Retro Gaming

[Cz]

What do you consider to be retro? Certain games magazines refer to anything of the previous generation as retro, some even going as far as to include the Dreamcast. I find this very difficult to comprehend. The idea that Crazy Taxi or Soul Calibur can be considered retro is strange to me. Even the earliest PSOne games don't strike me as being particularly retro.

My very first console was a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, although I played on the SNES just as much, due to my neighbour owning one. Anyway, I only used these consoles during the last year or so of their lifespan. As a result, I consider anything of that generation or before to be retro. Perhaps the dramatic shift from 2D to 3D as the norm exaggerates this feeling, or maybe it's just my personal opinion.

Anyway, enough rambling. Which consoles do you think of as retro?

[Xander]

I think of the Sega Megadrive/Genesis as kinda retro, but mostly stuff like Amiga and C64 as really retro.

I wouldn't call Dreamcast retro though....retro should be about limited pixels, clinky music, and games on cassette tapes in my opinion But I guess it means different things to different people, and could be anything that isn't in the current generation of consoles.

[ZeZipster]

To me, Retro games are games I can talk about with my dad. Galaga, Pac-man, pong...

[Rainecloud]

Anything pre-N64 is retro in my eyes. The gaming industry has come along so much in these last few years, and this progress makes consoles like the Nintendo 64, the Genesis/Megadrive and the Super Nintendo look quite ancient and obsolete. If I play anything 2D, I consider it to be retro. I've always been a huge fan of the 2D platformer, and I still believe that the old fashioned, side-scrolling platform game beats the 3D game hands down. Sure, you can collect hundreds of red coins, hundreds of stars and thousands of yellow coins in Super Mario 64 - but do you really want to?! Nothing beats 2D platformers for sheer fun and simple pleasure, in my opinion.

2D games are not popular these days, though. Although the Game Boy Advance hand-held is churning out plenty of platform remakes, there aren't many (if any) original platform games on the shelves at the moment. Take a look at the Gamecube, PS2 and X-Box - do you see any 2D platform games for those consoles? I can only see one for the PS2: Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. It's an excellent game, and it sold really well. Why can't Sony (and friends) make more games like this? I guess it's because they look old fashioned, but I'm not quite sure. People expect to have 3D games all the time in this day and age, and 2D games are unacceptable in the eyes of many. They are viewed as being retro, old fashioned, pointless and boring, which is a great shame. Some of my best gaming moments have been on platform games with Mario, Sonic and friends, and I'm sad to see those days pass me by.

Anyway, I've waffled on long enough. Quick summary = they should make more 2D platformers.

[Agent Proto]

Let's see... Retro-Gaming would be anything NES and before.

Now that's what I call Retro-Gaming. It's old-school gaming, with the with Atari's with Pitfall, Burger Time, and Pong. That's Retro-Gaming at it's best.

[metCloud]

8-Bit and below are Retro to me. Also anything I played in the Arcade when I was little.

[Outsider]

Games thart are 15 years old, or more.

[Del Murder]

8 bit.

[Mr. Graves]

Anything before the NES, during the NES, and anything shortly thereafter. (As in, the early 16-bit games.)

[Shoeberto]

SNES and earlier, just because I grew up more with the SNES than anything else.

[Strider]

Circa 1990. And everything before.

[Mattokenzi]

Double Dragon, is my fav retro game

[Cz]

For those who don't consider SNES retro, might I ask what you first console was? It seems to me that you see anything previous to your first console as retro, and I was wondering if this was the case with all of you, too.

And yes, they should make more 2D games.

[Outsider]

I don't consider SNES really retro, and my first console was the old Atari 2600, back in 1985.

[metCloud]

For those who don't consider SNES retro, might I ask what you first console was? It seems to me that you see anything previous to your first console as retro, and I was wondering if this was the case with all of you, too.

And yes, they should make more 2D games.

My first console was a NES. Its all about your age group and what you grew up with. Im 19 (well almost) so you could expect me to say NES, but someone ...13 might go along with SNES.