One of my favorite past times growing up, as I’m sure is the same with many of you, was video games. Sure they were a way for us to immerse ourselves completely in another world, but it was much easier back then. We were younger and had more vividly playful imaginations. We could get lost in our own world for hours on end and never even realize where the time went. So, it’s no wonder we loved some of the games we loved. They took us to those magical worlds. Our places to get away. Most have even held up over time, some even getting rereleases (Ducktales is a great example). However, how many of these “gems” from our childhood are just outright “FAIL” material now? Let’s take a look at 5:
1: Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego
This was one of my all time favorite games as a child. I sunk hours into this one, learning actual history as I went! Now, trying to play it was an absolute chore. I thought I would still love going through it all just like I did as a child. I knew the answers then too, it just seemed so much more exciting! Now, it was a bore and a chore. Also, we’re not even sure how accurate some of our history really even was. So it’s more like “Where in our Generalized Idea of Historical Events that May or May Not Have Happened is Carmen Sandiego”
2. Duck Hunt
Ok, I know I am going to get slaughtered for this. It was great as a kid. No doubt. It falls flat now. The ducks have pretty distinctive patterns, especially in the earlier levels. It is entirely tame and predictable. It’s not even that shooters have come so far. I would still play both Hogans Alley and Wild Gunman for hours. I would even rather play Gotcha. Yeah. I know this for a fact. Duck Hunt though simply falls apart now. It’s repetitive even by NES standards. Maybe it’s just because we never got to shoot that damn dog.
3. Final Fantasy
I know, I know. At least half of you hate me now, if not more. Don’t get me wrong, Final Fantasy is still to this day my favorite RPG franchise of all time. However, the first Final Fantasy just simply didn’t hold up to the early RPG’s available. I now find games like Dragon Warrior on the NES and Phantasy Star of the Sega Master System to be much more engaging RPG’s. I spent quite a bit of time on all three and can honestly say now that Final Fantasy was my least favorite. Of course, and FF III (or VI) is my favorite game hands down, but the first one just doesn’t do much for me these days.
4. Altered Beast
Man, this game was amazingly awesome when I was a kid. You were God-Like and could turn into animals and really mess up your enemies! There were even “cutscenes”! We couldn’t wait to go through each level and be the predatory beasts, ripping the enemies to shreds! Eat your heart out, Beastmaster…I AM THE BEAST! However, the gimmick was just that. A gimmick. There wasn’t much substance to the game as a grown up. Nowadays, give me Golden Axe please!
5. Baseball Stars
This was THE baseball game when I was a kid. Everything else was a mockery. You got to build your team or choose from the already existing themed teams. You could be monsters or badass ladies or a team full of ALL the Legends. You started your seasons and played them out, very much like a real baseball season. You earned money to improve your team. They managed to blend RPG elements into a baseball game. As you got older though, you realized how rigged it truly was. Dump everything into one category (Prestige) then you become OP so fast it’s not even fun. The gameplay is highly RNG based and the more OP you get, the more ridiculous it gets. You can end up with some ugly games that should never happen.
So how about yourselves? Anything you recall from your childhood that was just the best ever, and when you came back and played it later in life you were beyond disappointed? I tried to avoid most sports games that evolve over the years dramatically (Tecmo, RBI, etc) and stick with stuff that was genuinely fun and popular when I was young. I’d love to hear what any of you may think.
Featured Photo Credit: (Copyright: tul / 123RF Stock Photo
