Support NeoGAF

[hariseldon]

Damocles on the Atari ST is still amazing. Played it a tonne as a kid and it’s still magical today. On the flip side, Midwinter 2 was a technical marvel and I enjoyed it so much back in the day but I can’t deal with the ballache getting it up and running and the controls are awful.

GTA games are interesting - gta 3 is horrible but Vice City is still amazing, I can still happily drive around enjoying the music and just generally chill. San Andreas has better gameplay though the flying missions are awful and it sags a bit late into the game.

Kotor has aged wonderfully, the controls take some getting used to but once over that hurdle it’s amazing. Currently working through Mass Effect 1 and the lineage is clear - in places it looks good but the roots still show and in parts it looks like kotor with Vaseline on the camera lens.

EDIT: Phones are shit.

 

[KàIRóS]

BRB. Using imagination because no title names.

Yeah, you're right I forgot to name them.

Valkyrie Profile (PS1) Chrono Trigger (SNES) Tales of Destiny (PS2)
Xenogears (PS1) Odin Sphere (PS2) Golden Sun The Lost Age (GBA)

 

[Victor Omega]

Really good post here guys

 

[iconmaster]

I played through ActRaiser again a few years ago, and found it as enjoyable as ever.

 

[ROMhack]

Hasn't aged a day.

 

[Jarbloko]

aged well to me: sonic adventure 2
aged bad: sonic adventure 1

 

[Danjin44]

One series I really, really like and I still do but haven't aged well at all and they are.....

Both the combat and dungeon design aged very badly and god damn I still love these games. I do hope we new game for the series soon.

 

[fatty]

Aged well:

-Virtua Tennis 1

With so many installments, Sega have lost it along the way. While vt2 is my most played game, I consider vt1 a true classic and the best of the franchise.

I second this. As a non-tennis fan I can say that it's the best tennis game ever. Pure gameplay, and it still looks good in my opinion.

I agree, up until a couple of years ago I would get together with friends and have yearly 2v2 tournaments. Some very heated matches would come out of those games. Tried the sequels but to this day I easily prefer the original. My thumbs would get sore using the Dreamcast controllers because of the long play sessions.

 

[dirthead]

Aged well

Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox) - Dated graphics aside (which still look damn good btw), the action controls on this are as tight as ever and it has one of the best designed interconnected levels in all of gaming.

Ninja Gaiden Black emulated rendering at 4k internal resolution would probably look better than a lot of games that came out this year.

 

[Wolfgang Jr]

The jump from DOAX2 to DOAX3 was a real step forward in terms of graphics. The DOA girls looked like real women in terms of proportions and body shape. I will without shame admit to busting a nut once or twice. Here's a comparison:

Jesus fucking christ.

Do you neckbeards even think about what you write on here?

 

[phil_t98]

I think 16bit games have aged better than early 3d games, when you look back at playstation 1 and Saturn titles they look so bad. I remember t the time being blown away by them but going back to them aint as good as going back to Snes or mega drive games

 

[GreyHorace]

Jesus fucking christ.

Do you neckbeards even think about what you write on here?

Sometimes in between faps I think about the greater mysteries about Life and the Universe.

Anyway, who made you the moral arbiter of what I can bust a nut to?

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

Aged well:
NFL Blitz 2000 - was playing this on Dreamcast a few months ago and the game still plays extremely well.

Waverace 64 - other than the not so great framerate, this game still kicks ass.

Fzero GX - Nintendo needs to release a remaster on switch. Still plays, looks and sounds great.

Not well:
Syphon Filter - when this game came out I thought it was pretty good. Played it for the first time in 15 years...terrible game.

Final fantasy 4 - the DS remake made it a lot better, but the original North American FF2 does not hold up. The soundtrack is still top notch though.

Sonic adventure 2 - I know a lot of people will say this game was never good, but I enjoyed it (other than most of the rogue/knuckles levels). Pretty shit now other than the Sonic/shadow levels

 

[Wolfgang Jr]

Sometimes in between faps I think about the greater mysteries about Life and the Universe.

Anyway, who made you the moral arbiter of what I can bust a nut to?

