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Old games that have aged really well
- Thread starter oni-link
- Start date
Arondight
Member
OOT. I've gone back to playing that game a lot and I'm pretty sure I didn't play this in the N64 era either and was much later on. From technical perspective it's not great compared to modern standards but then 100% of games from that era didn't either. It's the levels/ puzzles and decent combat with the locking system that makes it age very well. I've really grown to appreciate the world and how intricate the design is, something that is sorely missing in a massive amount of open world.
Crash Bandicoot 3 is another game that stands the test of time. One of my most favourite platformers. Playing through the game now, from the start, it's much easier than when I was younger and managing to finish the game faster but I really like the levels.Visuals hold up due to it's cartoonish style. Music is memorable. I play it on my vita all the time now and do time trials.
Super Smash bros 64. Its one incredible party/fighting game. One of the games that barely gets mentioned compared to it's successor but playing through it now is still fun as hell.
Crash Bandicoot 3 is another game that stands the test of time. One of my most favourite platformers. Playing through the game now, from the start, it's much easier than when I was younger and managing to finish the game faster but I really like the levels.Visuals hold up due to it's cartoonish style. Music is memorable. I play it on my vita all the time now and do time trials.
Super Smash bros 64. Its one incredible party/fighting game. One of the games that barely gets mentioned compared to it's successor but playing through it now is still fun as hell.
lostinblue
Banned
Except I didn't.
You took a huge ass post about tech that was in the original game that made it's structure pretty complex (and modern) even by today's standards and focused on the fact that yeah, I mentioned ONCE that there is an enhanced port on the 3DS that feels like a modern game, graphically.
OoT N64 even in it's purest form also feels like a modern game in a lot of ways. Early 3D graphics for it were never that early, artistic direction was there and it was full textured. Early 3D games weren't, instead relying on colored polygons and gourad shading.
The low framerate is there, YES, but it doesn't feel like low framerate in a bad port, it was designed for it, music plays right, you don't feel like you're going through slowdown at all, just low framerate. Saying 20/24 fps per second sounds hideous, I don't like it either but it takes less than 5 minutes to adjust, really.
Clunky controls and combat I disagree, it's pretty damn fine to this day compared to other 3D Zelda's. It's the dungeon design that is more experimental but the system remains the same, albeit without full 3D camera control and TP extra combat moveset (useless because the game was so easy).
As for overworld, sure.
And Navi hasn't really aged, it's just the nature of it those "hey listen" jokes were made in 1998 as well.
Lastly but not least, sure, Twilight Princess could have been a remake if it wanted to, but it's not the same game, and it's not a better one at that. It does some things better, some things worse but overall, it has a bigger overworld map that, due to being so big feels way more empty than OoT does, cities and villages as well, seeing you don't really create connections with anyone above the acquantance level (midna aside, obviously)
That's a pretty big flaw because you really don't give a rats ass about the world you're saving in TP, OoT is not perfect by any means but it pulls the more immersive game all around.
I could say the same about Xenoblade, it was on the Wii, but if you just redid the graphics you'd have something way more complex than all JRPG's on the X360/PS3 and the structure of it went along with it, making it more next gen/current gen than stuff way better looking. You don't even have to redo cutscenes, all the animation data is there, it's just the character modelsand scenery LOD who're very low poly, along with textures. Feels like an impressive demake in a way.
And if you saw the exact same game running on a more powerful spec and it's assets upgraded you simply wouldn't believe it was a Wii game at some point. That was my point with OoT as an N64 game, it feels way too modern and advanced for an N64 game. Even on the N64, obviously. 3DS game doesn't really change much regarding the game's core experience (framerate is actually the biggest change).
Raonak
Banned
Crash Bandicoot 2/3 hold up really well, both graphically and gameplay wise.
Nostalgia runs deep in me, if I enjoyed a game in it's prime, the old-ness of it doesn't effect me.
Stuff like MGS1 actually looks amazing due to the hardware limitations, there's something super charming about it
Nostalgia runs deep in me, if I enjoyed a game in it's prime, the old-ness of it doesn't effect me.
Stuff like MGS1 actually looks amazing due to the hardware limitations, there's something super charming about it
Woodchipper
Member
Silent Hill 3. Still scary as fuck and it looks pretty darn good for a PS2 game.
To Far Away Times
Member
A good game is forever good.
kubricks
Member
Symphony of the night
I don't think th egame has aged at all.
I have just completed a play through last week, it felt just as fresh as launch which was 18 years ago. Everything about the game, the gameplay, mechanics, the music and the graphics etc., still hold up.
I guess same can be said of many 2D platformer of SNES era tho'.
I don't think th egame has aged at all.
