Patient Gamers

Xexyz, on the NES, is an underrated gem. It's a mix of platformer and shoot-em-up, and honestly seemed a bit ahead of its time.

Pre-1990, you're mostly looking at the NES library as the go to. The older Atari games I don't think are worth it, outside of the historical context angle.

I'd say give Zelda I and II another shot. They are clunky, as most things from the era will be. But when you engage with them on their own terms, I think they're both really rewarding experiences.Don't be afraid to look for hints, some things can be obtuse - you can probably find old magazines in the Internet archives to reference.

If 1990 exactly counts, Crystalis is a Zelda-like with RPG elements that outdoes Zelda is many ways.

Castlevania is another one that's really great, but very clunky. There's no air control, so once you jump that's your arc. The game challenges are built around that in a satisfying way though.

SMB 1-3 you probably have played before, but if not those hold up.

Even more frictionless, the first 2 or 3 Mega Man games feel just as refined as if they were made today.

Ninja Gaiden is known for challnge, but it also controls super smoothly and feels good to play.

Basically I guess my recs are mostly just explore the NES library. There's some Sega worth checking out and probably TurboGrafx too, but NES had most of the classics.

What kinds of newer games do you generally like?

Metal Gear (1987)

Controversial take, perhaps, but I don't think there are any games from the 1980s (or earlier) that I think hold up. Wasteland form 1988 is impressive but ugly (and a remaster exists that is better) and other than that, uh...

TLoZ is so utterly hideous that it repulses me. The NES colour palette is just so tremendously ugly.

Tetris is fine, I guess, but I've always found it a bit plain. Much like picking up individual grains of rice with chopsticks it requires skill but as with that it's only your own time you're wasting - unless you enjoy it, which I don't. Or to put it another way - I don't find the core gameplay loop rewarding.

There's plenty of cool stuff from the early '90s but the 1980s are pretty much a case of "it was good when we had nothing better" territory, in my opinion.