Would you tell your girlfriend that you jack off to video game porn? Would you tell your mother? Sister? Father? Your Boss? The girl you think is hot at work? Would you post it on your Facebook status? Would you tell your future son and daughter or grandchildren about jacking off to video game porn?

 

[Bankai]

Still the best ever: Deus Ex, Shinobi 3, Streets of Rage 2 ,

Not so much anymore: Tombraider (PSX), MGS (PSX), Tekken series (PSX).. yeah pretty much everything 3D from around the PSX era on consoles.

 

[adamosmaki]

I love blood a 90s fps made on build engine like duke nukem 3d and shadow warrior. Graphics and sound snd eveb gameplay hold up really well mainly due to the artistic direction of the game but the big problem of the game are the controls and mainly mouse support which is attrocious{the game honestly is build with keyboard aim mainly}

Unreal 1998 and unreal tournament 1999 are 2 games that hold up really nice in every aspect

Witcher 1 as much as i love the game and as much was impressive back in 2007 graphics wise aged quite poorly

 

[GreyHorace]

Would you tell your girlfriend that you jack off to video game porn? Would you tell your mother? Sister? Father? Your Boss? The girl you think is hot at work? Would you post it on your Facebook status? Would you tell your future son and daughter or grandchildren about jacking off to video game porn?

No you wouldn't you sad sack of shit, it's fucking disgusting and pathetic. You only do it because you think it's deemed 'ok' because you're locked in your mom's basement and guarded behind a monitor with one hand on your mouse and the other cheeto encrusted one on your limp dick surrounded by neckbeards.

To answer your questions one by one:
My girlfriend - She gets hot when I play The Witcher games. I try not to play them with her around since I get 'distracted.'
My mother - No. Why do I need to tell her that? She has no interest in my hobby let alone what I do in my spare time.
My father - Same with my mother.
My boss - Why? So long as it doesn't interfere with my job what does he have to do with it?
The hot girl at work - Which one? There are handful of them and I don't think they care for videogames
My future offspring - Why would I tell them that? You think my granddad would regale me with the time he shot off a load to Marilyn Monroe posing for Playboy?

Jeez. And I thought this was a videogame forum where we can share our love for the hobby while occasionally partaking in some inappropriate dirty humor. Are we supposed to be supposed to be puritans while talking about this stuff?

Anyway, I've hope you've had your fill of moral outrage and acting all superior to the rest of us here.

 

[JSoup]

I'd say a lot of my favorite games growing up are somewhere in between 'aged well' and 'aged badly'.
I can admit most of them are just not up to current standards and could be seen as frustrating by comparison. Harvest Moon SNES is one of my favorite games and I still admit that it's got noticeable problems that make it a pain to replay at parts. But I still love it, I feel that it still looks good and the music is just as charming now as it was then.

 

[petran79]

GreyHorace

My dad caught me playing Sengan Kagura Peach Beach Splash with nude mods once and burst out laughing!

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

I used to like that game on the PS2, Ghosthunter, but the last time I tried to play it, which already years ago, I got bored pretty early into it.

And just earlier this year I tired to replay Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, which I always used to like, but found it too has aged poorly in recent years, I just couldn't get into it at all.

 

[IKSTUGA]

I used to love Sonic Adventure 2, now not so much... Same thing with most N64 games I liked back in the day. Mario 64, OoT and Banjo are still as fine as ever

 

[JohnSpartanLee]

Castlevania III is still one of my favorites but the 8bit gfx haven't aged well.
It'd deserve a 16bit-style remake.

Rondo, Symphony and Bloodlines have aged very well.

 

[H4ze]

My two cents:

Aged good:

-Metal Gear Solid 3

I am playing this game for the first time ever right now and I am having a blast, but i have to admit, the controls could be better.

Aged poorly:

-Vigilante 1 (and 2 too)

I loved them as a kid, played them so so much, whole nights with friends when I had a sleepover. Got them again a few years ago for PSX and Dreamcast and holy shit, the visuals and strange physics made me quit quite fast (I still love them tho, nostalgia is one hell of a drug)

PS: to show support for the guy above, I busted a nut to Videogame Girls too when I hit puperty, no shame for that.

