Which games didn't age very well, in your opinion?

Glitchy Bowser Jr.

Glitchy Bowser Jr.

"Stuff it, sponge brain!"
There are many old games that stand the test of time, but there are also some that just didn't age well at all? Which games do you think aged the worst?

I think Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light (FE1) aged horribly. While it was the first in the Fire Emblem series and set the bar for the series, it did a lot of things strangely. For example:

-Marth didn't wear pants

-The Knight class and General class both existed in the game but unlike every other game in the series, Knights didn't promote to Generals.

-For whatever reason, they decided to make both a Archer and Hunter class, which are essentially the same, except Hunters don't promote and are a bit faster.

-Some... interesting character designs.

-Healers didn't gain exp from healing, they had to be attacked to gain exp.

Also FE3 Book 1 and FE11 exist.



Mario Kart 64 aged horribly as well, in my opinion. The controls are strange, the AI is annoying, and almost every track has been remade so you can play them on a better game.
 
A lot of games in the n64/ps1 error have aged pretty badly mostly because that was an innoitive era. However Mega Man 2 (and a lot of the other classic megamans) is my pick. The level design would be considered cheap, unfair and poor by today's standards. The horrible weapon balancing is also another factor.
 
-Final Fantasy 7 (other ps1 square games to an extend too, although i find ff7 to be the worst looking nowadays overall)
-Games that feature pre-rendered character models (Mortal Kombat, DKC)
-Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64
-Most NES/Master System/other consoles from before or during their generation's games (notable examples include the ninja gaiden games, the megaman games, smb3, kirby's adventure, among others)

the first 2 are mostly graphical nature, the latter 2 because i find their gameplay to be unappealing/not worthy of paying money for nowadays (smk and mk64 are only here because they were setting a standard so it would be wrong to call them bad back then. people probably thought they were good, but i dont really like them because i compare them with later games of the series)
 
The N64 games, specifically thinking about Super Mario 64 and especially Mario Kart 64

The later games basically made them feel outdated.
 
idk sm64 and ocarina of time are still enjoyable (to me at least), while mk64 isnt.

thats what im basing my opinion on anyways.
 
Chiaki Nanami said:
I don't understand the argument that games can 'age', so my answer is none.
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I think it might be a matter of how the game was received back when it was released vs how it would be received if released today.

Otherwise, I don't know either.
 
Chiaki Nanami said:
I don't understand the argument that games can 'age', so my answer is none.
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They certainly can age, but it's mostly subjective. Still, you know that games can be really dated thanks to hardware limitations back then or when you have today's engines and standard controller maps. Mario Kart DS used to be praised for its tight controls, but it feels pretty slippery after you're playing newer games so much.

edit: how the hell did I type "OBJECTIVE" there?
 
I know people are going to hate me for this, but Super Mario Bros. for the NES. Yes I know the politics behind the game. I'm not saying I don't like the game, I still play it sometimes, but it hasn't aged well.
 
Iggy Waffles said:
I know people are going to hate me for this, but Super Mario Bros. for the NES. Yes I know the politics behind the game. I'm not saying I don't like the game, I still play it sometimes, but it hasn't aged well.
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It doesn't seem to have aged terribly, though, especially compared to Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, and a painful lot of other Mario games.
 
Ocarina of Time sort of. The 3DS version is superior in every way so there's not much point in playing the original aside from nostalgia.
 
Super Mario 64 has aged surprisingly well in some regards for being the first 3d platformer to do it well, but in others, it falls so, so, so short. Meanwhile, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 is powered on nostalgia.
 
Chiaki Nanami said:
I don't understand the argument that games can 'age', so my answer is none.
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I do think the concept applies to games that were technnically impressive but are difficult to play now, and early games in long-running series that don't have conveniences from the later installments, but usually invoking "game X didn't age well" is usually buzz phrase by people who can't properly articulate why they dislike a game and are attempting to make their opinion seem "more objective".

in the spirit of the above, those 3D Genesis games with ridiculously low framerates would be examples, to me, of games that "didn't age well"
 
I'd say Mario Kart: Double Dash didn't age well.

I freaking loved the game when it came out. However, when improvements in Wii, 7, and 8 came around, I find it very difficult to enjoy the game anymore. I'd rank Double Dash below 7. It's still ok, but I have no reason to play the game when the later three installments feel like superior games to it. Single player VS mode, single player battle mode, better controls, and retro tracks, those four are probably the primary reasons.
 
With a handful of exceptions, pretty much the entire PS1 library falls under this. It was during that strange time when everything was pretty experimental and only studios with either lots of money or really intuitive designers were making amazing headwave in design.
 
most ps1 and n64 games to be honest, as well as zelda 1.
 
Mario Hoops-3-on-3. The game gets sort of bland now. I still like the game and play it sometimes, but the game isn't as good as it was when I was 7 years old.
 
Super Mario Bros. for the NES definetly didn't age very well in the graphics department, but in the gameplay department, it really just is one of the best games in the history of games.
 
This just popped in but I just realized, the first Sonic game has aged really badly. Back then it was revolutionary with it being fast paced and bringing a new style of a platforming but it's sequels polished it so much more that you can tell that the formula has been perfected yet. By today's standards this game would be considered pretty bad while Sonic 2 and 3 would still be quite good.

Green Hill zone feels like the only zone that had real effort put into and polished it up much more than any other zone as SEGA saw first impression as the import selling point. The rest of the zones were just SEGA experimenting with what they could to do with and back then it was considered fine as that was all we got but the impact of sequels make the latter 5 stages seem terrible in comparison.

Marble Zone is painfully boring to play through now. What SEGA seemed to going for was to have this stage show off the slower side of Sonic which and show this game off as more of platformer, it clearly wasn't as fun. Later games have resorted to having these slower sections in small doses of fast pace levels to help give the play a more fluent experience.

