Games that haven't aged well

[Tinus]

I have to agree that games that rely on 3d graphics WILL age far worse than games that rely on 2d graphics, simply because while 3d games continue to progress and get better with time, 2d games were pretty much perfected graphics-wise in 1996 (yeah, later systems got a little better, but really - they haven't gotten too much better since Playstation).

I dunno, I think there's still room for improvement there. Just look at fighting games like Street Fighter 3, KoF 12 and BlazBlue. It's just that the game industry seems to think it's not cost effective to animate so many 2D animation frames, compared to the cost of developing a full-blown 3D engine. I have no idea whether this is true.

[Strike911]

Graphics that focus on technical gimmicks rather than solid art direction will always age badly. Games like Team Fortress 2 and World of Warcraft are still going to look nice a decade from now, while the dime-a-dozen stuff with bumpmapping and bloom/HDR up the ass are going to look rather tasteless.

This!

Well, I remember being completely blown away by the first Killer Instinct when it first came out. And anything with digitized sprites really looks awful now too *cough* Mortal Kombat.

And those old games that used live video footage of real actors. They distinctly remind me of the blossoming early-90s PC gaming market. They were just awful and full of hokey cheesiness. Still, at the time it was the bee's knees (as the kids say). Haha. Speaking of, I occasionally see my old Rebel Assault II CDs in my CD collection time and time again.

Good low-resolution times.

[Mirby]

I still think the DKC games look pretty good. Hell, I think they look better than DK64's characters.

But yeah, the first 3D games look like shit compared to what games look like now.

[Nick Hyral]

Ah yes.. the games with edited in actor footage.. First thing I think of will always be Resident Evil.. then insert Master of unlocking jokes.. with a main course of a Jill Sandwich.. I've noticed alot of feelings of PS1 games aging poorly.. While FFVII hasn't and won't age well as time goes on.. Legend of Legaia wasn't too bad. I picked it up a week ago and started to play it. The music is still nice, the battling system still fluid and fun. And the graphics are pretty decent I wouldn't call them all bad. Looking back on alot of games in the Super Nintendo and Genesis era I can happily say I feel quite a large selection of the games have aged well. Not just in appearance, but execution and music. Mortal Kombat I will agree isn't one of them however.. the slow execution of the controls and such bother me when I try picking them up again. And I'm with Coop on DOOM.. I hadn't played the PC version before touching the SNES but I felt the limits of the system was pushed to points it shouldn't have been as it had poor results in the end.

[Kidd Cabbage]

Deus Ex.

I cannot get into this supposedly phenomenal game because I can't stand to look at it.

[AkumajoBelmont]

Deus Ex.

I cannot get into this supposedly phenomenal game because I can't stand to look at it.

Have you tried the HDTP?

[duskvstweak]

Final Fantasy 7.

I honestly think FFVII has aged well, because it was a bit stylized in its artwork and wasn't that realistic then. I found that FFVIII actually aged less well.

I would have to say Final Fantasy IV (gameplay) and the first Resident Evil (graphics).

[ella guro]

Deus Ex.

I cannot get into this supposedly phenomenal game because I can't stand to look at it.

You're really missing out. It's one of the best games ever made.

Like Akumajo said, you might want to check out the High Definition Texture Package.

[Gollgagh]

Deus Ex.

I cannot get into this supposedly phenomenal game because I can't stand to look at it.

you and me both

though I can play Doom all day long heh

[JCvgluvr]

Some NES "classics" have aged really badly, for me. A few that come to my mind include the original Castlevania, Metroid, and Zelda.

Castlevania - The physics are terrible for a platformer, and it's a tough game for all the wrong reasons.

Metroid - Slightly better physics, but it's far too easy to get WTFPWNed due to no protection after getting hit, unlike Mario or Sonic games. And once you die, you get down to a mere 30 health. So, either you find an energy tank, or you farm one of those pipes that keeps making bugs. And the second option takes foreeeeever. And, obviously, no save-rooms or map screens.

Zelda - The only thing that I like about this game anymore is it's nostalgic sound value. Everything else is terrible to me.

You know what else has aged badly? The first Sonic game. No spin-dash, 6 emeralds, and 3 acts. Ugh, it just feels so slow now.

[Bleck]

you know what else has aged badly

every sonic game ever made

[Vivi22]

I would have to say Final Fantasy IV (gameplay) and the first Resident Evil (graphics).

FFIV's gameplay is still pretty brilliant as far as JRPG's go if you ask me. Plenty of strategy, and fairly challenging if you don't go out of your way to power level.

Resident Evil on the other hand, well, how could you not think the gameplay aged terribly? The game didn't even have fucking auto-aim. I remember playing through the whole thing, after I had beaten RE2 no less, and I have no fucking clue how I kept from trying to decapitate myself with the CD.

