2014: Year of the Replay

[nekunando]

There's been a lot of discontent on here for a considerable amount of time regarding the amount of games available on Nintendo platforms, namely the 3DS and Wii U. For some, the wait between major releases appears to be painful, but there are others, like me, who haven't really felt that despair

 

Some of you will have been embracing the 'Next-Gen' with PS4 and XBOX One, whilst others may be filling up their free time with games they've previously missed out on for Wii, PS3 and XBOX 360. Several of you have been filling your time with relentless discussions and arguments that are driving most of us crazy

 

Having moved into my own place almost exactly a year ago, I've been thinking about just how quickly that time has gone, but also about what games I've been experiencing while I've been here. It appears that for the majority of this year and, for the last few months of 2013, I've mainly been playing through games from the past that I've already cleared before. It's been interesting for me to see how they all hold up now in 2014 and if my opinions have been altered, for better or worse

 

In the last 12 months, I've completed Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Yoshi's Story, Super Mario 3D Land, Resident Evil, Killer 7 and Streets of Rage. They've all been fun, not least a surpisingly joyous leap back into the world of 'scenarios' in ISS 64, and I found myself drawn towards the Wii Virtual Console to download a few other classics I already own in order to play through them with a clean slate. 1080 Snowboarding, Mario Kart 64, Wave Race 64 and Super Mario 64 have all been cleared in recent weeks, with the latter in particular proving just how much of a magical game it truly is. I genuinely thought my feelings of it would be tarnished by levels I didn't enjoy, but my preconceptions were discarded as I joyfully made my way through the potential displeasures of Hazy Maze Cave and Wet-Dry World. It was totally with hunting down all 120 Stars again and being sent back to my childhood with that credits music at the end : peace:

AWESOME

 

In addition, I spent a couple of weeks bitten by the original Wii Sports bug where I managed to resurrect some of my bowling skills that I assumed were long since dead A first 'Six-Pack' in dear knows how many years was the icing on that particular cake

 

That hasn't been the entirety of my nostalgia binge, though, with the glorious HD remake of The Wind Waker on Wii U completely blowing me away. If anything, it has been my best experience on the console to date and I enjoyed it so much more than I did originally on the Gamecube.. and I really liked it back then

 

MAGICAL

 

I was originally quite dismissive of all the HD remakes that became available during the most recent generation, but things like Ocarina of Time 3D and the crisper visuals of my N64 games on Wii Virtual Console have swayed me a little in embracing what they can provide. The most recent example is Splinter Cell, a game I remember loving on the Gamecube. A sale on the PlayStation store encouraged me to delve into the HD trilogy and I'm currently making my way through the first game again.

 

Unlike other HD updates I've played, Splinter Cell has probably been the first one that I feel is showing its age a little.. though I'm still enjoying my play through. I'm hoping it will lead me nicely into Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory, both of which I never made my way through before!

 

STILL GOT IT.. JUST!

 

Despite all the fun I have had, there's been one game that I didn't carry on with when I returned to it this year. I was reluctant to delve into it again in the first place as I felt my great memories of it may become tarnished.. but I went for it anyway. That game was.. Starfox Adventures I'm definitely not saying now that I think it's bad, but I did just get to a point around 30% in where I felt I just wasn't all that interested in going further. I may yet do before the year is out, though

 

Anyway, that's a considerable chunk of my gaming year so far laid bare for you all to evaluate and scrutinize, but has anyone else been playing through some older games recently that they've completed in the past? Was the old magic still burning or has the cold light of the modern day shone unkindly on your childhood memories..? : peace:

[Jonnas]

As someone who always had to handpick whatever few games he could buy, and look out to not spend too much, I agree with the sentiment of this post. People should replay games more often.

 

Whenever there are droughts, replay a game. Whenever you feel disappointed with a new game, replay a game. Whenever you feel disillusioned with the industry as a whole, replay a game.

 

Some of this is can also apply to unplayed games in your backlog, but I think going through the games that make you love gaming in the first place is the better cure for any gaming-related ails.

[Sheikah]

I actually have a steadily increasing and slightly horrendous backlog of games that I now have ready to play, such that I don't think I'll be replaying anything for a while.

 

It's funny, when I was younger I used to constantly play many of the same games; partly because of having less games and funds with which to buy more, partly because games used to take longer to complete, but an even greater part was due to local co op play with friends. Three or four player Smash, Goldeneye or Conker's Bad Fur Day were the go to games, back then.

[drahkon]

Every year I play Super Mario World at least once. On my Wii, Wii U or SNES.

 

 

Sometimes I finish it in 15 minutes (rushing through the levels and using secret exists, blasting through Star World), sometimes I finish the game with all 96 endings. : peace:

Super Mario World shares my number one spot for favourite game of alltime with Rayman Legends.

 

 

What I like to do, as well: Finish every previous Metal Gear Solid game whenever a new installment is on the horizon. I plan to do the same this year/next year, starting around Christmas.

1. Twin Snakes

2. Sons of Liberty

3. Snake Eater

4. Piece Walker

5. Guns of the Patriots

6. Ground Zeroes

 

 

And then there's Crash Bash.

 

 

In the past 5 years a mate and I have completed it once per year. Every time we increased the difficulty, which is not as easy as simply choosing hard since there is no such option. So, how do we do it?

Choose more and more shitty characters (Cortex and Crash are the worst...seriously, they suck in most of the games against larger characters) and play the game on PS3, which makes most of the mini games much faster for some reason.

It always turns into a rage inducing, but fun curse-fest

 

 

What I want to do this year: Finish Okami HD

[Hero-of-Time]

Owning multiple systems means i've usually always got something new to play. That being the case I don't get to go back to games often. Most of the time when I do replay an old game it's because it's been released on the VC.

 

Earlier this year I did play through a bunch of N64 games when there was nothing out on any of the consoles. More recently I did dabble with playing a few classics on the PS2. You can check the dedicated threads for my impressions, but needless to say I enjoyed replaying them all.

 

I guess my retro playing time really depends on the release day schedule of the newer consoles. From now until the start of the year is stupidly hectic, with a game practically coming out each week.

[Jimbob]

I always try and replay a few games each year regardless of newer games.

 

This year, i replayed Tomb Raider on the PS4. I had initially played it on the Xbox 360 in 2013, and it was fantastic. Most of my Virtual Console games on the WiiU (and 3DS) are games i've played before. I've played, and completed a few Gameboy games this year. Which include (but not limited to)

 

Super Mario Land

Super Mario Land II: Six Golden Coins

Wario Land

 

I've also been plodding through Super Mario World and Kirby (NES) on the WiiU VC as well.

 

I always enjoy replaying games, in some cases you can find stuff you may have missed out on. That's probably why my backlog is quite large, that and the fact i just didn't have spare time earlier in the year.