The oldest videogames you played (at the time of playing)

[Yora]

This month I dug up Settler 2, an economy-strategy game that used to be all the rage here back when I was 12, but in which I never got very far. That was 22 years ago. I've been playing it for probably over 40 hours now and very much consider actually completing it.

Which had me wonder. What really old games did you pick up or got back into recently and played for more than just an hour or so? And how old were those games when you did?

Games from the 80s always seemed way too old to be playable to me even back in the 90s. But lots of games from the 90s still seem very playable to me now. Could be because there was a time when those game where high standard technology for me. Or was there perhaps a point at which games had reached a degree of sophistication that greatly increased their odd to age well?

[Winthur]

I've beaten Might & Magic 3 (1991) a while ago. It was enjoyable. Fun, freeform exploration. Lots of ways to break the system. Combat resolves extremely quickly so it doesn't matter that it's really simple. Challenging dungeons. Fun puzzles. Non-existent plot. Would recommend to anyone who wants to get into first person dungeon crawlers. I'm gonna come back to M&M1/2 during summer vacation.

[halfeye]

I tend to find that most old games don't run any more on current (2018, obviously, but worth noting in case anyone ever reads this when that date isn't current) hardware.

There are a lot of Atari ST era games I would play if I could, there were a lot of rubbish games back then, just like there are now, but the best of the best were very good.

There are emulators, but legally getting hold of the games themselves is difficult.

[Winthur]

I tend to find that most old games don't run any more on current (2018, obviously, but worth noting in case anyone ever reads this when that date isn't current) hardware.
Have you heard of our lord and savior, Dosbox? Ironically, the problem isn't with really old games anymore, but with those that were made using Win98/2000 assets that were discontinued.

[halfeye]

Have you heard of our lord and savior, Dosbox? Ironically, the problem isn't with really old games anymore, but with those that were made using Win98/2000 assets that were discontinued.

DOS-Box doesn't run ST games so far as I know, and anyway I don't have the games, I sold them with the ST.

[Zombimode]

Games from the 80s always seemed way too old to be playable to me even back in the 90s. But lots of games from the 90s still seem very playable to me now. Could be because there was a time when those game where high standard technology for me. Or was there perhaps a point at which games had reached a degree of sophistication that greatly increased their odd to age well?

I though the same for a very long time: games from the 80s are too old.

But earlier this year I played Pool of Radience (1988) - it was great!

[erikun]

I recently played BS Zelda for the first time, along with the Zelda Randomizer. (just look it up) It was fun, and BS Zelda was interesting enough for me to want to play through both "quests" of the whole thing. I've also played through the Mega Man Legacy Collection occasionally as well, for a few more good NES titles.

I also ended up playing Dragonsphere recently, from 1994, although I still haven't got around to finishing it. I also had some nostalgia for Dungeon Hack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Hack) (1993), although replaying it now, I didn't find it all that great.

[factotum]

With the criterion of "played for at least an hour" then the oldest game I've probably played was the original Tomb Raider, which I replayed a couple of years ago when it would have been 18 years old or so. Thing is, I played most of these games when they first came out, and I genuinely believe that games are generally better now than they were then--playing something like Alpha Centauri is an exercise in frustration because the controls are so clunky compared to its modern equivalent. As an example, I have *tried* to play Daggerfall several times and I don't think I've ever made it out of the starting dungeon, because I just don't like playing it.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I've played a bunch of old games as basically a form of historical interest. The oldest ones I'd count myself as a fan of are Lemmings (1991) and particularly Stunts (1990). I don't know for sure how long I haven't played either one by now. The last year I competed in the unofficial Stunts world cup was 2012, according to the scoreboards. So my number is at least 22 years. The oldest game I've played in recent memory is Age of Empires, which just turned 20, so that's not a candidate.

