People Explain Which Old Video Games Still Hold Up Today
Joey Kwok/Unsplash

Not long ago, I rented a vacation rental for my dad's birthday.

It was a really cool apartment downtown near restaurants, and the building even had a rooftop pool! Unfortunately for him, this is summer in Florida, which means we got slammed with a tropical storm and that rooftop pool was closed.

The arcade was open, though... and that's where the entire family proceeded to get our butts handed to us because, evidently, my father is the Galaga master.


Reddit user _Mr_Cheeks asked:

"What is an old video game that still holds up so well today?"

Honestly, had it not been pouring we may have skipped the arcade entirely. And had we not been with my father we would have picked something newer than Galaga.

But the game still slaps!

Here are the games Reddit still swears by.

Worms!

"Worms Armageddon. It looks nice enough and the fun is still there."

- the_amateon

"Our whole floor played this in the dorms 20+ years ago. We had our own network, but the lag times were so bad you could obliterate someone on your machine and then run to stand behind them in their room to get their real time reaction. One was always concerned when a crowd showed up behind you...."

- DocLof

"Many moons have passed since the worms went to war"

- thprk

"Yeah, this should be the top answer. This game is far superior to any of it's sequels, even the celebrated W.M.D"

- lurker12346

"When we got our second computer (which I still think of as the new computer) in 2000 it came with worms and my dad and I would spend hours playing it."

- cherry_armoir

A.O.E.2

Khan Ageofempires GIF by Age Of Empires CommunityGiphy

"Age of empires 2"

- kr4kenz

"The devs are still working on the game and have recently released new DLC with new campaigns and civilizations."

- NativeMasshole

"Honestly, I think AOE 2 is in the top 5 games of all time."

- superfast_jellyfish_

"That's because it is."

- PadishahEmperor

"One of those timeless classics that will just never die. 20year and counting, how many games are out there with a similar track record? Maybe a few MMOs, CS and crew."

- Executioneer

Chrono Trigger

trigger ktwfc GIFGiphy

"Chrono Trigger"

- WoodcockJohnson_

"One of the greatest games ever made"

- _Mr_Cheeks

"Was literally my gateway drug into RPGs. I still judge pretty much every game’s story against the standard Chrono Trigger set. It’s also the reason I’m always expecting karmic effects down the line for early game decisions (looking at you 'old man’s lunch' at the Millenial Fair)."

- Dr_Beardface_MD

"One of the best soundtracks in gaming, fantastic spritework, pioneered multiple endings in video games, ABSOLUTELY holds up."

- MeniteTom

Best Of The Tycoons

video game physics jet GIFGiphy

"Rollercoaster Tycoon"

- 123Fake_St

"For anyone who has an itch to play: open rct2 has resurrected this game and added some qol improvements"

- IAlwaysL0se

"I used to hire new park workers at the first of every month, then on the last day I'd drown them because then you didn't have to pay them..."

"I'm actually a union member today, not Jeff Bezos. Turns out violent video games aren't a precursor to our society's problems after all!"

- markmargles

"Made by a single person (Chris Sawyer) over the span of two years. Absolutely insane feat."

- Goodk4t_

Street Fighter II

street fighter vs GIFGiphy

"I swear Street fighter 2 still has relatively nice graphics. It came out in 1991"

- FantasticSweet5902

"It changed everything. Play any fighting game prior to Street Fighter II and it feels almost unplayable. Yie Ar Kung Fu, Karate Champ, hell Street Fighter 1 is so awful compared to it that no one remembers it."

"Street Fighter II is so well thought out and fully realized. It's hard to emphasize how amazing that game is given how ubiquitous it is now."

- Boon3hams

"Sprites tend to age much better than polygons!"

- ChunLi808

"I think most 16 and 32-bit games still hold up really well graphically. Just something about that spritework, particularly when done well, is timeless"

- Stuff2511

"I remember playing minigolf and seeing streetfighter II on an arcade across the way, it looked so cool compared to anything else at the time i had to play it."

- jeffryu

"haduken"

- SupremoZanne

Tetris

"Tetris"

- Amberskin

"True. They say playing Tetris after experiencing trauma decreases the likelihood of developing PTSD."

- overthinkingagainlol

"Tetris is my one example of a literally perfect video game."

- JoakimSpinglefarb

"This was my very first thought."