 

[JCK75]

Games I loved that did not - 90% of games I loved on PS1 and N64.

 

[sublimit]

I will never understand this "games aged well"/"games didn't aged well" thing.
WTF is that supposed to mean really.How can the value of an inanimate thing "age"?

This is like taking a medieval painting and say: "Oooh this hasn't aged well,look how off the character proportions and anatomy are!!!"
Or say the same stupid thing about a form of architecture,movie etc. Why is it so hard for some people to enjoy something older that looks and has a different mentality than what they are used to see today?

Games don't "age". Only we age and we become more and more stupid that we can't appreciate something anymore if it doesn't fit our modern standards and criteria.

 

[andreutas]

Metal Gear Solid (Playstation) - Despite it's dated graphics, this game is still a joy to play. I think Kojima is a shit storyteller, but the man knows how to design his games.

I personally think the story in MGS1 is one of the greatest in videogame history

 

[Journey]

^^^ Some games don't age well visually and even in gameplay and it has nothing to do with the technology involved. There are some PS1 titles that I would puke looking at today or gameplay mechanics that were a novelty at the time, but today it won't hold up well.

Speaking of aging well in the graphics dept., I can't believe that Panzer Dragoon Orta was running on the original Xbox, you would think the below is a 360 or even an Xbox One game, simply amazing.

 

[ROMhack]

Aged well:
Half-life 2 has aged surprisingly well. Still holds up as a great shooter.

Didn't age well:
Metal Gear Solid. Dem polygons man.

Edit: Forgot I posted in this thread already.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Some of the games I've replayed this year...

Aged well:
Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines - the incredible atmosphere is still there, game is still loads of fun to explore and complete quests even if you still remember some stuff
Borderlands 1 - best Borderlands game for me, incredible music, cool locations, simply fun to play
Burnout Paradise - one of the best arcade racers of the last decade, such a shame EA is only interested in releasing shitty copy-paste NfS games

Aged poorly:
Hitman Blood Money - the controls are atrocious and I even had to google how to throw objects, ragdoll physics are also a complete mess and you never know how an enemy or a dead body will react to your actions
Far Cry 3 - plenty of annoying things, some missions enforce stealth too much, enemies instantly know where you've taken shots from, climbing towers is annoying, also PS4 version sometime runs poorly
Red Faction Guerrilla - the only thing that's aged well are the destruction physics, the game looks very ugly and many story missions are awful and make you want to drop the game

 

[GreatnessRD]

Aged Well
- WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2006
- Metal Gear Solid 1, 2 and 3
- Capcom vs. SNK 2
- WWF No Mercy

Not so much
- COD 4 (OG version)
- GTA 3 (Because of the dated gameplay, but the game is still aces)
- WWE 2K20 (Because what a fuckin' disaster)

 

[LazyParrot]

Most of the old Lucas Arts adventure games from the 90s have aged really well, except possibly Grim Fandango. Monkey Island 3 in particular is a standout example. That game is 22 years old this year, but if someone were to release it today I'm sure the graphics would still get some praise. The controls are still on point, too,

Other favorites that have aged well in terms of controls and gameplay are the two Thief games and System Shock 2. The graphics are hideous by today's standards (and to be honest, they were kinda bad even 20 years ago), but they still play extremely well. IMHO Thief 1 and 2 are still the best stealth games ever made. The music and sound also still hold up today, too.

Games I love that haven't held up so well include Deus Ex (still my favorite game ever, but the gameplay is pretty janky), a ton of 16 bit RGPs (especially Landstalker on the Genesis), RTS titles released before Starcraft, as well as any of the early to mid 90s games featuring full motion video.

 

[Fbh]

I will never understand this "games aged well"/"games didn't aged well" thing.
WTF is that supposed to mean really.How can the value of an inanimate thing "age"?

This is like taking a medieval painting and say: "Oooh this hasn't aged well,look how off the character proportions and anatomy are!!!"
Or say the same stupid thing about a form of architecture,movie etc. Why is it so hard for some people to enjoy something older that looks and has a different mentality than what they are used to see today?

Games don't "age". Only we age and we become more and more stupid that we can't appreciate something anymore if it doesn't fit our modern standards and criteria.

