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When you look back on old games you could say, "Haha, look at those terrible graphics. What a rubbish game!" And you may throw it away. But in my opinion you shouldn't do that. Having 'bad graphics' or being a 'rubbish game' is just the same as todays games in some cases. And sometimes old games can be even better than some of todays games, even with graphical faults. Here are some examples.
The reason I came up with this topic was because I was playing my old Game Boy last night and the game I happened to be playing was Donkey Kong, the 'first ever game' and I found out that it is one of the most addictive games I've played in quite a while. It may look not very good compared to the looks as seen on the PS2, X-Box and GC (no where near in fact) these days graphic wise, and the music and sounds aren't exactly like SSX Tricky songs and graphics, but think of what it was like for game makers back then, and think of how un-advanced they were from us these days. Games these days may boast about how good they look, but I can guarentee that this game takes longer to complete, and keep you more hooked, even in these days than a game like Luigi's Mansion. Go on! Take a look back at this game, it is worth it.
Other Game Boy features and games could be good too. The actually console wasn't that powreful at all, and it didn't use up much batteries. It was cheap too. But the reason that the Game Boy seemed to take out the Game Gear and Lynx was because of one game, Tetris. Tetris was a very, and I mean very addictive game. Everyone was hooked on it. It wasn't even made by real programmers. Just a few Russians that decided they would make some money on a simple, easy to make game. But Nintendo did buy and publish the game so they own the rights to it. Now THQ own the rights to develop it, but only for Nintendo consoles. Mario Land games were good too. They were just a small step up from the old Mario platformers on the Atari but that was a good thing for most people, because it turned out to be the highest selling series of games ever, until all the new games these days came along and dominated the console market.
A fact that some of you may not know. Mario and Donkey Kong both started out on the Atari. Even the Donkey Kong game in the paragraph above this had started on an Atari console. Some games, such as all the Mario Bros games (1, 2 and 3) on the Atari which were all excellent platformer games could still face up to platformers these days. Same with Mega Man, which was a big hit on the NES. The NES and Atari were the main source of platform games, good ones that is, and they are where platformed gaming really started. Platform games back then could beat PS2 platformers any day. (All 3 of them. :D)
Another thing that you may not know was, games consoles in the old age started out with joysticks, and not joypads, but they converted over to joypads because joysticks were harder to use during platformer games, which were the main attraction back then. There was an occasional fight sim pop up but games back then were mainly based on platformers. The NES had a couple of games from other genres such as Top Gun and Airworlf, both reasonable flight sims for the time, Duck Hunt and Will Gunman were both excellent light gun games, dated now but for the time were remarkable. So as you can see games back then could compare to today's games quite easily, some could even better them.
This whole topic isn't made to poke fun at cosoles and games of this generation not being as good as they are capable of being, but it is pointed at how good some old games can be, even if they do look really bad graphically, have faults, or play terrible music. So, if you have an old console lying around your house and you still have a few working games for them, then take them out and have a go. Go on. You'll be impressed!
Thanks for reading, Afro.
The reason I came up with this topic was because I was playing my old Game Boy last night and the game I happened to be playing was Donkey Kong, the 'first ever game' and I found out that it is one of the most addictive games I've played in quite a while. It may look not very good compared to the looks as seen on the PS2, X-Box and GC (no where near in fact) these days graphic wise, and the music and sounds aren't exactly like SSX Tricky songs and graphics, but think of what it was like for game makers back then, and think of how un-advanced they were from us these days. Games these days may boast about how good they look, but I can guarentee that this game takes longer to complete, and keep you more hooked, even in these days than a game like Luigi's Mansion. Go on! Take a look back at this game, it is worth it.
Other Game Boy features and games could be good too. The actually console wasn't that powreful at all, and it didn't use up much batteries. It was cheap too. But the reason that the Game Boy seemed to take out the Game Gear and Lynx was because of one game, Tetris. Tetris was a very, and I mean very addictive game. Everyone was hooked on it. It wasn't even made by real programmers. Just a few Russians that decided they would make some money on a simple, easy to make game. But Nintendo did buy and publish the game so they own the rights to it. Now THQ own the rights to develop it, but only for Nintendo consoles. Mario Land games were good too. They were just a small step up from the old Mario platformers on the Atari but that was a good thing for most people, because it turned out to be the highest selling series of games ever, until all the new games these days came along and dominated the console market.
A fact that some of you may not know. Mario and Donkey Kong both started out on the Atari. Even the Donkey Kong game in the paragraph above this had started on an Atari console. Some games, such as all the Mario Bros games (1, 2 and 3) on the Atari which were all excellent platformer games could still face up to platformers these days. Same with Mega Man, which was a big hit on the NES. The NES and Atari were the main source of platform games, good ones that is, and they are where platformed gaming really started. Platform games back then could beat PS2 platformers any day. (All 3 of them. :D)
Another thing that you may not know was, games consoles in the old age started out with joysticks, and not joypads, but they converted over to joypads because joysticks were harder to use during platformer games, which were the main attraction back then. There was an occasional fight sim pop up but games back then were mainly based on platformers. The NES had a couple of games from other genres such as Top Gun and Airworlf, both reasonable flight sims for the time, Duck Hunt and Will Gunman were both excellent light gun games, dated now but for the time were remarkable. So as you can see games back then could compare to today's games quite easily, some could even better them.
