Games From Your Childhood You Should Never Replay

Experienced gamers often avoid revisiting classic video games from their childhood. Usually, these games don’t live up to the fond memories they have of playing them originally. Gaming is a captivating hobby for people of all ages, but sometimes it’s best to cherish those past experiences instead of trying to recreate them.

There are lots of reasons why revisiting older games doesn’t always work out. Some just haven’t held up over the years, and others demand so much time that it’s hard for busy adults to get into them. While many classic games are best left in the past, these ten are particularly notorious for not being worth revisiting.

Battletoads

Requires Constant Trial And Error

Anyone who played the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) remembers how incredibly challenging those games were. They were designed to take weeks or even months to finish, even though you could actually beat them relatively quickly. And while there were plenty of tough games only available on the NES, Battletoads is widely considered the most difficult of them all – many still consider it one of the hardest games ever created.

The original Battletoads is a challenging beat ’em up known for its relentless enemies, instant-death obstacles, and scarce continues. While many fondly remember playing it as kids, attempting to finish it now is likely to be incredibly frustrating and time-consuming. Luckily, the 2020 Battletoads reboot offers a similar experience but is much more manageable and forgiving.

Duke Nukem 3D

A Raunchy FPS From The 90s (That Should Stay In The 90s)

Many older PC first-person shooters from the 1990s haven’t held up over time, but games like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom are still interesting to play because of what they contributed to gaming history. Duke Nukem 3D, however, really shows its age and feels very much like a game from a specific moment in the past.

The original Duke Nukem 3D was groundbreaking for its time, but today it doesn’t hold up well, mainly because of its humor. While edgy comedy was popular in the 90s, much of the game now feels childish and unsophisticated. This same style of humor was a major problem with Duke Nukem Forever when it was released fifteen years later, as it already felt awkward and embarrassing back in 2011.

Resident Evil

A Better Version Of This Game Already Exists

The first Resident Evil was a truly innovative game when it came out, and it essentially created the survival horror genre. However, many of the games it inspired have since surpassed it in quality.

When it first came out, Resident Evil‘s controls, camera angles, graphics, and even the dialogue all fit the experience and contributed to its scariness. However, looking at it now, much of the game hasn’t held up well. If you’re looking for a truly tense survival horror experience, you’re better off playing almost any other Resident Evil game – even the updated version of the original released on GameCube, which has better graphics, smoother gameplay, and more content.

Crash Bandicoot

Way Harder Than Most People Remember

Crash Bandicoot was a huge star in the 90s, but it’s surprising how often people misremember the original PlayStation games. While Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped are enjoyable and reasonably challenging 3D platformers, the first Crash Bandicoot game is brutally difficult and doesn’t hold up well today.

The original Crash Bandicoot felt slow and awkward to control, and stopping mid-air after a jump was difficult. The levels were also very challenging, demanding precise jumps, and were often quite long with limited save points. If you’re still interested in playing the first game, the N. Sane Trilogy remake is a much more enjoyable experience.

Pokemon Red And Blue

Filled To The Brim With Bugs, Glitches, And Broken Mechanics

The 1990s were hugely defined by the explosion of Pokémon, which began with the release of Pokémon Red and Blue in North America. While incredibly popular at the time, revisiting these games today reveals significant flaws, suggesting their success stemmed more from their original and clever concept than from polished gameplay.

The original Pokemon Red and Blue games look quite basic with their black-and-white graphics. They also don’t have many of the features that made later Pokemon games better, such as breeding, day and night cycles, or held items. Plus, they’re full of technical problems – bugs, glitches, and strange coding mistakes, like Psychic-type Pokemon being immune to Ghost-type moves instead of being weak to them. Because of this, many people who fondly remember playing Red and Blue may actually be remembering the improved remakes, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen.

GoldenEye 007

It’s No Longer The Best Multiplayer FPS On Home Consoles

Like Resident Evil, GoldenEye 007 really changed first-person shooter games, showing that they could be fun to play on consoles—it just needed a well-designed control system. The game also featured a long and engaging single-player story, and a highly addictive multiplayer mode that many players enjoyed with friends for countless hours.

While GoldenEye 007 was incredibly influential on first-person shooter games, revisiting it today doesn’t quite live up to the memory. The controls, once groundbreaking, now feel clunky and old-fashioned, and even though the multiplayer is still fun, it’s quite limited compared to modern games. There are now many better FPS options available, and the convenience of online play beats trying to gather friends for a local multiplayer session – something that’s harder to do as you get older.

Conker’s Bad Fur Day

A Parody Game That Felt More Clever When It Came Out

The 1990s were known for edgy and often shocking comedy. Many kids who secretly watched shows like South Park probably also played Conker’s Bad Fur Day at some point. While the game remains popular with a dedicated fanbase, it’s not as widely talked about today as it once was.

While Conker’s Bad Fur Day sometimes manages a chuckle, much of its humor feels childish by today’s standards. It also heavily relies on references to pop culture from the late 90s that many players won’t understand. The game was designed as a parody of popular 3D platformers of that era (many made by the same developers!), so a lot of the humor falls flat without knowing those games. Ultimately, Conker’s Bad Fur Day very much reflects the time it was made.

Grand Theft Auto 3

Open-World Sandbox Games Have Come A Long Way

When people get nostalgic for the early Grand Theft Auto games, they usually think of titles like Vice City or San Andreas. However, the game that originally launched the series to fame, Grand Theft Auto 3, isn’t remembered as fondly or considered as strong as the later installments.

Grand Theft Auto 3 was incredibly influential, essentially creating and popularizing the open-world game style we know today. Games like GTA 5, the upcoming GTA 6, and even series like Saints Row and Sleeping Dogs owe a lot to it. However, looking at it now, GTA 3 hasn’t aged well. It feels restrictive compared to modern open-world games and doesn’t quite stand out from its sequels. While it was groundbreaking and ambitious for its time, many of its innovative features are now standard, making it less compelling to play today.

World Of Warcraft

Requires A Massive Time Commitment That Adults Just Don’t Have

While World of Warcraft still has a large and active player base of over 200,000, it’s easy to overlook just how popular it once was. Back in the mid-2000s, World of Warcraft was a cultural sensation, and many kids and teenagers spent hours playing with their friends, especially when tackling challenging raids.

Many longtime gamers fondly remember World of Warcraft, but revisiting it now isn’t really worth the effort, particularly if you stopped playing years ago. It’s a huge game that demands a lot of time – something most adults don’t have. Plus, the game has changed so much with years of updates and expansions that it’s very different from the World of Warcraft of 2004.

Assassin’s Creed

Overshadowed Immediately By Its Sequel

If you had a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 in the late 2010s, you probably played an Assassin’s Creed game – the series was hugely popular then. But it was Assassin’s Creed 2 that really made the franchise a long-term success. The original game didn’t achieve nearly the same level of popularity.

The first Assassin’s Creed was a decent stealth-action game that stood out when it was released, but it wasn’t very polished. The story and main character weren’t particularly memorable, the climbing felt clunky, and the missions became repetitive. Assassin’s Creed 2, however, took the core ideas of the original and greatly improved upon them, creating a truly exceptional game. While the first game is playable, Assassin’s Creed 2 is the one people still enjoy revisiting today.

2026-02-11 02:41