I bought the Retro-Bit Jaleco Brawlers pack for SNES, and PIKO’s release of 40 Winks for N64. I couldn’t believe how low quality everything looked and felt. And with 40 Winks the sound on the game was really low volume. I’ve since sold them both.
What this has taught me is that I’ll never buy these “new releases for old consoles” ever again. They’re just low quality charged at premium prices.
This looks excellent, I’ll be downloading it as soon as I can. I played and completed this a few years, but the battery has since died so I lost my save. It is excellent on the Super Game Boy but this gives me an excuse to play it again on my Game Boy Color
Shame this game isn’t anywhere near as good as the first Vandal Hearts game. I played it straight after finishing the first one and really didn’t like it. I can’t remember what it was now, I just know I’d barely played it for an hour and could already tell I didn’t like it, I bounced straight off it.
I don’t recall ever having a Game & Watch growing up, although I definitely had other similar ones.
I’ve recently got into the Game & Watch gallery games on Game Boy. I particularly like Vermin and Fire, they’re just so addictive. There’s something pure about them, like Tetris, which is why they’ll always be timeless.
@LastFootnote oh gosh yes, I never noticed that before. I’ve never had an Xbox nor Dreamcast, so I could never get used to that layout. Decades of muscle memory have put a stop to that. I can just about manage going between PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. Though I do still sometimes mix up the X button, and the differing placement of confirm and cancel buttons gets me too.
I need to hack one of my 3DSes. I don’t want to touch the Zelda ones, so it will have to be the New 3DS I have. I’ve always been put off by the fact you can’t reverse it once it’s hacked.
Last time I looked into it there were like a billion steps to go through, and there was never any explanation as to why you were doing things or what all the stuff you were adding did. I like to understand the whats and whys when hacking. It was a few years ago when I looked into it, so hopefully it’s improved. Being able to play VB games in 3D really does tempt me.
This was really interesting, thank you! I played the first AA game back in about 2010 or 2011, on the iPhone no less. And it made me a lifelong fan. So clearly they did a great job with the translation. I was literally hooked from the first case. Such a great game series.
PAL Mega Drive, NTSC Genesis, Mega Everdrive Pro and RGB Scart cable is all I need.
I used to have a PAL Mega Drive with the 50/60hz and language switches. Never worked right. Forcing 60hz on PAL games never looked right, and it never worked properly with Genesis games either. I much prefer just having two consoles and playing the games they were intended for, works much better.
@PMurphy1978 no idea if you still frequent this site, but as you’re ignoring my emails I don’t know what else to do. I ordered two books from you over three weeks ago. I’ve heard nothing since and you’re not replying to my emails. My wife ordered another book from you afterwards and that was posted out and received in good time. No idea what’s going on. If there’s a delay then please just tell me. If I don’t hear from you soon I’ll have to request a chargeback from my bank.
I have never once played any game (retro or modern) wishing it had achievements / trophies / medals / badges / commendations / smiley faces / ticks, or whatever nonsense it is games have these days.
I remember once seeing a comment somewhere where the internet person basically said “there was no point in games without trophies”. How ridiculous. Although that person’s parents wouldn’t have received a trophy for giving birth to them, so in that context it makes sense.
I’m much better at games now (early 40s) than I ever was as a kid and teenager. I can only imagine how good I’ll be in my 80s. Probably the next speed-running champion.
It’s not worth $10k if nobody’s bought it for that price. I can list my yellowed cart of Super Mario Land on the Game Boy for $10k. Then according to the internet, that’s what it’s worth. I’m rich!
C’mon. It’s 2025. Surely they all know by now we weren’t that into Nintendo in the 80s and 90s, for the same reasons repeated in this article and many times over the past decades? Is it really that difficult to understand?
Despite never having an Amiga or owning this game, I still have massive nostalgia for the first GP game.
My best friend had an Amiga which I was fascinated by when I went to his house. It was some mysterious machine that took loads of effort just to load a game, but when it did the games looked so far ahead of their time. This game in particular. I couldn’t believe it was true 3D (I was used to Outrun style racing games at the time). I vividly recall being blown away by things like buildings on the side, the men waving flags and, best of all, when a car crashes out you’d see it being winched off the track the following lap! It was amazing to my child eyes.
I much prefer the soundtrack of the first Wipeout game to any of the others, and that’s purely for the Cold Storage tracks. I loved it at the time. I used to play the disc in my hi-fi, and always forgot to skip track 1 straight away, so got that horrible data noise coming through. Why does it make that sound?