I think generally it's just "how well does it hold up compared to other games that have released since it came out".

For example, I think Chrono Trigger has aged incredibly well.
The story and characters are still fun and enjoyable, it has good pacing, the combat system with the different combination attacks and where enemy positioning can be important could be implemented 1:1 in a modern game and still be fun, it has no random encounters which is the one mechanic I find really annoying when going back to older JRPG's, and it even has stuff like multiple endings and NG+.
The presentation does obviously no longer look like a top of the line "AAA" console game, but has instead gained a nice retro charm that still looks nice.

In short, I think Chrono Trigger is a game I can pick up today and still have a blast playing. A game that I think can easily compare to a lot of modern JRPG's, and I'm confident it's because more than just nostalgia.

Then you have something like the original Tomb Raider on Ps1 which back in the day I thought was awesome but IMO just doesn't hold up very well. Some of the puzzles and more intricate level design is still nice but the stiff and somewhat tanky movement and combat no longer make for a very enjoyable gameplay experience and visually I think it just looks ugly and unappealing

 

[Dynasty8]

Has anyone tried Goldeneye recently? Couldn't believe it's the same game I used to play. No game for me has aged worse.

 

[Evil Calvin]

I’ve been playing through the strike series and they hold up so much. They look great, the gameplay is still fresh and unmatched from the 90s.

I’m currently on Urban and it’s not as good as the first two with it’s easier difficulty and boring on foot missions. Jungle Strike is god tier.

I wish they would re-release these. A Genesis mini comes out every few months and it always includes the same games. Where are the EA Genesis games?

 

[Evil Calvin]

Has anyone tried Goldeneye recently? Couldn't believe it's the same game I used to play. No game for me has aged worse.

True. Graphics stink and the controls are shit. I tried every control setting and it was terrible.

 

[Katsura]

Actually, you're probably right. You see, I didn't really play any console games from 1998-2015 (although I did play quite a few PC strategy up until 2008 or so). Once I got back into gaming around 2015, I pretty much decided to pick up where I left off and bought a load of Dreamcast/Xbox/PS2/Gamecube era games and consoles (all super cheap). Although I've managed to catch up a little (into the Wii/360/PS3 era now, woohoo!), my gaming standards are stuck in circa 2009 or so. I probably shouldn't be butting in on threads about what has and hasn't aged well

Still, what you said about Jade Empire kind of vindicates my choice to start working my way up from the OG Xbox, rather than jumping into a modern console straight away. If I had played Witcher 3 first and then Jade Empire after, maybe I would have felt it was a little janky too. Which 5 action RPGs of the past 15 years would you most recommend I play?

1. Dragons Dogma
2. Dragons Dogma
3. Dragons Dogma
4. Dragons Dogma
5. Dragons Dogma

Honourable mention

Spoiler

Dragons Dogma NG+

 

[prag16]

I was crushed a few years ago to find out that Bond: Everything or Nothing's controls aged horribly.

GoldenEye is the only game I used to play that I can no longer stomach. Though I've been meaning to go back to it and test out the control scheme that let you use two analogue sticks.

True. Graphics stink and the controls are shit. I tried every control setting and it was terrible.

I've played it on an emulator recently with controls mapped to approximate modern controls. It's pretty damn solid. While having it render in 4k looks kind of weird with N64 level assets, it does clean up a lot of the muddyness especially when using the texture filtering options.

 

[crumbs]

I was crushed a few years ago to find out that Bond: Everything or Nothing's controls aged horribly.



I've played it on an emulator recently with controls mapped to approximate modern controls. It's pretty damn solid. While having it render in 4k looks kind of weird with N64 level assets, it does clean up a lot of the muddyness especially when using the texture filtering options.

I enjoyed the Perfect Dark remaster, I thought the core gameplay and level design held up well when paired with the playable framerate and dual stick controls. It's too bad that GoldenEye will not get the same treatment (at least in terms of an official release).

 

[prag16]

I enjoyed the Perfect Dark remaster, I thought the core gameplay and level design held up well when paired with the playable framerate and dual stick controls. It's too bad that GoldenEye will not get the same treatment (at least in terms of an official release).

