Poll of the Day > Anyone else struggle with the classics?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm in my 30s now, but I grew up playing NES, SNES, etc. I still play modern games. I've beaten so many SNES games back when I was like 11 years old. I'm not a pro by any means, but I'm decent. I still hold my own in online competitive games.

So I've been trying to get my son into SNES games, and I have the SNES classic with about 60 games on it. He said that the games are too hard. So I decided to show him how it's done. Every game that I played, games that I beat as a child, completely wrecked me. I just don't understand how I've gotten worse at classic games. I'm obviously smarter now than I was when I was a kid. My reflexes may be slightly slower, but I'm still not slow, as I said, I can keep up on modern fps shooters and such. I just don't get it.
---

In my case I think I didn't remember how much of a grind a lot of older games were. A lot of them--especially platformers--required crazy timing with garbage mechanics and hit detection that could only be acquired through repetition. A tolerance which most people lose gradually with age. You look back and you only remember that you played it and that you won. You probably don't remember that you failed a hundred times or more. Modern games by comparison now follow some established rules and so are more intuitive. Old games just did whatever they wanted, logic be damned.
---

Eh. I pretty much struggle with playing most games out of my comfort zone. Could never get into the Mario, Mario Party, Mario Kart, Megaman, Sonic, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, Smash Brothers, Call of Duty, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Silent Hill, Halo, Mortal Kombat, Batman, Gears of War, Street Fighter, and most sports games like NBA, FIFA, NFL, etc.

I've enjoyed Elder Scrolls, Fallout, BioShock, Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Assassins Creed, Mass Effect, Metal Gear, Pokemon (primarily Leaf Green), Dragon Age, Witcher, Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Last of Us, and dungeons & dragons-themed games like Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights.

I don't really play any of "the classics" anymore, because I played them all as a kid. At this point I rarely go back more than a single generation to play older games (99% of what I play is either Xbox 360 or PS4, with an occasional Xbox original thrown in from time-to-time).

Though I've noticed that, for the few older games I have played as an adult, I was apparently better at them than I was as a kid, but they also felt more frustrating/less enjoyable in some ways than they were when I was a kid (usually as a result of poor controls).


---

I have trouble playing some games at the same points I had trouble when they originally came out. For example Donkey Kong country mine carts. When my kids were watching me play I had some thirty lives when I got to the mine cart. I told them it was a stage I had trouble with the most and sure enough I lost all my lives on that stage. I have beaten that game many times and there are some stages I know I will die a few times on but that stage is my worst in the game.
---

I eat platformers for breakfast still, it's one of the few genres I love to this date, so those never give me any issues. I mostly have challenges in games like Ninja Gaiden or TMNT, stuff that focuses on precise actions and getting away from enemies. Not necessarily beat 'em ups in general though, as River City Ransom has never given me too much issue.

I also suck at run n' guns like Contra, Gunstar Heroes, and Metal Slug. I can beat Gunstar Heroes on Normal, but Hard and above kicks my ass. I'm still a pro at Earthworm Jim and Vectorman though, so it's kind of random for me as to what causes issues and what doesn't.

Yes.
---

Most NES games are too hard for me, that was really true for me as a kid too though. A lot of them were kinda designed that way though
---

I never played classic Mega Man. I tried playing Legacy Collection recently and sucked at it.
---

Not really no.
---

depends on the game, but generally you have to play it for a while (hours or maybe a day or two) to regain the necessary amount of accuracy.
---

Some are harder than I remember, but most things I could beat at the time I can still beat now. And, in the of something like LttP, I've played it so consistently over the years that I never really lost a step.
---

I recently bought the Disney Afternoon Collection and started trying to play Chip N' Dale's Rescue Rangers, a game I could beat with my eyes shut when I was a teenager.

I couldn't even finish the first level without having to use a continue.

Depends on if it's a game I grew up with or not. If it's something like Super Mario Bros., Contra or Sonic the Hedgehog 2, I do just as well or even better than I did as a kid. However, if it's a game I didn't get to play until I was an adult like Batman: The Video Game or Target Earth, it usually takes a bit longer for me to get decent at it and I end up dying on the first level more than I would more modern games.