Retro Games

[Razilin]

So this year I've pretty much finally surrendered my "gamer" cred as I don't actively play any new video or computer games. Instead, I'm playing or replaying old ones!

So there I was about 2 months ago, playing FF7 on my dying, ancient PS2. And I see in the Midgar raid opening sequence that FF7 was made in 1997.

That's 17 years ago.

Seventeen. Years. Ago.

The average age on Iwaku's membership right now is about 23. Most of you weren't even reading full sentences much less playing FF7 when it came out.

At any rate, I am slogging through the retro games of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.

I'm in the middle of replaying Parasite Eve 1. The only Parasite Eve that matters.

The. Only. One. That. Matters.

And it is as awesome as I remember it. Tight controls, tight storyline, and a protagonist with a tight ass.

Heh.

Anyway, protagonist Aya Brea makes a great opening showing when the opera house she is attending spontaneously combusts at the command of an on-stage villainess.

Does she run screaming? Does she panic?

Hell naw, she whips out a Beretta and CHARGES that pyromanic bitch in high heels and a classy black evening dress.

And that, my friends, is how quite a few adolescent video gamers first fell in love.

This game was absolutely bitching and innovative for its time as a action-RPG hybrid. And hell, even if the graphics haven't kept up to date, the tight controls and even tighter storyline still make it one of my favorites out there.

Next on the list is going to be FF6 more than likely. Or Chrono Trigger. Or Ace Combat 5. I don't know, I have a lot of games on the shelf.

What's YOUR favorite retro game and why?

 

[ze_kraken]

System Shock 2, it's unreasonable and cruel, and I love it all the more because of that.

 

[Razilin]

oh wow, i haven't played either of those in YEARS. i don't even have copies anymore.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Pretty sure you can grab System Shock 2 on gog.com. Delicious classic PC gaming.

I'm torn between Baldur's Gate 2 and Fallout 2. Both improved upon already brilliant original games, both had awesome storylines, great characters and open worlds that most modern games would weep bitter tears at.

Baldur's Gate had Minsc, though, so I guess it wins.

 

[Razilin]

I was more BG than Fallout myself.

I downloaded the Enhanced Edition of BG and was disappointed by the massive lag.

I did manage to find the scripts for the new banters with the new NPCs for the games, though, which is hilariously entertaining to read, as always.

And for the longest time I'd play through BG2 every 1-2 years, trying out different classes, party combos, good/evil paths, etc., or modding the hell out of a playthrough.

 

[Artorias]

I would also say Baldurs Gate

 

[Razilin]

Going off from RPGs for a bit, does anyone remember Civilization?

That was AWESOME stuff.

And Civ 4 had like the best songs ever, Baba Yetu even getting awards when no other video game soundtrack ever got one.

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Strangely appropriate to slap Baba Yetu with stuff from HD Discovery Channel documentaries.

 

[Peter Feels]

I remember being a young lad and rushing home from high school when FF7 came out. It was one of the first games I'd ever bought for my christmas Playstation. Duke Nukem was the first game.

 

[RiverNotch]

Really retro favorite:
I remember my grandfather had this really old I-don't-know-what-it's-called console, and when we (my sister and I) came to their house, we use to play that game almost slightly less than half of our time (which is a lot, mind you)! Wait, no, actually Contra wasn't exactly the game we played that much back then, it was something else, but I forget its name. Something about golf? Or maybe that something with that tower....Those tanks? Those two karate guys fighting each other?

Not-so-retro, but perhaps still retro enough? favorite:
Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic. This is the game that really showed me how video-games can be a real effective medium for storytelling, the game that taught me how to appreciate the idea of wasting away in front of a computer screen for some virtual, interactive escapism [xD]. I first discovered this game coz' back when I was, I dunno, younger than I am now, I loved Star Wars a lot (still do, actually), and after going through it, I started thinking, "Hey, that experience was pretty good, I wonder how many other schticks are like this and such". And thus I got into Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate, The Elder Scrolls, Warcraft, even ultimately stuff as old as NetHack and stuff as far-away as To The Moon. I still love this game a lot, and every year or so I make it a point to [try to] go through the whole mess of Revan again.

