Hey all, I’m interested in playing some emulated games on my steamdeck, but I’m not sure where to start.

I’ve been having fun with Super Mario World, but a good chunk of that is because I played it a lot as a kid, so much of my enjoyment is from nostalgia.

Problem is, I didn’t play many too many games when I was a kid…

What older games out there would you say hold up in 2025? So that regardless of the nostalgia factor, they can be enjoyed by someone like me

  • rozodru@lemmy.world
    7·
    6 months ago

    NES: Batman the video game (first one), TMNT II, Mario 2, Mario 3, Tetris, Kirby, Mega Man II and III, Castlevania, Metroid, Ninja Gaiden.

    Genesis: Ranger X, Sonic 1 thru 3 plus & Knuckles, Comix Zone, Battletech, Phantasy Star II, X-Men, Streets of Rage 2

    SNES: DCK2, Star Fox, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III (VI), Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past, Terragama, Earthbound, Mega Man X, Super Castlevania, Super Metroid

    N64: Star Fox 64, Mario 64, Both Zeldas, Blast Corps, Star Wars Shadows of the Empmire, Diddy Kong Racing, Quest64, Doom64

    PSX: Xenogears, Final Fantasy 7 thru 9 and Tactics, Wipeout 1 thru 3, Brave Fencer Musashi, Intelligent Cube, Tomba, Crash Bandicoot 1 thru 3, Parasite Eve, Resident Evil 1 thru 3, Silent Hill, Street Figher Alpha 3

    DC: Tech Romancer, Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Skies of Arcadia, Gundam Side Story, Space channel 5, Power Stone, Sonic Adventure 2

  • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzMEnglish
    8·
    6 months ago

    Honestly depends on what kind of games you like.

    Many Metroid games are classics and still great to play. For the 3D Metroids, you can install Primehack and play Metroid Prime Trilogy for an amazing experience. For the classic style 2D metroids, I’d recommend a play order of Zero Mission (GBA), Samus Returns (3DS), Super Metroid (SNES), and Metroid Fusion (GBA).

    Many older mario games are great, both 2D and 3D. Mario 64 has some great recompiled versions, and even stuff like sm64coopdx that lets you play online coop. Mario Sunshine (GCN) is fun too, and both Mario Galaxy (Wii) games are fantastic. Lots of good Zelda games too, such as Wind Waker (GCN/WiiU). Until recently I would have highly recommended Xenoblade X (WiiU), but it just got a remastered and expanded version on switch.

  • rem26_art@fedia.io
    5·
    6 months ago

    the Metal Gear Solid games on the PS1 and PS2 are still wonderful games. The controls may be a bit clunky, coming from modern games, but you get used to it after a while. (There’s some things you will have to look up on the internet in MGS1 because they require information from the CD case lol)

    I always liked the Megaman X games on the SNES as well.

    • callouscomic@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      What about the pressure sensitive buttons from PS2? Those MGS games really needed that feature.

      • rem26_art@fedia.io
        1·
        6 months ago

        Some emulators should let you assign a button as the pressure modifier, so on the Deck I guess you could assign one of the rear buttons to it and hold that button at the same time as any pressure sensitive input.

  • pezhore@infosec.pub
    3·
    6 months ago

    I’ve been playing Gravity Rush from the PS Vita. I went in blind and have been enjoying it so far. I can’t get motion controls to work, but that hasn’t stopped me yet.

    • PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk
      1·
      6 months ago

      I enjoyed that game. Not sure how it was ever pushed out as a full release rather than a Net Yaroze style special, but fair play to them.

      Kurushi (as it was known in the UK and Europe) is like rocking horse shit now. A nice little treasure if you find one in your collection.

  • dan1101@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    6 months ago

    SSX Tricky, Mercenaries, Katamari Damacy, FIFA Street, the various Mario Kart games.

  • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
    21·
    6 months ago

    That really depends on your definition of “holds up”.

    For example, to me the original Final Fantasy VII is still a better game than the remake because what was a well thought out RPG combat system got turned into just another button mashing combat experience with a Final Fantasy VII wallpaper applied to it.

    Is the remake better graphically? sure. Does that matter to you? Than yeah…the original isn’t going to hold up for you. But if you prefer the classic design from those times, the game holds up great from a gameplay/story/character perspective. And I personally would take it over whatever mash-fest modern games use for combat systems.

  • Grass@sh.itjust.works
    3·
    6 months ago

    2d games in general and basically anything that isn’t pre-analogue stick 3d. Some games have quality of life mods/ patches available that make camera not suck, etc.

  • dipcart@lemmy.world
    3·
    6 months ago

    Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

    I was worried that I was just nostalgic but its honestly a straight up blast to play. If they remastered it I would b e so excited. One of the best superhero games I’ve ever played.

  • soulsource@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    1·
    6 months ago

    If you count DOSBox as emulation (what it definitely is - unlike WINE it actually emulates an x86 PC and peripherals):

    • The Settlers 2: This is a timeless classic. The graphics are 2D, but they still look OK today.
    • Albion: A Science Fiction and Fantasy RPG (yes, it has both, and that’a a key point of the story). The gameplay itself isn’t that great, but the lore, story and the graphics are amazing.

    I’ve played both on the Deck, and they both work great. (Btw: I did not use Settlers 2 as an example for my DOSBox setup guide by chance. I picked it because it is an amazing game and still fun nowadays.)