The Dink Network

How many of you guys would rather play a game from your parent's day (Or for those of you who are forty-sixty years old, your day) rather than games from today? Personally, i'd rather play and old NES game like Super Mario Bros. or something like it because of the simplicity of the graphics and the deep storyline as opposed to the awe-inspiring graphics and totally crappy storyline (Except for Halo, that game is always awesome!). I like the way there were barely any worries about the graphics and how the people making the game focused more on how the game would be more of a challenge the (at the time,) modern gamer. It's very hard to find a game today that people enjoy for the storyline and have great graphics (For example: Halo, Headhunter: Redemption, and (in my perception,) Jet Set Radio Future.) I hope alot of you guys can relate to what i'm saying.
-Kris

I get you. I also play the ol' NES. Some games were a lot more creative, like Banjo Kazooie for the N64. Take Super Mario 64 for example, proud owner of numerous titles from magazines etc. Most of them are 'best game in the world'.

Games nowadays got awesome graphics and innovative gameplay. But nuthin' beats de oldies when it comes to storylines and such as Kris mentioned.

I think the quality of games has gone a huge leap up from 15-30 years ago. Try playing indiscriminately through some games for any old(ish) platform. Most of it is crap; it's only the great games everyone remembers that are still good by today's standards.

It's mostly a matter of exposure, IMO. Mediocre games get forgotten.

Anyone who opposes Chrono Trigger or FF1 will meet a horrible, horrible demise.

all hail kris! you have jumped up in my book man!! i love retro games!! i downloaded super mario bros for free and im playing it now!! its awsome!!

Mario has a storyline?

I still enjoy playing retro games (despite my young age) although I think that games these days still have good storylines. If you look back far enough, most games didn't have storylines at all i.e. most arcade games.

They tried to introduce a background for games like that. Most of them anyway, even arcade style games these days have some kind of intro filled with text that tells you a background of what you're fighting for.

e.g Mario fights to rescue a princess. Doesn't exactly tell you that I know of, and I'm only going on what I've heard about Mario. Games with an objective to rescue someone held captive by the end boss have minute storylines themselves, not even saying anything. I mean, hell the "princess" at the end of Mario games (again, no experience here regarding them so might be wrong i some cases) could be some evil witch (replace W with B) hellbent on taking over the world, and has been kidnapped to stop that happening. Who knows?

Good point... but thats a 'backstory', not a storyline per se... Isn't a storyline what happens throughout the game?

The storyline is the story that is told throughout the game. Mario does have a storyline and even though it is not a real complex one, it keeps the player interested. This is mainly because no explanation is given as to what is going on or why Mario has to go on his adventure to do whatever he's doing, so the player has to 'collect' the different events in their mind and put together their own assumptions as to what the hell is going on. Eventually the player finds out the real story behind it, but there are still so many unanswered questions, which is probably what made the storyline of Super Mario Bros so intriguing.
Most of the concepts behind the game aren't even explained, so the player gets to come up with their own explanations as to most of what's going on. For instance -
Are the baddies a bunch of evil entities that rose from hell?
Is Bowser the result of some genetic experimentation on a turtle gone wrong?
Or is the whole game just Mario's dream and the princess is someone Mario would like to rescue but can't, and Bowser is the equivalent of Mario's current wife!
Obviously there was some kind of screwed up magic involved from a psycho witch, hellbent on taking over the world (probably the princess). How else do you explain the self-moving platforms and fire sticks that move around in a circle, inside the castles??

..Anyway, I think that's what made some of the old games so dang interesting. Sometimes it pays not to explain the whole story, and actually leaved a lot more unexplained than explained. Also, Mario is an excellent example of, 'better graphics don't make a better game', although it probably was great graphics for when it was made.

Well, that's what made it interesting for me anyway and I wouldn't know too much about the game, as I wasn't a real 'Mario' fan. Either way, that's what I could gather from it.

