Oldschool VS. Out-Dated

[Dirty Tiger]

Post your picks for the Era/consoles/Genre that you think has aged like fine wine as wells as the ones that smell like old socks.

Personaly I have a hard time gettinf into the PSone era. When I bought my PS2 (my first system since NES) I was jazzed that I could look for PSone burried treasure, Unfortunately most of the 3D PS1 games leave me flat.

I realize they were cutting edge for the time but compared to the PS2 they seem crude and akward. I picked up a couple of of Tooomb Raider titles, and such but all the while I was playing them I wished I was playing a PS2 game.

I think the NES has aged much better: I was arguably the pinnacle of 8-bit gaming for many as well as the proverbial "Cherry Popper" for many gamers. The game engines and graphics seem fresh still today.

To make a long story short, I think that the 8-bit era games provide
a "escape" or "alternative" to some of todays Next Gen Dazzle.

Whatta Yoo think??

[Oobgarm]

I agree, the PS One is hard to go back to after playing the next gen stuff. Same for the Saturn and Sega CD.

Anything Genesis, SNES, and most of all, NES, have aged gracefully. The pre NES consoles have also aged rather well, but not quite as well.

Also, here's a similar topic:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18410

[GrandAmChandler]

I agree, the PS One is hard to go back to after playing the next gen stuff. Same for the Saturn and Sega CD.

Anything Genesis, SNES, and most of all, NES, have aged gracefully. The pre NES consoles have also aged rather well, but not quite as well.

Also, here's a similar topic:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18410

And some things are harder on the PS ONE then on SNES/GENES (i.e Lemmings 3-D vs. Lemmings) (Bubsy 3-D vs. Bubsy)

[bargora]

I never really cared for the Playstation games that relied heavily on (for the time) high-poly interactive 3-D environments. Tomb Raider, Spyro, etc. Since I've always preferred the Playstation's 2-D games, puzzle games, and games that relied on more atmospheric and/or psychedelic graphics, in my view the Playstation is aging quite well.

I might add that the only "sports" games that have ever been in my Playstation are Ballblazer Champions and Blast Chamber.

Now the NES, well, I won't go there.

[Bratwurst]

I think what hurts most 3D Playstation titles isn't the low poly count but the resolution, the jaggies, etc. A bunch of that and the whole screen looks like a mess. That's my opinion- I've never used a PS2 but from what I understand there are options to smooth that problem out.

[Kid Fenris]

I've found that most of the polygon-sporting PlayStation releases that impressed me back in the day (Vagrant Story, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Fear Effect 2) still look decent today. The first-generation stuff is harder to look at, but I was never too enamored of early 3-D titles to begin with.

It's much the same on the NES. Games that inspired awe with their visuals back in the days of the NES Empire (Ninja Gaiden II, Battletoads, Super Mario Bros. 3) remain easy on the eyes, while titles like Conquest of the Crystal Palace, The Krion Conquest, and Clash at Demonhead seem cruder than they once did.

Then again, dated graphics aren't always a turn-off. When I dug out Burning Rangers the other day, I actually found its shaky, glitch-ridden 3-D look kind of nostalgic.

[Dirty Tiger]

If I wanna go back in time I would rather play a PS1 2D side scroller or platformer type of game.

When I first played Tomb raider it made me feel kinda dizzy and I had a real hard time opening doors and pulling levers. I played for 10 minutes and stopped forever.

I do know there are good puzzle games and arcade pots out there that still interest me and I am still digging.

I think a another thing that bugs me is that I have these cool anolog thumbsticks that I cant use for PS1.

All that aside I am still planning on picing up Metal Gear Solid.

[Neil Koch]

I think some of the 3D games on PS1 that still look pretty good like Driver (but there's also a whole boatload that look like crap and have bad control like Die Hard Trilogy) and I still enjoy playing some of the FPSs like Medal of Honor. There's also a ton of choice 2D games like Castlevania (both SOTN and Chronicles), Metal Slug, GTA2, SFA3, etc. With how many PS1 games there are out there, there's bound to be a lot of crap, but there's some good stuff also if you hunt.

I think the above could be applied to a lot of the older systems, like for instance a lot of the NES games look horrible now due to things like sprite flickering, but there are still some games that look good, and more importantly, still fun to play.

Probably part of the reason that the NES games might seem "fresh" to you is that games nowadays seem to be pretty limited in genre, as in there's maybe 5 or 6 that constantly get put out, like sports, FPS, platform, RPG... whereas on the NES you had so many games, and it seemed most anything would sell so developers (of which there were much more back then) were willing to try new things. Nowadays with the costs of developing games escalating, developers are for the most part afraid to try anything off the beaten path.

[Dirty Tiger]

Maybe I am just an old fart.

When I play NES it reminds me of hanging out with my Trailer Trash friends and playing Castlevania.

The new stuff makes me feel like a kid in a Candy store, but the In-between stuff gives me that "I guess you had to be there" feeling.

Although....a GBA does seem tempting some of those 16-bit games look fun. I have very little experience with that era outisde of playing Mortal Kombat with roomies. I was eventually banned from playin the purple chick that dropped thru the floor and fell outta the sky.

In my day turkeys were called WALKING BIRDS.......

[Duncan]

Play Tomba! or Mega Man 8 on the PS1 for good examples of what it can do.

Play the first couple of Tomb Raiders for good examples of what it can't.

Duncan :D

PS: Seriously, just play Tomba! anyway. It's an excellent and oft-overlooked little platformer.

[ChuckthePlant]

Could the dreaded nostalgia play a roll? Best not to consider this. I collect very casually for the PS1 and have found that the ratio of really bad to the not so bad to the very good to be far the opposite to the NES. I do like some of the games but I have to say I am far in away more interested in games for other systems. It may be a function of the library of quality games versus the actual graphics. Many games seem to loom larger in the WOW factor than the game play warrants. Everyone can think of that game they first fired up but have never returned to replay. I think more and more younger players are realizing this and are seeking out classic titles that have a high replay and game value.

[RetroYoungen]

ABout the Playstation being hard to go back to, I beg to differ. I've had quite a bit of fun with the 3D titles on the PS1, most notably Battle Arena Toshinden, IQ, and Twisted Metal 3 (I may be the only who enjoyed ANY of those games, but oh well).

But as much fun as I've had with the 32-bit consoles, and with the 8-bitters, I have to say the era that has aged the best from my POV would be the 16-bit generation. The graphics on games like Rocket Knight Adventures, Super Mario World, and Comix Zone have aged so very well and are still so much fun, even to the people I know just getting into collecting and classic gaming. 16-bit was the greatest generation. Genesis, SNES, TG-16 (if you count it), and all that, it's simply the best.

[AB Positive]

Two system I think aged very well:

Turbo Grafx

Neo Geo.

Anyone want to contradict? ;-)

-AG

[jonjandran]

I like the Old School systems when I need a " quick fix ".
The new systems games just take to dang long.
Just let me pop in Super Mario Bros, Tetris, or R-Type for a few minutes and it's ALL GOOD. :D

[Half Japanese]

Two system I think aged very well:

Turbo Grafx

Neo Geo.

Anyone want to contradict? ;-)

-AG


Anyone who would contradict those would be a fucking liar! :D

[punkoffgirl]

I'd hazard to say most of the N64 library could be considered out-dated. It's pretty painful to play it these days.

[jonjandran]

I'd hazard to say most of the N64 library could be considered out-dated. It's pretty painful to play it these days.

Amen Sister !!!
I get a headache trying to play them now. I wonder how I ever got through Mario 64 @_@