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{{trope}}{{Video Game Examples Need Sorting}}
Examples of [[{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]] in [[{{SUBPAGENAME}}]] include:
* Video Games in general tend to be more susceptible to this trope than most other media for the simple reason that [[Technology Marches On|the next generation always has more robust hardware]], hence the existence of the [[Polygon Ceiling]] trope. Graphics seem to be especially vulnerable to it. Some games age better than others, but it happens to all of them. Games have a tendency to utilize mechanics from previous games. Most people can not pinpoint where mechanics come from and attribute them to the most famous game of the genre, which may not have been the originator.
** Changes in game design can make a game age badly too, especially if it was made in the era where [[Nintendo Hard]] was the norm; many of these games contain design solutions which would now be considered ridiculously sadistic and unfair to the player...or weren't actually from the game at all, but from shortcomings in the game code/engine/system hardware.
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** Or, for that matter, the [[Atari 2600]] itself, which was [[Trope Codifier|the first commercially successful]] home console to store games on interchangeable cartridges (though the first console to do this was the Fairchild Channel F).
* With modern processing technology, it can be hard to believe that ''[[Myst]]'' was once one of the [[Scenery Porn|the most beautiful games on the market]]. The graphics aren't the only thing that haven't aged well.
* [[Role
** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' in particular tends to suffer from this. At the time of its release, it was regarded as a revolutionary milestone and hailed as one of the greatest games of all time, but many years later, this led to [[Hype Backlash]]. Oh, sure, having a moody protagonist (who may have [[Amnesia (fangame)|Amnesia]]) chase around [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] homicidal maniac might seem played out, but at the time you would've been hard-pressed to find many JRPGs with that formula. While earlier ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games had troubled heroes, ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' was the first to truly run with the concept to the point of presenting a hero that turns out to be an [[Unreliable Narrator]] questioning his existence. As a very specific example: the first few seconds of the opening sequence, with the camera panning out slowly from a classic piece of shiny magic rock to a dark futuristic city, were initially meant to be ''shocking''. Can you imagine?
** ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''. Getting rid of the Crystals, which were a key staple of ''Final Fantasy'' before this game, was highly controversial at the time, and the game paved the way for the [[Anachronism Stew]] and [[Schizo-Tech]] that the series is most widely known for. The exclusion of the Crystals is lost on most modern fans, and a common criticism is that the cast is shallow and unexplored and the gameplay is easy and simple. The game's [[Big Bad]] Kefka is frequently written off as a goofy [[The Joker|Joker]] knock-off, but prior to Kefka ''Final Fantasy'' villains fit the generic [[Tin Tyrant]]/[[Evil Overlord]] mold, and Kefka's insane wise-cracks and clown-like appearance were a huge departure. Similarly, rather than turning into a generic monster as the [[Final Boss]], Kefka became a [[Physical God]], and the final battle had many parallels to ''[[The Divine Comedy]]''. These days, JRPGs including ''Final Fantasy'' frequently have angelic and divine final bosses, and [[Faux Symbolism]] is par for the course, ''especially'' with ''Final Fantasy''.
** How about [[Final Fantasy I|the original Final Fantasy]]? For its time, it was groundbreaking. Instead of just [[Save the Princess|saving a princess]], you save ''the world.'' You have a fully customizable party. And most importantly, it apparently ''saved [[Square]] from going bankrupt'', even though ''[[Rad Racer]]'' came out around the same time and ''sold much more copies''. These days, it shows its age, with the clunky interface, [[Save Game Limits]], repetitive [[Random Encounters]], and a variety of [[Game Breaking Bugs]] that render many spells either not as effective as they say on the tin, or worse, ''outright useless.'' Even its remakes don't get off much more easily.
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* ''[[Golden Sun]]'' has a hatedom that has pretty much attacked the game for being a "generic [[Game Boy Advance]] RPG" - without realizing that there wasn't really that much else available on the [[Game Boy Advance]] at the time (''maybe'' in Japan). Considering that the Game Boy Advance was a new format in ''itself'', ''[[Golden Sun]]'' still had some rather detailed environments and perhaps the best use of the Game Boy Advance sound systems for ''a while'' -- it was perhaps one of the first games released ''on'' the format to actually ''use'' a lot of the potential technology it had, other than a few others like ''[[Bomberman]]'', ''[[Advance Wars]]'', and maybe ''[[Mario Kart]]'', amongst a slew of remakes (like ''[[Breath of Fire]]'' and ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'') and [[The Problem with Licensed Games|licensed games]].
