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Uncategorized Sunday, August 1st 2010 at 1:44 pm

The Video Games of Today Reimagined in 8 and 16 Bits

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Today’s games are great, but they just don’t carry the same immeasurable nostalgic value as, say, Chrono Trigger, Link’s Awakening, or even Number Crunchers. Now Stockholm-based pixel artist Junkboy has hypothesized for Swedish magazine Level what it might have looked like had contemporary games—Arkham Asylum, Bioshock, Guitar Hero, Little Big Planet, Red Dead Redemption, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Soul Calibur, and more—existed in the golden age of 8- and 16-bit gaming. Of course, several of these games indeed had low-bit predecessors!

Compare the full series of “demake” images to their modern originals, below.

Arkham Asylum

Bayonetta

Bioshock


Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Brutal Legend


Dead Space


Final Fantasy XIII

Guitar Hero


Killzone


Little Big Planet


Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Mirror’s Edge


Noby Noby Boy


Need for Speed: Shift


Metroid: Other M


Pikmin


Red Dead Redemption


Resident Evil 5


Sin & Punishment: Star Successor


Soul Calibur


Starcraft


Super Mario Kart


Previously on Geekosystem: 15 Retro Video Game Company Logos and their Modern-Day Counterparts.

(Way of the Pixel via Reddit. Junkboy on DeviantART and pixeljoint.)

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  • cornwallace

    Super Mario Kart was already on the SNES, which was a 16-bit system. Mario Kart Wii is a sequel.

    In case you didn’t know.

  • DreadSamurai

    Wouldn’t a 2d, sprite-based Soul Caliber basically be Samurai Shodown for SNES and Genesis?

  • http://www.bradleyfarless.com/ BradleyF81

    This really makes me miss some of the games I grew up with. I remember first playing Super Mario Brothers when I was about 8 years old and thinking it was the most awesome thing, EVER. In a way, it still is, just because of how great an experience it was.

  • http://www.geekosystem.com/ Michael Suen

    @cornwallace Yup, I grew up on SNES Mario Kart. That, Yoshi’s Island 2, Final Fantasy III (VI), and The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse. I just threw up the Wii screenshot to give people a sense of just how far we’ve come (but quite often, I wish we hadn’t!).

  • tossin

    Holy shit, I would pay more for a Bayonetta scrolling shooter than Bayonetta itself.

  • Nepenthe87

    The super Mario kart one should be taken down. Most racing games on the SNES and even a lot of NES racing games had a behind the car view. Maybe the creator of these images should review should go back and play some 8 bit and 16 bit games

  • jonCates

    yes, this is a kwl concept but it comes from the concept of the DeMake, i.e. the Mockup Frenzy #3: Game Boy De-Makes! competition:

    “To sum up, de-makes are the inverse of the “next-gen” game update. Take a new game, and roll it back to an older piece of hardware. Only we’re going to be rolling it WAY back; all the way to the original Game Boy!” – Adam Atomic (2007)

    http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=5016.0

    + my personal favorite, the Bioshock DeMake by CroM (2007) as documented here:

    http://artgames.ning.com/forum/topics/bioshock-demake-crom-20070918

  • Ericb

    Screw nostalgia.

    Pixels are color, and color NEVER goes old. There’s so much you can accomplish with pure color. This is barely a taste of that potential.

    But a beautiful taste, nonetheless.

  • bustaheadz

    Todays games are missing much of the charm and fun the games of the 16-bit/ 24-bit neo geo had. Sprites look a lot better than polys as well; I remember seeing the first 32-bit poly games and how blocky they were. I much prefer the old 2D side scrollers to todays high-def graphics. Where will it stop with the pursuit of realism in graphics, if it reaches the point that computer graphics look identical to reality, then why not just film it ? The 2D sprite games were game Art at its best.

  • Crockettman

    Definitely not 8-bit. 16 – 32 bit is more like it… Which I’m sure has been completely covered above me!

