movements, flank us, throw grenades back at us and more. This is a totally different animal now. We’ve been spoiled by having checkpoints now, but given game length today, it’s very understandable and mandatory for our own sanity, in some cases.
• Popular games: Shooters definitely dominate the market now, if games like Halo, Gears of War, Rainbow Six, and Half Life 2 weren’t already any indication. Open ended sandbox games have become more popular thanks to the Grand Theft Auto Series, as well.

Looking back at all this you can see we’ve come a really long way in gaming. I love both my old games and new, and I could go on and on about the differences, I’ve only scratched the surface. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip to the past as much as I did!