Lie, Lie, Lie, Nostalgia.

[Parasondox]

Hello all, time for me to say some stuff about stuff.

You know nostalgia is a valuable thing. Watch it fly by as the memories sings. Watch it bring joy at the end of the day. As the thoughts desynch the life away. It?s so unreal. There are moments though that makes us realise we out grew it. We didn't look out below. Watch as the nostalgia goes right out the window. Trying to hold on but you know you must let go. You wasted it all just to watch it go.

Er... As I mentioned before, nostalgia isn't all bad. It's a great way too keep you happy and keep you going through tough times. Bring back moments of a more innocent time. But have you ever has a moment where you look back at something you thought you once loved and felt disappointed? An old TV show, your first car, an old cartoon, console, movie, wrestling, anything? Did you just out grew or or better yet, took of your rose tinted nostalgic lenses (sometimes fanboy lenses) and honestly open up about how you thought it weren't really that great.

Let us know and don't scared now *evil laugh* HAHAHAHAHAHA

CAPTCHA: "Under the Sea" - Under the sea, Under the sea, Darling it's better, Down where it's wetter, Take it from me, Up on the shore they work all day, Out in the sun they slave away, While we devotin', Full time to floatin', Under the sea... oh FUCK YOU!!

 

[Zhukov]

The good: Tintin.

Loved 'em as a kid, back when I could barely read. Found that they actually got better the more I understood them.

The bad: Beast Wars: Transformers

As a kid I though it was great. Then not so long ago I stumbled across a clip on Youtube. OH MY FUCKING GOD, THE HORROR [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obOyXacQGN4]!

 

[Hazy992]

One of my favourite games as a kid was Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles, which is basically a beat 'em up where you play as different Jedi. I used to play that game for hours with friends.

Found it cheap at a second hand game store a year or two back so I picked it up, and holy hell is that game bad! Describing the controls as clunky and unresponsive doesn't even come close. It was pretty much unplayable.

I don't know what I was thinking as a kid.

 

[nykirnsu]

One of my favourite games as a kid was Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles, which is basically a beat 'em up where you play as different Jedi. I used to play that game for hours with friends.

Found it cheap at a second hand game store a year or two back so I picked it up, and holy hell is that game bad! Describing the controls as clunky and unresponsive doesn't even come close. It was pretty much unplayable.

I don't know what I was thinking as a kid.

On a related note, the Star Wars prequels. Having been born in the late 90s I thought they were awesome, but having watched them again more recently, well, I still think the hatred they get is a bit undeserved, but they aint exactly the original trilogy in terms of quality.

 

[Hazy992]

One of my favourite games as a kid was Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles, which is basically a beat 'em up where you play as different Jedi. I used to play that game for hours with friends.

Found it cheap at a second hand game store a year or two back so I picked it up, and holy hell is that game bad! Describing the controls as clunky and unresponsive doesn't even come close. It was pretty much unplayable.

I don't know what I was thinking as a kid.

On a related note, the Star Wars prequels. Having been born in the late 90s I thought they were awesome, but having watched them again more recently, well, I still think the hatred they get is a bit undeserved, but they aint exactly the original trilogy in terms of quality.

Yeah I was like 6 or 7 when Episode I came out so I liked it, but looking back at it now... yeesh!

I don't mind Episode III though. A few problems hold it back from being a genuinely good movie IMO, but it's still highly watchable.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Jurassic Park

When that movie was announced I went... well, ape shit. More ape shit than I ever remember being. And when I finally saw it the movie had literally kicked out my brain and taken up residence in my skull. I couldn't stop talking about, probably to the annoyance of my family, but I was too young to notice this at the time. So yeah, I was a big Jurassic Park fanboy.

Now... I see what I consider to be Spielberg's weakest movie.

 

[shrekfan246]

Nothing new under the sun, but the Sonic Adventure games.

Upon replaying them for the first time in nigh on eight years or so, I actually wrote up user reviews for them here which nobody read, but to boil it all down, the only parts of either game which remained fun to me were playing as Sonic or Shadow, and those parts were not as prominently featured as they needed to be.

Funnily enough, I believe that Sonic Adventure DX is better than Sonic Adventure 2, despite the admittedly better handling present within the sequel. Adventure 2 is just a pain to struggle through a new game, because it railroads you to play as certain characters at certain times for the sake of its story, while Adventure allows you the freedom to play each character's story separately and at your own pace. And somehow, with the exception of Big the Cat, the alternate game modes are actually more fun in the first game; though that could partially be down to the level design being based on a single massive level separated into chunks. Knuckles' treasure hunting is intolerable in the second game, because of how they changed the little radar you get and how differently his levels are designed in comparison to the rest of the game.

 

[lacktheknack]

Myst got better as I got older and started reading the supplementary books.

The equally-awesome-at-the-time Crystal Key series, on the other hand... urgh. What a trainwreck. And that's a shame, because they really did put a ton of effort into it.

