When I asked Sally Field about her memories of working with Robin Williams on MRS. DOUBTFIRE, I never expected to learn that sheโs a MASSIVE fan of ZELDA!
A friend of mine @dieubussy once commented the industry has a tendency to remake games which already have strong, timeless aesthetic sensibilities.
The sense impression of the original game in all of its crunchy, 240p glory driven by hardware that contorts 2D into 3D satisfies and tantalizes the player. It evokes its concepts perfectly, concepts which themselves are glimpses into a world that always feel cropped out of a larger scene.
That was the power of Panzer Dragoon, of all its games. Every glimpse you're given is an element of a bigger picture that you eek out patterns and gain a feel for through the momentary sensory bridges it hits you with. You know what a parting sky looks like, a ripple of water, a massive canyon, an endless expanse over the ocean or the thickest forest. When the game touches it, it's distorted and the lens you view it with unique. Part moebius but distinct beyond its inspiration, the visual signature much like its sonic signature was like nothing else out there.
In breaking that obfuscation it reveals an underlying truth we all know is there, but revel in how it bewilders us. Rendering the world as big, sharp and clean polygons destroys that illusion. It needs to be distorted and low resolution.
You may be familiar with a scan of Diddy Kong saying "Tri-linear bitmap interpolation!" This originated from a Nintendo Power VHS pamphlet and actually crops out Donkey Kong's equally humorous reply to Diddy Kong's non-sequitur, being a confused "Uh!?"