Games of the 80's vs. Games of today

[cartman]

From the land of 3ric, here is a little sample of various game genres from the 80s against today's counterparts.

http://gadgets.fosfor.se/gaming-now-and-then/

[MikeVic]

Ahh.. I'm gonna go play some Ice Hockey and Punchout right now!

[Marc Vaughan]

Thats the sad thing - I just sent an email around to the chaps at SI indicating the site, but also mentioning that I'd prefer to play on the 1980's games over the new ones in nearly all cases shown ...

(especially Contra (the top one), Karate Champ and 10 yard fight (loved that in the arcade))

[Antmeister]

From the land of 3ric, here is a little sample of various game genres from the 80s against today's counterparts.

http://gadgets.fosfor.se/gaming-now-and-then/

Although they compared consoles, this has got me thinking. When I used to play games on the computer, I don't remember to having to deal with bugs. The only time a game wouldn't work was because the floppy disk was damaged, but games were actually pretty solid back then. Some of the games might have sucked, but they were definitely playable.

Sometime in the mid 90's was it acceptable to have software that required patching. It's odd when I think about it.

[Groundhog]

Well, it's worth mentioning that the early games were very simple compared to the ones of today, with not nearly as many room for bugs to slip in. In many ways that was a very good thing... I think that a lot of the games today are a little too much like hard work to play, and I begin to crave just a simple diversion. I guess that's why I still fire up solitaire and minesweeper from time to time.

[gottimd]

Its also a nice comparison to see the joysticks/controllers from then to now. I remember the atari controller that was just a stick and a red button and thats all. Controllers these days have 98,347,953 Buttons that in combination do 1000 jazillion things.

[DeToxRox]

Earlier games were more fun. You didn't have to do much if you died in the game to get back where you were. Now you play for an hour to get through a level and if you don't beat it it's frustrating as hell.

I miss the simplicity.

[Maple Leafs]

If I could find all the part for my old Amiga, I'd probably never use the PS2.

[Eaglesfan27]

I miss things from my childhood, but I'd easily take Madden 06 (even with the flaws) over the old Atari Football games or Intellivision Football games that my friend had. Sure, the controllers are more complex, but that gives the gamer more options.

[EagleFan]

I think it's a case of being careful what we wished for. Games give you so many options these days that it just seems to take away from the fun. Like early hockey games when I remember wishing that you could do X and Y but then when it all got added and now you have to memorize so many different combinations of buttons just to do things, it takes away from the immediate fun factor.

Strategy games are like that too, Hearts of Iron was a war game that I would have wished for several years ago. The problem is that I don't have the time to be able to get into the game now because there is so much to do.

That is why there will always be a special place in my heart for games like Starflight, Auto Duel, Pirates and Earl Weaver Baseball.

[Rockstar]

Breakout. It was simple. And it had the diagonal hit.

[Dutch]

For as simple as the game were back then, they sure were more complicated. Check this bad boy out.

http://www.battleforce.de/gal/galka1.JPG

http://www.battleforce.de/gal/galka2.JPG

http://www.battleforce.de/gal/galka3.JPG

http://www.battleforce.de/gal/galka4.JPG

http://www.battleforce.de/gal/galka5.JPG

http://www.battleforce.de/gal/galka6.JPG

The only problem was....that it ran on a computer in 1985. So the graphics looked like this. :D

http://www.battleforce.de/gal/galka7.JPG

[panerd]

If I could find all the part for my old Amiga, I'd probably never use the PS2.

I actually dug the old Amiga and my Commodore 128 out of the parent's basement last summer. It was great nostalga for a while, but after a while those games took too damn long to load! (Especially the Com 64 ones) As an adult I still couldn't complete the last stages of Dark Castle or figure out what the hell is going on in Impossible Mission. I did find some old textcraft files that had papers that I wrote in 7th grade. Very embarassing stuff. I should post my 7th grade gun control essay in a POL thread and let Camedwards debate it point for point.

[Mac Howard]

I think it's a case of being careful what we wished for. Games give you so many options these days that it just seems to take away from the fun. Like early hockey games when I remember wishing that you could do X and Y but then when it all got added and now you have to memorize so many different combinations of buttons just to do things, it takes away from the immediate fun factor.

There's a lot of truth in that.

In 1986 I released an smg called Mexico 86. It was a simple game based purely on the World Cup in Mexico that year. It was a huge hit both critically and commercially.

So, in 1988 when I moved to the Atari ST and Amiga platforms, I based the new game World of Soccer on that but with much more detail, random draws, open-ended playing time and much greater coverage of world soccer. But I remember receiving a letter from a user some time later lamenting what he described as "the loss of immersion" he found in the game compared with M86.

Sometimes the simple challenge is definitely the best. Unfortunately, users simply wouldn't accept the simplicity of the early games today. :(

[Easy Mac]

I still play Contra every day.

[cuervo72]

figure out what the hell is going on in Impossible Mission

Yep, that's like a 20 year unsolved puzzle. Cool game though.

