A Brief History of Video Game Title Sequences – Wylie

Of course I picked the video game title sequence video to analyze for this blog post. Knowing me, was there ever any doubt? As a gamer, I cut my teeth on the likes of Mario and Zelda and have continued to play many AAA and independent titles throughout the years. As such, I recognize most, if not all, of the games featured in this video; if I haven’t played them, I’ve at least heard of them. While the title sequence and the motion of the typography is not the first thing that comes to my mind when I look back with fond memories on these games, they are still an important part that must be considered. “Always judge a game by it’s title screen,” right? Isn’t that how that quote goes? Anyway…let’s dive in to some title sequences!

Right off the bat, I knew this video would be awesome when I heard the opening chords to Anamanaguchi’s “Endless Fantasy” playing in the background. [Side note: Anamanaguchi is a band that plays music called “chiptune”, which in my completely unbiased opinion is one of the best musical genres available today. Any interested parties can learn more here or watch Anamanaguchi perform that same song on Jimmy Fallon.] The main thing that I took from watching (or re-watching) these title sequences is what the game developers were able to do with the limitations of the technology at the time. Take, for example, the “Mario Bros.” title screen where Mario and Luigi jump and hit the letters so that they flip around a few times. This would be something very easy to do today in a program like After Effects or Edge Animate, but doing it with the Nintendo Entertainment System’s (NES) limited processing power is a different beast entirely.

As the video showed games that have been released in recent years, it was interesting to note the dichotomy of the title sequences. Some games, like “Fez” and “Super Meat Boy”, pulled heavily from the traditions of the games that game before them. Both of their title sequences have a retro feel to them, but also feel very current and modern. Games like “Tomb Raider” and “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” obviously draw inspiration from the modern blockbuster film with all the background animations and (if you you’ll forgive me for using this word) “epic” feel. One outlier in the bunch were the title sequences to the “Metal Gear Solid” series of games. Even when the first entry of the game was being played on the now-outdated PlayStation, the game had a very cinema feel to it. Modern entries of the series keep that same cinema feel, but now utilize the benefits of modern technology. Credit Hideo Kojima and his team for knowing exactly what they wanted even when they were first starting out.

All in all, this video was much more than a nostalgia trip for me. Thinking critically about the title sequences of some of my favorite games made me realize how it is in a way an art form of its own. My biggest take away though is how game developers were able to make these things with the limited technology of the time, which is something that I think is very inspiring. Perhaps by forcing myself to use limited equipment and effects, I can learn how to be a better designer.