Which games are better as memories?

daroga

daroga

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Just got to thinking the other day, which games are better left unreplayed and left to remember how much fun you had with them.

I ruined the Sonic Adventure games for myself by replaying them last year. I remembered them being flawed but fun. Turns out they're just flawed.

So, yeah. Any games you're afraid to replay lest you "ruin" it in your mind? Any games that you were shocked how rough they were with age or away from their initial hype?
 
Tetris and the original Mario Bros.

Yeah, they were classics back in the day, but they were so primitive that they're just not worth spending much time on now...

Maybe Tetris was never good.
 
bioshock for me. its not the same when you know what's gonna happen next when replaying it. also, the fact that it's so damn linear ticked me off so much that i stopped halfway on my second playthrough and just sold it =\
 
[quote name='Chacrana']Tetris and the original Mario Bros.

Yeah, they were classics back in the day, but they were so primitive that they're just not worth spending much time on now...

Maybe Tetris was never good.[/quote]

I hope you mean Mario Bros. and not Super Mario Bros. I just played Super Mario Bros. and it's amazing how much fun it still is to me.

As for Tetris, wtf, Tetris will always be amazing!

You named games I would think would be better suited for a thread titled "games that still rock".

Any way mine are:

Donkey Kong - just plain primitive. I will admit I have fun with it because it can be somewhat fun when you don't compare it to games today, and of course nostalgia helps.

Kung Fu (NES) - It makes Kingdom Hearts look like a masterpiece.

Also Sonic Adventure is still a lot of fun to me. :)
 
I'll just be the first to throw FF7 out there. Every time I've replayed it it's been tougher and tougher to look at. Music's still great, but the graphics just make me cringe.

Most N64 games fall into this category as well. The blocky 3D just hasn't aged well.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']Tetris and the original Mario Bros.

Yeah, they were classics back in the day, but they were so primitive that they're just not worth spending much time on now...

Maybe Tetris was never good.[/QUOTE]

I still find Tetris fun... but not Mario Bros. I think the fact that they included it in every single one of those Mario Advance GBA games that I just got sick of it.

As for memories, I'd have to say most RPGs I played. I'm playing though one now and after 20 hours in, I'm only half done with it. I just cannot believe I used to so much free time as to play 6-8 RPGs a year at one time and now I can hardly beat 2 per year.

So now when I pick up any old RPG to replay (recently tried replaying Xenogears), I get through the first few hours and then stop realizing that I just don't have the time. I still wish to replay some of them though, maybe one day...
 
[quote name='TahoeMax']I'll just be the first to throw FF7 out there. Every time I've replayed it it's been tougher and tougher to look at. Music's still great, but the graphics just make me cringe.

Most N64 games fall into this category as well. The blocky 3D just hasn't aged well.[/quote]



He wins the thread. I came here to post the exact same things.
 
Any 3D game from the N64/PS1/Saturn era. They are just painful to look at.

I cant believe how many PS1 games took place in a pea soup fog that masked the 10 foot draw distance.

Tomb Raider 1 and 2 on the PS1. I remember these games being wonderfully awesome. I tried to play TRII a year or two ago and I couldnt last 10 minutes. It wasnt even the graphics, it was the controls, wtf were they thinking?
 
I don't get how some people can be bothered by graphics so much... obviously, graphics get worse with years. I mean, when I go play Super Mario 64, I don't expect Unreal Engine 3 graphics. Regardless of how graphically spoiled I am, when I decide to play Super Mario 64 again, I expect it to look like *gasp* Super Mario 64.;)
 
[quote name='Vinny']I don't get how some people can be bothered by graphics so much... obviously, graphics get worse with years. I mean, when I go play Super Mario 64, I don't expect Unreal Engine 3 graphics. Regardless of how graphically spoiled I am, when I decide to play Super Mario 64 again, I expect it to look like *gasp* Super Mario 64.;)[/quote]But Mario 64 is an exception. It's style ages well because it doesn't do too much. It's when they started loading those old 3D games with too much crap (like OoT) that the draw-distance and framerate become atrocious. You put up with it back in the day cause it was the coolest thing, but it just doesn't hold up.