Not really into digital versions of books like this. Where you have to zoom in and out constantly to appreciate it. Shame it’s already sold out physically, I don’t recall ever seeing it advertised. Oh well, I’m sure there will be YouTube videos of ‘influencers’ reviewing a physical book I can no longer buy. And if I’m lucky someone on eBay will sell a used copy for double the price.
I’m currently playing through the DX hack of Final Fantasy Adventure / Mystic Quest / Seiken Densetsu. (I can’t believe it has a different name for each major region!).
It certainly looks better than the non-colourised version. I’m quite enjoying the game. It’s difficult playing it now in 2025, but if I’d played this back in the day I would have loved it. It’s cool seeing stuff that I recognise from Secret of Mana too.
This is my favourite of the Castlevania games I’ve played so far. I do still have to play SotN, a couple of the GBA ones and all the DS ones, so maybe that view will change. Although I’m really not into all the RPG and card collecting nonsense, so maybe not.
This was really interesting to read, thank you. It sounds like they did a great job with the translation.
I played FFIX a few years ago, on the PS1, for the first time. I never played it originally and read good things about it, but I have to say I didn’t really enjoy it much. I don’t know why specifically, whether it’s because I’m just not into JRPGs like I used to be, or because I don’t have that connection to it like I did FFVII or earlier ones.
Great read, thanks. I do like this game, despite never actually finishing it myself.
The Japanese version has an extra scene or two in the opening cinematic, where the prince is getting beaten while chained to the wall, which was cut from the European/US release. I guess because we can’t handle it or something.
He isn’t one of the main content creators I eat co on YouTube, but I have enjoyed numerous videos of his over the years so hopefully this means there will be more for me to enjoy in the future too.
As someone who really doesn’t like clear cases on electronics (it makes the aesthetics look busy and messy to my eye), you can imagine how much I’m not a fan of this 🤣
However, I didn’t realise clear PCBs were a thing so that’s cool. And I’ve recently started basic soldering myself, so I can only dream of having the skill to solder this together when the board has a melting point of 200c. Kudos to their skill!
I really need to play this. I’ve had it for the GameCube for years, but for whatever reason never get around to playing it. I like the sound of it too, I think I’d enjoy it….
I love how they’ve made that living room space look like it’s just come out of the early 80s. If I could ever have a games room, I’d aim for something like that, although I’d probably aim for an early 90s look. So a more modern CRT, and ancillary details like an Aiwa stack hi-fi system and some cans of Skol lager 🤣
I got one of Hyperkin’s SNES clone consoles (I forget the name). It was pretty bad. I recall it looked ok when everything was still, but the moment there was movement it just went all blurry and weird looking. Plus the audio delay was really off-putting (why is there always audio delay on these types of devices?). I can handle a bit of audio delay but this was really obvious and distracted from just enjoying the game. There was also noticeable input lag. I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to input lag, but I couldn’t forgive this.
I returned it for a refund and it’s put me off ever buying a Hyperkin product ever again.
@RupeeClock not only that, but its save data can only work on one version at a time, so if you had save data for the GBC version, and popped it in a DMG/Pocket, it would wipe the save data (with a warning first I believe) before it would let you start that version of the game. Very strange!
Hopefully they sell enough copies on Steam and on the Switch and PS5 for this to not really matter to them. It’s reviewed well and is priced well too, so fingers crossed.
Personally I much prefer the OG controller for N64 games. Certainly the exclusives. They need the longer handle and the longer stick, it just feels better and more accurate. Each to their own though.
Has any technical info been released on this system yet? I’d be interested to see how it compares with Analogue’s take on the N64, hopefully someone does a comparison if/when they release.
Not a game I knew about before this article, but I enjoyed reading this none-the-less. Thanks. I’ll have to give the soundtrack a listen, everyone is mentioning how good it is.
@RupeeClock also how do you find it to play games on? Does it feel responsive etc? I find the GBCs with the Funnyplaying screens, aftermarket shells and buttons feel horrible to play. They may have amazing looking screens, but the games feel unresponsive and it doesn’t always recognise button presses. I much prefer having everything original, with just a basic drop-in IPS screen so you can actually see it. Im just wondering which side of the camp the Chromatic falls into. (Sorry for the questions, it’s just nice to hear the experience from a real person rather than a YouTuber wanting those likes!).
@RupeeClock can you remember what it cost you total from Dragonbox shop in GBP? I see the 1st edition listed on their site for 200EUR (though out of stock obviously), but there would have been postage and (probably) duty to cover on top of that.
