The Joys of Retro Gaming

I remember getting a Christmas present many years back. It was a NES.  It came with Super Mario Bros. 2. I had absolutely no idea what it was, but that box seemed damn interesting (I was about 5). Little did I know that owning that console would completely change my life.

For the next couple of years I played the NES extensively. I owned only a few games. Much of my time was spent on a rather nifty game called Bucky O’Hare, which by all accounts is worth a pretty penny nowadays. Not that I would ever sell it of course. I have some pretty decent memories of playing all of those games. If I close my eyes I can still imagine that CRT set up in my parent’s room. I can still imagine going to my grandparents and needing to leave that game paused because of the lack of a save ability. It was great. Games were short, but they were built to last.

I think the true joy of retro gaming is being able to relive your childhood. I don’t really get those ‘memories’ from the most recent games (bar World of Warcraft). Sure; I complete games, but I do not play them extensively nowadays. They just get…forgotten about. Games nowadays are mainly designed to be ditched after you have played through them once. Not older games though. The game industry was not all large back then. Most publishers were happy if you purchased just a couple of games from them. They made their money.

Nowadays they want to thrust constant games in your face (I was actually surprised to see that a new Assassin’s Creed has been released, less than a year after the previous one). They also want you to download as much DLC as possible. Games nowadays are incomplete. That Bucky O’Hare NES game wasn’t. It was one of the most complete games I have ever played. I still return to it to this very day, same with Ocarina of Time, same with Goldeneye. I am never going to return to most of the games I play nowadays. They do not grab my attention enough.

If you did not live through the days of retro gaming (PS1 and before), then I seriously do suggest that you get hold of a couple of games and just…play them. Experience them. Get a feel for the roots of gaming. I am sure that they may look terrible in your eyes (still boast a better frame rate than the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 though, solid 60FPS), but…just play them. I can guarantee that you will have a lot of fun. You will also most likely get addicted to collecting retro games, just like I am. Play those games though and I swear you will barely ever want to touch a modern console again. The games were simplistic, but they have been designed to last years and years. It is well over 20 years since I got that NES. I still play it every single day.