What's Your Favorite Old-Timey Game?

[ChullRider he/him]

By "old-timey game" I mean old games like Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, and older games like that. For me, It'd probably be 3rd generation Pokemon games. In addition, I recently got some GameBoy games for the Virtual Console on the 3DS (Golf, Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages). They're some pretty cool stuff.

[little wilson she/her]

I don't play much in the way of video games anymore, and I didn't a lot when I was younger either, but I did far more then than now. Not much console though. I loved watching my sister play Ocarina of Time, but I never personally got into it. I enjoyed multiplayer GoldenEye, and I played a bit of Donkey Kong but that was more because I thought the mine carts were a blast. I did more PC games than anything else. Started out on Whiplash and Command & Conquer and went from those to Age of Empires (haven't played any of that franchise after Age of Kings) and Need for Speed (particularly Most Wanted, though I don't think that's old-timey since it was 2005).

 

If I were to do any gaming now, I'd probably pick back up Command & Conquer, AoE, and Most Wanted.

[Redbird he/him]

I also really like Pokemon Sapphire, and if Star Wars Battlefront counts that as well.

Which starter did you choose Chullrider?

[Left he/him]

Star Fox 64, Heroes of Might and Magic 3, OoT, and Diddey Kong Racing.

[Eilemelie]

Super Mario 64 forever! Seriously, it's so storming good!

[Left he/him]

I played that one a lot, I wasn't great though, usually managed to get to the top levels but couldn't beat the game for a long time. Which is why I didn't include it.

[Eilemelie]

Heh... I'm aparently so good at it that playing it as is isn't enough. I do all sorts of self-imposed challenges (owl-less etc.) I should probably try my hand on one of the increased difficulity hacks, but I just end up watcjing the lets-plays of them...

[ChullRider he/him]

 

I don't play much in the way of video games anymore, and I didn't a lot when I was younger either, but I did far more then than now. Not much console though. I loved watching my sister play Ocarina of Time, but I never personally got into it. I enjoyed multiplayer GoldenEye, and I played a bit of Donkey Kong but that was more because I thought the mine carts were a blast. I did more PC games than anything else. Started out on Whiplash and Command & Conquer and went from those to Age of Empires (haven't played any of that franchise after Age of Kings) and Need for Speed (particularly Most Wanted, though I don't think that's old-timey since it was 2005).

 

If I were to do any gaming now, I'd probably pick back up Command & Conquer, AoE, and Most Wanted.

 

I also really like Pokemon Sapphire, and if Star Wars Battlefront counts that as well.

Which starter did you choose Chullrider?

 

@little wilson: Donkey Kong? I was considering getting one of those, and I might eventually. Is it like Mario?

 

@Redbird: I chose Mudkip. It's my personal favorite starter. And as for Star Wars Battlefront...I loved that game so much. Apparently SW Battlefront III is coming out soon.

[little wilson she/her]

@little wilson: Donkey Kong? I was considering getting one of those, and I might eventually. Is it like Mario?

 

Yeah. Same creators, and they tend to cross over in different games (Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers). They're pretty comparable, though I wouldn't consider myself an expert on the subject. I haven't played many solo Mario games besides Super Mario Bros, and that was 20 years ago (and I haven't really liked the other Mario games I've played, like Mario Kart and Mario Party), and the only Donkey Kong game I played was the first Donkey Kong Country, so I'm positive there are people who know far better.

[Dunkum he/him]

By "old-timey game" I mean old games like Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, and older games like that. For me, It'd probably be 3rd generation Pokemon games. In addition, I recently got some GameBoy games for the Virtual Console on the 3DS (Golf, Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages). They're some pretty cool stuff.

Well now you're just making me feel old.  I played first and second Generation Pokemon when they came out.  They are the best ones, and I switch back and forth on which was the better game.  beyond that Super Metroid is pretty great; pretty much any Zelda game, but especially the handheld ones (Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, and I have a special place in my heart for Link's Awakening, which introduced me to the series).  I didn't have an N64, so I never played most of its games (something I plan to remedy once i get around to getting a Wii U and that virtual console), but the original Smash Brothers is great.

