Old games you love but can't stand playing

[Seliph]

What are some of your childhood games that you love but can't stand playing due to outdated graphics/gameplay/etc?
For me I'd say both of the original Metal Gear games. I love em but playing through Metal Gear 1 is a nightmare with all the backtracking and item collecting you have to do and 2's dialogue is slow af and Snake's jank walk cycle physically pains me.
Also Mario 64, controls aged horribly.

 

[OkazakiTheOtaku]

The original Shin Megami Tensei. The Aeon Genesis translated copy is great, but it's so hard to go back and replay it after playing IV, Nocturne, etc.

 

[Kioku]

I've got nothing. All the titles I enjoyed 20 years ago, I still enjoy today..

 

[Spectral Blizzard]

Sonic '06 in pristine HD.
*shudder*
There are some paths that can never be taken again.

 

[Seliph]

Sonic '06 in pristine HD.
*shudder*
There are some paths that can never be taken again.

Dear lord, how did you love it in the first place?

 

[VinsCool]

I've got nothing. All the titles I enjoyed 20 years ago, I still enjoy today..

Same here my friend. Same here.

 

[Spectral Blizzard]

Dear lord, how did you love it in the first place?

Um...
Let's not go there.

 

[Stephano]

It's not really an old game but I would say Bioshock Infinite. I love the story, visuals, twist, characters, the whole package....... except the gameplay.
The gameplay is a husk of the previous two games and when I'm taking out bad guys, it just makes me wish I was playing the other two instead.
I love the game but the gameplay doesn't make me want to pick it up again anytime soon.

 

[FAST6191]

Most N64 games on the N64 I liked at the time.

Give them back to me in shinier graphics and framerates and I can still enjoy things though. As I have said on many occasions I still reckon Perfect Dark has lessons to teach multiplayer games today.

 

[Ethevion]

Anything pixel based I can still play and enjoy. It's the later games on PS1, N64 and even PS2 that I can no longer enjoy mostly due to graphics.

One game that I tried playing recently was FFX, just couldn't do it sadly.

 

[RustInPeace]

Pokemon RBY and GSC, I think moreso Gen 2 because more training has to be done to get through the Elite 4, and then there's going all the way up to Red. It's the speed, that's the issue, it's super slow now and that's based on being spoiled to what Gen 6 and 7 did. The last year I replayed those games so many times, even Gen 4 and 5, because at least there's speed to it, Gen 3 I haven't revisited save for a romhack that just made you run all the time, which I appreciated. When RBY came out on Virtual Console, I replayed Yellow and Red specifically, without using an emulator, I didn't do any speed toggling, until RNG kicked in, but that's after finishing the game. When I played Silver, after Victory Road and losing to the E4 so many times, I just had to, I used an emulator and did some EXP grinding. That still took quite a while as I was really underleveled, but it was so worth it in the end.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Anything pixel based I can still play and enjoy. It's the later games on PS1, N64 and even PS2 that I can no longer enjoy mostly due to graphics.

One game that I tried playing recently was FFX, just couldn't do it sadly.

Good thing there is a HD remaster of FFX then.
Although to be honest, FFX still looks reasonably good in an emulator, the graphics scale well to higher resolutions.
Late PSX/N64 games also look decent, it's the early ones that are the issue.

 

[Deleted User]

Pokemon RBY and GSC, I think moreso Gen 2 because more training has to be done to get through the Elite 4, and then there's going all the way up to Red. It's the speed, that's the issue, it's super slow now and that's based on being spoiled to what Gen 6 and 7 did. The last year I replayed those games so many times, even Gen 4 and 5, because at least there's speed to it, Gen 3 I haven't revisited save for a romhack that just made you run all the time, which I appreciated. When RBY came out on Virtual Console, I replayed Yellow and Red specifically, without using an emulator, I didn't do any speed toggling, until RNG kicked in, but that's after finishing the game. When I played Silver, after Victory Road and losing to the E4 so many times, I just had to, I used an emulator and did some EXP grinding. That still took quite a while as I was really underleveled, but it was so worth it in the end.