[Eldan]

Games I've played in the last three years or so that I know are quite old include:

Sim City 2000, 1993 (couldn't get back into it, despite playing that one for days when I was a kid.
Myst, 1993 (still loving it. Never loved the graphics, played it first when it was already out for a few years. Sometimes still quite impressive.)
The Secret of Monkey Island 1990 (well, remaster, if that counts.)
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (1995) (harder than I remembered. Had to get a guide.)
Commander Keen in: Goodbye Galaxy (1991) (not as much fun as I recalled, but super-nostalgic. Just randomly popped up on Steam, I had totally forgotten it.)

Nothing actually older than the early nineties, it seems. Or nothing I can think of.

[Honest Tiefling]

The Secret of Monkey Island 1990 (well, remaster, if that counts.)

If we're going to count remasters, I'm in the same boat as Eldan as I think the contender of the title would be the remaster of Day of the Tentacle (1993) that I played with my family recently. Works quite well on Steam if you want to give an ol' Lucasarts point and click adventure game a try without fiddling for hours with your computer.

[Yora]

Thing is, I played most of these games when they first came out, and I genuinely believe that games are generally better now than they were then--playing something like Alpha Centauri is an exercise in frustration because the controls are so clunky compared to its modern equivalent.
I feel about the same about Settlers 2. Regardless of the graphics, this gameplay wouldn't fly today with anyone. I only enjoy it now because I loved it as a kid. It's very simple but also slow and the maps are more frustrating than challenging. And the combat system is just odd. (Though I am also tempted to try Knights & Merchants again, which is even odder. :smalltongue:)


As an example, I have *tried* to play Daggerfall several times and I don't think I've ever made it out of the starting dungeon, because I just don't like playing it.
Tried to play Morrowind just when it came out, didn't like the gameplay then. Tried it again twice since then, didn't like it then either. Also sunk some 20 to 30 hours into Skyrim before I realized I don't like the gameplay either. Great worlds to experience, but such dull games to play. :smallsigh:
RPGs? More like crafting games.

[LibraryOgre]

Earlier this week, I finished Curse of the Azure Bonds, which came out 30 years ago.

However, I've also played the Epyx version of Rogue last year, which would be 32 years old at the time I played.

[tonberrian]

I'm pretty sure my last attempt at Nethack (1987) last year is my best, though that's been constantly updated. Neverwinter Nights was 15 years old when I played it last. And I don't know how long ago my last play on Tetris gameboy (1989) was, but it was definitely in the last 5 years on my SP (more recent on 3DS, but that was a rerelease).

[obryn]

I just put together a RetroPie so I've been playing all the old games. :smallsmile: The best, however, has been Master of Monsters (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Monsters), a fairly-obscure Genesis/Megadrive turn-based strategy game.

On PC, I've played both Master of Magic and Total Annihilation quite a bit of late!

Zork I (1980) probably takes the prize, though. I played the heck out of that game back on my PCjr - it's how I learned to type - and I've had fun diving back into it and seeing how well I could do from memory without a walkthrough or map.

[Yora]

Last year I made my second playthrough of Knights of the Old Republic, which was close to a mere 14 years old by then. I was actually really surprised how very poorly it had aged. It's the same formula that everyone still knows from Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but it's so much more clunky and ...I don't know. "Stale", "hollow", "bland"?

[The_Jackal]

My favorite old game of all time is Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, with the expansion, Alien Crossfire. It's a classic turn-based Civ-type game, before the franchise went off the deep end into the current dumpster-fire of mechanics designed to cripple human players down to the level of the AI. It's also highly unique, with mechanics not seen in any strategy game, before or since, like terraforming that lets you alter the shape of the map. It's not without it's pet balance issues (infinite city spam is a big problem), and the AI is hopeless, but it's a great game, and lots of fun, with lots of depth and nuance.

[Yora]

Two years ago I first played Super Metroid, which was 22 years old. I never had really played any Nintendo games and generally really don't care for them, but that game actually is fantastic. I can say it entirely nostalgia free, it's a game that still feels extraordinary, even though its technically simple and doesn't have any of the flashiness of today.

Just before that I played Thief, which was then 18 years old. Had a lot of fun with it and it's still the best stealth game out there.

