Old Games That Hold Up...Or Don't

[Garple]

I'm starting this thread because, having just purchased a PS3, I've bought a couple of PSone classics...and they suck. I've just started playing Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and I love the goofy, hammy opening scenes with the old school super-compressed voicework...but then I start actually playing, and it's ridiculous. Part of it has to do with the fact that it's meant to be played at a lower res on a smaller screen etc...and because of that, I can barely see/make out what the objects on the screen are supposed to be. I walked into spikes and got hurt because I didn't know they were there. But here's the kicker: The pause screen has a fucking load-time! Everytime you pause to go into your inventory or something...it has to load. Has anyone played this and do you know if it's worth trucking through the clunkiness?

Tell us about other old games you've played after their time and whether they hold up or not. I guess the goal here is to get a master list of what games are worth delving into the vault for and which ones are not worth our time. I'm not passing a yay or nay judgement on Blood Omen until I play a little more...but it's rough.

Also: Mention why they do or don't...and even if they do...talk (if you're so inclined) about some of the old quirks that have since been ironed out of the development process. For example: I was playing Future Wars recently (a crazy late 80s adventure game) and it turns out, you have to walk over to something to examine it. So far, it's a really unique and interesting game, but it's annoying that you can't just click examine and have him walk to where you clicked and do his examining. you have to walk him over there and then click examine.

[Tobli]

When i read the title my mind immediately went to most early 3D material.

Before i mention concrete examples. How old are we talking here?

[Garple]

Before i mention concrete examples. How old are we talking here?

I leave it to your interpretation. I guess PSone's generation and earlier is a good cutoff.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Great idea for a thread. I'd love to hear people's recent experiences playing old games. You hear so much about how "great" certain games are, but how much of that is nostalgia and how much is genuine awesome?

Miffy just started a similar thread, so I suppose we add his SNES Mario Kart to the "is still fun" list.

[miffy495]

Damn straight. Mario Kart is probably the best example of that for me. Aside for the SNES graphics, (and the fact that Donkey Kong Jr exists) there is absolutely nothing dated about that game.

I have a couple of PS1 Classics on PS3, and I've mostly bought ones that hold up pretty well. Metal Gear Solid is surprisingly still pretty playable, though the controls have gotten kind of clunky. Having to go into the PS3 (or PSP) menu system and change the control port that you use for the emulation is weird, and as a result if you don't know exactly what you're doing with Psycho Mantis, you're screwed.

I have a shitload of Virtual Console games on my Wii. Hell, it's its primary function as far as I'm concerned. Super NES and Sega Genesis games probably hold up the best out of all of them. Any older and you get awkward imprecise controls because no one has figured out what to do yet. Any newer and you get awkward proto-3D that helps to soil the experience. Immediate examples of awesomeness from the VC are things like Super Castlevania IV (still stunning) and Streets of Rage (if you're into that genre). And of course the classics like Link to the Past, Super Mario World, the Donkey Kong Country series, Sonic 1 2 and 3, and Super Metroid. Basically what I'm saying is, if you're interested in incredible older games, get yourself a Wii. I have a ridiculous amount of VC games, but at $5 - $10 a pop, I've never felt ripped off. All it's really missing is Yoshi's Island and Earthbound. Get those two on there and I won't need another console.

[SignorSuperdouche]

I recently played through Earthbound for the first time. I can honestly say it felt like it could have come out yesterday on the DS. It was like playing a Japanese RPG made by Tim Schafer. Superb stuff.

[Garple]

Super Mario World

For my money, this is probably the best example of what we're talking about here.

Speaking of JRPGS (their mechanics and tropes), I was playing an Xbox Live Indie game called "Japanese Characters That Groucho Can't Read" and although it was in Japanese, I found myself immediately comfortable with it, because it was a Zelda clone. What was funny was that it even had the scene from the beginning of every JRPG where your mother wakes you up and makes you get out of bed.

I know Zelda is not technically a JRPG, but you get my point.

[Sinkwater]

Good thread. There are plenty of my favorite childhood games that hold up, especially the RPGS on the SNES. Earthbound has been mentioned, as well as Super Mario RPG, FF 3/6, Chrono Trigger, Lufia II, etc.

