Making classic games more accessible should be the norm

Games age faster than any other media. Even titles that are only a few years old may look dated as new, more user-friendly versions become available. This poses a tricky question when it comes to reissuing classic games: keep them intact, as they were originally, or update yourself for players modern? If some recent titles are an indication, the answer is to do both.

Let's start with Nintendo. As part of its Switch Online service, the company offers slightly updated NES games, including online multiplayer. But last month, the company took a step further with an improved version of the original version. The legend of Zelda. This gave the players a lot of money and equipment, which greatly facilitated their entry into the game. This week, Nintendo did the same for the sci-fi shooter Gradius, offering players a ship with weapons almost to the maximum. In both cases, it was much easier to play a particularly intimidating game at first.

Then there is the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, also on the switch. This offer includes 13 titles in the company's history, some of which you've probably never heard of, and 11 more coming as free downloadable content. Like other Digital Eclipse reissues, it's a collection that truly honors the source material, with a museum mode that includes works of art and commercials that help put the importance of these games into perspective.

The most interesting, however, is the addition of a "monitoring" feature. That's exactly what it looks like: you can watch part of the game in question. But what makes it different from watching clips on YouTube, for example, is that you can always take over and start playing. This allows you to get around particularly difficult moments while continuing to play.

All these games have historical significance. It's obvious for games like Zelda, which has essentially launched the idea of ​​open worlds, but which does not make lesser known titles less significant. You've probably never heard of SNK Sasuke against commanderfor example, but it could be the game that invented the fight against the boss.

The fact is that many of these games are not necessarily as fun to play. They can be slow and difficult to understand. But with features like Nintendo's enhanced watch or ports, this makes this process more accessible. In both cases, the original, largely unchanged versions of these games are still available. These releases preserve this heritage while opening them to a much larger number of people. And for a media that struggles regularly to document its own story, having these options is increasingly important.