When Nostalgia Goggles Disappoint

[Jimmu]

Have you ever had really fond memories of a game and then went back to play it and found it just awful, or at the least found it not quite holding up to your memories?

Recently I found my old copy of Animal Crossing Wild World and booted it up to see my old town again. Now the mechanics of the game of course were not the problem given that I still like the new games but the graphics really didn't hold up for me. I don't tend to have an issue with graphics from the DS era too much but for some reason this time around Animal Crossing Wild World just looked awful to me. I caught myself asking how the hell I would stare at it for so many hours, obviously now we are much more spoiled in terms of graphics so perhaps it was just the contrast of going straight from Switch to DS.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Sonic Adventure games

...they're not that good

 

[twilitfalchion]

Skyward Sword. I loved it as a kid. Doesn't hold up as well now that I'm older. I certainly don't hate it, but I don't love it either.

 

[Dizzi]

Mario 64 + sunshine

 

[MapelSerup]

Generally, with many of the games I played when I was young I could differentiate between a “good” game and a bad one, regardless of whether or not I enjoyed it. I would say Pokémon Sun and Moon; I have fond memories of it, but it isn’t as special now that I’ve played a few other games in the series.

 

[TheHeroofTime]

I'd say Breath of the Wild might not be as perfect as I thought it was three years ago. It was my first Zelda game that I completed, and it changed my life, but coming back after playing other Zeldas, there are definitely things I could see for potential improvements (monster variety, actual dungeons, boss fights, difficulty level, some of the music, story). That being said, it's still one of the best games ever made, in my opinion, I just think there are things that I didn't perhaps see when it came out.

 

[A Link In Time]

Hmm, I definitely recognize the flaws in some of my old favorites like the camera in Super Mario 64 or the horrid use of HM slaves in early Pokémon games but it isn't enough to be completely disappointed. If anything, they only lose a bit of luster.

 

[Bee84]

I cannot go back to the DS after seeing switch graphics. When I got animal crossing for switch, I got bored then tried to play animal crossing on the Wii. It looked awful by comparison, almost laughable.

 

[MW7]

Hmm, I definitely recognize the flaws in some of my old favorites like the camera in Super Mario 64 or the horrid use of HM slaves in early Pokémon games but it isn't enough to be completely disappointed. If anything, they only lose a bit of luster.

I agree with both of those points. Going back from playing a game like Super Mario Odyssey to earlier 3d games can be jarring in terms of how you become accustomed to cameras working. Pokemon games went through so many changes over the years as well. I still enjoy playing games like these as well.