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Games that aren't as good as you remember


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So, I just spent some time the past two days beating Zelda A Link to the Past. I'm planning on replaying Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess in my quest to determine what I think the best (translation: my favorite) Zelda is. A Link to the Past has always been my favorite....except now (I hadn't played it in like 7 years). I ended up finding the dungeons easy and the game a bit on the short side and not quite as epic as Ocarina and Twilight. Now obviously A Link to the Past was great for its time and a necessary step on the path to the newer (and in my opinion better) Zelda's, but it just doesn't hold water for me like it used to now that I've replayed it.

So, what games have you all replayed recently that aren't as good as you remembered/thought they were?

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I've found that I'm sort of in the middle. A few games from years ago somehow manage to still be rather fun, while modern games are starting to show signs of repetition and flatness. And vice versa. It's depending upon the game.

Having recently tried my old Pokémon Gold cart, I can see why it was fun when I played it, but compared to the much more balanced battle system, new pokémon, better sound and graphics, and even slightly better plot and direction of the GBA and DS games, I can't help but notice how aged it feels. Yeah, I liked it, but I've moved on since then.

On the flip-side of that, I still enjoy playing Homeworld Cataclysm, even though it's approaching a decade in age. It's just a good, drawn-out battle over the universe, one where you can take the time to build up a fleet without being pushed into rushing and feeling the pressure. When it takes five or more minutes to send your fleet into battle, you can take the time to enjoy it more.

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I'd have to agree with this on some level, for example I absolutely worshiped FF4 and FF6 back in the day on SNES, but when trying to play through their GBA counterparts with new features and stuff a while ago, I couldn't quite get hooked. That doesn't mean I won't do it eventually, but they certainly didn't grab me like they did back in the day, which shouldn't come entirely as a surprise.

Interestingly enough, I still love A Link to the Past, so I can't say I feel the same about that one. I used to do a yearly marathon playthough and try to make it through the entire game with all items and hearts in one sitting with no deaths, which after a while got fairly easy, but still very fun. Haven't done this in a while which makes me think I should see if I can still remember where everything is, I'd be willing to bet I do though! :lol:

As for games that HAVE aged well, I'm going to have to say the original NES Mega Man games... those are still just as fun for the exact same reasons as they were back in the day, for me anyway.

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I just replayed, and actually finished for the first time, Secret of Mana. It's certainly not a worse game than I remember, but the experience was just so much different from what I remember from when I was 10. I recall being really into the story back then -- I think it may have been the first RPG that I'd played -- and the story seemed a lot more mundane this time through. I also now have a much greater appreciation for the ingenuity of the combat system, but that comes along with an acute awareness of its flaws. ("No, I don't want any more weapon orbs" and "Hey, spamming combat magic and then replenishing it with the MP drain lets me kill bosses without getting hit!").

I'm now replaying Secret of Evermore, at least in part because I'm interested in how the combat engine was improved for it. It only just now occurred to me that Evermore's alchemy system puts something of a limit on your magic spamming abilities, which directly addresses one of Mana's biggest problems.

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You know what's really held up over the years, for me? All 3 Donkey Kong Countries. Okay, not so much the first one, but 2 and 3 were just as magical and addicting as ever. Me and my little sister tag-teamed thru all three, finding everything and loving every minute of it. The levels, the music, the secrets, the boss fights, the animal pals...just...everything!

Then there's the flipside. I'm really sad to say this, but I think I feel like Super Mario World doesn't stand the test of time. It's been on the top of my list of favorite games for a very long time now. But I just finished helping my little sister beat every level (even the special world), and it just didn't feel the same anymore. It even became, dare I say it...tedious.

When I was young, I never realized just how cheap the Cape powerup is for many levels. In at least 10 or more levels, all my sister had to do was fly over every danger and just hit the goalpoint. All those bonus rooms and secret pipes...they just didn't seem all that cool anymore. It's like, "Woo, yeah coins...that give me extra lives...when she already has 30 of them...*sigh*"

It was like, with the DKC's, me and her were dying to play them every single day. But with SMW, I almost had to force her to beat it. She even killed Bowser on her first try! The level design was still better than average, but many things just felt dated. Like the camera, for instance? There were plenty of times she would try to look up or down, but obviously, nothing happened. Think there's a secret up there? Too bad, you'll never know unless you comb the ceiling with the Cape! I don't know...

I hate to feel this way about a game I've treasured for so long, but I just can't help it. I can appreciate everything it did for the platformer, and for gaming in general, but I don't think I can see it in the same light anymore.

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As for games that HAVE aged well, I'm going to have to say the original NES Mega Man games... those are still just as fun for the exact same reasons as they were back in the day, for me anyway.

This... and FF4 & 5 don't seem to hold the same appeal for me, either (although I still love FF6, but mainly for the incredibly rich soundtrack that may never be equaled and very awesome antagonist that has no better).

I feel the Sonic games (the good ones, I mean) have really lost their appeal, as time has passed. I've been trying to play S&K up to the Sky Sanctuary for some ideas for music, but I can't get myself to play it past the first two levels...

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I'll never forget how excited me and group of my friends were when we found an old copy of UmJammer Lammy resting quietly in a friend's pile of old game CDs. We popped the game into a PS2, still excited, played the first stage or two... and we were all like, "Wow... this game isn't nearly as fun as it used to be."

That and Ballz.

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ive been playing final fantasy 7 lately and its not that it doesnt exite me anymore i still firmly beileve its one of the better games out there

i just remember it being alot harder

i remember gettin so frustrated i couldnt catch a chocobo and get past the midgar zolom i would chuck the controller at the tv

but now everytime i play that bit i find it easy as

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Then there's the flipside. I'm really sad to say this, but I think I feel like Super Mario World doesn't stand the test of time. It's been on the top of my list of favorite games for a very long time now. But I just finished helping my little sister beat every level (even the special world), and it just didn't feel the same anymore. It even became, dare I say it...tedious.

SMW is a very flawed game in many ways. For example, especially after SMB3, the physics of SMW feel very stiff and unrealistic. The game also feels a good deal slower than SMB3. And the level design is just not as creative. There are only a couple of vertical levels, no mazes, no giant levels, and things are just plain flat. And of course there are the camera issues you mentioned. And the music is repetitive. Let's face it, SMW was a large step backwards in almost everything save graphics.

But on the other hand, the game made GIGANTIC contributions to the Mario canon, and Yoshi's Island has withstood the test of time enough to make up for SMW.

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Very few games hold my interest these days. I think because in the past, there wasn't a lot of gamer magazines and the internet to do previews and shit that could possibly spoil any of the fun of playing a new game. That was the appeal; a new game to play that has introduced a new concept.

Now we have GTA clones up the ass and really bad RPG's.

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Does that mean you don't like Mischief Makers? I'm a bit confused...:|

Every game he's replayed is not as good as he remembers them being, except for Mischief Makers, which is still as good as he remembers it being. So no, he still likes it.

I can't really think of any for myself, except for those old LJN wrestling games on the SNES. I remember renting WWF Royal Rumble fairly often as a kid, so figured I'd check it out again. Apparently, the only thing that made me like it so much was listening to the wrestler's theme songs and laughing my ass off at the constant stream of groans and grunts. Ah, to be a kid again

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I never realized how annoying Pokemon Red and Blue were until I went back to them and realized you don't have a Infinite Bag of Holding yet.

The game itself still holds up, even if it sort of feels slow, but that little thing scratches my nostalgia filter

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