The Illusion of Time: Testing Games from the Past

Ah, nostalgia! Everyone has his own games that hold a special place in a person´s heart. Most of the time it´s the first games we came in contact with. Or sometimes we experience an outstanding game and it is burned into our memory. Especially as a game designer things from these games always manage to sneak into your current work.
For me, one of these childhood memories is the Northland Trilogy, damn complicated and rewarding games. But I will cover that in a later article.



Recently on Gog.com

When I roamed the internet, I stumbled upon the fact that gog.com offers the complete trilogy. Even including the soundtrack, which was broken in the version I played as a child. Literally, tears of joy in my case. Well, I didn´t stop there and without even noticing my collection grew considerably.
 

Well, that escalated rather quickly...

Seeing this I decided to revisit the games of the past and check if they can still hold their ground or if the course of time has taken its toll...


A difficult task

But reviewing this games is easier said than done. You know how reviews of modern games are sometimes accused of not being completely neutral? Rumours about big companies buying good reviews for the game and other nasty things. With the classic games, a whole host of complex issues arises. On the one side, you have people that have special memories of the game. Would you really like to read someone criticizing the precious games of your childhood? Would you really like to know about its flaws? I don´t think so. The feeling when things like this are shattered is not so pretty. And on the other side, you have people that refuse to play anything that is not presented in latest state-of-the-art 3D and whatdoIknow.


The rating system explained

 Instead of a percentage rating with three digits after the comma, I will keep this rather simple. Extra credit to you if you know from which game this icon is derived.


1 Point = A very obscure game. Only for the diehard fan.


2 Points = Significant parts did not age that well but it is still a fun and enjoyable experience.


3 Points = The quality of this games shines even today. You should try it out!


Outlook

So wich games will I review? I cleverly hid a big picture in this text, it gives you a few subtle hints...