Games today (like most things) aren't like they used to be back in the times. The very first video games were horrible yes, but the ones for PC and PlayStation at the 90's were the best there's ever going to be. The ones at early 2000 were fine, R&C and some other stuff, but got sucky and too short really fast. The last good and long game I remember was GTA SA. I've seen though some vids of the new Batman game, which so far, looks pretty promising.

But the fact still is, I much rather like playing game with bad graphics and good/long storyline and gameplay, than to playa game with excellent graphics, but bad and very short gameplay and story. And you must be like that too, why else would you play Dink?

Yes, GTA SA was a very good game. It didn't have the best graphics, the 3d models were jaggy and it looked like it was in only 16 bit colour at times, but it was an excelent game with an in-depth story and numerous side-missions.

Monster Bash was my fav... it was huge - took up a whole 3 disks (floppys not CD's - thats 1.44 meg each hehehe) one game per disk!! Ohh so small yet heaped full of side scrolling goodness lol.
If ya wanna get right back there what about pacman (the original) and Wolfenstein was so amazing for its time - but it used to make me throw up cause it made me so dizzy. Graphics have come so far since those days

FFF!! final fantasy forever!! its kinda ironic though... i mean its called FINAL fantasy and theres like 13 of them exluding dissidia and such, if youve played crisis core youll hear zack say somthing about that.

I remember playing Ultimate Doom, Doom 2, Final Doom, Doom: TNT, and Doom: The Plutonia Experiment. (I think TNT and Plutonia Experiment were a part of Final Doom.) When i was five or six, i loved using the iddqd, idkfa, idclip, and so on cheats just so i could find and blow up every demon with the Big Duckin' Gun (Which is the official Fan-made name for it, even though ID Software named it the BFG9000, but seriously, ID should've named it that in the first place, right?) and going through walls 'til i found the big as hell (XD i made a funny!) Demon-Spitter, going straight into the little hole he spits the demons out from and, while trying to figure out why an indian head was in there, (I was intrigued by indians at the time) Blow the Mo'fo' sky high with the BFG and race backwards just in time to see it explode. That's one of my fondest memories with gaming. Now that my older brother got the DosBox thing, i can do that over again, only without the cheats, which is even better than cheating!

I'm an old school gamer since my birth. I've even had a C64 as a my first computer. Ah the musics and sound effects from this great computer. PURE AWESOME!(Commando Theme in C64 rules!). Right now i play all old-school Doom games(Final, Ultimate and 2), Hexens, Heretics, Strife, Quake(With allcontinues for this game like Scourge of Armagon), Quake 2, SMB, Legend of Zelda on SNES(Though i have a GBA version), King of Fighters(From 94 to 98 even 98 Ultimate Match), Real Bout fatal Fury series, Street Fighter 2/3 and Alpha, Pocket Fighters, Tekken 1/2/3, Conkers Bad Fur Day(This game is dang epic!), Mortal Kombat 2, Clayfighters 63 1/3, Killer Instinct, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV(That FF on SNES with Cecil), Contra, Castlevania aaand Duke nukem 3D!

I love games. I play anything that is, in my opinion, fun. Or at least well-crafted in many aspects (since I also love a good story and good artwork).

Therefore, I play both old and new games. Old games moreso than new ones (since I like to catch up on all those classic titles and underdogs I missed), but still, it doesn't make much of a difference to me if the games are good.

Anyone up for a game of stickball?

Sometimes, when an 'oldie' game isn't around, or currently inaccessable. I go to either Newgrounds or Kongregate to play one of the games by Psudolonewolf. Two of his game series: Mardek and Raider, are made with the same graphics and the same old-school graphics.

Heh, I was thinking about writing a post about commonly overlooked older games that hardly anyone has played, yet were totally awesome in their own right like Anachronox and Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (which I think is considered abandonware now).

