Gaming

I think nostalgia plays a pretty big factor in retro games. Like, yes, I agree that enshittification marches onwards and the state of the industry today is pretty lame.

Every time I've gone back to a retro game I find myself vaguely disappointed. Quality of life has come a long way, and development is iterative so it makes sense that games made twenty years ago are lacking some features that make life easier for the player. Things like fast travel in metroidvanias, or inventory and quest management, or just trying to remember what it was I was supposed to do next in an RPG are often quite lacking. Or at the least, they're not up to today's standards.

Survivorship bias plays a pretty big role here too. We remember the good games that stand out from the rest of them, and we forget about the crap. There was shovelware back then too, maybe not to the degree of the modern app stores with F2P games loaded with microtransactions and dark patterns, but they were there too.

Anyway, long story long, the trick in whatever generation you play seems to be to find games that respect your time as a player. I'd also recommend checking out indie games, they're made with love, and you can find all kinds of retro-styled where you can tell the devs were passionate about games of the era.

Here's a short list of games I've enjoyed that give me that retro SNES feeling:

• Bzzzzzt - Just delightful
• Gravity Circuit - Megaman, but the platforming actually feels good and fast
• Nuclear Blaze - This one has a unique offering where have to put out fires while platforming
• Skull Girls - okay, this one's a bit older too, but in another comment you said you like Street Fighter so this might be up your alley