I might be biased, having been 14 that year, but 1998 still seems like the best game in videogames. Not just of the 90s but ever. I'm planning to play Baldur's Gate and Starcraft again soon. Which are older than a lot of people I work with. :smallamused:

[Alent]

I've been playing some of my old Amiga games from the late 80's and early 90's lately. That's kinda a trip. Zak McKracken and Maniac Mansion still hold up well despite looking like they belong in a C64 museum. Last year on vacation I beat the Steam "port" of Indiana Jones and the Secret of Atlantis, which despite being one of the most miserable click adventures I've ever played, was still pretty fun. I also made it to the second floor in Dungeon Master for the first time ever a few weeks ago.

My Amiga binge also saw me digging out Hybris ('88), which is one of the best vertical arcade shmups of all time.

My most recent attempt at beating Legacy of the Wizard saw me get 2/3rds of the way through the game. Still planning on beating that at some point, just haven't got to it yet.

The first game I beat on my stream was Final Fantasy Legend's WSC Remake, which counts as either '89 or '02 depending on how you slice it.

Hmm... On that note, I've been piddling around with Final Fantasy Restored here and there, which is an FF1 romhack that fixes all the old bugs in the original game and modernizes the UI somewhat. A Were sword that actually works against Were creatures? Coral Swords that actually do bonus damage against Mindflayers? What black magic is this! I leave it to you to figure out whether it counts as the original '87 classic or something newer.

... Oh, right. Last year I also beat the NES Metroid without my game genie for the first time. That was interesting.

Still in my backlog are a bunch of SNES games from the early 90's that I have translation patches for now and an SD2SNES to play them on real hardware, and that huge mass of old AD&D PC games I got during the GoG sales bundle, but I haven't actually gotten to playing any of those yet.

[Psionic Dog]

20+ years. I replayed Mario Kart 64 last year with a sibling who inherited the collection, but it's possible Super Mario Land (1989) still holds the record for me. I'm not sure when the I last played Mario for at least an hour, but I didn't put the old game boy into storage until I got a 3DS.

On the PC I've found games generally either looses support or becomes obviously inferior to some newer option after 10 years. Team Fortress 2 is probably the oldest I've played in 2018.


Oh, and honorable mention to minesweeper, but I probably haven't put a full hour into that one over the past decade.

[Kato]

Over the last few years I've played many of the NES games that came out a little too early for me (as in around the time I was born). Among them were the first two Zelda games, Metroid, Dragon Quest.. Just to have a look at the early times. (Final Fantasy was quite a while earlier for me)

Very old games I played very recently.. Mystic Ark ('95) because I heard good things about it. It's not terrible but I have a bit of a hard time getting really into it.

[factotum]

Just realised I can beat Tomb Raider--I forgot I replayed through the whole of TIE Fighter a couple of years ago, and since that game came out in 1994 I'm up to 22 years!

I mean, I will occasionally sit down and have a quick bash at old Spectrum games on an emulator, but I doubt I'd play one of those for an hour or more, which is why I'm not including them.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I regularly (couple of times a year each) replay the following games:

Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time (2003)
Zeus: Master of Olympus (2000) (think Caesar 3, but with better walker control)
Masters of Orion II: Battle at Antares (1996)

GW

[Jama7301]

Through the SNES Classic and hooking up my SNES, I'm regularly playing games from 1991-1995. I also play Doom II/Final Doom (1994/1996) with some regularity. Occasionally I'll dig out the NES or Wii/Wii U (whichever is least buried) and play Super Mario Bros 3 (1988)

[veti]

Master of Orion II (1996) is the oldest game I play regularly.

I still have a great fondness for Tropico (2001), and Age of Wonders 2 (2002), both of which I replay from time to time.

[Suichimo]

The absolute oldest game I've played is the original Pong, a neighbor of mine when I was a kid had the original hardware. As for the oldest game I've played recently it's Link to the Past.


Edit: Actually, I'm wrong. I've played Chip's Challenge even more recently than I've played Link to the Past.

[Cespenar]

I still run Master of Magic (1994) once in a while. I keep saying it, but I think it hasn't been yet topped.