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Re: Bandai Namco Is Holding A Big Event Next Year With Live DJs To Celebrate Rave Racer's 30th Anniversary
I thought this was about Rage Racer on PS1 at first. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Rave Racer before, I’ll have to check it out.
Re: Gallery: Unboxing Retro-Bit's 'R.C. Pro-Am II' And 'Battletoads & Double Dragon' Re-Releases
I bought the Retro-Bit Jaleco Brawlers pack for SNES, and PIKO’s release of 40 Winks for N64. I couldn’t believe how low quality everything looked and felt. And with 40 Winks the sound on the game was really low volume. I’ve since sold them both.
What this has taught me is that I’ll never buy these “new releases for old consoles” ever again. They’re just low quality charged at premium prices.
Re: Gaming Legend Rebecca Heineman Could Really Do With Your Positive Vibes Right Now
Isn’t she the lady who ported Doom to 3DO in like 7 hours? You should have mentioned that Time Extension, come on!
Re: Why Not Kick Off The Spooky Season With This New Unofficial GBA Port Of An SNES Horror Classic?
@Professor_Icepick I don’t know why you’re getting grief. Your explanation makes perfect sense.
Re: Miyamoto's "Forgotten" Game Boy Masterpiece Mole Mania Gets The Unofficial 'DX' Treatment
This looks excellent, I’ll be downloading it as soon as I can. I played and completed this a few years, but the battery has since died so I lost my save. It is excellent on the Super Game Boy but this gives me an excuse to play it again on my Game Boy Color
Re: Anniversary: Mean Machines, The UK's Greatest Console Magazine, Turns 35 Today
Why was he called Radion Automatic?
Re: Review: GameBook: The Unofficial DMG Companion
@PMurphy1978 I’ve received your email now, thanks for sorting everything out. I look forward to receiving my order!
Re: 26 Years On, The Mystery Of Vandal Hearts II's Gradius Weapon Has Finally Been Solved
Shame this game isn’t anywhere near as good as the first Vandal Hearts game. I played it straight after finishing the first one and really didn’t like it. I can’t remember what it was now, I just know I’d barely played it for an hour and could already tell I didn’t like it, I bounced straight off it.
Re: Game Changer: Donkey Kong II Game & Watch - My First Ever Taste Of Video Games
I don’t recall ever having a Game & Watch growing up, although I definitely had other similar ones.
I’ve recently got into the Game & Watch gallery games on Game Boy. I particularly like Vermin and Fire, they’re just so addictive. There’s something pure about them, like Tetris, which is why they’ll always be timeless.
Re: City Connection Is Resurrecting A Classic R-Type Game Boy Color Game For Modern Platforms
Doesn’t the GBC cart of this have the two original GB games and then the DX/GBC enhanced versions of those, so kinda four games in one?
Re: Review: The 2025 Evercade EXP-R And VS-R Models Please Me As A Nintendo Fan
@LastFootnote oh gosh yes, I never noticed that before. I’ve never had an Xbox nor Dreamcast, so I could never get used to that layout. Decades of muscle memory have put a stop to that. I can just about manage going between PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. Though I do still sometimes mix up the X button, and the differing placement of confirm and cancel buttons gets me too.
Re: Forget Nintendo Switch, You Probably Own A Great Way To Play Virtual Boy Games Already
I need to hack one of my 3DSes. I don’t want to touch the Zelda ones, so it will have to be the New 3DS I have. I’ve always been put off by the fact you can’t reverse it once it’s hacked.
Last time I looked into it there were like a billion steps to go through, and there was never any explanation as to why you were doing things or what all the stuff you were adding did. I like to understand the whats and whys when hacking. It was a few years ago when I looked into it, so hopefully it’s improved. Being able to play VB games in 3D really does tempt me.
Re: "They Were Pretty Sure It Was Not Going To Do Well" - How Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Was Brought To The West
This was really interesting, thank you! I played the first AA game back in about 2010 or 2011, on the iPhone no less. And it made me a lifelong fan. So clearly they did a great job with the translation. I was literally hooked from the first case. Such a great game series.
Re: Mega SmartDrive Is "The Ultimate Accessory" For Your Genesis / Mega Drive
PAL Mega Drive, NTSC Genesis, Mega Everdrive Pro and RGB Scart cable is all I need.