 

[stroopwafel]

The good: Hellraiser 1&2, classic Super Nintendo games(A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Demons Crest etc.), cheesecake.

All still hold up well in my opinion. I'll be the first to admit when something is nostalgia but I think the 'old' Nintendo was infintely better. And cheesecake remains as delicious as ever.

The bad: He-man(ugh), Atari 2600, '80s hair.

All these things probably speak for themselves.

 

[Gorrath]

The good: Hellraiser 1&2, classic Super Nintendo games(A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Demons Crest etc.), cheesecake.

All still hold up well in my opinion. I'll be the first to admit when something is nostalgia but I think the 'old' Nintendo was infintely better. And cheesecake remains as delicious as ever.

The bad: He-man(ugh), Atari 2600, '80s hair.

All these things probably speak for themselves.

I agree that the Nintendo and SNES both hold up really well, though both had their share of shovelware despite the good old seal of quality. That said, why do you think the 2600 is bad? The games are really simplistic of course, but Warlords, Tanks, Air/Sea Battle and the like are still a blast to play. Pre-2600 has it's share of problems I think. All those Pong consoles and the friggin' Odyssey are just unplayable these days.

As for me:

The Good: Retro Video Games like the ones Stroop mentioned and, despite its many flaws, I still think Robotech is just plain great. No cartoon I watched in the 80's had the depth of characters that Robotech had, or the frightening story about the annihilation of war. The animation hurts to watch at times, but I feel the show as a whole has a lot to give. Also, the first Conan movie. I still go back and watch it and still love it every time.

The Bad: Almost every other 80's cartoon, including Transformers. Also, I never realized just how bad Voltron actually was. Yikes! My sensibilities have changed, so that plays a big part, but if Robotech can appeal to me both as a kid and as an adult, that can't be the only reason.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Mutant X looked good at 2 in the morning many years ago. Or at least, fairly reasonable, if not actually good.

Rewatching it...not really.

OTOH, at about the same time was Birds of Prey, which holds up in a weird way.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Thundercats? More like Thundercraps.... hooooooooo!!!! Seriously why the fuck I even liked that series as a kid baffles the shit out of me. No nostalgia there, just a lingering question, what the fuck is a "samophlange?"
On the contrary I love GI Joe and G1 Transformers still (though I love the comic version GI Joe even more, the Marvel 80's run was awesome). Still enjoy most of the games from my youth, the entire adventure column of Sierra (none of the FMV crap though) and at least two Dynamix titles still are awesome to me. I can think of many crappy things I liked as a kid (like maybe Garbage Pail Kids: The Movie) but the things I loved very much still have a place in my heart and won't ever be bad to me.

 

[Nazulu]

Haven't "out-grown" much since I believe most of the 90's was great. Though I cannot watch The Pagemaster anymore because I find it a little too corny. Though I still like the some of the effects.

And a lot of classic cartoons like Wacky Races, Speed Racer, Captain Cave Man, Space Ghost, etc. You know, all those "lesser" titles, they just don't appeal at all to me like they used to.

I'm sure there's some others.

 

[TT Kairen]

Not one of mine, but everyone waxes nostalgic hard about FF6. I played it recently and... I wasn't impressed. I could go on for pages about where it lacked for me. 4 was a far better iteration of the older Final Fantasy games in my opinion.

As far as my OWN nostalgia, as Zhukov said, Beast Wars was pretty bad. It did have some funny moments though (Evil Rhinox anyone?).

Hard to say what else. I had a limited, but quality childhood with things like Master of Orion 2, Diablo 1/2, WarCraft 2/3, StarCraft, Final Fantasy 1, and a cheesy classic, Full Throttle.

 

[stroopwafel]

That said, why do you think the 2600 is bad? The games are really simplistic of course, but Warlords, Tanks, Air/Sea Battle and the like are still a blast to play. Pre-2600 has it's share of problems I think. All those Pong consoles and the friggin' Odyssey are just unplayable these days.

Not necessarily 'bad' but the 2600 was clearly a product of its time. I consider it a system that has just been made redundant by better things that have come since. While the 16-bit sprite based graphics of the snes have a distinct charm that can't be replicated by the 3D polygon era that came after it. The timeless gameplay of eg. A Link to the Past and Super Metroid with the charm of detailed 16-bit graphics maintain a kind of authenticity you can't really find anywhere else.

I can still have a lot of fun with old Super Nintendo games(or Megadrive/Genesis games for that matter) even without nostalgia and I think that says a lot about the quality of those games. While 2600 games(or even most NES games with all their flicker for that matter) have become mostly curiosity pieces for the enthusiast. On the other hand I think 16-bit sprites back then were in a somewhat similar position as high-res 3D textures now in that they refined their respective visual styles to a high degree. Similarly, PS1 games aged incredibly poorly when compared to its successors.

