What's a VERY POPULAR GAME that hasn't aged well?

[amusingmuse22]

While this question is entirely subjective, I think a game "ages well" when it's still fun to play in the present day compared to other games currently available.
Would you play OoT even though Tears of the Kingdom just launched?
I would, so I consider it to have aged well.

Would I play Final Fantasy 7 on PS1 even thought here are way newer FFs and even a 7 remake?
Probably not. I appreciate the game but it hasn't "aged well" in terms of playability.

I agree with that sentiment, and IMO, none of the first three Resident Evils aged well, I doubt anyone who has played the remakes first will find the originals alluring in the slightest

 

[nubman33]

Mercs 2. Such a lovely fun destructive game that looks like it runs on a potato

 

[wiindsurf]

Completely disagree. I find it equally as playable as either of the other 2 handheld entries in the series, and in terms of the '2d' sprite based games in the franchise, the GBA version is a far more enjoyable and playable experience today than the SNES original.

Interesting... I was actually being polite... I find it horrendous, and I honestly even wonder how it passed Nintendo quality control back in the day. It really puzzles me. I feel it plays like a 7fps blury mess demo. And funny enough I find the SNES original quite lovely and playable to this day.

 

[elk1007]

I agree with that sentiment, and IMO, none of the first three Resident Evils aged well, I doubt anyone who has played the remakes first will find the originals alluring in the slightest

You're right.
RE graphics aged so poorly and the voice acting is so bad that it became camp horror.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 non-Sonic/Shadow (SA2) stages.

Those games always felt dated, but even moreso when I played the other characters.

 

[Jayro]

This isn't so much of a game but more of a system, most PS2 games aged like milk left in the sun. Sorry, but PS2 has some fantastic games that still look great but a good chunk of them look absolutely terrible, especially when compared to the same games on the Gamecube and Xbox. The PS2 just had some weird-looking graphics, even for the time. This isn't to say I don't enjoy the games, but it is to say that if they have a port on another system then I am playing that port instead.

For me, the PS2 is the definitive way to play PS1 games. It has a bilinear texture filter that's optional (You have to eneble it at every power-on, which I find annoying...). But it essentially smooths out the textures from pixelated messes to smoother looking messes, like the N64 does. You still get the weird texture shimmering from the lack of a floating point, but most games look much better with this setting enabled.

I know this example is PS1 vs PC, but it still looks roughly like what the PS2 does to the game's textures with this enabled. It's the only way I like to play PS1 games, for an authentic experience. (And I wish the PSP could tap into the texture filter when playing PS1 games, just like the PS2 had. Sadly, there's just no equal.)

 

[lata_chaudhary]

Super Mario

 

[Latiodile]

For me, the PS2 is the definitive way to play PS1 games. It has a bilinear texture filter that's optional (You have to eneble it at every power-on, which I find annoying...). But it essentially smooths out the textures from pixelated messes to smoother looking messes, like the N64 does. You still get the weird texture shimmering from the lack of a floating point, but most games look much better with this setting enabled.

View attachment 380941


I know this example is PS1 vs PC, but it still looks roughly like what the PS2 does to the game's textures with this enabled. It's the only way I like to play PS1 games, for an authentic experience. (And I wish the PSP could tap into the texture filter when playing PS1 games, just like the PS2 had. Sadly, there's just no equal.)
View attachment 380942

back in the day i had no idea what these settings did so i always turned them on thinking it'd help my ps2 games load better, since they always had shaky dvd drives, same with the diagnosis setting i still have no idea what it does
i didn't have any ps1 games (and still my only ps1 game is GT2 and tekken 3) so i had no idea what these actually did

 

[linuxares]

Most PSX games. Since it was early and the camera controls were a pain

 

[Deleted member 681657]

Most Nintendo 64 games aren't enjoyable today but that's not because of bad gameplay or level design but rather low framerates and visuals which don't hold up today. The 3DS remakes of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask demonstrate that updated versions of the same games are still fun to play. I haven't tried Rare Replay but it looks like it fixes the age issues with Rare's incredible Nintendo 64 library.

