Games that have aged well

Fakman87

Hey lads,

I'm currently playing through Metal Gear solid for the first time in over 10 years and while many may disagree, I think it has aged quite well.

What games would you good people of boards suggest that are still easily playable after all these years?

krudler

Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Street Fighter 2. All still as good as they were at launch.

ShiverinEskimo

ionapaul

Played through Psychonauts at the end of last year for the very first time - thought it looked fine and played great, despite being released in April 2005!

Realt Dearg Sec

Mario kart, and Mario kart 64, at least as multi player games. The computer AI on the snes was awful for one player though.

Also would second Mario world and street fighter.

Oh and the original command and conquer, way better than red alert

Seamus1964

Worms - exempt the very first release ( Thats not playable at all )

Generic Dreadhead

I feel 16 bit stuff has aged better then 64 bit / early 3D stuff. I'd be loath to replay many of the N64 and PS2 classics personally.

Generic Dreadhead

Seamus1964 wrote: »

Worms - exempt the very first release ( Thats not playable at all )

You had to be there man :pac:

Retr0gamer

Kind of a stupid topic. A good game will be a good game forever and won't age. Some games can get away with good reviews and opinions at release due to have good graphics or hype, for example Goldeneye, Donkey Kong Country or GTA4, but their flaws were there at release they were just ignored and come to light later.

If you were to start listing games that have aged well you would be around forever. Games that haven't aged well is a better topic.

Seamus1964

Cormac... wrote: »

You had to be there man :pac:

I was there..I was...but now on my new LED screen...I see nothing...just small dots

pablomakaveli

ionapaul wrote: »

Played through Psychonauts at the end of last year for the very first time - thought it looked fine and played great, despite being released in April 2005!

I played it recently as well and thought the visuals were showing their age. Still the game itself is brilliant in all other respects and holds up well.

Generic Dreadhead

Seamus1964 wrote: »

I was there..I was...but now on my new LED screen...I see nothing...just small dots

You need to feel the worms, not simply see them, that would be too easy

markhogan

Abe's Oddysee (Ps1) has ages very well in my book

jimboblep

Rome total war still playing it to this day, never gets old

Generic Dreadhead

Theme Hospital
Donkey Kong Country
Zombies

krudler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Kind of a stupid topic. A good game will be a good game forever and won't age. Some games can get away with good reviews and opinions at release due to have good graphics or hype, for example Goldeneye, Donkey Kong Country or GTA4, but their flaws were there at release they were just ignored and come to light later.

If you were to start listing games that have aged well you would be around forever. Games that haven't aged well is a better topic.

I love Donkey Kong Country, it's a great platformer

Sin Eater

The Monkey Island games.

Even with their original graphic formats I think they're great looking games, and still highly enjoyable to play through.

Gummy Panda

Doom

gizmo

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Kind of a stupid topic. A good game will be a good game forever and won't age. Some games can get away with good reviews and opinions at release due to have good graphics or hype, for example Goldeneye, Donkey Kong Country or GTA4, but their flaws were there at release they were just ignored and come to light later.

If you were to start listing games that have aged well you would be around forever. Games that haven't aged well is a better topic.

I'd be interested to hear your take on how Donkey Kong Country hasn't aged well, Retr0gamer. I absolutely loved it as a kid and again when I went back to it a good few years later. I'm rather worried now.

Retr0gamer

At release it was supposedly the greatest platformer ever with amazing graphics. Today the graphics look awful and plasticky and disguise a merely decent platformer and very basic platformer underneath. It's not a bad game just merely decent. There's way better on the snes including the sequel, mario world, yoshi and do re mi adventure to name a few.

gizmo

Retr0gamer wrote: »

At release it was supposedly the greatest platformer ever with amazing graphics. Today the graphics look awful and plasticky and disguise a merely decent platformer and very basic platformer underneath. It's not a bad game just merely decent. There's way better on the snes including the sequel, mario world, yoshi and do re mi adventure to name a few.

Huh, I never knew anyone rated it higher than Mario World and Yoishi's Island. I mean I loved it and all but still. In terms of the sequels I can't really remember the second one but I do remember not being a fan of the third.

Never even heard of DoReMi Fantasy (assuming that's the game you're referring to), is the version on the Wii VC cool to get?

The_Valeyard

Some good ones mentioned above alright!

Theme hospital
Half Life
Mortal Combat
Emperor: Battle for Dune
Earth 2140
Far Cry
Monkey Island
Worms 2

porsche959

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_over_Heels_%28video_game%29

Retr0gamer

gizmo wrote: »

Huh, I never knew anyone rated it higher than Mario World and Yoishi's Island. I mean I loved it and all but still. In terms of the sequels I can't really remember the second one but I do remember not being a fan of the third.

Never even heard of DoReMi Fantasy (assuming that's the game you're referring to), is the version on the Wii VC cool to get?

