When we talk about how games have evolved over time, we often talk in terms of polygons and pixels. Where once you could count the number of 𓆏pixels that made up a character on one hand, we now have✤ lifelike models and environments made out of so many lines of code that they sometimes look more real than reality.

But what if there was another way to look at games and analyze them? What if there was something you probably glossed over tꦬhat could tell you what era a game came from, and what sensibilities it was designed with? What if you could see your games in a new w🐎ay by looking at... their menus?

I know, I know. Video game menus are no﷽t the most exciting topic in the world. But there's been a change, an evolution in this seemingly most basic of video game attributꦯes, happening right under our noses, and I'd wager most of us haven't even noticed. If it helps, think of scrutinizing menus like codebreaking - uncovering hidden messages left by a game's developers. And if that doesn't help, well... let me show you what I mean.

The evolution of a hedgehog

Let's break this down by looking at one of gaming's longest-running franchises, Sonic the Hedgehog. The Sonic games are, relatively speaking, pretty basic. There might be a new gimmick or two, ie. Wisps or Werehog transformations, but the core formula for Sonic has remained 'good guy vs bad guy and army of robots' for more than 20 years. That makes it easier to notice differences than, say, Mass Effect, where BioWare was always going to try🍸 and make things look befitting of its sci-fi universe.

And don't worry, we're just going over Sonic's highlights - we'd be here all day if we analyzed every game starring Sega's mascot.

The first Sonic the Hedgehog game, released in 1991, lacked a real menu. You simply pressed start and away you went. Meanwhile, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had a rudimentary menu rooted in functionality over pleasing aesthetics. The text is simple and spacing large. Text is centered horizontally, but not vertically🀅. The text boxes themselves are see-through, and straight lines criss-cross in the background.

While Sonic 2 arrived on Genesis / Mega Drive in 1992, it was still rooted in '80s aesthetic graphic design: bright colors, geometric shapes, and repeating patterns dominating the majority of a space. And sure, some of this is due to limitations of the hardware, but there's no denying at the end of the day, this looks like a slightly fancier D🦄OS menu.

as an example: high contrast between the fat and thin brush strokes, highly saturated (one might even say garish) color palette, and an unevenness of the ups and downs gives an im💫pression of 𒁏not taking things too seriously. Think back on and you'll see the same insistence on cheeseball wackiness.

Compare that to the Sonic 3 menu. The red selection rectangle overlaps the yellow highlights behind it in odd and uneven places. The black border behind the yellow is off-center a♎nd composed of vertical lines and dots, breaking up the flow of the outline. The background image is a close-up of Sonic's face with a hodgepodge of lines and shapes cutting across it, and the word ‘SONIC’ in descending, uneven font.

! Okay, maybe it's a bit cringe-y in retrospect, but at the time, that was cool as hell.

Once more jumping ahead - this time to the most recent game in the series, Sonic Forces - and we see the '10s focus on selling a concept with imagery instead of words (see: your uncle's Facebook memes, YouTube thumbnails). The game's logo is shifted to the upper corner, while the m🗹enu itself is in the bottom-right. The mesh overlay is reminiscent of an Instagram filter. #SonicSafron

Overall, your eyes take in more of the visuals, 🌃and the space seems larger; a byproduct of designing for an era when large-screen televisions are at their most♏ affordable and we push for higher and higher resolutions.

A few more examples

Look at other games from their respective eras and you'll see similar trends. Compare Sid Mei🍃er's Civilization games - from the𓂃 OS-style options of early Civ games…

...to Civ 3's menu blending options with the gam♔e world…

...to Civ🐟 6's minimalist design and increased focus on visual appeal.

Even more recent franchises like Uncharted have undergone a visual evolution in their menus. Look at how much space the 🅰game's logo and menu take up ꦕin Uncharted 2: Among Thieves:

Compare that to the recent Uncharted: Lost Legacy, which shunts its options to the side with smaller fonts so players can once again focus on the ꧑visuals. The logo is completely absent as well.

Video games are reflective of the times in which they're made. Too often we boil thi♐s down to what kind of processing power was available and how many bits could be crunched. But the things we don't even stop to think about - like the design of a menu - can be just as indicative of an era. And 5, 10, 15, or more years down the road, maybe it'll help you take a trip down memory lane by reminding you of the things you forgot.

So neꦗxt time you fire up an old favorite or a ꩵmodern classic, give a moment to appreciate the little details. It might give you a new lens through which you can appreciate games.