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What games actually aged well and still play well?

The panzer dragoon series still legitimately plays wonderfully. (Full disclosure, I posted these gifs in a sega thread very recently :b and goddamn it Ill promote PD whenever I get the chance)

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Kung-fu for the NES is still a solid game even if it's pretty simple. It's easy to control, has big sprites, and is damn fun. It's nothing you'd spend all day playing, but I spent about 30 minutes with it a few weeks ago and had a great time. This actually seems to be the case for a lot of early NES game that were simple and focused on limited gameplay.
 
ULTROS! said:
I'd probably say Chrono Trigger is one of the games that aged well since it doesn't have random encounters, the translation/localization is fine, and it still looks great.
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This kind of tells me that this is less about how a game has "aged" rather than what kind of things you like about a game. What about people who like random encounters? It's not an outdated system even if it less prevalent today. I mean, I agree that FFIX (one of my top-five favorite games of all time) is very slow when it comes to the battle system and you can't avoid it easily because the encounters are random, but that has nothing to do with the age. It was just as slow back in the day when it released and the random encounter rate was the same. Maybe we tolerated that back in the day, but not now, so maybe we're the ones aging :D. Same for your example on OoT, I think it's just fine that you did not have fun with it but I don't think that says anything about its age. I can put it in any time and have lots of fun with it. I thought the 3DS remaster was a pure joy to play. Yes, some of that is nostalgia, but not all of it or I would have quit.

To answer the question, I think Super Metroid is a great example of a timeless classic. I didn't play it until my late twenties for the first time somehow, and boy was that sublime.
 
ULTROS! said:
I thought Zelda: Ocarina of Time didn't age well at all and I didn't have fun with it (I first played it when the 3DS released).
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I'm honestly surprised the game gets included in so many "greatest of all time" conversations. An amazing soundtrack, fun exploration, charming side characters and some cool puzzles are quickly undone by that shitty camera, mediocre combat, and utterly frustrating shit like the Water Temple.

Anyway, on topic: Super Mario Bros 3 is a pretty safe bet. That game has aged like fine wine.
 
Mario 64
Ocarina of Time/Majoras Mask
Metal Gear Solid 1-3
Jet Set Radio
Resident Evil 1-3
Silent Hill 1-3
Super Metroid

All amazing games that play great. Some even better than their modern counterparts.
 
ULTROS! said:
I dunno but after Symphony of the Night, it was hard for me to play and appreciate the Castlevanias pre-SotN.
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Not like this man, not like this. The Classicvanias and ESPECIALLY Rondo of Blood are examples of excellent game design. They were the Dark Souls of their time.
 
Classic Castlevania and post-SotN Castlevania are so different that it's hard to imagine someone's opinion of the latter negatively impacting their opinion of the former. It's like saying Skyrim made you unable to appreciate Devil May Cry.
 
SHOCKED Starcraft: Broodwar has not been mentioned more. It's still the best playing RTS and is nearly 20 years old.

Others: NFL Blitz, Streets of Rage 2, Road Rash 64, Pokémon Red/Blue, Duke Nukem 3D, Virtua Fighter 4, Tony Hawk 2, and FFX (just played it for the first time last year and WOW the combat system is good)
 
Both 16 bit Contra games are still awesome, as is Gunstar Heroes. I'll throw in Shining Force 1&2; heck, lots of 16 bit games fit this. Most mainline Mario has aged well with the possible exception of the first game. I wish Jet Set Radio wasn't so damn floaty.
 
HueyFreeman said:
The panzer dragoon series still legitimately plays wonderfully. (Full disclosure, I posted these gifs in a sega thread very recently :b and goddamn it Ill promote PD whenever I get the chance)
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I love the look of PD so fucking much, and I never even played it, so it's not entirely nostalgia speaking. The art is great and the early 3D graphics are charming as hell.
 
Aside from the shoulder button camera that you can only swing left and right, I think Rayman 2 has aged really well
 
Final Fantasy XII looks beautiful on PCSX2, though I guess this wouldn't count. I'm surprised so much of the art holds up in that game. It looks so nice in HD.
 
Amory said:
I agree on ocarina of time, OP.

Seems like it was a "you had to be there" game
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For the original, absolutely. For the 3DS re-release, it brought it right back up to speed. Same for Majora's Mask. Coming from someone who played it on N64 as a young kid and couldn't replay it as an adult. Bought the 3DS remakes and they rekindled my love and made me want to play what I couldn't handle on N64.
 