There were some crazy high reviews of it, 98% and such. There's even still deluded individuals that rate it higher than Mario. There's a pretty good article here written about the game: http://www.usgamer.net/articles/reconsidering-donkey-kong-country-gamings-empty-handed-bluff

It really is very basic once you can look past the CGI graphics.

As for DoReMi it's not that well known since it never got a release outside of Japan. The VC version is great, it's an import game so runs in 60Hz with no letterboxing so a good way of experiencing it.

krudler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

At release it was supposedly the greatest platformer ever with amazing graphics. Today the graphics look awful and plasticky and disguise a merely decent platformer and very basic platformer underneath. It's not a bad game just merely decent. There's way better on the snes including the sequel, mario world, yoshi and do re mi adventure to name a few.

DKC2 is great alright, I wasn't a fan of the 3rd game though. Thought the graphics were worse than previous two as well for some reason.

mrty

Fakman87 wrote: »

Hey lads,

I'm currently playing through Metal Gear solid for the first time in over 10 years and while many may disagree, I think it has aged quite well.

What games would you good people of boards suggest that are still easily playable after all these years?

Battlefield 1942, graphics aged a small bit however it's still leaps and bounds ahead of most titles to date in game play.:D

Adamantium

FFX
Crash Team Racing
Jak series
Residen Evil 4

DanielMad

Final Fantasy VII thats an all time game for me
and one of the first GTA the above view was so good at that time and al the weird sounds.

Kirby

I think a few are missing the point of the thread. This isn't "games that I love and still play". It's games that have aged well. Meaning they could pass for modern releases or you can play them and think "this plays/handles/visually looks excellent by todays standards." For example, FF7 has aged terribly both from a graphics and gameplay standpoint.

Super Metroid and Yoshi's Island both look and play brilliantly. If you look at the new Yoshi's Island, it looks worse even though its nearly two decades further on.

richymcdermott

I am surprised by the outcry and love for the crash bandicoot series , I remember liking 2 and 3 but they were hardly amazing games. very linear and never variation in level design.

Sonderkommando

Zelda a link to the past.

Retr0gamer

I played the first Crash Bandicoot recently. It's really not that great at all. There's some really awful level design, particularly the bridge levels. Crash 3 is pretty great though.

Not G.R

Metroid Prime 1&2 still look outstanding despite being ~10 years old

Fate Amenable To Change

I think anyone nowadays could pick up these games and not complain too much about graphics/controls etc.
Lord of the rings, the two towers;
Devil May Cry;
Star Ocean, till the end of time;
FFX (IMO actually was actually the pinnacle of the turn based battle system)
The original Wind Waker;
Mario Sunshine;
Timesplitters;
Theme Hospital;
I'm going to include the Elder Scrolls even though its relatively recent as it was well ahead of its time and there are very few games even now that surpass it (if any do).

Many games have not aged well due to their ideas being copied, adapted and improved upon even though they were groundbreaking at the time.

Magill

Pretty much just a list stacked of minty games really ! I haven't played them in years but I'd imagine all the 2D Mario and Zelda games still look great (1 - World). Even Nintendo's early 3D games have aged incredibly well in comparison to others. Mario 64 and OoT are still great imo.

Retr0gamer

Lord of the rings is fairly pants. Star Ocean til the end of time had a dumb story that completely destroyed the series mythos up to that point. Time splitters is more a product of its time, there's far better FPS games now.

As for FFX I've no problems with that except Grandia and Persona 3/4 are the pinnacle of turn based combat

Pac1Man

mrty wrote: »

Battlefield 1942, graphics aged a small bit however it's still leaps and bounds ahead of most titles to date in game play.:D

Does that game still have a following online?

Fate Amenable To Change

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Lord of the rings is fairly pants. Star Ocean til the end of time had a dumb story that completely destroyed the series mythos up to that point. Time splitters is more a product of its time, there's far better FPS games now.

As for FFX I've no problems with that except Grandia and Persona 3/4 are the pinnacle of turn based combat

Most people I know who played Lord of The Rings thought it was great.

As for Star Ocean, yeah the story was off the wall but the battles were pretty good, some of the characters were pretty cool and the crafting system was unreal. GOing from baking to making lazer weapons was great fun.

Time Splitters was probably the best fun in multiplayer fps deatmatch I ever played and was just incredibly fun/zany from weapons to charcters. I think the developers who were had fun making games that left from Rare were probably the ones who made it. I'm hoping Splatoon surpasses it though.

Each to their own I guess.

Right Turn Clyde

A perfectly timed through-ball is a sight to behold, and nowhere more so than in Pro Evolution Soccer 5. I still play it regularly. The beautiful game, made beautiful. It's from the gods.

delly

For a game to age well, I think it has to have the ability to be fired up now and you could really enjoy playing it. Graphics and gameplay are an obvious boundary to this, as while you may think a game was great way back when, playing it now might not be the case. An example of this for me would be 'Medal of Honor: Allied Assault'. I have great memories of the game, it was such an atmospheric FPS, yet I fired it up a year or two ago and didn't play too long as it had been surpassed so much.

