Remember the good days of gaming?

[Dogy]

Don't you just remember those good days of gaming? When original titles FLOWED out consistently, and there was no dumbed down junk or re-hashes? I do.

I'm referring to the '90s of gaming. The decade which HL1, Deus Ex 1 (Yes, released in '00, but I'm keeping it here), Doom 1 & 2, Wolfenstein 3D, Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario 64, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark (Again, released in '00), FF7 and FF8, System Shock 1 & 2, StarCraft, Diablo 1 & 2, Quake 1 & 2, Age of Empires 1 & 2, WarCraft 1 & 2, Soul Calibur, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Grim Fandango, Duke Nukem 3D, EQ1, Star Fox 64, Super Mario World, Resident Evil 1, Jet Force Gemini, Unreal, Elder Scrolls: Redguard, Soul Reaver 1, Blood Omen 1, and many many others.

And now, look at today. Graphics whores ahoy! UE3, PS3, X360, all posing with amazing graphics.However, where is the core? The core, is the STORY. Every great impact that was made on the gaming industry was from it's story.

The only worthy games that sticks to the roots of the story, is Shenmue 1 & 2.


And now I ask the gaming industry, where are the stories?

[avatar_58]

Remember? Don't be naive...I still live those days http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I play my oldies whenever I can. I also sometimes look up older games (such as deus ex) which I have never played due to various reasons....sometimes just because I didn't hear about it during its time, and play them without judgement passed to their graphics/age. Games are eternal in my eyes...they don't magically "suck" for me. If I found the game to be good durings its day then its just as good today.

I don't have much difficulty getting into older games I haven't played...I just remind myself of the other games during its time to judge it. I haven't ever played System Shock and I hear such good things....I would have no trouble getting used to whatever it looks like http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

But the age you refer to seems to be when some of my colleagues (classic gamers) consider a falling out with games. The real classics are very early 90's. Myself? I like games of all the ages including the one you mentioned. However play the NES, SNES and very early dos ages to get a true feeling of "the good old days". I'm a bit of a sierra online fanboy and I have to go back to play the old adventures every once in awhile. I can finish them without batting an eye and yet they are still fun....

See, here is what I guess: People love the age in which they grew up in. To me the NES and very early dos age are the "golden" age. To kids of today it will be the PS2/Xbox/GC age. For tomorrow it will be the Xbox360 and PS3 that teens will say "Remember the good old days?" and laugh at the PS5 and Xbox 1024. Thats what I think.

The best thing to do is keep an open mind. You have to remember, games are for fun. If you are having fun then thats all that matters.

[Syph]

Seems to me that there are repeating golden ages of gaming. And they seem to come at the end of a console or certain technology's lifespan, when like you said, the "Graphic whoring" stops and people can still make the pretty games, but they start to want gameplay along with it.

[Phayzon]

Dont forget that great year, 1994, release year of my ALL TIME favorite game.... Super Metroid http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif Which i now can only play as a ROM, my SNES will RIP... Roms arent as good..

[Dogy]

avatar_58 said:


But the age you refer to seems to be when some of my colleagues (classic gamers) consider a falling out with games. The real classics are very early 90's. Myself? I like games of all the ages including the one you mentioned. However play the NES, SNES and very early dos ages to get a true feeling of "the good old days". I'm a bit of a sierra online fanboy and I have to go back to play the old adventures every once in awhile. I can finish them without batting an eye and yet they are still fun....




I just said all of the big names from that era. I'm referring to the ENTIRE 90's decade. '90 to 99.

[8IronBob]

Oh yeah, as a matter of fact, I'm even gonna try bringing back some 80s-style gaming with Visual Basic one day. May be tough, but VB6 is BASIC nonetheless, and that's where I learned to make some old "Atari-style" games. It should be good to be old school about gaming. If I had a choice, I'd pick up one of those "Plug-and-Play" gaming devices (those ones for $20, you know which ones I mean), and plug that into a big screen TV, and there you go, instant classic gaming at its best.

[avatar_58]

Dogy said:
I just said all of the big names from that era. I'm referring to the ENTIRE 90's decade. '90 to 99.



Yeah, but to many (even myself) the golden era ended mid way through the ninties. Not to say that games aren't good after that...but they aren't "as good". However like I said its a matter of nostalgia too. What one might consider a "remake and a rehash" another person might cherish it as a good game. It all depends on what you played before it.

[Phayzon]

8IronBob said:
Oh yeah, as a matter of fact, I'm even gonna try bringing back some 80s-style gaming with Visual Basic one day. May be tough, but VB6 is BASIC nonetheless, and that's where I learned to make some old "Atari-style" games. It should be good to be old school about gaming. If I had a choice, I'd pick up one of those "Plug-and-Play" gaming devices (those ones for $20, you know which ones I mean), and plug that into a big screen TV, and there you go, instant classic gaming at its best.



