Games you loved back in the day, but now suck.

[DaytonaUSA]

I'll start it off:

 

Pong the Next Level. I remember so many fond memories of playing this game with friends and against the CPU when the Playstation was in it's hayday. Since I've repurchased the game though, as much as I love the graphics, the maps, ect... the controls are just GOD AWFUL!

 

I mean, seriously.. how am I supposed to play pong with a slow dpad and an overly touchy joystick??? They should have made the joystick mapped to the length of the field instead of simply, up is up and down is going down with how fast you go depicting speed.

 

What's worse is the computer's AI. There's no way to turn it down. It seems the computer is ALWAYS where it needs to be. The only way to win is to exploit the AI. This is either done by using side walls or by hitting penguins that poop out balls which for some reason causes them to usually freak out and lose a ball.

 

Maybe it's better with another human, but playing through story mode is a pain and the controls are far from desirable.

 

 

Anyone have a game like this which totally goes against your happy memory of it?

Edited January 1, 2010 by DaytonaUSA

[tz101]

Galaga.

 

My arcade memories were of awesome responsiveness of both the stick and the fire button. I could regularly score over 1,000,000 points. Now, all I have are NES and PS2 versions, and the NES Advantage stick and PS2 analog stick are nowhere near what is needed. I cannot get past 250,000-300,000 points anymore. I really need a Galaga arcade cabinet or a good arcade stick for one of my home consoles.

[+Ransom]

Most of the Activision catalog falls into this category for me. They're all pretty, but the game play is sorely lacking on Barnstorming, Grand Prix, Stampede, Dragster, Pitfall! and so many others. I still like some -- Sea Quest and Boxing come to mind -- but most of the others are just boring to me now.

 

But probably the #1 game that I played a ton as a kid and now can't stand is Laser Blast.

Edited January 1, 2010 by Ransom

[The_Laird]

Hmmm quite a few I can think of

 

Final Fight - Atari ST

 

By memory it was a great arcade conversion with excellent music. Having played it again recently it looks great until it moves with its unbelievably jerky scrolling slow speed and repetitive music.

 

Victory Goal - Sega Saturn

 

From memory it was a fun little football game. Having played it now its a terrible and worthless excuse for a football game.

 

Mat Mania - Atari 7800

 

Remembered it as a fun wrestling title (I was very into wrestling) but in our current reality its a boring and pretty crap attempt at an arcade conversion.

 

Outrun - Sinclair Spectrum

 

I had a long held thought that this was a very good conversion of the classic Sega arcade game. Having played it again recently its slow and cumbersome although I will say that the music is as excellent as I remember.

 

Premier Manager - Sega Megadrive

 

I thought this game was the busines when it originally came out and played it non stop with my best mate. Having played it again now I can safely say its a horrible pile of junk that pales in comparison to todays footie manager games.

[AtariLeaf]

Demon Attack. Used to love this game, now it just bores me to tears. Rather play Phoenix.

[fiddlepaddle]

...how am I supposed to play pong with a slow dpad and an overly touchy joystick??? They should have made the joystick mapped to the length of the field instead of simply, up is up and down is going down with how fast you go depicting speed.

I had the same reaction the first time I played the Playstation version of Pong, then I realized it was made that way because the PS joystick didn't originally come with analogue sticks, so there wasn't much of a choice (although they could have let you double the speed of the paddle by pressing an action button down while moving, like some of the Arkanoids do).

[ericwierson]

I can think of some right off the bat.

 

Combat - 2600

Sneak-n-peak - 2600

Satans Hollow - arcade

All mechanical pinball machines

[tz101]

Most of the Activision catalog falls into this category for me. They're all pretty, but the game play is sorely lacking on Barnstorming, Grand Prix, Stampede, Dragster, Pitfall! and so many others. I still like some -- Sea Quest and Boxing come to mind -- but most of the others are just boring to me now.

 

But probably the #1 game that I played a ton as a kid and now can't stand is Laser Blast.

 

Here are a few from the Activision catalog that are excellent and interesting on game play:

 

Enduro

Frostbite

Pitfall II

H.E.R.O.

