Early 3D games, like the Nintendo 64 / PSX generation are pretty terrible. Not just visually, but they were still figuring out design for these new styles of games and it really shows. You can appreciate the origins of a lot of games from today in those titles, but it doesn't mean those titles hold up well.
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Classic games that have aged badly
- Thread starter FireBeaver
- Start date
-MD-
Member
What a terrible post, lmao.
StromboliProtocol
Banned
Ocarina of time, the thread
Onlinehero
Member
I don't think controls are the problem. It has auto aim and first person aiming is hard but very powerful. Dodging works as intended and is probably more common in games nowadays than it was back then tbh.Good old Syphon Filter.
Controls are so clunky nowadays.
Level and scenario design on the other hand. I remember the games being very difficult and that hasn't changed. Insta-fail stealth levels, infinitely respawning enemies, insta-kill accurate grenade launchers in hiding. It has a lot of bullsshit!
I think the framerate is pretty rough as well? Maybe that's what's making it feel clunky.
I tried loading up Zorry on C64 many years ago, as I remember being fascinated by the level layout as a young kid, being able to hop down the well etc. After 15 minutes or so of loading I was very disappointed in what I played.
edit: Okay, I don't think Zorro was ever a classic. But still.
Yeah, OoT hasn't really aged that badly - it looked and ran horribly at release already. ;P
edit: Okay, I don't think Zorro was ever a classic. But still.
Yeah, OoT hasn't really aged that badly - it looked and ran horribly at release already. ;P
I played the original Tomb Raider for the very first time last year.
It was still fantastic.
You just have to get in a different mindset. The original Tomb Raider is really a 3D version of the original 2D Prince of Persia, and controls almost entirely the same way. It takes a while to accelerate, turning around is slow, but you can make precise alterations to your position if you really need to.
I still enjoy it but the First Final Fantasy is pretty bad for this and most of the re-releases have added a huge bunch of QoL updates
1. Game is generally slow all around
2. Ineffective hits when you have targeted an enemy that ends up dying
3. Specific # of spell uses without MP recovery items
4. Most of the items don't have special abilities they are meant to have
5. Most of the spells don't do what they are supposed to do
6. Non-battle text is pretty slow
1. Game is generally slow all around
2. Ineffective hits when you have targeted an enemy that ends up dying
3. Specific # of spell uses without MP recovery items
4. Most of the items don't have special abilities they are meant to have
5. Most of the spells don't do what they are supposed to do
6. Non-battle text is pretty slow
QuantumZebra
Member
8 and 9 aged better.
8 aged like total ass
7 and 9 are about equal, but the load times and slow gameplay of 9 kills it for me
VII is the best FF game and it still holds up till this day IMO
Green Mega Man
Member
Chrono Cross's in-game engine makes me want to die whenever I try and replay it.
Its god-tier soundtrack, however, is a like a perfect whiskey aging in barrels built by angels that continues to improve.
Its god-tier soundtrack, however, is a like a perfect whiskey aging in barrels built by angels that continues to improve.
NismoTigerWVU
Neo Member
Titles made during transition periods are always going to age more roughly than the rest. You can see this with launch titles that will either look or perform noticeably worse than 2nd gen and later software or even more noticeably you'll see this with new paradigms in games. Early RTS games are super rough control wise in hindsight since we've had a few decades to refine the process. You'll see the same with early polygon based hardware where they hadn't even sorted out if triangles or quads were the ideal primitive. You can keep going on and on with this (like comparing Wolf3D to Doom or Quake) but in general, time marches on and approaches get refined. If you don't enjoy early titles, play ones that you do like.
Exclamation-One
Member
Fox Mulder
Member
N64 and ps1 really. Blur and jaggies everywhere.
Goldeneye is hot garbage now, and stuff like perfect dark and banjo kazooie look far better on xbla.
Goldeneye is hot garbage now, and stuff like perfect dark and banjo kazooie look far better on xbla.
bubaglobalj
Member
I literally made almost the same thread an hour earlier... 
