Games That Blew You Away Years After Release

[RegSNES]

Ever play a game years after it was released and it really floored you? This has happend to me quite a few times. Two games really stick out in my head for doing this:

WipeOut XL: I was able to nab a new copy of this game back in 2002 for $20. EGM had ranked it 99 on their 100 Best Games of All-time List so I thought I'd pick it up. I think this game originally released in 1996. When I poped it in, this game amazed me. The visuals were still impressive and the techno soundtrack was mindblowingly superb. The sense of speed, the weapons, and the aforementioned pulse-pounding soundtrack all combined to create what could possibly be one of the greatest games I've ever played on the original PlayStation.

Gunstar Heroes: I think this one originally released in 1993. I bought a used copy for $9.99 in early 2001. I couldn't believe such a stellar action game existed on the Genesis. The originalaity in this game was so good it was frightening. A board game level, a boss that plays like the classic game Pong, and a shape shifting boss? Too freaking good. The ending was also a nice breath of fresh air. Had I not played this game first, Gunstar Super Heroes probably would have really wowed me.

That's all I can think of for now.

[unbroken]

Lunar
Xenogears
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound
Half Life
Snatcher
Full Throttle

[DeputyMoniker]

Wipeout XL is the reason I bought a PS. You're absolutely right. It is an amazing game.

I can't think of any games that blew me away like that but kaboom sure as hell turned out to be a fun game. I played it at NWCGE 2004 for the first time and I loved it.

I also played Tomb Raider 1 right before the new release came out. It was the second time I played through it but I still couldn't believe they did such an amazing job.

[Steven]

plenty of Saturn games circa 2001-2005... but it helped that I never really played any of the current gen games at the time (i.e. PS2)

So yeah, I was used to that mid-late 90s look and whatnot. But I think classic games that are worth their salt and then some, will always impress you upon first go even if it's 10 years after its release.

[milhouseOFpain]

Samurai Shodown II - i didnt play this until 2000 and it quickly became my favorite 2D fighter and its still in the top 5.

[jdc]

Good thread btw. Looks like I'm gonna hunt down a copy of Wipeout XL today. It's way easy to find where I live.

Geez....there's so many. It's part of the reason that I'm on a PSX binge right now.

Turismo 1 and 2 always impresses with what it did back in the day. Whoopee Camp's Tomba is REALLY cool with it's gameplay in the foreground/gameplay in the background setup. I still haven't finished it. Ditto for Klonoa games. Metal Gear Solid with it's whole movie approach. I suck at it royally but it's amazing what Kojima did visually with 32 bit. Also, Final Fantasy 7 for it's sheer scope is still one of the best turn-based rpgs IMO.

Then there's the Dreamcast. Nearly EVERY game has the potential to make you say "wow", no matter whether you discovered it at launch or later on.

[Sothy]

Star Control 2 for 3do.

[sabre2922]

Yea I still have my original copy of Wipeout XL and still break it out a couple times a year ;)

Gunstar heroes: I remember reading about this game after I had traded my original Genesis and went full throttle into Snes and then PSX so I didnt actually get to play the game until around '2001 when I picked up a cheap Genesis 3 and a few games including GUNSTAR HEROES , I was very impresssed to say the least.

Castlevania Bloodlines: I always wanted this game but never had a chance to play it until I started emulation on PC and it was better than I imagined , great game.

Ico for Playstation 2 : I FINALLY found a full copy of this little gem a couple years after its release and I was just as surprised at its different take on what a videogame has traditionally been as I was-and still am- on its beautiful artistic design.
The whole flow and "feel" of the game left me in aww thinking -THIS IS THE FUTURE- or at the very least a glimpse of what the future may hold for videogames.

Lunar on PSX: I was always in envy of the few Sega CD owners I had known "back in the day" for both this game and Snatcher and when the deluxe version was released for the PSone I was all over it.
A truly special RPG and one of a kind and well worth the $75.00 U.S. I payed for it the day of its release. This is one of the few games that turned out BETTER than my expectations.

[JerseyDevil65]

I didn't buy a SNES until years after its release, when I played Zelda 3 it totally blew me away with how great it was. It made me sorry I put off buying a SNES.

[Darth Sensei]

Well, it's not too many years, but Halo. I totally missed out on it since I didn't have an Xbox. Later after playing Halo 2, I went and beat Halo. An awsome experience.

[JLukas]

Dracula X for the Turbo Duo :D

[Beefy Hits]

Samurai Shodown II - i didnt play this until 2000 and it quickly became my favorite 2D fighter and its still in the top 5.

