Games that Aged INCREDIBLY well

[Fijiman]

I dont think any of the old Mario games 1,2,3 have aged at all they still look and play amazing.

I think most people would agree that at least 95% of all Mario games age tremendously well and any of them could easily be picked up again ten years from now and be just as fun as the day they were released.

 

[Casual Shinji]

But is it just us, or is it those games were always lacking a bit in that regard though? Because looking back, my memories of when I first played GTA on the PS2 was that I disliked the controls even then.
What I liked about GTA 3 and vice city was the scope and the setting and the driving was tolerable, but running and shooting always felt incredibly clunky and subpar.

The early 3D GTA games always had shitty controls, but that's probably due to technological constraints. I don't think there were many if any open-world games on consoles back then that didn't control like a garbage truck. There was so much for you to interact with and there was only so much storage space on a DVD. And remember, usually half of that is reserved for the sound files. With the increase of storage space they could increase the level of detailed player input.

 

[stroopwafel]

A Link to the Past and Super Metroid really stood the test of time I think. Street Fighter 2 as well has a timeless charm to it. Another favorite game of the era Super Castlevania 4 still looks nice but the mode 7 effects are really a product of it's time. Demon's Crest and Super Contra(despite some iffy mode 7 effects) also still look really nice. But then again so does Super Mario World, Actraiser, Super Aleste, Axelay..or pretty much any of my favorite Super Nintendo games. Strangely I think even Starfox aged better than most PS1 titles. The graphics are rudimentary 3D but the entire game is optimized to it's fullest extent so it still plays really well.

Maybe it has to do with my own age but I think everything from PS1 onwards is much more forgettable. Mostly I think b/c 3D graphics continue to improve so there is not really this moment of transition you had with the leap from 2D sprites to 3D polygons. Espescially PS1 every game from that era looks like shit now. My most favorite modern games Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 I will probably still remember however many years from now for their distinct visual design. They simply look sooooo pretty.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

As long as you don't have an unnatural aversion to sprite-based games I find most SNES era games have aged quite well, at least in terms of visuals. Most games with a stylized art style tend to age better then games that go for a hyper-realistic look.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

SNIP

Rare Replay

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

Comes with a shit load of old great games.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Oh also since I haven't seen it around here:

Yeah. Good game.

 

[josemlopes]

SNIP

Rare Replay

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

Comes with a shit load of old great games.

I know, I have it, the problem is that the OG Xbox version isnt there. There were rumours that it could come as DLC but I dont think it ever did, and searching online doesnt show anything.

 

[Pyrian]

Chess? Lol. Somebody already cited Tetris. Okay, seriously.

Tron 2.0

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I don't know if any game less than 10 years old should even be mentioned when discussing this topic. Hell, they're only last generation, which already was basically just more of what we had in the PS2 era, only more refined. Well, I'm gonna go by the 10 years rule:

- the first Bioshock, obviously. The art direction still blows most games out of the water, and the gameplay... well any FPS released since basically Half-Life 2 still holds up in gameplay terms, so why even bother?
- Crysis 1. Not that many FPS's have used similar level design, which is basically a 10 mile wide tunnel: ultimately linear, but open enough that you almost won't notice.
- Most strategy games of the last 15-20 years. Let's be honest: the genre is so isolated from any other gameplay conventions that it's basically impossible to innovate at this point. Stronghold Crusader, despite some gameplay imbalances, is still just as enjoyable as when I was a 12 year old. A genre in which you observe most of your troops from about 200 meters up in the air isn't going to feel much different no matter how much detail or additional animations you add
- Tekken 3. Only recently did I realize how incredibly detailed and realistic the animations in that game are.

I wonder if there's even much point in trying to think of individual games. Once you step outside 3rd and 1st person action games, you realize that the vast majority of game genres haven't nearly changed at all this century. Racing games, puzzle games, platformers, strategy games, fighting games and more have essentially been perfected in what they're trying to achieve. If a game from those genres was good when it came out, chances are it's still good.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

- Most strategy games of the last 15-20 years. Let's be honest: the genre is so isolated from any other gameplay conventions that it's basically impossible to innovate at this point. Stronghold Crusader, despite some gameplay imbalances, is still just as enjoyable as when I was a 12 year old. A genre in which you observe most of your troops from about 200 meters up in the air isn't going to feel much different no matter how much detail or additional animations you add

Oh since you mentioned it, Age of Empires 2 & 3 still hold up really well. AoE2, if one can deal with the low resolution, holds up visually as well without the HD re-release. Good 2D artwork in that game.

 

[Sable Gear]

But to say what my first thought was when I read the title:

Metroid Prime Trilogy

And here I thought I was gonna be first.

I haven't played them in a while so it's hard to think about what truly nails down the aesthetics for the game. It doesn't shoot for photo-realism nor does it go for a stylization in it's graphics, I think it might be stylization in the design of things but I can't quite nail it down.

