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I really love the VCS.
I had a Colecovision up until recently, but bastards can be fairly finicky. Overall, I remember them fondly from when I was a kid, and the hardware is decent, but I don't enjoy it anymore.
Some of the best games ever are pre NES anyways! I don't want to live in a world without Pac-Man.
For pre-NES consoles, I have Atari 2600, 7800, Intellivision, ColecoVision, Odyssey^2, and Vectrex (as well as C64 and Tandy CoCo computers). The Intellivision has probably become my favorite pre-NES console, and one of my favorites overall -- I play it more than any system except the Genesis. Its library is amazingly ahead of its time, and I love the quirks and oddities of its aesthetic.
Since I'm not much for chasing high scores, my interest in Atari 2600 waxes and wanes. But it's a great machine for social/family gaming, and some of the homebrews that've come out are pretty amazing. Either way I imprinted on it as a child -- it's a hardwired part of my consciousness at this point.
The Vectrex is a work of art. Some games are better than others, naturally, but the best ones are both aesthetically pleasing and super-fun. The recent Vector Pilot homebrew is about as close as you can get to duplicating the early-1980s arcade machine experience on a home console.
Odyssey^2 is extremely limited and has some of the worst games I've ever played, but a few killer games make it worthwhile, especially with the Voice. 7800 and CV I'm not so into; the controllers are annoying, and they miss the sweet spot of my interest somehow (I find myself thinking of Magmax and Seicross for NES, if you know what I'm getting at).
I like the SG-1000 library quite a bit and might like to get one someday, though given the poor controllers and other issues, maybe it's better just to stick with emulation.
Yeah, I really can't hang with anything prior to the NES. I can appreciate gameplay over graphics, but those older games push that too far, since the gameplay itself is too dated.
I will. Back in the PS days ports of Atari arcade classics certainly weren't what I was after; the couple Namco disks I tasted I quickly spat out. Perhaps though I should opt for the DC version so I have some variety to my DC playing rather than its all being Nester.Quote:
Originally Posted by gamevet
That's my kind of recommendation.Quote:
I'd recommend emulating the C64.
Interesting, these are the only sorts of game that I find do date. They were just too simple for what they were trying to achieve w/o being able to stylize that simplicity. Or when they had the gameplay, eg MULE, they hadn't room for any presentation amentities. Not that they failed, they succeeded as placeholders till something bigger came about. And of course such games can easily grow too big; I'd take MULE over Civilisation.Quote:
titles like Maniac Mansion, The Bard's Tale, MULE,
Good, in my opinion. Like the games of today, there's shit mixed in with the games that shine, but the arcades, the 2600, the Atari 400/800 computers, the C64... there's a lot of good stuff in their pre-1985 libraries, including some surprisingly good arcade ports.
For me, the multiplayer games from that era are most significant, and not least so because of the major emphasis on multiplayer in the industry in general (including many 2/multi only games without single player modes), especially on the home console end.
I also can't take pre-NES generation games. Even before i even seen an NES or a home computer, i couldn't get too much into limited games that only had one screen and you had to chase high scores (like LCD handhelds ala Game & Watch). Games became interesting for me when they started having "big worlds" with different areas or screens to unlock as you progress.
Super Mario Bros was one of the first games that gave me this feeling. It was very exciting seeing new levels or discovering secrets and it felt like there was a whole living world to explore in a small cartridge. I think the first arcades i saw that did this for me was Ghost & Goblins and Bubble Bobble. I remember G&G, because it was so hard, very few could get to later levels, i remember how curious i was to see a new level after the 100th time someone lost all his lives at level 2... And Bubble Bobble, it was very exciting seeing a new screen every time someone, or me, managed to get closer to the end. In other words, for me video games are about exploring a unique "proper" world and taking a part in it. This is something that 99% of Atari2600 games (or any other from that era) can't handle. Admittedly there were some games that tried to emulate that like Pitfall. It was one of the few games i actually played for more than a few hours back then.
The only thing that i liked about those old limited games, like some already mentioned, was the 1vs1 multiplayer. Trying to beat a friend in that clunky snake game was an entirely different matter than playing a limited, one screen game alone trying to increase a number.
That depends, the iconic games or even games that weren't limited because lack of color(aka the old "space" shooters like centipede, there's a reason for lack of color, and the sprites do their job just fine for example).
Donkey Kong, Breakout, Packman, Centipede, asteroids, frogger, exc all aged pretty well, despite the bad color capeabilities, and symplistic gameplay of the order arcade styled games.
When we have people round I'm usually asked to hook the 2600 up for a pong marathon more often that I'm asked to fire up the Wii.
I'll agree that there are many titles on the 2600 that really offer nothing but nostalgia value, but there are also plenty of very enjoyable titles I still play on a regular basis, Solaris, Battlezone and Pole Position spring immediately to mind, as well as the aforementioned Pong.
There are just as many post NES era games I find equally as tedious, unplayable and basic as some people find late 70's and early 80's video games, FMV titles being a good example of that, I lapped that shit up back in the day but I can't go back to most FMV games, they hold no enjoyment for me.
Aside from Kaypro and 2600 games I don't have much older console gaming experience. I did love Asteroids, Combat, Enduro, Empire Strikes Back, E.T. (that's right), Adventure, and some space sim on the 2600 though. I tried an XBLA game that looked just like Combat but they dumbed down the physics of all things. How a modern programmer can't get the physics and controls of a 2600 game down is way beyond me.
That said, I never considered myself a gamer until I played After Burner in the Arcades and got a Master System. I just didn't really care whether we had games in the house before that, and after I got a Master System I was a hardcore gaming nut/addict for years.
I've barely played pre-NES games. I do have the Genesis Pitfall (with the original game included) but that's the only pre-NES game I own! Actually I also have that Genesis Williams Arcades Greatest Hits, with Sinistar (awesome), and Joust (great in 2player). The other three (Defender I and II, and Robotron) have a nice psychadelic strobing color effect! (Not sure if the strobing color was in the arcade or not?)
When young, a neighbor had an Atari and showed me E.T. which I had no idea what to do with.
I do love those arcade games people mentioned, once in a while. Centipede, the Pac-man games, other space shooter games, etc.
Doubtful that I'll ever get around to buying and collecting actual systems and games from that time, though. Never was compelled to buy an Atari...
Warlords was one of the greatest multi-player games and it's still a pretty fun game, especially when you get 4 people together.Quote:
Originally Posted by mick_aka
The 2600 has some fantastic games and some of them are even quite deep too, Solaris in particular is incredible.
Been trying to port it to Android, but the online multiplayer is killing me. Lag on a game like that is brutal.Quote:
Originally Posted by gamevet
I am a fan of Miner Willy. He kicks a certain fat italian plumber's ass.