What old games have you played recently?

[Beagle 2]

...and why? Okay, list threads are baaad, but I'm not sure how else to kick off some retro game chat - and I play a lot of them. Try and write around them a bit to avoid the listiness.

Recently I made a promise with myself that I would try and finally get into an RPG - a gaming blind spot for me, but I fancied a bit of dragon-slaying dungeon-crawling action after watching Stranger Things. I did a bit of research and found that Secret of Mana on the SNES didn't have the tedious turn-based battle system that is such total AIDS to me.



I'm not far enough into it to have got past the step-by-step guide in the manua , but I am further than I've ever got with one of these kinds of games - and I'm enjoying it! It looks lovely, the music is great and the gameplay is stabby and addictive (save states really help with these kinds of games), although the point at which I stalled and left it to one side for a while was the point I got lost. I can't handle getting lost in games. Still, I'll persevere, and be interested in any other RPGs with similar mechanics. Also, are there any of these kinds of games that have actually interesting plots, or at least ones that aren't aimed at five-year-olds?

Lots of others too... but I'll keep it to one per post for now.

[Puce Moment]

Is Portal old? Anyway, Portal.

The great thing about it is that after a few years I completely forget the solutions to each level and it takes me forever. As long as you leave a bit of time, it almost becomes like a new game.

[Twed]

I'm playing Pokemon Sapphire, after somebody posted a screenshot of it in the Aged Well thread. I had been intending to play the Pokemon games in chronological order, but the Game Boy Color screen is just too low-res to comfortable play on a laptop. I'll revisit the GBC ones when I have an actual device.

[Ron Maels Moustache]

I'm back on SpaceChem after starting it about a year ago then giving up.

I'm still stuck on the same level. I really like it as a game but it can also be heartbreakingly frustrating when you spend hours constructing an elaborate system and then just can't make it work, and there's no choice but to start over again.

[Bazooka]

Beagle 2: I don't know if you have a GBA or a DS but the Sword Of Mana is also a bloody brilliant game

Ecco The Dolphin 2: Tides Of Time, currently playing through again on the Mega Drive, scarier than any survival horror. Also probably the best Dolphin themed game on the market.

[Van Dammage]

I'm back on SpaceChem after starting it about a year ago then giving up.

I'm still stuck on the same level. I really like it as a game but it can also be heartbreakingly frustrating when you spend hours constructing an elaborate system and then just can't make it work, and there's no choice but to start over again.

Was Space Chem not released in 2011?

[biggytitbo]

Ive recently been revisiting lots of old games I never completed back in the day to try and finish them -

Chase HQ (completed)
Flashback (not completed)
Rainbow Islands (completed)
Batman (speccy isometric version) (not completed)
Ghouls and Ghosts (not completed)
Magic Flying Hat Adventure (completed)
Mickey Mouse Castle of Illusion (completed)

Also currently having a crack at Metroid Zero Mission, although am stuck on that fuck off giant brain. Going to have a go at Streets of Rage 2 next I think.

[HappyTree]

I'm still playing the original Angry Birds. I guess I don't spend much downtime on the toilet.

[Ron Maels Moustache]

Was Space Chem not released in 2011?

Five years is a little bit old! You wouldn't exactly say it was current.

[hedgehog90]

Biggy mentioned Castle of Illusion which reminded me - WORLD of Illusion, which had an excellent co-op mode, I used to play it all the time with my brother.
I can only recall a sort of Alice in Wonderland style level right now, but I remember being so impressed and awed by it. Great music and design.
There was one level with massive trees too.
Damn, I really need to replay this now.

[madhair60]

Played World of Illusion with me mate a few weeks back, finished it. Absolutely piss easy, gorgeous game.

Quite ahead of its time in a way - if you play Mickey you get different levels to if you play Donald - and even more different levels made for two players, if you play with both.

[hedgehog90]

My brother's coming round this weekend and we're gonna play it for the first time in almost 2 decades.
Got the old megadrive out and ready, front and centre of the desk, proper looks the part.
Like a nudey lass, legs open, waiting for fuck.
The megadrive I mean.

[captaincockring]

I've been playing all the old games just lately...I've been playing Outzone, Batsugun, Dogyuun, Outrunners and Popeye...all arcade games...oh and Bubble Bobble 1,2 and 3.

New games are shit...this is the conclusion I've come to, I doubt I will play on my PS4 much from now on...modern games are just joyless on the whole, the whole industry barring Nintendo is intent on running the whole thing into the ground.

[madhair60]

Bubble Bobble 1,2 and 3.

In a similar vein, me and a friend recently fully completed (as in, good ending) Parasol Stars on the PC Engine, which was a nice moment for us since we've been playing it on and off for about 15 years, and the RNG never fell in our favour until this summer.

Parasol Stars is my favourite of that series (Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Bubble Symphony etc) but you can't really go wrong with a bit of Bub and Bob.

[captaincockring]

In a similar vein, me and a friend recently fully completed (as in, good ending) Parasol Stars on the PC Engine, which was a nice moment for us since we've been playing it on and off for about 15 years, and the RNG never fell in our favour until this summer.

Parasol Stars is my favourite of that series (Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Bubble Symphony etc) but you can't really go wrong with a bit of Bub and Bob.

Yes it's a great game...a real shame Taito didn't make an arcade version of it, the PC Engine version is the original version and that's good enough I suppose.

Be good if they made an arcade board after all these years like Sega did for Fantasy Zone 2 about ten years ago...but probably (definitely) won't happen.

[madhair60]

I do wonder if an arcade version fell through at all, or if one ever existed as a proto. That'd be a holy grail find for me.

[captaincockring]

I do wonder if an arcade version fell through at all, or if one ever existed as a proto. That'd be a holy grail find for me.

Taito were asked about twenty years ago and they swore they never made one...but there have been rumours of a proto over the years, nothing has come of it though.

[Van Dammage]

Playing Death To Spies at the moment. I'd describe it as a much more hardcore hitman game if Agent 47 was a Russian spy in WW2. Having a blast so far. Stealth games these days seem piss easy (E.g Deus ex HR. Which I loved, all the same) and this one is a pleasant surprise. One nice addition is not being able to change into an enemy uniform if you shot them or knifed them. Presumably because there would be blood all across the uniform. A nice change, I can't just mow down a 3 man patrol and then walk around past everyone anymore dressed in gunshot covered clothes.

[lazarou]

Playing the old MSX2 Rune Master series at the moment. They're a trilogy of dice-based rpg/boardgame hybrids with some charming graphics and a strangely compulsive gameplay loop that's just a little bit too reliant on the RNG to be completely fun. I can imagine them being fun in multiplayer, but then I'd have to convince someone to spend a couple of hours playing a bloody MSX game, so who knows?

Being a thieving bastard, I'm working on a prototype tribute/semi-remake and trying to iron out some of the kinks to make it faster and more playable (giving players a limited pool of re-rolls seems like it could add a tactical element). I'm fascinated by these kind of games where there's a core of fun in there just struggling to get out.

[hedgehog90]

Just wanted to say I gave that World of Illusion a go over the weekend and it was fucking shite.

[biggytitbo]

Just wanted to say I gave that World of Illusion a go over the weekend and it was fucking shite.

It's not a patch on Castle of a Illusion.


Currently playing Timesplitters 3, which is a lot of fun, there's a real swagger to it as they have honed the formula down to a tee.