Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, poor Taylor Swift getting bashed for her singing skills, Ellen’s debut on American Idol, or robbing arcades with coffee mugs, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
“They don’t make ’em like they used to,” is a pretty common phrase. In gaming, that usually doesn’t apply. Better technology and smarter development almost always make current games superior to their predecessors. There are exceptions to the rule…though sometimes it’s simply a matter of taste.
To me, Super Mario Kart for SNES is the best game in the series. While I’ve enjoyed several of its sequels, none of them come close to the original, in my opinion. I will defend the game’s clever design and simple controls all day when someone tells me that the sequels had more complex tracks and more intricate controls. To me, Super Mario Kart was the most fun.
That said, I have to admit that nostalgia might have something to do with it too. I had a blast playing the game with my brother for hours and hours. Perhaps I’m fooling myself, but I believe that’s a minor part of it. I honestly believe that as technology improved and game design became more complex, the Mario Kart series became less fun.
Are there any games that make you feel the same way? Is there a series that became worse over time instead of better, in your opinion? Am I nuts about thinking Super Mario Kart is the best in the series? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!
Bionic Commando
Sonic games
Mario mart 64 for me but I never played the snes version
The legend of zelda: a link to the past.
@Rpad I think that Mario Kart 64 was the best of the series. It took it to a new level when you were able to play 4 at the same time.
I agree with tokz, I liked Mario kart 64 better than te snes version.
On topic though, I think that mega man 2 was the best in the series. None of the other games got me as hooked as that one. And it also has some of the best opening scenes ever made. I love the music playing while the screen makes it's way up the building to fon mega man standing on top with his helmet off. Made you feel like a badass before you even started playing.
Resistance>>Resistance 2
GTA San Adreas>>>GTA4
Bioshock>Bioshock 2
Gears of War>>Gears of War 2
COD4>>COD MW2
Resident Evil 4>>>>>>>>>>>>RE5
Since I read that Dead Space 2 will be more action and less survivor horror
Dead Space>>>>Dead Space 2
@RROD
gears 2 was better than the first. Singleplayer wise anyway. Never cared for MP either way.
Is bioshock 2 no good? I'm curious. Might get it.
Nostalgia is to gamers what beer goggles are to a fugly chick… it makes things look better than they actually are. Nostalgia is what make people my age embarrassingly defend FFVII as being the best FF game ever even to this day. It makes people incorrectly think that Ocarina of Time is the best game of all time and that Resident Evil 2 was the best in the series.
Don't get me wrong; those are all valid opinion, but the fact of the matter aside from the subjectiveness of opinions is that we all experienced these games that were great at the time and the memory of the greatness has deluded us into thinking that they were better than the great games out now.
As an experiment, get a young gamer today to play all the cool, modern games. Have him/her play Twilight Princess before Ocarina of Time. Have them play FF12 before FF7 and RE4 before RE2. Then question them about their experience and you will see that probably 9 times out of 10, the kid will enjoy the latest version over the older version. This is true for Star Wars as well. The people our age like the first three movies (Episode 4, 5 and 6), but hate the last three movies (Episodes 1, 2, and 3). Yet, when you ask the younger generation of Star Wars fans, it is exactly the opposite. The same thing with games, music, and books; The younger generation has its own tastes in media consumption up to a point when they get older and "stick to what they know as the best" while the next generation begins to enjoy the new things coming out until the cycle is repeated.
Yes, there are aberrations and exceptions to this rule of thumb, but generally speaking, older games SEEM better to us because we were kids when we experienced them and most of the time, the memory of the game is better than the actual game itself because of whatever emotional attachment we had back in the days of yore.
-M
@Smartguy
I haven't played Bioshock 2 yet but all of the reviews say that it's a step back from the original. I still want to play it though, it's just not a day 1 purchase for me. I'll get around to it eventually.
^^The multi player fanatics disagree.
@RRoD: Never trust a group of people who communicate only in the derogatory.
I'm playing Dante's Inferno now. I'm guessing that Dante's Purgatory and Dante's Paradise won't have quite the same charm if EA decides to sequelize the the hell out of this using the rest of the Divine Comedy as a guide…..
