There's a ton of "blockbuster" shit that keeps dropping that uses modern tech to cover up shitty game design. My aim here is to get a list or library of games that had they come out today, you'd enjoy them just as much. Obviously there are allowances for graphical limitations at the time of publication.

halflife 1/2
metal gear solid 1-4
counter strike <= 1.5
zelda ocarina of time
goldeneye
bioshock 1
deus ex 1
resident evil 1/2
world of warcraft vanilla->wotlk (game died at ulduar)
shenmue
ut99/ut2k4
gizmos and gadgets
rainbow 6 original and rogue squadron
tecmo super bowl
starfox

I'm personally a fan of puzzles that potentially cross the 4th wall, games somewhat close to reality, and being story driven so that I feel a connection with what's going on. That's not to say I don't love a beat em up session of streets of rage or a few rounds of MvC but you get the idea.

honorable mention to:
bayonetta
streets of rage 1-3
sonic adventure 1 and 2

Quote :

"GAMES OF TIMELESS"

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 10:21 AM. Reason : :sigh:]

11/21/2011 10:17:48 AM

portal

11/21/2011 10:23:10 AM

+1 for Bioshock

Super Mario 3
Super Mario World

11/21/2011 10:23:48 AM

any blizzard title from Warcraft 2 on

Super Metroid

Mario 64

not to mention nearly ANY of the old lucasarts adventure games (monkey island, sam&max, grim fandango, full throttle, etc)

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 10:25 AM. Reason : *]

11/21/2011 10:25:04 AM

NFL Blitz

11/21/2011 10:29:19 AM

Quote :

"resident evil 1/2"

ha

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 10:32 AM. Reason : ]

11/21/2011 10:32:21 AM

While I understand that we're focusing on game play, I think the more cartoonish games sort of have an advantage here. There are several PS1 games that I loved, but they look so awful now that I can't possibly get beyond the appearance.

11/21/2011 10:32:51 AM

+1 to:
bioshock 1
super mario 64
super metroid
starcraft

-1 to:
wow wotlk

also throwing in
halo 1
chrono trigger

11/21/2011 10:33:28 AM

^ I dunno, I really liked the leveling experience of WotLK in comparison to vanilla/BC

11/21/2011 10:39:10 AM

any one of these should be on there

tekken (1-3, tag tournament)
marvel vs. capcom
final fantasy series
twisted metal 2

11/21/2011 10:43:26 AM

grand theft auto

11/21/2011 10:44:43 AM

dune 2

11/21/2011 10:47:45 AM

Quote :

"I really liked the leveling experience of WotLK in comparison to vanilla/BC"

+1
also, totally forgot about twisted metal as 1 and 2 were awesome. same goes for portal and portal 2.

11/21/2011 10:51:24 AM

Fallout 1 & 2
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
Tony Hawk 1-3

lol to Shenmue

Also I'm suspicious of Goldeneye, it was probably the first good console shooter but it's freaking archaic right now. If it came out now and we weren't looking at it through nostalgia glasses I don't think it would be very good.


And yes, cartoonish games age better than games trying to look real. Mortal Kombat looked better than Street Fighter 2 when they were both new, now SF2 still looks pretty good and MK looks awful.

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 11:01 AM. Reason : ]

11/21/2011 10:59:38 AM

Quote :

"The game begins with Ecco as he and his pod are swimming in their home bay. One podmate challenges him to see how high into the air he can jump. When he is in the air, a waterspout storm forms and sucks up all marine life in the bay except Ecco, leaving him alone in the bay. Upon leaving the bay to search for his pod, he contacts several dolphins from other pods, who tell him the entire sea is in chaos, and that all marine creatures had felt the storm. After talking to an orca, Ecco travels to the Arctic to find a blue whale named The Big Blue. The Big Blue tells him such storms had been occurring every 500 years and directs him to the Asterite, the oldest creature on Earth. He leaves the Arctic and travels to a deep cavern where he finds the Asterite. Although it has the power to aid him, one of its globes is missing, and needs it returned. However, this can only be achieved by traveling back in time using a machine built by the ancient Atlanteans. Ecco travels to the sunken city of Atlantis, where he discovers the time machine and an ancient library. He learns the cause of the storm; it was a harvest of Earth's waters that was conducted every 500 years by an alien species known as the Vortex. The Vortex had lost their ability to make their own food, and so every 500 years, they would harvest from the waters of Earth. Learning this, he activates the time machine and travels 55 million years into Earth's past. Ecco locates the Asterite in the past but is immediately attacked by it. Forced into battle, he manages to dislodge a globe from it. This opens a time portal and he is sent back into the present. After receiving the globe, the Asterite grants him the power to turn his sonar into a deadly weapon against the Vortex, as well as the abilities to breathe underwater and to slowly regenerate lost health. The Asterite instructs him to use the time machine to travel back in time to the hour of the harvest. This time he manages to be sucked into the waterspout with his pod. Once inside the waterspout, Ecco makes his way towards the Vortex Queen, the leader of the Vortex race. Eventually, the Vortex Queen is destroyed and Ecco rescues his pod."

11/21/2011 11:02:08 AM

Castlevania SOTN
Heroes of Might and Magic 2/3
Worms

11/21/2011 11:03:21 AM

RE4> all other RE

System Shock 2

11/21/2011 11:03:43 AM

RE4 for Wii > All other RE titles.

Silent Hill definitely belongs in this list.

11/21/2011 12:34:21 PM

I'll have to throw in X-COM: UFO Defense.

Consistently rated as one of the best games ever made and the replay value is insane.

+1 to UT99, Super Metroid, Zelda:OOT

11/21/2011 12:37:45 PM

seconding the goldeneye comment from eariler. you have to look past a LOT more than the graphics on many of these games. goldeneye and RE1 are the best examples from the original list. controls are fucking aweful by comparison to today's standards.

