--

[Zhukov]

It's an old game. Standards were a lot lower back then.

Not quite sure what you were expecting.

Lower? For the people of back then, it seemed like a monumental achivement.

Exactly. Because their standards were lower.

 

[DioWallachia]

I heard people say that Another World is a game couldn?t me made today and I would agree , I?d also add that it?s a game that SHOULDN?T be made today it?s filled with horrible design choices and frustrating gameplay . and yet both its 2007 15th Anniversary Edition and it?s 2011 20th Anniversary Edition have been received with critical acclaim getting nearly perfect scores . for my money Another World is in the same camp as Myst, it?s a game that survives purely because of the nostalgia of its fans , and isn?t worth playing for anyone who doesn?t already like it .

The fuck has to do Myst with Another World? Oh, i see, both kinda rely on the atmostphere and Myst kinda does it well with the whole concept of "a guy stuck in some unknow inhabited place and NEEDS to know about its surroundings to understand what its going on".

Another World could at least have the "Buddy" to try to teach you in body language (i wonder if the graphics could have allowed that?) how to do certain stuffs.

 

[DioWallachia]

It's an old game. Standards were a lot lower back then.

Not quite sure what you were expecting.

Lower? For the people of back then, it seemed like a monumental achivement.

Exactly. Because their standards were lower.

But if they didnt push the boundaries with it then we wont have things like "The Last Express".

Your comment makes it sound like another boring day at the office rather than people that just wants to do something else with a game rather than havin scores and stages.

 

[Batou667]

I haven't played anything that does a better job of minimalistic story telling (if you do, please point me in its direction).

I've never played Ico, but I've heard enough gushing praise for it to suspect that it might well be quite good.

More recenty, I thought that Limbo was very good at creating an atmospheric narrative... it's not really a story as it's fairly ambiguous and can be interpreted a few ways, but it's bloody well done nonetheless.

 

[Akyho]

I am sorry but you seem to have the wrong point to make here. While you are free to say you dont like it. The point you are trying to make is more so why ANYONE, COULD like it today.

I cant and wont persuade you to like it.I played it 13 years ago on the Mega-drive/Genesis I enjoyed it then, never completed it. I enjoyed it, I downloaded the Ipad version 6 months ago and even with the bad Virtual controls. I still enjoyed it, I got further than ever before. May have slowly completed it if my Ipad didnt die.

Except. To come out and make a topic like this. I dont see how this helps anyone.
Its a good game to the right people. It is a historical gaming tent post. It isnt a great game by today's standards ofcourse. However I do not think it deserves such a damning opinion and outright trying to say that no one should ever enjoy this game.

I played a demo of Super meat boy. I see the appeal, I don't like it, I wont want to play it. Except I dont make a topic about it saying "Super meat boy is the worst game I have played this year! its too hard and is more an endurance run of patience than fun!" ect ect. I accept it is not a game for me and let whoever may enjoy it, enjoy it.

Why must you tell us that no one should enjoy Another world today?

 

[Lunar Templar]

I'm with the OP in terms of the controls on those games being horrid (Flashback was awful to).

and no.

It's an old game. Standards were a lot lower back then.

this argument is no excuse, not when there are other games from that time that control far better.

 

[Shocksplicer]

-grr, argh-

Heck, Halo 1 and Half Life 2 are both fairly shit by today's standards

Actually, Halo 1 holds up quite well. Oddly enough, Halo 2 doesn't hold up nearly as well...

 

[Evilpigeon]

I haven't played anything that does a better job of minimalistic story telling (if you do, please point me in its direction).

I've never played Ico, but I've heard enough gushing praise for it to suspect that it might well be quite good.

More recenty, I thought that Limbo was very good at creating an atmospheric narrative... it's not really a story as it's fairly ambiguous and can be interpreted a few ways, but it's bloody well done nonetheless.

Cheers mate, I've been looking to play Ico for years but Limbo is one I hadn't really thought about

 

[number2301]

Hang on, Another World was a platformer? I have never seen it that way. And comparing it to modern stuff is fairly pointless. Super Meat Boy? VVVVV? Are you joking?

No the controls aren't tight, but neither were the controls in Flashback or Prince Of Persia. They were trying fluid, realistic animation. It really isn't comparable to Mario or Sonic.

 

[LookingGlass]

I played it about 7 months ago for the first time. The version available from GOG.com.

I played through it in a day and actually really enjoyed it overall. It was frustrating at times (I'm not really into trial-and-error gameplay), but one positive from that was that it was pretty damn satisfying when I got past a section I was stuck on. So the gameplay was alright but not great. For me, what really amazed me was how well it managed to tell a story without a single word of dialogue. I think that's why it was such an impressive achievement.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Saying that people didn't think the controls were bad and actually really enjoyed playing the game is not an, "excuse for bad gameplay." How the hell did you get that from what I wrote?

All im saying is that the games issues haven?t been fixed in 15 years and it shows.

Well I don't think that the game has any major issues that need fixing so what is your point?