[GloatingSwine]

There are a number of old NES/Master System games I'll happily play.

Original Final Fantasy, Zelda, Phantasy Star, Wonder Boy, Mario.

The oldest games I play regularly are Master of Magic and Chrono Trigger.

[Olinser]

I recently played BS Zelda for the first time, along with the Zelda Randomizer. (just look it up) It was fun, and BS Zelda was interesting enough for me to want to play through both "quests" of the whole thing. I've also played through the Mega Man Legacy Collection occasionally as well, for a few more good NES titles.

I also ended up playing Dragonsphere recently, from 1994, although I still haven't got around to finishing it. I also had some nostalgia for Dungeon Hack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Hack) (1993), although replaying it now, I didn't find it all that great.

Heh, a few months ago I actually went back and replayed Dungeon Hack, Stronghold and Curse of the Azure Bands from that same era. I just downloaded Unlimited Adventures and am poking around looking for good player made modules for it (since that was the entire concept of the game).

They're decent games but the problem was that, given that they were based off original AD&D rules, that certain things were just ludicrously imbalanced, the AI was quite poor and easily exploitable, and certain classes were stupid OP while others were borderline unplayable.

[JanessaVR]

I owned the original Atari 2600 when it first came out, and Adventure was my favorite game. I recently purchased a CD compilation with all of the classic Atari games on it, and I've been meaning to find some time to go poking around them again. Pitfall was really fun, too.

[deuterio12]

IMO a good game remains a good game even many years after, and I'm actually a huge fan of looking for old great games I missed back in the day.

Recently been dipping Super Robot Wars W and Soulstorm, plus I still turn on Warcraft III now and then to try out the most recent custom campaigns people keep churning out.

[Suichimo]

IMO a good game remains a good game even many years after, and I'm actually a huge fan of looking for old great games I missed back in the day.

Recently been dipping Super Robot Wars W and Soulstorm, plus I still turn on Warcraft III now and then to try out the most recent custom campaigns people keep churning out.

I'll have to argue that. Some games which were great for their time, certainly aren't great any more. The biggest example of this I can think of is the numerous shooters on the N64, with the main example being Goldeneye. Goldeneye was a FANTASTIC game for the time, when FPS games hadn't even really taken off on the PC yet. Going back to play it today, Goldeneye is definitely not what it once was. Similarly, I feel the same way about Super Mario Kart. Fantastic game during the SNES years, but getting actual 3D maps beats the ever living pants off of the awkwardness of Mode 7 turning.

[deuterio12]

I'll have to argue that. Some games which were great for their time, certainly aren't great any more. The biggest example of this I can think of is the numerous shooters on the N64, with the main example being Goldeneye. Goldeneye was a FANTASTIC game for the time, when FPS games hadn't even really taken off on the PC yet. Going back to play it today, Goldeneye is definitely not what it once was. Similarly, I feel the same way about Super Mario Kart. Fantastic game during the SNES years, but getting actual 3D maps beats the ever living pants off of the awkwardness of Mode 7 turning.

I'll have to agree for MP experiences, but Goldeneye campaign is still something I would recommend people to try out nowadays, since it had great level design ideas some of which I've not really seen any modern shooter do better.

[Olinser]

I'll have to agree for MP experiences, but Goldeneye campaign is still something I would recommend people to try out nowadays, since it had great level design ideas some of which I've not really seen any modern shooter do better.

To be fair, though, a pretty significant number of modern shooters don't TRY to do better because they don't even bother with an actual single player campaign.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

It also depends on how old a game actually is.

There are some very good movies from as far back as the 30's that are still popular, but basically none from the really early pioneering period that are watched as anything but a museum piece. For a movie to stay a classic it helps a lot if it already possessed a lot of the qualities of later or current entries in the same genre. Snow White could if you squint just a little be easily be mistaken for something made just before the Disney renaissance, 50 years after its release date. The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins feels a bit old fashioned, but there's no world of difference in any of the main elements with a movie like Sister Act. It's a bit different for effects heavy movies. Robocop really does look fake in places, with the stop motion ED-209. Awesome movie? Yes. Classic? Yes. But for how much longer will it be a thing people actually watch rather than just remember fondly?