Beam Rider

[+Ransom]

Here are a few from the Activision catalog that are excellent and interesting on game play:

 

Enduro

Frostbite

Pitfall II

H.E.R.O.

Beam Rider

 

 

I agree -- I particularly like Frostbite and Beam Rider (I play the latter on an Intellivision so I have two buttons). I've never played Pitfall II except briefly in emulation.

[+save2600]

All mechanical pinball machines

 

 

Holy smokes?!? You haven't played a finely tuned one for a while I'd guess. Mine all play fast, look great and work as they should

 

2600 games that I used to play a lot but get bored of easy (none of them really "suck", 'cept maybe Riddle of the Sphinx) would be:

 

Cosmic Ark (too easy, but pretty as heck)

Most of the Activision catalogue (shallow, but pretty as Ransom mentioned) ...funny how well the original Atari catalogue has held up comparatively, despite the weaker graphics/sound.

Atari Video Cube

 

...and interestingly. some arcade games I thought once sucked (like Space Invaders or Space Zap), I love again! Must be a circle of life thing... lol

Edited January 2, 2010 by save2600

[lushgirl_80]

Excitebike on NES

 

 

 

Among the girls in school, that was actually a very popular game. I even borrowed it from my friend once. I dunno why but back then I thought it was so fun designing your own courses and then trying them out but now...... boring as all hell LOL.... asides from the quirky theme song...I can't stand more than 5 minutes of it. Always makes me sleepy.

 

 

edit- come to think...it should be called BorrrringBike NOT Excitebike lol.

Edited January 2, 2010 by lushgirl_80

[+save2600]

edit- come to think...it should be called BorrrringBike NOT Excitebike lol.

 

ROTFLMAO! I have a customer (a good paying one) with this arcade machine. It already had monitor problems, but now the power supply blew and took the CPU board with it. Guy actually wants to spend the money to get it back working again, someday lol Maybe I'll stick an NES in it with a newer monitor... be a much cheaper fix! lol

[VectorGamer]

I can't name a single one. If I loved it back in the day I still love it now and if it sucked back in the day it still sucks now.

 

There have been enhancements to arcade games over the years like the Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man Speedups along with Pac-Man Plus that make me never want to go back to playing the originals. After playing those versions it makes me wonder how I could stand playing the originals as slow as they were.

 

Similarly with the 2600 "Arcade" titles available through this WWW site. Pac-Man Arcade and Galaxian Arcade give me no reason to go back to the original versions. Additionally, Medieval Mayhem gives me no reason to go back to playing Warlords.

[cvga]

I can't name a single one. If I loved it back in the day I still love it now and if it sucked back in the day it still sucks now.

 

 

There are definitely more games that I didn't like back in the day that I really like now. Kaboom comes to mind. I never got into when I was a kid but really enjoy it now.

[VectorGamer]

I can't name a single one. If I loved it back in the day I still love it now and if it sucked back in the day it still sucks now.

 

 

There are definitely more games that I didn't like back in the day that I really like now. Kaboom comes to mind. I never got into when I was a kid but really enjoy it now.

 

Thanks to MAME, I've discovered numerous games that were not available in my arcades in the 70s and 80s that I really love now. Games like Magical Spot II and Tazzmania for example.

 

Games that I played minimally in the arcade like Eagle, Astro Invader, Lunar Rescue and Bomb Bee are games that I now love to play. Most of the quarters were pumped into the big names like Pac-Man, Galaga, Frogger and Space Invaders to name a few. Now that quarters are not an issue, I've come to appreciate these lesser known titles.

[JamesD]

All mechanical pinball machines

 

 

Holy smokes?!? You haven't played a finely tuned one for a while I'd guess. Mine all play fast, look great and work as they should

I love pinball games. Some always sucked but the good ones are still good.

I used to play a pinball game between classes at the college student center.

Good way to blow off steam.

Arcade games never worked the same way for me.

 

A LOT of the arcade games I thought were cool when I was young were just quarter eating machines that were a great concept but sucked to play because they killed you too easily. I didn't realize till later it wasn't my lack of skill that was the problem with how far I got.

