Retrogames - Good Then, Good Now, And Both

[white-zombie]

Of all games that can be considered 'retro', which are the ones still stand up to being played today.

I'll list some of the games that I've experienced for the first time that I enjoyed, along with the ones that I played years ago, and came back to again, which I still though were awesome.

Played for the first time:

Actraiser (SNES)

Super Metroid (SNES)

Axelay (SNES)

Super Empire Strikes Back (SNES)

Gunstar Heroes (MD)

Silent Hill (PS1)

Resident Evil 2 (PS1)

Gran Turismo 2 (PS1)

Games which are still awesome

Zelda III: A Link to the Past (SNES)

Super Castlevania IV (SNES)

Starwing (SNES)

Super Marip Bros. 3 (SNES, via Super Mario Allstars)

Quackshot (MD)

Gran Turismo (PS1)

Tekken 2 (PS1)

Tekken 3 (PS1)

Doom (PS1)

Sonic 2 (MD, I think, though it's been a while)

Streets of Rage 2 (MD, maybe!?)

[triverse]

It is cool that you like Quackshot (this is the one with Donald Duck in an action/adventure game right?).  Not many people admit to liking it.  Sega was pretty great back in the day at delivering good dependable licensed games, at least ones based on Disney characters.

[white-zombie]

Thanks for the response triverse, hopefully we'll get some more people agreeing with me, and some more input.

In all honesty, Quackshot was my favourite MD game, period.

[triverse]

I like topics like these, they help get conversation going and are fun to boot.  Just takes some time as we are still a small forum and we have members that may only come once a week to check things out (I know of many that only come once a month or longer).

Quackshot was my second Genesis game right after Strider.  Well, I bought both of them at a used game store that was going out of business, they were complete.  I didn't have a Genesis at the time either, spent another 5 months looking for one in my price range, most of the places were simply sold out of the system or wanted an exaggerated price for one.  By the time I got the system I had Streets of Rage 1 and 2, Sonic 1 and 3 and a bunch of EA computer ports (mostly flight sims) all waiting on a bookshelf (looking back, I think I understand how meppi felt having a bunch of PS3 games and Blu Ray movies but no system...).

[meppi]

(looking back, I think I understand how meppi felt having a bunch of PS3 games and Blu Ray movies but no system...).

And then ending up playing nothing but WipEout HD and Lumines, both downloadable games for the first 2 weeks.

I might be in the minority since lots of people like to go on about rose tinted glasses and unplayable 32-bit 3D games and such.

But I believe that games that were great 5-10-15-30 years ago are still just as great today, the only problem is that most gamers just can't see past the graphics anymore.

I still think WipEout 1 on PSone looks incredible and compare the jaggies and blockyness to the classis 8-bit game sprites.

Even though I love WipEout HD to death, I can just as well pop in WipEout 1 and be amazed by how great it looks.

The trick probably is to view the games depending on the hardware they are made on, and try to keep in mind just what it took back in the day to get something like that out of a system.

Same goes for much older games than WipEout though.

I just love to pop in Elevator Action on Saturn (not Returns) or Xevious in one of the many, many variations and play them for hours on end.

Just recently I got lost in playing Gaplus when it was released on Virtual Console arcade.

Actually whenever I start to get tired of today's gaming and all the bad things that sometimes come with it, it's the classic arcade type of games that draw me back in and help me remember why I love games so much.

If it weren't for them I would without a doubt gotten out of gaming in the past.

[white-zombie]

As far as I am concerned, if a game looks good, it looks good, even if the technology has been surpassed.

When I first played Ridge Racer: R4 I was amazed by how good the graphics were, both cars and scenery, even if the way the game was put together was a bit naff (racing was fun, but the way the tournaments were staged was a pain).

Super Castlevania 4 still looks great in my eyes, as does Zelda 3.

Somewhat conversely, I think Starwing looks good, yet Stunt Race FX really shows its age.

Gunstar Heroes/Quackshot: still very nice to look at.

For what it's worth, I always thought Wipeout was ugly, and far too grey, though Wipeout 2097 still looks amazing today, thanks to the speed, detail, oh, and all that neon!

Edited July 14, 2009 by white-zombie

[Areala]

Super Castlevania IV, Super Metroid, and Link to the Past are all still stunning-looking some 15+ years after their initial release. Super Metroid, especially, holds the candle in my book for single best-designed video game of all time; there is LITERALLY nothing for which you can fault that game. If perfection ever existed as a Super Nintendo cart, Super Metroid is it, no ifs, ands or buts.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the Super NES loses a bit when you play it single-player, but as a two-player game it's a phenomenal time waster. It's a pity the pseudo-sequel, Ghoul Patrol, was nowhere near as good...

*huggles*

Areala

[nickerous]

Super Metroid is amazingly awesome. I just finished playing through it a couple days ago. I've probably run through it 20-25 times now. One of the best video games ever made.

[gblock]

Retros I play on occasion to this day:

NES: Mike Tyson's Punchout, SMB 1 and 3, Contra(probably played through this game more times than any game I played)

SNES: Mario All Stars (knocks em all out in one bunch), Donkey Kong Country 1, Super Mario RPG.

Genesis: Cool Spot (nobody appreciates this freakin game!), Sonic 1, 2 and 3, TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist, Mickey Mouse: World of Illusion

Sega CD: Sonic CD

I won't go into arcade games for obvious reasons....

There's a bunch more, but those were the ones I could come up with off the top of my head.

[Mister Zero]

Anybody like Skullmonkeys for Playstation? It's an awesome game, if you can find it, pick it up!! It's kind of rare.

I play EarthBound religiously still at least once a year. Great game! Liked it then and it's still fun! Sometimes I'll see something that will remind me of a place in EB and then I'll want to play it again. It sounds weird, I'm sure. But it happens..

Sega's licensed Disney games were all great. That's back when people put hard work into licensed games and the animators were involved. Quackshot was one of my first Genesis games.

Speaking of Sega, I always loved Toejam & Earl, the Sonic games, Road Rash 2 & 3 among others.

[gblock]

Two PS1 games I still play alot are Intellegent Qube and Einhander, both flippin tremendous!