Pixels Still Breathe

My world has always been a pixel world. That was true at the beginning and it’ll be true at the end. I’ve had genuine love affairs with 3D—The Witcher 3 broke me in the best way, Ocarina of Time is the only correct use of the word "epic," Mass Effect made me care about digital people more than I care about some real ones—but something in me still leaps when fat, bright pixels fill a screen. When the transition came, that hard cut from the Super Nintendo to the PlayStation, the Nintendo 64, the Dreamcast, I felt it as a loss. The warmth went out of it. The soul thinned. I was right, and I’ve never entirely forgiven the industry for it.

The indie developers kept the faith. Stardew Valley, Owlboy, Terraria—proof that 3D didn’t win, just got louder. Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past are pixelated and they remain the best things video games ever produced. Not historically significant. Best.

Now Hazelnut Bastille comes along, a love letter to Super Nintendo-era Zelda from the team at Aloft Studio. It looks like a memory of a summer holiday. It plays like pulling a cold drink from the fridge and settling back in front of a television that weighs thirty kilos. The ambition goes beyond nostalgia tourism—it’s trying to continue something, not parody it. Hiroki Kikuta, who composed the transcendent soundtrack for Secret of Mana, is on board as a guest composer, which is either the most exciting piece of news I’ve read all week or a sign that I need to get out more. I’m comfortable with either conclusion.

A playable demo is available at the studio’s site. The game was funded through Kickstarter and deserved every penny. Download the demo. Do it now.