* The original ''[[Half-Life]]'', being the first modern, highly scripted first person shooter with adaptive AI, now seems somewhat typical after being endlessly copied, ripped off and modified by just about every first person shooter that came after it.
* ''[[Hydlide]]'', originally released in 1984 for the [[PC
* The first ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'' game definitely fits this trope, especially if you've played even the second and third games (considered the best with the fifth and sixth often competing). It was released in 2001, when the [[Game Boy Advance]] was still a very new format. Nowadays, it can practically pass for a Touch-screen telephone game with how bare-bones it is compared to even the second, which introduced style changes for replay, the third which added customization outside of and in addition to style changes, and so on and so on until you get the [[Surprisingly Improved Sequel]] of the fifth and sixth. It can only compare to the franchise-killing fourth. It practically seems like an [[Obvious Beta]] when you play it, nowadays. (Very few wood chips, HP gets recovered, bosses top out at a thousand HP, game just gets disgustingly easy.)
* ''[[Atelier
* ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|GoldenEye 007]]'', one of the first [[Video Games]] based on movies [[The Problem with Licensed Games|that didn't suck]] (in some ways, it was better than the movie), now suffers from this. At the time, the game was basically the first console [[First-Person Shooter]] done right and is, in many ways, the reason why the genre became so popular on consoles (before, it was almost entirely PC based). But by today's standards, its lack of online play (not its fault, since it was on the [[Nintendo 64]]), crude aiming system, heavy dose of [[Escort Mission|Escort Missions]], lack of voice acting (again, not its fault, it was on the Nintendo 64 and was an early game on the console to boot), large amount of linearity (which is ironic, since at the time ''GoldenEye'' was possibly the least linear game on the market) and dated graphics. Ironically, there was a [[James Bond]] FPS for the N64 that ''vastly'' improved graphics, control, missions, and plot. Anyone remember that one... anyone?
** ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|Golden Eye 1997]]'' was the first time many, if not most, gamers of the day ever had something like a sniper rifle to play with. Today, it's hard to realize how cool it was to take your buddy out from 300 yards away in ANY FPS, not just a console game.
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*** For the console players, it was the FIRST time ever being allowed to multiplay through local network, up to 16 players at a time; by hooking up tv sets and systems; network play over the internet was available since doom, but it was considerably harder to set up properly; Quake 3 Arena and Counterstrike predate true online multiplayer for PC by a couple of years; in fact, what really constitutes a seinfield is unfunny option is the SERVER BROWSER, it is unthinkable today to ship a multiplayer game without a server browser or online match up making system on consoles; but there was a time wher you had to manually search for games; and in that regard Halo was indeed the FIRST FPS on console to feature a robust match making system.
* ''[[Doom]]''. [[A Space Marine Is You]], demons, [[Foreboding Architecture|Foreboding]], [[Benevolent Architecture|Benevolent]], and [[Malevolent Architecture]], futuristic techbases... I've [[Seen It a Million Times]] already.
* ''[[
* ''[[The Sims]]''. The original game, ''without'' any form of mods or expansion packs seems quite dull in of itself. There's no form of direction to what you can do (And you don't ''have'' to follow your Sims' wishes, you know), several meters like "Comfort" and "room" that meant absolutely ''nothing'', you were rather limited in how much you were capable of doing compared to even a bare-bones ''[[The Sims 3]]'', and there was ''no'' aging whatsoever.
* ''[[Elite]]''. David Braben and Ian Bell's game was completely groundbreaking when it was published in the mid-80s with its open-ended trading/shooting gameplay and massive universe of stars and planets to the extent that it's still talked about with fondness by those who apparently spent hours at a time playing it back then. And yet to many who didn't play it in the '80s it's hard to see what all the fuss is about.
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* The remake of the first ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' game ever created (Shadow Dragon), received a lot of criticism about how "The plot is cliché," "The game is very simplistic," and "There's not a lot of character development" on top of the cries of "Where are the supports?", "What happened to branching classes?", "Why's Marth not promotable?", "Why are the magics just linked into one family?", and "Why is my priest able to use fire and ice magic when they could use only Light magic in other games?" from fans of the game. (Both long-time fans who've been playing since the [[No Export for You]] era, and the fans who joined in at ''[[Sequel First|Fire Emblem 7]]'' when a lot of elements were added or refined.) It's rather ''quite'' amazing how even ''old-school Fire Emblem'' (even ones who first started with a ROM of the NES or SNES versions) fans criticised the game for being loyal to the 1990 version, when at the same time, if Nintendo and Intelligent Systems had taken the time to completely overhaul the game, their [[Unpleasable Fanbase]] would complain that it ''isn't'' loyal to the originals. Sure, it's not by any means the ''best'' game in the series, but there was a time in which 90% of the stuff that it and ''[[Shining Force]]'' did was an incredibly new thing for gaming, combining turn-based strategy gameplay one is used to seeing in wargames and adding fundamental RPG elements and a story that was more than just-another-recreation-of-a-historical-battle.
