What games give you the most nostalgia?

One game that comes to mind for me is Okami. I didn’t know much about it at the time, and heard about it from a friend. Decided to pick it up from a local GameStop and I remember being mesmerized right from the start. Everything about it was unique; the aesthetic, the Japanese folklore, playing as a Wolf, using a brush. I haven’t played the game since beating it back then, but over the years its developed a bit of nostalgia for me.

Another game that comes to mind is Metal Gear Revengeance. Feels like this game was part of an era of gaming that doesn’t exist anymore lol. We got a spinoff to Metal Gear Solid 4, and a weird one at that, but it worked. It’s kind of a cult classic these days. It was also a Platinum game, and at that time, Platinum came out with a bunch of unique titles. Thinking about it brings that nostalgia!

Last game to top off the list is Left 4 Dead. It never came to PlayStation consoles, so when I got an Xbox 360, that was one of the games I decided to get. It was cool, and it reminds me of when Xbox was considered the shooter console. I also remember having to get Xbox Live which was lame. But despite all this, it was a nostalgic time for sure.

I could go on, but those are the few that come to mind. How about you, SW? What games give you the most nostalgia?

For some reason Star Tropics always comes to mind first for me.

Twisted Metal and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater are big ones for me. Lots of memories playing those with friends at sleepovers.

I play a 💩 ton of retro games, nostalgia is a hell of a drug best used on their original hardware (for the true experience) it's probably why I dislike remasters and remakes on current gen consoles.

I was playing Royal Rumble on the Sega Mega Drive last night, and the old trick I used to use on my brothers/friends back in the day still works on my kids.

I ask people which is the run button and when they show me as they ran towards my character and I would then proceed to hip toss them over the top rope and they would lose, such a nostalgic moment that still works. I love it.

The game that gives me the most nostalgia is probably Streets of Rage 2, I have finished that game hundreds of times and still brings a smile to my face everyone I play it, damn I'm smiling just talking about it 😁

Probably gw1. Just hearing that level up sound puts me straight back in 07 when i tried the game😭

Modern games that know how to take their inspiration for older games. Thimbleweed Park for instance did such a great job feeling lile an official LucasArts point-n-click adventure game. Or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge feeling just like a classic arcade/SNES era TNMT game.

Quite a few from the NES, SNES, and arcade during those eras. Some of those are:

NES:

- Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3

- The Legend of Zelda

- Castlevania 1, 2, 3

- Contra, Super C

- Final Fantasy

- Dragon Warrior

- Ninja Gaiden 1, 2, 3

- StarTropics

- Mega Man 2

SNES:

- Super Mario World

- Contra III: The Alien Wars

- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

- Mega Man X

- Super Castlevania IV

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time

- Chrono Trigger

- Final Fantasy II and III

- Super Metroid

- Earthbound

- Sparkster

- Legend of the Mystical Ninja

- Donkey Kong Country

Arcade:

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

- Street Fighter 2

- Final Fight

- Lethal Enforcers

lol I still keep a tube tv for maximum nostalgia but honestly I haven’t used it in a long time

@SolidGame_basic: My CRT shat itself a year or so ago. I'm currently on the lookout for another one. Can't play gun games on modern TV's 🤦‍♂️

@Archangel3371: Rocket Knight Adventures is better than Sparkster.

Did you play Rocket Knight?

@last_lap: Yeah I played Rocket Knight. Liked Sparkster much more.

I wouldn't call it nostalgia, but I am instantly transported to the early 90's when I hear this. I can almost smell the video store I rented it from.

Shenmue just always get that nostalgia when playing that game.

Mainly games from the GameCube, like Mario Sunshine. That's probably the main one.

Also other games from that generation of consoles, like Halo CE.

Haven't seen you in a while. Mario Sunshine is an interesting pick though.

When it comes to nostalgia Master System/GG games hit the hardest.

Halo 2, Super Castlevania IV,Battle Arena Toshinden, Jumping Flash, Pandemonium, Zelda lttp, Gran Turismo 3, Guilty Gear X among many many others

@Archangel3371: Each to their own.

Max Payne. one of the best game ever made. I was kid and blown away. complete package with gameplay still age well and story was dark.

@last_lap: Yep.

Played a lot of games during my childhood, so there's too many to list. But NES games mostly.

Goldeneye 64. The splitscreen multiplayer brings back good memories.

I'm a big 'Retro Gamer', I'd love an old CRT to play them on real hardware. Sadly, I don't have the room. I've contemplated getting a RetroTink 5x device but can't bring myself to get one.

