Timeless games that still hold up today?

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evilnick:

--- Quote from: turf on October 09, 2014, 09:32:46 am ---
--- Quote from: evilnick on October 09, 2014, 09:20:39 am ---
--- Quote from: atarileaf on October 09, 2014, 07:12:02 am ---Lots of the 2600 library is still eminently playable today. Games don't have to be "modernish" to hold up well. A good game is a good game from any period. Someone mentioned chess. Sure not a video game but the thread title didn't specify video games so technically an excellent answer to the question.

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I said "modernness."

To an eye looking back, some of these games can feel very modern in setting, style, and set-up. For instance, one of the DnD games on the Intellivision is a first-person dungeon crawler with surprisingly modern elements, all from an era where 3-D movement didn't really exist.

The most important part, I think, is control. If the game controls in a way that a modern gamer will instantly recognize and be able to adapt to, it feels as though it could be a modern game--that's timeless, that "ages" well because, in a large part, it may get older, but it doesn't actually age.

I mentioned Galaga because it still feels fresh and modern--shmups prior to Galaga feel dated and archaic. Space Invaders is slow and clunky. Galaxian is just slow. But Galaga nailed the speed of attacks, the intensity of the gameplay, and the smooth, solid controls.

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I don't think its the modern feel. I just think fun is fun is fun. If you have fun with a game, it's a good game. If a game is amazing because of some technical advancement, the fun may not be there when the shiny new wears off.

That's just my 2 cents. That's why Galaga, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros. are all still fun.

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I say "modern" referring to how game design evolves. Some things are no longer really acceptable--like random deaths, or trial-and-error gaming, or chunky controls. "Modern" game design requires a certain level of smoothness and precision in general game controls, modern game design tends to educate the player without resorting to bad trial-and-error gameplay concepts, and the like.

Granted, there are a lot of modern games that fail at this, and they tend to be viewed thusly.

Galaga's gameplay largely still feels modern, or could work in a new, contemporary game.

Galaga feels like any other modern, well-respected, easily playable shmup. It's play, it's flow, it's control. Essentially, Galaga was the first modern shmup, in my opinion. That's why it still holds up today. Control-wise, having gimmicks, and a weapon upgrade--these things add to it. Granted, weapon upgrades in shmups have grown and changed and the like through the years, so the way Galaga does it's upgrade is archaic, but that it feels like an Easter Egg probably helps it.

I agree that a fun game is still fun, but I'm going into the why of that, because that is extremely interesting to me. It's something I've thought about a lot, analyzed a lot. Why is such-and-such game still so relevant, still so fresh and/or playable, while such-and-such from fifteen years later feels so old and dated?

A great way to see examine this is to compare Galaga to Galaxian. Galaxian has aged horribly, and feels like a bizarre stop-gap between Space Invaders and Galaga, which it is. I could, for example (personally) go from Ikaruga to Galaga, and be able to transition well and find the experience still totally relevant. Going from Ikaruga to Galaxian is not so smooth. It's aged poorly.

evilnick:

--- Quote from: maximo310 on October 09, 2014, 11:14:02 am ---
--- Quote from: dreama1 on October 09, 2014, 10:52:23 am ---
--- Quote from: maximo310 on October 08, 2014, 11:35:05 pm ---Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi's Island, A Link to the Past, Daytona USA(arcade version), Street Fighter II, Final Fantasy 6 or 7, Chrono Trigger, and Castlevania :Symphony of the Night

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The baby is annoying dude you put it above super mario world?

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The baby noise is not too bad, I think it adds to the game. Beside the slightly minor flaw, everything else in that game is great, and it looks and plays wonderfully as well. So far none of its sequels have even come close to this masterpiece.

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I read an article online once about how Yoshi's Island (SMW2) is such a perfect game that it should be used in game design classes.

badATchaos:
Big Rigs 8)

turf:

--- Quote from: evilnick on October 09, 2014, 11:45:29 am ---
I agree that a fun game is still fun, but I'm going into the why of that, because that is extremely interesting to me. It's something I've thought about a lot, analyzed a lot. Why is such-and-such game still so relevant, still so fresh and/or playable, while such-and-such from fifteen years later feels so old and dated?

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That's a good question. If you figure that out, you'll be a rich man.

I don't really think there is a formula for fun. It's a combination of all the pieces of the game meshing with the wants and expectations of the player.

Why do I think Super Mario Bros is fun? I don't know. I just like it.

burningdoom:
Regarding playing Atari games today:

As a person who infinitely appreciates retro stuff, and as a long time gamer I can confidently say that Atari games DO NOT hold up well if you weren't there at the time. I wasn't there at the time. But I bought an Atari 2600 and a bunch of games because I am interested in the history of video games. But no matter how hard I try to like them, those utterly simplistic games just can't hold my attention for more than like 15-20 minutes at a time.

And it's not a graphics thing, it's a gameplay thing. The gameplay is so simplistic and repetitive, that it gets boring very quickly for me. The sound doesn't help things much, either. Sound isn't a make a break thing on a console, but dang there are some unholy sounds that come out of that machine.

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