One type of game that takes a kinder view over type is the strategy genre, yet they too can still suffer. I spent many a long night playing Civilization and Railroad Tycoon, so would like to think that I could play and enjoy them again, but I could also have my memories shattered by doing so. I think it would be best to leave them as the great classics they are.

I will nominate one game however, as I have played it in the last year and enjoyed doing so, and that is SimCity 3000. It is part of a collective, so the theory behind the game existed prior to SC 3000, but I think it set a high standard in graphics and gameplay. 15 years later and a few hours on it can still be enjoyed.

J_E

Super Metroid - level design, soundtrack and graphics still fresh and iconic. If it were released as an indie game today it would be top tier, award winning.

Adamantium

richymcdermott wrote: »

I am surprised by the outcry and love for the crash bandicoot series , I remember liking 2 and 3 but they were hardly amazing games. very linear and never variation in level design.

I never liked Crash 1-3 as a kid despite trying, but CTR is probably my favourite racer of all time. That god tier boost and powerslide mechanic was and is perfection. Better than any Mario Kart, you needed to be skilled at racing in CTR. Looks shallow, but is deep as the ocean. The punchy sound effects and weapons are glorious, jumping power boots ramps and getting hangtime for what feels like forever and then slamming back down on the track for even more boost. So satisfying.

krudler

Cydoniac wrote: »

Super Metroid - level design, soundtrack and graphics still fresh and iconic. If it were released as an indie game today it would be top tier, award winning.

It's a miracle of 16bit gaming tbh. It has more atmosphere in it's opening scenes than some modern games would dream of. The music is phenomenal too.

J_E

gizmo wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear your take on how Donkey Kong Country hasn't aged well, Retr0gamer. I absolutely loved it as a kid and again when I went back to it a good few years later. I'm rather worried now.

I don't think the original has aged so well... it just feels slightly less refined musically and graphically, even though the sprite animations were phenomenal at the time. However the 2nd one is a pure masterpiece, 3rd one decent too.

Tefral

Age of Empires 2 age of kings for me! I still play it with mates with hours long LAN games!

krudler

Gunstar Heros, it's the MegaDrive's crowning glory as far as I'm concerned.

Bubble Bobble, the theme tune will be in your head for days, its still a great addictive little game to get stuck into.

Looks wise for me 3D games always age worse than 2D, a load of ps1 games look like absolute arse now but something like Super Metroid still looks like it always did. Street Fighter 2 still looks as good as it did back in 1991, Tekken 1? yeesh.

Seamus1964

krudler wrote: »

Bubble Bobble, the theme tune will be in your head for days

Damn you...I just got "Do You Like To Build A Snowman" out from my head..

Barely There

I came very late to the party with Portal 2, but am playing it at the moment and really enjoying.

Retr0gamer

Adamantium wrote: »

I never liked Crash 1-3 as a kid despite trying, but CTR is probably my favourite racer of all time. That god tier boost and powerslide mechanic was and is perfection. Better than any Mario Kart, you needed to be skilled at racing in CTR. Looks shallow, but is deep as the ocean. The punchy sound effects and weapons are glorious, jumping power boots ramps and getting hangtime for what feels like forever and then slamming back down on the track for even more boost. So satisfying.

I don't get the deal with CTR. It was seen at the time as a step behind Mario Kart on release. The physics feel really off, there doesn't feel like there's a connection with the ground and it's very floaty, there are a few too many bad tracks and the framerate is very poor for a racer meaning controller response is off. It's around the same level as MK64, which wasn't a great game, but any other Mario kart is far better. I'd still argue MK64 was way better. It was a decent kart racer for the PS1 to make up for the absence of Mario Kart but nothing more. It pretty much stole the Diddy Kong racing template as well, that there was a far better game than CTR.

Josey Wales

The games that still hold up for me include:

Street Fighter II - The game is still just as fun now as it was then. I'm not big into fighting games so I really know all the subtle nuances that goes into making them. So for me this game is just the same as any fighting game released today.

Streets of Rage 2 - An amazing game back when it was released and it is still great fun to play.

Super Mario World - My favourite game of all time and I still turn it on every now and then. I'm looking forward to introducing my son to it when he is old enough.

Gunstar Heroes - I played though this a few years back on XBLA and it holds up.

WipeOut Fusion - I know it gets a lot of hate from some WipeOut fans but I always loved this game. It doesn't look as pretty as WipeOut HD (but what game does?) but it is still fun to play.

seanbarrow

Munch's Oddessey for xbox is still a good game. Anyone ever play it?