However, I know there are a few that I loved that I went back to that didn't hold up as well. Startropics was one of my favorite games as a kid, but that didn't hold up too well.

[Murdoc]

But here's the kicker: The pause screen has a fucking load-time! Everytime you pause to go into your inventory or something...it has to load. Has anyone played this and do you know if it's worth trucking through the clunkiness?

I was a super fan of legacy of kain back when it came out for whatever reason there was. I haven't played it for a long time, so hard to say if its worth trucking through, but I played it start to finish twice because it was a lot of fun.

The story is hammy, but as a teenager used to crappy voice acting and most of the crap stories outside of adventure games, so it was cool to see someone take a more mature tone to a game that was about manipulation and choices between bad and, well bad, which I didn't get see much back then. The world itself was typical, but kind of deranged in the same sense Diablo 1 was(can't remember if it was before or after Diablo) but just so few fantasy games really pull of the classic ye'ol england fantasy but with a great dark mood and some weird interesting stuff in it. The designs of course were fairly terrible 1995 pc fantasy game though.

The gameplay I thought was cool as you just get more fun/neat powers as you go along, spells, shapeshifting, etc... the sucking blood never gets old and still no one has used this for vampires since then(it was fun!)

So if you can get over graphics, maybe worht playing until you get bored, again, hard for me to say as it would be a nostalgia trip at this point.

____________

To add; yeah pretty much all the snes/nes classics still hold up, wolfenstien, lucasarts library... it gets more sketch when things go to 3d, and not just becuase of the graphics but gameplay as well for some reason.

I got FF tactics on the pstore because I remember playing it and loving it, but never beat it in the time I rented it in. The graphics are pretty solid and the game is alright, but god damn, am I horrible. It took me like 2 days to get through what I remember was 2 hours of gameplay because I keep losing every battle at least twice every time.

I'm sure the game has held up, just my strategic mind has not. Considering I was playing more puzzle, strategy games back then and haven't touched one in a decade now, I suppose that had an affect on things; that's kind of dissapointing.

[Ben X]

Rock Paper Shotgun's John Walker has done a few articles about this for Eurogamer. Check this list for the 'retrospective' articles.

[elmuerte]

Little Big Adventure holds up quite well. Sure, you'll notice some static in the voices due to low quality sampling. But for the rest it still plays quite well.

The Crusader No Remorse/No Regret games both didn't hold up well. I tried to play them a year or two ago, it didn't play well. The controls in the game where never very smooth, but when you play it now you really feel it.

[Garple]

the sucking blood never gets old and still no one has used this for vampires since then

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

[Zephyrcain]

What about the old phantasy star games. I got that collection of sega games for the 360 (Sonic's UGC) a while back and have been playing my through them. For the most part they hold up, especially the beat'em ups like streets of rage. The non-sonic sidescrollers are bland but sega didn't really have much beside sonic (don't say Alex Kid I hate that game.) It's the rpgs that I was focused on though especially phantasy star. I started with the series at PSonline 3 (the card one) Then played pso2 and PSuniverse and I liked them all. They were a bit grindy to me but with all the missions it wasn't so bad. The story was worth it. I'm now playing the original phantasy star 2 and all the grinding is really wearing me down. I'm the kind of player that prides himself on beating bosses at as low a level as I can. That is the difficulty modifier for rpgs where there isn't usually a difficulty setting. With PS2 I like the story but when combat is normally just saying fight and watching it play out and pressing fight again it is just boring. I just don't have that kind of patience any more.

This got kinda long winded. Sorry about that. The main point is to me any game where you gotta spend hours grinding as part of the natural progression of the game just isn't worth it. It removes the challenge.

Games that do hold up, Soul blazer, beyond oasis, earthbound and just about any square rpg or capcom side scoller. Oh and if you have a Wii I highly recommend downloading the sequel to FF4. It is a true sequel with enough new stuff that it can stand on its own kinda like megaman 9.

Now I really am shutting up. I must sound like an advert for old school games or something.

[Murdoc]

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

Sorry, what I ment was theres a lot of games with sucking blood, but what I ment was like how LoK did it, having to grapple on to people is just gay, but sucking their blood from across the screen was cool/fun.