I can only think of 3 N64 games that stand the test of time. Mario 64, Star Fox 64, and possibly Mario Kart 64, although those pixelated-sprite racers are painful.
 
Hate to say it as many might disagree, but Kingdom Hearts. Maybe i outplayed it (put over 50 hours into this game), but replaying now compared to RPG's i've played more recently (FFX comes to mind) makes me want to make it a memory.
 
Nearly every Rare game. I can't help but feel majority of their games are just fetch quests upon more fetch quest to add more to the game

Also EVERY N64 FPS game. Goddamn, how I survived in a time of no two analogs in a console FPS i'll never understand.
 
Goldeneye. It was so much fun when it came out, but going back and playing it I notice all the problems of playing without a second analog stick and not to mention, the horrible framerate.
 
PS1/Saturn/N64 has the most serious offenders, a lot of NES games beat them out in responsiveness and control.

SNES/Genesis and PS2/Xbox/GC generations are the most playable to me right now.

Metal Gear Solid was painful to try and replay, so I popped in Twin Snakes and all was well.

If you think Chrono Trigger hasn't aged well, I'd have to say you are not looking at the right measures.
 
[quote name='the_punisher']Hate to say it as many might disagree, but Kingdom Hearts. Maybe i outplayed it (put over 50 hours into this game), but replaying now compared to RPG's i've played more recently (FFX comes to mind) makes me want to make it a memory.[/QUOTE]

I actually agree with this. However, it's because of Kingdom Hearts 2.

Mine would be Suikoden III. It was my first Suikoden and I loved it back then. Fired it up for fun and I just can't play it anymore. I still love the story though.
 
Kane and Lynch. When you play it, you can totally tell it was made in different time, when expectations were much lower.

Wait....
 
[quote name='suko_32']I actually agree with this. However, it's because of Kingdom Hearts 2.

Mine would be Suikoden III. It was my first Suikoden and I loved it back then. Fired it up for fun and I just can't play it anymore. I still love the story though.[/quote]

Good point on KH2>KH in gameplay. Just not in my heart. :)
 
I would have to say every Atari 2600, intellivision, and C64 game that I played back in the day. I loved those games when I was growing up, but honestly games like B-17 Bomber with the "intellivoice" just wouldn't be the same.
 
[quote name='rodeojones903']FF7, bring on the remake.[/quote]

Why do people keep asking for this? It's a pointless, stupid idea.
 
[quote name='Loonknight']I would have to say every Atari 2600, intellivision, and C64 game that I played back in the day. I loved those games when I was growing up, but honestly games like B-17 Bomber with the "intellivoice" just wouldn't be the same.[/quote]

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SEEEEEEEVEEEENTTEEEEEEEEEN BOMMMMMBA.

*heart* AVGN.
 
[quote name='Nephlabobo']Why do people keep asking for this? It's a pointless, stupid idea.[/QUOTE]

Man, you don't even like Chrono Trigger. Whateva.
 
Shenmue
Super Tecmo Bowl
Excite Bike (god this game is horrible now)
Earthworm Jim
Vectorman
Seaman
Assassin's Creed (afraid to touch again due to horrible repetition)
Shinobi
Donkey Kong Country
 
[quote name='Malik112099']Shenmue
Super Tecmo Bowl
Excite Bike (god this game is horrible now)
Earthworm Jim
Vectorman
Seaman
Assassin's Creed (afraid to touch again due to horrible repetition)
Shinobi
Donkey Kong Country[/quote]
Agreed on Donkey Kong Country, outside of graphics that's all that game really was or had at the time.
 
Almost everything from the PS1/N64 era hasn't held up very well. I dont know what separates SNES/Genesis from feeling the same way but it's really hard to go play a PS1 game now.

Like Resident Evil just controls awful, looks awful, and feels awful.
 
