I’m trying my best to dive back into the past and play all the gems that I missed as a kid because I was either born too late or too much of a kid to consider playing them. I found myself really disappointed going back to the old mario nes/snes titles because they felt really bad to play as I’ve become accustomed to modern platformer design sensibilities (like coyote time and responsive movement).

Are there any oldies+goldies that have stood up to the test of time and not shown their age in the same way? Or are so good that they’re worth playing despite showing their age? Preferably avoiding racing, sports, and final fantasy-esque titles. Not really interested in anything more recent than PS2 era either.

I already have Earthbound in my sights as it isn’t one I’ve played before but it comes highly recommended.

  • Chloyster [she/her]M
    6•4 months ago

    I’ll list off some of the older titles on my faves list

    • Earthbound is on there, so glad you got that one :)
    • Mother 3 (GBA)
    • Mario and Luigi superstar saga (GBA)
    • Super Mario World (SNES)
    • Super Metroid, zero mission, fusion (SNES and GBA)
    • Myst (lots of platforms these days but originally pc)
    • Resident evil 1-4 (ps1-2)
    • Kirby superstar (SNES) / Kirby superstar ultra (DS)
    • Silent Hill 1-4 (ps1-2)

    I’m def missing some here. I would argue not all of these have necessarily stood the test of time if we look at it from a modern sensibility lens. Particularly resident evil 1-3 and silent hill 1 can be a bit difficult to play if you can’t get used to tank controls. And Myst can be a bit esoteric, especially the older versions.

    Besides that though I really do think these have all stood the test of time. I would like to particularly shout out the original re4. Despite having a recent remake that I adore potentially more than the original, the original is still so good even to this day. It is wild to me how well it still feels to play

    • apotheotic (she/her)OPEnglish
      3•4 months ago
      • Is there any merit to getting a hold of mother 1 and playing that before earthbound/mother 2 and mother 3?
      • I hadn’t even heard of this one somehow, lol. I’ll check it out.
      • Ugh, super mario world is sadly one of the ones whose platforming I can’t stand :( It has so much going for it but I just can’t handle the floaty platforming
      • noted, noted, and noted.
      • I’ve played the first Myst game and I’m like halfish way through Riven with my sister. They’re awesome when they’re good but some of the puzzles are more frustrating than difficult (maybe it would be better if I was playing one of the more recent remakes?). One thing they’re incredible for is atmosphere, I struggle to think of any game that feels this way.
      • I played resident evil 4 back in the day and it was okay but I think that this style of game just isn’t my cup of tea (even if we ignore awful tank controls and shit from the earlier titles).
      • someone else recommended kirby’s adventure, so I guess I’ll add these two to the backlog too!
      • I look at silent hill and I’m in love with the atmosphere, I have been for ages and I’ve tried to stay spoiler free in case I one day play them. Are they more combat focused or is it closer to being a puzzle game almost? I could see myself really enjoying them if most encounters are mostly a case of figuring out how to progress past/through some group of enemies or something, rather than just scavenging enough ammunition to keep up with being forced to pew pew some baddies.
      • Chloyster [she/her]M
        1•4 months ago

        You could play mother 1 for sure if it interests you, although it’s aged the worst out of the 3 in my opinion.

        Sad about Mario world :( I find it to be one of the least floaty Mario games, partially due to a mechanic in the game that isn’t present on many others where the speed of your fall is controlled by holding the jump button (many games have variable height by holding the jump button, but few have it so the speed of the fall down is controllable)

        As for silent hill I’d argue that they could be seen as more puzzley. There are bosses and enemies of course, but it’s not usually a constant enemy fest. In silent hill 2 (and maybe 3 I can’t quite remember) there are separate combat and puzzle difficulty settings, so you can set easy combat and hard puzzles. Of the original silent hills id recommend silent hill 2 the most. You don’t need to play any others to get it, it’s a self contained story.

        • apotheotic (she/her)OPEnglish
          1•4 months ago

          If it has aged poorly and isn’t really necessary to enjoy the others, I’ll give it a miss.

          As far as I’m aware, slowfall by holding the jump button is present as far back as SMB1 on the NES (although almost imperceptibly). SMW is definitely waaaaay better than SMB1, lost levels and doki doki panic/SMB2 but it’s still not responsive enough for my modern sensibilities :( As I say, it has so much going for it but the character controller at the core of all the gameplay I just can’t get along with :/

          Neat, nice to hear that it’s not reeeeaally combat focused. I’m down for combat but from a game like that it’s just not what I’m there for.

          I’ve just noticed, is your display picture Hornet holding a trans flag? That’s awesome

    • memfreeEnglish
      1•4 months ago

      Myst can be a bit esoteric, especially the older versions.

      Did they rewrite it in later ports? Also curious as to where you stand on Zork.

      • Chloyster [she/her]M
        3•4 months ago

        No it’s not rewritten. Mainly I just think the pre rendered picture movement of the original can be harder to explore and piece things together than the fully 3d environment of the remakes.

        As for Zork, I only played a very small amount for a school assignment lol. I considered it esoteric in a way I feel all text adventures are, but I really don’t have enough experience to say.