Also, yes I remember the load screens in that being horrid even for its day. But the voice acting keeps it going, for such a cheesy world and hammy dialog, the cast really was probably the best at delivering it for that era... I followed the entire series, soul reaver 2 being the second best in the series(though sadly you need to play the others to get it) and remember it had a particularly good soundtrack and lip syncing for it's time.

In fact the guy that plays Kain plays a character in Dragon Age... thats how you knew he was evil right away, lol.

[Garple]

In fact the guy that plays Kain plays a character in Dragon Age...

It's so weird that you know that.

[Thyroid]

There's a lot of games that hold-up remarkably well. The first Metal Gear Solid is still pretty atmospheric. The first Half-Life. Earth Worm Jim - can't remember which one, but it's the one that has some level with a large blimp balloon that you have to push around to kill the big boss monster. There's other things.

The old LucasArts games, for example, I usually play with children. My little baby cousin Jana, who isn't even 3 yet, loooooves Grim Fandango, and has adapted the nickname. She doesn't get most of it, obviously, but really likes what she understand and asks all the right questions. "Why is Manny sad? Why is the cat called Glottis? A diamond? Oh, a demon. What's a demon?"

And my cousin Tareq is a really big Monkey Island fan. Since we're done with the old ones, we're now on Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures - which he loves.

Edit: snipped the pics out. I just remembered that this is the internet. Also, Super Mario Bros. holds-up remarkably well, even if it is really really hard.

Edited November 28, 2009 by Kroms

[Lu]

I came here to give Myth some love. It would've held up a lot better if the resolution was higher. Everything is so up close. Also, Molotov Dwarfs.

Heart of Darkness would holds up really well too. That game is beautiful!

Replayed The Longest Journey not too long ago, which I thought was still great. I'd like to try Grim Fandango again as well. At the time when I played it, I was really young and thought it was really difficult. I wonder if that has changed for me, now that I'm older. I had the same thing with Myst, where I suddenly just "got" the puzzles. Have been a Myst fan ever since.

I've tried to replay Outcast and Silver, but I can't get them to run. Much love for those games.

[Randall Theil]

Star Ocean: The Second Story was a PSone JRPG from the late nineties that I adored. I've probably beaten it three times. I hadn't gone back to it this decade because I'm sure that the things that a twelve year old can block out (terrible translation, repetetive gameplay) would make it unplayable.

But Squeenix gave it the War of the Lions treatment about a year ago and retranslated and voiced it, porting it to the PSP, so I picked it up. I will say the things I liked about it then (real-time combat, lots of side content, deep item creation, party customization) are still cool, but everything else sucks. The worst part is that the newly error free script just reveals what nonsense the game's story really is and the new voice acting is boring, rather than ridiculous.

On the other hand, I just played through Symphony of the Night again, and that game is still incredible.

[Patters]

The street fighter series, particularly 2 and 3. I still enjoy 3, but I'm done with 2 now.

[BigJKO]

Speaking of Street Fighter 2, did anyone see the Capcom-authorized flash port? It plays kind of choppy on my computer, but otherwise seems pretty faithful.

[JonCole]

I feel like such a bad person because graphics so heavily influence my enjoyment of games.

I've actually played a decent bit of the LucasArts adventure games after getting them from Steam a little while back, but they didn't hold my attention for an incredibly long time. Also, I recently tried to play Vagrant Story but I just couldn't do it.

What I really need is a mindblowingly amazing game that grabs me right from the start and convinces my brain to be a little more tolerant of dated graphics.

[Garple]

Also, Molotov Dwarfs.

Never heard of that, but it sounds like bliss. Also, does anyone know if it's possible to digitally purchase Grim Fandango somewhere?

[Lu]

No, no, I meant the Molotov Dwarfs in Myth. There are dwarfs in that game that throw bottled explosives.

[Garple]

No, no, I meant the Molotov Dwarfs in Myth. There are dwarfs in that game that throw bottled explosives.

Ok...well that still sounds like bliss.

[Randall Theil]

Just snagged Knights of the Old Republic from the Steam deal and loaded it up- Were the characters really this fat and blocky back then?