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[Request] Retro Recommendations (beehaw.org)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm trying my best to dive back into the past and play all the gems that I missed as a kid because I was either born too late or too much of a kid to consider playing them. I found myself really disappointed going back to the old mario nes/snes titles because they felt really bad to play as I've become accustomed to modern platformer design sensibilities (like coyote time and responsive movement).

Are there any oldies+goldies that have stood up to the test of time and not shown their age in the same way? Or are so good that they're worth playing despite showing their age? Preferably avoiding racing, sports, and final fantasy-esque titles. Not really interested in anything more recent than PS2 era either.

I already have Earthbound in my sights as it isn't one I've played before but it comes highly recommended.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (3 children)

I'll list off some of the older titles on my faves list

Earthbound is on there, so glad you got that one :)
Mother 3 (GBA)
Mario and Luigi superstar saga (GBA)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Metroid, zero mission, fusion (SNES and GBA)
Myst (lots of platforms these days but originally pc)
Resident evil 1-4 (ps1-2)
Kirby superstar (SNES) / Kirby superstar ultra (DS)
Silent Hill 1-4 (ps1-2)

I'm def missing some here. I would argue not all of these have necessarily stood the test of time if we look at it from a modern sensibility lens. Particularly resident evil 1-3 and silent hill 1 can be a bit difficult to play if you can't get used to tank controls. And Myst can be a bit esoteric, especially the older versions.

Besides that though I really do think these have all stood the test of time. I would like to particularly shout out the original re4. Despite having a recent remake that I adore potentially more than the original, the original is still so good even to this day. It is wild to me how well it still feels to play

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (4 children)

Is there any merit to getting a hold of mother 1 and playing that before earthbound/mother 2 and mother 3?
I hadn't even heard of this one somehow, lol. I'll check it out.
Ugh, super mario world is sadly one of the ones whose platforming I can't stand :( It has so much going for it but I just can't handle the floaty platforming
noted, noted, and noted.
I've played the first Myst game and I'm like halfish way through Riven with my sister. They're awesome when they're good but some of the puzzles are more frustrating than difficult (maybe it would be better if I was playing one of the more recent remakes?). One thing they're incredible for is atmosphere, I struggle to think of any game that feels this way.
I played resident evil 4 back in the day and it was okay but I think that this style of game just isn't my cup of tea (even if we ignore awful tank controls and shit from the earlier titles).
someone else recommended kirby's adventure, so I guess I'll add these two to the backlog too!
I look at silent hill and I'm in love with the atmosphere, I have been for ages and I've tried to stay spoiler free in case I one day play them. Are they more combat focused or is it closer to being a puzzle game almost? I could see myself really enjoying them if most encounters are mostly a case of figuring out how to progress past/through some group of enemies or something, rather than just scavenging enough ammunition to keep up with being forced to pew pew some baddies.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Arcade:

Capcom vs. SNK 2: The Groove system is one of the coolest dynamics to tailor the game to your playstyle. Is it balanced? Hell no, but I love this game casually.
The King of Fighters 2002: KOF fans will tell you either 98 or 02 were the absolute pinnacle. I side with 02 because it has Kula in it. Also note that 98 and 02 both have updated rereleases with an extended roster and rebalancing, but those are Windows-only.
Puzzle Bobble 1/3: You've probably played some flash game clone of this. IMO I think 1 was best for its simplicity, I'm not as fond of the garbage patterns introduced in later titles in an effort to give characters some asymmetry. But PB1 does not have AI opponents, singleplayer is only the stage clear mode, so if you don't have a human to play with try PB3 for the next best thing.
Soldam: The singleplayer modes are nothing to write home about, but it has one of the most unique versus modes I've seen in a puzzler. Shared piece queues are normally horrifying, but Soldam makes it work by giving P1 the objective to match red while P2 matches blue. So if you want to snipe pieces that are desirable to your opponent, that means taking pieces undesirable to yourself. Garbage is also based on how you clear lines, so crafting maximally disruptive garbage gets interesting. The catch, unfortunately, is that there is no AI. But if you can play this game with a human, do check it out.
Tetris: The Grand Master 1/2/3: The only good Tetris, do not @ me. Start with TGM2's Novice Mode, then once you can clear that go back to TGM1.
Twinkle Star Sprites: A versus shmup with a very unique format. Chaining enemies on your screen sends attacks to your opponent's screen. Hard to really explain, just give this a spin and feel it out for yourself. There are a lot of moving parts, screenwatching is vital, and feels like I've barely scratched the surface of the game's depth.
Vampire Savior: Aka Darkstalkers 3. This game is fast as hell and it's a blast. Like with any classic fighter, good luck keeping up with FightCade folks who really know what they're doing, but I love it casually.
Waku Waku 7: This game's mechanics are honestly borderline kusoge, you can't even cancel normals into specials. But I love the design and atmosphere so much. Tesse is really fun to play even in spite of the system mechanics.

