Video games have come a long way since the Atari was released in 1977. From super-realistic graphics to complex storylines and deep gameplay, games have already ascended far beyond what most people in the late '70s ever thought was possible. Along the way, many games stood as pillars that broke the mold and showed how games could transcend all that had come before them.
Some of those games are truly timeless, often because their design is simple enough that it'll always be fun or their artistry leaves an impact that can't go out of style. On the other hand, there are some that, while they're still remembered and revered for their influence historically, just don't stand the test of time. Much of what was groundbreaking about them has become a near necessity in modern games, making their greatest achievements seem uninteresting and commonplace by today's standards.
10 Pitfall (1982)
Atari
While some Atari classics have stood the test of time due to their simplicity, Pitfall isn’t one of them. While it proved groundbreaking as the precursor of side-scrolling platformers, the gameplay was too slow and the controls too awkward to make it still enjoyable for modern players.
Pitfall was the prototype for sidescrollers to come, and that fact in itself is enough for it to garner praise as a pivotal moment in gaming history. Compared to the games it inspired, though, Pitfall still falls short of even the most generic platformers on mobile.
9 Resident Evil (1996)
PlayStation
Resident Evil, as a franchise, is essentially synonymous with the survival horror of games as a whole. That is in large part to do with the influence of the first game in the series, Resident Evil.
While an important game that was a lot of fun in its time, Resident Evil's brand of horror would come off as more comedic than scary to modern-day gamers. The game's more recent remake, released in 2002, captures everything that made the original great while also updating it to appeal more to modern audiences.
8 Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
PlayStation 2
Anyone who was alive at the time will know just how controversial Grand Theft Auto III was at the time of its release. The entire concept of being a criminal and acting out those actions in video game form was completely new, and parents didn't know how to handle it.
Today, Grand Theft Auto V is one of the highest-grossing video games of all time — and that's all thanks to the model GTA3 set up. While that gameplay style is extremely relevant today, GTA3's lackluster controls would come off as unacceptable for players of the more recent entries in the series.
7 Tomb Raider (1996)
PlayStation & Sega Saturn
Before Lara Croft was a cultural icon being played in the movies by the likes of Angelina Jolie, Lara Croft was traversing strange, cavernous spaces and solving mysterious, ancient puzzles as the Tomb Raider. Lara Croft's adventures were praised by players and critics alike due to the revolutionary concept and graphics.
While the atmosphere holds up, the graphics don't — understandably so, considering its inferior hardware. However, an even more glaring issue is the game's tragically bad controls. Tomb Raider came during a time when 3D games were a new phenomenon, and developers didn't quite grasp how to make a character move fluidly around three-dimensional spaces.
6 Deus Ex (2000)
PC
Deus Ex was a revolutionary RPG for its time. Its deep narrative and flexible gameplay were completely beyond what any game had done before and set a new standard for those to come.
While Deus Ex is still a marvel of gaming, it hasn't held up alongside newer RPGs that have copied its model. Much of what Deus Ex introduced has been replicated and used in modern games a million times over since, making Deus Ex play like just another generic RPG today. Still, for fans patient enough to make it through, Deus Ex still has a lot of depth to offer.
5 GoldenEye 007 (1997)
Nintendo 64
Golden Eye 007 completely changed the face of gaming and put the idea of the FPS into popular consciousness. It was undoubtedly a huge moment for video games during its time and signified a paradigm shift in multiplayer shooting games that is still felt today.
While it is often hailed as one of the greatest games of all time due to its influence alone, Golden Eye is definitely better off left as an object of unmatched nostalgia than as a game to be enjoyed today. With the level of sophistication modern FPSs have achieved, Golden Eye simply can’t match up, as many of the most earth-shattering parts of its gameplay are accepted as a standard now, which has been greatly improved upon.
4 Crash Bandicoot (1996)
PlayStation
The first Crash Bandicoot utterly changed video games forever with its 3D platforming elements. The way it pushed the boundaries of the hardware in its time set a new standard for just what was possible in video games.
However, the same things that made it incredible when it was released make it nearly unplayable today. Everything that was good about Crash Bandicoot has been expanded on and made way better to the point that modern audiences just likely wouldn't get what gamers saw in it back then.
3 Mortal Kombat (1992)
Arcade
When Mortal Kombat hit arcades, it was a divisive title. Its gory action was a big draw for most gamers, but it was also a turn-off for parents. Because of this, Mortal Kombat actually helped inspire the ESRB rating system in use today.
Mortal Kombat's brand of dark, intense combat and violent fatalities isn't lost on a new generation of gamers, but its simplistic gameplay certainly is. Newer entries in the series have expanded on the complexity that players have come to expect from a fighting game, but the original Mortal Kombat is even out-shadowed by other fighters from its era that stood up better over time, like Street Fighter 2.
2 Call Of Duty (2003)
PC
Call of Duty is the third-highest-selling game franchise of all time. Its brand of intense first-person shooting and epic multiplayer action made it one of the biggest names on the planet in gaming, and that all started with Call of Duty, released in 2003.
Despite its unprecedented cultural impact as a household name, the original Call of Duty game just doesn't hold up in comparison to modern shooters. Part of that is thanks to the very innovations that subsequent Call of Duty games would introduce, making its own first entry feel dated in the process.
1 Metroid (1986)
NES
While it was extremely influential and helped change the landscape for games at the time, the original Metroid just doesn't have the same great gameplay that even its sequels would have. While it still may be interesting to play as a research project to explore the feel of the start of Metroidvania, the game itself can be skipped.
Metroid's open-world exploration is a little too open, and its controls too clunky to justify engaging in it. For players that want to experience that old-school Metroid feel while also getting a fulfilling experience, its SNES sequel, Super Metroid, is far superior.