** However; the game actually ''was'' praised for changing a couple things, such as how the game could be made almost unwinnable if you missed a key item (The Falchion) and with how many units were actually ''usable'' because in the original, only some units could promote.
** For that matter, a lot of ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' games - ''[[Fire Emblem:
* Point-and-click adventure games. Mostly due to a combination of [[Guide Dang It]], [[You Can't Get Ye Flask]], and GUIs becoming popular (and more easy to program) it can be a little hard for even some fans of these to pick up old Sierra adventure games such as ''[[Laura Bow]]'', ''[[King's Quest]]'', ''[[Space Quest]]'', and ''[[Leisure Suit Larry]]'', text games like ''[[Zork]]'', and more.
** And it isn't just the ancient parser adventures - even the most advanced of [[Interactive Fiction]] games get overlooked now, because who wants to ''type'' their commands in, after years of [[You Can't Get Ye Flask]] leaving a bad taste in peoples' mouths?
* ''[[Star Ocean]]''. This happened primarily to the first two games when they were each given an [[Enhanced Remake]]. The first ''[[Star Ocean]]'' game was actually, for the most part, ''drastically'' different in story than most other RPGs (with a few exceptions like ''[[Fallout]]'' and a couple ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' games who often used elements of Science Fiction) and the fact that this game was actually credited as the one that pushed the SNES's technology to the limit. People often criticized it as "There isn't enough Sci-Fi, there's magic so it's not Sci-Fi", "[[It's Short, So It Sucks]]", or "[[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]]" regarding the changes to their PSP versions. The plot for the first ''[[Star Ocean]]'' game is ''very'' similar to an episode of ''Star Trek'', and the plot for the second one (called a [[Cliché Storm]] by some reviewers who had played the PSP remake) was actually ''far'' more original for the time than it seems now. The entire skill system (which was actually pretty in-depth and thorough) is often ignored, and the amount of recruitable characters and somewhat complex recruitment-branches (giving some more replay value than the typical "You get these eight characters but can use only three or four at a time"-RPG) is considered just one part of a [[Cliché Storm]]. Let's also not forget that it was one of the first games that featured optional "Private events" to develop characters since the plot was written with only the required characters needing to be involved.
** However, some justified criticisms of the game are that it's an [[Obvious Beta]]; and the PSP remake doesn't really help it too much. It's possible to beat the main story in about 15-20 hours. For a handheld game, that's not bad, but compared to games like ''[[Pokémon]]'' or even ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' that can take much ''much'' longer, it was criticised for being short. Then again though, it's worth noting that if you beat the game in about 12 hours, you probably missed a ''lot'' of optional content.
* ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]''. This was a complaint when it had ''finally'' been localized, even though part of it was the fact that Namco had pretty much tried to port a Playstation game onto a Game Boy Advance and lead to some "Chugginess" during battles. The first two ''Tales Of'' games (''Phantasia'' and ''Destiny'') may also be somewhat hard to get into with how their battle systems (which was actually a rather major change in what [[RPG]] gamers have been accustomed to since the days of [[Dungeons
** Some of these were subverted by the [[Enhanced Remake|Enhanced Remakes]] the two had. (The second Playstation Portable version of ''Phantasia'' is considered the best version of ''Phantasia''.)
** For that mater, play many of the early [[Tales (series)]] games. Many of them don't exactly age well, with ''[[Tales of Destiny]] II'' being hit the hardest - it wasn't until after this game that they decided to start becoming a [[Deconstructor Fleet]], so it can be a bit jarring to see how blatantly [[Mary Sue]]-like that Kyle and Reala are without any form of deconstruction. The Playstation version of ''[[Tales of Destiny]]'' also falls right into the valley...in part because the [[Enhanced Remake]] was just ''that much better''.