Anyone tried the old sierra games like Kings quest 6, full of puzzles and things to do - I was looking for another of those when I came across Dink for the first time. Lost was another good one from them, Simon the Sorcerer... and the Monkey Island trilogy, Broken Sword and so on.
Hi 5's GOKUSSj6 my first computer was also a C64 LOL

I remember the old Quest for Glory games. ahhhh... memories.

Whoops wasn't Lost - was Lost in time

The shadows of darkness was the only Quest for glory I have... there's more??

In the older times, crappy technology meant that game developers had to expend more effort to make the game attractive and addictive to play. these days, Game dev-ors just copy each other or go for eye-candy or make unnecessary sequels and add-ons, so a lot of them suck balls

QfG- Soyou want to be a Hero and QfG2- Trial by Fire are the only ones i played.

Yup, there's 4 more, though there are two different versions of the first two games. Shadows of Darkness is the fourth (and best) one, though I still enjoy the light mood of the first game.

First, there's Hero Quest, which is an old 16 color EGA game... it was later remade into a 256 color VGA game, Quest for Glory I: So you want to be a Hero?. Sierra had to change the name due to copyright issues.

Next, there's Quest for Glory II: Trial By Fire, which is also an old 16 color EGA game. It was recently remade by some fans into a VGA version which replaced QFG4 as having the best combat system in the series... as well as the hidden Pizza Elemental.

Quest for Glory III: Wages of War is VGA again, but has a pretty poor combat system, and is considered one of the weaker entries into the series, but I still like it.

Then you have QFG4 and finally QFG5: Dragon Fire... which takes the series into blocky... awkward 3d. The game itself is... alright. There are a lot less puzzles, fighting is awkward, and it lacks the stellar voice acting of 4, though it does have a soundtrack that's just as awesome as 4's, and with better quality audio.

I think all of these games except QFG4's CD version (worth it, IMO), and QFG5 can be found on abandonware sites.

I rememberplaying Alone in the Dark when it was recently out, that game is hard and fun!

"I rememberplaying Alone in the Dark when it was recently out, that game is hard and fun!"
Ah yes Alone in the Dark. I have played 1 and 2 and i have to say that the second part was the best! Pirates, Voodoo's, zombies and also...a sword fight!

I still think 'A link to the past' is one of the best games ever made.

I was the frst in my family to figure out what to do with the pot of human flesh soup. I just pt it on the table for the zombies to eat.

What's 'A Link to the Past'?

dude! who doesn't know TLOZ:ALttP?!

"dude! who doesn't know TLOZ:ALttP?!"


Umm... WHAT?!?!?!?

the legend of zelda: a link to the past?

Yes. One of the best games ever made.

My mom doesn't know it. I was playing Alundra some time ago and she thought it was Zelda.

Okay, so the games ARE similar to eachother, but Link is always green, you know?

*Total Blank* Ummm... I know of Ocarina of Time, But not A Link to the Past.

Except when he's wearing the blue or red mail (found in the ice castle and ganon's tower respectively).

"My mom doesn't know it. I was playing Alundra some time ago and she thought it was Zelda."
Beacuse it DOES look like Zelda game....but in PSX.

I guess so mate. But she also hasn't actually ever seen me play a Zelda game, and there doesn't seem to be much advertisement on Zelda games (or games in general) over here.

Heh, Link to the Past, the 3rd (and arguably, best) Zelda, game is probably older than you are. Kind of scary that can remember looking forward to it coming out. I'm still not sure if I like Ocarina or Majora better though... they're so different in what makes them good.

I'm just 2 years younger than A link to the past ;D

NOTE: I played it on GBA

If possible, you HAVE to, you absolutely NEED to get (original) Wild ARMs to your hands and play it. The best and most epic RPG ever, created back in '95 I think. I got it somewhere in 2001 and I'm around halfway of completing it. Finally grew tired of some puzzles and watched the walkthrough of it in YouTube. I saw the ending today and it left me mouth open, more epic game than any other game or even any movie!!

"If possible, you HAVE to, you absolutely NEED to get (original) Wild ARMs to your hands and play it"

Yeh, I remember that Wild Arms was a pretty awesome game.... it's been over 3 years since I played it though so I can't remember it that well.