The PS1 will probably eventually be remembered as the 2600 of the 3D era. While the PS2 will have a more lasting appeal. Espescially for newcomers.

 

[Gorrath]

That said, why do you think the 2600 is bad? The games are really simplistic of course, but Warlords, Tanks, Air/Sea Battle and the like are still a blast to play. Pre-2600 has it's share of problems I think. All those Pong consoles and the friggin' Odyssey are just unplayable these days.

Not necessarily 'bad' but the 2600 was clearly a product of its time. I consider it a system that has just been made redundant by better things that have come since. While the 16-bit sprite based graphics of the snes have a distinct charm that can't be replicated by the 3D polygon era that came after it. The timeless gameplay of eg. A Link to the Past and Super Metroid with the charm of detailed 16-bit graphics maintain a kind of authenticity you can't really find anywhere else.

I can still have a lot of fun with old Super Nintendo games(or Megadrive/Genesis games for that matter) even without nostalgia and I think that says a lot about the quality of those games. While 2600 games(or even most NES games with all their flicker for that matter) have become mostly curiosity pieces for the enthusiast. On the other hand I think 16-bit sprites back then were in a somewhat similar position as high-res 3D textures now in that they refined their respective visual styles to a high degree. Similarly, PS1 games aged incredibly poorly when compared to its successors.

The PS1 will probably eventually be remembered as the 2600 of the 3D era. While the PS2 will have a more lasting appeal. Espescially for newcomers.

Great explanation of your point and now I can see where you're coming from. Viewing the 16 bit era as the refinement of the 2-d sprite is a great way of looking at it and the comparison to PS1 vs PS2 really drives that point home. The only thing I think I would disagree with is that the Atari 2600 is made redundant by what came later. There are games on the Atari that I play simply because I can't get a replicated, better looking experience on a more modern console. I will grant you that this is very, very niche of course and that there isn't a great demand for Warlords to come out on Xbone or anything like that.

In other words, I think your assessment of graphics is spot on but I'm not sure I agree with your redundancy argument. If the games were made redundant, then I could agree that the 2600 would exist purely as a nostalgia device. You may be correct about the games being redundant, I just don't know what examples would lead to that conclusion. In my experience there is simply no replacement for Warlords or Air/Sea Battle on modern consoles. This is likely because those games are too simplistic to be worth the power even an NES could provide.

I also think you run into another issue with the redundancy argument, which is that games on older consoles might have more modern counterparts, but those counterparts provide a different experience than the originals. A Link to the Past, even with its refined gameplay and wonderful sprites/art direction and score, does not in my mind make the original Zelda redundant, since the two games are different enough experiences that each stand on their own merits. I can certainly see why you might feel that those older games are redundant, I just can't share that feeling. If I could, I would agree with you totally.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Oh god, Sonic 3d Blast. I had this great memory of renting that game from Blockbuster when I was a teenager over my Christmas/New Year vacation one year and playing it with my sister. I thought it was so innovative and fun and memorable, but I only managed to get to the second to last boss.

I tried it again like a decade later on one of those "Sonic Genesis Collections", and it was the most unplayable, tedious crap. I'm starting to think maybe it wasn't the game I was so drawn to that vacation, but the garlic stuffed olives my dad had made and that I projected my love onto the wrong thing!

 

[EvilRoy]

The good: Tintin.

Loved 'em as a kid, back when I could barely read. Found that they actually got better the more I understood them.

The bad: Beast Wars: Transformers

As a kid I though it was great. Then not so long ago I stumbled across a clip on Youtube. OH MY FUCKING GOD, THE HORROR [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obOyXacQGN4]!

I had completely forgotten about beast wars. And/or beasties. Never was sure about the difference growing up. I honestly still love that shit though, same with reboot and shadow warriors - I think it must be the animation style. I'm well aware its pretty crap, but I still watch it anyway...

I suppose my big nostalgia thing that got murdered was DBZ. At the time it was so epic and intense, but rewatching a few episodes not long ago I couldn't figure out how I put up with it. There was also Kid Icarus, an original gameboy game that my brother and I played for a long time - looking back I have no idea where the patience came from.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Let see-

The good, several 80's cartoons even if they are cheesy in today society, some great iconic music and the adverts they had back then.

The bad, well I used to loved this when I was little....

 

[Nimcha]

Jurassic Park

When that movie was announced I went... well, ape shit. More ape shit than I ever remember being. And when I finally saw it the movie had literally kicked out my brain and taken up residence in my skull. I couldn't stop talking about, probably to the annoyance of my family, but I was too young to notice this at the time. So yeah, I was a big Jurassic Park fanboy.

Now... I see what I consider to be Spielberg's weakest movie.

Really? I think it holds up exceptionally well. The tension, the dinosaurs... I still get chills the first time the guests see the long necked dinosaurs (which we now know never existed, but still )

Even the fact that it's now common knowledge that dinosaurs looked nothing like that and most likely had feathers, it still works. Imo.