Alien Storm, Sega Genesis 1991
Nintendo's Virtual Console service is something I've been backing since I first heard of the concept. The chance to play all of the old classics again was something I could only dream of quietly to myself. You see, a few years ago my family and I went on a summer vacation. When we arrived back we realized that we had been house broken during the two weeks we had been away. Strangely it had taken my brother and I a long time to realize that our entire collection of consoles had been stolen and were probably at this point sitting quite contently in somebody else's living room.
Machines that had been taken from us were a Sega Master System, a Sega Genesis and a Nintendo NES. We couldn't exactly call ourselves distraught; my brother had grown out of them and I was always more of a Game Boy person. It was only years later that I yearned to play all my old games again, and Nintendo gave me that chance.
As you could imagine I have been happily going on shopping sprees through the Wii Shop Channel, browsing even more happily through the golden ages of video gaming. Since I first opened my Wii I have been progressively stocking up on some of the more heartfelt titles I played as a child, yet after each purchase I consistently find myself in the same position.
I start the game and am reminded of the title screen I had long forgotten. I continue to begin the game and nostalgia sets in like wild fire. But that's it nostalgia; I drag myself though the game smiling at old enemies I fought eons ago. Nothing else. Where is the excitement, the exhilaration, the adrenaline rush I once felt? Why is it absent from a game I once wasn't able to put down?
The latest of these subjects is a game I downloaded today. The game is
Alien Storm for the Sega Genesis. I can easily picture myself as a 6-year old kid on a couch holding a Genesis controller with this on the screen in front of me. I am laughing and gripping hard at the controller, bashing buttons in a mad flurry. And it wasn't just me either. Luckily Alien Storm has a fantastic cooperative multiplayer mode, a mode which me and a friend utilized all the time as young-uns; he and I played all the time. We played the same levels with the same characters with the same difficulty settings on the same days.
There are of course, a number of explanations which could be offered up towards this. One would be that I was just a young boy with a short attention span and a less-informed opinion of the gaming world. Another would be that the game never changed, but my feelings towards it did. I believe that the answer is something a little different:
Nintendo claim to be bringing back the casual fun and playability of classic games, while innovating with quirky control methods. Yet I have never had trouble getting up and switching off my Wii because of this. In fact this often happens relatively quickly with me being bored after just a few minutes of play. You see it's all well and good by saying that the success behind classic titles was their "pick up and play" factor, but unlike the Wii attempt at replicating these games, these were truly challenging and difficult pieces of work while still remaining reasonably casual.
In this demanding present video games are being run on far more powerful machines with lots of headroom for lifespan, graphics, and innovation. Has this massive leap forward in technology destroyed our opinions of games we once thought as perfect? Opinions and examples as always.
Written By: Aaron Hastings
Edited By: Alex D.
I see your point. It's happened with me a number of times. Especially with Super Mario Bros. I'll start playing it and then I'll get INCREDIBLY bored.
Nice article Cosmic.
I see where your coming from...
as the industry advances, it gets more and more complex... thus the older titles start to just vanish into boringness...
I downloaded Mario Kart...I got bored pretty fast.
Thanks for the replies guys. It does seem to be a more and more common occurrence with the Virtual Console.
Great read.
For me the case is different, these are games I've never played. Winning that contest yesterday has allowed me to experience roots which I never tasted.
this is partly why i've mainly been downloading vc games that i would like, but hadn't played. the first game i downloaded was kirby's dreamland and while it was nostalgic, it wasn't that entertaining to play thru again.
No, Cosmic. I'm afraid you're just insane.
Super Metroid is still my favourite game of all time with a score of 10 for me.
I'll agree with lmx, metroid games seem to be timeless
Not just that, I replayed Mario World the other day. Its better than half of the games I've played in the last 5 years.