I thought this as well, Prime 1 especially. This game came out in 2002 and honestly even on the GC it still looks and feels great. I agree completely that there's something about its balance of stylization and realism that keeps it from looking too dated. It seems like the visual team really understood the limits they were working within and didn't try to push things too far. Granted some of the fire/glow effects on enemies haven't aged as nicely, but the rest of the 99%+ of the visuals still look fantastic. Prime 2 moved slightly more towards the stylization and that didn't hurt it at all for a game only two years younger than its predecessor. Prime 3 didn't have quite the same mechanical feel, but again that balance of visual style keeps it looking pretty darn good today.

 

[PurplePonyArcade]

Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night. Its not even my favourite Castlevania game and it is still by far the prettiest in the series and probably the prettiest game from that whole era of gaming. Garou: Mark of The Wolves would be another choice.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I see ageing as more than just graphics. Game needs to be playable. And I think these games qualify:
- GTA Vice City. It still plays pretty great. Controls are simple but effective. And graphics have aged pretty well due to the art design of the game. - - Max Payne 2. I remember when that game was one of the most graphically intensive games. Not much to say about gameplay. It's a pretty simple third person shooter with the added bonus of being able to dual wield smaller weapons and the game has that amazing bullet time mechanic.
- Splinter Cell 1 and Chaos Theory still look and play pretty good due to attention to details.
- Hitman 2, Contracts and Blood Money all look fine and have solid gameplay mechanics that put to shame even some modern stealth games.
- Resident Evil 4. This one is obvious for so many reasons.

 

[Battenberg]

Pretty surprised nobody's mentioned this one already but the original Rayman (as in the one from back in PS1 days) has aged phenomenally well. The graphics, while not as sharp as the newer Rayman games, are still utterly gorgeous, the soundscape/ music of the game is so on point, and the gameplay is some of the best of any platformer ever imo. Starts out simple enough but adds new mechanics and gets sufficiently more challenging the further in you get (arguably too difficult for the young audience it was aimed at but then it's not like kids under 10 are great at playing games all the way through).

 

[Battenberg]

- Resident Evil 4. This one is obvious for so many reasons.

I was actually going to say this initially but having started another playthrough recently I'm not sure I could say it has aged well. I say that as someone who ranks this as my favourite game of all time but, unlike a lot of other games mentioned here, I can't say it feels as exciting playing it now as it did years ago. There's no end of things it did well and areas in which it innovated but much like the first 3 Resi games I think we're approaching a point where newer gamers simply wouldn't find enough to like in it to overcome the awkwardness that comes with being a 3d game that's so old.

That said it's possible I've just played it too much over the years and I've just seen everything it has to offer at this point.

 

[Mister K]

Final Fantasy VI and X. Both have rather nice gameplay, story and cast of characters and both still look gorgeous.

IMO, Planescape: Torment and first two Fallouts. While they are not impressive in their looks from technical point of view, they are still aestetically pleasing, they play well and, once again, great story and characters.

First God of War and God Hand still hold up as action games.

Also, I think even in 2030's people will still like Personas 3 and 4. And waifu wars will continue.

 

[Callate]

The original X-Com. Because it was never about graphics (though those provided were decent enough to keep the player aware of everything that was going on), but the tension of opening a door and possibly being greeted by a hail of plasma fire, or having your heavy-weapons person dominated by a psychic, or the excitement of successfully deploying a blaster bomb for the first time.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Only gonna count games 2 console generations back and older. It also needs to work at least halfway decently on modern systems (consoles not included in that requirement for obvious reasons), needs to have good controls, and probably most important of all, needs to have delivered an experience that still has not been done better yet by another game or its sequel(s).

Now, behold my list, ye mighty, and despair.

Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition
Unreal Tournament 2004: Editor's Choice Edition
Neverwinter Nights Diamond
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast CAMPAIGN
Star Wars Jedi Knight III: Jedi Academy MULTIPLAYER
Star Wars Battlefront II
Guild Wars The Complete Collection
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Painkiller: Black Edition
Aliens vs. Predator 2
Freelancer
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
Max Payne
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Riven
Ultimate Doom/Doom II
Blood
___
Burnout 3: Takedown
Halo: Combat Evolved
Timesplitters: Future Perfect
Ninja Gaiden Black
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Soulcalibur II
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
___
Metroid Prime
Resident Evil 4
___
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Super Mario 64
Mario Kart 64
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Tooie
Super Smash Bros. 64
Gauntlet Legends

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I joined late so most of what I'd say has been ninja'd so it's basically a quote-athon here. Here's a couple games that I don't believe have mentions:

-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
The game still looks and plays great. Even the combat has stayed pretty solid while not really being the game's focus due to it not requiring lock-on like my games around that time.

-Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
The 1st game of the series was easily the best of the original 3 at least (I haven't played the 4th one). The game uses classic platformer mechanics like 1 hit kills you and there's a lives system even, but it somehow works still. There's even some clever stealth mechanics like you can speed up the guards' patrols so you don't have to wait for a guard to come all the back around. Every level is unique and extremely varied while being a joy to play. The sequels went all open world and lost a lot of the charm and originality of the first game.

