It's a praise of an anti-auteur, a director whose goal is to deliver a slick piece of craftsmanship that fulfils its goals, rather than a work of personal art. Obviously, a film or a game is a creative work, and one which frequently incorporates beautiful art – the pixel animations in this game, obviously, look gorgeous – but fundamentally, a licensed tie-in game is a work of craftsmanship, and Konami's craftspeople were just really, really good.
I’ve wasted so much money on bad licensed games after growing up spoiled by this Konami/Capcom era.
The craftsmanship in classic-period Konami games puts me in mind of this piece: https://slate.com/culture/2023/08/meg-2-haunted-mansion-disney-marvel-directors-hacks.html
It's a praise of an anti-auteur, a director whose goal is to deliver a slick piece of craftsmanship that fulfils its goals, rather than a work of personal art. Obviously, a film or a game is a creative work, and one which frequently incorporates beautiful art – the pixel animations in this game, obviously, look gorgeous – but fundamentally, a licensed tie-in game is a work of craftsmanship, and Konami's craftspeople were just really, really good.