Old games: Fun but often rough

[Erik_Twice]

I love old video games but I can't deny that I'm often annoyed by how rough so many of them are: Poor user interfaces, bad playtesting, sections that are too long, useless skills...It's never something game-breaking, but small, recurring issues that are very grating in the long run. You probably know what I mean and it's something that bothers me a lot.

I think it's not that much of an issue in the best Japanese games, sure, the Metal Saw thingy in Megaman 2 is overpowered but it's not as annoying as the interface as UFO: Enemey Unknown and Phantasy Star is much cleaner as a design than Might and Magic.

Is this something that bothers you sometimes? I think it's one of the most common complaints I have about games.

[flojocabron]

We didn't know any better back in the day.

We graciously accepted the limitations because there was nothing we could compare it to.

Its like traveling back in time, today we have all these new fancy sophisticated cars. Imagine going back in time and the only car available for you to drive is a ford pinto.

What if today your still stuck with said pinto? It may or may not be considered a classic. But many can still enjoy a nice drive now and then.

[alienjesus]

Old European games were generally especially rough

[MrPopo]

The biggest thing you tend to notice is that old PC games liked to use the entire keyboard, whereas console games had to learn the notion of "context sensitive" very early on. Additionally, old PC games tended to be targeted at enthusiasts who would put up with less friendly UI decisions, while console games were for the average consumer.

[Erik_Twice]

Old European games were generally especially rough

At the risk of making an enemy of the powerful alienjesus for this...man, all those C64 and Spectrum games are the worst! Like geez, how could people play with those floaty, laggy controls with awful hit detection aaaagh! I don't think there's a more frustrating experience in gaming

[MrPopo]

Old European games were generally especially rough

At the risk of making an enemy of the powerful alienjesus for this...man, all those C64 and Spectrum games are the worst! Like geez, how could people play with those floaty, laggy controls with awful hit detection aaaagh! I don't think there's a more frustrating experience in gaming

TMNT DOS, stage 3, that slow realization that it is completely impossible to make the jump in the sewer.

[Westane]

I've been spending a lot of time with older games lately, NES era, and my biggest issues with these games is when they make questionable design decisions that may have been done better elsewhere.

Rush'n Attack comes to mind. No, it's not a great game anyway, but when a game demands Contra levels of precision and yet decides to make UP the jump button and A the button for the sub weapon you get for about 5% of any level?

Also there's slightly less old titles that insist on password saves after battery saves have become established, like Mega Man X. I know, you just beat it in one sitting but it's the principal...

Let's see... LIGHTNING ROUND!

Faxanadu - Password saves in an RPG
Battletoads - Punished for co-op
Rush'n Attack - Up for jump
Rygar - Cheesing the game by screen-clipping enemies away
Cobra Triangle - Everything about it
Kid Icarus - Bad progression decisions, bad physics choice
Tecmo Superbowl - Trying to choose a running play while playing as Seahawks crashes the game
Castlevania - Jumping!
DuckTales - Iffy hit detection
Blaster Master - If ever there was a game that needed a map, or at least a route...
Final Fantasy - No item/spell descriptions!!!
Zelda II - Just pick a genre damnit!
Kirby's Adventure - ...is perfect
River City Ransom - Dialogue was too hilarious, that's why I died that one time
Metal Gear - So close, Prime example of a bad interface that could have been better
Bionic Commando - Game with little to no starting direction, would have been boring if I didn't consult a guide to figure out what to do, now it's one of my favorite games ever
Metroid - WTB Map
Zelda - WTB Directions
Super Mario 3 - WTB Save System

[8bit]

^^^ @ all the WTB comments at the end.

[Exhuminator]

There were a lot of bad game design ideas in many older games, it's true. Many of these were intentional so that games took longer to beat, because they had very little actual data content in them compared to games today. Artificial contrivances to increase longevity. And sometimes bad game design was simply that, bad game design. Maybe because the designers didn't entirely know what they were doing. But we learn from mistakes right?

Video games as a new artform had to be learned and evolved as experience with the medium grew. Today's designers learn from the work of designers before them who learned from designers before them. We keep what works and leave what doesn't; creative Darwinism. As more designers learn the value of context sensitivity and intuitive minimal UIs, the abstraction of gaming interfaces will only grow ever more transparent and immediate. This is further bolstered by the highly standard controller type (the dual analog + triggers design) we've had for at least 15 years now.

I can still find enjoyment in old console and computer games, but I do so by keeping my mind firmly entrenched in their respective era as far as my expectations are concerned. Basically, as long as a game is still fun, I can ignore its old fashioned warts.

[MrPopo]

Before the CD era adding battery backup added a tangible cost to production of the cartridges, so I'm not surprised that many games didn't add battery saves. Mario 3 should have had them, though, same with Faxanadu.