[quote name='RollingSkull']Well, I mean, with Street Fighter, there's different things to do... techniques and different characters to play. Hell, the GBA port of SFA3 had a couple different modes and a good roster of unique movesetted characters... Unless the game is hiding something I'm missing, all I'm seeing in the dodgeball in this game is "catch, duck, or sidestep the ball. Do the silly sequence to throw your power shot. Repeat."
I mean, if you want more Super Dodgeball, then you should get this at a price drop because, if memory serves, this is exactly what you want: more Kunio dodgeball. Get a friend who likes the same, you can have some fun. But as a relative stranger to the franchise, I'm just not feeling it.[/quote]
Right, but in the end, it's you punching and kicking 8-16 people until the game is over. I'm not saying Street Fighter isn't deep, but there's not much to do outside of the core gameplay. This game is the same way. It's not a game you're going to stay up all night to try and get that last item or beat the final boss or anything. It's just a game with fun gameplay fundamentals that you'll keep coming back to play (in my case, at least). I was having a blast playing Golden Axe at a friend's house the other day. Not only did I first play it close to 15 years ago, it's seriously only like a 30 minute game!
I think nostalgia does play a part somewhat, because newer games have different expectations- story, cinematics, a progressing single-player mode, etc. Older games only had a fun gameplay mechanic to carry them, and for some people, that's all they need. I think this is a reason why you'll see new-ish games like Rez or Wii Sports get blasted for being ridiculously short but still have a huge following based on its core gameplay.