And now we can have a big list of nostalgia which disappointed us. Like when I recently watched a Knight Rider episode for the first time after a dozen years and suddenly realize, how bad the actors and plots are.
German readers should probably revisit the TKKG novels for a particular disappointing experience.
My mom took the approach of just reading out loud whatever she read, so I grew up with Lord of the Rings and other good solid books. I personally read Madliene L'engle's books in 3rd and 4th grade then skipped directly up the ladder to Dune (making me the only 9 year old I've ever met that managed to make it through Dune Messiah (and man did I ever manage to miss the subtext and analogy and etc)) .
But cartoons, man I loved em all. Tried to watch GI Joe and Transformers a couple years back and could barely last an episode.
"Tried to watch GI Joe and Transformers a couple years back and could barely last an episode."
On the other hand, the Chuck Jones and Tex Avery cartoons have held up quite well, probably because the creators were doing them for themselves as well as younger kids.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that Animaniacs has withstood the test of time for me. Actually I found it a little better than before, as some of the humor went over my head when I was a kid.
I was also read Dune aloud as a kid! Though I think I must've been older by then -- 12+. Definitely missed most of the subtext, though... Just like watching Forrest Gump.
No, I actually read Dune myself. I thought it was a book about political intrigue, crazy sci-fi and guerilla warfare, great stuff to a 9 year old. I was told later that it was in fact about US foreign policy with regards to the middle east.
Re: cartoons, I had a good time watching Reboot with some fellow interns a few years back. Lots of CS in-jokes, and the production issues / tropes are merely fodder for a drinking game.
I've never tried to rewatch childhood cartoons (somehow I imagine Scooby Doo may not quite hold up), however one thing that does stand the test of time: Police Squad... In color!
Scooby Doo holds up surprisingly well. I watch the early 1970s episodes with my kids now, and they're as good as I remember them. The only thing that seems dated (art aside) is the music. The first few seasons all has a musical interlude that is very early 70s.
I read The Three Investigators, and never read The Hardy Boys, so I was scanning this thread to see whether anyone had brought them up.
The main thing I remember from those books was the feeling that I had a deprived childhood because I didn't grow up in a junkyard. (Nor have a chauffer on call, but the lack of a junkyard was the main thing I really felt.)
My secret hope is that in 10 or 20 years, people will go back and re-read KJA's _Dune_ novels, and realize that us Frank Herbert partisans were right - they are a pile of bollocks.
I was talking to my friends about this the other day: NES games (with a few exceptions) are terrible now. SNES games are still fun, though. I guess the 16 bit mark was a timeless threshold.
I think any NES game that was good "back in the day" holds up even now. Gameplay and graphics had a nice simplicity that holds up today, unlike most pre-NES games. It was a period when games were just starting to become what they are now, with plots, actual level design, and "thinking" enemies, but without all the complexity. Sure, most NES games won't hold your attention for hours at a time, but they're still enjoyable in brief sittings.
What I find impossible to play today are early 3D games. So much time and effort was spent trying to make the games look cool and flashy at the cost of gameplay, and it was when most devs really didn't even know how to make a 3D game. Most first-year PS1 and N64 games are examples of this.
Yeah, I still play Final Fantasy on occasion, though Dragon Warrior has weathered a bit worse (the grind is a bit harsh, though the sequels are better).
I think this is because good gameplay doesn't age as quickly or as harshly as good graphics. Graphics have improved greatly, while gameplay hasn't come quite so far.
Yeah, the only NES games I can play now are the Mario and Zelda ones (I never played Metroid 1 as a kid, and can't get into it now). SNES games I can get into much more easily.
Comments
And now we can have a big list of nostalgia which disappointed us. Like when I recently watched a Knight Rider episode for the first time after a dozen years and suddenly realize, how bad the actors and plots are.
German readers should probably revisit the TKKG novels for a particular disappointing experience.
Saturday morning cartoons are the big one for me.
My mom took the approach of just reading out loud whatever she read, so I grew up with Lord of the Rings and other good solid books. I personally read Madliene L'engle's books in 3rd and 4th grade then skipped directly up the ladder to Dune (making me the only 9 year old I've ever met that managed to make it through Dune Messiah (and man did I ever manage to miss the subtext and analogy and etc)) .
But cartoons, man I loved em all. Tried to watch GI Joe and Transformers a couple years back and could barely last an episode.
"Tried to watch GI Joe and Transformers a couple years back and could barely last an episode."
On the other hand, the Chuck Jones and Tex Avery cartoons have held up quite well, probably because the creators were doing them for themselves as well as younger kids.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that Animaniacs has withstood the test of time for me. Actually I found it a little better than before, as some of the humor went over my head when I was a kid.
I was also read Dune aloud as a kid! Though I think I must've been older by then -- 12+. Definitely missed most of the subtext, though... Just like watching Forrest Gump.
No, I actually read Dune myself. I thought it was a book about political intrigue, crazy sci-fi and guerilla warfare, great stuff to a 9 year old. I was told later that it was in fact about US foreign policy with regards to the middle east.
Re: cartoons, I had a good time watching Reboot with some fellow interns a few years back. Lots of CS in-jokes, and the production issues / tropes are merely fodder for a drinking game.
I've never tried to rewatch childhood cartoons (somehow I imagine Scooby Doo may not quite hold up), however one thing that does stand the test of time: Police Squad... In color!
Scooby Doo holds up surprisingly well. I watch the early 1970s episodes with my kids now, and they're as good as I remember them. The only thing that seems dated (art aside) is the music. The first few seasons all has a musical interlude that is very early 70s.
Anyone else here remember The Three Investigators? Anyone else here now afraid to go back and look at them again?
I read The Three Investigators, and never read The Hardy Boys, so I was scanning this thread to see whether anyone had brought them up.
The main thing I remember from those books was the feeling that I had a deprived childhood because I didn't grow up in a junkyard. (Nor have a chauffer on call, but the lack of a junkyard was the main thing I really felt.)
I remember, but I have no fear.
Reading Kevin J. Anderson's Star Wars novels again a couple years ago was a similar experience for me.
My secret hope is that in 10 or 20 years, people will go back and re-read KJA's _Dune_ novels, and realize that us Frank Herbert partisans were right - they are a pile of bollocks.
I was talking to my friends about this the other day: NES games (with a few exceptions) are terrible now. SNES games are still fun, though. I guess the 16 bit mark was a timeless threshold.
I think any NES game that was good "back in the day" holds up even now. Gameplay and graphics had a nice simplicity that holds up today, unlike most pre-NES games. It was a period when games were just starting to become what they are now, with plots, actual level design, and "thinking" enemies, but without all the complexity. Sure, most NES games won't hold your attention for hours at a time, but they're still enjoyable in brief sittings.
What I find impossible to play today are early 3D games. So much time and effort was spent trying to make the games look cool and flashy at the cost of gameplay, and it was when most devs really didn't even know how to make a 3D game. Most first-year PS1 and N64 games are examples of this.
Yeah, I still play Final Fantasy on occasion, though Dragon Warrior has weathered a bit worse (the grind is a bit harsh, though the sequels are better).
I think this is because good gameplay doesn't age as quickly or as harshly as good graphics. Graphics have improved greatly, while gameplay hasn't come quite so far.
Yeah, the only NES games I can play now are the Mario and Zelda ones (I never played Metroid 1 as a kid, and can't get into it now). SNES games I can get into much more easily.
I'm now reading Karl May to my son, and the novels are so awful that they are downright entertaining again.