Still retro, though not really answering the question [also known as "The Part Where It Gets Autobiographical"]:
The first video game that I ever really played, I remember, was this interactive program where I had to solve puzzles and stuff that taught me, er, stuff. I don't actually remember the title, but I do remember it being set in some large science lab? Anyway, that game, with its simple, point-and-click gameplay, 90s sensibilities, and really low-definition images, really stimulated (still does, actually) my imagination, and perhaps also helped me become a real intellectual (or maybe a real know-it-all ;)). I don't really count it as my favorite though, mainly coz' it as a video game is very substandard--to me, it's more of an experience, a system not of entertainment nor of escapism but instead, perhaps, an extension of my memories of my education, my home, my childhood, in a way that video games treated as 'video games' or films treated as 'films' would never become. Kind of like (to me) To The Moon, Star Wars, The Beatles, Them war stories I kept hearing from my granddad as a child, All of those Dinosaur documentaries I used to watch when I had nothing to do, Edith Hamilton's Mythology, and perhaps even Adventure Time.

 

[Razilin]

By karate guys fighting each other do you mean street fight 1?

 

[Kestrel]

I totally missed out on the SNES and Dreamcast era, so I picked up the former a while back. I can't believe I missed out on classics like Super Metroid and Chrono Trigger. The design is just brilliant and the atmosphere rivals that of modern games with far more assets.

 

[Razilin]

I heart trigger.

I am from that era when you asked "what is your favorite rpg" and the answer was either ff6 or ff7, or ff6 or chrono trigger.

Bonus pointed for robo's theme sounding identical to Rick Astley never gonna give you up

 

[Crispy]

I'm in that lovely group of people who came around to gaming when the brick of a gameboy was new and Sony just threw the first playstation on the market. My first game was I believe tetris followed by pokemon and then I got into the RPGs. The Legend of Dragoon was a big game for me and I still have all four functioning discs somewhere in my collection. The game I miss the most though has to be Suikoden II. Nothing like a naked mist lady boss fight to etch a game into your memory after all.

 

[Hisoka]

Let's see my first ever video game was Final Fantasy 8, does that count as Retro? It was my favorite simply because every time I thought I was finished with it I'd find a new aspect. Like Triple Triad, that card game alone ate up hours and hours. Then there was that hidden boss near the end of the game, the amount of time I spent devising methods to beat him is sad in and of itself.

 

[Razilin]

Yup, still retro. I love how with some effort you could min max everyone at 1st level by exploiting the junction system

 

[Minibit]

I am right there with the average population (23 years old) but I definitely enjoy me some oldies in almost every genre; I love the rock from the 60's, 70's, and 80's (love me some Eagles and Beatles especially!) and I miss when I could fit half my possessions in the pockets of a pair of women's jeans, long, poofy hair was la mode (I hate flat ironing!) and games scrolled to the side, made tinny sound effects and appeared in 8-bit graphics!

I never claim to be much GOOD at oldies games, but I still love the hell out of them. My favourite systems are my GameCube and Dreamcast, and I have several N64 games that were remade for the GameCube, like my original Zelda, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask, not to mention Mario Kart and my Atari collection for Dreamcast! I find they're more challenging, and while I will give new-school graphics credit for making it easier to get immersed in the story-line, there are still some damn good stories to be had on the older games.

I recently bought Commander Keen on Steam, and I've been reliving my childhood with it.

 

[Razilin]

Oh dream cast, so under appreciated and yet so advanced for your time.

 

[Alan]

Retro game? Where do I start?

A favorite of mine was Zeilard. Zelda: A Link To The Past was one game I killed way too much time in as well.

 

[Kestrel]

I heart trigger.

I am from that era when you asked "what is your favorite rpg" and the answer was either ff6 or ff7, or ff6 or chrono trigger.

Bonus pointed for robo's theme sounding identical to Rick Astley never gonna give you up

I'm honestly going for CT>FF6>FF7 here. CT might be a little simpler and light-heated than the other two in terms of characters and story (until character specific side-quests, holy fuck) but the world felt really connected in everything. From monsters going about their own business before you'd engage them, to each time-period being a piece of the puzzle settling in place. It created a feeling of immersion most games even today struggle with. Also combo'ing techs is awesome and you have a lot of freedom in your party selection.

FF6 simply aged a lot better than 7, IMO, even if the hype and rampant fanboy-ism around 7 says otherwise.

 

[Windsong]

I remember being at the store at the wee little age of 6, being told I can get one game for our new home PC with its annoying 56k modem.

The choices came down to: Starcraft, Fallout, or Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun.

I got all three cause they were on sale.

Never once looked back.