Do you think using Save States is allowed in Retro Games in today's meta?

[AncientBoi]

I use SAVE STATES.

 

[Windaga]

I've gotten to a point in my life where I do whatever I can to enjoy the game with the limited amount of time I have to spare for it. Whether that's using save states, leaving the game running, unlocking all of the content with a save file - whatever makes the game a more enjoyable experience for me.

With that being said, I can't recall the last time I've used a save state in a retro game that wasn't Pokemon.

 

[FAST6191]

Even back in the 90's saving a game started to appear on NES/SNES games so people could just turn off the console, boot it up, and play from where they were before. Save states are perfectly normal, really.

I do remember during the PS1/PS2 days I didn't have a dang memory card so all of the content I'd unlock, I'd end up losing because I'd turn off the console.

It goes back further still. See something like the Multiface for the Spectrum (1986) -- dumped the RAM to some piece of permanent memory to be restored later (savestate by any other name).

I never use either as I want to play the game the way it was designed to be played.

But what if you can do better than the original designers?

 

[Hanafuda]

Mirror mode all track GP was a nightmare -- all my muscle memory was tuned for 150CC normal. I managed it first time in the end but it was not a sure thing I could lose the last 5 races ....

My problem is I insist on getting 1st place on all 16 tracks in the GP, or else I restart it. That's a condition I set myself when I started replaying the game earlier this year (on actual GC): 1st place in ALL races i.e. not just winning the gold trophy, and all done with Mario/Luigi and the standard cart. I am on the mirror mode GP now, so this WILL happen.

Yeah, I'm a dumbass.

 

[Ventilo]

I recently found something even stronger than save states: rewinding, with Retroarch. I finished the prototype of Super Mario Bros. 2 (where the Select button gives hearts) using the rewind feature and I had fun.

 

[RAHelllord]

I use save states to avoid tedium. Plenty of "hard" games are full of pointless filler to pad the playtime and I will gladly use save states to avoid having to replay a boring section just because the checkpoint for the boss is 5 minutes away.

 

[Ryab]

Previously, I've asked this on my now deactivated Twitter/X account for this question, but I asked this: Do you think using save states is good or not on Retro games? Most people said yeah, especially for those hard NES games people played back in the day, but now it's your turn for users of GBATemp. I wanna hear your thoughts! You can even go into long explanations why you do or don't. I want to hear your thoughts .

Also, congrats to me for making this my first ever poll that I've casted out! I'm pretty much new to making this, so if I'm doing anything wrong, please... inform me as soon as possible. As for my take:

I think that Save states should be allowed if you're struggling through a game that you're trying to beat, no matter what generation of the game you're playing on. However, if you want to play the gaems how you've intended it to be, then go ahead. I personally use them everytime I play a game just for playing it casually, or just for messing around with it. Same thing goes for cheats, however I barely een use cheats becuase I personally don't like using them.

Define allowed?

I mean it comes down to the player. Some people prefer using them, some don't. I used to use them all the time, but nowadays it is very rare that I do.

 

[DragonMals]

Define allowed?

I mean it comes down to the player. Some people prefer using them, some don't. I used to use them all the time, but nowadays it is very rare that I do.

When I mean "allowed" is that I use them or people should use them for the senario I've gave.

 

[IceBlueLugia]

If a game gives me a password I just save state at that spot. Too much hassle to write that down and put it back in, I just take the password screen as a “you’d be able to save here if we could’ve included a battery” so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with save stating there

Hell there’s nothing wrong with save stating anywhere at all. Especially on games where getting one game over means you restart the whole game

 

[DragonMals]

If a game gives me a password I just save state at that spot. Too much hassle to write that down and put it back in, I just take the password screen as a “you’d be able to save here if we could’ve included a battery” so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with save stating there

Hell there’s nothing wrong with save stating anywhere at all. Especially on games where getting one game over means you restart the whole game

Honestly, password systems in old video games always suck. The one in SNES Mystical Ninja can say goodbye. I don't know how no one can memorize a code like that. I would definitely use save states for that cause dealing with that sucks.

Rogues in a nutshell for dying and restarting the whole game lool

 

[Sphaa]

I like to have the option to use save states, like when I wanna test new things or just having some fun. But most of the time I just use it when I stop playing. I feel that a lot the fun disappear if I use it too much.

At the same time I like that people can choose to use it if they want too. If someone want to use save-states all the time just to finally finish a 30 year old game from their childhood that's fine with me - I've done so myself.

 

[User154]

I don't think you should let anyone tell you what is and isn't allowed in a game.

Games exist to be enjoyed, if something helps you to get more enjoyment out of a game then do it. If it allows you to enjoy a game that you otherwise wouldn't have played at all then definitely do it.

 

[Jacobh]

If someone is using save states where they would have otherwise just left the system running, I have no problems with them saying the beat a game.

If you are constantly saving and re-loading to beat areas you otherwise couldn’t, it’s fair to question whether someone really beat the game as intended.

I’m fine using them in either case as I don’t have time to replay the same thing repeatedly like I did when I was 10. Games are about fun and if save states improve your fun, then awesome.

 

[Ligeia]

Of course it's allowed. As far as I know it's legal in every country in the world...

I use them liberally and don't care what people would think of it. I hate wasting my time doing segments over and over and I like to be able to quit playing whenever I want and pick the game up right where I was.

The "real gamer" snottinest has always amused me. People play however they want, games are made to have fun, not to be forced into tedium or to lecture other people in the name of some sort of an imaginary sense of accomplishment because you could beat this or that game without savestates.

Savestates is a neat option, I love it , people who don't want to use it, good for them, just don't tell me how I should play my games.

 

[Jtrovancea2009]

Old Games Are Hard And Sometimes Unfair Such As The Final Boss In Mortal Kombat 3 So Yeah I Use Them And They Are Considered Cheating But I'll Still Use Them To Get The Edge

 

[weestuarty]

This defining i finished the game vs i beat the game is all just utter nonsense. Games are meant to be fun and unless you use cheats in my opinion you beat the game. save states are just that, states, you pick up exactly where you left off being no better or no worse off. If you got beat and loaded a save state does that differ from reloading the last checkpoint or save slot? I tend to use save states in two scenarios: 1. when i have to put off a game right then and there that way i dont just leave devices on draining power and battery being paused 2. If i have been killed/beat at a certain point that i can get to so easily that it becomes tedious and detrimental to my enjoyment of the game by repeating it over and over (it could be a two minute walk to a boss or a 10 min series of simple tasks to a challenge).

Play games for fun, when its not fun its not a game.

To all the "you didnt beat it you just finished it" elitist twats... prob best if i dnt finish that sentence

 

[Vetusomaru]

Video games are meant to be played for fun. And people have different standards for fun. Snobbish crap like "Duuuuur! You're not a real hardcore gamer if you use cheats/saves/whatever" are cringe as hell. Not to mention that even before emulators, many of us used cheat codes, Game Genie etc to "cheat".