Games that aged well

[Bluey]

I agree with this one, but how exactly was the translation bad? Honest question. If the OG Mineral Town’s was considered terrible then the remake’s is even worse.

Translation was very awkward with run on text. It may of been due to the window box and character limits but you had some funny stuff like Carter suddenly speaking German or something like "you can't crush this sone".

https://fogu.com/hm4/

So I think it could of been Natsume's end.

The remake is good and I haven't spotted any errors yet.

 

[The Fair Lady]

Translation was very awkward with run on text. It may of been due to the window box and character limits but you had some funny stuff like Carter suddenly speaking German or something like "you can't crush this sone".

https://fogu.com/hm4/

So I think it could of been Natsume's end.

The remake is good and I haven't spotted any errors yet.

I never really noticed any of that aside from the awkward ellipses.

I got bored of the remake pretty fast; it's serviceable but barely adds anything to what is otherwise a classic game outside of cosmetic stuff also a bunch of the new sprites are ugly. I guess my criticism lies more with how they made some questionable changes and you can tell its localization is liberalized in certain areas (I know why some names had to be changed though).

 

[Bluey]

I never really noticed any of that aside from the awkward ellipses.

I got bored of the remake pretty fast; it's serviceable but barely adds anything to what is otherwise a classic game outside of cosmetic stuff also a bunch of the new sprites are ugly. I guess my criticism lies more with how they made some questionable changes and you can tell its localization is liberalized in certain areas (I know why some names had to be changed though).

I still prefer the original and Back to Nature. Some of the redesigns in the remake are awkward.

 

[Calandrino]

tbh, I dislike the idea that a game can age well or badly, if you enjoyed it back then the game is still the same, so you should be able to enjoy it the same if your taste is the same.
I get what people mean, but a game's pros and cons will always be the same no matter how old it is

I mostly play old games and I think of games that somehow "used to be good" (but aren't now) as being more the exception.

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It hasn't aged well in its level design after learning Sandy Peterson made the most of it. (Map 9, 10, 27 are probably his best ones even if they're ugly looking).
But the monsters felt just right to the point where even the best players can still struggle against the mid-tier strongest enemies.

Spoiler

Not including the community mapping and modding of course

It is interesting that OG Doom is so much more enduring than Wolfenstein 3D or even Quake. Some days, you just don't want to have to reload ever.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Honestly, I never minded the voice acting in 2, Angela is an example I remember being brought up in terms of bad voice acting, but considering how she is and what happened to her, I thought her voice was actually kinda fitting.

People only bring up the initial scene with her when discussing bad voice acting, but her subsequent scenes are excellently done, especially her last appearance in the game. It feels as though people get hung up on their first impressions and that gets in the way of appreciating the quality of the acting in the later scenes.

Not to say the voice acting in SH2 is great or anything, but people tend to overstate how "bad" it is.

 

[Overcast]

It is interesting that OG Doom is so much more enduring than Wolfenstein 3D or even Quake. Some days, you just don't want to have to reload ever.

It’s simple, engaging and has a very passionate and active modding community.

 

[Just Here for A and H]

It's hard for me to rank the first three games. I think the second one improved a lot on the first, with more side quests and mini-games.

I liked the first the most due to the lack of mini-games and side-quests. It's like flying and running around an old prog rock album cover (a concept I'm surprised hasn't been visited in more depth since to be honest). I understand that 2 and 3 just being more platforming and gem collecting and nothing else would probably get boring to most, however.

 

[Kane Lives]

I mostly play old games and I think of games that somehow "used to be good" (but aren't now) as being more the exception.


It is interesting that OG Doom is so much more enduring than Wolfenstein 3D or even Quake. Some days, you just don't want to have to reload ever.

OG Doom has a couple of things going for it.
1) The 2.5D engine helped it escape the uncanny 3D hell that post-Doom FPSes had. Quake is the first truly 3D engine and it showed massively. Everything from the crude architecture to the blocky 3D models looks incredibly dated. By contrast, Doom was naturally unrealistic, with the whole cartoony aesthetic that allowed you to suspend disbelief much more. Also, the Doom sprites aged much better. (I am of the opinion almost all sprite-based games aged much better than their later counterpart.)

2) Doom had just enough variety of weapons and monsters to keep things fresh, without being overwhelming. And mixing and matching them continues to provide a challenge to this day.

3) The modding community was much more robust than either Quake's or Wolf 3D due to sheer ease of swapping in PWADs. To this day, I don't think any other game replicated this, with the exception of Half-Life and their innumerable goldsrc mods, and Warcraft III TFT with similar custom map shenanigans. It's telling that these two are also very much enduring to this day as well.

 

[Cavalier Cipolla]

tbh, I dislike the idea that a game can age well or badly, if you enjoyed it back then the game is still the same, so you should be able to enjoy it the same if your taste is the same.
I get what people mean, but a game's pros and cons will always be the same no matter how old it is

Well, I guess it depends on the definition. Gameplay wise, there is little to no difference in the enjoyability over time, unless, maybe, it's a first of a kind type of game. Graphics and audio, though, is a different story. Some games will age better, some worse. Games that strive to be realistic age the worst.

 

[The Penultimate Warrior]

OG Doom has a couple of things going for it.
1) The 2.5D engine helped it escape the uncanny 3D hell that post-Doom FPSes had. Quake is the first truly 3D engine and it showed massively. Everything from the crude architecture to the blocky 3D models looks incredibly dated. By contrast, Doom was naturally unrealistic, with the whole cartoony aesthetic that allowed you to suspend disbelief much more. Also, the Doom sprites aged much better. (I am of the opinion almost all sprite-based games aged much better than their later counterpart.)

