With gaming’s current trend toward the nostalgic taking us on Bit.Trips and Extreme invasions, and with indies giving us de-made versions of modern classics, it more or less follows logically that we’d eventually see the imageat top.
Recognize it? Likely not off the bat, but you’d be surprised what a little motion and original sound can do to a 15-pixel panorama. Below the fold, then, the answer to the riddle plus several handfuls more in the lowest-res high-res gallery you’ll ever witness, courtesy UK animation group Alaskan Military School and their viral videos for just-completed British games festival GameCity.
Alaskan’s Street Fighter II video nails an honestly quite legible one-on-one bout, with Ken’s whirling signature Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku rendered in a simple -| |- cycle.
Their version of foundational PlayStation rhythm classic Parappa might be less readable without first-hand knowledge of the game, but if you’ve spent any time in its opening dojo level, the dog-wonder and his erstwhile teacher’s palette fill in all the gaps.
And the last of the short-version virals: Noby Noby Boy, the PS3 follow-up to Keita Takahashi’s cult classic Katamari Damacy, in which the low-res boy performs reaches his stretching point and pops into his bands of alternating colors.
And finally, the team’s epic finishing flourish: a mega-mix of the selections above bolstered by a handful of others that begs for a contest to recognize them all, with a hint that possibly its least recognizable section (the crowd-cheered guitar licks) comes from a very undeservedly overlooked game, but that the Theme is no less Legendary.
For more information on Alaskan Military School and their collected animated output, check their official site and Vimeo page.