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Comment by finnjohnsen2 | Hacker News Reader

I find you don't actually play retro games, you visit them for 5 minutes - driven by nostalgia. Then you realize the evolution of gaming has come a long way.

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Depends on the game. Just like some modern games will hold your attention for longer than others. There's some retro games I still clock up a great many hours on.

Pac-Man and Tetris are still my favourite all time games. Doom 2 is still my favourite FPS. Soulcalibur on the Dreamcast is still my favourite beat em up. System Shock 2 is still my favourite survival horror. All of these games were released > 20 years ago (30+ in some cases).

Great points. Also you can dip in and out of Doom quite easily - the original’s three episodes (or five if you include Thy Flesh Consumed and Sigil) can each be comfortably finished within an hour so starting a new game isn’t necessarily a huge investment of time. You also mention System Shock 2 - which is arguably better enjoyed second or third time round.

I guess it depends on the Type of Games?

I still love good old 2D RPG. May be making 3D RPG is easier or cheaper so no one is making 2D anymore. But i still love 2D. Even in pixelated form. Good Old Zelda, Sword of Mana, Chrono Trigger

In fact even old Championship Manager ( now called Football manager ) was lots of fun. And Pro Evolution Soccer ( or Winning Eleven ) during Playstation Era.

Some of the fun part are lost in modern gaming. I reckon they introduce too much complexity and Real Life simulation into it. Or may be they care WAY too much about graphics, and not enough about Game play dynamics and Story telling ( Apart from Nintendo ).

I'm at the opposite end. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to play new games if I ever had the time, then realize the chore of making accounts, buying into walled gardens, installing platforms just to download 50GB+ games with only a couple of hours of playtime sans multiplayer and it is an instant turn off.

There are more than enough games not fitting that description. But there's also a reason some of the most popular games of all time fall into these categories.

Or the obligatory 20 minute tutorial which starts off with a cutscene filled with cliches, uncanny or wooden characters, and amateurish dialogue, followed by your character running comically around some dramatic scene like a headless chicken as you learn the controls.

In some respects I disagree - there are games I return to every now and then and enjoy thoroughly. However there’s definitely some I find are quite disappointing to go back to - related Limmy clip: https://youtu.be/DjikLCPeUdo

The very best retro games can be better than most above average modern games, especially if you like particular genres. For instance, the other day I played Fallout New Vegas (11 yr old) for 50+ hours and had an experience I wouldn't trade for any modern game available at that moment (please note I had already played Fallout 4 for 100+ hours, all expansions etc)

That is often the case, yes, but every now and then one finds a gem that is still worth playing. I have an entire emulator setup solely for playing Sub Trade: Return to Irata. :D

Oh, I don't know. I recently played through the Eye of The Beholder series (available on GOG) with as much enthusiasm as I had when playing a recent game. I've done the same in the past with beautiful SNES RPGs. I will play Battle Squadron on the Amiga for ever.

I also find that if I want a quick blast to clear my head, then a five minute game of Defender, R-Type, or a round of Bomberman does the trick far better than contemporary so-called casual games, which for reasons I can't explain, often give me unpleasant mental sensations.

Then again I am a strange person. If something from the past was meaningful to me, then it is still the same when I revisit it. I sort of live in a "long present", accumulating things of meaning and only setting them down when I'm finally done with them, whatever the vagaries of fashion.

(As an aside, if the author of the article wants a better Amiga racing game that hasn't been ported to DOS, then check out Super Skidmarks. I used to carry my Amiga and TV set to my friends house to play this over a null modem link; its an amazing party game)

>contemporary so-called casual games, which for reasons I can't explain, often give me unpleasant mental sensations.

Contemporary as in "of that era" or "current times"?

If the latter, I'd have to argue this is because modern games have become very, very good at being blatantly addictive and shamelessly peddling in-game purchases that it becomes obvious the purpose of the game is not entertainment, but to engage your eyeballs.

Yes, I mean current times. I have wondered if the games that make me feel like that, are ones that have been "psychologically engineered" to be addictive.

A better wording would be "I find I don't actually play retro games, I visit them for 5 minutes - driven by nostalgia. Then I realize the evolution of gaming has come a long way."

That may be true for you, but I've played through games like Quake 1, SMB3, and Super Mario Land II this year. I love retro games and enjoy them more as an adult than when I was a kid. Plenty of us play retro games legitimately and not just as a 5 minute nostalgia hit. Modern games are not necessarily better or worse than older ones

In most cases I'd agree. Many games I absolutely adored years ago really have not aged gracefully. I find classic RPGs especially a huge grind now.

Some game have proven timeless though. I'm currently hooked on Super Mario Bros. 35 and since it launched have been playing it exclusively. Mind you it does have a few quality of life improvements compared to the original, and the online competitive component makes it extremely fun.

I disagree; but that doesn't mean there's only one category of retro games. What you say is true for some, less true for others, and will never be true for some others still.

Which is true for any artistic medium.

Isn't Tetris ageless? Chess? I bought a Pocketsprite specifically for my kid to play old games. Simplicity is strength, especially for youth.

Depends how retro you're talking. Many GBA games still hold up excellently today.

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