I have just completed a play through last week, it felt just as fresh as launch which was 18 years ago. Everything about the game, the gameplay, mechanics, the music and the graphics etc., still hold up.
I guess same can be said of many 2D platformer of SNES era tho'.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Yeah, I had the same problems with the game originally, it's just that a lot could be excused when it was the only 3D Zelda. Now that later Zelda games have improved the formula (except for the handholding, if anything, that's been getting worse), it's a lot harder to go back to OoT.
I ignored most of your long tech post because I feel like the main reason why it hasn't aged well is design, not technology. I just wanted to bring up that some people may have false memories of the original OoT because of the 3DS version (which not only improved the graphics but also had other improvements like improved controls). Like many groundbreaking games, there's a lot of clunkiness that later games managed to improve upon.
Mass Effect
Member
Burnout 3. Everything about it has aged quite well, from the presentation, to the sound (and amazing soundtrack of course), to the graphics, and of course the gameplay. It's still the best Burnout.
SomeOneInaHat
Member
Burnout 3
Its a timeless classic and one of the few racing games I still play to this very day.
Its a timeless classic and one of the few racing games I still play to this very day.
KatamariOnTheRocks
Member
I agree with the people that don't feel games change with time.
For me, a game is as good today as the day it came out and I've never experienced a game "aging"
I think it's a matter of perspective and how you view the medium.
I can see how certain mechanics in old games are antiquated in the sense that more efficient and better means of conveying those mechanics have emerged, but that doesn't undo how fun the old game was/still is.
I still have fun playing tic tac toe or crossword puzzles in the same capacity that people enjoy quick bursts of mobile games, but the existence of more advanced games such as The Witcher 3 doesn't somehow prevent me from enjoying older, technically inferior games.
If a game is suddenly unplayable to you because X amount of time has passed and Y game has better implementation of certain mechanics then you're closing yourself off to pretty much 85% of games and game Y that you thought had such great implementation of said mechanic will also one day be forever unplayable once you've experienced something better.
For me, a game is as good today as the day it came out and I've never experienced a game "aging"
I think it's a matter of perspective and how you view the medium.
I can see how certain mechanics in old games are antiquated in the sense that more efficient and better means of conveying those mechanics have emerged, but that doesn't undo how fun the old game was/still is.
I still have fun playing tic tac toe or crossword puzzles in the same capacity that people enjoy quick bursts of mobile games, but the existence of more advanced games such as The Witcher 3 doesn't somehow prevent me from enjoying older, technically inferior games.
If a game is suddenly unplayable to you because X amount of time has passed and Y game has better implementation of certain mechanics then you're closing yourself off to pretty much 85% of games and game Y that you thought had such great implementation of said mechanic will also one day be forever unplayable once you've experienced something better.
arts&crafts
Member
CS 1.6!
Great answer. Yes, absolutely. I played it for the first time last summer and couldn't put it down.
The original Quake still holds up remarkably well. They nailed the movement in that game, it will always be fun to play.
MissCauthon
Member
I would.say alexkidd in miracle world
Game feels so nice even tho its a 29 year old game .
Its older than me hah
Plus I play the game from start to end once a year lol
Special feelings tied to this game lol
I still have my Sega Master System with this game from when i was 8-9 years old. To this day, i can't finish the damn thing. It's so hard.
professor_t
Member
Halo: CE
Tecmo Super Bowl
Mike Tyson's Punchout
A lot of the classic Nintendo stuff already mentioned
Tecmo Super Bowl
Mike Tyson's Punchout
A lot of the classic Nintendo stuff already mentioned
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Congrats, you actually agree that games can age, then!
No one said it would necessarily "undo the fun".
Again, no one said a game that's dated is suddenly unplayable. Only that it's, well, dated. I still have lots of fun with plenty of old 32-bit games, but I acknowledge that their camera, for example, is dated and I sometimes miss the modern camera standards (usually twin sticks 3D movement/camera).
That's what is meant by dated/aging. A game that ages well is one that doesn't feel dated in its mechanics, controls, etc. or a game for which the visuals still look appealing. But a game that ages less gracefully can still be fun.
Le_Samourai
Banned
Ocarina of Time.
RowdyReverb
Member
I don't know if Sim City 2000 has been mentioned yet, but that game is timeless. It's approachable and has the perfect balance of simple, yet deep gameplay that the series never achieved since (IMO)
EvoMaldonado
Banned
Doom 1 I think aged really. Outside of applying higher rez graphics patches, it's still a blast to play.
Shmuely Bully
Member
Grandia other than the voice acting. The graphics are (mostly) 3D but pretty simple which limits how much the stretching affects things when played at a higher resolution, while the story and combat are excellent and timeless.
