Why I Can Not Be An Old School Gamer.

I know I am not the only one out there with this problem, but I am probably the only one who is not embarrassed about saying it.

I can not get past the first level of Ghouls n Ghosts.

Yeah. Laugh it up now, but the list doesn’t stop there. I had to use an ass load of continues on Golden Axe, Altered Beast is a nightmare, screw even trying to get to the top of the flag pole in Mario Bros. and I can’t figure out Gauntlet to save my life.

It is sad that I can not go back to these games that I once loved and enjoy them anymore. It is not that I am gamer stupid, it’s that i am a gamer. I have evolved with the games and the systems from the Sega Master System to the PS3. I have seen the controllers go from 2 buttons to 6+. I have learned to play games that started with the simple run and jump in Sonic the Hedgehog to the complicated layouts of Ghost Recon. This does not make me dumb for not being able to not die in the span of one minutes time in Donkey Kong. Instead, this makes me marvel at how far we have come game wise.

See my problem is that I am spoiled and try to do much, much more than the ‘retro’ games were ready for at their time. I am trying to dodge and roll in Ghost’s n Goblins. I expect that when I kill something it stays dead. But no. those little zombie bastards keep respawning right underneath me cause I am thinking too much about my plan of action. So I die. A Lot. I want to do more in Golden Axe than the makers ever thought of cause I am used to other games. And Sonic? I was a master at that game when they came out. But now I find myself frustrated that I get hit so much. All  I have to do is run and jump. But hey at least I can finish the levels in that game.

[ad#adbrite-box-1]Games these days are getting better and better. The once thought of as crazy control schemes are second nature. When I first played Syphon filter I about had a heart attack cause it used every button on the PS2′s controller. I never thought I was going to make it. But since then we can play Soccom games in our sleep and not even miss a beat.

I love games these days. I see the virtual arcades growing, but why am I going to waste money on an ’retro’ game that just doesn’t cut it anymore? That’s why I LOVE the 360′s Arcade system. It is a lot of simpler games that are made specifically for our evolving gamer standards mixed in with a few classics. I still love the TMNT arcade game, but yes I do lose at it easily too. Would it have killed them to make a block button? With that game we also get Catan and others that are simple but new. 

I am not ashamed to say that I love retro games, but I want to remember them as I continue my evolving path as a gamer. I am not going to dig them up and buy them to remember the old days. there is no point. The old games just are not as fulfilling to me as a gamer these days. I think that the people who obsess over them are not as happy with the games these days as they were a long time ago. I have a friend like this. He is a DS junkie cause all of the games are 2D side scrollers. To him, that is the glory days of gaming. I say to all of you out there like him, it’s time to move on. Games are evolving every year. Remember the days of 2D sidescrollers fondly and come play in the new era. I promise you it is worth it.

Posted By Gavin Stone: