Getting bored with retro gaming?

[Gamerforlife]

Bored with retro gaming? Nah, I'm actually amazed at how well the old classics still hold up well, not to mention new gems I keep discovering. I played Starfox and Starfox 64 recently, and there is still nothing that plays quite like them. In fact, it's hard to find ANY rail shooters now. Once you get tired of Starfox, Panzer Dragoon Orta and Sin and Punishment, there's not much else. One benefit of retrogaming is those genres that were so popular then, but are ignored now, like platformers. Most people can't name a great modern platform game beyond Sly, Ratchet, Jak and Prince of Persia. There were TONS of platformers back in the day, and games like Ratchet and Jak and Daxter don't even count given how far away they have moved from their roots. One of them plays like a third person shooter and the other tried to be a Grand Theft Auto clone.

Dated graphics aren't an issue for me for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I've always been a gameplay first, graphics second kind of gamer and many older games play better than today's games. Tighter controls, faster gameplay, no awkward camera angles, no need for computer aids(like auto-targeting), no load times breaking up the flow. The older games just FEEL better.

They were also "trimmed of the fat" as I like to say. Those games may have been shorter than todays games, but every moment was great, while todays games are padded out to meet the stern demands of video game critics for 20 to 40 hour experiences. So you get lots of boring stuff like item fetching, or "move the block over here" puzzles. In the old days, games were more pure. If you played an action game it was JUST an action game. Now, everything is multi-genre which makes for games that are less focused. I mean now when you play a game it's, kill some enemies, solve a puzzle, play a mini-game, item fetch, now for some platforming, etc, etc. If I pop in a 16-bit beat'em up I can expect to beat up people and nothing more. I get the experience I am looking for without other elements sprinkled. It's the same thing with old school shooters.

Also, playing older games is like a timewarp for me. I remember what games looked like back then, so in my mind I'm only comparing a game I'm playing to what was out at the time rather than what is out now so the game still looks impressive to me. To give an example or two, when I play Starfox, I remember that 3-d polygonal graphics were not something the S-NES was known for or even considered capable of. For this reason, the game's graphics STILL impress me. I play Donkey Kong Country and I remember how the graphics were considered next-gen despite being on 16-bit hardware. When I play games like Earthworm Jim or the Genesis version of Aladdin I remember how uncommon it was for games to look so perfectly cartoonish and animate so fluidly, so I still am blown away by the visuals of those game, because I remember how impressive they were for their time. Heck, games like that STILL look amazing. Grab a copy of The Adventures of Batman and Robin on the S-NES. To this day, you have to be amazed at how that game looks EXACTLY like the cartoon.

Also, older games had a STYLE that most of today's games don't have. That handdrawn, 2-d, occasionally animeish look. Everything now is polygons and textures, and every game wants to look as realistic as possible while the older games just wanted to look like GAMES and not mirror reality. This is why I jump for joy when a game like Okami comes out or Viewtiful Joe comes out

I don't think 2-d graphics are dated. I think they reached their peak, as did 2-d gameplay, so the industry had to move in a different direction, polygonal graphics and 3-d open worlds. It was the only logical step considering that 2-d gaming had been perfected prior to the Playstation 1 era in both gameplay AND visuals. I mean seriously, we are STILL struggling with the same basic problems we had when 3-d gaming started. Still have awkward camera angles, still have annoying load times, still have most games playing slower than than 2-d games did(with some exceptions), etc. It may take some time before 3-d gaming reaches that state of perfection that 2-d gaming did.

What I love the most about the older games is there was more fun, creativity and imagination in the old days. I mean how often are you going to see something like Earthworm Jim come out now, much less sell well. Remember how over the top, insane and ridiculous arcade games were? When everything was loud, big, colorful and crazy? Now and days, most game takes themselves too seriously. Only occasionally, when I play something like Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks or God of War am I reminded of that over the top, highly exaggerated feel that arcade games had. Not to mention the great pick up and play feel they had. Now and days, every game pretty much REQUIRES you to play through a tutorial even if you are an experienced gamer

And what's with the colors today? It seems like everything is in shades of brown, gray and dark colors rather than the big colorful sprites we once had in our games. I want more games that look like Viewtiful Joe and Okami.

Oh, I could on and on. I always disagree when people say that old games are no longer relevant or that they are boring when compared to today's offerings. I could on about how much more reliable cartridges were than DVDs, the disadvantages of consoles with moving parts(I'm looking at you Microsoft with your recently changed three year warranty), the fact that it didn't take decades to get to a title screen in the old days, or the fact that you didn't ALWAYS have to sit through a cutscene before you could actually play a game, the sheer joy of NEVER seeing a load screen in the 16-bit days, or how Sega was doing online gaming way before the Xbox came along(not to mention putting out original games that still have no peer like Jet Grind Radio), alright that's enough ranting from me. This post is already too large though, so I'll stop

[StuntDouble]

Gamerforlife, it's funny you mention the previous generations. It does seem that the 16 bit games have held up better than the 32 bit generation. Kind of like when Mortal Kombat first came out for the consoles. Everyone seemed to be raving about the digitized graphics and the gameplay. It was lauded as a huge step in video games. I always found it slow, and it bugged me that all the characters had basically the same moves. Now Street Fighter..that game moved..Every now and then, the gf and I pull out her SNES and play some Mario Kart or Kirby Avalanche, not because they look good, but because they're fun as hell.

I don't think it's a coincidence the system that I play the most is my Gamecube. It seems like the games on there combine the great graphics from the last generation, while simultaneously providing the same fun experiences as the older 16 bit games. Beyond Good and Evil, for example, was one of the most entertaining game experiences I've had in a long time.

I just thought of something else I won't miss about the last or current generation, game tutorials. If I'm forced to play through another training level again, I'm going to scream..

[aaron]

I love buying games, I love looking at them on the shelf arranged all nice, I love reading about them online and anticipating some, but I hardly ever play anymore. It's weird.

dude same here. seriously. i guess i'm more of a "game enthusiast" than a "gamer." i just don't have time to sit down and play games all day like i used to (and wished i still did, haha).

i used to work in the electronics section of toys r us when i lived with my parents before i got married. that was the life. pretty much all of my checks went to my car then to video games. ahhh what a collection i had...

also i love the fact that the longest posts in this thread come from the newest members in it. that's awesome.

[gradualmeltdown]

Personally portable games have been eating up all of my time. Retro and new console games alike just can't draw me in. This whole adult thing and being in demand as a musician is getting in the way! My DS is so easy to play for 10-30 minutes. The time I spend on it couldn't be used for music so I don't feel guilty

[GSZX1337]

The only thing that has ever really bothered me about retro gaming is the fact that there are no saves in older games. Good thing I'm a software prate and have emulation to fix that.
I always liked classic games better. hell, I laugh at people that think that the SNES is "old school" because when I think of old school, I think of the Atari 2600/5200. I am a real sap for eye candy and love to gawk at the quality of games, (ie. did they reuse sprites from the last game? did they reuse sounds? etc.) But in the end, I'm more about gameplay. I agree with the poster above me that mentioned the "trimmed fat" sort of gameplay. With older games, you just have to press the buttons a few times to figure out the controls.
I can't even get into modern console games. They try the whole "OMG! We have advanced technologies and kick ass GFX!" but fal to compare to the much better PC games. I have a PC for the really advanced games. I have the older consoles (or their ROMS and EMUs) for the kickass games. I shit my pants (not really) every time there's a GBA/DS sequel to a classic game. (ie. Gunstar Super Heroes and Yoshi's Island DS) I'm done posting, my post is longer than usual anyway.

[kinn]

You can emulate a data interface and still speed things up. In ePSXe, if you have the right CD-ROM emulation plug-in, you can have it load data faster than 2x, no problem. 2x is an artificial limitation. With only a couple exceptions that rely on explicit CD response times, even an original PSX would simply go when data is loaded and wait if it isn't.

What plugin then? It sure isn't Mooby's.

Actually I would like to know what plugin it is aswell as I'm thinking about playing some PS1 games like FF8 again.

[marurun]

You can emulate a data interface and still speed things up. In ePSXe, if you have the right CD-ROM emulation plug-in, you can have it load data faster than 2x, no problem. 2x is an artificial limitation. With only a couple exceptions that rely on explicit CD response times, even an original PSX would simply go when data is loaded and wait if it isn't.

What plugin then? It sure isn't Mooby's.

I haven't used ePSXe in over a year, but I usually used P.E.Op.S. for CD access.

[Mozgus]

I haven't used ePSXe in over a year, but I usually used P.E.Op.S. for CD access.

Name a game that benefits from the increased speed of this plugin. I've never noticed a difference, but I hardly ever play off discs rather than images. And what plugin supported faster load times for disc images?

[marurun]

I seem to recall reduced load times playing SOTN from a CDR, and from FF IX original CDs. But I didn't really play them much. I found playing PSX games on the PC to be... disconcerting for some reason.

[Mozgus]

I seem to recall reduced load times playing SOTN from a CDR, and from FF IX original CDs. But I didn't really play them much. I found playing PSX games on the PC to be... disconcerting for some reason.

Zero improvement on these settings on SOTN.