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, it made Saint's Row seem like a godsend for sandboxes.
In general, the GTA games are just fucking hideous.
 
[quote name='bardockkun']Agreed on Donkey Kong Country, outside of graphics that's all that game really was or had at the time.[/quote]

I had DKC2 for the GBA and thought it had aged pretty well. Still a nice looking game, and some of the later levels hard very challenging without being cheap.

I recently played through FF7 in anticipation for Crisis Core, and yeah... the graphics that used to blow me away are now quite hideous in places. Doesn't make it less enjoyable, though.

I'll throw in the original Metroid as a game that's a better memory. Metroid is probably my favorite game series, or at least one of them, but the original's levels just go on forever, the powerup system is awful, and it has a tendency to make you restart in places with very little health. Last time I played it I got trapped in Kraid's Lair, unable to go any further because my health was so low.

That, and after playing Zero Mission, it's hard to go back.
 
Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.

And I hate to say it...but Mario 64. Maybe it's because I'm using the classic controller, or maybe it's because Galaxy controls so well, but I just can't get Mario to go where I want him to.
 
Like others have said, most of the PS1/N64 generation. Final Fantasy Tactics and Symphony of the Night are the big exceptions. I do play Metal Gear Solid from time to time on my PSP out of a sense of nostalgia but it is showing its age quite a bit.

I have to say a lot of original NES games don't hold up especially Zelda 1 & 2, ExciteBike, Super Mario Bros 1 & 2, and a few others. It's not the graphics at all but rather the controls and menus were a bit primitive and only became polished later on. Almost everything from the second half of the NES's lifecycle is still awesome to this day.

I play LttP and Super Mario World quite frequently though. I have to say that just about everything from the SNES generation has held up quite well although I have a hard time with FFIV and Secret of Evermore which were two games I loved back in the day. Personally I find them clunky.
 
Mario Bros

That is a big one right there. Another game, which I realize now was never that great "Conflict Desert Storm" I played it with my cousin when it first came out and I loved, unfortunately we had to return the rental, now like fast forward 5 years and I played it again with my Cousin because we found it for like $2. It wasn't nearly as fun as I remember.
 
DKC2 is a fur superior game in terms of gameplay and level design compared to the first one.

I'm kinda scared to play Shadow of the Colossus again. It was awesome when I first played it, but I realized that I was enjoying it despite its severe technical problems. When it's not a new experience, I wonder if it'll actually hold up.
 
[quote name='daroga']DKC2 is a fur superior game in terms of gameplay and level design compared to the first one.[/QUOTE]

I see whut u did thar!

Or maybe that wasn't intentional.

But yeah, DKC 2 is sooo much better than the first game overall. The SNES DKCs are all pretty great, even today.
 
It seems like most examples of "not holding up" boil down to people being graphics snobs. I don't know, it hurts some games, sure, but there are very few if any I can think of that it makes completely unplayable. Not as nice as the memory? Maybe, but not nearly to the degree that some are claiming. In fact, I'm not sure there's a single game yet anyone has listed that I agree with. I even still play some old Commodore titles now and then. While I find them "primitive" in many ways, most are still very enjoyable to anyone who played them when originally released. It's the equivalent of people complaining that old movies are unwatchable because of the SFX.
 
It depends on what you mean by "graphics." It terms of pure fidelity, textures, etc. Nah. But framerate can really hamper the control aspect of the game. That and draw-distance can really make a game painful to play.
 
[quote name='daroga']DKC2 is a fur superior game in terms of gameplay and level design compared to the first one.[/quote]


Agreed, but I still love the 1st one, too.
 
[quote name='daroga']It depends on what you mean by "graphics." It terms of pure fidelity, textures, etc. Nah. But framerate can really hamper the control aspect of the game. That and draw-distance can really make a game painful to play.[/QUOTE]

Painful? I'd believe less enjoyable, but painful? I could even believe that someone who didn't play them on original release trying to go back and play them now would be completely underwhelmed. For example, I could see my 8-year-old nephew not enjoying SMB2 as much now as I did 20 years or so ago. But for me? It still plays the same and is still enjoyable. Do I expect a little more from modern titles? Probably. As someone pointed out, sports titles are far more sophisticated today.

