Games that age well

I was thinking. What makes a game age well. I tried some old Sinclair Spectrum games on an emulator the other day, and some of the games I remembered as being great were not that cool. While others held up quite nicely.

For instance Skool Daze was still very cool, while Barbarian which used to be one of my favorites, was not quite there.

So what makes a game age well?

Ragnar

Turrican I and II age well. They were so well made on C64 and Amiga, the gameplay is great, the graphics ace and the music cool.

Unique gameplay.

the original XCOM 1 (UFO Enemy Unknown) is still as cool today as it was when it first came out. All these new squad based games get to complicated, I think.

Games with 2d graphics I'd say, since they always look the same years later, where-as 3d is all about higher-resolutions and the latest omfgwtfbbq shaders, making anything from the past look completely obsolete.

Contra III: The Alien Wars
Street Fighter II
Super Mario Bros.
Elite

... it's obvious ... gameplay! Also, these games all look pretty appealing too. Even if they're outdated ... they still look nice!

I started to think Pac-Man, Galaga... all those classics. Then I thought to myself, why have all those classics stood the test of time so well? Hmm... innovation. That's the key. Sure, it was easy to be innovative 20+ years ago... but innovation can only last so long before "it's all been done". It hasn't all been done yet, but niches are becoming harder and harder to find. Kinda sucks.

So I guess what makes a game age well is innovative niche filling and staying simple. If you think about it, almost every popular game that has stood the test of time was pretty much the first one to fill the niche decently.

Dungeon Keeper is the only one I can think of. Probably the only old game I've played extensively more than once.

yeah laser squad then xcom were fantastic games.

Adventure and strategy games age well becasue graphics is not all that important. X-COM and Laser Squad are still great... So is the original Civilization... I can also play Leisure Suit Larry or Monkey Island forever... That will never be old for me... Or something like tetris. Can be in text mode, yet still addictive as hell!

Some not-so-old games that have the same appeal as they
did when new would be Mario 3, Mario 64 and Thief 2.

Thief 2 has an atmosphere that has not yet been matched by
any modern game. This is mostly due to Eric Brosius'
excellent sound engineering.

It is the interface that makes a game hold up. Some of those old games have outright user hostile interfaces... Like having to memorize 20 different keys that have 20 different functions in the game, instead of having a menu.

Xwing and TieFighter had a ton of keys but when you finally learnt them all you became a true master of your craft. Match Speed Match Speed, shields up front!

Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy haven't dated at all. Neither has the Hobbit text adventure by Melbourne House or the graphic adventure games from Lucasarts or Sierra.

Manic Miner has aged well, but my pick would be Head Over Heels, and similarly Batman (isometric). Mainly, action games don't age well I think. Although, one exception would be Goldeneye. Even though it looks like yesterday's lunch nowadays, I still play it even now (Perfect Dark too, which pips Goldeneye at graphics and interface, but doesn't quite match it for level design).

Actually, Green Beret on the Spectrum too.

Baldurs Gate II.

I find that the old 'turn off your brain and just play' (stress relief) games age pretty well... Tetris, pacman, mine sweeper, etc.... Graphics don't really matter for those, and its normally the graphics and little else that make old games appear old.

C64 - Pitfall 2

* Very-relaxed and simple-to-play game
* No need to remember hundreds of keys
* You still know how to play this 15 years later

Which in fact applies games like Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy, and Mario mentioned above.

I should also add Donkey Kong Country here. Still maintains its appeal now.

I dont know but for me the only game that gave me an atmosphere was HL2, and thats a modern game. I tried playing a load of SNES games from my youth but i guess without 3 friends sitting around me yapping about kid stuff and competing on who finishes a mario level quickest makes it less fun. *shrug* But a year ago i tried formula 1 grand prix 2 when i had a borrowed steering wheel for a while and even tho its ancient i played it 24/7.

Quoted purely for accuracy. XCom ( and Laser Squad which I personally preferred ) had a simplicity of interface and gameplay which belied the strategic depth and variety within. Most of the modern squad based games manage to both add to the complexity of the interface and offer far less strategic depth and variety than these classics did.