favorite old game that you do NOT have any nostalgia for?

I have seen other topics here and on other sites discussing favorite old games, and its always games from peoples childhood.  do many old games hold up without the nostalgia goggles? so I want to ask, what is your favorite old game(s) that you never played until they were already old?  
 
For me its probably Super Metroid. I played that for the first time on the Virtual Console, but even without any childhood memories from that, or any of the Metroid games, I really enjoyed it. 

I didn't play Super Mario World until well after it came out, and that game is amazing.

FInal Fantasy I. Played the GBA version.

Deus Ex and TIE Fighter both hold up perfectly well

Ocarina of Time I think still holds up incredibly well. The N64 controller, however, does not.

Conkers Bad Fur Day and Paper Mario, played them both the same year about 2008, love them both.

half life 1 . i watched my dad play it and my memories of that involve lots of cigarette smoke and him yelling FUCK because he kept falling off the ladder.

I got into Metal Slug real late, but man I've played a lot of it since.

Do arcade games count?

I didn't play Chrono Trigger until sometime 2 years ago, and that game is fucking magic.

Though despite your attempts to remove one bias from people's opinions of old games, there's still the fact that I've heard so many people talk about Chrono Trigger that maybe I went in already believing that I was supposed to find it totally great.

On the other hand, I heard someone on a gaming podcast rave about Shining Force 1 and 2, so I bought them on the Virtual Console, and they're basically the poor man's Fire Emblem. Understandably, that's not a fair comparison because the Fire Emblem series wasn't even released in North America until the 2000s, but still, at least Fire Emblem developed the large cast of characters that can join your party. Shining Force just has them join you and pretty much never speak a word again. Also you can theoretically grind XP forever in SF by just escaping from a battle before you finish it, retaining your XP while respawning all the enemies. That sort of kills the strategy, compared to the finite amount of enemies (and thus XP) in most Fire Emblem games.

Then too many arcade games for me to list off.

Total Annihilation is still a stellar RTS, despite being released in 1997. This was the era before StarCraft I, a game which basically homogenized most of the genre following its widespread success. With TA, even playing it today, you get a unique brand of depth and style which is still pretty unique and enjoyable even today. Supreme Commander was a poor imitation of the original, but still somewhat fun in its own ways.

Just played the first Halo the other week, and I totally get it now.

Games I would consider amongst my all-time favourites despite first playing them ~10 or more years after release:

• System Shock 2
• Fallout
• X-Com: Terror From the Deep
• Beneath a Steel Sky
• Monkey Island 2
• Albion

Whole FInal Fantasy series.

Does Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana 2) count? I don't believe that game ever officially came out in the United States. Still can't figure out why, but that's Nintendo for you.

Die Hard Trilogy

I have a feeling those games were terrible looking back at it.

Earthbound

Space Channel 5: Part 2

Heard a lot about the Space Channel 5 series and how amazing it was but didn't play it until last year when it was on sale on Steam. And man... This game really IS amazing !

Valkyrie Profile. Played it 3 years ago, and loved it. It has tremendous storytelling, and also one of the best twists I've ever seen in a video game.

Sim-motherfucking-golf. Passed it up when it came out, tried it out after that podcast and it's quite addictive.

It's not really that old but I played Armed and Dangerous a good 7 or 8 years after it was released and thought it was fantastic.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.. Never played it when I was a kid, but picked it up after play Harmony of Despair and holly crap if that isn't one of the best games ever made

I didn't play Chrono Trigger until the Ps2 was out but I don't really count that one since I was in middle school. I just purchased Deus Ex: GOTY on Steam and have to say the controls are awful but the game is spectacular and holds up well, and I have no nostalgia for it since I never played it, right?

Anachronox. Modern OSs can't run it. Never did beat it. Saw the ending via the machinima made for it.

Maybe Deus Ex which I finished for the first just few weeks ago. Of course that game is so liked that you can get all sorts of mods and texture packs to make it feel more modern. Still wish that I had the patience to churn through the first island 10 years ago when I tried the game countless of times. Got definately no nostalgia towards it, but it sure is a great game.

Played Smash TV maybe 6 or 7 years ago.

Holy shit, that was a good day.

Sim City. I really tried, but I just couldn't understand the appeal of it. Kinda strange, because I did like the 'Theme-' games a lot. And Gran Turismo. But that's because I simply do not like racing games at all. Not then, not now, not ever.

@NekuCTR said:

Valkyrie Profile. Played it 3 years ago, and loved it. It has tremendous storytelling, and also one of the best twists I've ever seen in a video game.

This. Except I never made it to the end since it all but required a guide to get to it and I didn't have the patience. But what I played of it was great. It's a shame it isn't looked back upon as fondly as some other PS1 RPG's that I feel don't hold up nearly as well.

@Genkkaku said:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.. Never played it when I was a kid, but picked it up after play Harmony of Despair and holly crap if that isn't one of the best games ever made

Yes, this!! I never played it when it first came out because I had an N64 instead so I actually started with CV64 (and CV: Bloodlines for Sega Genesis) but then, many years later, I got it for PSP and now .....it's in my top list.

This question is difficult for me in general though as I sometimes become nostalgic for certain types of graphics and also I'm in the middle of playing a LOT of old video games that I've missed out on. There's too many to list but it's always good to mention SotN hehe.

@GunnBjorn: I'm pretty sure you misunderstood the question.

@LackLuster said:

FInal Fantasy I.

Played it like 10 years ago as part of my complete ff run through... and though I would play most of them again, I would not play FF1 again.

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Also The King of Fighters '98.

@Positrark said:

@GunnBjorn: I'm pretty sure you misunderstood the question.

Forgive this Dutch simpleton, for I do not understand English too well.

@Genkkaku said:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.. Never played it when I was a kid, but picked it up after play Harmony of Despair and holly crap if that isn't one of the best games ever made

Absolutely.

Deus Ex.

Metal Gear Solid, didn't beat it until last year and I fucking LOVE that game

FF 4,6,7 and Chrono Trigger

played those last year

Ninja Gaiden 1

Master of Orion 2, that game is DOPE.

• Magic Carpet
• Syndicate
• Super Turrican
• Half Life.

Deus Ex, I played for my first time right after I had finished my second playthrough of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. That game is amazing.

Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and Thief 1+2 
 
it's like all the best stealth/fps hybrid games came out at around the same time and then everyone forgot about that genre or something :(

Mega Man 2. Mega Man games never got pirated/came out in Russia so the first time I played any of them was on an emulator a couple years ago. I just loved that one. Amazing music, great level design, surprisingly neat art. That's a hell of a game, I probably beat it 15 times since then.

Probably Street Fighter 3 : 3rd Strike.

It got me into fighting games and I first played it on GGPO last year before SSF4: AE came to pc.

grand theft auto: san-andreas I really dug it when I played it but I dont have any nostalgia for it. Most sand box games are that way for me. Tho I really could go for another Crackdown, the co-op in that was pretty fun. I would like to point out that most of the comments seem to of missed the wording of the OP.

Dungeons and Dragons Tower of Doom/Shadows Over Mystara. Played them both my first time well after they were in arcades on MAME and love them to death. Partially the reason I'm looking forward to Dragon's Crown.

I really liked The Adventures of Bayou Billy. It has many flaws, but I was impressed by its attempts at meshing several different kinds of action sequences.

I would like to see the game get some kind of open-world sequel, but I doubt it will ever happen.