Echoing many of my own perspectives on the current state of video games, this post by RyanDG at Arcade-Renaissance.com summarizes the hopes and dreams placed onto Contra 4 by many Contra fans: a return to the run-and-gun testosterone fests of the first two titles in the series. And the picture of Arnold makes it just that much more awesome.

I once told myself I would never get to the point where I would be one of those bitter gamers who look at today’s games as being “inferior” to the pre-32-bit gaming era, but after being only mildly amused with the direction that the “new” next generation has taken, the more I find myself talking about the “good old days”.

But let’s look at things logically for a moment. I grew up on some of the classics of both console and arcade gaming, and despite being “outclassed” by games that have recently hit store shelves, I still willingly go back to the originals to get in my gaming fix.