SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Games you appreciate more when revisited as an adult

Posted: Apr 17 2008 07:01 pm

I've been playing through Hexen recently. This game is fuckin' awesome. For any of you who know the puzzling and action packed good times of the Jedi Knight series, well, the same guys made this game.

The puzzles in Hexen are just a matter of mowing through a bunch of enemies, surviving a bunch of traps, and finding an obscure switch in some corner of the world, but it's damn fun. What's cool is the hub-based system that the game works on. You travel around between portals that warp you to sub-levels, where hitting a switch in one sub-level opens up a new path in another. It's not always a switch, either, sometimes you have to find a key to a door, or a piece of a puzzle, etc.

I had no idea how complex this game was as a kid, because I think I just no-clipped through any wall that gave me trouble, or used the level skip code. Fortunately that didn't really even ruin the game for me, because I missed the entire depth of the game by skipping over stuff. Replaying it now feels like playing it for the first time.

It's damn fun and I recommend it to anyone who likes smashing monsters in the face with a hammer while avoiding Indiana Jones-like traps and looking for switches and keys.

Share your own stories about re-playing a game with newfound appreciation!

Posted: Apr 17 2008 07:24 pm

Yoshi's Island. I hated it back in the day due to the highly dubious Super Mario World 2 label they stamped on it. It is NOT SMW2. It is a pretty good platformer though. I also used to hate the original Prince of Persia. Looking back at it now though, it was very well designed and it had amazingly fluid animation for the time.

Posted: Apr 17 2008 07:27 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

I also used to hate the original Prince of Persia. Looking back at it now though, it was very well designed and it had amazingly fluid animation for the time.

That's becasue it was one of the first games that the animator did rotoscoping on. He recorded a video of a real person running, jumping, and climbing, and then copied it frame by frame.

Joined: Oct 16 2007 Posts: 123

Nice to see someone else appreciates Hexen, I'm a big fan of the whole Heretic/Hexen saga, and I think Hexen is definitely the best game in the series. I loved how Korax would taunt you at the beginning of each hub, and while the fight with him was pretty easy in comparison to the Heresiarchs (those crazy mage motherfuckers who can go invincible for periods of time), the tension building up towards the final battle was awesome. Hexen 2 was fantastic as well, but I feel like the atmosphere wasn't as good or as unique as the one presented to you in the original Hexen. The Wraithverge is one of the coolest FPS weapons of all time, bar none.

Too bad Ravensoft has more or less stopped making these games, they were awesome. I'm still looking forward to the Hexen mod for Doom 3 though: http://edgeofchaos.planetdoom.gamespy.com/

Sorry for derailing the topic... I guess I have a newfound appreciation for the Ikari Warriors trilogy on the NES. After getting into KoF recently, the Ikari team quickly became my favorite, so I felt compelled to actually attempt to clear the first two games. They are still as horrible as I remember them to be, but the theme music for the first game rocks hard. Metal Slug 6 is like Ikari Warriors 4 if you choose Ralf and Clark as characters.

Posted: Apr 17 2008 07:49 pm

The NES Ikari games are unplayable. The arcade versions were slightly better.

Joined: Oct 16 2007 Posts: 123

Syd Lexia wrote:

The NES Ikari games are unplayable. The arcade versions were slightly better.

Yeah, I remember them in the arcade, with the rotating joystick. The third Ikari game I've only seen on the NES, and it's actually great fun: a top-down beat em up with absurd enemies and bosses. It's also the game where Heidern was first introduced.

Posted: Apr 17 2008 08:30 pm

not if you did the A B B A code when the game over screen showed up. it would just automatically revive you right then and there.

somehow we found that code by accident

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

I never really liked Super Metroid when I was little. Sick, I know. Though, I got it at a flea market with no instruction manual, the internet was just not there for walkthroughs, and I lost all my Nintendo Powers, so I had no supplemental help. My parents also didn't want me to get an NES when I was as young as i was then, so I couldn't get the first Metroid. Anyhow, I didn't enjoy the game when I was little, because I was so lost. I thought I was supposed to go somewhere specific, and that I'd been travelling to incorrect places. Now that I know that I was supposed wander around the whole time, I love it now.