  • Df

    Clearly the author of this forgot about SNES mode 7. Above view Mario Kart? C’mon! Some veteran…

  • Alex G.

    Why should it be japanese crap that should be re-imagined? Where are all great american games on your list huh?

  • Ryokashi

    Are you retarded?

    Starcraft, Red Dead Redemption, Killzone, Guitar Hero, Dead Space, Brutal Legend, Arkham Asylum, and Bioshock, roughly half the things on the list.

    Not to mention the PS3 and the Wii ARE Japanese.

  • Jdkys65

    why do people still have to criticize shit? the guy or girl was just making a point about how far the gaming world has come. Get a life.

  • JD

    FF13 with FF6′s graphics and battle system would have been a better game

  • josh

    THAT WAS STARCRAFT 2 hate you all

  • Katiiex

    Like any of you bagging the shit outta this guy could of done any better? I think he did an incredible job so before you say anything think if you would do any better. Besides he was just giving an example :|

  • http://www.facebook.com/allen.rockafella Allen Kozho

    And my…

  • U R LAME

    COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_C6NU3N6NS6HFYMOON2RYBHZHCI Rico

    The final fantasy series would be awesome going back to 16bit… after the series became 3D (sans XII) it has became something else. While enjoyable it would be great to see it go back to “old-school” style again.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_C6NU3N6NS6HFYMOON2RYBHZHCI Rico

    The final fantasy series would be awesome going back to 16bit… after the series became 3D (sans XII) it has became something else. While enjoyable it would be great to see it go back to “old-school” style again.

  • Corholio

    Well actually mario kart 64, then either gb or gba, then gcube, then ds, then wii

  • Turatu

    sure… thats why i own mario kart for SNES…. copyright date says it exists before the N64 even existed…

  • tim

    he was saying the order went from mario kart snes to mario kart 64

  • JESSIEBLAZIK

    u r a nerd

  • G-Unit

    you are stupid

  • Lotyka

    SUPER

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_AW3HDHIN4K3EZCVNVI6D7ZTXY4 dave parks

    I agree with G-Unit.
    I can appreciate what the artist did here, and I like nostalgia as much as the next guy – but given the option, there’s no way in hell I’d *prefer* any of these over the current gen inspirations. And based on the sales of current games and the consoles on which they are played, I’d say a gajillion gamers all over the planet agree with me as well.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1499706155 ホルへ カザルス

    Some of them look better in 8-bit or 16-bit style…

  • gamer

    No way in hell would I play 95% of the modern day versions. But, I’ll be damned if those mock-ups don’t make me want to play every one of them. To each his own.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001415754520 Will Hutchison

    Super Smash Bros looks basically the same.

  • Plokijuh

    Or maybe you can make you own list, instead of whining about this one. Just a thought.

  • http://www.passthemsticks.com Mikey

    Wow. This is really an awesome showing. Some of these games would possibly be better off if they were simplified this way.

  • http://www.passthemsticks.com Mikey

    Wow. This is really an awesome showing. Some of these games would possibly be better off if they were simplified this way.

  • http://twitter.com/stvrulz steve

     just goes to show graphix dont make da game!

  • Asass

    If this list made me realize one thing, it’s that SSB for the SNES would have kicked ass.

  • poke

    FIY: original StarCraft already had 8 bit graphics.. yeah, i know! shocking!

  • Orlandolizzard

    um… no… they were not eight bit. Idiot.

  • Idontcare

    Mario Kart is a sequel, but not to the snes version, to the N64… which was 64bit. its the third in the series.

  • Mark

    Everything looks better in 8-bit.

  • Aasd

    Could you list the links of games for us to download?

  • Guest

    That’s true, but that was on a 16 bit system, they’re showing the hypothetical 8 bit version here.

  • Anon

    That’s not 8 bit. That’s frankly more like 32 bit than even 16 bit. 

