Nostalgia for 8-bit Art and Music in Modern Video Games

Nostalgia can be a powerful force. When we have an experience that reminds us of the past, be it our personal history or a collective history, we experience nostalgia. Nostalgia can be described as a “longing for the past.” (Makai, 2018) It is our brains remembering a time that was, and either longing for it to return or longing to return to it. For this reason most anything can be nostalgic, from the smell of the outdoors to the graphics on a computer screen.

Video graphics have come a long way from the beginning of the computer era. What started as being able to see individual pixels has turned into having millions of pixels on HD or 4k resolution screens. This evolution is mirrored in videogame history. Videogame graphics and music began as pixelated art and simple 8-bit music and have developed over time to the HD video and sound we see in modern games. However, these evolutions have caused the pixelated graphics and 8-bit music to become nostalgic, especially for those who grew up playing older videogames such as Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo 1985) and The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo 1986). These games have a certain prestige associated with them, and I believe the art and music from older games such as these have influenced modern games such as CrossCode (Radical Fish, 2018) and Celeste (Matt Makes Games, 2018), and that these games used these influences in order to make the game invoke nostalgia for these historic videogames.

The art style used in Celeste, while different from that of Super Mario Bros., has enough similarities to be comparable especially when you look at the details. The similarity in how details are made in Celeste and Super Mario Bros. can be attributed to the pixel art style and the nostalgic intentions of the Celeste art style. The primary nostalgia in Celeste comes from the detailing style, as it reminds people of Super Mario Bros. and its prestige. These similarities make people playing Celeste nostalgic for Super Mario Bros. by being reminded of the Super Mario Bros. art style, but the differences in Celeste’s art style make it distinct enough to hold its own identity.

CrossCode has a similar interaction with the game The Legend of Zelda. CrossCode creates a sense of nostalgia for The Legend of Zelda through its art style.

While the graphical styles of the two games are noticeably different there are similarities, especial in the background details. The green foliage on the edges of the screen in The Legend of Zelda frame are similar, detailing wise, to the leaves on the trees in CrossCode. These are some of the only similarities in visuals for CrossCode and The Legend of Zelda, however more similarities exist when looking at the music of both games.

CrossCode and The Legend of Zelda both have music that amplify the expected feelings during play. These games, like most video games, have music that is designed to fit the area where it plays, enhancing the game experience through the music. This also makes music in similar areas sound alike. The two pieces of music of focus, which play in the areas pictured above, have similarities that create the same feelings of adventure. These pieces of music are the Overworld theme from The Legend of Zelda and the Autumn Rise theme from CrossCode. 

These themes are both upbeat and exciting as your character is exploring their vibrant surroundings. These similarities give CrossCode a sense of nostalgia as the music in The Legend of Zelda was thought of as legendary at the time and added to the enjoyment to the game. While the technology used to create the CrossCode music is obviously more advanced than that used to create the music for The Legend of Zelda, the use of chiptunes and other aspects of the music make them similar.

Chiptune is music made using or that reminds people of “… microchip-based sound hardware of the home computers and video game consoles of the late 1970s and early 1980s.” (McAlpine, pg. 1) Chiptune grew out of the programable sound generators (PSGs) of these machines and, as the technology to make music became digital and “recording studio hardware [became] virtualized,” (McAlpine, pg.4) chiptune became an aesthetic movement rather than a physical movement. The idea that a piece of music is chiptune no longer was that it was made on vintage hardware, but it sounded like it was.

A great example of a modern chiptune aesthetic than the soundtrack of the video game Celeste. The entire soundtrack fits the chiptune aesthetic sound and sounds as though it was created using old video game console hardware. The Celeste soundtrack also has some minor similarities to the soundtrack of Super Mario Bros. These similarities are most easily seen in the beginning of the Resurrections track of the Celeste soundtrack and the Underworld theme from Super Mario Bros. While the Celeste track is more complex, the way the melody moves is similar to that of the Super Mario Bros. music.

Unlike CrossCode, Celeste gets less of its nostalgic influence from music. The nostalgic connections from music in Celeste come with how the tracks are organized. In Super Mario Bros. each level type had a single musical theme to save on memory space. This is mirrored in Celeste as each level, of which there are 8, has only 1 or 2 tracks. This organization makes the tracks recognizable and gives each a flavor that matches the level it is associated with, which is how the Super Mario Bros. game made its music stand out and remain recognizable to date.

I have mentioned the prestige that Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda carry, but I feel it has been understated. The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. defined modern gaming with their mechanics, their use of music, and their difficulty. These genre defining traits is what makes them targets of nostalgia for CrossCode and Celeste.

Celeste draw from Super Mario Bros. in its difficulty and gameplay loop. Celeste is difficult and unforgiving, with each individual section having its own unique challenge. However, mastering these challenges is simple; it is about knowing how to use your movement options are creating a plan and pathway through the section. This gameplay loop is like that of Super Mario Bros., which makes the joyous feeling of completion also a nostalgic one for people who have played Super Mario Bros.

CrossCode, while also being difficult, draws more on The Legend of Zelda’s learning curve and puzzle solving. CrossCode does have a brutal difficulty and unforgiving nature that is similar The Legend of Zelda, however learning the combat and solving the puzzles is much more cathartic than overcoming the difficulty. The real nostalgic connection between CrossCode and The Legend of Zelda is getting good enough at the combat to avoid damage and defeat enemies quickly. Solving the puzzles is also nostalgic, as it is in most games with puzzle solving elements, as the feelings gained from solving them remind people of the first puzzle games they played, which is commonly The Legend of Zelda.

Video games are difficult to study in terms of nostalgia. There are times when games can advertise their sense of nostalgia for “… the exploitation of the consumer” or in order to “[exploit] a generalized sense of pastness.” (Makai, 2018). However games like Celeste and CrossCode, that create their nostalgia through art and music and gameplay rather than references to older games, this cannot be further from the case. There is an argument that using these aesthetic styles was from a cost standpoint, as chiptune music and pixel art is cheaper to make compared to fully orchestrated music and HD graphics, I believe the decision was made from an artistic and nostalgic standpoint. Many people who are developing video games today grew up playing games like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. This makes these games nostalgic, and a video game that give the developers a feeling of nostalgia is going to make players nostalgic as well. The use of the 8-bit musical and artistic style makes these games nostalgic for games that originally used this art style, especially ones that defined modern video games genres.

Bibliography

McAlpine, Kenneth M. Bits and Piece: a history of chiptune. Oxford University Press. 2019

Celeste. Matt Makes Games Inc. 2018

CrossCode. Radical Fish. 2018

Makai, Peter K. “Video games as Objects and Vehicles of Nostalgia”. Humanities vol. 7 issue 4. 2018

Super Mario Bros. Nintendo. 1985

The Legend of Zelda Nintendo. 1986