I played TMNT on the SNES a few months back and was laughing throughout the whole time I was playing. Classic games are just that, pick up and play games. If you walk over and pick it up with a buddy, and not expect Mass Effect from Metal Slug, then it's a lot easier to enjoy at least for me. I even rented that Metal Slug compilation game when I first got my Wii and played it for hours. They're just hilariously fun games. I love 'em. :p
The further time goes on, the more I agree. The only VC games I really saw myself play were N64 ones (when I had my Wii). I still play Playstation 1 and 2 games on my PS3, but anything older is different. I think around the N64/PS1 era, gaming changed a lot, in that it's aim was more of an immersive experience rather than just something that caught your attention and was addictive. I play games in a much different way than I used to, I don't sit and play, I get a lot more into the storyline/controls/feeling, etc, and THAT's why I think the evolution of hardware/software has changed the views of old games, they just feel, well, old. We're spoiled now with such self-immersive gaming now, that anything that doesn't feel like that will loose our attention quickly. (Hence, mini-game collections that sell well to casuals, but hardcores loose interest quickly.)
The further time goes on, the more I agree. The only VC games I really saw myself play were N64 ones (when I had my Wii). I still play Playstation 1 and 2 games on my PS3, but anything older is different. I think around the N64/PS1 era, gaming changed a lot, in that it's aim was more of an immersive experience rather than just something that caught your attention and was addictive. I play games in a much different way than I used to, I don't sit and play, I get a lot more into the storyline/controls/feeling, etc, and THAT's why I think the evolution of hardware/software has changed the views of old games, they just feel, well, old. We're spoiled now with such self-immersive gaming now, that anything that doesn't feel like that will loose our attention quickly. (Hence, mini-game collections that sell well to casuals, but hardcores loose interest quickly.)
I'm not saying I have a problem with the direction gaming has taken. Like sc7 said, the gaming world has become a lot more immersive and now focuses on the bigger picture, which is great. I just think it's sad that many of my older generation of games have lost their appeal (bar Metroid of course)
If you can't enjoy classics for the great game that they were for their time, then that's just sad.
I still enjoy playing me some Super Mario Bros. 3. And if they aren't enjoyable now by yourself then I wouldn't really call them classics.
I have to agree with Cosmic. I have all of the old games and when I tried them again they had lost most of their magic. There were so many great games that I loved playing as a kid but they just don't give me the same satisfaction as they did back then. That doesn't hold true for every single game for me though. There are some games that I still love, maybe not as much as before but still love. This isn't counting games from the GameCube though. I still play SSBM and Mario Kart.
I have to agree with Cosmic. I have all of the old games and when I tried them again they had lost most of their magic. There were so many great games that I loved playing as a kid but they just don't give me the same satisfaction as they did back then. That doesn't hold true for every single game for me though. There are some games that I still love, maybe not as much as before but still love. This isn't counting games from the GameCube though. I still play SSBM and Mario Kart.
That's like me with Mega Man 2
Some games get dated when newer versions are released that trump prior versions. Tecmo Bowl is the best example. In its day, Tecmo Bowl was the best football game. When Tecmo Super Bowl came out, it played second fiddle. Since then we've had countless number of series (Madden, QB Challenge, NFL 2k, Backyard, Blitz, Gameday, Street, etc., etc.) all of which have had the benefit of years of previous football games. Despite this, my favorite football game is still Tecmo Super Bowl (NES). If I branch out to other sports, I find nostalgia reigns: Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB (baseball - SNES), NHL '96 (hockey - SNES), Double Dribble (Basketball - NES), Super Punchout! (boxing - SNES). These are just my preferences though.
If I look back on other games, Doom is barely playable, yet Wolfenstein 3d is still fantastic. I can play Street Fighter, but Mortal Kombat seems dated. This reinforces the idea that gameplay will always trump graphics and gore. Playing Super Mario World or Contra is still more fun than 95%+ of anything released today despite having played through each one numerous times. Yes, I'm a whore of the past.
There are disappointments though, which is to be expected this many years later. Not everything that held my interest when I was 10 can be entertaining 16 years later. If it did, then I really haven't grown/changed as a person since I was a child, which would be pretty sad. So unless you're collecting, choose carfully the classic games you purchase.
Sorry Cosmic, but I just can't agree with you. I feel all the old excitement I used to have every time I played one of those classic titles and even more so when I play games I've never played before.
But your article was good nonetheless...