Seconded. I bought it the year of release for Neo Geo for $200 and felt I ripped off the store that sold it to me. It's still as fresh today as it was 12 years ago. Very few games do that to me.

[Simply Dave]

I'm going to say Fire Emblem for the GBA. It came out in 2003, but I didn't pick up a copy until late 2005, and that was only because I found one on clearance at KB Toys. I knew nothing about Fire Emblem or the series in general.

Having said that, I was blown away by this game. It was really the first SRPG game I had ever played in my life. I was hooked from the first minute like no other game had hooked me in years.

It single handedly opened up a whole new genre of games (SRPG"S) for me that I had never had interest in playing before. Now I can't get enough!

[Kroogah]

Microsurgeon on the Intellivision. I played this game in 2005 and it amazed me. The graphics, the concept, the ambient noises....

[roushimsx]

Another vote for Dracula X. Hella fun.

Recently played through Ys I&II on the Duo as well and it was pretty damn good. Propelled me to play through Dawn of Ys and Mask of the Sun right afterwards and I just finished Ys VI. Now if only someone would finish translating V :(

[keiblerfan69]

Anything Sega made on the Dreamcast. And Half-Life.

[StakeRaiser]

SNES Zelda a link to the past

by the way the GBA version is terrible

[lordnikon]

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei

I picked up the import a few months ago. Each time I play it I still can't believe it's running on a Saturn. This game is so impressive.

[CAGrabbitt]

Final Fantasy VII

[YoshiM]

Off the top of my head:

Metropolis Street Racer for Dreamcast (demo): Played PGR but never seen its predecessor. The game just looks and plays amazingly.

Comix Zone for Genesis: never ever played it until last year. Very smooth animation and HARD! At least for me-haven't dedicated too much time to it.

[diskoboy]

Jumping Flash on the PSX.

My friend introduced me to it about 3 years ago when he bought a huge stack of PSX games to play on his new PS2.

Out of the whole stack - we only would play this one. It's still one of the rare Sony games I actually love.

[Doonzmore]

Sin and Punishment - N64
Stunt Racer 64 - N64
Ecco the Dolphin - Genesis
Aero Fighters - Snes

[exit]

Rez on the Dreamcast is quite impressive, especially if you play it wearing headphones. It has the most unique visuals than any game I've played, the only game that comes close is Killer 7. The 4th level boss is especially trippy, with the whole running down the hallway bit.

[ckendal]

I'm going to say Fire Emblem for the GBA. It came out in 2003, but I didn't pick up a copy until late 2005, and that was only because I found one on clearance at KB Toys. I knew nothing about Fire Emblem or the series in general.

Having said that, I was blown away by this game. It was really the first SRPG game I had ever played in my life. I was hooked from the first minute like no other game had hooked me in years.

It single handedly opened up a whole new genre of games (SRPG"S) for me that I had never had interest in playing before. Now I can't get enough!

Now try to hunt down and play the following:

1) Fire Emblem Sacred Stones
2) Fire Emblem Path of Radiance
3) Any Super Famicom Fire Emblem game (there was 3 of them)
4) Shining Force
5) Shining Force II
6) Disgaea
7) many many more!

[Masked Avenger]

Metal Slug 1-3. Amazing games.

Same goes with Neo Geo Viewpoint.

[JamesAmbrose]

Castlevania: SOTN - Didn't acquire this until around 2002-2003. Turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time, period.

Earthbound - I remember reading about this game in Nintendo Power back when it was released but failed to get it until last year. The hilarity causes me to chuckle even after having beaten it about six months ago.

Metal Gear Solid - Didn't get it until around 2002, damned excellent game.

Mike Tyson's Punchout - Got my first NES in 2004, best boxing game ever.

Out of this World - Played it first a couple of years back, very atmospheric but EXTREMELY difficult.

The Neverhood - Clay graphics at its finest. An all-time classic.

[Dreamscape]

Albert Odyssey for Sega Saturn. The game was pretty good, but the music is what really amazed me.

Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma. I liked these games so much, I had to hunt down a PAL SNES and an English copy of Terranigma :D

Grandia for PSX. I was a huge fan of Grandia 2 for the DC, and after playing through it a few times I decided to hunt down the original.

BOF: III, man this game was one tough cookie, but I really loved it. I thought it had a great story.

Might and Magic VII for PC, I love this game to death! Even though I've played through it many times, I'm always game for the adventure. Arcomage is the best!

[ROBOTNIK666]

When I first played Sonic in 2004 on the Arcade Legends Plug-n-Play system, I was blown away.

[7th lutz]

Demon Attack for the 2600
When I first played Demon in 1988, I was impressed by the graphics compared to other games I had at the time like space invaders, Home run, Kaboom to name a few.

