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

[+Cafeman]

For me it is usually the other way around - games I used to loathe, I now find some enjoyment out of them. But there are some that I no longer find fun:

 

Atari 2600: Demon Attack, Centipede and Defender come to mind. No fun anymore.

Genesis: EA NHL Hockey games (they seem incredibly unresponsive and slow to me now).

[doubleminor]

Genesis: EA NHL Hockey games (they seem incredibly unresponsive and slow to me now).

 

I still get a kick out of playing NHL '94 on the old Genny. It's fun to play when I get tired of working on my pro in NHL 10. It's usually for comedic purposes (playing as the Kings, accidentally made Wayne Gretzky score in his own goal).

 

As for what sucks now, it's console ports of arcade games. I play alot of NHL Open Ice on MAME, but can't bring myself to playing it on the PS1 (where I spent alot of time playing it).

[TI99Kitty]

Car Wars (TI-99/4A) - I didn't "love" it, back then, but I played it a lot. Now... Meh.

Donkey Kong (ColecoVision) - These days, I usually wind up getting bored with it and turn it off after 5 minutes or so.

Donkey Kong Junior (CV) - Used to love playing this more than the original DK, nowadays, I turn it off after the second or third screen (if I even fire it up at all).

The Sims / The Sims 2 (Windows) - Quite possibly my favorite games ever. I used to download all kinds of custom content, and I loved playing God with my sims. Now... Meh, I can't even be bothered to turn either one on. Of course, I think EA Games' mismanagement of the Sims franchise had a lot to do with that (including installing Sony's rootkits with the games to prevent people pirating them, which wound up having the opposite effect).

[ToddUGA]

I used to own a 2600 and played the heck out of it back in the day. Fast forward to today. I loaded up Stella and tried a few of my favorites like Demon Attack and Yar's Revenge. My lord they didn't age well at all. After a few minutes I was done.

[DaytonaUSA]

I used to own a 2600 and played the heck out of it back in the day. Fast forward to today. I loaded up Stella and tried a few of my favorites like Demon Attack and Yar's Revenge. My lord they didn't age well at all. After a few minutes I was done.

 

 

Pretty much what I did. Got an Atari to relive the favorites and realized how utterly boring they are now and sold it.

[Tempest]

I'm going to get murdered here but Adventure for the 2600. I thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread back in the day but I just can't get into it now.

 

Other games that fall into that category:

 

8-bit

=====

Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom - boring!

Congo Bongo - why did I ever like this?

Zaxxon - nice attempt at a home version but the perspective is still off

Space Invaders - sort of blah now

 

 

2600

====

The Earth Dies Screaming - the scrolling grid was a neat effect back then but the game sucks

Coconuts - So repetitive!

Star Wars: ESB - Sort of boring now. The walkers are still neat though

Amadar - Crappy conversion, but I liked it back in the day

 

 

Tempest

[jeremysart]

I used to like Spider Fighter and Lazer Blast a lot back in the day, but after poping it in a few months ago and playing them.. man.. wtf Crane?

 

I also loved the heck out of all of those gimmicky LCD games by Radica, MGA, and Tiger.. but if I were to play them today, I dont even think I could handle 30 seconds of it. BLEEP BLEEP BLONK.

[uglyclone]

My sister and I used to rent Muppet Adventures for the NES all the time as kids. I bought a copy of it recently and I just can't find what we liked about this one.

[Rev. Rob]

 

 

2600

====

The Earth Dies Screaming - the scrolling grid was a neat effect back then but the game sucks

Coconuts - So repetitive!

 

 

But it has a freaking awesome name!

[Rik]

Must be age..all games.Maybe that's why i couldn't get anyone over 40-50 to play my games with me when i was a kid.i don't mean to say over 40 is it for everyone but,for me,it is.Even video game representatives say they want to target the 12-30 year old crowd.Man i feel old when I'm no longer in the target crowd. I myself like to read about the history of video games more than i like playing them,still like playing but for not as long as i used to.I'll lose interest in any game after 10-15 minutes unless its a real good one like H.E.R.O.

Edited January 9, 2010 by Rik

[Gabriel]

I really liked Jumping Flash back in the day. I played it again recently and I have to conclude that I was out of my freaking mind to enjoy it in the slightest.

 

Text based adventures in general are another type of game I really wonder why I spent so much time with. I remember spending hours and hours with things like Zork, Pirate Adventure, Strange Odyssey, and a few others. I must have been absolutely starved for entertainment to put up with those things. Looking at them today, I have to say that the vast majority of text games and even the graphical adventure games represented some seriously painful and flawed game designs.

[mos6507]

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

 

Phoenix is way too easy.