2) Doom had just enough variety of weapons and monsters to keep things fresh, without being overwhelming. And mixing and matching them continues to provide a challenge to this day.

3) The modding community was much more robust than either Quake's or Wolf 3D due to sheer ease of swapping in PWADs. To this day, I don't think any other game replicated this, with the exception of Half-Life and their innumerable goldsrc mods, and Warcraft III TFT with similar custom map shenanigans. It's telling that these two are also very much enduring to this day as well.

Doom's slight damage RNG and monster infighting also helps by adding that unexpected edge to every battle. In Wolf 3D almost every enemy was hitscan in lots of narrow corridors, so the only real tactic to avoid damage was hide behind a corner and kill them one at a time as they walk round, which gets old pretty fast.

 

[L50LasPak]

Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge is still one of the most fun and easiest to pick up flight sim games ever put together. It has some flaws for sure, but nothing about the game dates it to its era. Its still a standout title for the OG Xbox, and in general I have yet to meet anyone who has a negative opinion on it. PC nerds might whine about the lack of customization that the orignal Windows gmae had to offer, but that game is extremely complex and time-consuming to get the hang of. High Road is intutive, and offers you a lot of control over your plane. Even with the tiny amount of maps available for its multiplayer, I still find new or interesting ways to use the terrain to my advantage and pull tricks with how the planes fly.

The two point and click Star Trek games made by Interplay, 25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites, seem like they should have aged given the era they were made in. I replayed both recently and food that their primitive graphics really align with TOS's 60s SF look. It just feels right. Even people who have never seen the show can instantly recognize the differences between characters and pieces of technology. On top of that, neither game features many of the pixel hunting or insane puzzles that were common for adventure games of the era. If you get stuck, 90% of the time you can figure out what to do next by just scanning everything with the tricorder, or talking to the other people in your party.

This is a weird one that's kind of a reach but FTL Faster Than Light, almost exclusively because of its nature as one of the first Kickstarter babies that put the platform on the map. A lot of Kickstart projects that have come and gone since have been all over the place, but FTL is still a tight game that lives up to what it promised. It didn't become overcomplicated or bogged down with extra mechanics and classes. Also for a roguelike its somewhat difficult but nowhere near as punishing as say, Darkest Dungeon ended up being. This isn't to say that there are no other Kickstarter success stories or that everything else failed to live up to its promises in some way, just that FTL nailed what it was going for without getting stuck in Early Access forever or becoming a novelty that you had no reason to ever go back to once you beat it the first time.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

a lot of GBA and SNES games kinda aged well.

The Minish Cap has got to be one of the Zelda games that you just don't see enough people talk about.

 

[verissimus]

Jeez, no love of Oot around these parts. Is it too late to change my post to Goldeneye instead? Sank plenty of hours into multiplayer with that game. Actually taled about firing it up again someday soon with a group of friends.

It's not because I don't love the game, it's just that I wouldn't say it aged well, that's all.

That said, I could probably say that about a lot of the choices you guys listed here except Resident 4 and Resident Evil remake. Those two look and play very well. Ocarina of Time on the other hand plays well, but...come on. The polygons make it look dated.

Hmm...no one added Super Metroid or Donkey Kong Country. I'd say they hold up very well as far as side-scrollers go. I suppose you could include Symphony of the Night as well minus some of the cutscenes. The music certainly holds up. That's for sure.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

A Link to the Past aged very well, it's still very playable and feel largely modern from a game design perspective. The world still feels pleasant, mysterious and alive. It's intuitive enough that even a new player wouldn't need a guide to finish without getting frustrated.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

It's not because I don't love the game, it's just that I wouldn't say it aged well, that's all.

That said, I could probably say that about a lot of the choices you guys listed here except Resident 4 and Resident Evil remake. Those two look and play very well. Ocarina of Time on the other hand plays well, but...come on. The polygons make it look dated.

Hmm...no one added Super Metroid or Donkey Kong Country. I'd say they hold up very well as far as side-scrollers go. I suppose you could include Symphony of the Night as well minus some of the cutscenes. The music certainly holds up. That's for sure.

Super Metroid and Symphony of the night hold up incredibly well. As for DK Country, I think the graphics have aged a little but the games hold their own.

another name I can think of tossing into this pit are the Fire Emblem games for the gameboy advance. they've held up decently.

 

[Lee Crabb]

I think Rise of Nations is still a beautiful game almost 20 years after release.

 

[Jason Wynn]

Thief 2: The Metal Age. The graphics are a bit dated but I still think this is the best stealth game ever released.

 

[Punished “Venom” pH]

Virtua Racing is incredible, if you own a Switch you’re missing out if you haven’t picked it up from the eShop. But every version is fun &playable, even the 32X/Genesis ports play reasonably well. The menu music of the 32X port in particular is excellent and some of the best sound anyone ever produced on that console.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

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Virtua Racing is incredible, if you own a Switch you’re missing out if you haven’t picked it up from the eShop. But every version is fun &playable, even the 32X/Genesis ports play reasonably well. The menu music of the 32X port in particular is excellent and some of the best sound anyone ever produced on that console.

I just love the graphics of Virtua Racing. It's still so beautiful.

 

[Shamino]

Thief 2: The Metal Age. The graphics are a bit dated but I still think this is the best stealth game ever released.

Not only thief, almost any game from Looking Glass aged well, really.

Also Piranha bytes Gothic games. In an industry era where openworlds are all the rage, the first Gothic is quite seamless and immersive. Swordplay-wise has its share of eurojank, yet still more compelling than most ARPGs I've played.