Like the Atari Flashback? My dad bought us one.

[avatar_58]

I was going to get one...but I wish they came with better games. Games like pc-man and frogger come seperately...while other atari games come with the atari official one. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I hate copyright issues....they should quit money grubbing and make an atari one that has all the popular classics..instead of having seperate units.

[Night Hacker]

Screw the 90's, I still remember the 80's! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

One game that really wow'd me was battlezone... just the idea of driving around a mysterious 3D landscape (such as it was) was great. Lunar Lander was another that I really loved (something about those vector graphics I guess, heh).

Starflight was a really good game with an excellent ending. This was an ending that made me say "oh shit!" at the end of it, I was so surprised.

A game that had a nice storyline from the 90's that I really liked was Wings, I had it for my Amiga and the music, storyline etc... were great.

[Mountain Man]

Dogy said:
Don't you just remember those good days of gaming?


Don't be so cynical. Those days are still here. The problem is, you've just gotten jaded. As Billy Joel once sang, "The good ol' days weren't always good, and tomorrow's not as bad as it seems."

[laffer]

Wings was awesome! In fact, most if not all Cinemaware games were. Defender of The Crown, It Came from the Desert 1&2, Wings... all great.

Also, the Last Ninja series deserves to mentioned. Very good isometric action/puzzle games.

Also most old Sierra and Lucasarts Adventure games, dating back as far as 1984 (Kings Quest 1) are absolutely fantastic.

And Supercars II, one of the racers I have enjoyed the most. It kinda reminds me of Death Rally.

North & South was a very cool two player game as well.

There are just too many to mention http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[dreweth]

Mountain Man said:

Dogy said:
Don't you just remember those good days of gaming?


Don't be so cynical. Those days are still here. The problem is, you've just gotten jaded. As Billy Joel once sang, "The good ol' days weren't always good, and tomorrow's not as bad as it seems."



I second that emotion. I'm just starting Beyond Good and Evil on ps2 (2003), about to restart Shenmue 2 (2000-03), and Indigo Prophecy is coming out this month, and it's damn near an interactive movie. Really, though.

Lemme see....Warcraft 3. Oh snap, Half-Life 2! Look, Nolf 2! Lesse, Tron 2.0. Hell, make your own stories in the Sims 2! Freelancer! Divine Divinity! Whoa, Call of Duty, Max Payne 1 & 2, Mafia!

Adventure! Syberia! Zelda: Wind Waker! Jak and Daxter 1, 2, 3! Price of Persia: Sands of Time!

Role play that thang! KOTOR! Jade Empire!

Action Stories? Splinter Cell 1, 2, 3! Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3!

Off the top of my head! The last 5 years of gaming have been incredible!

And you have a short memory if you don't remember the ectasy and agony over graphics from the games you mentioned alone! You think hardware has just started changing?

Stop looking through rose-colored glasses at the past; or if you do, admit that you will do the same to the current gen 5 years from now.

[Mountain Man]

I still break out my Commodore 64 emulator on occasion and play the games I used to enjoy playing over 20 years ago. When a game made in 1984 is still entertaining today, it's proof that good gameplay never goes obsolete.

[laffer]

I was always a little bit frustrated by that level, it didn't seem to make "sense", like I tried to map it once but I gave up.
Just just finished that game over again like 2 weeks ago btw http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Mountain Man]

This site will bring back a lot of fond memories:

www.lemon64.com (http://www.lemon64.com)

[avatar_58]

dreweth said:
Stop looking through rose-colored glasses at the past; or if you do, admit that you will do the same to the current gen 5 years from now.



Thats exactly my point, people tend to glorify things (games included) from their past and hate anything thats "new" and wierd to them. The truth is that games have barely changed at all....a bunch of nice graphics along with some gameplay.

The same thing happens with movies, fashion, music....you name it.


Hey, if you want a lesson...look at MM's sig! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Its fits quite well.

[Destroyer]

yup, i miss those games, nowdays games are more about graphics rather then gameplay.

[Geo-King]

I don’t know if someone already said this but the kids growing up today are going to say the same things about today’s games. It’s a cycle. Don’t believe the Hype.

[Tang Lung]

IMO, the reason games arnet as good anymore is due to our wild expectations and the fact gamers are completely spoiled these days. New games have tons and tons of stuff..but we're so desperatly clinging onto the old days that we can never enjoy new games as much as old ones. I'd say it was just a natural thing.

