PS Games That Don't Hold Up To Nostalgia

[DrRipley]

I recently got to play the first Devil May Cry game, and it was just as glorious as I first ever played it and went through almost all of it in one sitting. That said, I've also played a few Genesis games recently and found out that they don't hold up at all to how much fun I remember having while playing them, and I wonder if any of the old PS games don't hold up after taking off the nostalgia goggles.

The only game I could think of that comes close to being unplayable for me is Tekken 3, but even that probably still has some fans around as it is still a very tightly made game. Are there any games from the PS library that did not age well and are now completely unplayable or will be in the future, in your opinion? Crappy games not included of course, since they were crappy to begin with.

 

[wowtgp]

Tekken 3 is one of the best games I have ever played. I am the champ here and can say that I can beat 'anyone'. I still play it on my PC through an emulator.

 

[SpiralArchitect]

The trouble with older fighting games like Tekken 3 or Soul Blade is that when newer versions come around with more characters, better graphics and in some cases improved gameplay then the older versions are left unplayable. Not really the game's fault and in some cases the older games can be better because the tinkering done may not improve the newer games but in most cases what I said holds.

Take something like WWF Smackdown: Know your Role for example. I thought it was a great game but after Shut Your Mouth came out I don't think I ever played it. On the flipside I am not a huge fan of the changes they made to the gameplay in the Smackdown vs Raw series, so I would still prefer the older game.

I hope I made some sense.

 

[amazingone]

The sports games certainly don't stand the test of time. I went back and played some of the gamebreakers and maddens for Playstation and they were terrible in terms of graphics and controls. I can't believe how much the sports games have advanced since the late 90s and early 2000s.

 

[Dame6089]

Resident Evil is sort of tough to come back to. I know it is a classic, but it has not aged well. Especially considering that there are superior versions on the Gamecube and Wii. I can't see how anyone could play the original after playing either of those versions.

 

[unwittyoneliner]

Final Fantasy 7 is the first game that comes to mind. The characters look worse than ever, the plot is dumb as hell, and a lot of the game is cheesy. FF6 hasn't aged in the same way. Games like Tekken and Tekken 2 don't hold up either, but that's a given. Tekken 3 is still pretty fun to me.

 

[BlackSolaris]

For some reason i remembered for the first Spider game on the PS1 to be awesome. But when i came back to it, i was really surprised to find out that the controls are finicky, the graphics flip-out from time to time and the levels ain't that great. I still can't believe that i played the game so much as a kid and unlocked every single thing.

 

[lindbergh]

Hmm, I'll make this clear: in general, PS1 games give me a lot of nostalgia when I replay them. I remember a lot of good memories when I was a lot younger. But there are some games that really don't give me fond memories when I play. And yes, I also consider Tekken 3 as one of them. It's the greatest versus game that I have played on the PS1 but I just don't feel nostalgic when playing it again using an emulator. Another game would be the sports games like NBA Live 2000 or FIFA 99. The games that give me the most nostalgia are the RPGs.

 

[Dame6089]

Final Fantasy 7 is the first game that comes to mind. The characters look worse than ever, the plot is dumb as hell, and a lot of the game is cheesy. FF6 hasn't aged in the same way. Games like Tekken and Tekken 2 don't hold up either, but that's a given. Tekken 3 is still pretty fun to me.

That is the beauty of 2D sprites. If you look back now, nothing from the N64 PSX era look particularly good visually. A lot of Super Nintendo and Genesis games still hold up though. I've never played FF 6 or 7, so I can't comment on the story or gameplay, but I have to agree on looks. Sprite work will always look better than blocky early 3D.

 

[Jellyfish]

MediEvil. Loved it in the 90s but when I tried it around 2010 it just looked old and the gameplay and levels were boring.

 

[Annetteb]

I will admit that FFVII did not look good, but I liked this game. I think it did hold up over the years because a lot of people love this game. I also think that some games were better than others and that is why they held up. I have played a lot of different games on different platforms and I don't know of one that has not held to nostalgia. Then again I am very picky when it comes to games I play.

 

[mccanono]

It is quite different for me. I don't know but whenever I play an old game, it always brings back old memories. I would always feel nostalgic.

But yeah, there would always come a time where you would feel bored especially when you are playing an obsolete game over time.

 

[DrRipley]

That is the beauty of 2D sprites. If you look back now, nothing from the N64 PSX era look particularly good visually. A lot of Super Nintendo and Genesis games still hold up though. I've never played FF 6 or 7, so I can't comment on the story or gameplay, but I have to agree on looks. Sprite work will always look better than blocky early 3D.

I agree, those old 2D games age really well, I think. I have an easier time getting back into them than the PS1 3D games. The only problem is, I guess, that they are sort of limited so all games turned out very similar.

 

[Fyreglow]

I bought the first three Resident Evil games on the PS Store a while back and I didn't enjoy them as much as I did when they first came out.

 

[robbiepayne97]

Spyro the Dragon (the first one that came out September, 1998). I really loved that game to death. It was my first game ever that I got with my PlayStation 1 (PS1 or PSX) in early-mid 1999. Ahh, memories...

 

[Haymansafc]

As much as I'm a fan of the series, the original Silent Hill hasn't aged well at all. For it's time I remember it being pretty decent (I considered it to be 'smoother' than Resident Evil) but looking at screenshots of it in recent years has genuinely surprised me… I still love the game of course, but graphically it really hasn't aged well at all. Maybe it's because it's been several years since I've physically played it.

Compared to the second game, where a lot of the cutscenes are concerned, still look decent today in my eyes – which just galvanises my humble view that the second game was literally years ahead of it's time.

 

[daimashin]

For me the games that don't hold up to nostalgia are the games that had the tank controls like Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. It's been a long time since I've played a game like that so they feel horrible to me now especially after the Gears of War perspective and control came out.

 

[RobDaCool]

I got Warhawk, Twisted Metal & Destruction Derby doing that PS Home scavenger hunt a month or so ago and I honestly don't remember those games being that ugly lol

 

[dannyboy]

Frogger is a game that has not aged well for me. It was a great game when i was a little kid, but it just does not seem as interesting today as did back in the 90's/

 

[SS42A]

I got Warhawk, Twisted Metal & Destruction Derby doing that PS Home scavenger hunt a month or so ago and I honestly don't remember those games being that ugly lol

Warhawk...of course, I remember that game. It reminded me of Star Fox for the SNES, but I enjoyed playing Star Fox more. That game is indeed good for one playthrough, and after you are done with it, you certainly won't ever play it again. Even with its 2007 remake, I don't think I'll ever buy it.