Going Around in Circles.

    I've always loved video games, but only very recently have I really been able to sit down and even contemplate catching up after being on hiatus for several years. Out of sheer enthusiasm, I've endeavoured to keep up with the latest news, sporadically indulging in a PC title to keep withdrawal at bay, but the gaming landscape has changed considerably.
    Apart from real time strategy games, which have maintained a healthy following since their inception, my other favourites types, including adventure and fighting games, had all but been declared dead as I parted company, kept alive only by a small, dedicated community.
    Imagine my delight as, for whatever ethereal reason, genres I used to love are gaining popularity once more and inspiring a new generation of games; just in time for my belated return.
  
   Street Fighter 2 was the bread and butter of my youth, in fact, I still have the classic eight's move-sets lock in muscle memory to this day.  Naturally I was very happy to hear news of the forth being created as I had missed the countless iterations in between. One of my fondest memories of high school was being on a class trip to Rouen, France, and attempting to play Street Fighter 2 on an arcade cabinet. My arm was in a sling recovering from a dislocation that happened days before the trip, someone pick-pocketed my Sonic the Hedgehog wallet with forty pounds in it, and I also bought Battletoads at a hypermarché ... Thinking back, that trip was terrible... 

     Then you have Telltale Games reviving the 'point and click' genre, single- handedly it seems, by releasing a flurry of renovated old favourites like Monkey Island and Sam & Max in a new episodic format. Receiving a full 3D  makeover and all-new stories, the games are set to make loyal fans of a new generation as the (often literally) trademarked humour returns in full force.
     You can tell how old you are when the Halo theme does nothing for you, and then you tingle from the top of your head down to the base of your spine as Monkey Island's first haunting notes break into that familiar calypso rhythm.

     It's a wonder how long it's taken a game like Chair Entertainment's Shadow Complex to be created. Super Metroid and Castlevania are so dear to many people's hearts that you would have thought the modernization of a vast, exploratory 2D platformer would have been a big priority on someone's list. While I don't think I could stomach investing the time to revisit Super Metroid again, the nostalgia alone could get me in a lather to play Shadow Complex. Seeing how the exposition and other familiar elements have evolved in such a dazzling way leads me to hope there will be more games like this in the future.
 
Such is my addiction.    
 
Which oldies from your past could do with a present-day overhaul?

Wings of Fury, i would love to see that with some improved graphics. Or Flashback, and Another World. Oh and also North and South.
 
Almost forgot Rick Dangerous.

Someone posted a blog or thread earlier this week about space flight sims, and that made me really start thinking about how much I would really like something new in the "flight" genre. It has been a hell of a long time since I recall anything like that coming out. Starlancer, X-Wing vs. Tie-Fighter, Rogue Squadron, Crimson Skies...where have they all gone?

 Yea, what happened to flying games? No more Star Fox, no more Panzer Dragoon, no.....OK, NiGHTS is still here, but it wasn't as good as the original, so I'm not counting it :P. It seems that most of today's games are either FPSes or JRPGs, from what I can tell.