LogFAQs > #964185632

pedro45 posted...

Do you feel most games of that era haven't held up?

Not really. I still play quite a few SNES games and often try out ones I've never played before. Although I'll occasionally find that a SNES game regarded as a classic doesn't hold up well, that's pretty rare. As for the Genesis, the graphics really aren't a problem; I think a lot of games from back then, no matter which console they were on, hold up well graphically. It just comes down to not finding most of the games enjoyable on an individual basis.

Admittedly, I haven't really checked out the Genesis' library of sports games -- I don't go back and revisit old sports games for any console very often -- but I'd be willing to try out NHL '94 one of these days and compare it to the SNES version. Also, I'm not a huge shmup fan, but I do dabble in them occasionally, so I intend to try out some of the ones for the Genesis at some point just to give them a fair shot. By all accounts, there are some really great ones (MUSHA, for example). But I don't feel like most of the acclaimed Genesis beat-em-ups, platformers, run-and-gun games, etc., that I've tried have aged well.

I think part of it is that a lot of the games I've tried focused on speed, being technically impressive, and having a lot of stuff onscreen (for example, Gunstar Heroes) or having some kind of cool gimmick (like Comix Zone). That's fine, but 1) those things aren't as impressive when you go back 20-30 years later and play the games, and 2) I felt like many of those games focused on those elements at the expense of actually being fun to play. Despite the Sonic games supposedly being all about speed according to the old Sega ads, I didn't feel like the games really emphasized it very much. Instead, I found that they were all about platforming and exploring levels, and those aspects of the games were fantastic. So they weren't just flash over substance. (I primarily played Sonic 2 because I got it with the Genesis I bought about a decade ago, but I did try out the first and third games a little later on and thought they were good as well.)

Also, I have to admit that I don't care for the Genesis sound chip. I can admit when a Genesis game has a good soundtrack despite that, and it doesn't make or break games for me, but it's still a factor. Maybe that also has something to do with why I like the Sonic games and the Streets of Rage series more than the other games I've tried, since all of those games have soundtracks that are somewhere between good and awesome.