I dont particuarly agree with story having a huge impact in certain games though..particuarly FPS. I got incredibly bored of HL2 because the story (which was boring as hell) was forced on me. Same with nearly every other FPS out today. The only games I've played where the story is the center point are the japanese classics, like FFVII, Shenmue, MGS etc

[8IronBob]

I remember the old days of TI-99/4A, playing Parsec, TI Invaders, Moon Mine, and The Attack. Man, oh man, what games those were back in the day. I remember even programming my own awesome games for that (wish that duplicating some of those games these days in VB6 would be easy). The NES and SNES were twice as awesome, I do admit. No better decade than the 80s when it came to the best games of the day. The 90s is when gaming peaked with the best FPS games around, but now, the gaming industry's falling apart, bigtime. There's no telling how far anyone'll go this day in age.

[Gatinater]

SEE!! I'm not crazy! Someone else not only knows what a TI99 is, but also had and or played one.

The original is always best.

The 90s was a time of console and video game hardware revival. That was during a time of inspiration. Interactive light gun games, first person shooters, more interactive adventure games. Since then the graphics have been getting better, but the games haven't. It has been largely nothing but friday night first person shooters for the past decade.

[8IronBob]

Gatinater said:
SEE!! I'm not crazy! Someone else not only knows what a TI99 is, but also had and or played one.



Hey, calm down, calm down, take it easy, Gat!

There's a nice TI-99 emulator called M.E.S.S. out there, and that would certainly bring back some history. It did me justice, I'm about to go d/l it again. Man, I love doing stuff with that.

[ADM]

Mountain Man said:
I still break out my Commodore 64 emulator on occasion and play the games I used to enjoy playing over 20 years ago. When a game made in 1984 is still entertaining today, it's proof that good gameplay never goes obsolete.



http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif Last Ninja http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif

I loved my Commodore 64.. loved games like Decathalon (screwed up soo many joypads because of that game hah), Frogger, River Raid, Labrinyth, Wonderboy and of course Last Ninja.

Labrinyth was hard.. I never could finish that game.. I got stuck and there didn't seem like there was any way past one point in it. I forget the exact point, possibly the talking heads on the door.

In any case THIS was the good ol' days.

Same with the Atari with Running Man game http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

EDIT:

OH AND BUBBLE BOBBLE! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif

[Wamplet]

I think there are just more games out there and more of them are just crap. There seem to be just as many good ones as before, though.

[Fraeon Waser Duhni]

Dogy said:
I'm referring to the '90s of gaming. The decade which HL1, Deus Ex 1 (Yes, released in '00, but I'm keeping it here), Doom 1 & 2, Wolfenstein 3D, Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario 64, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark (Again, released in '00), FF7 and FF8, System Shock 1 & 2, StarCraft, Diablo 1 & 2, Quake 1 & 2, Age of Empires 1 & 2, WarCraft 1 & 2, Soul Calibur, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Grim Fandango, Duke Nukem 3D, EQ1, Star Fox 64, Super Mario World, Resident Evil 1, Jet Force Gemini, Unreal, Elder Scrolls: Redguard, Soul Reaver 1, Blood Omen 1, and many many others.

And now, look at today. Graphics whores ahoy! UE3, PS3, X360, all posing with amazing graphics.However, where is the core? The core, is the STORY. Every great impact that was made on the gaming industry was from it's story.

The only worthy games that sticks to the roots of the story, is Shenmue 1 & 2.


And now I ask the gaming industry, where are the stories?



Okay, so tell me...

Does Doom have a story worthy of mentioning? Wolfenstein 3D? Unreal? Mario 64? Duke Nukem 3D? Age of Empires? Quake 1 and 2? Goldeneye? Super Mario World? Soul Calibur? Since when did these games have good stories? Redguard had a great story from what I heard, but the game that contained it was so abysmal that it wasn't worth the time. Why is it that half of your list are sequels? EQ might've had a story, but it wasn't worth the time you put into it. Grind grind grind.

FF8 is on the list of great stories? Its story wasn't even half-way plausible. It was lengthy, yes, but so was FF1 and that didn't have much of a story to it. I wouldn't even put FF7 there, to be honest(horrible English ahoy!).



Stop looking through rose-colored glasses at the past; or if you do, admit that you will do the same to the current gen 5 years from now.




I agree with this.

Now I'm not saying the games of the past were BAD. Super Mario World is still one of my favourite games since it's still one of the most sophisticated 2D platformers out there. SMW2, same. Some really good stuff back then and I've yet to play Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, which my big bro keeps touting. Still, Guild Wars, Half-Life 2, Beyond Good & Evil, Morrowind, Freelancer. There's been enough great games this millenium too, at least in my opinion. But then again, I don't go buying games every darn month.

And -100 points for not mentioning the reigning king of game plots...Planescape: Torment. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I went through this way of thinking myself...I used to think myself it was the games, but it really wasn't. But a bit of a break from all that fun was needed for me to realize that games still were fun. Well, worked for me anyways. Don't know about you people.

[Thriller]

I dont agree when people say games are as good as ever. For me its not nostalgic reasons.. I did/do like games from the 90´s better. A few exceptions of course, but as a whole.

