<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Let's face it. At the core, 2D action gameplay is very simple (that's how 2D games are able to be so fast and furious in the first place). You run, you jump, you slash your sword, etc. All the information you need at the moment is right on the screen, or scrolls onto the screen slowly enough for you to react to it. All the processing power you really needed to have an excellent-looking and playing 2D game was contained in the SNES/Genesis. My point is that, based on the limitations of the hardware the games were played on, people didn't really expect much in the graphics department and so the simple gameplay of 2D games was generally accepted, and people liked it for what it was - good.
Starting from the Dreamcast on up, we finally started to see high-quality 3D graphics in our homes. Shenmue, Metal Gear Solid 2, Metroid Prime, Halo, the various incarnations of GTA. And as the graphics got better, the mechanics of gameplay got more complicated (as they had to, to accomodate the third dimension). And as people's expectations of what games on the new systems should look like went up, their expectations of the complexity of gameplay went up as well.
And so, when somebody sees a 2D game like C:SotN, Guilty Gear XX, etc. on one of the newer systems, the thought process (conscious or unconscious) might go something like:
"Wait a minute. My machine can put out photo-realistic 3D graphics and they want me to look at this sprite crap? I'm probably only going to need the control pad and two of the buttons for this one, too - why should I do that when there's two analog sticks, six buttons, and two triggers? What kind of simpleton do they take me for?"
And they don't buy it and go buy some crap like "Drake of the 99 Dragons" or something, even though the gameplay of the 2D game might have been better than the 3D game they ended up getting.
However, when that same person goes shopping for a GBA game they think "Wow, this game looks great for a GBA game - and it's really fun, too!" They're not expecting anything more than 2D graphics and gameplay out of a machine like the GBA, so they willingly accept it and enjoy it. (Eric, the second sentence of your post clued me into that.)
So I guess what I'm saying is that if you're one of the ones who likes fast-paced 2D gameplay, get thee to a Game Boy Advance, my friend.
After all, why do you think I ended up getting myself a Game Boy Player in addition to my Xbox, GC, and PS2?
<i>-57</i></div>
[url=http://profile.mygamercard.net/Twxabfn][img]http://card.mygamercard.net/gbar/360/Twxabfn.gif[/img][/url]
