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Nostalgia aside, are old games still fun to you?

Outside a handful of classics or when they remake a game I loved, I barely ever replay games so when I'm playing an old game it's generally one that I've heard great things about, or one that's viewed as a classic, or a can't miss game, so generally I enjoy playing old games because I only play the good ones, but I'd definitely say new games are more fun than older games on average by a substantial margin
 

bender

What time is it?
This year I've finished or am playing:

-Max Payne: Fun but definitely shows its' age.
-Max Payne 2: The improvements in the sequel make a world of difference. Super fun.
-Castlevania Advanced Collection: having finished Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, I'm not working through Aria of Sorrow. I'm having a wonderful time with them.
-Death Smiles 1/2 - Semi-Classic Arcade Bullet Hell Bliss

I'm also planning on firing up the N64 Paper Mario soon.

These games are far more entertaining than anything modern I'm playing in my rotation (The Gunk, Alien Fireteam, Unpacking, the Serious Sam on GPU).
 

Tschumi

Member
Old games that are legitimately still fun for me:

This is hard to answer because i haven't had much time to play any games recently, especially PC.

Age of Empires 2
Warcraft 3
Loz: TWW
Metroid Prime, sure
Fifa, been the same since 2001 (a lie but a funny one)
Diablo 1&2
Homeworld
Final Fantasy 9
Ground Control
SSX 3 (iffy perhaps)
SSX Tricky
Gran Turismo 2 (after the bullshit licence tests and despite the over sensitive controls on my Vita)

Ohohoh...

Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns
Cossacks: The Art of War
Port Royale 2
 
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rogr rogr

Member
I could play:
Blackthorne
The Lost vikings
SF2 The world warrior
Megaman X 1-4
Prince of persia DOS version
Quake
Warcraft 2
on a daily basis with a smile on my face.
 

yansolo

Member
sometimes i think i feel like playing something old school and after playing for half an hour i turn them off
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Some old games that are still 100% solid regardless of the year you play them.

Super Mario RPG
Resident Evil 1-3
Streets of Rage 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Metal Gear Solid
Syphon Filter
Goof Troop
Zelda: A Link to the Past
Pilot Wings
Ninja Gaiden 1-3
Virtua Fighter 2
Fighter's Megamix
Super Mario World
Mario Kart
NHL 94
NBA JAM
Sonic the Hedgehog
Road Rash 1-3
Street Fighter 2
Mortal Kombat

There are countless others, was mostly trying to think of games that you can just pick up and play.

Mike Matei is a good channel on YouTube when it comes to retro games. I'm sure there's better examples, just aren't aware of them.
 
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Yeah, depends on the game. I find anything NES and prior very difficult to go back to, with a few exceptions. But even early 3D games are a ton of fun, and I’ll maintain Ocarina of Time is just as good today - nostalgia or not.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
in the past I’ve liked putting a huge amount of games in an emulator and playing them for 20 or so minutes each (probably a good use for steam deck). i should go play classic Nintendo games because aside from snes games I haven’t played any of them (GameCube/gba/ds/etc) I’m guessing at least some of the highest rated ones are still worth playing
 
I get your point. It's mostly nostalgia. Few exceptions. Something I can add to this is that VR remakes are dope. Original doom in VR is pretty great. Even early 3d that hasn't aged super well like doom 3 have native oculus ports that are fun in a new way. I hope developers understand how many people are willing to relive old titles this way, should be lucrative for relatively cheap development.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
I get your point. It's mostly nostalgia. Few exceptions. Something I can add to this is that VR remakes are dope. Original doom in VR is pretty great. Even early 3d that hasn't aged super well like doom 3 have native oculus ports that are fun in a new way. I hope developers understand how many people are willing to relive old titles this way, should be lucrative for relatively cheap development.
can also play classic games in 3dsen vr (theres also emuvr but I don’t get the point of that outside of light gun games. 1980s and 1990s nostalgia I suppose)
 
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Scotty W

Member
A lot of people are using the fallacy that fun in their time=fun now. All generations were equally fun in their time. The fallacy is like when you see photos of 1920’s flappers, pictures of Henry VIII’s wives and conclude that women are more attractive now. The time in which we judge gives us the standards with which we judge. Nonetheless, we cannot help but judge from our present place in time.

