Trying to have fun with Vintage offshoots

My small playgroup of players have been playing off and on since the beginning. We often reminsce about the "old days" of magic, when most decks were 3 colors, had Serra Angles, Disenchants, Counterspells, Library, STP etc, etc. Straight forward games, very swingy, lots of comebacks, and perfect for multiplayer. Each person would slightly customize their own deck (most were U/W/G) with Serendibs, or Juggernauts, or splashable cards (fireball, Demonic). We also loved to put together Zak Dolan's championship deck versus Bertrands (vintage worlds 1995).

As much as I love Tournament-Style Vintage, when we get together it is usually three of us and all we want to do is chill out, play some fun games of magic, and spend quality time. That usually does not include combo, stax, tog, or other Tier one decks. Those decks are also especially tough for multiplayer. And worst of all, it usually does not allow room for "fun" cards that we love (future sight, mishra's factory) or for personal customization of deck. We also do not play with sideboards, so every deck has to have multiple answers.

We decided to create a different format that would allow us to play like the old days, but also introduce new cards. We tried doing true highlander (with no Power Nine) and it worked moderately well, but with the powered cards of today, comebacks were few and far between, and the back and forth battles were replaced with mana screw or LoAlexandria domination.

Does anyone else have a similar situation that they are trying out, or should we just put together circa 2003 keeper decks (pre-Scrying) and live in the keeper mirror forever?

JB