If you look at games from roughly the mid nineties onwards you start seeing titles that contain all the elements of today's big hits. Goldeneye looks blocky, but mechanics wise it's a modern shooter. Unreal Tournament 2004 is supposed to look a bit blocky, so that one still looks fine. The Age of Empires games have a better, cleaner RTS look than much of what came after. All Need for Speed's contain the same stuff you'd still find in many modern arcade style racers. These games all age a lot better than say games for the Atari. Those older games were limited by the technology of their time to a point where they simply didn't have the option to be the thing we now, decades later, like. In a similar vein GTA1 and 2 were a lot of fun, but they became a domain for old game enthusiasts as soon as GTA3 revolutionized the market. GTA3 itself on the other hand is still a very playable classic, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Fighting games are kind of the reverse, the new ones all feel dated and like you're stuck in some early 90's arcade on their day of release. But maybe that's just me.

[deuterio12]

To be fair, though, a pretty significant number of modern shooters don't TRY to do better because they don't even bother with an actual single player campaign.

Don't try to do better... Or can't do better?

Case in point, doing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 1 and 2 remakes (https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-03-21-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-remastered-is-real-doesnt-have-multiplayer) with no multiplayer. :smallamused:

[BeerMug Paladin]

I replayed Zelda (NES) through about six months ago.

[Yora]

I just bought The Longest Jopurney, Homeworld Remastered, and Knights & Merchants on GOG.

[Algeh]

I just found my early 2000s Atari paddle controller emulator thing while unpacking, but I don't think I've spent a full hour on Circus Atari yet since then. (I will, but it'll be over several sittings. No one seems to make "breakout" style games anymore, and I enjoy the genre.)

Once I'm all the way unpacked and have located the actual 80s video games systems, I'll get to see how many of my actual older games still work.

[inexorabletruth]

I've never really stopped playing the original Mario Bros (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Bros.), which oddly I enjoy more than Super Mario Bros. Now that I'm all grown up, I play it with my son.

I also play Speed Devils, on the Dreamcast with him. That's fun. It's still a really pretty game.

[Avilan the Grey]

Pac-Man for the Commodore Vic20 (1983).

[Rodin]

Probably the oldest I've played within the past year or so would be Final Fantasy Legend 2, a.k.a. Saga 2 (1991). Original cartridge too, which I'm amazed still works.

After playing it as an adult, I'm frankly amazed that I actually beat it as a kid. Game is HARD. And as a kid, I wasn't aware of the ways you could turn the game mechanics inside-out either.

For a slightly more recent one, I managed to get Warlords 3 (1997) running. It took a virtual machine to do it and I had to play the music separately via Youtube, but it worked! Marching across Etheria with an unstoppable gnoll army never tasted so seet. :smallbiggrin:

[factotum]

After playing it as an adult, I'm frankly amazed that I actually beat it as a kid. Game is HARD.

Age does that to you, unfortunately. Your reactions aren't as fast as they used to be, so games you would once have taken in your stride get harder--plus you probably have a lot less free time than you had as a kid, and thus are not inclined to play through the same section 437 times until you get it right!

[Hunter Noventa]

IMO a good game remains a good game even many years after, and I'm actually a huge fan of looking for old great games I missed back in the day.

Recently been dipping Super Robot Wars W and Soulstorm, plus I still turn on Warcraft III now and then to try out the most recent custom campaigns people keep churning out.

Try Super Robot Wars J, it has a good fan translation.

As for me, the oldest game I've played in recent years is Pokemon Red, though it was the VC version.

[Spore]

Curse of Monkey Island on New Year's Eve on the train. Decidedly ... meh.

[Inarius]

Did a playthrough of Fantasy General fairly recently which is apparently 22 years old now. Its one of those old school turn based strategy games based off the panzer general engine. Honestly as far as turn based strategy goes it holds up fairly well still and sort of has some of the more modern conventions like research for new units and special Hero units that have unique abilities.