Very little stands the test of time. Back in 2000, most Genesis and NES games were acceptable, but nowadays are not, due to the choppy movement and artificially raised difficulty. The original Ninja Gaiden is a case in point. Reasonably fun for the first few levels, but absolute torture near the end due to cheapness. I also experienced this with Super Metroid in the sense that frustration seems to be ‘built in’ to the formula of the game.

Earthworm Jim is another case of this. It was fine upon release, but too difficult now. But I blame the developers rather than myself. It still looks beautiful, and is skillfully programmed, but there is something very unclean about the design.

A few classics from the N64 era are still great, but I can see the dark hand of time stealing upon them. One of the things that surprised me about the Saturn is how much jank there is. Even a classic like Daytona has quite a bit- in addition to being unforgivably short. Strange that the original Outrun has aged better.

What shocks me is how unkind time has been to SNES games. I have a lot of nostalgia for it, but apart from the greats, most of it is just a waste of time.

Think about how far games came from 1983-2003. There seems to be a lot of revolutionary changes coming in the next few years. In all likelihood, the pool of games that stay great will continue to shrink.




Actually... I just am now interested in playing Brutal Doom. I never played it before albeit hearing good things about it.

I have been playing Doom for many years and I have never really understood the Brutal Doom hype. Afaik, it is just a gore mod. Don’t let it distract you from the thousands of user made levels out there like Scythe, Alien Vendetta and Ancient Aliens.
 

01011001

Banned
a well designed game will forever be a good game.
Super Mario World will forever be good and well playable because it's simply a well made game.
Mega Man X will always be among the best 2D Jump n Shoot games out there no matter its age and it has barely been challenged for its position as one of the top in its genre to this day

many of the games that are often said to have "aged badly" actually never were good to begin with...
all that has changes now is that we now have options that show how it's done correctly.
good games can not "age badly", they can "feel of their time" or something along those lines,
but they can never age badly because they are good games.

if you play Street Fighter 3: Third Strike today it still feels like a dream to play and the graphics are ridiculously well made...
doesn't matter that the game is 22 years old.
if you play Metal Slug, a game from 25 years ago you simply can't say it aged badly, because it controls well,
looks good and is hell of a fun time in coop no matter if you played it in 1996 or you'll play it in 2069

games like Double Dragon 1 on NES were never good games... they were bad games when they released and they are bad now. the difference is back then many didn't have any other options so the point of reference was different and you didn't have much to compare it to.
but Super Mario Bros on NES was a good game and always will be, simply because it is well designed and that can never change no matter how much time goes by.



so in short, yes... of course old games are still fun to me. many older games actually have many superior qualities to them compared to most modern games.
DMC3 is still the best DMC... just because DMC5 is newer doesn't mean it's the better game or more fun somehow. just like God of War 2 is still the best God of War game.
and Alien vs Predator (Arcade) is still one of the best Beat em Ups ever made and it always will be great no matter how much time goes by, even with tons of newer games in the genre coming out since then, barely any surpassed it or many others in the genre from back then
 
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Northeastmonk

Gold Member
The more narrative games had with 2D JRPGs is not replicated very well with modern games. Sure there are good modern day JRPGs, but a lot them are missing something. Something like a good idea that’s well executed. We have great graphics, but it takes twice as long for the game to build up to say a pivotal moment. You have to sit through quite a bit of them forming this universe with voice acting and cutscenes. If you look at older 90’s JRPGs you’re essentially bringing the words to life like you do when you read a book. A lot of it is from your own interpretation. I imagine this is something that plagues a lot of newer games. They try to get the player hooked, but they can’t deliver with the voice acting or the characters just feel off. I feel this way about modern day platformers. Platformers from the 2D era relied on the canvas to take shape. Today’s (3D) platformers place this giant world in front of you and say, “hey, here’s this massive world for you to explore”. Yet, 80% of that world has already been mentally digested before you’re 2/3rds of the way in.

It’s a different story when you’re dealing with something that has a lot of value to it. There are good modern (3D) JRPGs and platformers. You can’t tell me it fixed everything. It didn’t do it with shooters because we still have quite a few older shooters that get referenced and re-released. I will enjoy older games because there’s something there that can’t be captured again. Either it’s the art, the music, or the battle system.

I love new games. Sometimes I can’t go back to older games because it feels too familiar or just isn’t all that great. I get tired of older games, but I won’t sit there saying they’ve been outdone. I don’t exactly go back to the 360/PS3 era. I feel like a lot of those games were the middle layer of everything. When I get nostalgic for that era, I remind myself of how I’ve played through those games and there’s not a whole lot to re-discover. It’s like that era relied heavily on the press and PR making a bigger deal than it was. I also fail to see the art from that era influence or show itself in today’s gaming scene.
 