Can someone spoilar Lost for me so that I don't have to watch it?
@Nightshade
Good point. I've never played Gears 2 but if the majority is saying that the multi player is severely broken then there must be some truth to it. No one complained about the Gears 1 multi player which I have played and can attest that it was not broken.
@Raymond Padilla
I've never seen one episode of Lost but if you need the scoop on Desperate Housewives them I'm your man.
@rpad
It was a kate-centric episode, so how do you think that went?
@Ray
Kate does dumb shit as usual. The guys at the temple tortured Sayid and tried to get Jack to give Sayid cyanide because they think he is a host or placeholder for something. Claire saves Jin at the end of the episode. Sawyer cries about Juliette more and returns to the barracks…Kate follows.
NOt a good episode.
I think Battlefield is the best online shooter. Best balance there is.
@Nightshade
They weren't complaining about changes they were complaining about game breaking bug, glitches, lag, long waits to find a game, matchmaking problems, and host advantages.
@Smartguy
Which one?
@smartguy theory on claire?
Admittedly it's been a long time since I've played either Gears, but I don't recall most of those issues. I do remember that the lag was generally a host issue though, not the game itself. Get a host with a bad connection and the entire game suffers for it. It's like that in most online games though.
@RROD
Take your pick really…but I'll stick with the console versions since there is less cheating. 1943 and Bad Company. Those are great.
@redtailman
I think she was chosen by the black smoke and rejected.
I came across this story about the next spiderman movie.
http://wonderwall.msn.com/movies/next-spider-man-…
I'm really thinking i won't watch this in theaters now.
@Smartguy That was an excellent recap. Thanks!
@Ray
Anytime.
@ Theory on Claire
Last we saw her was in the cabin with Christian. Now, we don't know who Christian was but my logic leads me to believe he was the smoke monster and not Jacob. Now, even if Christian was Jacob, the cabin was breached (hole in the ring around it) and I think Claire got taken then.
Regardless, we'll find out more about it soon. Probably the next episode.
It also got me thinking back to Claire's one dream about Locke making the cradle and his eyes were all blacked out.
@Smartguy
Also, the Xbox shooter kiddies don’t buy Gears for the 6 hour single player campaign.
Gears 2 was much better than Gears 1. Horde mode FTW!!
@RRoD: Honestly, Horde Mode is a lot more fun for me than deathmatch, capture the flag, or any other forms of online multiplayer. But I felt like Gears 2’s multiplayer was better than the original. For one I thought there were better maps and the improved controls of the second game over the first made the game just feel better in all modes.
The thing about online multiplayer gamers is that they seem to fall into the CoD camp, Gears camp or Halo camp. And any change tends to piss those hardcore gamers off, especially if it’s an improvement that makes the game more accessible. Once the hallowed ground is opened up to more “n00bs,” it’s like the end times for these guys and every improvement becomes a detraction. In short, they are loud, but they are in the minority.
Hmmm nostalgia does kick in when thinking back at older games. I still have Mario Kart for the SNES lol.
Hell that's probably why I'm a Castlevania lover. For the most part the franchise has stuck to it's 2d roots with the exceptions of the 2 that came out for the ps2 and the new one coming for ps3. But I do appreciate better graphics for it b/c the NES Castlevania games sometimes are atrocious to look at lol.
@N8R
There was a ring of ash around the cabin? I don't remember that being said. Good catch. However how was the thing moving around the island before they went to the cabin?
@Cami
SB44 woot. :)
@Smartguy :P
@n8r & smartguy
It wasn't said but it was shown in the incident part 1 or part 2
when ilana is looking for Jacob and goes to the cabin. They look at the ground and see the circle of ash is broken.
@RROD – I've only just begun Bioshock 2 but I've got to say I'm impressed so far. It will never have the wow factor I had the first time around but 2k has done amazing things
@ Smartguy
It wasn’t said, it was shown:
http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ash_circles
Tool around that site for a minute when you have time.