Games that Aged INCREDIBLY well

[AzrealMaximillion]

FF Tactics
Tactics Ogre
Total War Shogun 2
Killer is Dead
Beyond Oasis
Crusader Kings 2

All games I listed still play extremely well and still look very awesome. Sometimes I agree with the "you don't need graphics" argument, but you always need the game to play well.

 

[American Tanker]

Sometimes I agree with the "you don't need graphics" argument, but you always need the game to play well.

Gameplay always trumps graphics.

Good gameplay can make a game that looks like shit into an actually worthwhile experience. But no amount of graphical quality can make up for shitty gameplay.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Sometimes I agree with the "you don't need graphics" argument, but you always need the game to play well.

Gameplay always trumps graphics.

Good gameplay can make a game that looks like shit into an actually worthwhile experience. But no amount of graphical quality can make up for shitty gameplay.

I'd say a fair bit of the time graphics are just as important. And graphics aren't just how pretty a game looks. Its about how well it looks in motion. Or if the art style works well with the gameplay. Or if the graphics don't clips through things in a way that affects otherwise good gameplay.

 

[hentropy]

I might be a well-known Shenmue fan, but I do think it has aged quite well, at least visually. Games that have "cutting edge" graphics for their time usually don't hold up visually (like Suzuki's other big franchise, Virtua Fighter). But for Shenmue they also put a lot of work in making it look good as well as making it cutting edge. Gameplay wise there still hasn't been anything quite like it in terms of depth, it may not appeal to people now but it didn't appeal so much to people back then, either. If you liked it back then you'll probably like it now for the same reasons, which is holding up in my book. I suppose the one thing that doesn't hold up is the English voice acting/localization, but I hate to hold that against the original developers.

I feel like many Gameboy Advance classics hold up quite well, Golden Sun, Advance Wars, Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, Ace Attorney (even the DS additions feel really restrained with the 3D). It seemed they were at the perfect point between 2D and 3D, where playing the DS games feel less visually solid and more janky. I appreciate them trying 2.5D, but it doesn't hold up today when we see what the 3DS can do. I liked Pokemon AS, but in many ways it didn't feel like it needed a graphical upgrade, only the underwater segments add a lot to the game visually.

For me, I can't really name any N64 game that holds up visually... you really have to play them a while to look beyond the old spear-sharp polygons and pointed cone-boobs. The faces were done really well in OOT/MM, and they did what they could with what they had, but I would probably appreciate a total graphical revamp of those games more than any other Zelda game. Not only that, but the stylization the Gerudo and some Hylians always felt so ugly, when I don't think that was the intent. Out of all the N64 games, Super Smash Bros. probably holds up the best, and that's mostly because you're not getting a super close look at the models.

Most classics from the SNES era hold pretty well, for the same reason the GBA games tend to.

 

[American Tanker]

For me, I can't really name any N64 game that holds up visually...

The N64 games I cited in my post way back on the first page, I generally cited because of gameplay. Don't tell me: You never played Hydro Thunder, or Rush, or Rogue Squadron. Did you?

 

[BrawlMan]

Killer is Dead

All games I listed still play extremely well and still look very awesome. Sometimes I agree with the "you don't need graphics" argument, but you always need the game to play well.

It's awesome to see another Killer Is Dead fan! Did you ever get special collector's edition?

<spoiler=Killer is Dead Limited Edition>http://xboxaddict.com/images/misc/news/2013/July_2013/Killer_is_Dead_Limited_Edition.jpg

I reserved for mine on 360 and never regretted it.

Speaking of a last-gen game, I'll add another title.

Vanquish, the best cover shooter ever made. Never has a shooter such robust, speedy, flexible, and acrobatic over-the-shoulder protagonist. Sam Gideon controls like a Chevrolet, while almost any other cover shooter character plays almost or exaclty like a tank. The only thing you can knock Vanquish against is the reuse of some bosses and a crappy story, but that's about it. Otherwise, the gameplay has that Platinum charm, beautiful colors; despite the going for a mainly sterile white color palette, and one of the most challenging campaigns in a cover shooter ever made.

Some arcade games:

Undercover Cops (Japanese version/Alpha Renewal version only)

Violent Storm

Battle Circuit

Alien vs. Predator (Capcom)

 

[Paragon Fury]

You know it, you love it, it spawned a series that won't stop living off the amazing experience of this game;

Yep, Call of Duty 4.

Call of Duty 4 remains to this day one of the best games made. It had an amazing, well-paced and excellently executed campaign with one of the best single missions in any FPS - All Ghillied Up - and a great multiplayer that while it had it's imbalances (M16 and Juggernaut) was still great to play.

 

[American Tanker]

You know it, you love it, it spawned a series that won't stop living off the amazing experience of this game;

Yep, Call of Duty 4.

