Well, the mantra that I go by is that graphics are important to an extent. As in, a PS3 game shouldn?t look as if it?s a PS1 game, but I don?t have any qualms with the graphics of a PS1 game like Crash Bandicoot because it looks appropriate for its time and it?s colourful. Also, the graphics of a game, regardless of age, shouldn?t be so bad that they obscure what you?re doing or are actively distracting, like the Virtual Boy.
I mean, I hold my original Game Boy games close to my heart, but I sold my actual Game Boy long ago because why should I have to put up with black-and-white on that calculator-screened brick when I can play it in actual colour on a Game boy Colour or Game Boy Advance, both of which I can play in my hands without it being clunky? All right, that wasn?t solely to do with graphics, but the point still stands. And the original Game Boy?s still a Big Thing, having practically shaped the world of handheld gaming that we know and love today. Just that people would prefer to physically play the Game Boy Advance, just like most people would prefer to watch Chris Nolan?s Batman films rather than Tim Burton?s far more influential, but more flawed (to the point that you might as well have called it ?The Joker, starring Batman and that random damsel who we?re meant to give a crap about called Vicki Vale?), Batman.
There are some occasions where I actually prefer the retro 2D sprite-based graphics to the 3D graphics of today (or worse, those blocky polygons of the N64 and PS1 days), like Sonic the Hedgehog and Donkey Kong Country. Those just look so fucking lush and I can just as easily get immersed in their worlds as a free-roaming 3D world. Part of that reason is due to the gameplay being that good. And the music?don?t forget the music, because that?s a pretty important part of a game as well, probably just as much as graphics.
All in all?it depends. Yeah, they?re important, but not as important as gameplay, obviously, which are the meat and potatoes of a game. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is regarded as one of the best games in history, and it?s not because of Link?s beautifully Lego-constructed face.
Also, aesthetic direction (someone?s already mentioned this, but I just wanted to throw it in too to further support my opinions). Again, look at Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Donkey Kong Country 3, Yoshi?s Island, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, and tell me with a straight face that they don?t look wonderful, even today. I would much rather play any one of those games than five-shades-of-brown Call of Doody: Modern Borefare 2. And yes, I know I sounded like an immature fanboy there, but whatever. I admit that I?ve got a soft spot for the retro. When I play game, old or new, I don?t really notice and/or care about the quality of its graphics, unless it?s a real painting-like masterpiece or it?s so bad that it obscures stuff.
