This YouTube video is practically an art installation. It’s like looking at a portrait of Abraham Lincoln made of Starburst, or a village painted on a grain of rice; the impressive thing about it is the painstaking process by which it was created. YouTube user NicksplosionFX has put together a supercut of every title screen of every game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Japanese Famicom, in rough alphabetical order.
At least, we assume he’s telling the truth because we haven’t sat through the entire 2 hours and 50 minutes of it. (I did note that Final Fantasy III seems to be missing, or at least out of place.)
Whether this is 100 percent complete or not, the design of the videogame title screen is, in and of itself, a fascinating thing to ponder. They range from minimalist (the game’s title, the copyright information, and a text menu of play options) to elaborate, full-blown animated sequences (though less so on the 8-bit NES). Since the designers don’t have to worry about gameplay, they can create scenes that are far more detailed and realistic than what can be shown in the game itself.
And sometimes the title screen is the most impressive part of the game – think E.T. on the Atari 2600.