Video game character graphics

My personal perception changes with different graphics for the same character. in this case, mario. the old school graphics are very limiting, in a sense that there is very minimal expression in the body, or face, because of the limitation in pixels/resolution, and colour. The current mario mirrors the look of a real human being, with more cartoony proportions, but i can relate to it much easier, and of course theres more creativity of the look - it can change depending on the situation in the video game. the old school mario has a very retro look , which is quite appealing to me. i like the simplicity. The head is half the size of the entire body, quite simplistic. but the newer graphics (in 3d) really show's mario's character...if he's shocked, scared, angry, etc. and makes the gaming experience more personal, with more depth. But the old school mario is more of an iconic image of mario, its easily distinguished with such a small colour palette and design. its kept to an absolute minimum (the limitations at the time). the new mario has alot more character, feels more like someone with a background (even though all mario games have vague storylines) . and the old one is more suited for an arcade experience, which i think focus's more on gameplay than the actual character.