I went back and replayed some of the OG Metroid games (Metroid, Super Metroid, Fusion, and Zero Mission), and I'm happy to report that they are still rad a/f.

You played shitty games as a kid, it's not exactly an uncommon or unrepeatable experience, I mean if it wasn't as common or relatable as it is, AVGN (and creators like them) wouldn't have been nearly as popular and successful as they are.

My needs changed. When I was a child I had an intense need to master new skills and show them off. Video games could meet that need in a way school never could. As an adult I can completely fill those needs with work so I have no interest in those sorts of games. Now I play games to be entertained and delighted. If I want challenge I'll put that energy towards earning a bigger bonus for Q4.

This hurts so much as an adult 😪

I've certainly noticed that my patience has dropped off a cliff.

When I was young, I spent hundreds of hours in RPGs. Then I got into roguelikes, which are like RPGs, but condensed down. Well, and now I'm microdosing this crack, because the condensed version of roguelikes is apparently puzzle games.

Counterpoint, there are also games you tried and HATED as a kid, that you might now like as an adult.

As I kid I had a lot less need for quality story telling, and roll play, probably a lot less interest in gardening simulators too. There's probably lots of stuff you thought you didn't like.

Crash bandicoot was written in fucking LISP

I'm playing Tomb Raider remastered right now and I'm scum saving like a little bitch.

I think young me just didn't value spare time because he had so much of it.

These Unfinished Business levels are rough as fuck though.

Going back and playing games I never liked the gameplay of and only played for the story now, as an adult, I think the stories are poorly written and cringe as fuck. 😬

Though for some games, that doesn't make them bad. It just makes them good in a different way. Like how you might enjoy a crappy B movie because it's crappy.

Some games yeah.

The game pictured in this comic, the Crash series on PS1, aged like fine wine though.

If you had very low standards, and your standards are different now...then your tastes have changed.

This is me with books.

yeah we were kids

I thought altered beast was the pinnacle of two player gaming at one point. I played it recently and decided to do laundry instead.

The issue is, as a kid, you had lots and lots of time, and also little access to Internet forums for general game info.

Back then, you got a game and that became your whole focus for a few days instead of a few weeks/months.

Games in general were less complex and less forgiving so you were more used to playing simple platformers in which you could die and lose 20 mins of progress.

So overall, the attitude was to put effort, invest and challenge yourself (not with online play) when it came to gaming.

So given all these factors, your attitude towards games and the type of games were difference, hence why a simple platformer without much story and repetitive gameplay was the shit back then.

I think another part of it is that gaming as a kid and gaming as an adult are for entirely different purposes a lot of the time. I still game for entertainment, but also as a way to unwind. It's just relaxing to me and if I can get into a strongly written storyline, the stresses of my day fade away.

But as a kid, I gamed because gaming was flashy and fun and challenging, and then I wanted to talk to my friends about it after I beat yet another game.

Sounds like you played shitty games as a kid.

Most games I loved as a kid I still love as an adult. Some I even love more - especially those with stories I didn't fully understand at the time. What do you mean Tactics Ogre was about genocide and ethnic conflict? I thought it was about turning everyone into the ninja or swordmaster class??

Fighting games I've lost my taste for, I suppose, though I played those more because they were on every damn demo disc. Though I still remain strangely good at them. A friend of mine picked up some esoteric modern indie fighting game two years ago or so and I fucking crushed them without even knowing the controls while they had several hours of practice under their belt, lmao.

Never had that, sorry. I come back to games I was obsessed with and begin obsessing over again. Games I found incredibly funny are still incredibly funny. I sometimes find games shorter than I expected them to be.

This is how I felt when I played Kindgom Hearts 3. It was a true sign to me that I didn't have as many interests as I did as a kid

A little of column A, a little of column B.
Idk if it was because it was on an emulator, but when I played Smash for the N64 with friends, all I could think about was the controls felt very clunky and how much smoother Smash Ultimate felt by comparison.

It is far more likely that their expectations have changed.