Mario 64 is still the best platformer of all time which allows you the most satisfying weight/physics/ controls of mario

Both Paper Marios

SMW

Yoshi's Island

Chrono Trigger

DKC2 (id say the others too but its been a while since I played them, I may be wrong)

Also im gonna throw FFX in here (if you like random battles at least, seems many have an irrationnal hate of it)
 
too many games are still good for me to possibly list. i feel like games that "didnt age well" are more commonly games that were kinda mediocre to begin with, unless there was a really serious hardware limitation, like old ass atari games. you could probably still argue for plenty of the, though. tons of shit from the NES still feels intuitive

super metroid is an obvious answer. its still a masterpiece. it could be released as an indie game these days and be received quite well

the other one that came to mind right away for some reason was einhander, which is a really badass shmup for the PSX. the visuals are still amazing, it feels like youre looking at a badass game through a PSX filter and it hits all the right notes

mentioning einhander and its graphics reminded me of sin & punishment for the N64 (which was jp only iirc). its a really fast paced and fluid cabal shooter thats still a blast to play through, and treasure did a masterful job making 3D models in such a way that turns N64 limitations into an awesome artstyle. they pushed the thing to its limits
 
Jak and Daxter TPL is still super fun and the gameplay mechanics haven't aged one bit. It still looks pretty darn good (aside from character model close-ups).
 
Two games I think have aged quite well and I only play on their original platforms are Ghost Trick and TWEWY. Well, actually I play both on the 3dsxl so not their original platform. Both have not been done better and really their gameplay is so unique I'm not sure anyone has even done anything like either since. There's only 1 place I can go for two screen, synchronized, rpg combat and super cool style with awesome music and that's TWEWY ds. The IOS port is simply not the same for me. And I don't know of any other game that has the same gameplay as Ghost Trick. 2 once in a lifetime games for me.
 
psyfi said:
I love the look of PD so fucking much, and I never even played it, so it's not entirely nostalgia speaking. The art is great and the early 3D graphics are charming as hell.
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If you get a chance definitely give them a try - mechanically they hold up remarkably well (somewhat owing to being rail shooters, but even allowing for that). Wonderful replay too - I seem to be able to come back to them an endless number of times.

In terms of art, you're right - it still looks awesome today because the art can still shine through. Whether or not he acknowledges it (which I swear he did at some point but I've never been able to find it again) ueda is almost certainly influenced by these games (right down to a synthetic Japanese-like language), and given how many people he's influenced, team andromedas DNA is all over the place.

Side note: I've always found it interesting how similar the dragon is to the one from another world, which no surprise, it also a big influence for Ueda.

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ULTROS! said:
I thought Zelda: Ocarina of Time didn't age well at all and I didn't have fun with it (I first played it when the 3DS released).
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Nah you're crazy. I picked up OoT after playing TP and adored it, and that was on Wii VC rather than the enhanced 3DS version.
 
Super Mario World is a bonafide work of art, a masterpiece in gaming. I'll be playing that game until the day I die and enjoy as much as I always have.
 
Super Metroid

It was my best game of all time all the way up to Breath of the Wild came out. #2 now, which is pretty impressive too I'd say.
 
Age of empires 2 is still ✨👌✨


Also I'm playing A Link to the Past for the first time ever.... It's fantastic. That game holds the fuck up
 
My top 2 picks are Super Mario World and Final Fantasy VI.

Super Mario World. It combines sublime controls, a clean and distinctive art style, great music, and level design that is the pinnacle of the 2d series. Multiple exits encourage replayability, and the levels themselves along with the cape introduces some flexibility and interesting speed running tactics.

Final Fantasy VI is lacking somewhat mechanically. It does have a lot of great bases (character skills, Esper system, relics), but could use a few tweaks to make it all come together better. That being said, the art, pacing, music, and controls are the pinnacle of 2D RPGs. The Sprint Shoes go a long way to making town and dungeon movement feel great. The floating continent and transition to the World of Ruin is a stroke of masterpiece and is one of the best and most ambitious segments in any RPG. Just when you think the game is over, you get a new fully fledged open world RPG. I don't feel like this has ever been topped in any game ever.
 
