[mklim]

I've had the exact same experience. Every time I boot up SM64 or OOT everything looks so blocky compared to how I remember it looking as a kid, it momentarily surprises me every time. In my memories the graphics are on par with AAA games now.

Picked up a Vive a few months ago--Valve created a program for it called Destinations where people can upload 3D environments with optional simple animation triggers, and you can teleport through the environment in VR. Somebody uploaded the exterior of Princess Peach's castle and the Shadow Temple boss area to it. Checking out Peach's castle in the headset was breathtaking, got that same kick to my chest and feeling of wonder I remember having as a kid and felt like I really recognized the environment in a way I didn't when I booted the games up in emulators. Being there in VR made the graphics look worse--the tiny textures originally meant to be viewed on a CRT get blown up across the several literal football fields and the polygons are huge sharp edges several feet across for the hills. I'm not sure why it provoked that emotional response in me. I would guess that I felt more immersed, and that immersion affected my perceptions as a kid.

[richforrester]

It's the coolest trick our minds played on us.

Think back to the Nes and SNes era (apologies, I'm a Nintendo fanboy) and the booklets you always got with them. You might recall those booklets had character art in them.

I'm fairly convinced that because of that type of artwork, in combination with a lively fantasy, we recall our childhood heroes as real beings, rather than polygons or even pixels on a screen.

This, in combination with the power of empathy, has resulted in lively memories of heroes and villains duking it out in epic battles... that when revisited can take a while to get back into :)

[brandnewlow]

I wholeheartedly agree. The art in the original Zelda manual let my brain paint over the graphics with something much more evocative. The anticipation I felt the first time I leafed through it is a vivid childhood memory. My sense of adventure was stoked!

http://www.infendo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/1277784470...

[tinco]

If you want to re-experience OOT with graphics that work on high res displays, look on the web for the Djipi Cell pack. It makes the game cellshaded, like the wind waker, which makes it actually look very nice.

That said, if you want to experience a truly good Zelda with perfect graphics on any display (even the Vive), try out the Wind Waker on Dolphin. It is arguably the best Zelda ever made, and it looks absolutely stunning on modern hardware.