 

[Smeggs]

Another World is hard as a mofo, so maybe that's why you hate it. If it weren't for the ridiculous "Death=restart from the complete beginning of the game" it wouldn't be half as bad. It's quite interesting, actually. I, personally, had to watch a Let's Play of it, though. After the third total beginning restart I';d had it.

 

[Rawne1980]

A game from 1991 not holding up?

I remember getting it on my Atari ST when it was released and loved it.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

-

I love your name + avatar combo <3

It's an old game. Standards were a lot lower back then.

Not quite sure what you were expecting.

It's always a huge bummer when you go back to an old game that hasn't aged well. I played this game called Glover as a child. Oh my god, at the time, I thought it was just the coolest game ever. Went back to relive my childhood again a little while ago via an emulator (I paid for the game fifteen years ago, so it's totally legal ) and it was the most frustrating few minutes of my life, lol. Totally shit all over my nostalgia.

I'll remember you as you were, dear game, not as you are.

 

[shrekfan246]

I haven't played anything that does a better job of minimalistic story telling (if you do, please point me in its direction).

I've never played Ico, but I've heard enough gushing praise for it to suspect that it might well be quite good.

More recenty, I thought that Limbo was very good at creating an atmospheric narrative... it's not really a story as it's fairly ambiguous and can be interpreted a few ways, but it's bloody well done nonetheless.

Cheers mate, I've been looking to play Ico for years but Limbo is one I hadn't really thought about

How about Shadow of the Colossus too? Pretty in-depth story, but most of it is extremely vague and only implied through the very first cut-scene, the short scenes after every boss' death, and then the final cut-scene. Plus, the Ico & Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection came out relatively recently.

OT: Well, I don't think I've even heard of this game because it sounds like it came out the year before I was born, so... yeah. Never had many Genesis games that weren't the massive, huge, moderately child-friendly things like Sonic the Hedgehog or Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner in Desert Demolition, and our first computer wasn't really used for a whole lot of gaming. I'd like to be able to add to this, but not enough to put myself through finding, purchasing, and playing this game just to form an opinion.

 

[TrevHead]

First of all the game is exercise in frustration , I had to replay some parts for upwards of 50 times and while by itself trial and error gameplay can be perfectly fine when done right (e.g. Limbo). Another World keeps it?s checkpoints so far apart and constantly kills you in the most bizarre ways with no clear indication of what you are supposed to do . so you die, and every time you do you have to go back 15 rooms and redo the same bullshit obstacle for the 50 billionth time

I replayed this game last year, just to see if it was as good as I remembered it when it first came out. I found that I enjoyed it probably more now than I did 20 years since I was probably too young at the time. The game is very well done imo, in both the difficulty, action and the puzzles elements and I didn't get stuck on anything for too long. The only part of the game that I remembered was the start and I was at a total loss for everything past the cage, so much so that it felt like I was playing it for the first time only I knew the ending.

Imo there is nothing wrong with the game itself, and more to do with players who can't enjoy certain older games because it doesn't handhold the player or spoil the player with instant respawns with little to no penalty of death. I'm ok with modern games like VVVVV having fast/instant restarts but not every game should have it, imo this game is for the most part fine since the action elements aren't that difficult once you get it and some of the puzzle elements have multiple steps in them, like the part you have to flood that cave it makes sense to go back so far.

I think the main reason restarts didn't work for you is not the games fault only you couldn't get used to the controls, so you were dying due to the platform segments more than you should have been.

Another problem with Another World is that it expects you to do time based precision jumping while controlling like shopping trolley on ice . now again these aren't the worse controls I?ve ever seen but if you expect me to do precision platforming your character has to stop when you let go of the move button (e.g. super meat boy or VVVVVV). But in Another World your character does 2 and a half steps forward every time you stop . and since the game is filled with chase sequences and doesn't have a scrolling screen I kept running off cliffs and walking into spikes up to a point that I began to enjoy watching the main character die

The controls are fine, only they are different to your common instant jump Mario, the character has more frames of animation in it so the player has to adjust from their usual playing style and learn the correct timing.

A similar thing players tend to hate nowadays is 2D games that don't have easy instant attacks, Carpe Fulgur's Fortune Summoners was totally dismissed by vocal players saying the controls were bad, only that like AW it had extra frames of animation in them making the timings harder to pull off. It's NES vs SNES Castlevania whip attack all over again

I heard people say that Another World is a game couldn?t me made today and I would agree , I?d also add that it?s a game that SHOULDN?T be made today it?s filled with horrible design choices and frustrating gameplay . and yet both its 2007 15th Anniversary Edition and it?s 2011 20th Anniversary Edition have been received with critical acclaim getting nearly perfect scores . for my money Another World is in the same camp as Myst, it?s a game that survives purely because of the nostalgia of its fans , and isn?t worth playing for anyone who doesn?t already like it .

So I guess what im asking you is this , if you like Another World take your nostalgia goggles off and explain to me why the game isn't the pile of crap I believe it to be.

