Mega Man's not the only old-school hero who's decided to return to his roots; Konami's Vic Viper, the "star" of the Gradius series, has taken a step back into the past as well. Where Mega Man 9 aims squarely for the glory days of the late '80s, though, Gradius ReBirth has a bit more of the 16-bit feel about it. The sound is pure arcade, with jangly synths playing almost-but-not-quite familiar tunes, and the visuals look more or less like they were cribbed straight from the later Super NES days -- lots of pastel colors, and lots of slowdown when the screen's full of moving objects.
"When you think of classic shoot 'em ups, the top 2 series that likely come to mind are Gradius and R-Type so let's take an in-depth look at both franchises and see which one comes out on top." - A.J. Maciejewski from Video Chums
Over the past few years, publishers have embraced their old school roots and released new titles with eight and 16-bit style graphics, much to the delight of gamers who grew up playing NES, SNES and Genesis in the 80s and 90s. Only a handful of companies have done this, and thankfully, it appears that this renewed art style won’t go away any time soon. Here now, are a handful of new games with some retro flavor.
John Artest (RunDLC)
Forget about food. The way to this gamer’s heart is through his NES console. I love it when a publisher takes a classic gaming franchise and then releases a sequel that retains the spirit of the titles that came before it, despite having better graphics and audio. Hell, some companies even keep it retro by intentionally designing 8-bit visuals.
Xbox Live and PSN received a handful of these games, but if you want the cream of the proverbial crop, you go to Wii, or more specifically, WiiWare. Here are the five best retro reboots on Nintendo’s Shop Channel.
John Artest (RunDLC)
