"Are 2D Games Out of Date?"

Games have evolved over the many years, the amount of colours have advanced to a point where games look more realistic, storylines have become more involving and one of the biggest advances is the leap from 2D to 3D graphics. But with this leap to 3D graphics, more colours in games etc... have 2D games become something of the past? Can 2D games make it in this world today? Is it something that we should just forget about?

Now at present we have 3 next-generation consoles, the GameCube, Playstation 2 and the X-Box. So far we haven't seen that many 2D games on them, the PS2 has had Rez (sort of 2D), the GCN will be getting Ikaruga, but there's nothing after that. Fine some companies have released discs where all their old retro games have been put together for your enjoyment down memory lane, but that isn't enough they're just re-releases. The evidence is too strong, 2D games on the Next-Generation consoles are basically non-existent.

The world of 2D gaming has been around a lot longer than 3D gaming, at the time when it was still "in" we saw many different variations to the style of the games. There was the basic 2D side scroller, the top down look (which made Zelda so successful) and also you could say that isometric view was partially 2D verging onto the 3D side of things. So with this variation in styles shouldn't games companies still think about making 2D games? The thing is most of us have grown up with 2D games, the fact that these people are now saying 2D gaming is out of date is just absurd. Fine 3D games have been around for a while now and it's natural for us to follow the latest change/evolution but to fully turn your back on what you used to play on, and even saying that all 2D games are rubbish is going to the extreme. But I have witnessed this being said.

There were some fine consoles back in the days of 2D gaming and some great 2D games. Who remembers the NES? SNES? Mega Drive(Genesis)? I certainly do. They were and still are the consoles of 2D gaming, but how many of you still play on them? No doubt there are some of you who do still play on them, but there must lots of people who have just sold them on or just thrown them out. People just treat it like fashion, once something is old and "out" people just throw them away never to be seen again. That's where the problem lies, people just don't want 2D games anymore. I've already stated it, but there is just not enough demand for them. People just now want to see games with great 3D graphics, with great realistic scenery and so on...

That's the thing people just don't care about gameplay anymore they just care about how a game looks, well that's not anyway to go around judging games by! This is where people get the idea that 2D games are rubbish, because they don't reach the top-notch graphics of today, fine 2D games can't do that, but where they do beat these so called 3D wonders are when it comes down to fun, playability and gameplay. Personally I love getting out my old NES for a play on Kirby's Adventure or Zelda. Regardless of how powerful my GameCube is I still play on my old consoles. A lot of games on the Next-Gen consoles just haven't been able to produce the same greatness of 2D gaming, there are some that have but not a lot. That's not to say they don't have great games, it's just that games have evolved to a point where companies are churning out games that are visually great but the gameplay is rubbish.

But there is one console at the moment that is still going strong on the 2D front and that's the worlds greatest portable, the GBA. But I doubt that'll last, a lot of games companies have started making 3D games for the system, we've already seen Doom, Ecks Vs. Sever, Spyro has taken on the isometric view but looks more 3D than 2D, V Rally and many others. The GBA though does have a good library of 2D games, Sonic was brought back to his 2D days, there's been three conversions of old 2D Mario games and expect A Link to the Past coming very soon. But as I said it just isn't going to last.

It's a huge shame to see 2D games disappearing, they were what made Video-Games so great. Looking at all the evidence, I've got to say that 2D games are sadly going to just go and are in fact by many people's standards, out of date. They made people happy years ago and still make some people happy even now, but it looks like it's a 3D future.