EDIT: for anyone who wants to use the ? oh you just suck at videogames" argument , first of all fuck off , second I?ve finished super meat boy , VVVVVV and prinny 2 I?ve also done the witcher 2 on the hardest difficulty ( without permadeath) and have gone through most of the megaman games without much of a problem

Just because you are good at one game doesn't mean you are good at everything. But I agree with you a game like this probably wouldn't be successful nowadays considering so many genres are restricted by modern game design philosophy and anything that does't conform is instantly labelled "bad game design" even if it what it does works. Imo it's a big reason why so many modern games feel like its the same game only with a different skin because we have reached the "perfect" way to do things over this past 30 years

I hope you will take the time to get use to how this game controls differently, if you can you should find it a much better experience (or enjoy other games that are similar)

 

[veloper]

The TS would prolly dislike the Oddworld games too.
Issues with the timing and controls are a result of the amount of realism the designers put into the running animation.

You have to press jump well before the ledge where you want the character to jump, because he has to sort out his legs first.

Still the criticism in the OP isn't entirely invalid. The original Prince of Persia did this better afteral and that was roughly the same age.
You still need to press the key earlier in POP, but it feels tighter and it is also more forgiving.
I reckon Another World would have been a better game with a greater focus on puzzles and more forgiving jumps.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

-snip-.

oh there is plenty wrong with the game .

unforgiving gameplay is fine when done fairly, the megaman games are very unforgiving yet they are fair . if a player is very good he can beat the whole game on the first try without taking a single hit . even it?s more random elements like the unique boss attacks are handled by setting a checkpoint right before the boss room . the game sets up it?s rules at the beginning of each level and sticks to them throughout the whole stage . Another World on the other hand keeps introducing new gameplay elements that can instant kill you in almost every room . good games like limbo counterbalance this by including frequent checkpoints , while megaman always shows you the obstacle ahead before letting you attempt it .

It?s important to remember that this style of game design got popular because it genuinely makes games more enjoyable to play . Difficulty that comes from bad controls and lazy design is not good difficulty . the problem with Another world is that it doesn?t control ?differently? but that it controls like an elephant on skis. And I could forgive the 2 and a half steps you make every time you stop if the game only had a scrolling screen . because when you are running at 20 miles per an hour from a pursuing guard the last thing you want is to suddenly realize that the last 2 meters of the hallway you couldn?t see are actually a vertical cliff .

Im sure that for the time another world was ?the shit? but the mark of a good game is one you can pick up for the first time and play 20 years after it?s release and still enjoy (e.g Mario or Tetris).

 

[xXGeckoXx]

snip

I gave up on it because it was hard too. But I gotta say it is a good game. First of all it has shitty controls as it's main source of difficulty, that is kinda the point. Actually if you pay close attention to the way the game works it is not the shitty scheme that makes the game difficult it is the lag between when you press the button and something happens. Let me emphasize this: THIS IS A PERFECTLY VALID DESIGN CHOICE AND A GOOD WAY TO MAKE A GAME DIFFICULT.

An example is arma 2, the controls are clunky and there is a built in lag between when you bush the button and something happens, this is to promote thinking about each action before you make it and add a different tactical element to the game. It is a perfectly valid choice that changes the gameplay. Many people who are not used to it find it easy to say "shit controls, laaaag" but it was designed that way.

Finally if you want the story without the pain emulate it and use freeze states to save the game , it is cheating but fuck it you are meant to enjoy the game so do it as you like.

 

[Evilpigeon]

-snip-.

oh there is plenty wrong with the game .

unforgiving gameplay is fine when done fairly, the megaman games are very unforgiving yet they are fair . if a player is very good he can beat the whole game on the first try without taking a single hit . even it?s more random elements like the unique boss attacks are handled by setting a checkpoint right before the boss room . the game sets up it?s rules at the beginning of each level and sticks to them throughout the whole stage . Another World on the other hand keeps introducing new gameplay elements that can instant kill you in almost every room . good games like limbo counterbalance this by including frequent checkpoints , while megaman always shows you the obstacle ahead before letting you attempt it .

It?s important to remember that this style of game design got popular because it genuinely makes games more enjoyable to play . Difficulty that comes from bad controls and lazy design is not good difficulty . the problem with Another world is that it doesn?t control ?differently? but that it controls like an elephant on skis. And I could forgive the 2 and a half steps you make every time you stop if the game only had a scrolling screen . because when you are running at 20 miles per an hour from a pursuing guard the last thing you want is to suddenly realize that the last 2 meters of the hallway you couldn?t see are actually a vertical cliff .

Im sure that for the time another world was ?the shit? but the mark of a good game is one you can pick up for the first time and play 20 years after it?s release and still enjoy (e.g Mario or Tetris).

You are asking for a 20 years old game known for its story to take on board mechanical innovations that made these other games from the same time period stand out. It's not a case of lazy design, it's a case of the conventions there are today did not exist then. Your expectations for the controls and difficulty curve are unreasonable.

It's that simple, the game stands on other merits and I'm afraid you have to put up with older games being inconvenient in one area or another. Is this difficult to understand, it gets well recieved because the parts it did well are still done well by todays standards and it's completely unreasonable to criticise it for things that were at the time no worse than anything else out there. It's like crticising Planescape Torment for it's UI, it's unreasonable for you to expect it to do well in these areas.