| The_Liquid_Laser said: When it comes to RPG's, I agree with you 100%. Back in 1990, Final Fantasy 1 was in my top 3 NES games. Today, I still like the game, but it might be my #10 NES game (at best). One reason a game "ages" is when later games obviously surpass it. The SNES had much better RPG's in general (and so did the PS1). However, when it comes to Metroid I can't agree at all. I definitely think Metroid is a much better game that Super Metroid. Super Metroid is too easy. I can also find other people like myself, who prefer Metroid, but they all played Metroid back in the 80's. Super Metroid is preferred by people who never played the first Metroid when it was a current game. Not only is it easier with better graphics, but both games are so similar. Super Metroid really feels like a remake of original Metroid with better graphics and easier gameplay. It doesn't really feel like a sequel to me. Whichever game you play first, that is the one you will tend to prefer, because they are both pretty similar. If a person is too young to remember the NES, then they will probably prefer the SNES, because that was the last real 2D generation. 16-bit graphics are the best 2D graphics get with a few exceptions like Castlevania: SotN. People judge a book by it's cover. The graphics on NES games look dated, even though the gameplay is often phenomenal (at least on the best games). Aside: since you mentioned Ultima, I just want to say that I want to replay Ultima 4 again soon. It was also in my top 3 NES games back in 1990, but I haven't played it since. Hopefully it still holds up. I think it probably will, I don't think there is still another RPG quite like it. (Maybe Octopath Traveler comes the closest?) |
Thanks for your perspective here. I am firmly in the millennial age group and so my perspective probably is too biased towards the SNES. The vast majority of my friends in the 90's had the SNES/Genesis and very few had the NES and so I just never learned much about the NES growing up other than Super Mario Bros. I also wish that there were some more retrospectives online from the 8 bit era. For example, I would have loved to have known if the same rivalry existed between the NES and Master System that continues to burn up the internet today between the SNES and Genesis. It also would be cool to learn about what it was like to play games like Metroid for the first time, and what made them so incredible back in the day (was it the graphics, the game mechanics, etc?). It just feels like the 16 bit era is so well documented in history and so many people still talk about it today and I can read entire books on the subject. That said, the NES era is remembered as being awesome but nobody seems to have anything to say about it. I think it's great that you were a part that generation, I wish that I could have been there.
I honestly find that 8-bit games hold up really well once you get past the graphics and get into the gameplay. I really enjoyed the original Phantasy Star and frankly found that Master System game to have a more immersive gaming experience than what came later on the Genesis. The game basically simulated a 3D environment in dungeons by giving you discrete movement through corridors, kind of like an interactive video: in some ways it was more immersive than a 2D top-down view that we get on the 16-bit consoles. Right now I have a lineup of NES RPG's that I am planning to play on my N64 once I can get my hands on an Everdrive and I will definitely be picking up a Metroid cart to experience what you are talking about.
