The Retro Gaming Thread

[Foggle]

I respect Wolf 3D, but I never actually feel like playing it. SMB 1 holds up a lot better for me because the controls are still perfect and the graphics are more pleasing. Wolfenstein's more like the original Metroid than SMB or LoZ to me; while it was certainly a mind-blowing release back in the day, I don't really get much enjoyment out of playing it now.

[Lord Dalek]

Wolf3D was the first FPS I ever played (Doom came a little later) so I feel a bit sentimental about it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Just think of how ahead of its time it was. In an age where corridor and military shooters are now king, this was the original. That it's still heavily aped today should prove its worth.

[Foggle]

Just think of how ahead of its time it was. In an age where corridor and military shooters are now king, this was the original. That it's still heavily aped today should prove its worth.

It's not a real military corridor shooter unless you have AI teammates to kick doors open for you.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Just think of how ahead of its time it was. In an age where corridor and military shooters are now king, this was the original. That it's still heavily aped today should prove its worth.

It's not a real military corridor shooter unless you have AI teammates to kick doors open for you.

I want to search the halls for hidden rooms! Stop rushing me!

I don't really like the game dictating my pace for me like that.

[Foggle]

Seriously. AI teammates just should not exist in shooters unless it's like that one level in Max Payne 2 where they only accompany you for about two minutes and serve primarily as comic relief.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The worst example of horrible AI teammates as to go to every Halo game after Combat Evolved and Resident Evil 5, in which they actively make the game HARDER for you due to them being completely incompetent. In the Halo sequels (and prequel), they can run over you when they get into vehicles, and this is happened to me at least a few times in each Halo game since the 2nd one. Even at other times they can get in my way when I'm trying to aim, and at some points I've even died because I've taken splash damage from the morons among them who are allowed to carry rocket launchers, and happen to shoot an enemy that's right next to me.

In Resident Evil 5, you have Sheva...I shouldn't need to say anymore than that.

[Foggle]

Left 4 Dead's bots are also pretty awful. You're already dead if you get caught by a Smoker or Jockey in single-player.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That's only for the first game (a big part of why I didn't like it). I played quite a bit of L4D2, and they were MUCH more helpful in that game. They weren't perfect by any stretch, but I could recall several times in which I was caught by a smoker, jockey, or hunter, and they got me out of my bind almost instantly. Hell, sometimes I felt like they responded faster than a human teammate possibly could, with insane precision at that. I even recall being save from a witch by them on a couple of occasions. Sure, there are times when the AI craps out and they don't help you (usually when you have another teammate down as well, or in the worst case when only one AI partner is left standing and the other 2 are down), but from what I played, those seemed to be the exception rather than the rule.

[Foggle]

When did you play it? I haven't really played SP since L4D 2 first came out, but at that time the AI literally never saved me from jockeys or smokers (I'd say it was actually worse than in the first game, even). It's certainly possible that Valve have patched it since release, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Then clearly we had very different experiences, because I played the PC version on the year it was released (it was on my friend's laptop). I played the game quite a bit since our dorm rooms were on the same floor and we hung out all the time, and I can honestly say that in my experience my AI partners saved me from smokers, jockeys, and hunters all the time, and when they didn't do that they were at least helpful with crowd control. I definitely don't see how it was worse than the first game where they neglected to do all of those things and would rarely ever even revive you when you were down.

[Foggle]

the year it was released

I'm talking release week, not release year. It's probably been patched since then.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The AI has been improved in patches for L4D2. They're still not as good as they could be (you will never beat expert with them), but they actually do save you from everything now.

The worst example of horrible AI teammates as to go to every Halo game after Combat Evolved and Resident Evil 5, in which they actively make the game HARDER for you due to them being completely incompetent. In the Halo sequels (and prequel), they can run over you when they get into vehicles, and this is happened to me at least a few times in each Halo game since the 2nd one. Even at other times they can get in my way when I'm trying to aim, and at some points I've even died because I've taken splash damage from the morons among them who are allowed to carry rocket launchers, and happen to shoot an enemy that's right next to me.

My favorite was in Reach I was aiming the rocket launcher like so much Riggs on Mr. Joshua when right as I pulled the trigger an ally drove by on the Warthog blowing the thing back into a nearby tree and then landing on me. Splash damage AND crushed.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

My favorite moment like that was in Halo 3 on Legendary in which I worked my ass off to take out 3 Wraiths on foot with a combination of a rocket launcher, a fuel rod cannon, and grenades of various types, and worked my ass off to do so since my teammates certainly weren't doing shit. I managed to take them all out and paused on the ground in a moment of glory....only to randomly be run over by a Warthog before I had a chance to reach the next checkpoint and thus was forced to repeat the entire section all over again.

Needless to say, I killed all of my team members as soon as I restarted from the last checkpoint and destroyed my Warthog. I then successfully completed the section again without any such incidents reoccurring. I learned an important lesson on how to play Halo, that day.

[gunswordfist]

Phantasy Star II (great plot but a bit clunky)
Phantasy Star IV (THE GREATEST 16-BIT RPG OF ALL TIME FUCKYOUSQUARE)
Vectorman 2 (More of the same if you like Vectorman, a real if ain't broke don't fix it sequel)
Wonder Boy in Monster World (pretty good action rpg)
Revenge of Shinobi (HOLY CRAP ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?)
Beyond Oasis (really good action rpg)
Dynamite Headdy (its Treasure)

Amen