I remember playing at laserzone in the 90's, and I would say that it has improved vastly.
There's no point in bothering with what the gun is saying apart from when it tells you to go back to the energiser, and when you do, you can't get shot because your pack is disabled until you reload. I think the guns are better as you no longer have to keep your fingers on the sensor which I personally beleive makes the game worse. As for team games, just ask the guy at the desk and he'll change the game type for you. To be honest I don't see why people should think this place is worse than it used to be, I just count my lucky stars laserzone is still open after all these years, which is surely a testament to how popular it still is.