Sorry, Kristnox love, I think halo is along the lines of the poor storylines which you mentioned. My son plays it all the time, and I'm constantly questioning him, "Is there more to just hostile shooting and killing each other?" (Besides from the fact that I also question if he has homework or anything more productive than sitting in front of a computer/t.v. screen all day long). I would definitely prefer Dink to this masacre non-sense.

Some of the low-rated RPGs are some of my faves. Particularly Soulbringer and Ultima IX (which is surprisingly complex for 1999, though it is Ultima, so y'know)
Oh, and another gnarly game that was basically impossible to win was Sega Genesis game "Chakan: The Forever Man"

Halo is what it i ad i don't blame you or anything if you don't get it. it's not just killing, it's much more deeper than that.

I wouldn't play Halo again. It's all about those cool graphics and non-fun/good gameplay and story. Sadly, just as I said, that is what all the new games today are.

Killzone is all mostly about killing people, with a bit of a storyline that I don't pay much attention to, but I still enjoy it.

Actually Killzone is like fighting with nazis in 2nd World War...But in the future.

I just got my hands on Scribblenauts, and it's the best game I've played in years O.o

I agree but the BEST 0_o? I love the gameplay and the idea but the only thing that bugs me is the controls and physics. How about using D-PAD to move and A to jump instead of Touchpad.

I guess here is no perfect game, aside from one...

PACMAN!!

Closely followed by Dink Smallwood.

Reminiscence

I felt like playing this a couple of weeks ago. This is a one off video, I am not making anymore of this because I simply can't be stuffed and I have enough to do with my Dink LP's and my Dmod. Although I might imply that I am making more videos in my commentary and by the fact that I made another channel with a channel description and stuff.... I'm not. I just felt like playing some old school Mario and decided to upload it.... so really it's just a short LP of Super Mario Bros - World 1...... that's all, nothing more. Reminiscence.

Have a cat

Dude! I absolutely love the QFG series. Haven't played them for a while, since the reformatting of my PC (Windows is shoot). I never actually played all the games, but the ones I played were great, man. Those were classics.

What about Space Quest? Anyone remember them. Old, awesome sci-fi games. Love them. Roger Wilco = total hunk.

I'm still waiting for Space Quest 6 to become abandonware. That game was awesome.

I hate games nowadays. Borderlands, halo 3 odst and shoot like that. All the gaming hype is going for them! And i have a few choice words for the Nintendo Wii. phuck it.

I reckon games used to be a whole lot longer than now. Like the there would be about 100 levels in some game and you would get stuck after the 20th. People would make long story lines and stuff like that.
I suppose now its all about money.

I agree. People in the old days of gaming cared about game-play and there customers/fans.

Neverwinter Nights 2 is nice, but it's lost the charm of older Forgotten Realms treasures like good ol' Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale.

An update: I have played and finished Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It is one of my favorites.

Good job man, have you played through Ocarina of Time?

Have you tried using the Randomizer for it?

don't play ocarina of time. play deadly towers. there's a proper adventure game.

Eh, I played Ocarina of Time on my 3ds. I didn't know what the duck I was doing so I used a guide the whole time.

Deadly Towers is also a game, but it's frustrating.

OoT is one of my favorites, next to Twilight Princess. Majora's Mask is one that I finished, I even got the best mask too. Stilll having trouble with Link's Awakening.

Well since you love Zelda like games, you should try this old classic 'Slink Bigwood'. It's about a big wooden slinky that loses it's duck farm and has to murder some name thief to try and get some more pigs. One of his plans involves burning his house down when he's not in it to send a message.

Hehe indeed, Link's Awakening is to me the most cryptic Zelda game ever. I had no idea where to go and that hint-phone in the game is even more cryptic!

I like playing on my N64 system. I like the N64 stuff better than the new crap.

nice, this thread has 69 posts.

oh, woops.