Games Inbox: What is the best retro video game?

The Monday letters page asks how anyone finds time to play video games, as one reader questions the idea of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe.

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My definition
Since I haven’t got a Switch 2 and the summer game drought is here, I started looking into playing some retro games instead. It’s not too unusual for me to do that but over the years I have found myself become increasingly less tolerant of some older games and their ways.

So that got me thinking about what is the best retro game that’s actually still playable today? It’s probably Tetris, but I haven’t got an old version of that, so I thought instead it might be Street Fighter 2. I’ve got a few old versions and I put it on for a spin and it really is amazing how much fun it still is.

Of course, it looks old but the gameplay is still basically the same as all the other modern versions today, including Street Fighter 6. Even the controls are the same if you use them that way. What other game can say the same, at least in terms of how specific the controls and action in Street Fighter are. Just the definition of a classic.
Taylor Moon

Bottom of the barrel
I’ve seen some suggestions that Nintendo should make Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe, in the same vein as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. As long as it has an upgrade path like the Zelda games, I would be totally for this.

I would assume it would have at least a few new characters, but the problem is who would they be? I don’t see that Nintendo has anyone left they could do and not only does that create a problem in terms of selling new content but it also kind of emphasises how Nintendo are not making anything new.

I guess they could make one of the wheelchair players from Drag X Drive a fighter but that doesn’t seem likely, but it’s literally the only new IP they’ve announced so far for the Switch 2. Unless they’re going to do Duskbloods.
Skybaot

Amazing wait
I do feel that Insomniac are overacting a bit to the hack, if that’s the reason Wolverine is taking so long. Maybe I’m missing something about what was revealed but I don’t feel finding out it was a third person action game was some kind of shocking surprise that they had to redesign the whole game because of it.

Even if code was stolen, I’m not seeing what difference that would make in terms of what the final game is, but I guess they have their reasons.

If they’ve got three games underway then that’s great but if we’ve not heard of two of them then they’re not going to be out for years yet, so it’s kind of irrelevant. Spider-Man 2 was only two years ago but it feels much more than that to me. It wasn’t though, so that means we have to wait and wait to get anything else new.
Tasker

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Finding the time
How do you play Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom?

I don’t mean, what weapon is the best or which shield to use. I mean, how do you play it to completion? I’ve sunk hours and hours into it and I’ve not even touched the surface. Thing is I know Donkey Kong Bananza is around the corner and I’ve been holding off getting Monster Train 2 because of Zelda. I’m not a young gamer by any stretch of the imagination and I’m loving Zelda, but because of work commitments I can only get through so much. It’s a travesty to me that I likely won’t get near to finishing it because there’s always the draw of the next game (let’s not forget GTA also).

Do people play these lengthy games to completion or do they put them down to return to them at a future date, often forgetting what it was they were doing in it six months ago.

I’m persevering, Donkey Kong is on order though and, as I said, I’ve held off getting Monster Train 2 but the seed is forever planted.

Damn you Nintendo, for making such beautiful games.
Anon

Price of success
RE: the letter about Halo being ‘of its time’.

I think the problem with gaming is that once a groundbreaking game comes out it gets ripped off, copied, and improved upon, so if you miss it at the time then it doesn’t feel quite so special.

I personally love the Bungie Halos – from the music and gunplay to the excellent AI, that makes every playthrough unique – but I now accept it’s pretty much a dead franchise. Shame.
Simon

Very good advice
I picked up a Switch 2 from Very, using their 12 months Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) option. Good service, will use them again, but how payments are structured is a bit convoluted.

The BNPL balance is separate from your account balance. Your account balance will include any non-BNPL purchases but also insurances or interest from your BNPL balance. Any payment to the account balance will not reduce or apply to the BNPL balance.

When making a payment you have to select if it’s for your account or the BNPL balance.

I had the payment and interest deferred BNPL for 12 months option, so didn’t understand why it said I had to make a minimum payment of £3.99 on my first statement. As it is, I paid off my entire BNPL balance along with paying the £3.99 account balance just to be sure.

It turned out the £3.99 was for postage, which wasn’t included on the BNPL order and charged to my account balance on the first statement three weeks after the items were ordered and arrived.

If I hadn’t of paid that off and assumed clearing my BNPL amount would cover it, I would of received a late payment charge the next month.

So the TLDR is make sure you pay the minimum amount even if you do have BNPL with Very.
Simundo

Nom de plume
Did you see that Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox, published by PlayStation Publishing?

Pretty big shift from PlayStation, no longer pushing things through a third party publisher onto other platforms.
Magnumstache

GC: It’s interesting, but it’s still not Sony Interactive Entertainment, which is the label they publish games under on the PlayStation 5. PlayStation Publishing was set up for publishing PC games.

Trust issues
Time for Xbox to choose: people before profits, purpose over posturing

For two decades, Xbox has been a symbol of gaming possibility – bringing worlds to life, elevating artistry, and fostering community. But now, amidst shifting market strategies, unprecedented acquisitions, and heartbreakingly routine layoffs, Xbox finds itself at a crossroads.

The time for ambiguity is over. It must declare its path clearly: commit to being a third party publisher and cloud gaming powerhouse or risk losing more than market share – it risks losing trust, integrity, and the very soul of what gaming means to millions.

Xbox’s transformation has been whispered across boardrooms and debated in forums: is the hardware still the priority? Are exclusive titles still the north star? With the growing emphasis on Game Pass, the expansion onto rival platforms, and the monumental investment into cloud infrastructure, the writing feels etched across the digital sky.

Xbox no longer wants to play only within its own console kingdom – it wants to provide the kingdom itself.

Yet, while the vision expands, the cost has been cruel. Studios shuttered. Developers blindsided. Talented people – storytellers, coders, artists – let go like disposable assets in a corporate campaign. The very people whose ingenuity built the worlds we cherish are finding out their jobs are gone. It’s bad.

This isn’t bold leadership. This is corporate camouflage.

If Xbox truly believes in a future beyond the console – where Game Pass reigns across screens and where its IPs are liberated from platform exclusivity – it should stop hinting and start owning it. Embracing a third party identity doesn’t mean surrender. It means evolution.

A Game Pass app on every screen, platform, and ecosystem. No more tribalism, just access.

But Xbox must be transparent and do so before no one trusts them ever again.
BaldB3lper

Inbox also-rans
I’m actually kind of surprised we’ve never had a Resident Evil Tactics games before. This mobile game isn’t that but if they did something like XCOM with zombies I’d be interested.
Pogo

I’m going to call it now, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is going to win all the game of the year awards this year, I just don’t see what other contender there could be.
Whistler

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

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