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Hayabusa83

Banned
Never been one that cared for visuals. Despite owning current gen tech (Xbox Series X) I still find myself playing PS2 games on my backwards compatible PS3. I also still use my original Xbox and my Nintendo 64 heavily.

Truthfully, I have found classic gaming to be a nice escape from the woke infected video games that are being released today.
 

Hayabusa83

Banned
Absolutely lol, alot better than most newer games too
I hear you man. Here are a few of my personal examples:

I love Ace Combat 7 but in my opinion Ace Combat Zero is the best. I tried to play that Star Wars Squadrons game, it only inspired me to go backwards and play Star Wars Rogue Squadron on the Wii U via Gamecube BC. Even though WWE 2K14 and 2K19 were awesome, they still do not compare to WWF No Mercy or Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 on the N64.

I was predominantly playing Xbox in the early 2000s, but when I got a PS3 it inspired me to go back and take a look at some of the gems that I missed on PS2. I can't believe I initially missed out on God of War I and II, Shadow of Rome, the entire Ace Combat trilogy, etc. Capcom, Namco, and Konami were at their absolute peak in that era.
 
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anthraticus

Banned
What happened was the soul of the industry did not survive the generational replacement. It was thoroughly colonized by special interest groups. The worst years of gaming started with the release of the PS3/360. The overall quality in games declined steeply as the larger focus from big name developers shifted to grafx with an army of artists.

Mindless cinematic shit became the norm, achievements and micro transactions were introduced (horse armor), the rebooting of franchises in barebones form began, budgets shifted over to prioritizing the marketing and art departments heavily, and everyone was riding the sellout bandwagon hard. No beloved game series survived the rape....complete degeneracy. You'd walk down a corridor, some scripted shit would happen, you'd press an awesome button, fireworks go off, pop a few moles, rinse and repeat.

But they realized they couldn't keep doing that utterly braindead shit and keep popamolers impressed forever. So instead, as one example, devs seem to lean on sandbox skinner box collectathon with 100 handholding features type design. It's shallow as fuck, but still more involving and complex than the late 2000s games that were barely even games. Still weak and unengaging as fuck though.

The soul of gaming was gone because it became a huge business and back in the day a lot of great companies went to shit because they took risks in order to do what they love. The only people doing that now are a handful of indie developers.

Couple that with the tsunami of identity politics and other horseshit they cram into games and they've now also become digital propaganda or, at the very least, a virtue signaling circle jerk.
 
Not really. Huge part of gaming for me is being in awe of cutting edge performance, graphics, physics etc.

For example old Ratchet & Clank will never be as fun again as a new one. I just love that dopamine hit of seeing something fresh, so Rift Apart did that to me - amazing intro, 4K, RT, Dual Sense functions (that scene in the club and vibrating controller to the rhythm of the music - holy shit!).

Of course there are other reasons why I'm playing games, like I don't care about the reasons I listed above when I'm playing EDF with a friend - then the fun of playing together is the most important, because of course EDF is not some technological marvel.

So probably I'm not going to play some old single-player classics again. Life is too short to play old shit again and again + because of that novelty dopamine hit, second run will never be as fun as the first for me.

Even if something gets a remake. For example I was playing Mafia Definitive Edition some time ago. I just couldn't get through these clunky mechanics. Sorry, some things are better left alone as a beautiful nostalgic memory.
 
I simply dont understand this thinking that all new games are the only games worth playing.
Videogames are probably the only media genre that I see this.
Books, movies, music, comics - its not an issue - in fact its probably the opposite for those.

In my opinion, the vast majority of modern games are trash and keep getting worse.
Most of the best game designers retired from the industry years ago.
There are still modern games worth playing but give me the classics any day of the week.
Because obviously game industry is a little bit different than the others. You are not going to play 1972 version of Pong that much, are you?

Just like you aren't watching that much movies from 1920.

You are probably watching a lot of movies from let's say - 1970 and above? That's some huge library. And there is a reason for that, probably few reasons, but the most important one is that 1920 movies suck in terms of audio and visual quality. Again - I'm not saying that there aren't good movies from that era, but you haven't probably watched as many movies from that era in comparison to 70s, 80s or 90s decade?

