This is Mega Man. Now, is this sprite of Mega Man from before or after 2008?
The answer?
Both!
As you're no doubt aware, there's been quite a retro revolution taking place in the gaming world over the past few years. Franchises long forgotten are breathed new life, like the recently announced Rocket Knight. Once a 16-bit adventure on the Sega Genesis, now re-imagined in "2.5D". Not quite 2D, not quite 3D. Like so:
Some developers, however, push the retroness to the extreme. Like when Capcom released Mega Man 9 last year. It wasn't with new graphics, wasn't with some new mixture of dimensions; it looked EXACTLY like it did in 1987. Even the box art for the game looks like something that was popular during the time of Tron and He-Man:
It's a risky move. In the age where HD gaming has pretty much become the norm, for a developer to make something only the oldest of gamers would truly appreciate, speaks of their committment to the fanbase. And Mega Man 9 sold PHENOMENALLY, recreating a whole retro revolution in the gaming industry. Resurrecting old franchises is nothing new, but resurrecting them in the same style they were first created is as hardcore as it gets. And now there's even the advent of NEW franchises done in OLD graphics, with animations and color schemes that harken back to the games of yesteryear. A recent example is the not yet released game Half-Minute Hero for the PSP, that looks like something straight out of 1993:
And yet, Half-Minute Hero is already being lauded by critics as a mini masterpiece. I don't know about you guys, but for a gamer like me that's been a fan of this industry since 1988, I would LOVE to see more of these. My most beloved old franchise?
RIVER CITY RANSOM.
Do it Nintendo.
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