The Bitmob community spends a great deal of its free time discussing new releases and upcoming titles. While waiting in anticipation of the industry's new and improved software is perfectly normal, the summer has offered a meager selection of games. With only a handful of titles left to distract us from the season's sweltering heat, the Bitmob staff asks, "Where da oldies at?"

Going back can be a tough thing to do. Between unbearably pixelated graphics and dated game mechanics, it can be all too easy to give up and return to the online-enabled, antialiased experiences that we so often indulge in. But the Bitmob staff has braved the ancient dangers of 8-bit rendering and control pads in order to provide you with a list of our favorite "go-back" games.

Dan Hsu
Co-Founder

I don’t do a lot of “going back” because I’m always looking ahead at new products. Ironically, I did return to a classic recently, specifically because of a game that hasn’t come out yet.

A couple of weeks ago, Demian and I got to check out Skulls of the Shogun, a turn-based strategy game heavily influenced by Advance Wars. AW kept coming up during that demo and then in the subsequent Mobcast, that it made me and Demian (two big fans) long for the good ol’ days when we used to battle wirelessly across our EGM/1UP offices. So the next time we got together in person for a Bitmob business meeting, we brought our DSes and played out a match of Days of Ruin.

I won, by the way.

Demian Linn
Co-Founder

I don't really revisit older games on any kind of regular basis either, except certain arcade games (like Ivan "Iron Man" Stewart's Super Off Road) that I always play any time I see them.

I do like to always have one game going that I'm playing for a long time, which will sometimes go on for years. Past examples include Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain, EA's NHL series, NFL Blitz, Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and World of Warcraft.

Jason Wilson
Managing Editor

My ultimate go-back games are the X-wing series. I frequently revisit these whenever I'm in the mood for some space combat, something that's sadly missing from far too many games now. I may have escorted the Rebel medical frigate Redemption or foiled Grand Admiral Zaarin's traitorous plot against the Emperor dozens of times, but as this series is one of the best examples of their ilk, I never tire of doing so. I wish LucasArts would make another of these excellent games.

Aaron Thomas
Editor

There are a ton of games that want to go back and revisit, but for the most part, I never get around to them. I'd really like to play Ico again, and I always fancy that I'll give Ocarina of Time another go. I constantly think about replaying Shenmue, though can't imagine I have the patience to do so.

But that's not to say that I never play old games. I have a PlayChoice 10 arcade cabinet, and I give people the beatdown in Tecmo Bowl every couple of months. I also have a ritual in which I beat Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! every year. The day I can no longer handle Iron Mike is the day I retire from the industry.

Brett Bates
Editor

I generally don't go back to games. There's so much out there, and I want to consume it all. I'm the same way with movies and books: I read/watch 'em, put 'em on the shelf, and move on.

That said, I do occasionally stick a favorite puzzler like Picross back into my DS after shelving it for months. It's incredibly easy to dive back into -- no story to remember, no difficult controls to fuss with -- and even after devoting more than 100 hours to it, I still haven't beat all of the puzzles. And that's not even counting the downloadable ones!
 

Greg Ford
Editor

My go-back game isn't one game, but rather one legendary series: Street Fighter 2. A lot of this has to do with the competition. In my younger days, I had a nearby friend who matched my skills just right, so we could play for hours on end deep into the warm summer nights. Any version that appeared on Genesis, we got.

These days, the frequency of play has gone down, but starting with some Street Fighter 2 titles popping up on Xbox Live Arcade (including the excellent HD Remix) and continuing with Street Fighter 4, I have another friend who just can't wait to get a thrashing by my hands online. As anyone addicted to the games will tell you, it's the beautiful chesslike nature of the matches that make any version of the game timeless.

James DeRosa
Editor

Which games have I returned to most often over the years? That has to be a three-way tie between Mega Man 2, Chrono Trigger, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which happen to be my favorite games. Mega Man 2 is fun because I think it has one of  the best soundtracks of all time, and I'm so familiar with it that I basically play it on autopilot. I can just put it in and rock out.

Castlevania appeals to my inner collector. Unlike most games where you collect things (like Achievements), items in Symphony of the Night have tangible effects on your capabilities, and it's fun to move throughout the title's expansive world with your new power-ups. I've gotten the game's max completion rating (200.6%) three times.

The reason I've played Chrono Trigger so many times is because I love the game's fiction. It has a more vibrant, light-hearted appeal than most of Square's other games. It's an epic quest full of characters that are actually likable, not mopey sad sacks. And how can you say no to time traveling and 15 endings?

Jay Henningsen
Editor