Call of Duty 4 remains to this day one of the best games made. It had an amazing, well-paced and excellently executed campaign with one of the best single missions in any FPS - All Ghillied Up - and a great multiplayer that while it had it's imbalances (M16 and Juggernaut) was still great to play.

If only they would make Modern Warfare Remastered standalone. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[hentropy]

For me, I can't really name any N64 game that holds up visually...

The N64 games I cited in my post way back on the first page, I generally cited because of gameplay. Don't tell me: You never played Hydro Thunder, or Rush, or Rogue Squadron. Did you?

I did actually like Hydro Thunder, though I played it mostly in the arcade rather than the N64. The textures on the boats and water are pretty good, so I can give it a pass, but environments seemed to look bad almost uniformly. I also played Rogue Squadron (though I haven't actually played it since the 90s, hence why it's not at the forefront of my mind). But it is pretty good, I'll give you that one. I never played SF Rush but looking videos of that in motion (looking at several different videos for fairness)... yeah it looks kinda bad to me actually. All the textures were muddy and the cars only resembled cars in shape and function. It seemed ambitious and you can tell they tried, but god help you if you freeze-frame on one of those city scenes.

Now that I think about, I really liked Megaman 64, it look seems to hold up better than most due to them going more all-on on anime style and did their best to make things rounder. Still, that game originated on the PS1, which I never owned, and I'm not comfortable making broad statements about. Mischief Makes holds up but isn't totally 3D, and the parts that are still kinda look bad. Some games that focus more on anthros than humans, Banjo-Kazooie and the Donkey Kong 3D games for example, become more immersive simply due to that fact.

I didn't meant to suggest that absolutely no games looked good, but I guess none of it really feels like "holds up" in terms of being unnoticeable and seamless. I can play many SNES games and not once be reminded that it came out 25 years ago, there's a reason why many games try to recreate that look in the indie market today. But with early 3D the tech just wasn't there, and you're constantly reminded with muddy, blurry textures and jagged polygons. As much as Pokemon Blue sticks out in my memory, the original monochrome simply doesn't bring the colorful world to life the same way as FR/LG does (saying nothing about those early Pokemon designs). How these games hold up in the gameplay department is a different story, but there are few classic games which don't hold up in terms of gameplay, what makes it fun just doesn't disappear.

 

[Teh_Moose]

Chrono Trigger aged well (well, I don't think it aged at all, but oh well)

 

[SmugFrog]

Hmm where to start :

Ah, Heroes 3 - that's a classic and fun to play with friends that are into the game. Also thanks for making me want to play Age of Empires again. I put way too many hours into that game back in the day, just building up an epic little village the way I wanted it to be while I held off the enemy who was clearly jealous of my town.

 

[babinro]

Microprose: Magic the Gathering (Shandalar)
Many people probably don't even know this game but with the craze that is Hearthstone and its many CCG free to play knock-offs and inspirations I still consider this old time gem to be the absolute pinacle of ccg gaming in history. Admittedly it would really benefit from a remake due to bugs and an extremely poor means at explaining the goals of the game to new players.

More traditional games:
- Final Fantasy 4 and 6. Old timey western RPG's still hold up pretty great despite the tedious grind attached to them.

- Just about any tactics game be it Advanced Wars, Final Fantasy Tactics, Ogre Battle, etc.

- Warcraft 3 still holds up exceedingly well.

- Mass Effect 2 isn't exactly ancient but holds up wonderfully

- Resident Evil 4 is still a masterpiece without the nostalgia goggles in my opinion

 

[chrissx2]

Hmm where to start :

Ah, Heroes 3 - that's a classic and fun to play with friends that are into the game. Also thanks for making me want to play Age of Empires again. I put way too many hours into that game back in the day, just building up an epic little village the way I wanted it to be while I held off the enemy who was clearly jealous of my town.

Get the Age of Empire 2 HD from steam! I've put almost 500h into it. It's soo much fun! There are 3 new expansion packs that came out in recent years (I think the most recent one came out last or this year). It also has integrated Steam Workshop, so there are some nice mods for it.

 

[peabuddie]

Half Life 2, Uncharted, RE4, DAO, just off the top of my head. Oh, Oblivion, but that's not really THAT old. LOZ N64 games. Saints Row 2 still a great game, I could go on even further back. There are a lot of games that I feel stand up very well over time. But I still occasionally play FFIX so.....

 

[Zenja]

Immediately my mind went to this game:

Possibly the best aged oldest game. The controls are still tight, the cartoony graphics make it timeless. Even the pixels mixed with the music give it more charm. I ain't even a Mario fan, but I am always ok for a little Super Mario World on the SNES.