AjNimajwalHansel said:
To answer the question, I think Super Metroid is a great example of a timeless classic. I didn't play it until my late twenties for the first time somehow, and boy was that sublime.
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To me, Super Metroid is a classic despite its age. The atmosphere and branching labyrinth are among the best in the genre, but the control scheme severely dates it.
 
I think Phantasy Star IV aged well. Your character moves fast, not slow as a snail, the sprite work is topnotch, the music is excellent, and it almost feels like it could be a modern day retro RPG all around. The only knock on it would be the kinda terrible inventory system. But then again, it just takes some getting used to.
 
TheExodu5 said:
To me, Super Metroid is a classic despite its age. The atmosphere and branching labyrinth are among the best in the genre, but the control scheme severely dates it.
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Disagree. I feel it controls great. Wall jums feel fine. Everything else feels good. The only problem it has is switching weapons
 
SciencePilot said:
Mega Man 2 has aged well. I think the main reason is that the controls still feel quite fluid. When a game ages poorly, often it's because it feels clunky in some way. But Mega Man classic series is still a joy to control even today.
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I really wish I had the opportunity to play Megaman 2 in its original form.

Unfortunately, emulation just doesn't do it justice, I feel. There's always some input lag which makes MM2 feel extremely sluggish and imprecise when pitted against MM9/MM10.
 
TheExodu5 said:
I really wish I had the opportunity to play Megaman 2 in its original form.

Unfortunately, emulation just doesn't do it justice, I feel. There's always some input lag which makes MM2 feel extremely sluggish and imprecise when pitted against MM9/MM10.
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it's also pretty damn amazing on japanese playstation if you can play that. i just did a replay not too long ago.
 
Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
Final Fantasy VI (SNES)
Super Mario World
Tetris
Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
The Legend of Zelda (NES) & Link to the Past (SNES)
Paper Mario
Street Fighter II (and Turbo, Super, etc.)
SamSho II
Turtles in Time
Rez
Gokujou Parodius (SFC)
Earthbound (it's simple graphical style was panned at the time, but I think holds up great)
 
Most good 16 bit games are still great but Streets of Rage 2 was perfect then and its perfect now. I have been playing this game for almost 25 years. Crazy.
 
Crom said:
Metroidvanias don't effect the older ones IMO. I appreciate both types (even Simon's Quest)
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It's not a matter of how of the games are structured for me, I just think SOTN improved things dramatically in terms of responsiveness and controls.
The old Belmonts feel so clunky in comparison, and the games feel stiff as a result.
 
Return to Castle Wolfenstein still plays well, despite a few spongy enemy types. Fun romp. One of the earlier fps's to include leaning, too.


Greddleok said:
Seriously? MGS plays like shit now. It didn't even play well when it was released, now it really sucks.
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I have to agree. Played through the whole series for the first time last year and MGS turned out to be one of my least favorites. Atmosphere and narrative were nice and fairly impressive for the time, but the gameplay, and--to some extent--game design (looking at you, reshaping keycard) was dreadful.
 
Consoles/Multi-Plat:
  • Any Super Smash Bros
  • Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
  • Powerstone 1-2
  • Final Fantasy Tactics
  • Hitman: Blood Money
  • Max Payne 1-2
  • Zelda: Wind Waker
  • Mario Kart 64
  • Spiderman 2
  • Psychonauts
  • Rogue Galaxy
  • Persona 3
  • Most SSX games
PC Games:
  • Unreal Tournament Classic & 2K4
  • Thief 1-2
  • Age of Empires 2-3
  • Starcraft
  • Warcraft 3
  • Command & Conquer Red Alert 2, Tiberian Sun & Generals
  • Dawn of War 1
  • Company of Heroes 1
  • Homeworld series
  • Neverwinter Nights 1-2 (2 because modern hardware makes the game actually run good)
  • Icewind Dale 1-2
  • Baldur's Gate 2
  • Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
  • Sim City 2000, 2003 & 4
So many RTSs in general hold up well to me these days vs. most other types of games.
 
eso76 said:
It's not a matter of how of the games are structured for me, I just think SOTN improved things dramatically in terms of responsiveness and controls.
The old Belmonts feel so clunky in comparison, and the games feel stiff as a result.
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I'm having a hard time appreciating the older Castlevania sadly, maybe it's because I grew up with SotN.

Off topic but is Circle of the Moon more like a Metroidvania or old-school Castlevania? I haven't really played that game.
 
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