Opengl or GDI to make 2D-game

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C++

game

graphics

2D

Hi,

My friend is sitting next to me playing a game called Terraria, and while it is 2D the graphics are quite advanced.

So my question is this: If I wanted to make a similar game, 2D with complicated graphics that involve shadows and light sources and translucency and so forth, would GDI (which I master quite well) be sufficient in your opinion, or would I need to pull out the big guns like OpenGL (which I know the basics of but not much more)? I have successfully mimicked many of the aforementioned effects successfully in the past using GDI.

What do you think the early Mario games were made in? I mean library-wise, not which language, it's gonna be C++.


Thank you in advance

What I have tried:

I have tried figuring out myself which would do the trick and what would be necessary, but I found it would make sense to get other people's input on the matter.