Why Are Cartoony Games Suddenly Popular Again?

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Back in the ’90s, cartoony mascot games were all the rage. However, the early 2000s saw a sharp decline in cartoony games due to improved graphical abilities. Big hits like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Final Fantasy X on the PlayStation 2 and Halo on the Xbox blew the industry away right as the console generation started. The release of Grand Theft Auto III further continued the trend, causing the cartoony graphics of games like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and the Super Mario series to fall out of favor with players completely.

But the long-gone cartoony aesthetic of our youth, wouldn’t stay relegated to the past forever. Since at least 2016, there’s been an unmistakable resurgence of games with cartoony graphics — and they’re performing well. It appears that these games are no longer a development taboo. But why, in an age where graphics continue to improve, is this cartoony aesthetic making a comeback?

The Console Wars & Nintendo’s Resurgence

During the days of the Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time were two of the largest and most successful games of their generation. They also both used a similar cartoony style. That’s because Nintendo, unlike their rival Sony, wanted to target families. Sony ignored the family market and touted the PlayStation as a machine capable of running mature, realistic titles like those found in the Metal Gear Solid and Tomb Raider franchises.

Even still, Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time were huge milestones that many developers tried to imitate. Rare developed the popular Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64. Sony released Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon on the PlayStation, both of which performed well.

However, the PlayStation 2 left Nintendo’s GameCube in the dust in terms of sales. That didn’t stop Nintendo from releasing Mario and Zelda titles, but neither Sony nor Microsoft viewed the developer as competition anymore. The same can be said of the Nintendo Wii. It was marketed as a casual, family-friendly console with motion controls, a demographic that Sony and Microsoft largely ignored. Hardcore gamers felt similarly, many of them associating Nintendo’s aesthetic with children and casual gamers.

In 2017, Nintendo launched their Switch console along with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The critically acclaimed title, which went on to become the best-selling title in the series, marked a return to form for the franchise. Super Mario Odyssey followed soon after with similar success. Nintendo, once again, became an important developer that others took seriously. The company no longer existed in its own category, prompting others to see the developer as serious competition.

Not Just for Families

During the ’90s, the family gaming market was huge. But by the 2000s, interest sharply declined, leading developers to adapt to the market shift. Many attribute this change to the release of the graphical powerhouse Grand Theft Auto III. During a dev play with Tim Schafer, Jason Rubin, co-founder of Naughty Dog, recalled a focus group with an early build of the second Jak and Daxter game that highlighted this shift in thinking. Gamers as young as eight years old thought the game’s cartoony appearance meant it was for their “little brothers.” As a result, while Jak II didn’t change its art style, it did mature thematically to appeal to older gamers.

Insomniac Games saw a similar shift. Ironically, it had developed Spyro the Dragon because its first title, Disruptor, a first-person shooter with realistic graphics, had commercially underperformed despite critical praise. But with its next series, Ratchet & Clank, the reverse became true. The games became more and more shooter-like until Ratchet: Deadlocked resembled Halo more than its mascot platformer roots. The Ratchet & Clank series eventually returned to its cartoony art style for PlayStation 3, a change that was warmly received by long-time fans. But the series remained stuck in a niche market.

Not Just for Mascot Platformers

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Over time, the look of certain genres changed, and the cartoony aesthetic was no longer confined to mascot platformers. In 2007, the multiplayer first-person shooter Team Fortress 2 used a much more cartoony, animated art style, which made it more vibrant than its predecessor. Nine years later, Blizzard released Overwatch. The game used a distinctly cartoony style and gave each of its heroes wacky characterizations. It looked like more something out of an animated movie than a Call of Duty game.

Fortnite — a battle royale game with cartoony graphics that surpassed its rival PUBG in revenue — continues to prove that the aesthetic reaches beyond the family market. Its cartoony art style hasn’t impeded its, or other’s, success. These recent titles have made it much easier to market games with a little more color and edge to serious gamers.

Cashing in on Nostalgia

There’s always a market for nostalgia, but recently it has been booming. Indie developers have always been able to capture that market, but when Cuphead, an indie game known for its impressive 1930s cartoon style, sold over 2 million copies it blew away most people’s expectations. For a small developer with a small marketing budget to have sales comparable to a Triple-A title just shows how a unique game with a cartoony style can stand out from the crowd.

Meanwhile, large publishers have found greater success than expected with their revivals of cartoony franchises. Ratchet & Clank on the PlayStation 4 became the fastest-selling game in the series. Likewise, Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy sold millions more than Activision ever expected it to given how little it was marketed.

It’s clear that a cartoony art style no longer impedes the success of a game. There’s now much more of a market for games with a little more color, edge, and character to them. This is great for anyone who wants diversity in their game aesthetics. If cartoony and realistic games can successfully coexist, then publishers may be willing to take a risk on either, something that would appeal to most gamers.

Fan of Final Fantasy, Ratchet & Clank, Metal Gear Solid, and plenty of other games! Also been wiki-ing since a long time, so you'll find a lot of my writing and coding throughout the Final Fantasy and Ratchet & Clank Wikis.