  • Anon

    I still think 1- 3 were the absolute pinnacle of the series. Not that I thought 64 was bad or anything, but it seemed like as soon as mario went 3d, it lost something. I like pretty much all of the 3d Mario games but have often felt they would have been much better as new franchises as opposed to forcing the Mario formula into it. Especially Sunshine. TO be honest, the side scrolling game is an art form and though I also liked the 2 New Super Mario brothers games, they felt more like remixes of old material than anything which progressed the genre. Frankly, they lost something in translation, too. I’d take Super Mario World over NSMB anyday. That said, I still hope for another NSMB

  • Anon

    Yeah, because pretty makes a game good, huh?

  • Anon

    Not that they have an option. Saying they agree with you because they buy the only consoles available to them is bs. My money says if the industry didn’t have to spend huge amounts of money pleasing all the graphic sluts out there, they’d have no choice but to focus on innovative and tight gameplay to sell their products. But no, instead we get pretty shooter shit and paint by numbers rpgs. 

  • Anon

    Oh no, someone who opened their mouth in public was subjected to public opinion. Lets all cry about it!

  • Anon

    I saw that and wanted to cry. I would have INFINITELY preferred the artist’s version of XIII to the sad mess that is. FFXIII is the ultimate expression of a dumbed down game with pretty graphics to appeal to the casual masses; and remember, this is going to happen to every series you love sooner or later since now every popped collar bro and trailer trash jim in the world now plays games. 

  • Anon

    And I always felt it was a tragedy that the N64 wasn’t used to give us the best side scrolling mario game ever created. just think of all the tasty possibilities that could have been with a system that comparatively beefy to the SNES/NES. 

  • http://youfan.wordpress.com Youfan

    Today’s games are just about graphics and special effects. Mortal Kombat 3 is better than Mortal Kombat: Deception. Prince of Persia is better than Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

    But Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is indeed better than Metal Gear.

  • Revantisdale

    Weren’t 5 of these already 8 or 16 bit?

  • Sitarknight

    Wow, these look great, I wish someone would make some demakes of these, they all look awesome. Especially Smash Bros.

  • Anon

    The “Metroid” one makes me nerd rage so bad… I can’t stand seeing first person Metroid being treated as classic when that has only been used in the most recent games.

  • AnonGuy

    If you are on this site, you are a nerd too.

  • Glaric

    Brutal Legend as a point and click adventure game? I can see that, oddly enough.

  • Lilhoss4real

    can anyone tell me if these 8/16-bit screenshots are from real games cause I want them

  • ZE CAT

    where can i play this games???!! 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001657738310 Daniel Schatten

    No Mass Effect?

  • Cameronclark

    The Final Fantasy XIII one is basically Final Fantasy IV. haha.

  • Cameronclark

    *VI

  • …………

    i care about all this stuff im pretty sure u r as well

  • guest

    starcraft was already an 8 bit game too was it not? or 16

  • Lcgameboy601

     why arent you we rule the world dumbass

  • BadDinnerGuest

    Well if he wasn’t he probably wouldnt be here would he.

  • Psychoticdreams47

    At least nerds can use proper grammar and punctuation.

  • Chickenlips

    These are awesome. And yes, many of them are sequels to games which actually appeared on NES or SNES: Final Fantasy, Mario Kart, Metal Gear … but it’s still, awesome!

  • http://www.facebook.com/ChickahDee Julie Pawlik

    Aw I was really hopin’ to see some Skyrim on this, that would’ve been fun to see~
    Edit:Wooooah, nevermind, did NOT look at the date on this post! lalala damnit tumblr for leading me here!

  • Resthoe Jeb

    Wow,,
    Nice post, thank you..

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=666984710 Yunus Berkan Güçlü

    beautiful work has been

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nicholas-Sturtz/100000849528289 Nicholas Sturtz

    Isn’t the 16 bit version of StarCraft 2 StarCraft 1?

  • http://www.facebook.com/dave.young.7921 Dave Young

    No, but it makes a good game better.

  • http://www.profitfrommma.blogspot.com/ Ryan Bruno

    Awesome work some of the artwork is beautiful.