Pitfall 2-2600
Deepest 2600 game I played and the music was the best I heard out of the system when I got it 2003.

Dragon Warrior 3 &4. Booth games were very long and deep for a game for the nes. I played booth in the late 90's.

Phantasy Star-sms. I was amazed there was flicker for this game compared to the nes Ultimas. I first played it in 1999.

Sonic-sms
My brother thought it was first generation 16 bit game! when he saw me playing it for the first time in 2001.

Midnight Mutants-7800
It stunned me what the 7800 was capable of.

Phantasy Star 2- Genesis
I first played this in 1997 and I was stunned by the plot and the ending.

Star Fox- The graphics stunned me for a 16 bit game. The game itself was not impressive.

Earth Bound-snes
There was never a rpg that played was quite like it when I played in 2002.

Actriser- snes
I never saw game that was great at 2 genres before when I played in 2000.

Bakurestsu Muteki Bangaioh (Bangai-o)-Dreamcast
Great Shooter that I first got in 2005.

Most of the games that I were impressed with I go, Right away or a year or 2 after they came out like Final Fantasy 7.

[retroman]

i didnt get into the FireEmblem games until Jan. this year...and they were great...GBA games only a few years old though

[Tron 2.0]

NeoGeo
MetalSlug
MagicianLord
Fatal Fury Special
Kof 95 it was the frist one i'd played in the serise.
SS II

GC
RE4 realy it put the rest of the serise to shame.

Genesis
Gunstar Heros
Beyond Oasis
SOR2
Lunar EB
Popful Mail
Rocket Knight Adventure
Snatcher

SNES
Super Castlevania IV
Contra III Alien Wars
SMW
Actraiser

TG16/PCE
Ys 1&2
Bonks Adventure
Ninja Spirit
Dracula X while i didn't play it... untile many years later it was worth it.
Lords of Thunder

NES
SMB
LOZ
Contra
Solomon's Key
Ninja Gaiden

[j_factor]

Shark! Shark! for Intellivision. I first played it in 2002 and I couldn't believe how fresh the gameplay was. Aside from the graphics/sound it didn't feel like an ancient game at all.

[RegSNES]

Here's a few I forgot...

Castlevania: SOTN
Every man and his dog would not stop talking about how awesome this game was. I was in KB Toys one Saturday afternoon in 2001 when I saw a Greatest Hits copy for $24.99 new. I snatched it up qucik. Months went by before I decided to play it. On a visual and audio level the game was astounding but the gameplay was also excellent. I saw why the game was showed with all the praise it recieved.

Super Turrican
I saw this game for $1.99 at my Game Crazy. With the Power Ranger-like character on the cover, I was certain that I'd hate this game but for $1.99, I didn't think I had much to lose. Took the game home, put it in my SNES and watch a few demos of it before starting. The demos looked sweet but it wasn't until I started playing myself that I was in awe. I was like "WHERE HAS THIS SWEET GAME BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!" How could I not know bout such a freaking awesome SNES action/platforming game? It's like Contra and Metroid mated and this was their offspring. I picked this game up earlier this year, BTW.

Gun-Nac
Another game I bought this year. Paid a bit over $13 for it but I'd have easily paid $25 for this awesome SHMUP. I couldn't believe so much action was going on with the NES and there was no slowdown! Compile really knew how to make SHMUPs.

[2Dskillz]

Gunstar Heroes was introduced to me in early 2005, I was truly blown away.

Also Castlevania bloodlines was a big shocker(picked this one up at the end of 2005). I had always assumed that the superior castlevanias were on the SNES, but this one has some really strong level design and used some neat graphical tricks also the control is wonderfully tight.

[Xexyz]

Journey to Silius for the NES floored me when I first played it (like 2 months ago :P). The action was nothing new (very Mega Man esque), neither were the visuals. But it was the soundtrack that amazed me. One of the best composed soundtracks I've ever heard on an 8-bit game. Heck, the second stage theme music goes on for 4 minutes before it loops...

And the boss music, it just sounds so menacing and cool.

[carlcarlson]

I'll second (third? fourth?) the Gunstar Heroes. That game is crazy. It's Contra done one better. Also, the original Metroid is so much different than any other NES game I've played, I think it was way ahead of it's time. Chrono Trigger as well. I didn't play it until this spring and couldn't stop until I'd beaten it. It's one of the best rpgs of all time in my book, and all with only 16 bits.

[suppafly]

I never had a Sega Cd until 2000.

I was totally blown away when I played SNATCHER. Easily the best game I played that year....amazing

[idrougge]

Agony for the Amiga. I played it for the first time a few months ago, and the presentation is amazing.