Anyone that got anywhere in them spent a lot of money to do so and I just played a couple times a week at best.

 

I was never impressed with the 2600 games and nothing has changed. It just wasn't enough like the arcade for my taste.

 

Some of the type in games from the magazines that I used to play really sucked, but I used to think they were fun at the time.

Now I load them up and ask myself "what was I thinking?"

[Rev. Rob]

I cannot recall a game I thought was great as a kid but no longer think is good.

 

However, there are games I played a lot as a kid and get my ass handed to me now, like Earthworm Jim.

[MagitekAngel]

Can't think of anything I ever liked but would now disregard as sucking. If I really stretch, I'd drag up F-Zero, Final Fantasy II, and maybe Super Mario Land. But I still think they were decent games, just not as appealing as they once more. But for the most part, my opinions on videogames have remained largely consistent. Occasionally I will warm up to a title I initially didn't care for, but not really the other way around.

[shadow460]

Gyruss. If I'm on one of the original machines, it's great. IMO, the game just doesn't emulate well at all, and the retro cabinets can't capture the feel of the game.

 

Championship Sprint. For some reason, I just can't get into this game anymore. It's probably due to the fact I'm trying to play it with a d pad on Midway Arcade Treasures instead of using the wheel and pedal on an arcade machine.

[rpgfaker]

Kid Icarus, Dungeon Magic, Zelda II:The Adventures of Link , Pitfall II:Lost Caverns, Asteroids Deluxe to name a few...

[desiv]

Satans Hollow - arcade

All mechanical pinball machines

 

Not for me on these..

 

Still love Satans Hollow in MAME...

 

And we went to Las Vegas to visit relatives recently, and I stopped by the "Pinball Hall of Fame" while there..

http://www.pinballmuseum.org

 

Man, we all had a great time. I even got to play a vertical multistory pinball game that was never released.. I only played the older games, and it was awesome...

 

As for someone who didn't like Excitebike, I just got that for the Wii VC (had a free game to choose) and I don't regret it at all...

 

To each his own...

 

The only games I play now that loose their impressive feel quickly are the 3D FPS games out there..

The new ones seem great, and then after an hour or 2, I'm like.. yeah.. flashier.. same game.. <yawn>

 

Then I fire up Ms Pacman.. :-)

 

desiv

[Segataritensoftii]

Being the first video game I ever owned and all, I used to play the crap out of Rocket Power: Gettin' Air on the GBC. Looking back at it now, I now know just how terrible it was. Still like it, though.

Edited January 2, 2010 by Segataritensoftii

[shadow460]

I just fired up Worldwide Soccer: Victory Goal Edition yesterday. How dare anyone crack on it!

 

Now the next year's football game, Worldwide Soccer '97, was a steaming pile of crap. It removed all the stuff that made Victory Goal fun to play.

Edited January 3, 2010 by shadow460

[The_Laird]

I just fired up Worldwide Soccer: Victory Goal Edition yesterday. How dare anyone crack on it!

 

Now the next year's football game, Worldwide Soccer '97, was a steaming pile of crap. It removed all the stuff that made Victory Goal fun to play.

 

Dunno about in the USA but in Japan and over here Worldwide Soccer and International Victory Goal are completely seperate games and no relation to each other. Worldwide Soccer is one of my fave ever footy games (especial SWWS '98 ) and IVG is junk worst footy game since Italia '90 on the Megadrive.

[shadow460]

We had WWS: Victory Goal Edition and WWS '97. Around that time we got Virtua Striker 1 and 2 in the arcades. Initial reviews said you could see the wind ripple the players' jerseys in Virtua Striker 2. It ran on Model 3 hardware, IIRC.

 

The WWS: Victory Goal Edition over here has two leagues and the tournaments you can enter. The W league allows 22 or 44 games, and I think the S league is 11 games. On the cover it's got a picture of a fellow with his arms in the air and a big smile just after he's kicked a successful goal. The goalie is on the ground behind him.

 

Perhaps we are thinking of two separate games, though.

Edited January 4, 2010 by shadow460