In my opinion 3D gaming is still in its formative phase, so naturally I'm going to play more new games, because they offer that much technological advancement every new generation. Gaming is a little bit special in this regard, because there are so many things that could be done better, but they aren't because of technical limitations. Obviously it is much easier in terms of technology to record a song that to create some convincing AI or physics model.
 
- Castlevania SotN is still one of the best games.
- Jrpgs have aged really well.
- Doom I and II

Most Japanese 3D stuff from PS2 haven't aged well.
Like for an example MGS 2-3 and ICO would definitely need updated controls.

SNES games mostly are still fantastic. The worst are mostly PS1 games.
 
Tons of them and not only for nostalgia.

Haha what??? So after you play Flight Simulator 2020 you almost only play it as almost everything is technologically inferior???
Oh wow, it must be fun to play Flight Simulator 1995 nowadays.

I'm talking about technological evolution with the same title.
Can I have fun with a Command & Conquer Red Alert? Sure, but in my eyes it looks old compared to a recently released title and I prefer the latter because it is technologically superior,.
There are tons of examples.
I'm not talking about technologically superior in absolute terms... is it clearer now?
 
So you place technology above fun?
My entertainment often follows the technological evolution, I enjoy more with some modern titles for various reasons.
I am 40 years old, not 12, so I enjoyed in their time all video games, some of which remained in the 80s, we were fine for those years, looking at them with my eyes today they look old.
So they made me enjoy that time / moment and I leave them in the past.
But to say that I put technology first and then the fun I would say no.
I often play triple-A titles that can't hold a candle to indie titles.
Progress is not just in graphics.
It is often in the ideas.
 

Alan Wake

Member
Depends what Mega Drive games you're having a hard time with? I could make a quick list of the absolute best games on that machine if you need a good starting point, and this is coming from the perspective of a person who has first dipped into its library in 2015.
I still play the Sonic games but I hard a hard time with the controls in Lion King, for instance, as well as Landstalker. But I'm all for tips!
 

cireza

Banned
Of course. There are a ton of old games that are still fantastic and great fun. They are often more fun than recent games, as they are not bloated with useless features.
 

Digfox

Member
In answer of the OP's question; Yes!

My late-2020 MiSTer purchase has been one of my best hardware buys ever. I've been playing Lords of Thunder for the first time on PCE/TG16 CD, even though I've owned it on multiple formats. I've also recently been playing some Commodore 64 games for the first time. Although I admit I am often guilty of returning to the same old games I've always loved.

I think some games age better than others, and also my own opinion can vary depending on how long I leave a game after it's release. Although newer examples; I've only recently started Deux Ex: HR on Xbox 360 and although very early in it just isn't clicking yet. Also I remember buying Perfect Dark very late after loving Goldeneye but bouncing off PD quite hard. My gut feeling is certain aspects of those games would have been received differently if played these two nearer release.
 
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kurisu_1974

is on perm warning for being a low level troll
Just like I watch 50s movies or listen to 70s music, I play 80s or 90s games. There's a lot of stuff still on my backlog from the 8-bit and 16-bit days, and I have a pile of PS1/2/3 games that I never got around to. i don't see why these suddenly can't be "fun" anymore.
 
Good for nostalgia but not fun to play. Playing Mario 64 today is a test of patience with that camera. Some games do hold up well though. Ocarina of time is still amazing to play.
 
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rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Oh wow, it must be fun to play Flight Simulator 1995 nowadays.

I'm talking about technological evolution with the same title.
Can I have fun with a Command & Conquer Red Alert? Sure, but in my eyes it looks old compared to a recently released title and I prefer the latter because it is technologically superior,.
There are tons of examples.
I'm not talking about technologically superior in absolute terms... is it clearer now?
Better, but what about titles that are not the same? Like Doom 3 vs Doom 2016 vs Doom Eternal? Only the later is fun???
 

assurdum

Banned
Classic Tomb Raider and Resident Evil are unplayable to me now. I tried to play RE1R on PS4 but I really can't stand anymore such controls and gameplay mechanics. Let's no talk of TR, played on my smartphone via BC with joycon and my God, my fingers can't tolerate anymore the insensitiveness of the crosspad for the 3d games. Honestly I don't know how I can even play such series at the time. I'd like to have fun with them but I can't anymore. It's really sad. Its shocking to me how old Nintendo games are still perfectly playable and enjoyable even for the today standard. Miyamoto is a damn fucking wizard.
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Progress is not just in graphics.
It is often in the ideas.
That would be awesome, but in my opinion it's not the case. I find older games much more creative and risky than modern titles, which seem to play it much safer and often look to sell a lot of units rather than taking risks and being original.