To answer the thread title, Assassin's Creed is a game commonly brought up in this type of discussion. Personally I'd like to give this game another chance before throwing it into the trash.

Demon's Souls on the PS3 probably don't hold up well today because the gameplay is much better at higher framerates.

FFVII, random encounters and blocky graphics have made the original inaccessible to modern audiences

I completely agree. I played it thinking it's one of the best games ever and persisted even when I wasn't enjoying it. Then at the start of disk 2 I finally gave up.

OTOH

What is this game?

Castlevania games prior to SOTN. Not being able to correct your jumps in mid-air is so painful to go back to.

I disagree. They're still great fun.

 

[Xzi]

What is this game?

Acronym for "on the other hand." Subject of the sentence is Starfox 64.

 

[x65943]

Most Nintendo 64 games aren't enjoyable today but that's not because of bad gameplay or level design but rather low framerates and visuals which don't hold up today. The 3DS remakes of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask demonstrate that updated versions of the same games are still fun to play. I haven't tried Rare Replay but it looks like it fixes the age issues with Rare's incredible Nintendo 64 library.

To answer the thread title, Assassin's Creed is a game commonly brought up in this type of discussion. Personally I'd like to give this game another chance before throwing it into the trash.

Demon's Souls on the PS3 probably don't hold up well today because the gameplay is much better at higher framerates.

I completely agree. I played it thinking it's one of the best games ever and persisted even when I wasn't enjoying it. Then at the start of disk 2 I finally gave up.

What is this game?

I disagree. They're still great fun.

I still have fun with N64 games but probably large out of nostalgia factor letting me look past the fps

The stylized artwork in a lot of the games has held up not too poorly

 

[HandsomeJack]

Myst.

It's just no longer something modern gamers would look at. 1990s first person adventure games have almost no following now, as opposed to 1990s first person shooters.

 

[Xdqwerty]

I'd say the classic Sonic games

 

[GlennGamer]

I don't know about their popularity but... I would love to see Remasters or HD Remakes of:
Sid Meiers' Alpha Centauri Alien Crossfire and Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom... Their gameplay is still top notch but the graphics are very old... it even has some compatibility issues with modern screen resolutions. Although, to be fair, Emperor RoMK still looks pretty sweet in my opinion.

 

[HandsomeJack]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freescape

All of the Freescape games. The first, Driller, was boring. The 8-bit versions are not worth going back to look at as they're slide shows. The DOS versions have higher frame rates in emulation, however, even Castle Master II (the last and best of the games) is not something modern gamers would take an interest in:

 

[hippy dave]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freescape

All of the Freescape games. The first, Driller, was boring. The 8-bit versions are not worth going back to look at as they're slide shows. The DOS versions have higher frame rates in emulation, however, even Castle Master II (the last and best of the games) is not something modern gamers would take an interest in:

ScummVM is adding freescape support, starting with the earliest version (Driller) with more to come, and it will allow better resolutions and frame rates and maybe other enhancements.

 

[Spectro87]

FPS has to be the number one genre of games that haven't aged well. I can't think of any that really have.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

They pretty much nailed OoT. The setting, the dungeons, the soundtrack, the puzzles, the bosses, it's all perfect. The only thing that has aged are the graphics, and the 3DS version goes a long way in fixing that.

Can't say the same for Super Mario 64 though. They clearly hadn't perfected 3D platformers yet, and it shows. To begin with, the camera is annoying to put it mildly. The levels seem to be made out of random pieces that don't fit together, and they are kinda empty. The level design is just not up to par, and it makes the game less fun to play. And for a 3D platformer, that's the single most important thing. The bowser fights are repetitive and too easy. The levels don't have enough variety to them, there are too many water levels that all feel exactly the same.
Banjo-Kazooie showed how to do 3D platformers right, and there have been a number of Super Mario 64 romhacks that are more fun to play than the original and show what that engine is capable of.

 

[Prior22]

Shocked no one referenced any of the Crash Bandicoot PSX era games. Crash Bandicoot was the PSone mascot and the games sold incredibly well.

But a lot of the levels are just repeats of early stages, just with tweaks to make them more difficult. And the camera perspective that was used makes it very tough for accurate platforming in tight spots.