- NoodleDoodleGirl

"Ah, Tetris, the game that teaches us that success doesn’t last and mistakes pile up quickly"

- Micaiah9

"And now I have Tetris music in my head all night."

- nigelofthornton

"I still keep an OG GameBoy in my bathroom so i can play Tetris when I sh*t."

- Serenity650

"The game so addictive it has its own psychosomatic effect named after it."

"The Tetris effect: researchers had participants in a study play tetras for extended periods of time. Afterward the participants experienced weird psychosomatic effects where they could see the blocks spinning outside of the game in their thoughts and even their dreams for up to days."

- Whybotherr

Final Fantasy Tactics

"Final Fantasy Tactics. Amazing story, great music, fun battle mechanics. The only issue is the difficulty (once you understand the game or grind levels) becomes trivial... but with mods - boom bam."

- NateProject

"Yes, everytime I try to play a Japanese SRPG, I keep getting disappointed because its NOT FINAL FANTASY TACTICS, which is of course the pinnacle of the genre. Or maybe I'm just old and don't have as much fun as an old person."

- DryEyes4096

"No, FFT is absolutely the pinnacle of the genre and it's not even close. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together gets honorable mention though."

- TragicHero84

"God this game is such a masterpiece. I played War of the Lions as a kid and I loved this game. Recently I picked it back up, and this game is still great. Even better than I remembered as I really got sucked into the story and just love how vile the villains are in this game."

- Jalina2224

"My favorite game ever. The difficulty is no joke though if you don't use guides or have much patience to grind. I knew two people back in the day that gave up on the game because they got stuck on a battle but also couldn't back up and grind. Honestly the only reason I avoided this is because it almost happened to me at the Gafgarion fight, so I always maintained a save file where I could grind if necessary."

- Qurdlo

Mario 3

Super Mario Bros 3 Sun GIFGiphy

"Mario 3"

- Keksis_theBetrayed

"A kid brought Mario 3 into school the day it came out to show off, yes I’m that old. We were all in awe. Everybody had already seen gameplay footage from that movie the wizard, which was pretty rare at the time. I got it a short time later and it 100% lived up to all the hype. Still love playing it today on emulators."

- littlegreenb18

"I still play Mario 3. My original NES still works perfectly and is set-up in my living room. I remember the 'secrets' published in Nintendo Power magazine on how to get hidden 1-ups, an extra whistle, the coin ships, etc."

- SubAtomicSpaceCadet

"Came to say it. Now I'm gonna go play it."

- staggere

"The angry sun is one obstacle to deal with!"

- SupremoZanne

"My teen saw me playing Mario 3 and said, "What, did somebody take a modern game and make it look like the 90s?" This is why Nintendo is Japan's most profitable company - their creators have always focused on creative, engaging gameplay, and they've done it so well that 30-year-old games still feel contemporary."

- schlockabsorber

"When I was younger and still got emotional over stuff, I would always play Mario 3 when depressed or upset. It was just a soothing way to just turn off my brain for awhile."

- Ashitaka1013

Doom

"Doom"

-mike_markerson

"Most old games feel clunky. Doom 1 and 2 are still as smooth as butter."

- Matt463789

"Yes, the OG. I replayed classic Doom, as well as 2 and 3 recently. Then I replayed the original Wolfenstein."

- smoffatt34920

"this reply is way underrated. love classic doom game with its literally tens of thousands of fan-made maps."

- ritaremton

"I’m upset I had scroll down this far to see Doom."

- YuShtink

"Why is this so far down? 30 year old game, and I was playing it this morning"

- ogGarySe7en

"People complain about all the rereleases of Skyrim over the past decade. Meanwhile I've bought DOOM on Win 95, Win 98 (Collector's Edition), SNES, PlayStation, SEGA 32x, Jaguar, Xbox Live Arcade, GBA, Steam, Mobile, Switch... And I'm sure I'm still missing one or two. And I don't regret a single one, even if some of the older console ports are rough."

- LandauTST

Now for my personal little interjection here - Elder Scrolls:Oblivion.

It kind of crushes my soul to think of a 2006 game as "old school" so let's just focus on the reasons it's amazing, kay?

Oblivion gave us options on options on options. The programming was a masterpiece, so much so that even the glitches become glorious works of art.

And Sheogorath??? Perfection.

You know what the gamers of Reddit feel, and you know my vote - though my regular readers are probably tired of me ranting about Oblivion by now.

But what about you?

What classic game still gets you going?