[mos6507]

Must be age..all games.Maybe that's why i couldn't get anyone over 40-50 to play my games with me when i was a kid.i don't mean to say over 40 is it for everyone but,for me,it is.Even video game representatives say they want to target the 12-30 year old crowd.Man i feel old when I'm no longer in the target crowd. I myself like to read about the history of video games more than i like playing them,still like playing but for not as long as i used to.I'll lose interest in any game after 10-15 minutes unless its a real good one like H.E.R.O.

 

I can relate to that to a certain extent. I think part of the problem is games are too ubiquitous. Entertainment in general is too ubiquitous and gratification too instant. Back in the day you had to wait for your birthday or christmas or your allowance money to buy a game. And there were still less than 100 titles in the whole 2600 catalog. Now we have 30+ years of videogame history and gigabytes worth of pirated ROMs to play with. And that's just for old systems, not counting what's available on the store shelves today. As you get older, time becomes your prime commodity. What game is worth even a half hour of our busy middle-aged lives these days? Even if you are still into games, the sheer massive choice leads to, at best, ADD. No single game seems worth the time to master vs. the old days when you would line up your quarters on the coin-op bezel to systematically master it. These old games have like a minute or two in order to keep you from "channel flipping" to another one. Even something like the delays in the Vectrex BIOS startup or the between-wave screen in Yars' Revenge seem interminable. We're living in a hyperkinetic era that videogames helped bring about such that the old games often seem to reflect an antique sensibility.

[Christophero Sly]

As you get older, time becomes your prime commodity. What game is worth even a half hour of our busy middle-aged lives these days? Even if you are still into games, the sheer massive choice leads to, at best, ADD. No single game seems worth the time to master vs. the old days when you would line up your quarters on the coin-op bezel to systematically master it. These old games have like a minute or two in order to keep you from "channel flipping" to another one. Even something like the delays in the Vectrex BIOS startup or the between-wave screen in Yars' Revenge seem interminable. We're living in a hyperkinetic era that videogames helped bring about such that the old games often seem to reflect an antique sensibility.

So true. It's strange coming to the realization that you've reached a point in life where time isn't really on your side anymore. Time was never even a part of the equation when I was younger; now time is the primary consideration in every decision I make.

 

But I've found that an honest consideration of time imparts a refreshing clarity to one's decisions. In fact, it was being able to re-conceptualize my collection in terms of time, and away from value, quality, nostalgia, etc., that finally motivated me to part with a significant portion of it.

 

I still enjoy video games. I prefer them to movies and television, but if I'm going to invest my time in a video game these days, it has to be a game that really pulls me in to the experience and engages me on multiple levels. Unfortunately, the majority of classic games just aren't able to do that for me anymore. These days, I find modern gaming to be better suited to the priorities that guide my life.

 

Never thought I'd say that.

[Hatta]

<i>I still enjoy video games. I prefer them to movies and television, but if I'm going to invest my time in a video game these days, it has to be a game that really pulls me in to the experience and engages me on multiple levels.</i>

 

That's funny, I've found the opposite. But I'm not quite middle aged yet. If I'm going to invest 80 hours in a game, I want it to be one that's challenging. I feel that putting in practice to complete a difficult game is a better use of my limited time than wandering around running errands for people who don't really exist. At the end of a long RPG or action adventure game, I feel a little empty. "Well, that's another one down" Beating Axelay or Turtles in Time, now that's rewarding.

 

Modern games do make a better substitute for TV and movies, I'll give you that. And that's mostly when I play them, with my GF on the couch next me, when we'd otherwise be watching something.

[Christophero Sly]

That's funny, I've found the opposite. But I'm not quite middle aged yet. If I'm going to invest 80 hours in a game, I want it to be one that's challenging. I feel that putting in practice to complete a difficult game is a better use of my limited time than wandering around running errands for people who don't really exist. At the end of a long RPG or action adventure game, I feel a little empty. "Well, that's another one down" Beating Axelay or Turtles in Time, now that's rewarding.

That's cool. To each their own. I'm not criticizing classic gaming. Classic games are great and I loved playing them. Actually, a large part of my current preference for modern games stems from the fact that I've been playing the classics since they were, well... invented. I've played those games inside-out, and with few exceptions, they all feel old hat these days--been there, done that. Playing Axelay for the umpteenth time--there's just something extremely tedious in that now. Like mos6507 suggested, the sensibilities that shaped those games have begun to feel antiquated; it's just all stuff that I'm thoroughly familiar with.

 

Heck, I don't know. Getting old is weird.

 

 

 

 

BTW, I didn't say that I didn't like challenging games. And for the record, I haven't played an RPG since Ultima VI.