NES:

Fire 'n Ice: A very rad little puzzle game.
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!: Just an absolute blast. I won't bother listing them seperately but also check out Super and Wii. Super's kinda the black sheep of the series, but it's still a good game, just not as good. Wii is an absolutely top-notch successor and I'm sad it didn't get any more sequels after that. The two arcade predecessors are honestly forgettable.

SNES:

Chrono Trigger: I am hesitant to recommend most JRPGs from this era if you did not grow up on them, because many of them haven't aged so gracefully. Chrono Trigger is the exception, this game is a fine wine. You may want to check out one of the rereleases though, or at least a retranslation patch, because the original translation was made on a rushed deadline and bound by heavy technical limitations.
Earthbound: A bit more of a slow burn in comparison to CT, but this game is carried by incredible writing. It's also required reading before playing Mother 3 next.
Kirby Super Star: Definitely the peak of the series, giving every copy power an entire moveset is a blast. Has an updated rerelease on DS with added extras, I do highly recommend this version, but DS can be awkward to emulate so SNES is fine.
Wario's Woods: The NES version is more well known since it was the system's last first-party title, and for whatever reason it's the only version Nintendo ever rereleases. But the SNES version is a notable upgrade, biggest thing it has is AI to play versus mode against. Versus mode is wild as hell, so if you've never seen it please check out the SNES version.

N64:

Dr. Mario 64: Best version, but can be notoriously difficult to emulate. If you have issues with it, SNES is a good alternative. Don't play NES.
Mario Party 2: Still the best in the series.
Paper Mario: Pure perfection. Many fans will say TTYD was better, and it's certainly a good game too, but I think 64 was peak simply because the pacing is so much better.
Super Mario 64: It's Super Mario 64. You do not need me to tell you that this game is good.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Gamecube:

F-Zero GX: It's been over 20 years since the GOAT dropped and all we've had to show for it is that damn 99 game. Go play this and weep that we'll never see another like it.
Kirby Air Ride As a racing game, it's okay. But City Trial mode is one of the best damn party games ever made. Check out the hack pack for extended goodies.
Nintendo Puzzle Collection: The best version of Panel de Pon, but SNES is a close second if you wanna play on a device that can't run Dolphin. GBC is also kinda noteworthy for having a unique singleplayer to work around platform limitations - opponents have a lifebar rather than a board. Just don't bother with 64.
Tales of Symphonia: This game got a PS2 rerelease with some extra content, and the HD remasters are based on that version. But the catch is that they were downgraded to 30fps, and yes that includes the so-called remaster. So I still recommend playing the Gamecube original at 60.

Wii:

Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary: The absolute pinnacle of the series (by which I mean it's all downhill from here, I will never forgive Sega for what came next ), crammed with a whopping 20 game modes. I really love the challenges where you have to chain under bizarre restrictions. I prefer the Wii version for its 480p assets, and it's the easiest to emulate, but if you care about story mode the translation patch only exists for DS.

GBC:

Game & Watch Gallery 2: Holds a special place in my heart as the first game I ever owned. Has the best lineup out of all the collections, with 3 and 4 you can kinda tell they had used up all the heavy hitters.
Mario Tennis: An incredible tennis RPG. And Mario doesn't even show up until the postgame as a bonus boss, which I find hilarious. Has connectivity with the N64 version if you can get that running, lets you transfer your RPG mode character and unlock more content on both titles.

GBA:

Boktai series: These games were so near and dear to my childhood, especially 2. Really though you want the Solar Sensor hardware for the full experience, but I love these games too much not to plug them anyway. Emulating them is worth it over not playing them at all. And for the third game, you'd have to pick between original hardware or the translation patch anyway.
Golden Sun 1/2: These games were way ahead of their time for how they designed a combat system that encourages you to use all of your tools and not just click basic Attack as if you gotta hoard your MP for a rainy day. Fantastic puzzles too.
Mother 3: Surely you have already heard of this game and do not need me to tell you to go play it. Have you not played it by now? Why not? Well, okay, if you haven't played Earthbound first, go do so, then play this.
Rhythm Tengoku: A wonderful game about pressing the A button. Sometimes you press the d-pad too. Translation patch.
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 1/2: If you've ever played the classic 2D Tales games, these are excellent spiritual successors to those. There's a third game that's JP-only, translation patch is being worked on but it's been stuck in development hell for years...

Romhacks:

Celeste Mario's Zap & Dash (NES): SMB1 turned into a Metroidvania with Celeste mechanics ported in. I think what impresses me the most is that they got 4-directional scrolling into this engine.
Super Metroid and A Link to the Past Crossover Randomizer (SNES): It's an absolutely incredible technical feat that this even works. SM and ALttP smashed together into a single ROM, with a few doors that take you from one game to the other, then the item pools are shuffled together so you have to go back and forth to find one game's items in the other. Unfortunately because ALttP is a much bigger game with a lot more items it kinda overshadows SM, you may not find this to be as replayable as the standalone randos. But I recommend trying it once because it's just so cool the first time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Holy Shit there's more. I am going to definitely take these recommendations to heart.