 

going up to the N64's generation you also have the NES, SNES, and PS1 Final Fantasy games, of which 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 are all pretty great (though 7's graphics really don't hold up).  And the PS1 Spyro games are also a lot of fun, especially Spyro 2.  Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for the PS1 is always good, and I'm told the sequels are pretty decent too.  Oh and can't forget Banjo Kazooie.

[Bort he/him]

You call those old-timey???

 

Fantasy Land Dizzy on the Amstrad CPC464, released about 1985.

 

Or, if we want to get into more modern games, TIE Fighter on the PC, released in 1993.

 

That's old-timey, youngsters.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

When you said old timey I thought you meant more along the lines of mid-90's. But I can play along. Gen III of Pokemon is hands down the greatest generation of old Pokemon. Ruby, all the way. StarFox 64 was my jam on the N64 (as well as Hydro Thunder). I also don't think any discussion of that time period is complete without mentioning Tony Hawk Pro Skater (thank you Dunkum). I don't even like skateboarding and that was a good game.

 

Need For Speed Most Wanted, as mentioned above, is definitely the best of the series. Unfortunately Forza and Gran Tourismo popularized the driving sim aspect over the racing, and Need For Speed only got worse from there (I'm not a fan of driving sim, but I love me some good racing). Speaking of good racing, Diddy Kong Racing anyone?

 

As far as PC goes, Battlefront 2 and Battle for Middle-Earth were my go to games. Sunk ungodly amount of hours into those.

 

I also can't feel comfortable until mentioning everyone's favorite Hedgehog. Sonic 3, followed by Sonic & Knuckles, were awesome. Sonic CD was really good too, albeit not played by many.

 

And to comment on Donkey Kong, they are platformers nearly identical to Mario, but they are much much harder. If you've ever found yourself wishing Mario games had a bit more challenge, pick up a Donkey Kong game. Fun times ahead.

 

Of all those games, I think the N64 is the newest that I'd consider "old" at this point. Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the rest, though.

[ChullRider he/him]

 

And to comment on Donkey Kong, they are platformers nearly identical to Mario, but they are much much harder. If you've ever found yourself wishing Mario games had a bit more challenge, pick up a Donkey Kong game. Fun times ahead.

 

Wow. Mario was hard enough for me as it is. I honestly don't know why. I feel like it should be easy for me, but I guess it's just not my kind of game. I'd probably be better at Mario now that I'm older than the last time I played it.

 

And as for the "old-timey" era that I mentioned at the beginning of this conversation, I probably should have listed some older games too.   I guess those later games were the limit for what can be considered "old-timey."

Edited March 24, 2015 by ChullRider

[ChullRider he/him]

OH WOW. I just obtained a NES game. How's that for old-timey? Unfortunately, I don't have a NES console, so I might just sell it. How much do you think it'd sell for, everyone?

[little wilson she/her]

Depends on the game and the condition of it.

 

I wish my parents had kept our NES console. We used to play the NES, SNES, and N64 interchangeably. Good times, those....

[Dunkum he/him]

When you said old timey I thought you meant more along the lines of mid-90's. But I can play along. Gen III of Pokemon is hands down the greatest generation of old Pokemon. Ruby, all the way. StarFox 64 was my jam on the N64 (as well as Hydro Thunder). I also don't think any discussion of that time period is complete without mentioning Tony Hawk Pro Skater (thank you Dunkum). I don't even like skateboarding and that was a good game.

Yea, not big on skateboarding, but I sunk countless hours into THPS.  If memory serves, I was almost at the point that I could clear the first level in one run, before college intervened and I stopped playing.

 

Also, Gen 3 pokemon may be the worst, though it has stiff competition from gen 4.

and since it didn't occur to me last night that Gen 3 was for Game Boy Advance, let me add some GBA games to this list:

 

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Golden Sun 1 and 2, and Metroid Fusion are all amazing.

[Redbird he/him]

What do you not like about gen 3?

Also another game for the gba, fire emblem, even though I just recently played it, was quite fun.

Edited March 24, 2015 by Redbird

[ChullRider he/him]

Yea, not big on skateboarding, but I sunk countless hours into THPS.  If memory serves, I was almost at the point that I could clear the first level in one run, before college intervened and I stopped playing.

