Classic DOS Games – Reliving memories

For the past few weeks, I’ve been reliving old times with some DOS games of my youth. Games like Catacombs, Prince of Persia, Wolf 3D and Doom all take me back to fun filled summer vacations gawking at the amazing (for that time) graphics and the novelty of it all. Classic DOS games remain my favorites to this day.

Of course, gaming pros would say that the graphics of a game like Wolfenstein 3D is terribly outdated and with the more modern games like Tombraider, Silent Hill, Heretic etc, these games are forever relegated to the trash. In fact, my Vista drivers no longer allow the games to run in full screen mode anymore and I have to use workarounds like DOS box – and even then for some reason, I can’t play them in full screen. All the forums say that it’s time to move on and forget about the DOS games.

Image Credit: e-diot

But there’s one thing I’ve realized about games. You really don’t NEED the fancy graphics and the complex engines to thoroughly enjoy a game. I’ve played FPS (First person shooter) games as much as anyone and I’ve also played Tomb Raider and the others and I can confidently say that for me at least, the level of fun is the same whether I’m playing the new ones or the old.

In fact, sometimes I think that certain simplifying features make old games more enjoyable than the modern ones. For example, the inability to jump up and down and to travel vertically between floors in Wolf 3D make the game more focused and fun – not too complex. Some games like Tomb Raider and Doom (I think) go too far to make the games overly circuitous.

With so many FPS games coming out these days, I’m not even really up to date with what the latest is the in gaming world. It’s just when I see games on the XBox with snazzy graphics and controls and ‘realistic’ movements, I can’t get excited about them – it seems to be more about the technology than the story and game play and that just turns me off.

I feel that when a game executes a simple and enjoyable theme well, then graphics and other technologies aren’t that important. Take PCMan for instance (A PC version of PacMan). The modern variations with “3D mazes” and first person view and “Mrs” PacMan are just too much. Nothing like the original version without bells and whistles I say. Classic DOS games rule!

Maybe I’m turning into the classic “old fogey” here, unwilling to let go of the past. But seriously, there’s so much clutter these days with each game having the ‘best’ graphics with insane system requirements that I just long for simpler times. Of course, gaming has moved on and there is something now to fulfill every need. And that’s always a good thing. I just wonder – 10 years later, will all these clutter games even be remembered?