[deuterio12]

Try Super Robot Wars J, it has a good fan translation.


Already did as soon as said fan translation came out, seems so long ago. :smalltongue:

Also the alpha gaiden fan translation and the GBA Original Generation I and II. Only managed to gather enough courage to tackle a full japanese SRW recently since there didn't seem to be any new SRW translations coming out. :smalltongue:

(yeah I know the most recent SRW titles got official translations, Moon Dwellers even follows J's original plot, but I don't have that fancy new PS4 yet, mostly because I barely spend any time at home).

J was good overall, in particular the graphics they managed to pull out with only the GBA engine. But damn do they go overboard with enemy reinforcements, and the Nadeshiko was completely bonkers with 4 subpilots and excellent stats all around plus an hax shield, post-movement missiles and nothing resisted the gravity blasts, then gets a mid-season upgrade to be even more imba. Really paled when compared to the poor arhangel, with phase shift armor only working against a few weapons, all the beam weapons bouncing off several enemies, and although it did start with a record 5 subpilots, only 3 would hang around to the end, and while Yurika was in love with her serie's main pilot, the Archangel's captain had a crush for the support blodny who gets himself killed, so all in all by the end of the game the Archangel is all around weaker.

W recycles quite a bit of J's animations, but damn the original units are gorgeous and all their synch kills sexy, plus they nerfed the Nadeshico to more sane levels and cut back the "you wiped out all enemies for the 2nd time? Have a 3rd wave then!" All the mini-bosses that just keep ressurecting gets a bit silly however. Also neither battle masteries nor puzzle robo makes me a bit sad.

[Kato]

Age does that to you, unfortunately. Your reactions aren't as fast as they used to be, so games you would once have taken in your stride get harder--plus you probably have a lot less free time than you had as a kid, and thus are not inclined to play through the same section 437 times until you get it right!
But.. But... But... It's a JRPG... Also, a pretty decent one as long as someone explains the mechanics to you, because the game sure doesn't.


Curse of Monkey Island on New Year's Eve on the train. Decidedly ... meh.
Hm.. I really should pick up the first two games... Or at least the remastered versions. It always bugs me when I remember I never finished those.

[Yora]

I am starting to suspect that old games really were not that much harder, I was just much more rubbish at playing them.

Knights & Merchants was a game I really loved a lot. Now I played it three times and put maybe 7 hours into it, and I am already past the furthest point I ever reached in my teens. I am sure I wouldn't remember this game so well and fondly if I had only put some 6 to 10 hours into it.
Same with Settler II. It was almost effortless now, while as a kid I never got past the 4th level even though I played it endlessly.

[Martok]

I still play Lords of the Realm II (released in 1996), Star Trek: Birth of the Federation (released in 1999), and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (released in 2000) now and then.

[Cespenar]

I still play Lords of the Realm II (released in 1996), Star Trek: Birth of the Federation (released in 1999), and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (released in 2000) now and then.

Heh, I remember playing Lords of the Realm II a lot back in those years, but nowadays something like RTW (1, obviously) seems to scratch that itch better for me.

[TaRix]

Well, there's a Ms. Pac Man in the laundromat (1981) that I still can't play very well. I've only ever seen one person reach the third little vignette, back in my arcade-lurking days.
The owner even bothered to refurbish the thing with a new screen instead of the burnt-in one. It also keeps the high score in memory, or else the circuit it's plugged into doesn't turn off at closing. The high score that I can't even approach. :(

[Lentrax]

The only old game I go back to time and again is Ghengis Khan 2. Came out in 92. Love it to death.

[DataNinja]

The owner even bothered to refurbish the thing with a new screen instead of the burnt-in one. It also keeps the high score in memory, or else the circuit it's plugged into doesn't turn off at closing. The high score that I can't even approach. :(

The high score's wiped when the machine's turned off. I know that, because I had one in the house I grew up in. I wasn't ever able to get past the fifth or sixth level myself, but I had a lot of good hours playing away at that machine.