 

Also, Gen 3 pokemon may be the worst, though it has stiff competition from gen 4.

and since it didn't occur to me last night that Gen 3 was for Game Boy Advance, let me add some GBA games to this list:

 

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Golden Sun 1 and 2, and Metroid Fusion are all amazing.

What's wrong with Gen 3? I thought it was fantastic, with the unique cities, unique Pokemon, and a different, newer story (Two teams, even if you don't fight them both. Exception for Emerald)

[Dunkum he/him]

What do you not like about gen 3?

Also another game for the gba, fire emblem, even though I just recently played it, was quite fun.

Fire Emblem occurred to me, and I enjoyed it, but the permadeath feature means I never finish it because I get finicky about not letting people die.  Also Eliwood is boring and compeltely useless, but also the only character that can deal signifcant damage to the final boss, which is annoying.  Lyn and Hector are great though

 

on Gen 3 its a couple of things:

 

1. it was the first game to openly involve the legendarys in its plot, which I found kind of annoying.  I like them better hidden away in some out of the way cave or some such, not inserted directly into the plot (gen 4 is much worse about this, but 3 did it first)

2. I think a bit of it was a reaction against the ability mechanic.  While I am OK with the ability mechanic now(though I think some of the combinations they do are absurd e.g. giving a steel type levitate means you just took away one of its few weaknesses.  Steel types don't need that help, they are already steel type), it took some getting used to at first

3. aesthetics.  I honestly hate the look of almost every non-legendary pokemon they introduced in that generation, especially the starters (seriously, the worst looking batch of starters of any game)

4. the beginning of the annoyingly long dominance of the fire/fighting starter.  who thought that was a good combination?  and then did it 2 more times.  terrible

5. plot.  not the plot, specifically, but the fact that there was one at all.  this is more of a hindsight thing, but I think the later games suffer because they all have terrible plots, while the first games have almost no plot, and are great.  in theory they could do a good plot, but I dont think they've succeeded yet.

[Briar King]

I can't even describe how old I just felt seeing N64 listed as old times! I can remember playing asteroids on my dads Atari when I was 2 yrs old in 1982....

I ll mention NES and Sega Gen. Mega Man 1-6, Metroid, Mario 1-3, Zelda, Altered Beast, Mortal Kombat.

Geez....youngsters

[Blaze1616 he/him]

1. it was the first game to openly involve the legendarys in its plot, which I found kind of annoying.  I like them better hidden away in some out of the way cave or some such, not inserted directly into the plot (gen 4 is much worse about this, but 3 did it first)

2. I think a bit of it was a reaction against the ability mechanic.  While I am OK with the ability mechanic now(though I think some of the combinations they do are absurd e.g. giving a steel type levitate means you just took away one of its few weaknesses.  Steel types don't need that help, they are already steel type), it took some getting used to at first

3. aesthetics.  I honestly hate the look of almost every non-legendary pokemon they introduced in that generation, especially the starters (seriously, the worst looking batch of starters of any game)

4. the beginning of the annoyingly long dominance of the fire/fighting starter.  who thought that was a good combination?  and then did it 2 more times.  terrible

5. plot.  not the plot, specifically, but the fact that there was one at all.  this is more of a hindsight thing, but I think the later games suffer because they all have terrible plots, while the first games have almost no plot, and are great.  in theory they could do a good plot, but I dont think they've succeeded yet.

 

Interestingly, I disagree with you on almost every point you make. That means I'm not going to try and discuss, but I would like to say a few things. Gen I and II did have plot. Arguably they are the best plot in the series in my mind. Everything dealing with Team Rocket is the plot, and the quest to get badges is the excuse to get you moving through the world (because they didn't bother conncting most of the Rocket related business). Also, Legendaries are a part of the plot in Gen II. Not to the extent that they are in Gen III and on, though.