This whole topic isn't made to poke fun at cosoles and games of this generation not being as good as they are capable of being, but it is pointed at how good some old games can be, even if they do look really bad graphically, have faults, or play terrible music. So, if you have an old console lying around your house and you still have a few working games for them, then take them out and have a go. Go on. You'll be impressed!
Thanks for reading, Afro.
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Weird Wonder wrote:
Wow! I thought that Mario and Donkey Kong were Ninty exclusives. Nice bit of information there. NEway I find that simple graphiced games are more addictive because they don't make your eyes stray off the action!
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They are Ninty exclusives now, but they actually started in the Arcades, and their first console that they were on was the Atari.
Wow! I thought that Mario and Donkey Kong were Ninty exclusives. Nice bit of information there. NEway I find that simple graphiced games are more addictive because they don't make your eyes stray off the action!
------
They are Ninty exclusives now, but they actually started in the Arcades, and their first console that they were on was the Atari.
The only thing that comes with advance in technology is better graphics. Any platform, whether 1 bit or 1024 bit, can make a classic game, and graphics don't have anything to do with it. That is why something has to happen to really excell games, or they'll just wither and die. With no new ideas, there won't be any great new games, and people will just lose interest. I still play my SNES, and there are games on that console which could never be matched by a next-gen console. Nostalgia is great, graphics should come second to gameplay.
"including me, in to gaming back in the late 70's/early 80's"
Wow, talk about being OLD!
Wow, talk about being OLD!
Wow! I thought that Mario and Donkey Kong were Ninty exclusives. Nice bit of information there. NEway I find that simple graphiced games are more addictive because they don't make your eyes stray off the action!
Thanks for the replies people.
I've just had today's dose of Donkey Kong again and I completed it. Whoo! :D
I've just had today's dose of Donkey Kong again and I completed it. Whoo! :D
Nice post Afro.
I liked Donkey kong for the old Game Boy as wll. It was very adictive.
I liked Donkey kong for the old Game Boy as wll. It was very adictive.
ok then. Thanks for clearing that all up pb.
AfroJoe wrote:
> > Donkey Kong, the 'first ever game'
Nope, Spacewar was, and Space Invaders and Pacman after that.
It wasn't even made by real programmers. Just a few Russians that decided
> they would make some money
One Russian designed it, but only how the game was played, he had to get someone else to programme it and didn't have the rights to the games.
A fact that some of you may not know. Mario and
> Donkey Kong both started out on the Atari.
Donkey Kong appeared on the Atari, as did the first Mario game (the one with the levels and turtles) But it wasn't the first platform it appeared on.
The other Mario games all appeared on the NES.
Another thing that you may not know was, games consoles in the old
> age started out with joysticks, and not joypads,
Paddles to start with, which were a crude joypad, then joysticks and then joypads when the NES arrived.
Just thought I'd point these few things out, but it's a good topic all the same. The Atari VCS console got many people, including me, in to gaming back in the late 70's/early 80's. It was certainly not the only console out at the time though, but it had the most varied and most popular games. The NES and Mastersystem really started the whole gaming ball rolling though.
It is also amazing to think that even back then licences were big business. ET, Smurfs, Airwolf and many other appeared on the VCS and did well based on their character licences, even if the games only bore a slight relevence to them. Ah well, nothing much changes, does it? ;-)
> > Donkey Kong, the 'first ever game'
Nope, Spacewar was, and Space Invaders and Pacman after that.
It wasn't even made by real programmers. Just a few Russians that decided
> they would make some money
One Russian designed it, but only how the game was played, he had to get someone else to programme it and didn't have the rights to the games.
A fact that some of you may not know. Mario and
> Donkey Kong both started out on the Atari.
Donkey Kong appeared on the Atari, as did the first Mario game (the one with the levels and turtles) But it wasn't the first platform it appeared on.
The other Mario games all appeared on the NES.
Another thing that you may not know was, games consoles in the old
> age started out with joysticks, and not joypads,
Paddles to start with, which were a crude joypad, then joysticks and then joypads when the NES arrived.
Just thought I'd point these few things out, but it's a good topic all the same. The Atari VCS console got many people, including me, in to gaming back in the late 70's/early 80's. It was certainly not the only console out at the time though, but it had the most varied and most popular games. The NES and Mastersystem really started the whole gaming ball rolling though.
It is also amazing to think that even back then licences were big business. ET, Smurfs, Airwolf and many other appeared on the VCS and did well based on their character licences, even if the games only bore a slight relevence to them. Ah well, nothing much changes, does it? ;-)
Yeah i agree with most points there AJ, especially when they might be worth something, "Looks at Rickoss" :D
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