Goodacre0081
Member
pretty much all 16-bit games under this logo
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Sometimes, games age badly.
And sometimes, players age badly.
And sometimes, players age badly.
Sunnington
Banned
Despite popular believe on this forum. I think this idea is ridiculous. The camera is irredeemably awful. I remember getting an N64 when it came out, before even playing Mario 64 deciding I MUST have it. Renting the game and saying, wow this game sucks, I have to fight this camera all the time. No way I'm wasting a Christmas/Birthday game for this crap. It definitely didn't get better over time, it only got worse. Super Mario Land 1 through Super Mario World, sure, nothing was inherently offensive about those games. They were really well made.
Yeah, it's pretty good. You could package it as a new game and it would still be good.
To add to the conversation, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 through Sonic and Knuckles are timeless. Sonic Adventure also had an untenably bad camera.
That's profound.
I didn't see Kingdom Hearts mentioned, for being PS2 games they still look really good today (not using the HD versions as a reference, either)
but yeah Chrono Trigger, Tales of Phantasia (was surprised to see that mentioned!), pretty much everything Squaresoft put out on the SNES.
Alucard725
Neo Member
Super Metroid
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Resident Evil 2
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Resident Evil 2
Burnout 3
Its a timeless classic and one of the few racing games I still play to this very day.
The remaster/remake we actually want.
JigglesBunny
Banned
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.
The campaign, eh, that was never great. But the 1 vs. 1 component? One of the best fighting games around still to this very day.
The campaign, eh, that was never great. But the 1 vs. 1 component? One of the best fighting games around still to this very day.
KatamariOnTheRocks
Member
My point about being antiquated was that once time has passed those games and mechanics are technically old, but not necessarily bad.
Every time I've ever seen a game referred to as "not aging well" it's followed by hyperbolic statements as if the game they played was drastically different than it was when they played it years ago, but that's not the case, the game is exactly the same obviously,but your perception of it has changed since you've become accustomed to modern game design.
Of course I understand that mechanics age when time passes but that's just because thats literally what happens to things when time passes, the difference is that 99% of the time people use the excuse of time passing to shit all over games when they're no different than the day they released.
And again, I've never experienced any game that felt aged/dated because I didn't feel like the games were dated when I first played them and since my perception of them hasn't changed I don't see why I should experience them any different from when I played them for the first time.
Your explanation of what people mean by aging was something I already understood, but as I explained, some people such as myself are resistant to changes in perception about how fun games are based on time passing.
Thank you, my friend.
Agree 100% - The Last Express is one of the finest achievements in gaming. It's an all-around beautiful piece of art and a great adventure game. One of the possibly few titles that truly reaches "cinematic" heights without compromising the gameplay.
minkymuskyslyoldstoaty
Member
It has been boring to play since the 90s, in my opinion, of course. Sure it's iconic but I would say Galaga has aged much better as it is still great fun.
I get your point but I don't think anyone talks about games aging based on how they remember them at the time, most people I think are talking about games in the context of revisiting them (or playing them for the first time) which can be seen by how many people are naming a game and then saying they played it recently
It goes without saying that older games didn't feel dated when they were new, and like I said In a previous post I don't think that a game feeling dated makes it a bad game. I play a lot of older games and some of them have aged badly, but that doesn't stop me enjoying them
You can love FFVII to death but to say it's not aged at all would be disingenuous, I think the graphics are charming in their own way but you can show screen shots of that game to people and they'd have no idea what they were looking at, and when I played it in 2012 I needed to toggle the arrows on that showed where my character was and where all the exits to other areas were on the pre rendered backgrounds
That didn't stop me from loving the game, and it doesn't make it a bad game or a lesser game, it just means it didn't age well
Klart
Member
These. Do I do wish someone would make a HD version/game just like these.
minkymuskyslyoldstoaty
Member
Have you played double Dragon neon?
Brerlappin
Member
Doom: The thread.
Game is like the Keanu Reeves of videogames. It just doesnt seem to age at all.
Game is like the Keanu Reeves of videogames. It just doesnt seem to age at all.
SonicMegaDrive
Member
As 75% of what I play was made before 1996, I don't know if I'm qualified to answer that question.
As a kid, I recall finding out that
Golbez was Cecil's father
I find games with good framerates, responsive controls and good level designs tend to age better than those without. Titles like Super Mario Bros. 1-3, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Doom 1-2, River City Ransom, or even arcade classics like Tempest all hold up really well. Whereas a lot of early polygonal titles like the N64 version of Ocarina of Time are harder to go back to because the controls aren't as tight and the framerate is sluggish.