Maybe its because im an FPS/Adventure/RPG gamer. What FPS is concidered ground breaking today? HL2? Its a well made game but nothing new at all. I coudnt even help myself to finish it. I like HL better in every way, but the main difference is that HL1 brought something new to the table. RPG´s had their golden era in the 90´s (even though you´ll find good RPG´s erlier then that), and adventure games pretty much died 2000.

Two genres that seems to shine this era is MMO and RTS. The problem is, I dont like either.

[Mountain Man]

ADM said:
I loved my Commodore 64.. loved games like Decathalon (screwed up soo many joypads because of that game hah), Frogger, River Raid, Labrinyth, Wonderboy and of course Last Ninja.


My all-time favorite C64 game was probably Airborne Ranger. The graphics were somewhat crude even for the 64, but it had amazing gameplay (it did stealth way before Thief or Splinter Cell) that's still a lot of fun today.

[Beelze]

I remember the good old days like it was yesterday, and it was.

Of course, things can get better still, but I wouldn't say things have gotten worse. However, I pity those that constantly look for ground-breaking experiences. Of course, I seek well-told stories, which surely makes me the subject of pity for many others.

[Night Hacker]

I actually have two CDs full of nothing but C64 games (that's ALOT of C64 games!!!)

One of my favorites (and the first floppy disk I ever bought after buying my 1541) is The Ultimate Wizard (VERY similar to Jumpman). It was the first game I ever played that came with a built in level editor. I spent hours playing this game and have considered creating my own version of it.

[Joe Siegler]

And now I ask the gaming industry, where are the stories?



Hidden behind $. As gaming gets more and more bigger and popular, the $ put into them by large comapnies is demanded to be repaid, hence less "chances" taken on original IPs.

[Dr. Kill]

I love classic games. Very rarely do I find new games that can even compare. Late 80's/Early 90's arcade games are probably my favs, but I'm also a huge fan of the 16 bit era of console games.

[Otto von Keisinger]

dreweth said:
And you have a short memory if you don't remember the ectasy and agony over graphics from the games you mentioned alone! You think hardware has just started changing?

Stop looking through rose-colored glasses at the past; or if you do, admit that you will do the same to the current gen 5 years from now.


When I played Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, I didn't feel as though the original Prince of Persia was so much better, although it did give me the sudden urge to replay it.

I may get nostalgic, but I never think that new games are so much worse because of it.

Perhaps the one exception to this is the Action-Horror genre: everything that falls into that category just never seems to compare to System Shock 2 and Undying (with the exception of The Suffering). Unfortunately, this isn't just blind nostalgia; nobody takes this category seriously anymore, except for Monolith and Midway. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif


Joe3DR said:

And now I ask the gaming industry, where are the stories?



Hidden behind $. As gaming gets more and more bigger and popular, the $ put into them by large comapnies is demanded to be repaid, hence less "chances" taken on original IPs.


Too true. Too true. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[laffer]

http://lastninja.lemon64.com/

The best Last Ninja page out there. If you like the games, you'll love that page.

[Soilwork]

Weren't you born in '91 Dogy?

http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Odin]

Soilwork said:
Weren't you born in '91 Dogy?

http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif



I was born in '91, and I still remember the age of gaming. I was born right into it, and although some of the games were older than me, I still played them through and loved them.

[Soilwork]

Odin said:

Soilwork said:
Weren't you born in '91 Dogy?

http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif



I was born in '91, and I still remember the age of gaming. I was born right into it, and although some of the games were older than me, I still played them through and loved them.



Alright, what games do you remember?

[Odin]

Soilwork said:

Odin said:

Soilwork said:
Weren't you born in '91 Dogy?

http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif



I was born in '91, and I still remember the age of gaming. I was born right into it, and although some of the games were older than me, I still played them through and loved them.



Alright, what games do you remember?



Commander Keen, Jazz Jackrabbit, Tyrian, Descent, Doom, Duke Nukem, OMF 2097, you know. The classics.

[8IronBob]

Well, I was born the same year Pac-Man became popular (which was late in 1980, if I'm not mistaken). Having said that, the TI-99/4A was big during the early 80s, as was the Commodore 64. However, my first true PC came about 10 years after TI-99/4A came out. It was also the time I went to an NES and SNES for the first time. Man, oh man, those were the days. I always loved those games on NES with the zapper gun, those days won't be forgotten. I believe I had that power pad thingy, too with that Track Meet game. Although Nintendo did make some good consoles back in the 80s and 90s, I only wish that Sega and Atari would've made themselves better consoles. The Jaguar would've been a good console with days like these (128-bit, you can't beat that). Sega put up a good fight with the PSX and N64 with that Dreamcast. I can see where the video game console industry's going.