Good old 2D games

[Gerald Davis]

For some time now, I have thought that I have grown too old for video games. But I still manage to find some old style 2D games like Viewful Joe and R-type final to remind me of old times.

It is not the old time that makes those 2D games good it is the fact that they are better games. I have been to Blockbusters video to rent a computer game. All the games that was available, I was not interested in any of them, unlike ten years before in the Magadrive and Snes days. I am asking all of you who have read this to remember some of your best gaming experiences. Was the game Sonic the Hedgehog or Mario; could the 3D equivalent be as good as those games was.

[Eric Pascarello]

To me the best 2-D game was contra for NES. Spent hours playing that game with friends getting through the game without being killed. It also has the most well-known code to get extra lives.

Platform: NES
Genre: Sidescrolling shooter
Developer/Publisher: Konami
Year released: 1988

Eric

[Mark Spritzler]

Yep, I only like playing the old arcade games form the late 70s early 80's. That is why I have Mame on my laptop.

Mr Do's Wild Rides
Pacman
Tutenkamen
Moon Patrol
Track and Field
Hyper Sports
First Star Wars arcade game. Wireframes

Mark

[Gregg Bolinger]

http://www.t45ol.com/play_flash_us.php?ID=672

[Paul Bourdeaux]

It also has the most well-known code to get extra lives.
up-up-down-down
left-right-left-right
B-A-select-start

I played that game so much that I could do that in my sleep!

[Jesse Torres]

Super Mario Bros.
Mario Bros.
Pac-man
Mrs Pac-man
Space Invaders

[Gerald Davis]

Super R-type
Thunder Force 4
Super Castlevainia
Super Maria 4
Sonic II
Starcraft
Crono-Trigger
FinalFantacy X

[Juhan Voolaid]

Warcraft 2
Ufo 1 & 2

[Dave Lenton]

Its strange how the old games seem to be better. These days games seem to be all about using as many different graphical effects as possible, with little concern over the gameplay. I guess its not too dissimilar to what's happening in Hollywood, with special effects becoming more common than story lines. This is a real shame, because the fun factor seems to have been taken out of many games. Back when eye catching graphics weren't that common, the game makers needed to make the game good to ensure people keep playing it, something they've forgotten now.

One good example of this is the Civilisation games. The early ones are great - simple and easy to use interface, lots of customisation available, good gameplay... and fun. The later versions are very different. They have much better graphics and sound, but they've lost what ever it was that made the earlier versions good to get sucked into for several hours. I borrowed a copy of Civ III from someone a year or so back and only played it twice. Civ I and II, on the other hand, I had for years and played them countless times.

This trend even goes back to the first game: pong. Is there a better game out there? I don't think so. It may be incredibly simple, but its still a lot of fun. Despite the simplicity (maybe because of it?) its incredibly addictive. How many of today's games will still be that fun several decades after release? All that rely on graphics will have been superseded by games with better media effects. Its the earlier simple games like pong, tetris, snake etc which will still be played in years to come.

[Tim West]

Y'all can relive those memories with MAME and the appropriate ROMs...hours of fun, without the risk of getting addicted to a current game that takes months to finish


-Tim

[Paul Bourdeaux]

One good example of this is the Civilisation games

Great games. Loved them (and all the Sid games). Another great example is the Master or Orion Series. MOO1 and Moo2 were great, but MOO3 was worthless. They changed the engine to make it more "real time" and "graphic rich". They actually managed to get rid of he things that I liked best about the old games, like turn based combat!

[Gerald Davis]

Originally posted by Dave Lenton:
Its strange how the old games seem to be better. These days games seem to be all about using as many different graphical effects as possible, with little concern over the gameplay. I guess its not too dissimilar to what's happening in Hollywood, with special effects becoming more common than story lines.

I disagree about American movies, some of the newer movies are very good not tacky at all. I don�t get excited when an old movie comes on.

I don�t completely agree that older games were better; Packman didn�t seem any better then Super Mario World. The Magadrive and Snes were computer games at its best.

[Nimai Etheridge]

In general disagreement with this thread, I'd have to say newer games are better on the whole since they're so much more immersive than older games. Games like battlefield 2 or World of Warcraft imho are a lot more entertaining than Castle Wolfenstein or Wizardry.

It's just that as we get older, we have so many other things on our plates that we can't invest the same amount of emotional involvement into a game as we used to, and so finishing a level or killing a boss just doesn't engage us like it once did. So we think back to our old gaming experiences and how much fun we had back then and compare those games to the present games which as a result don't seem as good.

I personally have a number of great old game moments when I was blown away by something or totally sucked into it, but I also know, if I go back and play those old games after being spoilt by the quality of todays games, then those memories would lose their magical quality.

Also Dave, possibly the reason you didn't like Civ III is because you had played the first two to death and had burnt out on them...It's generally regarded as the best of the civ series in terms of AI and game balance as well as graphics.
[ August 24, 2005: Message edited by: Nimai Etheridge ]

[Sameer Jamal]

Contra
Mario, MarioII
Jackie Chan
Russian Attack
Ninja
Double Dragon

[Gerald Davis]

I disagree as I got older the only thing that chance is instead of going to school I go to work. I do acknowledge newer 2D games are much better then older. 3D games are a different kettle of fish altogether.

I remember playing Golden axe with my older non-geek sister ten years ago, and then play Metal Slug ten years later on Mame with my younger sister. Do you think they would enjoy any of these deep 3D games that much? I mean what ever happened to the multi player pick up and play games the kind of game you would play with your friends.

I did like playing multi player quake especially killing newbies, but 3rd persons prospective games are getting old very quickly. What does a developer do when developing a new game of this type? Change the theme, change some weapons, and change the AI a little bit then call it a new game.

When I go to the computer games shop, I am ganna pick five modern computer games and think hard about what they might be like to play.

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Nimai Etheridge:
Also Dave, possibly the reason you didn't like Civ III is because you had played the first two to death and had burnt out on them...It's generally regarded as the best of the civ series in terms of AI and game balance as well as graphics.

Possibly. Maybe I should dig it out and give it another go. One thing were it did seem to fall a bit short was in the scenario department. In Civ II, making scenarios was really simple and quick - you could throw together a fun simulation of a particular point in history in the morning and be playing it in the afternoon. Civ III (or at least the version I have) doesn't seem to be able to do this as well. I guess there are scenarios on line as well, but I did like to make my own.