Can retro games hold up WITHOUT the nostalga?

[Vault101]

Id say it depends on the game......

what I mean is if you got somone to play without having played it previously...would it hold up? we all know that games a very suseptible to "not ageing very well" symdrome

I got the Idea after playing "Golden Axe" a sega side scrolling beat'em up which I had never played before but got on PSN just for the hell of it

and I gotta say I found it rather endearing, I like the cool "conan" like world and its fun, plus has somthing resembling a story

I also loved super metroid

though it does make me wonder about anything on the N64.....

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

i think yes, for example the first time i ever played free space 2 in my life was about a year ago, and i had tons of fun with it

 

[Sgt. Dante]

The real classics like sonic, mario, metroid and street fighter 2 are still pretty good fun today, yeah, not as tight, or well 'designed' as more modern iterations, but fun.

Some games.... Really not so much. Loaded up some old favorites and found that they were pretty much garbage now. just didn't have that special, something, that stood the test of time.

 

[LiftYourSkinnyFists]

Yes, any fan of video games can still appreciate Pac-Man, Pong or Angry Birds and still have a lot of fun, I mean how many of you can actually nostalgia over Galaga or Space Invaders?

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Probably, i think the old Spyro games would still hold up, i have fond memories of them, but that's just nostalgia talking.
But seriously, i remember only good things about Spyro, and it's many awsome colours and imagination.
Best boss to this day is the still the scarecrow/farmer/disguised sheep thing.

 

[Babitz]

Depends on the game. Doom is old in graphics and game mechanics. Deus Ex is old only in graphics.
On the other hand, Tetris is a timeless classic.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Of course they can. Hell, chess is still the world's most populat boardgame despite being around for centuries, likewise, chess based computer games still haven't disappeared, despite lack of regenarating health and fanservice characters.

[small]I'm currently being driven back by hordes of aliens in Space Empires 3, which is 10+ years old[/small]

 

[aba1]

Yes, any fan of video games can still appreciate Pac-Man, Pong or Angry Birds and still have a lot of fun, I mean how many of you can actually nostalgia over Galaga or Space Invaders?

angry birds is technically a newer game with extreamly re-hashed gameplay that got very lucky for itself.

OT: I litterally just finished playing banjo kazooie again and had lots of fun and I played donkey kong 64 last summer. The n64 graphics are aweful but the games are still fairly fun

 

[babinro]

Absolutely.

Many NES and Super NES titles hold up nicely over the years (Ninja Gaiden, Zelda: Link to the Past, Mario Bros 3, etc).

Anything in the early 3-D era is what relies on nostalgia for many gamers because of the graphics and difficulty with camera.

 

[Tallim]

System Shock 2 is still awesome, although it's kinda fugly without the high res texture pack but the gameplay itself is still amazing.

Of course they can. Hell, chess is still the world's most populat boardgame despite being around for centuries, likewise, chess based computer games still haven't disappeared, despite lack of regenarating health and fanservice characters.

[small]I'm currently being driven back by hordes of aliens in Space Empires 3, which is 10+ years old[/small]

Funnily enough I'm playing an email game of Space Empires IV at the moment. Although I did purchase V I don't find it as good as IV.

 

[Zhukov]

Yeah, sometimes.

Although not nearly as much as retro proponents like to think.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to crack my knuckles, grit my teeth and try to resume my first-ever game of Planescape: Torment. Argh.

 

[krazykidd]

I'm going to say yes , if and only if you are a gamer/ like playing video games . Casual gamers might not like the old classics , but people the like the medium as a whole , could appreciate older games without nostalgia . I think nostalgia only applies if you haven't plqyed the game for a long time , but if you play a old game recently and loved it it's no longer nostalgia

 

[Kekkles]

Most games, no. There is a tonne of crap out on all generations and most definitely worse in the earlier but some games really can hold up. I'm playing some of my girlfriend's favourite nostalgia games that I never played as a kid and I'm really enjoying some of them!

Also one of my favourite places to go to is an internet cafe/retro games retailer and do get to play around with some of the stuff that was around before I was born. I've had more fun on Duck Hunt than I have on any CoD. Just saying.

 

[Vault101]

Yeah, sometimes.

Although not nearly as much as retro proponents like to think.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to crack my knuckles, grit my teeth and try to resume my first-ever game of Planescape: Torment. Argh.

ohh boy...youll need to get your current gen ADD brain into gear for that one

I struggled with the amount of text..I can read books, just not in games

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Its not nostalgia that leads me to look backwards at the games industry, its the challenge that was once present that rarely shows itself in modern games. I yearn for the old days when i couldn't guarantee that every game i play i would finish.

I want someone to remake Rockman and RIP and Zulu...come on C64 all the way!! Action biker too!

 

[Dfskelleton]

I just started playing Doom two years ago, and it's one of my favorite games of all time. In all honesty, that's the only proof I need.
Also, I plan on purchasing Blood (and it's less well recieved sequel) sometime in the future. It looks like a game that was specifically designed for me.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

It's highly genre dependent.

Shooters, for example, have done nothing but get better. The narratives have become more fully realized, the game play was always simple and furious, and the presentation has improved in leaps and bounds. Advances in technology have made it easier for a shooter to do what it does naturally.

RPGs have gone sideways. The graphics and presentation are better than ever, but narratives haven't changed much in the last 10 years. Planescape Torment is still the best single RPG ever made...not because the graphics are beautiful or the voice acting is tremendous...but because the story telling is second to none.

Turn based strategy has arguably gone backwards. There aren't even all that many turn based strategy games on offer any more, and the most prominent of the lot...Civilization...has been recently "streamlined" at the cost of some of its former depth and sophistication. I recently played through Jagged Alliance 2 again, and I was struck by just how GOOD the game still was. I kept thinking to myself "They don't make games like this any more", not just because it was a tremendously entertaining and lovingly made game, but because they quite literally do not make games like that any more. The new Jagged Alliance games are set to be a RTS and MMO respectively, and I don't doubt for a second that neither will be as enduring a classic as the originals.

So really, it's down to what you're playing and what you're looking for. Will Doom still seem like a good game, placed beside Bioshock, or COD, or Halo? Proooooobably not. Does X-Com still seem like a good game, since there's basically nothing else remotely similar to it? Hell yes.

 

[drosalion]

I honestly think N64 Super Mario holds up perfectly well even today without nostalgia, and Mario Kart 64 too

 

[Phishfood]

Well, a while ago I dug out alien legacy, I'd never played it before and loved it.

What does surprise me is how picky I actually am about graphics. I don't base any game purchase on graphics, yet its suprisingly hard to get interested in an old game. If the game is good, it won't stop me but the game has to get good fast.


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