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1372422&highlight=
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1372422&highlight=
Waddle Dee
Member
Try going back to playing Street Fighter 2 vanilla. It's as if the game is constantly running in slow motion. The first Virtua Fighter is also... er...
Also, nearly every beat'm up from the late 80's/early 90's. Far too simplistic and repetitive to hold anyone's attention for long unless they have a really strong love for whatever franchise was being used. Like, if people didn't care for the Simpsons than no one would be saying anything good about the old Konami Simpson's Arcade game ,for example. Those games were just fan service and nothing else.
Also, nearly every beat'm up from the late 80's/early 90's. Far too simplistic and repetitive to hold anyone's attention for long unless they have a really strong love for whatever franchise was being used. Like, if people didn't care for the Simpsons than no one would be saying anything good about the old Konami Simpson's Arcade game ,for example. Those games were just fan service and nothing else.
shawnbuddy
Member
Tried to play Hitman 2: Silent Assassin recently.
Even though it was the HD remaster it just looked and felt so clunky. I was shocked because I remembered it being a lot more fluid.
Even though it was the HD remaster it just looked and felt so clunky. I was shocked because I remembered it being a lot more fluid.
daTRUballin
Member
I'll fight anyone that says Goldeneye or Perfect Dark have aged badly.
A friend and I played Super Mario Kart not too long ago on an emulator and it was pretty rough. Either the emulator wasn't doing the game any justice or it hasn't aged well. Although it's worth pointing out that it was our first time playing the game so we had no nostalgic attachment to it or anything.
EDIT: Lots of people are saying Mario Kart 64. I wouldn't say the game hasn't aged well. It's perfectly playable today. It's just that some aspects of the game are heavily flawed today and don't stand up to other Mario Kart games. The original Smash Bros, on the other hand, holds up perfectly.
A friend and I played Super Mario Kart not too long ago on an emulator and it was pretty rough. Either the emulator wasn't doing the game any justice or it hasn't aged well. Although it's worth pointing out that it was our first time playing the game so we had no nostalgic attachment to it or anything.
EDIT: Lots of people are saying Mario Kart 64. I wouldn't say the game hasn't aged well. It's perfectly playable today. It's just that some aspects of the game are heavily flawed today and don't stand up to other Mario Kart games. The original Smash Bros, on the other hand, holds up perfectly.
Man with Knife
Member
___
Yup.
CreatureX3
Member
QFT. Went back to play Jumping Flash, my rose tinted glasses shattered into my pupils!
Fast Forward
Member
I would not go quite that far, but yeah, a lot of early 3D games age really poorly.
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Worst in the series. And I put about 1,000 hours into it.
Super Circuit takes the crown for me.
TBH, I hated the N64 controller even at the time.
GurgleBot20
Member
Well this is a new one, although I don't know how it plays in Yakuza 0.
into.it.over.it
Member
I was at a bar where they have all these retro consoles that you can play and on our table was GoldenEye, Wrestlemania 2000 and Mario Kart, three games I played the hell out of years ago.
They were all bloody awful. Maybe if I spent more time getting used to the controls I would have had fun but it was a jarring experience. I haven't played either of the Zeldas or Mario 64 lately but I think i've played enough of them for me to remember how to have fun with them.
Final Fantasy 7s translation has aged terribly but didn't it play a big part in getting translations taken more seriously? Some of the character models are ridiculous but its art style, pacing and story have aged well enough for me to still love it.
They were all bloody awful. Maybe if I spent more time getting used to the controls I would have had fun but it was a jarring experience. I haven't played either of the Zeldas or Mario 64 lately but I think i've played enough of them for me to remember how to have fun with them.
Final Fantasy 7s translation has aged terribly but didn't it play a big part in getting translations taken more seriously? Some of the character models are ridiculous but its art style, pacing and story have aged well enough for me to still love it.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Given all the shoehorned crap in Starfox games, the original and 64 (and the 3DS remaster) should stand tall despite their age.
As for the topic I'd throw Turok tDH out there. Shitty level design, archaic find the key objectives, and endless enemy respawning is something I can't tolerate. I'm not lying when I say I bought the game on Steam just to relive the sounds.
balladofwindfishes
Member
It's always interesting how Genesis and SNES games very rarely ever make these sorts of threads.