[Rockphed]

I played Star Raiders II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Raiders_II) on an old Atari console back in 2016. That makes it a 30 year old game at that point.

[ArlEammon]

Nobunaga's Ambition. (1983)

[factotum]

The high score's wiped when the machine's turned off. I know that, because I had one in the house I grew up in.

If the guy has gone to the trouble of swapping out the screen, he might also have played around with the internal circuitry so it can keep the score when turned off? No idea what the circuitry would be like in an old arcade machine like that.

[Tvtyrant]

This month I dug up Settler 2, an economy-strategy game that used to be all the rage here back when I was 12, but in which I never got very far. That was 22 years ago. I've been playing it for probably over 40 hours now and very much consider actually completing it.

Which had me wonder. What really old games did you pick up or got back into recently and played for more than just an hour or so? And how old were those games when you did?

Games from the 80s always seemed way too old to be playable to me even back in the 90s. But lots of games from the 90s still seem very playable to me now. Could be because there was a time when those game where high standard technology for me. Or was there perhaps a point at which games had reached a degree of sophistication that greatly increased their odd to age well?

I still play my NES for Megaman, SNES for platformers on that, Baldur's Gate for the PC, and my RTS and FPS games are from a decade ago (Company of Heroes and Team Fortress 2).

The platforming and RTS genres are practically dead (although some retro platformers have been coming out), and I hate none-isometric RPGs so the majority of new games don't match my desires.

[Rodin]

I still play my NES for Megaman, SNES for platformers on that, Baldur's Gate for the PC, and my RTS and FPS games are from a decade ago (Company of Heroes and Team Fortress 2).

The platforming and RTS genres are practically dead (although some retro platformers have been coming out), and I hate none-isometric RPGs so the majority of new games don't match my desires.

How are platformers dead?

Aside from the steady stream of Mario games that has never stopped, there have also been a number of high-profile platformers such as Sonic Mania, Shantae, Owlboy, The End is Nigh...and that's just the 2D ones! A Hat in Time and Yooka-Laylee both definitely qualify. I think there was also a new Crash Bandicoot, but that might have been a remake.

Looking further afield, there are games that technically belong in other genres that have a high degree of platforming in them. Cuphead (which technically belongs in Run-and-Gun, but then so does Megaman), Hollow Knight (Metroidvania), Steamworld Dig 2 (ditto)...the list is extensive. The games may not be "pure" platformers in the "run to the right and avoid enemies" sense, but all have a large degree of quite difficult platforming in them. Hollow Knight's White Palace has one of the nastiest platforming sections I've seen in a non-Kaizo game.

By the by, those are all from just the last two years, and they're just the ones I personally am aware of. If anything, I'd say platforming is one of the healthiest genres around.

[Hunter Noventa]

Already did as soon as said fan translation came out, seems so long ago. :smalltongue:

Also the alpha gaiden fan translation and the GBA Original Generation I and II. Only managed to gather enough courage to tackle a full japanese SRW recently since there didn't seem to be any new SRW translations coming out. :smalltongue:

(yeah I know the most recent SRW titles got official translations, Moon Dwellers even follows J's original plot, but I don't have that fancy new PS4 yet, mostly because I barely spend any time at home).

J was good overall, in particular the graphics they managed to pull out with only the GBA engine. But damn do they go overboard with enemy reinforcements, and the Nadeshiko was completely bonkers with 4 subpilots and excellent stats all around plus an hax shield, post-movement missiles and nothing resisted the gravity blasts, then gets a mid-season upgrade to be even more imba. Really paled when compared to the poor arhangel, with phase shift armor only working against a few weapons, all the beam weapons bouncing off several enemies, and although it did start with a record 5 subpilots, only 3 would hang around to the end, and while Yurika was in love with her serie's main pilot, the Archangel's captain had a crush for the support blodny who gets himself killed, so all in all by the end of the game the Archangel is all around weaker.