Edited January 12, 2010 by Christophero Sly

[rpgfaker]

I really liked Jumping Flash back in the day. I played it again recently and I have to conclude that I was out of my freaking mind to enjoy it in the slightest.

 

Text based adventures in general are another type of game I really wonder why I spent so much time with. I remember spending hours and hours with things like Zork, Pirate Adventure, Strange Odyssey, and a few others. I must have been absolutely starved for entertainment to put up with those things. Looking at them today, I have to say that the vast majority of text games and even the graphical adventure games represented some seriously painful and flawed game designs.

 

Text adventures got me thinking of Fallout 3 where in the comic books bldg. you could play a beta of Grognak the Barbarian..it was short but very enjoyable

[Devbinks]

Castlevania II Simon's Quest

 

I used to LOVE this game. It was my absolute favorite game for a very long time. Now, I can't play it for 15min without getting sick of it.

 

Ah well. Time to find a new favorite I guess!

[JamesD]

I had a handheld NFL football game I played the heck out of on buss trips in high school.

I ran across it a year ago and played it for about a minute before saying "this is crap".

[Rik]

I just rediscovered my Coleco and Mattel hand held electronic games.I have Coleco Head to Head Football,BowlAtronic,Baseball(the huge one shaped like a diamond),Mattel Baseball,Football,Hockey.I like the portability of them,take them anywhere with you.They're great for when i wait for my mother at the many Doctors appointments i take her to.But,same thing,I'm not into them as much as i used to be.I used to play those things for 2-3 hrs at a time.Anyway I'm glad i still have them all.

Edited January 12, 2010 by Rik

[atarilovesyou]

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.

 

 

I hear ya on Gyruss, but Super Sprint and it's variations absolutely require those awesome wheels from the arcade to be appreciated...it's like Arkanoid with a D-Pad, why ANYBODY would want to play such a monstrosity is beyond me. Much less why the cruel designers out there don't develop a simple paddle device for the newer systems!

[atarilovesyou]

As you get older, time becomes your prime commodity. What game is worth even a half hour of our busy middle-aged lives these days? Even if you are still into games, the sheer massive choice leads to, at best, ADD. No single game seems worth the time to master vs. the old days when you would line up your quarters on the coin-op bezel to systematically master it. These old games have like a minute or two in order to keep you from "channel flipping" to another one. Even something like the delays in the Vectrex BIOS startup or the between-wave screen in Yars' Revenge seem interminable. We're living in a hyperkinetic era that videogames helped bring about such that the old games often seem to reflect an antique sensibility.

So true. It's strange coming to the realization that you've reached a point in life where time isn't really on your side anymore. Time was never even a part of the equation when I was younger; now time is the primary consideration in every decision I make.

 

But I've found that an honest consideration of time imparts a refreshing clarity to one's decisions. In fact, it was being able to re-conceptualize my collection in terms of time, and away from value, quality, nostalgia, etc., that finally motivated me to part with a significant portion of it.

 

I still enjoy video games. I prefer them to movies and television, but if I'm going to invest my time in a video game these days, it has to be a game that really pulls me in to the experience and engages me on multiple levels. Unfortunately, the majority of classic games just aren't able to do that for me anymore. These days, I find modern gaming to be better suited to the priorities that guide my life.

 

Never thought I'd say that.

 

 

As far as valuable time goes, I actually prefer the retro stuff BECAUSE I'm choosy with my time...I kick on the 2600 or Coleco, play a few games, 20 minutes later I can do something else. NES is a bit of a time commitment though...many games have no save feature, and to go back and re-learn the techniques to beat some games is a lil bit much.

 

Modern games offer nothing for me, honestly. Games like Modern Warfare 2...quite pretty, yes they're the pinnacle of first person shooters, but would I spend days beating it? Or going online?...nope. Same goes for RPGs. While older games were inherently more difficult, newer ones just don't have that same kind of appeal for me, no matter how fancy the graphics get they just don't nail the gameplay of yesteryear. And beating modern games is just a matter of how hard you want the game to be...pick your difficulty.

 

I kinda wish I could enjoy today's games as much as my NES and other older systems, but I can't. I've tried, lol. It seems that after 20 some years, developers STILL can't get some things right: good storylines with endings that are satisfying and jusityf the time put into completing them, for one. Just go play the new Contra retro game on the Wii...wow, just painful in every way. Or the new Arkanoid. Both are painful...MegaMan 9 was a lot closer to the target for certain...this is the direction that I like.

 

Modern gaming has succeeded in the only way it was ever 'meant' to be....financially profitable in a big way. Churn out entertainment for the (often young) target demographic with the least amount of REAL innovation possible.

 

Sorry for the rant!...lol.