But titles like GoldenEye, Mario 64, WaveRace 64, etc. still hold up to me. Simon's Quest? Metroid? Sure. They don't look quite as hot as their sequels, and certainly their sequels have advanced their formulas, but unplayable? That's a huge stretch for me. About the only games I find unplayable today are the same ones I found unplayable at the time of their release.

Someone complained about Tomb Raider's controls, but the controls were always a pain, even back in 1997 or whenever it was released. They haven't aged poorly, they simply always were poor. It was notable at the time how much better Mario 64 handled 3D controls over TR. Did anyone really expect to go back and play it and it suddenly control like Legend? (which, I guess it does if you play Anniversary instead).
 
I love all these games, but I'd never go back and play them unless someone paid me, oddly most of them are RPGs:

Wild Arms
Suikoden III
Persona
Killer Instinct
 
[quote name='daroga']
I'm kinda scared to play Shadow of the Colossus again. It was awesome when I first played it, but I realized that I was enjoying it despite its severe technical problems. When it's not a new experience, I wonder if it'll actually hold up.[/QUOTE]

It holds up for me, but it's also my favorite game ever, so I couldn't say the same for everyone.
 
[quote name='daroga']DKC2 is a fur superior game in terms of gameplay and level design compared to the first one.

I'm kinda scared to play Shadow of the Colossus again. It was awesome when I first played it, but I realized that I was enjoying it despite its severe technical problems. When it's not a new experience, I wonder if it'll actually hold up.[/quote]

Unless you're a graphics whore, SotC will still look amazing to you. I gotta say even with every current gen game I've played from Uncharted to Oblivion, SotC's last gen graphics still wow me the most. Such a great art direction.

People say the framerate is really bad. I can see that, but if that ruins the whole game for you you're way way WAY too nitpicky for your own good.
 
[quote name='elwood731']Painful? I'd believe less enjoyable, but painful? I could even believe that someone who didn't play them on original release trying to go back and play them now would be completely underwhelmed. For example, I could see my 8-year-old nephew not enjoying SMB2 as much now as I did 20 years or so ago. But for me? It still plays the same and is still enjoyable. Do I expect a little more from modern titles? Probably. As someone pointed out, sports titles are far more sophisticated today.

But titles like GoldenEye, Mario 64, WaveRace 64, etc. still hold up to me. Simon's Quest? Metroid? Sure. They don't look quite as hot as their sequels, and certainly their sequels have advanced their formulas, but unplayable? That's a huge stretch for me. About the only games I find unplayable today are the same ones I found unplayable at the time of their release.

Someone complained about Tomb Raider's controls, but the controls were always a pain, even back in 1997 or whenever it was released. They haven't aged poorly, they simply always were poor. It was notable at the time how much better Mario 64 handled 3D controls over TR. Did anyone really expect to go back and play it and it suddenly control like Legend? (which, I guess it does if you play Anniversary instead).[/QUOTE]

Finally, some else who understands that games will look worse with age. Graphics become arbitrary with age, as I said before, but once a game is fun- it's always fun.
 
[quote name='Vinny']Finally, some else who understands that games will look worse with age. Graphics become arbitrary with age, as I said before, but once a game is fun- it's always fun.[/quote]

If that were true, NES games would become unplayable...

A vast majority of them are more playable than PS1/N64 games.

the "32-bit" generation was largely experimental, companies were going nuts trying to figure out how to make their games work in 3d...

It was a crucial generation, but you had to be there.

The easiest way for one of the ps1/saturn/n64 games to be a survivor was to use 2d pre-rendered backgrounds with 3d characters. Chrono Cross, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy IX are quite playable now. Rayman of course is fine (2d was superb on PS1).
 
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