I agree. I think that from every era there will be some games that hold up over time well, while most will not. Maybe it is less that some modern games are designed poorly and mjroe that some older games were dsigned extremely well. 

Go southeast through the swamps. If I remember. Should be marked on your world map.

Yeah, playing old games really lets me appreciate the little things that have helped games evolve. Even down to simple interface design. Look at game dynamics in platform adventure titles like Tomb Raider to Prince of Persia to Uncharted.

Thanks :)

also think of the change of game design that those games heralded. No lives but save/check points. there may have vbeen others to do it first, I am just trying to say that the very idea that you do not have a set number of tries before your progress is gone is huge. Imagine playing tomb Raider and you only have three lives to get through the game.

I'm not in a thoughtful enough state to give a really interesting answer, so I'll just mention that this thread reminds me that I need to finish LttP and download LoZ sometime.

I'm up to Ganon's dungeon in LttP and I have the silver arrows I need to pwn him, it's just that there's one item I'm missing and a cave that I can't figure out how to get into. Since I've done everything else so far without any guide, that cave and my empty inventory slot is burning a hole in my soul that makes me not want to finish the game until I figure it out.

I need to just swallow my OCD, move on, kill Ganon and save the world already. Oh, and tease Khuutra for using maps. I remember bombing every wall and burning every bush in search of secrets in that game. I had so much free time back then.

If you'e missing anything it's probably either the Cane of Byrna or the Magic Cape. Or the Cane of Somaria I guess?

And hey! The first time I played tthat game I made my map. I missed out on a few hearts, but that playthrough was all me!

Ditto my LttP playthroughs. No need to even make a map in that one, much less reference one.

Nope, I've got all those. The item I'm missing is in the center of the inventory, right between the Icerod and Ether magic. No big deal. I feel pretty good about everything else I tracked down and I obviously don't really need it.

And a home made crutch is still a crutch. Also, you're easy to tease.

I'm gonna beat OB64 with either really high or really low chaos frame just for you.

Bombos Medallion? Quake Medallion? Hrm

If things go as they should, things should improve over time.  Things that weren't as good should be improved with the new versions.  In regards to retro, I will say that as the industry got bigger, you run into cases where newer genres get overdone, and other genres get forgotten.  When this happens, you end up playing older games and realizing how much you miss the play mechanics.  It would be great to see updated versions of classics, like a good sequel to Actraiser, for example.