Best retro games

How do old games stay popular?

As we've already mentioned, nostalgia often causes us to appreciate older titles. There are also times when you discover an oldie by chance (or led by some recommendations), and you simply dig the gameplay or the general style of one of the old games. In other cases, you might know newer installments in a long-running game series, and you'd like to familiarize yourself with other titles that belong to the same franchise. 

Take DOOM as an example: while we certainly enjoy the 2016 version of the game, it would be quite thrilling to experience it from the perspective of classic games. What has changed, and what new features have been introduced in the newer titles? Playing the classics gives you a much deeper understanding than simply watching videos or reading about them.

Some of the old games were ahead of their time, often offering experiences that feel quite similar to modern titles, albeit with graphics that aren’t as advanced. A great example of this is the platformer genre: while the new Spyro trilogy may have superior visuals compared to the originals, the core gameplay remains largely unchanged.

Iconic retro games on Steam and consoles

There's also a trend of games that have an old-school appearance, which is simply a stylistic choice by their developers. When you look at a title like Jump King, you may think that it's one of the retro games on Steam and consoles that somehow got popular again, but it actually came out in 2019. It's just the way 2D graphics work: they make you perceive a title like that as something from the distant past. This feeling quickly changes into awe as you see how fluid and full of details these nostalgic games can be. 

There are naturally a lot of actual retro games to check out. Give older Fallout games a chance if you fancy an old-school way of making RPGs. Prefer a bit of challenging Metroidvania gameplay with a dose of platforming? Castlevania Advance Collection might be a pleasant experience in that case. Provided you want to compare the past with the present, you should see how different the original Final Fantasy VII is from the remake of the same title.

We can recommend these games for starters; the rest is up to you. There are many approaches from which you can begin your journey with retro games, and there's no right direction: whichever you choose, you're sure to have a blast!

Need more top-notch suggestions? Check out our article about the best old PC games to play in 2026 if you like retro games.