[Kidd Cabbage]

Have you tried the HDTP?

I'll have to look into this...

[Toadofsky]

Metal Gear Solid, both versions. Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, they're just a big chore to finish.

And I'll just go ahead and say that A LOT of games this generation won't age well. Which ones, I cant really say, but I can just feel it.

Then we will get game designer BS saying "oh those games are meant to be played once!"

You expect me to pay $60 bucks for a 5 hour "movie"? And NOT feel I got ripped off? Riiiight...

[Deep Thought]

every sonic game ever made

*after genesis

[ocre]

you know what else has aged badly

every sonic game ever made

wat

10char

[K.B.]

Instantly came to my mind as well - I challenge anyone to play it again and check out the graphics.

I played it last year and the art direction was so impressive I actually took note of it. 2xEdit: this was regarding FF7.

I'd rather play a game with ass-poor graphics and good cinematography than one that can convey every nuance of a facial expression and is so limited in its scope.

I enjoy good visual art, but it's never a deal-breaker for me except in survival-horrors. However, I admit that I dislike it when games try for realistic facial expressions yet fall just short so it looks alien (cue valley theory). I'm thinking last-(sixth-)gen there, such as FFX. Those games also seem to spend a lot of time focusing on faces, which makes it all the worse. Edit: wow, nice redundancy, me.

Gameplay is obviously another killer, but the worst offender is and shall always be GOD-AWFUL VOICE ACTING.

[Toadofsky]

I played it last year and the art direction was so impressive I actually took note of it.

I'd rather play a game with ass-poor graphics and good cinematography than one that can convey every nuance of a facial expression and is so limited in its scope.

I enjoy good visual art, but it's never a deal-breaker for me except in survival-horrors. However, I admit that I dislike it when games try for realistic facial expressions yet fall just short so it looks alien (cue valley theory). I'm thinking last-(sixth-)gen there, such as FFX. Those games also seem to spend a lot of time focusing on faces, which makes it all the worse.

Gameplay is obviously another killer, but the worst offender is and shall always be GOD-AWFUL VOICE ACTING.

Heavy Rain ought to fit that bill sooner or later. I know I'm in the minority when it comes to games today, but I'm at the point where I care less about the details/physics graphics nonsense so many magazines and journalists swoon over, and more about if it's even entertaining to play, and if it will even be worth playing again at all.

In regards to FFX, I swear Wakka and Tidus would have been lovers, as "blasphemous" as that may be to the Final Fantasy fans.

I remember EVERYONE just loving Psychonauts, I gave it a shot, and hated it. And I love platformers, even ones as collect-a-thon as Banjo Kazooie, it just wasn't a good game, and I still believe that after trying to play it again when it was on sale on Steam for $2.00.

[Maco70]

wat

10char

Bleck is just making the mouth noises again.

I feel handheld games never age well. Most gameboy games are crap aside from the "classics". Even some of the classics didn't age well. Super Mario land and the original pokemon games don't look and feel so good to me as they once did.

[Gario]

you know what else has aged badly

every sonic game ever made

Very, very true. Then again, after the first runthrough of every old game I couldn't ever pick them up again, so it's probably just me.

And Deus Ex never really was about the looks, so it looks as bad today as it did back in the day.

[Zombie]

I remember EVERYONE just loving Psychonauts, I gave it a shot, and hated it. And I love platformers, even ones as collect-a-thon as Banjo Kazooie, it just wasn't a good game, and I still believe that after trying to play it again when it was on sale on Steam for $2.00.

What?

You sir, are crazy.

This game is still awesome. I popped it in the other day and it was a blast. Humor and story is fun and great too.

Personally I love those old PS1 and 64 games everyone seems to think are now terrible. I love blocky polygonal graphics with jaggies everywhere on top of dated prerendered backdrops and terrible voice acting. The Resident Evil series will always have a special place in my heart. <3

[Mirby]

I still enjoy the Mega Man Legends games...

[Gollgagh]

you know what else has aged badly

every sonic game ever made

*after genesis

clearly you are not familiar with bleck

I still enjoy the Mega Man Legends games...

yes yes yes fucking yes

[Maco70]

I still enjoy the Mega Man Legends games...

The graphics are slightly choppy, but really the games have aged well. I enjoy them.

Very, very true. Then again, after the first runthrough of every old game I couldn't ever pick them up again, so it's probably just me.

I think the genesis main series sonic games aged well. S3&k especially. All the others... eh...

[Toadofsky]

What?

You sir, are crazy.

This game is still awesome. I popped it in the other day and it was a blast. Humor and story is fun and great too.

<3

I know I'm in the minority on that game, sorry it just didn't connect with me. I was constantly getting bored with the dialogue in some parts. Psychonauts is just not my game, sorry..