[bangtango]

Outstanding topic.

I will say Resident Evil 2, particularly on Nintendo 64 but also the PSX.

I don't care how many times they remake or redo it. The graphics were great the first time around and the gameplay rock solid. Still my favorite game in the RE series. I just played it the other day.

Sometimes, I like to play the PSX version in Arrange Mode just to obliterate the zombies over and over again with high powered weaponry even though I know I am merely "cheating" or "taking it easy."

[djbeatmongrel]

dont really know why but thiis titles stick out for me:

Cosmic ark - 2600
Metal Slug x - ps1
streets of rage 2 - genesis
Tobal no 1 - ps1 (this one amzes me due to the fluid fighting for its time and the full range of character control)

[RegSNES]

Thanks for liking the thread so much, guys. :-P

Can't believe I forgot about Final Fantasy IV. I played it on the SNES for the first time in 1998. The story and soundtrack were mindblowingly awesome. I couldn't believe such a game was right in front of my eyes.

[sirhansirhan]

I never had a Sega Cd until 2000.

I was totally blown away when I played SNATCHER. Easily the best game I played that year....amazing

I just got my first Sega CD system maybe a year ago, and I am far more impressed with it than I ever would have imagined. I've been lucky enough to have tracked down both Keio Flying Squadron and Snatcher, which are both as awesome as I'd heard and worth the less-than-average-but-still-high price I paid for each. Also, Flink, Earthworm Jim: Special Edition, and Final Fight CD rule.

[Poofta!]

Megaman x4-x6 and Ridge Racer R4

all for psx, i didnt get to play them till last year and easily some of my favorite games.

[NeoZeedeater]

A Mind Forever Voyaging stands out for me. It was released in 1985; I first played it in 2002. It's an amazing piece of science fiction and its design is very different than other Infocom text adventures.

[Perkar]

Rez on the Dreamcast is quite impressive, especially if you play it wearing headphones. It has the most unique visuals than any game I've played, the only game that comes close is Killer 7. The 4th level boss is especially trippy, with the whole running down the hallway bit.

i second this. i had always heard everyone talk about how awesome Rez is, and i finally managed to snag a copy late last year (thanks Blackjax!). i was totally floored. the presentation is second none... the graphics, the music, the sound effects, everything. i really would like to see a sequel to this one at some point.

[FullCircle]

Super Mario Sunshine. I wasn't too big a fan of Mario 64, and thought that I would have the same feelings toward this game. I actually am enjoying this a whole lot more mainly because it doesn't get insanely difficult quickly like Mario 64.

Crystalis. This game, for some reason, was always categorized as an RPG in my head, so I never tried playing it. I don't have too much of an attention span, so I can't get into typical RPGs. After copying it to my PSP and playing it for a while, I really enjoy it.

Shadow of Destiny. This is a great concept because you don't fight people, monsters, bosses, etc. but the game plays and feels like a Resident Evil style game. You also have diferent endings and different ways you can answer certain key questions, affecting the rest of your game experience.

[Hokkus]

Phantasy Star. I got it about a year ago, and I loved it. The best RPG I've ever played. Second and third one are great too, but first one is my favorite.

I've never played PS4. I really should hunt it down someday.

[jonathonwillie]

donkey kong country for snes....hands down best graphics and sounds

[Psycho Penguin]

Final Fantasy 7, Paper Mario, Chrono Trigger, FF6, FF4, FF5

[RegSNES]

Rage Racer
Of all the games in the series, this is the one that really took me by surprise. (Also the game that seems to get the least amount of credit) I love being bale to, create logos and have my team name show up on the car. Also, the courses were awesome and the various cars were a lot of fun to take out on the road. Rage Racer also has some of my fav music in the series. Rage Racer, Industria, and Silver Stream are too good for words.

[Psycho Penguin]

Mega Man X
Super Metroid
FF4
FF5
FF6
FF7
Castlevania SOTN

To name a few..

[odyeiop]

Gunstar Heroes
Super Mario RPG
Chrono Trigger
Castlevania Symphony of the Night

Couple of others, but mainly these.

[Psycho Penguin]

Mega Man X
FF4
FF5
FF6
FF7
Super Metroid
Castlevania SOTN

Just to name a few..

[Nirvana]

Chrono Trigger for sure. I was unfortunate that I played Chrono Cross first, and I thought that game was amazing. Then I played Chrono Trigger and saw where they got most of the references from. Damn, that series is excellent.

Also, I played Mike Tyson's Punch-Out for the first time like, 3 years ago. I've seen my older brother play it when I was younger, but I never did myself. I actually got good at it, but I had a hell of a time trying to beat Super Macho Man.