Spring Yard Zone is pretty much a filler zone. You see sections of the stage constantly repeated and it doesn't feel fresh at all.

Labyrinth Zone is trying to experiment water with Sonic and SEGA failed to realize that the concept they came up with and the way the levels were designed didn't flow and as a result the level is boring, slow paced and frustrating. This level is so boring that I can't push through this stage without the urge to quit and very rarely get past this stage as a result.

Star Light Zone isn't that bad tbh. It actually has speed for once, the music is pretty good and it's nice break getting an average level in a mist of horrible levels but as I said I don't often get this far because of what I previously went through it's still bleh compared to most levels in later games.

Scrap Brain Zone is pretty much torture everywhere. SEGA tried to make this stage as hard as possible without relizing what actual difficulty was and as a result it's just cheap and unfair. This was likely done to maintain a high replay value but that's just another reason why this and so many other games have aged horribly.

Every time I play Sonic 1 what usually happens is I usually really enjoy myself in Green Hill, then try and enjoy myself in Marble, start to feel board in Spring Yard and then eventually quiting in Labyrinth because that stage is so bad. Sonic 2 made every stage consistent and kept a sense of spend and enjoyment in each stage which makes this game age really badly.
 
Myrmidon NSY said:
Scrap Brain Zone is pretty much torture everywhere. SEGA tried to make this stage as hard as possible without relizing what actual difficulty was and as a result it's just cheap and unfair. This was likely done to maintain a high replay value but that's just another reason why this and so many other games have aged horribly.
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GameGear Sonic 1 has the same issues with this stage, except that it's boring as hell. There really aren't any enemies, traps or instant kill spots. It's all a series of endlessly looping hallways and spillways, with only one right path to move from section to section. This is also the point in the game where you can tell that the developers were either running out of time or the game was running out of space.
 
To be honest, I have to say none. I'm actually a little tired of the "*insert old game* hasn't aged well" comments. It feels like it implies new games are inherently better when that's far from being always the case. I don't think it's fair to judge the game as if it was a new game. That should only apply to complete remakes (As in completely from the ground up, not ports whether they're straight up virtual console esque releases or graphically enhanced ports) because they are old games.

And I don't want to imply I think the vice versa either. There are both old games that I don't like and/or not interested in too and there are new games I love just as much as some of my older favorites. I think Smash 4 and Mario Kart 8 are among, if not the best in their respective series for example.

I feel like people are taking things for granted. Especially towards games that released in the N64/PS1/Dreamcast/etc. era that were all exploring where they could go with full 3D games. I can understand the thought that the polygons were alot harder to have that timeless feel compared to sprites. Cause in some ways it's a good point. But it's like there's alot less appreciation sometimes when we'd likely never have gotten to where we are now without those early 3D games.

I don't like feeling as if people if they find out some of my favorite games are some of the often ridiculed amongst the "Hasn't aged well" crowd these days like both Sonic Adventure games, Mario Kart 64, etc. that I'm someone who can't let go of the past and refuse to admit that all the joy that I got back then (and still do now) was me being a dumb kid who didn't know any better. I can even admit these games are not the best of their respective franchises, it's just that most of the games that are better often are the even older classic 2D platformers that were often too hard for me to beat without using cheats of some sort. I admit I pretty much suck at most of the old 2D Platformers, but I would never say they didn't age well just because I might get too frustrated trying to beat them or that a newer game is better simply because it's easier. It's just hard to favorite a game you can't even at least beat the main part of the game.

Maybe I'm being a little too sensitive on the subject, but I do kinda feel a slight frustration with the subject even if the game being called that wasn't one I played
 
Sonic 1 in general is just a game I can't bother playing after having beaten it once. The lack of spin dash always catches me off guard and I usually get infuriated in Marble Zone or Labyrinth Zone.

Sonic 2 on the other hand is a game I can play whenever I want and I pretty much enjoy every level in that game except Metropolis Zone, but I don't think most people like Metropolis Zone.
 
I like Metropolis Zone.

I also like sonic 1 too. But that's just my opinion
 
- Super Mario 64: It was great as the 'first' 3D platformer (and still holds up well today), but so much has been improved including double jumps for added control and better camera movement.
- Crash Bandicoot: Suffers a lot from the same things as SM64 but it also doesn't have full 360 degrees movement which makes a lot of the platforming a nightmare. Also irregular save points get really tiresome. It also doesn't have the explorative aspect that's in CB2 and onwards because they have all the additional collectables.
- Super Mario Bros: Great platformer but 30 years on it's pretty staple. Games today also probably wouldn't get away with having clones of earlier levels just with slightly better AI and more obstacles
- Super Mario World: I played it long after its release (I think sometime around Sunshine -> Galaxy days) and although I enjoyed it, I felt like it was missing it's own special thing. It was different to when I played DKC2/3 and OoT after their initial runs and still found something to love about them. After talking to people who love the game, it seems to come down to it being the 'original' Yoshi game and the 'original' game with all the secret exits, which I guess was cool at the time, but they're both pretty staple nowadays. Now it just feels like a fun, yet uninspired platformer, similar to Galaxy 2 or the recent NSMB games.

Baby Luigi said:
I'd say Mario Kart: Double Dash didn't age well.

I freaking loved the game when it came out. However, when improvements in Wii, 7, and 8 came around, I find it very difficult to enjoy the game anymore. I'd rank Double Dash below 7. It's still ok, but I have no reason to play the game when the later three installments feel like superior games to it. Single player VS mode, single player battle mode, better controls, and retro tracks, those four are probably the primary reasons.
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Yeah but they don't have Bob Omb Blast
 
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