Instead it's emulation all the way. Retroarch and various TV shaders to try to best mimic a CRT. I'm currently using a shader package called 'Mega Bezel', which seems pretty authentic.

I say 'authentic', but to be perfectly honest, I've not seen or used a real tube TV since 2005, so I'm still not entirely sure what they are supposed to look like! 😂

Can't emulate the same experience as using the original machine, controller and tv though. In saying that I haven't played on a crt tv for over a year because my one shat itself, and i'm currently looking for another one, so I bought a small led tv in the meantime, and it just isn't the same.

But nice to see other retro gamers still about.

Explains a lot lol.

Streets of Rage 4 is a newer game that gives me a lot of nostalgia. TMNT Shredders Revenge is another. Zelda A Link Between Worlds also made me feel like a kid again.

Not sure if that's some sort of dig, but it explains my love for old school Nintendo I guess. Big fan of old school Sega too, but never owned a Sega console sadly. A friend of mine had a Mega Drive which we played a lot, but I definitely missed a lot of good shit by not having one of my own. Been checking SEGA stuff out now that I'm older.

I don't have much interest for stuff that's older than NES, and never been a fan of PS. PS1 games always felt like playing worse PC games to me, probably because I was playing on PC during that time with better 3D graphics than PS1, coupled with PS1 having many games that were also on PC. Hated the controller, and N64 was much better. Some PS stuff like Crash Bandicoot was pretty cool though.

Lots of old nes and snes games.... The music in ff4 or Actraiser is immediately like being in a time machine....

The Tony Hawk 1 + 2 remakes. It reminds me of playing the original games on my N64.

The original 3 Ratchet and Clank games along with Jak and Daxter are the most nostalgic for me. I grew up playing PS1 but I was beyond excited when I got my PS2 and got those games, I still replay them every couple years now.

Speaking of nostalgia lol

Every time I fire up Unreal Tournament 2004 for a botmatch, I would also think of Quake. I would think of the Quake LAN parties I used to have in high school.

And then I would think of how Call of Duty ruined PvP shooters.

I generally consider nostalgia to be a form of delusional utopianism, but in this specific case, Quake era PvP was better than what Call of Duty turned it into. It's just fact.

Yeah, it was, but just a little bit lol. It explains your love affair with Nintendo.

So….would this game have to had aged well, or it doesn’t matter?? Which type of nostalgia are we referring to here??

My picks are:

Tekken 3 (1998, PS1)

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001, PS2).

GOd damn do those to games and their theme / intros give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Aren't you way to old to feel nostalgic about Okami and MGS4???

@outworld222: The type that gives you butterflies / goosebumps make you feel a warm fuzzy feeling.

For me only Tekken 3 and MGS2 really give me that experience.

Tekken 3 back in '98 was my first game ever (I was 5) and just reminds me of the 90s. Its the only 90s game I can remember playing, along with Syphon Filter

MGS2 in 2001 was my first 'proper' game. the other games I had were fighting games (T3, T-Tag) or snowboard games like SSX / Tony Hawks or racing games.

@Mozelleple112:

Ok then. Definitely Goldeneye 007, one of my favorite games of all time.

Another one would be co-op NBA Jam.

TMNT on the snes is another one I really liked too.

I have nostalgia for the sega Dreamcast unlike any other console. Was amazed to get arcade perfect games at home.

Sea of Stars did recently.

@Pedro: Too many annoying cows on here, so only jump on every now and then... Haha.

Yeah GameCube is definitely my most nostalgic console, and Sunshine was one of the first games I owned. So always had a soft spot for it.

GC had a lot going for it but gaming is and continues to be about the trends. Even shitty games trends.😂 I have to power up my GC to see if it is still working.

@Pedro: Haha fair enough. Yeah I still play my GC pretty regularly.

Gaming up to and including the fifth generation really. Back then, gaming was all about excitement and possibilities for me. Couldn’t give a f**k now.

@Pedro: “I had to power up my GC…”

Yeah, I had to de-solder the battery out to change it.

Other than that, it’s reliable but a pretty noisy console. The Wii is probably the best way to play GC games.

I mostly just use it to play old RE games. Other than a few games here and there, I don’t have a lot of love for the 6th gen.

@HalcyonScarlet: I forgot the Wii has BC.

TES Oblivion, Jeremy Soule brought me back to the summer afternoon of my childhood.

Pong

Space Invaders

Pacman

Rows upon rows of Arcade Pinball Machines. lol :P

So many games on Commodore 64 and Sega Genesis in particular. Heck, I have been gaming for 40 years now.