This is basically what the game looked like on my setup. Really not half bad, considering.

[video]

 

[Sub_Level]

Aged like fine wine:

I'm a big HL2 fan and still play mods for it now and again. But I feel like it has absolutely aged, especially the core campaign and Episode 1. Its a product of its time, offering minimal replay value and an emphasis on pretty graphics + physics over balanced game design. A precursor to the singleplayer 7th gen formula where you go from A to B in heavily scripted sequences. Maybe not as bad as the 8th gen open world formula we have nowadays, but it did get stale.

Its no coincidence that some of the more memorable parts, years later, are when you found a secret off the beaten path. Especially in the Water Hazard and Highway 17 levels.

 

[Evil Calvin]

I was crushed a few years ago to find out that Bond: Everything or Nothing's controls aged horribly.



I've played it on an emulator recently with controls mapped to approximate modern controls. It's pretty damn solid. While having it render in 4k looks kind of weird with N64 level assets, it does clean up a lot of the muddyness especially when using the texture filtering options.

I wish they would just remaster it and bring it to consoles. The game itself was great. I loved that each level had multiple routes and objectives based on agent difficulty. Promoted a lot of replay.

 

[brian0057]

I'm a big HL2 fan and still play mods for it now and again. But I feel like it has absolutely aged, especially the core campaign and Episode 1. Its a product of its time, offering minimal replay value and an emphasis on pretty graphics + physics over balanced game design. A precursor to the singleplayer 7th gen formula where you go from A to B in heavily scripted sequences. Maybe not as bad as the 8th gen open world formula we have nowadays, but it did get stale.

Its no coincidence that some of the more memorable parts, years later, are when you found a secret off the beaten path. Especially in the Water Hazard and Highway 17 levels.

I agree.
Half-Life 2 did to first person shooters what Resident Evil 4 did to horror games.

 

[cireza]

I love so many old games it is impossible to list everything.

However, one basic fact is that everything that I love and that is 2D has aged extremely well. Just as good today as it was 20+ years ago.

3D however is not the same deal, often these older games had not very smooth framerates or not great graphics. Still I think that a game like Panzer Dragoon Zwei has aged very well, still totally awesome. I love Burning Rangers too, and Nights. Burning Rangers' camera is probably what has aged the most, but otherwise it is still pretty awesome. I love Lodoss on Dreamcast, and this one has aged very well actually. Phantasy Star Online too. It is a bit rigid, but I don't find that it is a sign of aging. It was more of a design choice to begin with.

Basically, I love games that are well made and play very well, so there aren't many games that I love and that aged badly.

 

[Helios]

Would you tell your girlfriend that you jack off to video game porn? Would you tell your mother? Sister? Father? Your Boss? The girl you think is hot at work? Would you post it on your Facebook status? Would you tell your future son and daughter or grandchildren about jacking off to video game porn?

Why are you telling your mother what you're jacking off to, man? And you're calling the other guy a weirdo.

 

[Scotty W]

Doom and Doom 2 have aged fantastically. The limitations of the engine and the technology are offset by how colorful it is and how fun a well designed map can be to play.

Metroid Prime Hunters. I wanted to love this, but I dumped it about 20 hours in when I got stuck. Being frustrated by a game which is physically painful to play is not a recipe for a great game. They really should have done a 3ds redesign.

 

[stranno]

Fade 2 Black. I enjoyed it back in the day but nowdays it is probably the worst tank-control action game you can play. The "remastered" version for Playstation, launched one year after the original DOS game, looks way better but controls still suck. These jumping sections, good lord..

Jet Set Radio. Still looks wonderful. My only complain is the lack of a proper 60FPS hack in any version of the game.

 

[Panda1]

almost all 8 bit games will age well as they are based on gameplay

 

[DanielsM]

Aged well:
Halo CE - played the Anniversary edition and switched between old and remastered graphics engine and even in 3d, still a good solid game.

Not so well:
The Chronicles of Riddick (Assault on Dark Athena with Butcher Bay)
In 2004 I thought BB was great, not so much when I replayed it last year - not good at all. AODA sucks as well.