-The Team ICO games: ICO and Shadow of the Colossus
I can't believe I almost forgot these gems. I've never had a problem with the games' controls even though I know some don't like how they control. I've never had moments where I died or couldn't do what I wanted because of the controls. ICO is just running around and hitting stuff with a stick so there's not much there to begin with. But with SotC, I never had issues with the camera or anything even playing it semi-recently on PS3. These games are still gorgeous looking and the remasters (not remakes mind you) look damn good. I'll gladly add The Last Guardian to the list in about 10 years or so.

-Mercenaries: Playground of DESTRUCTION!!!
I still think this is my top open world/sandbox game of all-time because of how open-ended the missions are. The controls are alright at best as no open world shooter (GTA for example) was very good at that time. When a horror game, Resident Evil 4, probably has the best 3rd-person shooting controls from the PS2 generation, no pure 3rd-person shooters from that era have aged well.

-Midnight Club 2
This may still be my favorite arcade racer ever. The level design (especially Paris) is still so ridiculously good.

---

Resident Evil 4

Obviously.

I dont think any of the old Mario games 1,2,3 have aged at all they still look and play amazing.

No shit Sherlock

I find Deus Ex still extremely absorbing and enjoyable.

It's still the best of the series and got so much right that the new ones got wrong.

Mirrors Edge 1 is a bit older and damn, that shit looks wack, have a nice read on its lighting

I'd say Mirror's Edge has aged well because that gameplay is really good and there's nothing else like it (besides for Catalyst obviously). Even Catalyst doesn't look very good either.

Serious, serious props to the artists that did the backdrops for Bulletstorm. It's been ages since I've played it and maybe the wow factor would be worn away if I went back (I don't think so though) but with the Full Clip Edition coming out in a little while, I've been thinking about it lately and I think that was one of the first games to really make me appreciate a horizon in a game, gorgeous stuff sometimes.
And I like to think of that as a relatively high praise for a game that was pretty mindless bro-dude shooting most of the time, they didn't cut corners when it came to building the world, at least from a visual standpoint.

BulletStorm is awesome and just sheer fun to play, and it will always be. It's graphical style isn't hyper-realistic so the graphics won't age.

I think Metal Gear Solid 1 has aged quite well. The keycards needing to be equipped items is annoying but aside from that it still plays very very well, a good fast paced arcade stealth game.

MGS1 is still great because it didn't try to play like a typical shooter like say Syphon Filter, those controls aged horribly (and the writing and voice acting is even more horrid). The graphics have obviously aged, but you can remake the game with updated graphics and keep the gameplay exactly as is and it would still play great.

The first God of War and Ratchet and Clank, and the entire Jak and Daxter series suffer from an awkward stiffness to the controls. Don't even get me talking about the PS2 era GTA games.

I don't recall any awkwardness or stiffness in the 1st God of War's controls. They all control the same because of the fixed camera. I still find the 1st God of War the only good game in the series. Now, Ratchet and Clank or Jak and Daxter, I have no clue. GTA3 was the worst because you could only shoot by locking-on to someone but the lock-on would lock-on to the closest person I think so you'd end up killing civilians instead of enemies so often. Vice City fixed the lock-on priority issues of GTA3.

Actually came into the thread to nominate the very first Uncharted. I'm watching my girlfriend play it right now and while it hasn't aged impeccably - water/foliage textures are always a dead giveaway in these games - the perfectionism in the animation department remains outstanding. Game is full of little details here and there that were way ahead of its time, and many of the games of today would only do well in learning them.

Uncharted 2 on the other hand I think has aged about as well as the third game.

Uncharted 1 wasn't that good when it came out because I bought it Day 1 and was disappointed. You can't even throw grenades well in that game because they made you use the six-axis shit to do that. Maybe the remaster fixed that shit though. Overall the level design was really weak with very flat shooting levels and lots of chest-high cover making the game play too whack-a-mole like. Then, you have the waves of enemies issue and their sponginess. Those "set-pieces" were lame jet-ski sequences that were lame then and even more lame after Uncharted 2 "aged" them even more. The 1st game has by far the worst shooting of the series and Uncharted has never been a great shooter. The best thing Uncharted 1 did was the "twist". Uncharted 1 came off very much as a tech demo for me even when released, the game looks great (graphics and animations) but the gameplay isn't much above the very first cover shooter, Winback. Uncharted 2 is still, by far, the best of the series and has aged really well. I've played the entire series and the 2nd game is the only one I still own.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The first God of War and Ratchet and Clank, and the entire Jak and Daxter series suffer from an awkward stiffness to the controls. Don't even get me talking about the PS2 era GTA games.

I don't recall any awkwardness or stiffness in the 1st God of War's controls. They all control the same because of the fixed camera. I still find the 1st God of War the only good game in the series.

Things moved funkier. Kratos' turn speed was slower, his climbing was awkward, and a lot of the camera angles weren't that optimal. I still like the first one best, but the sequels ironed out all the mechanical kinks.