Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It's an effective tool for any creative medium, but I don't think it's off-base to say that nostalgia is an especially potent tool for game developers. Most of us who love video games grew up with them, so characters like Link and Mario feature heavily in our childhood memories, and we remember our favorite game worlds with the same fondness that we might remember a family vacation, or holidays at grandma's house. Let's admit it, when a new game comes along, no matter how great it may be, odds are that it won't quite measure up to the games you played and loved as a child.