I've seen footage of the celeste smb1 hack and it's fucking incredible and I'd love to play that. Will definitely be checking it out.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I miiiiight have had an existing list sitting around to just paste here.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm a little ways in to Celeste Mario's Zap & Dash and its just as good as I had hoped. It makes me wish we got a metroidvania Celeste game from exok (maybe Earthblade will fill that niche)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

@[email protected] I have finished the "main" game content of zap n dash with (I think) all moons, but DAMN this post-game content is HARD. Definitely b-sides/c-sides/farewell vibes

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Holy recommendations batman! Definitely glad to see a lot of the same games recommended here, makes me feel like they're on the right track. Fire 'n Ice seems interesting, and I hadn't heard of it before. Also added a new word to my vocabulary in the form of "kusoge". Thank you!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Mega Man X on the SNES is an amazing trilogy and still holds up. Moving on, X4 and X5 are great to play as well, X6 and beyond can be avoided.

Mega Man Legends 1 and 2 (PSX) are interesting games, a mix of action platforming and light RPG elements, but I have deep nostalgia and still enjoy the games, so you may find them very archaic. Playing the first game, the first thing you should do is change controls so turning around is left/right and L1/R1 strafe.

If you haven't tried them yet, Donkey Kong Country 1, 2 and 3 are well worth playing, but the games can be unforgiving, especially in later levels. While there's no coyote time, doing a forward attack off a ledge will allow you to jump once anytime during the fall. It's very clearly a deliberate feature, as some level skips can only be accessed with that trick.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night on the PSX, if you haven't played yet, you definitely should. This motherfucker stood the test of time with gold marks.

I know you asked to avoid final fantasy-esque titles, but Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX) is worth checking out. If the battle system, or the party management/job system, don't pique your interest (things that you should get a feel within the first 20-30 minutes), then it's not for you, no problem.

Tekken 3 on the PSX is probably the best 3D fighting game on the console. Graphically ancient by today's standards, but it still has its charm. Later games got better with more characters and everything, but that game has the normal arcade mode, a "volley" mode and a beat-em' up mode.

Bomberman games are their own category. The SNES ones are some of the best, but playing them all in sequence will get really tiresome, as the formula doesn't change. Bomberman World on PSX can be completely avoided, it sucks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I've been hesitant of the mega man games for some reason, I'll check em out!

DKC I have never tried, but it sounds like there could be some fun movement

I definitely need to try castlevania sotn - thanks for the reminder

FFT I'll give a go just because your other recommendations have been on point :P

Tekken 3 (and Tekken Tag Tournament) was fucking awesome, loved playing that. I spent so much of my pocket money on tekken games at the arcade growing up.

I have played some of the bombermans(bombermen?), it's a neat concept but it gets stale very fast for me.

Thank you!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

FF Tactics on PS1 is great. Playing my roommate's copy was what led me to buy FF Tactics Advance, which is even better, I think.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It took me a number of attempts before FFTA grew on me. I'm not too fond of race-locked classes there, or the judges, but the progression felt fun.

Worth noting: Ogre Battle (Tactics Ogre) was released for SNES (then re-released more than Skyrim) and is basically FFT's father. FFTA's sprites come straight from TO.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age (PC, 1998/2000). (the second game is essentially just more of the first, but more refined)

Still the best stealth games to date if that's your cup of tea, and holds up excellently.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Both excellent games, and better than Thief 3, Thief 2014, and Dishonored.

Edit: wrong year for the latest Thief game

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Thief 2023

I think you meant 2014, unless there's something I missed from last year.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yep, that's the one. I misremembered the year. Maybe I got it in 2023, I dunno.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Huh, confusing last year for a decade ago is unusual

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

post-covid time experience is wild

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (8 children)

Huh, I'll see if they're available anywhere. I've heard excellent things about the thief games but for some reason never taken them on.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The Thief games are all available on GOG, probably Steam, too, but I prefer GOG.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Always a fan of DRM-free :)

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Kirby's Adventure (NES)
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA)
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project (NES)
Battletoads (NES)
Little Nemo: Dreammaster (NES)
Mega Man 2 (NES)
Mario 64 (N64)
Starfox 64 (N64)

I know you want to avoid Final Fantasy style games, but both Chrono Trigger and FF Tactics Advance are unique takes on JRPGs (you're open to Earthbound, after all). They are also timeless, IMO, and stand up against modern titles.