 

 

Fire Emblem occurred to me, and I enjoyed it, but the permadeath feature means I never finish it because I get finicky about not letting people die.  Also Eliwood is boring and compeltely useless, but also the only character that can deal signifcant damage to the final boss, which is annoying.  Lyn and Hector are great though

 

Eliwood actually isn't the only one capable of dealing with the Fire Dragon. Hector with Armads is also a good choice, and Athos was built to be able to beat the boss if you play conservatively (as the Dragon doesn't move) with Forblaze equipped. Though it has probably been a while for you, I highly recommend going back and beating the game. From the sounds of it you never beat Eliwood's Story, which means you never got the far superior Hector's Story. For anyone who hasn't played this game, it is in my top ten games of all time, and I highly recommend it. Unfortunately the only two ways you can get it are for the GBA (original) or the Wii U VC.

[Dunkum he/him]

Agree to disagree on Pokemon then.  Though on the team rocket plot, I guess it sort of is.  closest thing to it, anyway.  moreso in Gen 2 than gen 1, where it was more an obstacle to overcome than an actual plot (or thats the way it always seemed to me).  beating them was never a priority, i did it because otherwise I couldn't get in and fight Sabrina, and all that entailed.  either way, I do agree that team rocket is far superior to all of the ones that follow

 

for Fire Emblem, I think I beat Eliwood's story once.  and Athos and Hector were almost useless at dealing damage to the dragon.  they did some, but not very much, and its attacks were devastating.  could be I just didnt have enough healers around to restore them, or hadnt put enough time into developing Hector or something (Lyn has always been my favorite).  Ive played parts of hectors quest, think I even made it to the last level, at one point, but I haven't played it in a few years at this point, so Im not sure

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

I remember playing WCW vs NWO ( or something like that. it was a wrestling game ) with my older brother but I was better than him so he punched me in the face, which kinda ruined ( lol ruin ) the experience for me.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

Agree to disagree on Pokemon then.  Though on the team rocket plot, I guess it sort of is.  closest thing to it, anyway.  moreso in Gen 2 than gen 1, where it was more an obstacle to overcome than an actual plot (or thats the way it always seemed to me).  beating them was never a priority, i did it because otherwise I couldn't get in and fight Sabrina, and all that entailed.  either way, I do agree that team rocket is far superior to all of the ones that follow

 

for Fire Emblem, I think I beat Eliwood's story once.  and Athos and Hector were almost useless at dealing damage to the dragon.  they did some, but not very much, and its attacks were devastating.  could be I just didnt have enough healers around to restore them, or hadnt put enough time into developing Hector or something (Lyn has always been my favorite).  Ive played parts of hectors quest, think I even made it to the last level, at one point, but I haven't played it in a few years at this point, so Im not sure

 

I don't think Rocket was the best, just that the story revolving around their games were the best. But yes, agree to disagree.

 

Your Hector must have been under-used then. Lyn is my favorite as well, but she is a rather niche character, as her class is simply the combination of Archer and Swordsmaster. Hector's class is an enhanced General, and Eliwood's is an enhanced Paladin, making most people view them as superior to Lyn, as both of those classes are far less niche than Lyn's. That said, my Hector wrecks the Dragon when I play it. All you need is two healers (preferably Canas and Lucius, though Nino works as well if you put in the time to level her up) for Athos, Hector, or Eliwood. Then play defensively. Don't actively attack it on your turns. Instead, spend your turns healing from the damage it deals you on it's turns. Equip your healers with Physic Staffs (or give one of them the Fortify staff to remove the need for a second healer), and you'll be done in roughly 3-5 turns, depending on the level of the character. Athos may take a little longer than that. Like I said before, if using Hector equip him with Armads, and if using Eliwood, equip him with Durandal. Considering Athos has to join you in the fight, it's one of the easiest levels in the entire game, and the room prior to it (with all the resurrected bosses) is the "true" final boss as it is much harder.

 

And to comment on Eliwood being awful, Eliwood is known as the gamble character. I'm sure you know how the RNG works within the game, and for whatever reason Eliwood is always either supremely good, or really bad. He's never in the middle. I've experienced both ends, my friends have all experienced both ends, and people I've spoken to on the internet have experienced both ends. It's a really weird phenomenon. In my experience, he's much better in Hector's Story when you can class him up much sooner than in his own Story, because he has more level-ups to hopefully off-set any terrible ones he may have had.

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

I have a Sega Genisis so I like Golden Axe III