11/21/2011 12:43:50 PM

WWF No Mercy
Mike Tyson's Punchout
NBA Jam Tournament Edition

11/21/2011 12:48:49 PM

I actually just finished playing Shenmue again, that game is way too underrated.

Also, 2nd vote for System Shock 2, my favorite game of all time.

11/21/2011 1:01:31 PM

Can't remember if it was NFL Blitz or Xtreme...but I had it on Sega. Played that shit non-stop.

Double Dribble, Double Dragon, NBA Jam TE, NHL '94, RBI Baseball, Mike Tyson's Punchout, and Arch Rivals (basketball game where you could punch people and take the ball from them).

11/21/2011 1:11:37 PM

WCW vs. NWO World Tour/Revenge

11/21/2011 1:13:17 PM

I would add Final Fantasy 6 and 7 to the list as well as Age Of Empires 2

11/21/2011 1:17:42 PM

Quake/Quake World/Quake World Team Fortress
Final Fantasy 6 & 7
Shining Force 1 & 2
Command and Conquer Red Alert
Total Annihilation
Heroes of Might and Magic 3

11/21/2011 1:24:15 PM

full throttle and sanitarium.... great games

11/21/2011 1:37:50 PM

NFL 2k5

11/21/2011 1:53:54 PM

back to the future for the NES.

11/21/2011 2:01:43 PM

King's Quest 3-6

11/21/2011 2:20:09 PM

The first few months of WotLK were like liquid crack. Looking back, I can't explain it

---

In order that I (probably) played them

* X-COM
* Mario3
* Mike Tyson's Punchout
* FF6
* Super Mario World
* Starcraft
* Half Life 1 (didn't even finish 2..got bored)
* FF7
* Baldur's Gate 2
* Chrono Trigger
* Portal
* Planescape: Torment
* Bioshock (the first half)
* System Shock 2
* WoW


Out of those, I think Planescape: Torment was the most badass game weighted almost all on plot/gameplay. It's old as shit and the UI is clunky, and the game is fairly easy, but its a grownup, story driven fantasy that is a lot better then the NWN/DA:O meh stories. I'll give NWN props for fun gameplay.


Second is WoW, because I spent a year of awake played time on that piece of shit, but got to learn the horrors of raiding/guild leading, completely crushed the Auction House on a server, made 1.5 million gold, and sold it for a decent amount of cash. Also Vanilla was really fun, except raiding was probably the worst then

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 2:22 PM. Reason : 15]

11/21/2011 2:21:43 PM

The lack of Tetris in this thread is disturbing.

11/21/2011 2:39:31 PM

Banjo-Kazooie
Katamari
Galaga
Tecmo Super Bowl
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
Contra
Super Mario Bros All-Stars & and any other Mario platform
Mario Kart 64
Tetris
Street Fighter (II: Champion Addition)
NBA Jam
NHL '96
Bust-a-Move
Cruisi'n (Exotica)
X-Men (arcade version)

11/21/2011 3:16:29 PM

final fantasy 8 was better than 7

11/21/2011 3:46:45 PM

... it begins

11/21/2011 4:00:32 PM

you gotta throw pacman, galaga, and smash bros. melee in thurr.

this is def. a personal choice but id throw mother 3 in there

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 4:01 PM. Reason : .]

11/21/2011 4:01:09 PM

Ugh. I forgot how many years I blew playing Smash Bros Melee/Brawl

11/21/2011 4:09:29 PM

Pole Position

11/21/2011 4:23:33 PM

Here are a few that have not been mentioned:
X-wing/TIE Fighter
Simcity
Colonization
Command & Conquer
Pirates

11/21/2011 4:51:45 PM

You guys are failing pretty hard to ignore Doom. I used to dial up to other friends computers and kick their asses

King's Quest is also shown no love. What about Myst?

Man, I am showing my age.

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 4:57 PM. Reason : .]

11/21/2011 4:55:57 PM

I came here to make sure Tecmo Super Bowl was on the list...and it was

11/21/2011 5:09:17 PM

NBA Jam Tournament Edition.

I still played the SEGA Genesis version several times a year with friends until the PS3 version came out (which was a great update).

11/21/2011 5:14:22 PM

final fantasy 7 was the best of them all in my opinion

followed by tactics

lmao at gizmos and gadgets...i got that game and full throttle for christmas the same year

11/21/2011 6:45:03 PM

^^^I was going to mention Doom, but I really spent more time online with Quake at the time. It was more fun because you could rocket jump, had more maps, bots, weapons, mods, etc. Was all around more fun/important for me than Doom. Though Doom was a ton of fun as was Wolf3D.

11/21/2011 6:47:40 PM

Quote :

"King's Quest"

YES! and space quest

11/21/2011 7:19:48 PM

mad props on the heroes of might and magic mentions

the civilization series, i guess mainly civ 2 since that was leaps and bounds better than the first, and the later ones are basically civ 2 on steroids

11/22/2011 12:09:35 AM

I'm trying to avoid ones already mentioned...

Wing Command Series
Privateer
Oregon Trail
Age of Empries
Aces over Europe
Space Invaders
Tetris
Transportation Tycoon
Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?
Risk
Battle Chess
Minesweeper
Utopia

[Edited on November 22, 2011 at 12:31 AM. Reason : .]

11/22/2011 12:26:11 AM

diablo II
c&c / tiberium sun
morrowind
quake

11/22/2011 3:13:15 AM

This thread has mostly turned into "What old games do you like?"

11/22/2011 8:38:16 AM

Is this the thread where we talk about the games that we played as teenagers are better than the ones published today?

11/22/2011 8:52:56 AM