* ''[[Dragon's Lair]]''. When new technology opened up new potential doors for media for the video games' storytelling, it can be rather hard to appreciate some of the early attempts at adding voice and cutscenes to games beyond this game's rather simplistic gameplay. Especially games like ''[[King's Quest]] V'' and ''VI'' or the first two ''[[Lunar]]'' games. ''King's Quest V'' was a rather early example of adventure games and RPGs using more media to spread information and the story. Nowadays people will probably view the cutscenes on [[YouTube]] and just laugh at the stiff animation, the voice acting, or the syncing (Usually a fault of the software used to put the file on [[YouTube]]), often praising games like ''[[The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall|Daggerfall]]'' for "doing the [[Full Motion Video|FMVs]] right" without acknowledging that even the most recent of those games (''[[Eternal Blue]]'') was made at least two years before ''Daggerfall'' was even finished. (And even then, ''Daggerfall'''s videos could all be counted on one-hand.) Despite how rather laughable the cutscenes and voice acting is nowadays, one may have to consider that with the exception of ''[[Lunar: Eternal Blue]]'' (which was made in 1994), all of those games were released within the range of 1990-92, and even then, the technology was rather new for the time. (''King's Quest V'', for example, showed a lot of people the potential of using CD-based games as opposed constantly switching out floppy discs.)
** Another funny example are the people saying that Ghaleon is just another silver-haired pretty villain who is a result of developers trying to create another Sephiroth. Now take one look at the release dates mentioned above and try reading that again with a straight face... By the time people watched Sephiroth burn down Nibelheim, the exploits of the Magic Emperor Ghaleon were already five years old. And when he returned for round two? Three years old... and don't even get some of these people ''started'' on the rather effeminate looking Zophar (who really isn't that effeminate looking on the Sega CD until he absorbs the power of Althena) who is also considered another Sephiroth ripoff... despite trying to take over the universe of ''[[Lunar]]'' at least three years before Sephiroth did.
* Full-motion video. Many early attempts in the 90's are seen today as really, really corny. (Morgan Webb of ''[[X-Play]]'' said on one episode that there was once a time in which community theatre actors could find work in games.) Heck, the full-motion video games nowadays have this really "Grainy" appearance, while the old attempts at CG-I now look like everything is made out of plastic and rubber. It can be hard to appreciate some games like ''[[The
** Not to mention, take one look at ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces|Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight]]''. At the time, seeing ''actual'' actors in a Star wars game made it seem more like an entry into the ''[[Star Wars]]'' canon rather than just a [[Gaiden Game]].
* Voice Acting. Many classic games from the late 90's such as ''[[Silent Hill]]'', ''[[Resident Evil]]'', and to a lesser extent, ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' have some pretty [[Narm|Narmy]] voice acting by modern standards, but at the time they were considered revolutions in video game story telling. Indeed most of the best remembered video games of the [[PlayStation]] Era where hits because of the then fresh and exciting "3D graphics, voice acting, movie inspired plots" formula.
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* ''[[Final Fantasy Legend]]'' has its leveling system (an improvement of ''[[Final Fantasy II]]'''s), which was improved in the following games, making it look rather old by comparison.
* ''[[Quake (series)|Quake]]''. The original game was an immense hit in its day due to its technological innovations. But its once-shocking 3-D graphics now look... underwhelming, due to low polygon counts and lack of texture filtering.
** Similar deal is with the graphics of ''[[Alone in
* ''[[Street Fighter (video game)|Street Fighter]]''. [[Sequel Displacement|The ORIGINAL]] ''[[Street Fighter (video game)|Street Fighter]]''. Back then, arcade games were almost universally simple affairs. Punch, kick, jump, shoot, duck, defend on occasion, maybe if it got ''really'' wild you had an alternate weapon. Large sprites, one-on-one gameplay, a pair of ''analog'' buttons which produced a variety of strikes (later replaced by the now-standard six-button grid), holding back to block, super-lethal attacks unleashed by '''secret joystick movements''', and unique opponents with a variety of styles and attacks... all of these were ''amazing'' innovations. Especially for Capcom, which at the time had almost nothing but platformers and various [[Shoot'Em Up|Shoot Em Ups]]. It was a HUGE success, better than anyone could've imagined. Today, good luck finding someone who remembers that this game ''existed'', much less will admit to liking it.
** ''[[Street Fighter II]]'' ACCIDENTALLY introduced animation cancelling, and as a result, the entire concept of combos in fighting games. This small mistake single-handedly extended the life of video arcades for a decade. Today, the system seems clunky and sometimes unresponsive; then again, it was a bug, and not an integrated component of the game engine.
