Are Retro Sprites Irreplaceable?

[Spindel]

Shadow1980 said:
In many if not most cases, yes. A lot of 3D remakes of old 2D games just don't look good to me. 3D graphics tend to age terribly, and when it comes to remakes on handhelds, those are held back by weak hardware that yields dated visuals. Actually looking at A Link Between Worlds and Return of Samus in motion, as it's clear to me that they look like PS2 games, and most PS2 games haven't aged well. A Link to the Past and Super Metroid's vibrant sprites look far better than the low-poly, poorly-textured models present on LBW and M2:RoS.

Even on home consoles, it often depends. In the case of Mario, the art style lends itself to high quality 3D models, and New SMB U is a 2D platformer with great 3D graphics. But seeing the Secret of Mana remake in motion, I honestly don't care for it. The original SNES version just looks better to me. In fact, while I think cartoony cel-shaded games can look quite well in 3D (Winder Waker HD looks great), the anime-style aesthetic tends to not translate well to 3D to me (maybe it's just the way they're animated).

While the industry rapidly abandoned 2D sprite-based graphics in the latter half of the 90s, there were still plenty of games that showed that sprites still had a lot of potential as resolutions increased. Mega Man 8, Mega Man X4 to X6, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, among other games, showed that the PS1 could crank out some pretty sprites, while Street Fighter III brought perhaps the best-animated sprites ever at the time (and still pretty today) to arcades in '97. Arc System Works was still supporting sprites with the BlazBlue series (though they've moved to cel-shaded 3D visuals with Guilty Gear Xrd and Dragon Ball FighterZ), and those were some damn good quality sprites. Most recently, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero displays some absolutely fabulous high-res 2D sprites that avert the "pixel art" look common in indie games today.

Sometimes 3D graphics are necessary. Sometimes not. Sometimes it fits with the gameplay or a particular look. Sometimes not. And most of the time, a 2D game remade with 3D visuals just doesn't look as good as the original.

I don't qualify gamse like the new shantae as sprites tho.