The great thing about games is that they’re, for the most part, always accessible. There’s nothing stopping me from playing something in the ’90s, or loading up an emulator to get a classic going that used to run on my dad’s 286.
But sometimes life moves on, and the games and moments we enjoyed get left behind.
For the most part, missing games is more about missing the sense of community that came with them. It’s particularly true for MMOs, MUDS, things that revolved around multiplayer. As a recent example, Australia will never have the sense of awe and excitement around StarCraft the way it did when StarCraft 2 came out. That time has passed.
In a similar vein, games and platforms have advanced so far that some concessions are just too difficult to make. Not having checkpoints is a great example. I love the idea of playing the fan-made Wing Commander campaign that was made for Freespace 2 – Darkest Dawn, it’s called – but having to replay an entire 45 minute mission because one thing went wrong at the end is literally rage-inducing. And it’s difficult to play through without having that on your mind.
So it’s impossible to play something like Freespace with that sense of wonderment that I had as a kid. And I miss that.
I also miss the LAN experience: things just aren’t the same anymore. Sure, LANs weren’t the magical experience some people make them out to be, but I had plenty of great moments. And I miss the games that were played specifically in those environments: FFA servers of Quake 3, late-night bets on Flatout 2, custom Warcraft 3 maps.
I could load any of these up today. But it really, genuinely wouldn’t be the same.
What games do you miss playing, and why?
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