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* The original ''[[Battle Arena Toshinden]]'' was one of the most highly-rated games for the original [[PlayStation]] when it originally came out. It was one of the most advertised launch titles for the platform in America, as well as the third game to ever get a score of 98% from ''Game Players'' magazine (the other two being the SNES port of ''Super [[Street Fighter II]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''). However, the sequels got progressively worse reviews (the fourth one wasn't even released in America) and the original game is now seen as a joke by hardcore fighting game enthusiasts compared to the original ''[[Virtua Fighter]]'' and ''[[Tekken]]'' (which had its console releases around the same time).
** Graphics-wise, they're comparible (with ''Toshinden'' arguably a notch above). Gameplay wise, ''VF'' and ''Tekken'' hold up. ''BAT''... doesn't.
* The ''[[SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs|SOCOM]]'' series lately{{when}} looks like a candidate for this trope. Back when the [[PlayStation 2]]'s internet play was available, the ''SOCOM'' series blended the best aspects of PC tactical shooters (mainly ''[[Counter-Strike]]'', ''[[Delta Force]]'' and ''[[Rainbow Six]]'') and made the gameplay palatable for console gamers. Combine this with the ultra-popular [[PlayStation 2]] and the result? [http://therealsocom.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=1068 Six million total sales between the first two games alone] (with ''SOCOM 1'' getting the 3.45 mil bulk.) Unfortunately, ''SOCOM''{{'}}s relevance was mostly symbiotic with Sony's problematic online gaming support, which worsened overtime. Xbox Live's reputation eventually surpassed the [[PlayStation 2]] online service, thanks to the lack of a built-in hard drive causing numerous issues (mainly with cheaters and being dropped from games). Then ''[[Halo 2]]'' exploded in popularity. And then the worst combination for the series: [[
* [[Genre Savvy]] people are predicting this to happen to the original ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'' because it was released on an engine considered "outdated". A lot of other early [[Multiplayer Online Battle Arena|MOBA]] games in general after other games like ''[[Demigod]]'', ''[[Heroes of Newerth]]'', ''[[League of Legends]]'' and ''DotA 2'' improved and played with the formula a bit more.
* The first ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' game. It was made in 1996, and... quite honestly hasn't aged very well. It kicked off a series, and ''was'' a cult hit, but the sequels (even the second games, which followed the original formula, not the madly popular dating sim) polished the franchise so much better the first game is much ''much'' harder to just pick up and play than the later installments. This is one of those games where you spend either a couple hours poking around constantly finding the items... or five minutes with a guide.
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* [[Breath of Fire II]], for the Super NES. Compared to today's games, its mild swearing (a single "damn" and "hell"), explicit references to death, and religious themes (including a [[Corrupt Church]] and explicit references to gods) may seem tame; nonetheless, it was definitely [[Darker and Edgier]] than anything ever before seen on a Nintendo system.
* ''[[Resident Evil]]'' did for video games what ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'' did for movies. Zombies. Used to be, zombies were about as common or less likely for one to encounter as the old 1980s stand-by enemies, the robot and the ninja. Then ''Resident Evil'' came along. Now-days, zombies are almost as ubiquitous in games as [[Crate Expectations|crates]]. Not to mention the entire shift in what a [[Survival Horror]] title even ''is''. These days, the genre is more focused on action, with combat being quicker and more frantic and story and level progression more fast-paced. This is a far cry from the "tank/turret-style" controls and complex puzzle-oriented gameplay of the first Survival Horror titles.
* ''Renegade'' was the first "belt-scrolling" [[Beat'Em Up]] and pioneered such features as throwing enemies. The Japanese version launched the [[Kunio
* Similar to ''[[Kaizo Mario World]]'', Fire Emblem ROM-Hacks. Mageknight404 mentions that Blitz Tactics Universe is really dated, but at the time was probably the best rom-hacks of ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe]]''. However, playing it now, you'll notice that the characters are ''obviously'' splices or edits, while some of the custom faces fall right into the [[Uncanny Valley]]. In addition, the custom music will seem out of place, the events will seem weird, there are glitches (Such as ''brigands'' with ''sword'' ranks) amongst other things.
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'' was massively controversial for the time, as it was the first game to popularize the [[Wide Open Sandbox]] genre. Many of the elements it is responsible for bringing into the mainstream would be copied ad nauseum over the next decade, making ''III'' look quaint in comparison.
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** ''III'' was one of the first games to have an all-star voice cast, with notable actors lending their voices to both major and minor characters. It's uncommon these days to see a triple-AAA title where the voice cast ''isn't'' comprised of notable actors.
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