What games have aged best and worst?

[StaceyPowers]

Are there games which seemed amazing when you first played them, but which today you don’t feel have aged particularly well? And are there games which by contrast still seem incredible today, even if they do feel a bit dated?

[The Blackangel]

To me, as a genre, fighting games haven't aged particularly well. In the beginning they were great. But over the years they've lost that charm. 30 characters with the same tired moves, over and over and over. It was old when it was new after 3 sequels. Don't get me wrong, I have several. But they're all on SNES, the era when the genre was introduced on home consoles. But after that, it just went south.

A specific game would probably be a tie between Dr. Mario and Marble Madness. Amazing games when they came out. Everyone wanted them, and anyone who had them was instantly the most popular kid in school. Nowadays, few remember Dr. Mario, and I could probably count the number of people who even know of Marble Madness on one hand at this point. They didn't age well.

A game that did age well to me will always be my all time favorite. Blaster Master. I can play it dawn to dusk day in, day out. It has only gotten better over the years.

A series that has aged extremely well is obviously The Legend Of Zelda. No explanation needed.

[Family sedan]

I feel like Gran Tourismo games age well.

[DylanC]

Really interesting topic @StaceyPowers! I find that 2D games like Super Mario, Super Metroid, Castlevania etc. have all aged incredibly well. I think that 2D games of this ilk will likely forever have an audience/appeal. They're just timeless, you know. 

On the other hand, 3D games from the PS1 era have aged arguably the worst. OG Silent Hill and Resident Evil look and play like relics from on older past (not saying you can't have fun with them - I'm still very fond of those games). They just seem clunkier when looked at through a modern lens. And I guess that's why they may be getting the remake treatments that they're getting, i.e. with Resident Evil with last year's excellent Resident Evil 2 remake and this year's Resident Evil 3 remake. And hopefully a remake of Silent Hill (which is rumoured to be in the works too).

[The Blackangel]

1 hour ago, DylanC said:

Really interesting topic @StaceyPowers! I find that 2D games like Super Mario, Super Metroid, Castlevania etc. have all aged incredibly well. I think that 2D games of this ilk will likely forever have an audience/appeal. They're just timeless, you know. 

On the other hand, 3D games from the PS1 era have aged arguably the worst. OG Silent Hill and Resident Evil look and play like relics from on older past (not saying you can't have fun with them - I'm still very fond of those games). They just seem clunkier when looked at through a modern lens. And I guess that's why they may be getting the remake treatments that they're getting, i.e. with Resident Evil with last year's excellent Resident Evil 2 remake and this year's Resident Evil 3 remake. And hopefully a remake of Silent Hill (which is rumoured to be in the works too).

I was thinking of mentioning SMB and Castlevania, but only wanted to pick one franchise for my post. And of the 3, The Legend Of Zelda means the most to me. I think I mentioned before that, if it wasn't for Zelda on NES, I probably wouldn't be a gamer today.

But either way, SMB is the biggest franchise that I'm aware of, and from it's humble roots to todays market, no game has aged anywhere near as well.

Castlevania hasn't faded away, and certainly never will. But I honestly think nothing will ever be able to touch SMB. Nintendo really hit it out of the ball park with that one.

I was never the biggest fan of RE or SH, so I can't comment on them.

[skyfire]

Not sure if we can say aged well or improved well but resident evil back then vs now and the Doom old vs new release. I see a lot of matured graphics along with something new to play with. 

[ARx182]

I can relate to this topic - I purchased the remake of Star Wars Battlefront 2 on my PS4 since I had the original version on the PS2 and loved it at the time, but the remake just didn't feel the same. Gaming has evolved over time, and so have my gaming needs, and it did not suffice to my gaming needs.