I actually have a hard time thinking of games from that era that actually aged badly. All of the major titles from that era are still entirely playable by modern players, and wouldn't really be out of place if released these days.
I actually have a hard time thinking of games from that era that actually aged badly. All of the major titles from that era are still entirely playable by modern players, and wouldn't really be out of place if released these days.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
There's something to say about the simpler side scrolling days of completing levels as opposed to furthering a story in a sprawling world.
I'd add that classic arcade games like Donkey Kong and Robotron 2084 are still as much fun today as they were back then.
I played MGS1 for the first time the year MGS4 came out and loved it. Immediately became one of my favorite games ever. To each his own, but I totally disagree.
balladofwindfishes
Member
DK's jumping physics are pretty garbage though.
I'm convinced nobody ever enjoyed Golden Axe, but everyone kept saying it was a classic (notably, Sega), and we all just went "ehh... sure I guess"
Because Golden Axe is a bad game. I don't even remember liking it at all as a kid.
This isn't going to be a popular answer, but I don't think Zelda: A Link to the Past is nearly as impressive now as it was in 1991. Most of the dungeons are straight forward and simple, they feel like an atmospheric and aesthetic showcase more than a challenge or puzzle. They're still cool, but just less interesting after all the more complex dungeons we've gotten since. I loved it all when I was a kid, but now it's just nostalgic and pretty.
GurgleBot20
Member
How so? Yes there's no mid-air control, but they're unambiguous and completely predictable after a minute of play.
I'll agree with this however.
I think Out Run has aged very gracefully. I was having plenty of fun playing it in Yakuza 0 and I often play it on my 3DS.
Ordinaryundone
Member
I liked Golden Axe, but mostly for the art and atmosphere. Always loved that Frank Frazetta style high fantasy. The games have a lot of charm to them, even if the actual mechanics are weak.
Plus smacking those little gnome guys around never gets old.
I've never played OoT with an N64 controller, but the game itself holds up well. The z-targeting system keeps its modern with regards to gameplay, the graphics are decent enough and the dungeons are all still pretty good. Same for FF7. The graphics haven't aged well, but everything else is still top notch.
I'll throw in the original 1991 Sonic The Hedgehog in there though. Played it for the first time in about 20 years last week, and... it is not very good, or at least it has not aged well. My immediate concerns were the fact that the screen is zoomed way too much in on Sonic and that the platforming felt off. And then if you get a Game Over at any point, you're sent back to the start of the game. Nice.
I'll throw in the original 1991 Sonic The Hedgehog in there though. Played it for the first time in about 20 years last week, and... it is not very good, or at least it has not aged well. My immediate concerns were the fact that the screen is zoomed way too much in on Sonic and that the platforming felt off. And then if you get a Game Over at any point, you're sent back to the start of the game. Nice.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Wolfenstein 3D. For all the novelty that it brought to the table, the super constrained environments, and same-y textures both makes me sick and gives me a headache. Doom is still incredible, though.
The Hermit
Member
Holy shit.
Opinions can be wrong.
Edit: people are posting Metal gear solid 3 and ocarina, this is making me feel ill
I love playing classic PS1 games. I see what you mean by how many games have aged badly but I look at the classics and think how far we have come since then. It's amazing really to think how the PS1 - or any platform - was cutting edge for its time and the incredible rate of advancement to today.
Gaming nostalgia is a wonderful thing.
Gaming nostalgia is a wonderful thing.
Ceallach
Smells like fresh rosebuds
That's clearly the 32X version. Arcade version looks better albeit with the same sharpened pencil aesthetic.Try going back to playing Street Fighter 2 vanilla. It's as if the game is constantly running in slow motion. The first Virtua Fighter is also... er...
Also, nearly every beat'm up from the late 80's/early 90's. Far too simplistic and repetitive to hold anyone's attention for long unless they have a really strong love for whatever franchise was being used. Like, if people didn't care for the Simpsons than no one would be saying anything good about the old Konami Simpson's Arcade game ,for example. Those games were just fan service and nothing else.