vibes of old games

recently i kinda "blew the dust off" an old disk again, because i suddenly remembered the games i used to play on my dad's laptop when i was really small. now, replaying some of them, i finally get why they pulled me in so much back then, and honestly even now i’m ready to waste like 5 hours just playing them non-stop.

so, what games did i fall in love with again out of all that stuff? only three: Zuma Deluxe, Treasure Island (by NevoSoft), and Astro Fury. each of them has this weird familiar charm, this "im finally home" feeling. even Angry Birds never gave me that, even though it was also a part of my childhood. but these three… idk, they just give me that vibe of relaxation and freedom.

Music

back then and now — all of them have amazing soundtracks. Astro Fury for me is basically the definition of that oldschool sound that VERY MUCH opens up some strange world inside me, like a puzzle assembling itself together with those sounds.

Zuma Deluxe's music is technically based on a single main track, which they reuse cleverly, but still sounds unique and perfectly captures the atmosphere.

Treasure Island gives you calm and melodic tracks while you play, and when you win — it gives you energy and that exact "victory" feeling (and something funny too).

Gameplay

these days, of course, those games aren't some huge breakthrough. thats obvious. but personally, i get hooked on games that just ARE games, yk? not saying modern fast-paced, explosive, action-movie-looking games are bad — they re cool, all those colorful explosions, wood splinters flying around, fast chases in racing games… but sometimes you just wanna chill. especially in a game without internet(rare for me, but lets pretend my internet dies sometimes, k?). thats when these simple but insanely addictive classics come to help.

TI is a match-3 game that rewards you with silly dancing skeletons when you win.

ZD is ...also match-3 BUT it evolved that idea way better by putting a frog that shoots at a rolling chain (and btw i bought it on steam).

AF is an arcade shooter where every time you blow up an enemy ship you can get a bonus rocket, which helps you destroy a bigger wave of enemies faster.

honestly idk what else to write. reading it back, the text feels kinda messy, but whatever — i tried to talk about the old games i still replay sometimes. their music feels familiar and warm. the gameplay is simple, but it keeps you staying "just a couple more hours". even some other games were inspired by these — for example "Giza" by MumboJumbo Games has a ReadMe.txt in the game folder saying: "If you loved "Zuma", then you will loves this!". and yeah, i can recommend Giza too, its made in a really unique ancient-egypt style.