W recycles quite a bit of J's animations, but damn the original units are gorgeous and all their synch kills sexy, plus they nerfed the Nadeshico to more sane levels and cut back the "you wiped out all enemies for the 2nd time? Have a 3rd wave then!" All the mini-bosses that just keep ressurecting gets a bit silly however. Also neither battle masteries nor puzzle robo makes me a bit sad.

J's biggest failing was plying SEED totally straight, really.

And the newer games are also available on Vita if you have one of those, if not, well, sucks. But I'm eager for X myself.

[Jama7301]

How are platformers dead?

Aside from the steady stream of Mario games that has never stopped, there have also been a number of high-profile platformers such as Sonic Mania, Shantae, Owlboy, The End is Nigh...and that's just the 2D ones! A Hat in Time and Yooka-Laylee both definitely qualify. I think there was also a new Crash Bandicoot, but that might have been a remake.

Looking further afield, there are games that technically belong in other genres that have a high degree of platforming in them. Cuphead (which technically belongs in Run-and-Gun, but then so does Megaman), Hollow Knight (Metroidvania), Steamworld Dig 2 (ditto)...the list is extensive. The games may not be "pure" platformers in the "run to the right and avoid enemies" sense, but all have a large degree of quite difficult platforming in them. Hollow Knight's White Palace has one of the nastiest platforming sections I've seen in a non-Kaizo game.

By the by, those are all from just the last two years, and they're just the ones I personally am aware of. If anything, I'd say platforming is one of the healthiest genres around.

This list just reminded me that I need to go pick up Celeste as it looks like a sensational platformer.

[Eldan]

And it reminded me that I still can't finish Hollow Knight and that at least the vanishing of the White Palace was one good thing that happened in the world of Hollow Knight.

[Cespenar]

And it reminded me that I still can't finish Hollow Knight and that at least the vanishing of the White Palace was one good thing that happened in the world of Hollow Knight.

Wasn't that area optional and only needed for the "true ending" anyway?

[Eldan]

Yes, but it also unlocks the true final boss, and I at least wanted to try taking her on.

[GlassGolem]

My favorite old game of all time is Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, with the expansion, Alien Crossfire. It's a classic turn-based Civ-type game, before the franchise went off the deep end into the current dumpster-fire of mechanics designed to cripple human players down to the level of the AI. It's also highly unique, with mechanics not seen in any strategy game, before or since, like terraforming that lets you alter the shape of the map. It's not without it's pet balance issues (infinite city spam is a big problem), and the AI is hopeless, but it's a great game, and lots of fun, with lots of depth and nuance.

SMAC is one of my all-time favourites, but the terraforming, while rare, isn't unique - I think Populous (1989) was the first. The SMAC mechanic I liked best was the unit customisation.

I still play Deus Ex (the first one) every few years, and Shogun: Total War (the original - I believe there was a remastering at some point). The oldest in recent years is probably Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space (1993, so a little over 20 years at time of playing), but it didn't age well...

[Rockphed]

The oldest in recent years is probably Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space (1993, so a little over 20 years at time of playing), but it didn't age well...

I suspect I played this game back in the 90s, but can you link to more information about it?

[Cristo Meyers]

I hit Earthbound for the first time in years not too long ago.

I oddly found myself not really able to get into it. I played the hell out of this game when it came out under the tagline 'This game stinks!', but this time I got up to the 5 moles in the desert and just can't make myself do it.

[factotum]

I suspect I played this game back in the 90s, but can you link to more information about it?

http://www.mobygames.com/game/buzz-aldrins-race-into-space

[halfeye]

Might have been Moo2 at the time I played that, maybe ten years ago.

I also played Java Dungeon Master, that was good for a while, probably at about the same time as Moo2, so since it wasn't exactly the same game as Dungeon Master, not technically as old, but an elder playing style.

[Aeson]

Maybe Space Invaders, Galaxian or Pac Man, which were probably at least 25 or 30 years old the last time I played them, though I don't specifically recall when that was.

[NovenFromTheSun]

In recent memory, Ultima II; My version of I is a remake made somewhere around the time of IV's release.