Hello!

This is Rolaran. I have heard a lot of about the importance of graphics in video games. Some say that good-looking graphics are simply eye-candy, nothing more. Some say that the detail of the graphics can make or break a video game. Some point to games that have strange, pixelated, and blocky graphics, yet are still worth their weight in good-looking games. Some point to games that have been ruined by poor graphics or a lack of realism. Which side is right?

I find myself aligned with the camp that sees graphics as somewhat superfluous, and I can give three examples of games that are loads of fun, despite a lack of cutting-art, state-of-the-edge graphics.

1. Super Smash Bros.

This is one of my favorite games of all time. I loved the game for its madcap pace, its awesome moves, and the almost endless versatility offered by the game. For the record, it looked like this:

Yep, this had me enthralled.

When the Gamecube came out with Super Smash Brothers Melee, I knew I had to try it out. The graphics impressed me. To put it mildly. The following passage will attempt to give you an idea of what I thought of the graphics when I first tried it out.

Oh wow! Mario's fireballs look like flames instead of rotating commas!

Captain Falcon, your Falcon Punch finally looks like it would actually inflict some seriously massive devastation, before it just looked kinda freaky!

Oh wow, look how smooth Kirby is!

Hmm, Donkey Kong's had quite an upgrade in appearance as well!

Hey check this out, the Pokemon are no longer 2-D sprite things, they look ready to jump right off the screen...

Did you see that? DID YOU SEE THAT!? I shot Link's hookshot, and it was affected by gravity!

This is SO AWESOME!

However, after a while I realized that, yes, the graphics were improved, and yes, there were a shwack of new modes to be tried, but it just wasn't quite as insanely FUN as the original. SSBM is still among my favorite Gamecube games, but I still prefer the polygonal characters of the original. The realistic graphics are nice eye-candy for a few minutes. Then it's basically six one, half dozen the other.

2. Katamari Damacy

This game was lauded to skies everywhere for many reasons- original concept, easy-to-learn, non-frustrating gameplay, something anybody from your dad to your three-year-old sister could play and enjoy- and its cool art design. But nobody said, "And you know what makes this game? The realistic and detailed graphics!" Probably a good thing too, as that person would arguably become an instantaneous internet joke.

This is not a game that rode on the realistic strength of its graphics. This is not a game that COULD have ridden on the realistic strength of its graphics. It had a lot of other, more important things going for it.

3. (The clincher) Monster Arena

This is actually an online game, at the website www.rinkworks.com. The game is awesome. It lets you outfit a team of 3 monsters with deadly weapons, and send them into battle with other players' beasts of warfare. It has deep strategy, exciting fights, and it is highly, highly addictive. It also contains a single graphic, which is simply the game's name in a fancy font.

That's it. The only graphic anywhere in any part of the game. Yet it is an awesome game- not despite, but because of this lack of graphics. You use your imagination to fill in the blanks, and so you see not what some programmer thinks your male earth gnome named Adam Sessler should look like, but what you imagine the real Adam Sessler would look like if he were wearing plate armor and carrying a battle axe. (BTW, that's one of my current characters, along with Morgan Webb and Tommy Tallarico; G4Tech TV to the max!)

So, thank you for paying attention through all of this. If you ever feel the need to experience some non-graphical coolness, come on over to game number three, and watch out for Rolaran's teams of themed characters (past teams include candidates for Canadian Prime Minister, and characters from Princess Mononoke). Hope to see you again soon!