Posted: Apr 17 2008 09:45 pm

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is one game I appreciated more as an adult.

I remember first playing it on someone else's SNES, and I hardly knew what to do. When I got it on the Virtual Console, however, I really enjoyed it a hell of a lot more and understood it better.

Posted: Apr 17 2008 10:11 pm

I'm appreciating the very first Bard's Tale (from 1985 or so) a lot more now that I'm playing through it again. It was one of the very first games I played (or remember playing), but my brothers already had a bunch of already-made characters that were really powerful and could overcome anything in the game. Our clue book was also already pretty filled out, so I never had trouble finding secrets and I never had to fish around for clues since I already knew all the answers.

This time, I got it on an emulator (the Amiga version this time although now I can't go back to the old Commodore 64 version), deleted all the characters on the disk, made my own, and started anew at the very bottom. I got maps and edited them in Photoshop, erasing all the marked locations and symbols and printed them out, so I could make my own notes as if I were playing for the very first time. I don't know if this totally counts, since I already appreciated Bard's Tale pretty well in my younger days, but overall I like how this little adventure feels, playing through something in a totally new way and pushing myself to explore every inch and get farther than I've gotten.

That's pretty much the story for all the games I've truly revisited. I might've grown up playing something with trainers or cheats, and then on a whim I decide "let's do this the right way", and it may or may not turn out well.

Posted: Apr 17 2008 10:14 pm

The original Metal Gear has to be one for me.

I don't think I ever got past more than 7 or 8 screens as a kid. I hated the game, and thought it was way too hard. Then after I got into the Metal Gear Solid series, I went back and played MG1, and realized how revolutionary it was for the time.

2010 SLF Tag Champ Joined: Jun 07 2006 Posts: 12294

I have the exact same thign to say as knyte, except that after ten years and then going back to paly it, I still can't get into it.

Posted: Apr 17 2008 10:21 pm

Looking at Knyte's XFire signature thingy reminded me: Command and Conquer Red Alert 1 is another one for me. When that first came out, I played it and I totally blew at it, because it was pretty much my first foray into real-time strategy. Now I'm using the lessons I've learned over the years and I'm much better at it. Not to mention I'm actually paying attention to the full-motion video sequences (pretty sure my old junky computer couldn't play the things properly) and overall having a lot more fun.

...Still kinda suck against the skirmish AI and I've never been too good at either campaign, though.

2010 SLF Tag Champ Joined: Jun 07 2006 Posts: 12294

I love red alert. I suck at more modern games of hte type though.

Posted: Apr 17 2008 10:41 pm

God, I loved Hexen...

Posted: Apr 17 2008 11:17 pm

Smurfsrdead wrote:

The Wraithverge is one of the coolest FPS weapons of all time, bar none.

Wouldn't it have been nice to be able to use the Quietus without mana?

JEW wrote:

I have the exact same thign to say as knyte, except that after ten years and then going back to paly it, I still can't get into it.

The thing is, it was revolutionary for its time, the problem is that with so much crazy revolutionary shit in the game, they had no space left on the cart for great controls, decent graphics, or even much explanation within the game as to what the hell it is you're supposed to do. This is why I'd love to see more sprite based games nowadays, on new consoles and PC. The games could have tons more characters on the screen at once, as much explanation and depth of gameplay as they wanted, and have tons of processing power left over to make nice effects and whatnot. They could even have co-op with online play. Think Bionic Commando: Re-armed, except with high resolution sprites.

On the opposite hand, one thing Hexen has rekindled in me is the love of single player adventures. I was thinking to myself for a moment while I was playing, saying, man, this would be neat with other people...wait a second, would it? If I saw someone else, I would probably tell them to get out of my way or I'd kill them, haha. I don't think I would want to waste my time with someone else's petty concerns; The game was about being alone with a world of evil bastards that want you dead.

