Replaying old videogames

[Che]

Ever replay an old videogame you had hyped up in your mind, only to get bored of it extremely fast? I hear people talk about old games like "oh man, I wish I still had ____". Or, "man, _____ was the best game ever! It's still the best, yo!"

Yeah, there's always that nostalgic feeling you may get if you forgot about it, but how long does that last?

[smurphy]

I recently replayed Medal of Honor: Frontline for the first time in seven years( i thought it was the sh*t upon release) and considering how fondly i remember it it wasnt as good as in my head(bloody health packs, glad theyre extinct). Still a good experience the Omaha beach level wasnt as explosive as i remembered.

[GypsyElder]

I'm constantly playing old games, usually it's because it's a game I think back on and realize what a great game it was, and didn't notice at the time I played because I was younger and didn't know what I was doing to begin with, let alone know the difference between a good or bad game. And the second reason is that I just never got a chance to play the game at all.

I always play older games, in fact I've only played a few newer games recently, that are for PS3 and that's about it. For the most part my gaming life consist of PS1 and 2 games and maybe a few older Nintendo games. I've played games on newer systems but overall mostly old Playstation.

For the most part I crave older games more than new, because I guess I feel like The older games will go alway before I can play them lol rather than the newer ones that will be around still in a few years.

[Dodie16]

I had that happen to me recently with a couple of games I tried to replay. They're still really good games, but I suppose I just played them too much when I first got them many years ago. Trying to play them today, it feels like I already know/done everything and it just seems like a chore to play a few of those games now.

Replaying old games can still be fun, but it just doesn't seem as fun sometimes. Not like when I was younger and the game was still shiny and new to me.

This thread is making me feel old.

[SuperSabin]

I've had a craving for Banjo Kazooie for the N64 at one point. So I got the game and played it via emulator and I quickly got bored of it haha. I used to like it as a kid but now my preferences changed in games. Megaman 64 I loved as a kid, if I were to go back to it now, I would still love every part of the game despite how short it was.

[The Dark Crystal]

I recently started to play Final Fantasy Tatics, and Final Fantasy IV again. I haven't played in the last couple of days becasue it just dosen't feel the same as it did back in the day.

[Furore]

I love playing most old games and find I spend more time with them then I do with newer games. That said either newer games are so easy I've lost skill or newer controllers aren't as tight, but Contra on newer consoles is really kicking my ass, and I mean worse then when I first played it as a kid.

The two most played games on my PSP? Sega Megadrive collection and EA Replay.

[loaf]

Sometimes. I wanted to replay Jet Force Gemini for the N64, I bought it and played half way through and didn't play again. Zelda Ocarina of Time I did the same thing, I play it will since I'm doing the uber challenge.

But as of right now. I am still playing old games. FFIX, FFX, FFV, FFVI, FFII, FFT. Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross and Vagrant Story.

[kupo]

i love picking up games off the shelf that have a nice layer of dust on them. i recently found my old grey brick of a gameboy and some AA batteries. im reliving my childhood when i use to play 'the legend of zelda: links awakening' and 'super mario land 2' for hours on end. they're just as fun now as they were then...just now they're a little easier

[Howling Wind]

The first Quake for Nintendo 64. Me and my friend used to play that on multiplayer all the time. I traded it for Doom 64 and then realized it didn't have multiplayer. A Doom game without multiplayer? Pullllease!

[DragonHeart]

Several times I've found, going back to games I played when I was much younger, that the game will seem easy and the once compelling story, simple and even trite. It makes sense, though. As games evolve and mature and become ever more complex and as gamers we adapt to the newer, bigger bolder systems and stories, we simply outgrow the old games. A few games, the very best of the best, can and will remain as good as we remember, but most will simply be too far outdated.

Not to mention as we grow older ourselves, our tastes change, shifting to other interests and (hopefully) becoming more refined. So some games will simply not be up to the new standards we have for our personal preferences.

I'd say how long the feeling lasts for any given game depends on the quality of the game and how different you are now compared to when you first played it. RPGs seem to have a fairly long shelf life though, since even an outdated combat system can be trumped by a truly good story. Games that depend more heavily on their gameplay probably won't last nearly as long.