Kirby's Adventure is great all around. Has saves, interesting gameplay, tight controls, excellent music, secondary secret objectives, and it's just goddamn adorable. It's also better than Kirby Superstar, IMO, but do try both.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (4 children)

I tried a kirby game at some point and I found myself annoyed with the platforming, but it might have been a bad choice of title. I'll give adventure a go!
someone else mentioned FFT, is there a reason to go for FFTA in particular?
chrono trigger is highly regarded, i may give it a go. maybe it'll be a good primer before I ever play Sea of Stars.
TMNT3: Manhattan Project was a fucking JAM i played the ever loving shit out of that when I was younger. Thanks for the nostalgia hit.
Battletoads I'll have to check out, it's another one of those that has been on my radar but I just never tried for some reason.
I have never even remotely heard of Little Nemo: Dreammaster, I'll have a look!
Someone else recommended mega man, so I'm definitely gonna have to check this out
SM64, what a gem. Despite the janky collision and truly awful camera it really is a classic for a reason
Starfox 64 I'll have to give a go! thank you :D

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

There's a remake of Kirby's adventure for the GBA that will probably feel a bit better.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Snazzy I'll probably go for that one then. Many thanks

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Battletoads, Little Nemo: Dreammaster

Those games are hard as fuck. The train stage in Little Nemo is a nightmare (pun totally intended)

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

If you have any interest at all in Souls-likes and want to see where the genre really started, consider Blade of Darkness. An updated version is available on GOG with modern resolution support and slightly improved controls (still clunky as hell in comparison to newer games, though).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Oh fancy, I'll add it to the list. Thank you!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You have tons of great game suggestions here so i'm not gonna suggest another game. I'm just going to recommend RetroAchievements as a way to add a little meta-progression fun to your retro journey, if you aren't using them already. They integrate into various popular emulators (RetroArch especially), and it's fun to be playing Super Mario World and get a little extra recognition for beating a boss.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I am very prone to completionism so I have intentionally avoided RetroAchievements as I didn't want to get bogged down chasing them :P But I do very much appreciate the extra recco!!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

extremely fair! I just broke a 2-month fever with Pokemon Pinball bc I became obsessed with getting the "beaten" marker on RA. I think I was still having fun up to the end? but not totally clear. So I get it. lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Well done for persevering and fingers crossed you don't get a fever like that any time soon again :P

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Oh, and just in the moment I hit send, I remembered another gem from the olden times:

Unreal World: Basically the survival game. 99% of today's survival games are just a pale shadow of this. I mean, nowadays there are even "survival" games without hunger mechanics or proper simulation of wounds... No, this is not one of those easy mode survival games. This is Fantasy Finland, and it's the Fantasy Iron Age. Available for free or, if you want updates faster, also for money on Steam.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If I weren't currently at work and would have time to think about the answer, I could probably come up with more titles, but those are the top 2 that come to mind, if I ignore cRPGs (at least that's how I read your "avoiding final fantasy-esque" requirement):

Settlers 2: It's new enough to still look decent by today's standards, and has amazing game design. Available at GoG.

Star Control 2: One of the best early open world games. The graphics have definitely aged by today's standard, but the humour hasn't. Or maybe it has, but just a bit. Available for free and open source.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

My relationship with cRPGs is weird. I adore disco elysium and citizen sleeper, two of my favourite games. I enjoyed the first ~30 hours of Divinity Original Sin 2 before I just got uber fatigued on how much the game got in the way of the characters for me. Final Fantasy (style) games i just get so exhausted by all the faffing around with party composition and stats and junctions and equipment and skills and whatever the fuck else. What I live for in my tabletop experiences is high storytelling and roleplay, where I can do a little fooling around with fun combat builds and whatnot without getting too bogged down, and my videogaming preferences mirror that.

I guess what I'm saying is that a crpg with a greater focus on the RP and less on the G really fits my tastes, so earthbound is a natural fit.

Settlers and star control both look somewhat neat! I'll have a look, many thanks.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Metal Gear Solid is one of my favorite games of all time, followed closely by 2 and 3. It really is an incredibly timeless piece of art in my opinion, just filled to the brim with incredible moments.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Sons of Liberty was my first experience of the MGS series and I really enjoyed it. Absolutely off the wall parody of military games in the absolute best way.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Don't know if it'd be something worth while, but if you're looking for a game to just pass the time, Devil Dice (or XI in Japan I think) for PSx. Trailer linked is highest quality I could find.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

The Castlevania games have been organized into a couple of collections that are very inexpensive, and I would HIGHLY recommend those. They're on PC and Switch.

I replay Castlevania 1 and 3 at least once a year.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Ace Combat (PS2): Primarily Ace Combat 4, I’d say as it’s shorter but still great. If you like the gameplay then you’ll need to play 5 and Zero.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Oh, 2 and 3 are also great on the PSX. Way more missiles than needed for any mission, but the flight controls are amazing

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