Retro Gaming Thread

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Retro Gaming Thread

Postby Andrew on Wed Sep 14, 2016 1:20 pm

Creating a thread for anyone who enjoys going back and playing old favourites from time to time.

I definitely like going back and playing old games in between the newest ones in my collection. "Retro" is a relative term here, as I'd argue that these days it can include anything that's over five years old, especially when we're talking about series with annual releases (such as basketball titles). There are some games I find I can always go back to, including:

  • NBA Live 06
  • The Donkey Kong Country series on SNES
  • Fallout 3
  • Fallout New Vegas
  • NBA Jam Tournament Edition
  • The "GTA 3 Era" Grand Theft Auto games, in particular GTA 3 itself, and Liberty City Stories
  • Super Mario Bros. 3
  • Pretty much any of my favourite LucasArts and Sierra adventure games
  • Most Mortal Kombat games (the PS2 era ones have aged somewhat better than the originals, but the originals do hold a lot of nostalgia)
  • Sid Meier's Pirates, primarily the 2004 remake, or the Pirates! Gold edition

Something I kind of miss about old school gaming is the detailed manuals we used to get. With in-game tutorials, story cutscenes, and so on, there's admittedly less call for them these days, but I remember poring over the manual whenever I bought a new game, learning all I could before jumping in and playing it. Quite often, it further built up my excitement and anticipation, especially if it went into detail about the backstory and game universe. The manual for Pirates! also included a lot of interesting historical information.

When it comes to the whole "are video games better now or then?" debate, I'd say it depends. If you're talking about simulation sports games...generally not, unless you prefer not to have some of the realistic elements that continually improving technology has allowed for. Generally speaking, I do think our memories are clouded by nostalgia, as we only remember the good games. I feel that a lot of newer games that get trashed are probably mediocre at worst, and their problems are usually that they don't push the boundaries of the technology, they're a bit derivative and uninspired, or fall short of expectations in some other way. When you look at the really bad games from a couple of decades ago, there are some really bad design concepts and a severe lack of depth. I tend to think that a mediocre/average game from the past decade is a lot better than a mediocre/average game from the 8-bit era, simply because of the depth and sophistication. However disappointing Watch Dogs might be, I expect it offers a lot more than Bart vs The Space Mutants (much as I love the latter).

Full saving systems, the elimination of arcade elements such as limits on the number of continues, and better game design have made modern games a lot easier. That said, I find that when I pick up an old game like Castlevania III, I'm usually at least a little better at it now than I was when I was a kid. I'd say that on top of simply having more experience as a gamer under my belt, I'm a bit more patient and strategic. It also helps when you don't have to get all that you can out of a game before returning it to the video store by the end of the weekend.

Anyway, that's just a few thoughts and memories to get the ball rolling. If you like retro gaming and dusting off some old classics, here's a thread we can talk about all that good stuff!
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Re: Retro Gaming Thread

Postby koberulz on Thu Sep 15, 2016 8:51 pm

Agree with you on manuals, disagree on Watch_Dogs. I really enjoyed it.

Having said that, it was one of the first games I've ever really played (it's really only this gen that I've gone outside sports titles), and I came in after all the hype for it prior to its release. I did enjoy it way more than GTA 5 though.
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Re: Retro Gaming Thread

Postby Andrew on Thu Sep 15, 2016 9:17 pm

I've never played Watch_Dogs myself, so I was just commenting on the general opinion of it. Like I said though, regardless of whether it was disappointing or not, I'd suggest it's a far better than the disappointing games of earlier eras, which were shorter, and more prone to bad design concepts.
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Re: Retro Gaming Thread

Postby Andrew on Sat Apr 16, 2022 7:32 pm

So, after a few more years of grinding and enduring always-online in basketball games, I'd have to say that my views on older titles have changed a bit since I started this topic in 2016! These days, whether it's solo or playing co-op/H2H on Parsec, I'm enjoying older games a lot more than newer ones.

That's not to say that I don't think basketball video games have improved over time, mind you. There was steady improvement from the mid 90s through to the early to mid 2010s. Once again though, enduring the grind of newer titles has made me appreciate older releases much more, even if they have some shortcomings or primitive aspects. Also, the best ones still hold up, and I'll readily play them today rather than NBA 2K22. There's a reason I've been playing so much NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4 on my PlayStation 5, rather than any PS5 releases.

I will say that the release of the Definitive Edition of the GTA trilogy has inspired me to revisit those games from time to time (but not, ironically, pick up that new edition). I see many people saying that the originals don't hold up at all, that they've aged poorly, and so on. I can't entirely disagree with that if I'm to be objective about it, but personally, I still enjoy them. They have their shortcomings, but so does GTA V, now available for yet another generation of consoles. As has been pointed out, we went from five GTA games on one generation to GTA V lasting multiple generations.

NBA Jam: On Fire Edition has also been a reliable retro gaming go-to for me in the past 12 months. I finally finished Road Trip on Xbox 360, and began playing through it on PlayStation 3 as well. It's a shame we haven't had another Jam game in over a decade, either.

When it comes down to it, these days I'm more likely to play a game that's a few years old, or dust off an even older favourite. Maybe I'm getting stuck in my ways as I advance through my 30s, but with a focus on cosmetic items, microtransactions, and the online scene, I feel like gaming has lost its way a bit; it's not to my tastes, if nothing else. I hear good things about Elden Ring, but it's not really my speed. Right now, retro gaming - admittedly with a loose definition, as I'm also including PS4-era games here - is where it's at for me.
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Re: Retro Gaming Thread

Postby Jeffx on Wed Aug 10, 2022 7:30 pm

I've never made the jump to next-gen consoles, I'm perfectly happy playing the classics on PS3 & PS2. Recently I was having issues with both, but I found a place in lower Manhattan (on Wall St.) that repairs game systems, even the old ones like I have. They took care of me, now I'm back in business. Even found a retro gaming store on 6th Avenue & 39th St. that sells PS2 controllers. I'm in heaven now!

I never get tired of these classics;
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (PSX), Tekken 5 (PS2), Hulk-Ultimate Destruction (PS2), NBA Street 1 & 2 (PS2), Unreal Tournament 3 (PS3), DOOM (PSX), GTA IV (PS3), Episodes from LC (PS3), GTA V (PS3) and of course all five PS2 GTAs (especially San Andreas). For the PS3 version of SA, Rockstar fixed the issues that made certain missions nearly impossible (like Zero's), but the atmospheric effects aren't as good as the PS2 version, and certain songs were removed.

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Re: Retro Gaming Thread

Postby sticky-fingers on Wed Aug 10, 2022 8:42 pm

Andrew, Have you try Project Brazil Mod for FO NV ?
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Re: Retro Gaming Thread

Postby Andrew on Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:51 pm

I haven't. I must admit I haven't actually dabbled with the modding scene for any of the Fallout games.
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Re: Retro Gaming Thread

Postby sticky-fingers on Wed Aug 24, 2022 10:21 pm

Andrew wrote:I haven't. I must admit I haven't actually dabbled with the modding scene for any of the Fallout games.

It seems it changed its name and now its called Fallout: New California
But if you loved FO NV, you should try this mod : professionnal quality including even new actors voices.
Btw it seems there are 2 projects Fallout 1 and 2 based on Fallout 4 engine.
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Re: Retro Gaming Thread

Postby Andrew on Thu Aug 25, 2022 10:38 am

I've heard about them, very cool projects. I also saw Jon from Many a True Nerd play through the re-creation of Fallout 3's Point Lookout DLC in Fallout 4. Some tremendous work there as well.
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