Video Games that didn't age well.

[Johnny Canuck]

For me it's WCW/nWo Thunder for the original Playstation. It was the first game I bought with my own money and as a kid I played that game to death.

A few years ago, I came across it, and figured I'd play the game for old times sake. Big mistake. The game combines horrible graphics and horrible controls to make for a pretty garbage game. I still have no idea what I was thinking.

[Roast Beef]

Originally Posted by getbak

Please think of the children who view this site and refrain from posting such graphic NSFW images.

Thank you.

Ah yes. The ever dreaded 3 pixel penis.


Aside from that. Hack&Lube Your comment really is quite wrong from my standpoint. Games *can* age badly. There are some classics that stand the test of time. But in the end most games are eclipsed by newer games and the older games are just that. Old and outdated.

Sports games are a prime example of games aging badly. What was groundbreaking and amazing 5 or 10 years ago is now quaint and pathetic.
There are some exceptions like NHL 94/95 but those are few and far between.

It seems that every major generational shift brings this problem. Jumping from the one screen non scrolling games of the Atari/Colecovision era to the far more advanced NES era was a major jump. The NES made the old generation of consoles look extremely out of date. The SNES and Genesis were more advanced and refined the ideas that the NES era started. Jumping from the SNES era to the Playstation/N64 era was even more dramatic. 3D gaming was now the next big thing. It was untested waters and at the time it made the 2D graphics of previous consoles seem quaint by comparison. The PS1/N64 era could be seen as the Atari 2600 version of 3D gaming. Finding new ground and trying new ideas. Great at the time but very primitive now. The PS2/PS3 era has taken those core ideas and refined them.

It's interesting to think about. The old school primitive games on the Atari 2600 came out in 1977. The "modern" style of sidescroller game (Super Mario Bros) came out in 1985 on the NES. It was eclipsed by 3D consoles just 10 years later when the Saturn and PS1 came out in 1995. 15 years later we are still building on the foundation that the PS1/Saturn/N64 built.

8 years between Atari and NES (6 years if you count the Famicom releasing in 1983) 10 or 12 years between 2D and 3D gaming.

15 years of 3D gaming and they still can't program a decent camera.

[Esoteric]

I think most video games don't age well. The rare ones are the ones that still hold up today.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

I think most video games don't age well. The rare ones are the ones that still hold up today.

You know looking at my thread title now, I wasn't really clear with what I meant.

I meant hit games that didn't age well. Games that, at the time, were considered great or even revolutionary since most games of that stature tend to still have amazing replay value, but some of them are just terrible by today's standards and are nigh unplayable.

[FanIn80]

The whole Dragon Warrior series definitely stands the test of time (for me, at least). I still replay at least one of them once every few years in one form or another.

[gottabekd]

The original Command & Conquer is freeware now. A while back I downloaded it, and was very surprised at how poor quality the graphics were. I'm not usually big on graphics, but these were just incredibly lacking compared to what I was more familiar with, Red Alert 2.

Oh, and the Goldeneye comment, disagree completely. Absolute classic, and still has enough similarities to modern FPSers that it can't be considered outdated.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

Whoa what!!

http://screwattack.com/videos/AVGN-Atari-Porn

Pretty funny review. I never even knew they had those types of games. But then again, growing up with the NES, Atari was before my time.

[kirant]

EDIT - Oh hush all of you. I missed the "n't" in the title.

[Yanda]

"Scott has died from Chlorea" noooo Brotherrrrrrrrrrr

[theonlywhiteout]

dragon warrior is maybe the 2nd best rpg pre 16 bit. it was amazing. only ff was better

[Yanda]

Castle of the Winds

[The Yen Man]

I think Virtua Fighter is almost unplayable to me now. The controls are so sticky and unresponsive.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by FlamingInfinity

Superman 64?

That game was crap from the beginning.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by gottabekd

The original Command & Conquer is freeware now. A while back I downloaded it, and was very surprised at how poor quality the graphics were. I'm not usually big on graphics, but these were just incredibly lacking compared to what I was more familiar with, Red Alert 2.

Oh, and the Goldeneye comment, disagree completely. Absolute classic, and still has enough similarities to modern FPSers that it can't be considered outdated.

I have to agree with the original post re: Goldeneye.

There are many games that have better graphics, better mechanics and better performance while delivering the same awesome multiplayer experience as goldeneye used to.

GE was just the first of its kind.

[boogerz]

It'd be harder to find games that did age well. Dragon Warrior and FF would fall into that category.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Regorium

GE was just the first of its kind.

I really am wondering how the remake will turn out.

I think some games really suffer due to their own sequels. Warcraft and Warcraft II were two of the best RTSes available, but you go back and play them now and the limit group cap of 4 and 8 seems almost impossible to work around. WCII still has major replayability, but I tried 1 recently and wanted to choke myself. However, they both fall flat on their face when compared to III or Starcraft. Even Starcraft is suddenly feeling incredibly dated by SCII. Could you go back and play it? Yeah, but the poor AI and resolution issues won't make it anywhere near as fun. I wonder how long before I try SCI again and wonder how I ever played it.

I think one series that is feeling the reverse of this is Final Fantasy. I know a few people now who won't play the new games anymore simply because of how repetitive the story has become. I had a friend say that after 9, he just didn't have any urge to play the games through anymore since he had played the plot through 6 times at this point (1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9), and that the games were becoming too cinematic (he mostly cites 8 for that).

Something to be said for keeping the formula too simple I guess? I wonder how long before I start to hear this about Mario, Zelda, or Metroid.

Originally Posted by boogerz

It'd be harder to find games that did age well. Dragon Warrior and FF would fall into that category.

Super Mario, Zelda, Metroid all come to mind. C&C: Red Alert, Warcraft II and Starcraft (to this point), The original Sonic games, Mario Kart. There are quite a few, but you're right. There are probably less.

[Rathji]

I constantly play Zelda, Zelda 2, FF and Dragon Warrior on my Wii. Amazing games.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Yanda

Castle of the Winds

I used to play that at work on my 386 all the time!


... I mean... you know... at lunch...

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

I think some games really suffer due to their own sequels. Warcraft and Warcraft II were two of the best RTSes available, but you go back and play them now and the limit group cap of 4 and 8 seems almost impossible to work around. WCII still has major replayability, but I tried 1 recently and wanted to choke myself. However, they both fall flat on their face when compared to III or Starcraft.

Meh. WCII was the best of the bunch you posted about for pure LAN play goodness, in my opinion.

Did you ever play the Dune RTS? That’s one that I think comes across as awesome at the time, but significantly suffers when you go back and look at the actual gameplay, which certainly was not as polished or as well done as any of the Warcraft series.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I used to play that at work on my 386 all the time!


... I mean... you know... at lunch...

That looks like games I used to make in HyperCard when I was 12.