(I think there was a nod to IM in CoH - there was a boss character that greeted you with "Stay a while. Stay FOREVER!" :) )

[Warhammer]

I'd love to play Starflight again. Heck, I'll even settle for a newer game, give me Starcon 2!

[Franklinnoble]

Sometime in the mid 90's was it acceptable to have software that required patching. It's odd when I think about it.

Blame Al Gore. He invented the Internet, didn't he?

[sachmo71]

For as simple as the game were back then, they sure were more complicated. Check this bad boy out.

SNIP



What a WONDERFUL game. For those that like them, today's wargames have come a long way, even if the graphics haven't. If I'd had HOI 2 back in the early 90's, I would have missed out on a lot more of life.

[condors]

SSI made a bunch of great games back in the day

[ice4277]

Yep, that's like a 20 year unsolved puzzle. Cool game though.

(I think there was a nod to IM in CoH - there was a boss character that greeted you with "Stay a while. Stay FOREVER!" :) )

"Destroy him, my robots."

IM was the mostly insanely addicting game of my childhood. I hated it, yet played it all the time. Was there actually a way to beat it?

[Senator]

We were young then, everything was better.

[BYU 14]

There was an old RPG based in Medievel Germany that I had on my old IBM circa 1990, can't for the life of me remember the name but it was one of the more revolutionary Non-Linear games. You also achived prestige in regions and individual towns which helped/hindered your ability to obtain quests. It was an incredible game for the time.......Anyone remember anything like this??? The format of play was like Bards tale when traveling/exploring towns and the old SSI D&D games in combat where you fought real time with the ability to pause to give instructions.

[Mustang]

There was an old RPG based in Medievel Germany that I had on my old IBM circa 1990, can't for the life of me remember the name but it was one of the more revolutionary Non-Linear games. You also achived prestige in regions and individual towns which helped/hindered your ability to obtain quests. It was an incredible game for the time.......Anyone remember anything like this??? The format of play was like Bards tale when traveling/exploring towns and the old SSI D&D games in combat where you fought real time with the ability to pause to give instructions.

Darklands?

[BYU 14]

Darklands?

THATS IT!!!

Thanks Mustang, damn that game was awesome!!!!

[Mustang]

That's odd. Went to Underdogs to browse around and the site is unregistered.

Any other abandonware sites out there that are decent?

[hawk4669]

That's odd. Went to Underdogs to browse around and the site is unregistered.

Any other abandonware sites out there that are decent?

Apparantly UD is having trouble getting the site back up, but it is still accessable here (http://209.120.136.195/). I haven't tried downloading anything since the main URL went down though.

Cheers!

[Buccaneer]

While I missed out on the games of the 80s (except for SimCity on the Mac), I can attest to "simple is better". Just take a look at a game like Civ1 - that, I believe, is still better than 95% of all of the strategy games that have come out since then. Anyone here like SimCity better than its sequels? Same for Railroad Tycoon? Switching genres, how about the King's Quest series or any of the Lucasarts games? I'm sure there are FPS and sports titles along the same lines. Maybe there is a lesson in this.

[ice4277]

While I missed out on the games of the 80s (except for SimCity on the Mac), I can attest to "simple is better". Just take a look at a game like Civ1 - that, I believe, is still better than 95% of all of the strategy games that have come out since then. Anyone here like SimCity better than its sequels? Same for Railroad Tycoon? Switching genres, how about the King's Quest series or any of the Lucasarts games? I'm sure there are FPS and sports titles along the same lines. Maybe there is a lesson in this.

I think I have drifted away from playing sports console games mainly for this reason. To me, the Sega Genesis controller was perfect for sports games; 3 buttons plus a couple possible combinations. Once the PS controllers came into use, the game companies started to put more and more difficult button combinations in. It almost feels like you are pulling off combos in a fighting game to get some of these actions to work. I miss the simple, easy gameplay of yesteryear.

Man for one of the first times ever I am starting to feel old.

[BYU 14]

Found Darklands on Underdogs.....Downloading now, this will make for some nice nostalgic gaming this weekend.

[cartman]

Found Darklands on Underdogs.....Downloading now, this will make for some nice nostalgic gaming this weekend.

What was your trick for getting the DL to start? Whenever I try, it attempts to go to the DNS name, not the IP. If I pasted the IP into the failed URL, it still didn't go.

[BYU 14]

What was your trick for getting the DL to start? Whenever I try, it attempts to go to the DNS name, not the IP. If I pasted the IP into the failed URL, it still didn't go.

I friggin got excited and posted too soon :(

Aparently they have not got all their server issues ironed out as the downloads are not accesible...dammit.

[moriarty]

SSI made a bunch of great games back in the day

Man, i spent a lot of hard earned allowance money on SSI games back in the day. Had to mail order them as I didn't have any stores that sold games nearby. They were loads of fun even if I never really did understand half of what was going on (simply because I could never read through the whole manual).

