Max Payne isn't that great. It's not a matter of player skill so much as it is that the game itself is clunky and the game doesn't give the player enough options for self-defense.

In contrast, Max Payne 2 is a masterpiece and the pinnacle of the whole genre. The only thing wrong with it is that it's way too short.

excusez-moi monsieur mais etes-vous mal? (o_O)

Ehhh, I thought MP1 was pretty easy as far as TPS's go, the only real challenge I remember was the Jack Lupino fight.

Great, now I want to replay Max Payne 1-2, mainly to see how hard they are (or were) for me. I presume it was like some mentioned: it is not that much about getting stuck or anything, but just having to savescum and do repetition over and over again. So it is more about perseverance than about having exceptionally good reflexes and eye-hand coordination.

So Max Payne 1 works fine on modern PCs, then? I've wondered lately whether they fall to the games that are super-hard to get going on modern PCs, especially Windows 10. I guess at least a no-CD crack is probably needed, as Windows 10 considers old CD copy protections as malware now, blocking them completely.

I played through Max Payne multiple times when I was a kid. Don't recall having too much difficulty with it.

Finished the game with cheats - also had a hard time with the game but it's a very cool one.

Gotta be this (I remember finding the first game - Sands of Time I think? absolutely gorgeous at the time). Like you said sort of washed out, a bit grainy.

The Legacy of Kain / Raz-whoever games jump to mind too. Sort of that "bright but faded / grainy" contrast.

Nope, I did an overseas volunteer thing and taught in Georgia for a year. It was a super great experience, almost wish I stayed there like a couple guys I knew did. Got them some Georgian wives and good tutoring jobs and never left. I had a wife to come home to though. We used the volunteer year for her to stay with her parents and finish her B.S.N.