How can you say that Gen 3 and 4 have a speed to them? Gen 4's battle system is slow as hell, and I always emulate Emerald at 2x speed on my phone because those battle intros take so damn long (which wears on you when surfing).

 

[Taleweaver]

If I'm completely honest: almost anything. There are a few notable exceptions that still play almost as good as before (Abe's Oddyssey, red alert 2, original doom, Zelda games), but for the most part I avoid games from when I was young.

Some attempts:
-Wolfenstein 3D. Got this on GoG, mostly for an expansion I've never even heard about. I couldn't make it through the first level. Did I really play something that felt so unnatural, stiff and with a ridiculously low FOV as a kid?
-Mario land (gameboy): I used to play through this as well as through the nightmare mode (2 or 3 times, once). Now I can't even properly jump on the first goomba I meet. More recent 2D Mario's spoiled me.
-rollercoaster tycoon: this one hurts the most because I don't remember the resolution being so low. Granted...my screen is about twice as large as my CRT screen used to be*, but still...wow...
-Blood omen: legacy of Kain: this isn't entirely fair because I simply can't get this to work properly on windows 10. But even when ignoring the glitches: you walk much slower than I remember, sounds are timid and boring, and that awesome goth theme looks fake or kitsch nowadays.

Truth be told: a lot of what I loved as a child has gotten updates and reboots over the years.

*the screen estate, that is. Those old CRT monitors are HUGE by today's common screens.

 

[DinohScene]

A lot of old N64/PS1 games, some PS2/Xbox games.
Mainly the ones without camera controls.

 

[Zoloco]

I'll go with just one example... Donkey Kong Country!! Replayed it soo many times back in the day. I really don't know why, I've tried to play it again a couple of times and can't get past the first levels without getting bored.

There are so many old games I still enjoy though like Mario 1-2-3 for the NES, A link to the past SNES, Ocarina Of Time N64, FFVII PSOne and many more.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

I still adore all the games I loved as a kid. There are games that I merely "liked," however, that I can't stand today. There's quite a long list of DS games that I can't stand anymore, but that I kinda liked as a kid. There's also some NES games, like Contra. I'm too young to have been around for the NES days, but I remember having one of those bootleg devices with 100+ NES games pre-installed. I can't stand most NES games, as they're far too outdated and unwieldy for me today. Notable exceptions include Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt.

 

[astrangeone]

A couple I tried to get back into:

0) Kirby Super Star (SNES): Was everything so laggy? I played this as a kid on my SNES and the button presses were responsive and very good. Even the DS version felt off, and the SNES Classic version doesn't feel right. I'm tempted to buy a real copy and use my actual SNES and actual hardware...but it costs $75+ for a copy here. No thanks.

1) Feel the Magic (DS): Game was basically weird mini-games that involved the touchscreen. I played this in my 20's, and it still feels bizarre to play it again. I actually finished it, but it's mostly quirky and weird sound effects. (I can still hear the "da da da da doo!" music that plays...)

2) Sailor Moon R (Game Gear): I recently replayed this on my Raspberry Pi set up. This was one of the games that I said to fetus me - "You have to finish this as an adult." I finally did, and hoo boy, whoever designed this platformer needs a kick in the head. Leaps of faith, enemies/blocks that drop on your head with no indication (just sound). I realized why I never managed to beat level 3 as a kid, because everything needed to be taken slowly.

3) George Foreman's KO Boxing (Game Gear): Again, this was a game I revisited o my Raspberry Pi. Weirdly, I beat this game because my friend lent it to. It was slightly awesome as a kid, but now...it's just random people shuffling on a screen and it feels so unresponsive.

4) Jill of the Jungle (PC): I had this as a shareware disk on my 386 computer. Replaying it as an adult? Horrible graphics, weird physics and weird rules. I still spent a ton of time with it although...