Joined: Oct 16 2007 Posts: 123

Murdar Machene wrote:

Wouldn't it have been nice to be able to use the Quietus without mana?
...

On the opposite hand, one thing Hexen has rekindled in me is the love of single player adventures. I was thinking to myself for a moment while I was playing, saying, man, this would be neat with other people...wait a second, would it? If I saw someone else, I would probably tell them to get out of my way or I'd kill them, haha. I don't think I would want to waste my time with someone else's petty concerns; The game was about being alone with a world of evil bastards that want you dead.

The Fighter is actually my favorite class, it's so satisfying to see a bunch of the the 2-headed ettin guys explode in a bloody mess at close range with the Quietus. Funnily enough, the Paladin's 2nd weapon in Hexen 2 is the Quietus without mana.

You should definitely try Hexen's expansion pack "Deathkings of the Dark Citadel" if you can find it, you get to fight the Fighter, Mage, and Cleric all at the same time as the final battle. Heretic was really fantastic as well, and in many ways better than Doom; D'sparil is a way tougher boss than Korax, and the fight with him is pretty epic.

On another note, I managed to pick up a copy of Interplay's 10th Anniversary disc, which has a copy of the game "Wasteland" on it, the spiritual predecessor to the Fallout series. Although I barely remember playing it, it will be nice to rediscover it.

Posted: Apr 18 2008 01:23 am

Final Fantasy Tactics. I love that game, but when I first got at 14, I was too young to appreciate, but I when I played it four years later, it became one of my favorite games ever.

Posted: Apr 18 2008 03:15 am

Smurfsrdead wrote:

"Deathkings of the Dark Citadel"

I have every Doom engine .wad file ever created, including the amazingly gay Chex Quest!

I'm gonna play Deathkings as soon as I beat regular Hexen, for sure.

Posted: Apr 18 2008 03:53 am

Phantasy Star III, cause this game frickin' sucks in the beginning, but I finally managed to find another character.Take that wasted youth and rentals! Twisted Evil

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Yeah, I have to admit, I gave the Phantasy Star games a bum wrap for the longest time. It always bugged me that Sega always bragged about "blast processing" back in the day, but most of the Phantasy Star games look like they were made in QBasic over a weekend. Simple visuals, awesome stories and gameplay.

Posted: Apr 18 2008 01:49 pm

Murdar Machene wrote:

This is why I'd love to see more sprite based games nowadays, on new consoles and PC. The games could have tons more characters on the screen at once, as much explanation and depth of gameplay as they wanted, and have tons of processing power left over to make nice effects and whatnot. They could even have co-op with online play. Think Bionic Commando: Re-armed, except with high resolution sprites.

I've been saying this for years now. And while ports of the original games may be popular, personally, I would rather see more sequels that are true to the original style. I loved the idea of New Super Mario Bros., or even Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission. If they would start making games like that on the consoles or PC they could do some absolutely amazing things out of a generation of games that we all love.

Posted: Apr 18 2008 03:01 pm

Smurfsrdead wrote:

On another note, I managed to pick up a copy of Interplay's 10th Anniversary disc, which has a copy of the game "Wasteland" on it, the spiritual predecessor to the Fallout series. Although I barely remember playing it, it will be nice to rediscover it.

I have that collection! At least I did... it might have gotten thrown out. It came with my first CD-ROM drive for some reason. Wasteland and Dragon Wars are both pretty fantastic. The two CGA games on the collection, Mindshadow and Tass Times in Tone Town, are largely unplayable. The puzzles are too obtuse and the hideous four color palette composed of cyan, magenta, white, and black is unbearable.

Posted: Apr 18 2008 03:34 pm

Can you belive that was called "Color Graphics Array"?

I always wonders why the first colors chosen were light blue, yellow, and pink?

Posted: Apr 18 2008 03:39 pm

Technically speaking CGA was capable of 16 colors, but it was divided into 4 palettes of 4 colors.

And you have to remember that CGA was preceded by monochrome. It was certainly a step up from black and white. Or black and green, if you had an Apple.