~DragonHeart~

[Meier Link]

I don't care how many times I play it, the mine cart area in Donkey Kong Country still kicks my ass.

I agree for the most part though there are so many games I have hyped up in my head and when I sit down and play them again they aren't nearly as great as I remember them being or they are a hell of a lot easier then I remember.

I do find it fun though trying to get the hit and miss timing back down for some of the NES and Genisis sports games. That delay always kicks my rump.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I love it when I start to play a game again and it is fricken as amazing as the first time I played through. example: Crono Trigger.

[Maciariello]

I've found there are certain games that do not "age." Meaning, due to graphical limitations, sound limitations, or other hardware based limitations, they don't render themselves unplayable by today's standards and, in fact, still hold most of their original value today.

Perfect example was mentioned above: Chrono Trigger. It's not about how it looks or sounds. The true beauty of it resides at the core of the gameplay with an over-arching story that transcends hardware barriers and future generations of consoles. Sure, taking pleasure in the simplicity of the graphics or music may be a wholly enjoyable aspect of it for many, but the real value of the game takes refuge within the game mechanics and not so much the mechanics of the SNES.

That said, I've observed many good RPGs to emulate the same model as Chrono Trigger has. We're all obviously interested in Final Fantasy, and I for one find it impossible to find less value in older FF games purely based on the hardware they were developed for on previous consoles. They may not be cutting edge from a graphical perspective, but they have what matters and that's what it's all about.

On the flipside, however, there are games that really show their wrinkles with the advent of next-gen consoles. I decided to pop Megaman Legends 2 into my PS3 recently and found the 3rd person control scheme in it to be difficult to use. So many games since ML2 have perfected the 3rd person control scheme and I've gotten used to it. ML2 was really dated in that respect which made me kind of sad because it was always such a joy to play at a younger age.

As a general statement, games that relied heavily on presentation on a graphical level may not be as memorable as they once were due to how far we've come since their creation. If gameplay was second to how the game played out visually, it's age is pretty noticeable. There was a statement above about Medal of Honor: Frontline and how a specific scene on Omaha Beach didn't have the same impact as they remembered it; a scene that relies on the hardware to output something incredible like this has to be able to present it in a memorable way. With newer generations of games with better hardware capable of bigger and better graphics, it's no wonder games like this can harbor that "aged" look. Not to say it's a bad game now, but it just doesn't have the same impact it did years prior.

All in all, it's about what you like and what you still find joy in. If you're not bothered by older generations of console limitations, then find solace in the games that got you to where you are today.

[Taigon]

haha im always playing old video games, ones from when i was little and to much of an idiot to get through them, or i was scared X3 recently played windwaker again after watching an LP of it and really wanted to play it again X3 now i wanna play twighlight princess, there was also phantasy star portable, got over that quickly, but monster hunter is the only game i might not play for ages then want to play again or for a little and never but it back down :3

[Megatron0000]

I find myself constantly going back to old games. Mostly its games i think have terrible sequels or are in the process of being ruined to remind myself that it could still be a great series if someone who is a fan would help make it. Know what i mean? Like Castlevania, Chrono Trigger (calming myself from haterd rage due to Chrono Cross) Final Fantasy and so on.

[SuperSabin]

These days, I found myself getting back into FFVI, Terranigma, and an obscure but fun game called Smart Ball. Those games are really fun to play especially the last one.

Theres something to be said for the fun of going from level to level as a blue blob climbing up the walls and ceiling.

I got into some more old games that I never played before that I found myself playing over and over with a friend. The game is General Chaos for the genesis.

[Heartless Angel]

I've definitely experienced this before. I'll have the strange urge to go fin d a specific old game, go dig it out of my pile of crap, hook up the console, play one level, and be tired of the game already.

[norman]

Sometimes replaying old video games is fun but sometimes it really gets boring and you just don't want to play it anymore. You sometimes forget how good the game was and when you play it you remember and sometimes the game is retarded and you hate it for years to come.