I'm 30 y/o so I still have a lot of older games on my backlog. Maybe that's a reason too.
 
Many of the older 2d ones that were designed to be hard, where you die often and get put back to the start.... No.

Early PS1 games.... No.some noticeable exceptions to both... But overall no.

Anything after I'd say so.
 
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lordrand11

Member
Yeah, personally I've been finding myself playing through some of the older last 2 gens of games among a few for the other retro consoles. Most notably my friend and I have been recording a stream of Conker Live and Reloaded since we never fully played through this version.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Yes.

Medieval 2: Total War was released in 2006 and I still play it to this day.

Rumor has it the next historical Total War is a reboot of Medieval (at least Medieval era anyway), so until that game is released, I'll continue playing Med2.
 

Vangellis

Member
Yes, absolutely but for me it more 2D (8bit-16bit games). Games Ive play recent and were still awesome

Super Metroid
Streets of Rage 2
Ghouls n Ghosts
Radiant Silvergun
Contra 3 and Hard corps
Devil's Crush
Phantasy Star
Mega Man 2
Rondo of Blood
Zillion
Shinning Force 2
Gunstar Heroes
R-Type
Super Mario World
Forgotten Worlds
Tetris and Tetris attack :p
Street Fighter Alpha and up
Also tons of arcade game from the mid 80's and 90's..
Out Run
Golden Axe
Arkanoid
Cave Shumps


Hard plays are from the ps1 era to even ps3. 2D is more timeless and less dependent on hardware. There is jank in a lot of earlier games, but jank 3D is harder to deal with for me. Some of the games I listed have a nostalgia factor. Although many of them I had never played till recently. First time I played Super Metroid was a few years ago and its fucking awesome. Same with Rondo of blood.. game is badass.
 

kyussman

Member
I want to say yes,but honestly I think I'd be lying,lol......I'm sure there are quite a few that would hold up for me,but even then I'd be talking about stuff from PS3 gen......before that,there is nothing I would want to spend my time with.

.......and contrary to what the angry guy a few posts up said......I'm not retarded(I think).
 

MikeM

Member
Some to me are.

Some old games’ gameplay holds up well to today’s standards too. Diablo 2 remastered is an example of a game with a new coat of paint but basically the same overall gameplay.

I’m personally going through FFX remaster on Series X with AutoHDR and it looks fantastic and plays well (its turn based but still great).
 

Vangellis

Member
Some to me are.

Some old games’ gameplay holds up well to today’s standards too. Diablo 2 remastered is an example of a game with a new coat of paint but basically the same overall gameplay.

I’m personally going through FFX remaster on Series X with AutoHDR and it looks fantastic and plays well (its turn based but still great).
Yes. In regards to remasters this game is amazing and holds up. I told few work colleagues about 15 years younger than me to play it since they like diablo 3. Every single one of them enjoyed Diablo 2 more, and thought it was a better game overall.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Lot's of people here saying the PSX/N64 era has aged badly, but I disagree. I think a lot of those games have their own unique style thanks to their limitations, and a lot of charm alongside that.

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Some of the games from this gen ran like ass yeah, specially on the N64, but I still think there's a LOT to enjoy from there today.
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
If you could see just how many poxy Retro handhelds i've bought over years (even buying an RG351mp the other day), and saw the overwhelming cupboards of retro shite i've stockpiled since 84 you'd probably know my answer

The real question is, do I really need an aya neo. This is the question thats been bugging me lately..

..Somebody stop me for fucks sake :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
Better, but what about titles that are not the same? Like Doom 3 vs Doom 2016 vs Doom Eternal? Only the later is fun???
Pure nostalgia, although I did not appreciate the last Doom I would not replay the one on floppy that I still jealously keep, that one has had its day...
I enjoyed it, now I go on.
it is no longer fun in my eyes and it will not be anymore, not because there is something new, simply because it belongs to another time, when I had a different age and different expectations.
 

Shut0wen

Member
Depends on the game, mario 64 for me will always be playable for me, same with banjo but jet force gemni is incredibly dated, most snes and nes games are playable but a large amount of ps1s and n64 games arnt
 
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