Games you hated in the day - but LOVE now

ParrotHead

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There are lots of games that I never played back in the day. Or just didn't like. Tron, Tutankham and Donkey Kong fall into that category for me. And I am sure there are others. But I love them now. I think Frogger even falls in that category. Hated it back in the day, but kinda like it now.

What about you?
 
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Robotron...

Ya, I think Robotron for me too. God there were alot back then. I think some games were just intimidating or something. And now that we can play them for free we like them better. Robotron is awesome, but played it very little back in the day.

Oh, TEMPEST. Never played it back then. One of my fav's when it was all said and done. That game is so addicting and my wife loves it. Something about strategically and precisely whipping the spinner around that is zenlike. I wish I never got rid of my Tempest Cabaret.
 
Defender and Stargate. I possibly didn't hate them, but they typically fleeced me of a quarter within about 30 seconds and it really pissed me off.
 
Defender and Stargate. I possibly didn't hate them, but they typically fleeced me of a quarter within about 30 seconds and it really pissed me off.

Ya, I think that will be a common theme. I mean, now I think the harder games are more fun. But it's not costing me a $.25 to play them.
 
The only one I can think of is Ikari Warriors. They had one down at the local laundromat in '87, and I wouldn't say that I "hated" it, but I played it a few times and it didn't really appeal to me. My friend Corey was hooked on that game though, and I never understood why. It was the only arcade game he ever really played too. I used to poke fun at the game by calling it "Atari Warriors", which never failed to get a reaction out of him (yeah, we were 12 years old).

Even though I didn't think much of the gameplay, I did respect its difficulty, and was impressed with how far Corey could get in the game on one quarter.

A few years ago I started looking for an Ikari Warriors machine because I figured it would be a cool thing to have for whenever Corey stopped by; considering it was the only arcade game he ever cared about, and he hadn't played it since the late '80s. Well, once I got one and started playing it, I started liking the game too. Then Corey would come over and set a high score, and I'd try to better it; and it went on like that for quite a while until we could both beat the game on one quarter (I have continues disabled anyway). His best score is still higher than mine though; but we've both bettered the top score on Twin Galaxies by over 100,000 points.
 
For me it's easier to say what games I liked back then and don't like so much now - but one game in particular I never played back then and do well on and play when I need stress relief?

Galaga - I NEVER played that back in the day because it wasn't "cool." Too much like Galaxians or Space Invaders. But now?!?!? In the top 5 faves.
 
Tron. I absolutely sucked at it. Then about a year ago, I spent an hour playing one at a local arcade and I fell in love. Now I've got one in my game room. :)
 
Pacman and Ms Pacman. Something about memorizing the patterns on the mazes just never appealed to me. Now that I have a Ms. Pacman I can play for free, it still sucks. I can't get past level 4.

And most of the button mashing fighter games. They looked cool, but after having quarter after quarter evaporate, I went back to the pins...

ken
 
Ya, I think that will be a common theme. I mean, now I think the harder games are more fun. But it's not costing me a $.25 to play them.

When you're a kid and you have like 5 bucks in quarters to try to occupy an afternoon, you wind up hating the games that are very well designed to eat that 5 bucks in 20 minutes and leave you with nothing to do. Amazing what free play will do to change "someone hand me gasoline, i'm going to burn this thing" over to "hey this is a pretty cool game". :)
 
Mr. Do! for me. I sucked at it BITD and didn't like the clown. I thought it was a cheap rip-off of Dig Dug, which I liked a lot. Now Mr. Do! is one of my favorites and I'll play it every time before I'd play Dig Dug. And I'm up over 100K now so that helps...
 
I stayed clear of Lunar Lander when I was a kid, just couldn't justify spending a quarter for a minute of play. I still suck at playing it now, but I enjoy playing it.
 
I mentioned Defender before, but couldn't really think of a game I actually hated back then and love now until just now... Qix.

I was all into shooters and action games, and the whole theme just seemed bogus to me. I know I tried it a couple times and it didn't really grab me either. I started loving it when I played it again a few years ago on my MAME cab.
 
Galaga 3. Probably spent less than $5 playing and could never get past the 3rd parsec. Now I like it even though it frustrates the @!#?@! out of me. Still, have to play it every day at least once and have made it to the 11th level.
 
Defender. Same deal. Died too fast to feel it was worth my quarter. Now I really enjoy it. I never had a chance to play Robotron back in the day. I probably would have hated it then too!
 
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