[Grammaticus]

I just wish they would release more strategy based games today. Everything is so arcadish now.

[moriarty]

Anybody remember 50 Mission Crush from SSI? Man, I used to love that game. I think you were like a B17 pilot, and it was an RPG/Wargame. I used to name all my gunners/navigators/etc... after my friends and it was a kick to get medals/promotions. But my favorite part was getting shot down. There was this dramatic pause and then you get a message like "a chute opens ..... Johnson has survived". And I would wait with baited beath to see which one of my friends survived and which didn't. Ahh, good times. I may have to look that one up on Underdogs.

[finketr]

While I missed out on the games of the 80s (except for SimCity on the Mac), I can attest to "simple is better". Just take a look at a game like Civ1 - that, I believe, is still better than 95% of all of the strategy games that have come out since then. Anyone here like SimCity better than its sequels? Same for Railroad Tycoon? Switching genres, how about the King's Quest series or any of the Lucasarts games? I'm sure there are FPS and sports titles along the same lines. Maybe there is a lesson in this.

For me, I actually enjoyed SimCity2000 better than the SimCity classic. Civ2 was certainly prettier than Civ1.. not sure which i prefer there but i think i played Civ2 far more than civ1 back in the day.

[Daimyo]

A lot of games peak in the second version. Maybe its a diminishing returns thing... there is still a lot of good stuff that can be added to the second revision, but then less and less for each subsequent version and ultimately not enough to make up for the added complexity.

Sim City 2000 > Sim City > Sim City 3000
Civ 2 > Civ 1 > Civ 3 (although Civ 4 is probably the best)

[BYU 14]

Anybody remember 50 Mission Crush from SSI? Man, I used to love that game. I think you were like a B17 pilot, and it was an RPG/Wargame. I used to name all my gunners/navigators/etc... after my friends and it was a kick to get medals/promotions. But my favorite part was getting shot down. There was this dramatic pause and then you get a message like "a chute opens ..... Johnson has survived". And I would wait with baited beath to see which one of my friends survived and which didn't. Ahh, good times. I may have to look that one up on Underdogs.


That was a cool game too.....It could get pretty intense as the Missions piled up.

[vyshka]

They should have put Ed Ringler's SportsTime Ice Hockey up there for the 80s. I think that was one of the first if not the first game to have the ability to do a career mode, with trades and drafting. I spent many hours playing that on the C-64. He came out with a basketball game as well around 1989.

I think in part because of the limitations imposed by the hardware of the times people by default had to focus on gameplay over eye candy. On top of that it cost quite a bit less to develop a game in those days, so more obscure titles could see the light of day that today would stand no chance of getting funded unless your name is Will Wright. Even if your name is Will Wright you will have to fight to get your game published (as was the case for him with the Sims). With the push for the latest and greatest graphics which require almost Hollywood level budgets for art departments publishers don't want
to risk money on anything that hasn't worked before. So many things end up being a rehash of another title.

Other great 80s - early 90s games that I loved:

1. Raid over Bungeling Bay - I believe Will Wright's original game.
2. Starflight - Has to be the greatest space exploration game ever.
3. Elite - Why hasn't anyone done a recent update of this?
4. 7 Cities of Gold - A game exploring the new world by Dan Bunten
5. M.U.L.E. - another great Dan Bunten title
6. X-Com - Why can't someone do this one right again.
7. F-19, Gunship, F-15 - Fun sims from Sid Meier/Microprose
8. Silent Service
9. Darklands - Very interesting rpg title from Microprose. Set in medieval
Europe. You control a band of adventurers trying to gain fame.
10. Civ - Lots of time wasted on this one. Civ IV is another great installment
in the series.
11. Modem Wars - Another Dan Bunten title. Kind of a sports/rts game. First game I can think of to include game films so you could watch a replay of a game.
12. Omega - design a combat robot, program its AI, and pit it against other robots.

The list could go on, but in general I think I enjoyed most games more back then than the titles that get published these days.

[vyshka]

Anybody remember 50 Mission Crush from SSI? Man, I used to love that game. I think you were like a B17 pilot, and it was an RPG/Wargame. I used to name all my gunners/navigators/etc... after my friends and it was a kick to get medals/promotions. But my favorite part was getting shot down. There was this dramatic pause and then you get a message like "a chute opens ..... Johnson has survived". And I would wait with baited beath to see which one of my friends survived and which didn't. Ahh, good times. I may have to look that one up on Underdogs.

I never played it, but I wonder now if that was based at all off the B-17 boardgame from Avalon Hill?

[vyshka]

Found Darklands on Underdogs.....Downloading now, this will make for some nice nostalgic gaming this weekend.

I guess I should have read all of the posts before posting. It seems I am not the only one to remember Darklands. :)

[dawgfan]

On the topic of "less is more", there's a good reason why "Geometry Wars" is such a hit on Xbox Live Arcade...