I used to have a PAL Mega Drive with the 50/60hz and language switches. Never worked right. Forcing 60hz on PAL games never looked right, and it never worked properly with Genesis games either. I much prefer just having two consoles and playing the games they were intended for, works much better.
Re: Review: GameBook: The Unofficial DMG Companion
@PMurphy1978 no idea if you still frequent this site, but as you’re ignoring my emails I don’t know what else to do. I ordered two books from you over three weeks ago. I’ve heard nothing since and you’re not replying to my emails. My wife ordered another book from you afterwards and that was posted out and received in good time. No idea what’s going on. If there’s a delay then please just tell me. If I don’t hear from you soon I’ll have to request a chargeback from my bank.
Re: 40 Years After It Launched, This Fan-Made Remake Has Given Us The Ultimate Way To Play Super Mario Bros.
“ better level design”. Quite the bold claim.
Re: Nintendo Wii Games Are Finally Getting RetroAchievement Support Next Year
I have never once played any game (retro or modern) wishing it had achievements / trophies / medals / badges / commendations / smiley faces / ticks, or whatever nonsense it is games have these days.
I remember once seeing a comment somewhere where the internet person basically said “there was no point in games without trophies”. How ridiculous. Although that person’s parents wouldn’t have received a trophy for giving birth to them, so in that context it makes sense.
Re: "You Still Can't Beat Me" - 100-Year-Old Grandma Plays Her Super Famicom Every Day
I’m much better at games now (early 40s) than I ever was as a kid and teenager. I can only imagine how good I’ll be in my 80s. Probably the next speed-running champion.
Re: One Of The Virtual Boy Games Coming To Switch Is "Worth $10,000"
It’s not worth $10k if nobody’s bought it for that price. I can list my yellowed cart of Super Mario Land on the Game Boy for $10k. Then according to the internet, that’s what it’s worth. I’m rich!
Re: Who Is Chris Houlihan? One Of The Greatest Zelda Mysteries May Have Been Solved
What next? Someone will track down all the actors from the live action sequences in Resident Evil 1.
Re: Random: "That's Wild" - The Fact That Two French Devs Didn't Play Nintendo As Kids Appears To Have Upset Some People
C’mon. It’s 2025. Surely they all know by now we weren’t that into Nintendo in the 80s and 90s, for the same reasons repeated in this article and many times over the past decades? Is it really that difficult to understand?
Re: The Making Of: Geoff Crammond's Formula One Grand Prix Series
Despite never having an Amiga or owning this game, I still have massive nostalgia for the first GP game.
My best friend had an Amiga which I was fascinated by when I went to his house. It was some mysterious machine that took loads of effort just to load a game, but when it did the games looked so far ahead of their time. This game in particular. I couldn’t believe it was true 3D (I was used to Outrun style racing games at the time). I vividly recall being blown away by things like buildings on the side, the men waving flags and, best of all, when a car crashes out you’d see it being winched off the track the following lap! It was amazing to my child eyes.
Re: WipEout's Getting Another Soundtrack This Year
I much prefer the soundtrack of the first Wipeout game to any of the others, and that’s purely for the Cold Storage tracks. I loved it at the time. I used to play the disc in my hi-fi, and always forgot to skip track 1 straight away, so got that horrible data noise coming through. Why does it make that sound?
Re: "It Just Hasn't Worked" - Arcade That Raised £3,000 In Two Days Will Close This Month
Not really surprised. It’s not like £3k goes very far these days, and it certainly won’t turn around a business if it’s unviable in the first place.
Re: 'One More Win' Is The Ultimate Love Letter To Ridge Racer Type 4
Not really into digital versions of books like this. Where you have to zoom in and out constantly to appreciate it. Shame it’s already sold out physically, I don’t recall ever seeing it advertised. Oh well, I’m sure there will be YouTube videos of ‘influencers’ reviewing a physical book I can no longer buy. And if I’m lucky someone on eBay will sell a used copy for double the price.
Re: Four Classic Final Fantasy Games Have Just Got The "DX" Treatment For Game Boy Color
I’m currently playing through the DX hack of Final Fantasy Adventure / Mystic Quest / Seiken Densetsu. (I can’t believe it has a different name for each major region!).
It certainly looks better than the non-colourised version. I’m quite enjoying the game. It’s difficult playing it now in 2025, but if I’d played this back in the day I would have loved it. It’s cool seeing stuff that I recognise from Secret of Mana too.
Re: Game Changer: Super Castlevania IV - Why Simon Belmont's 16-bit Debut Is A Stone-Cold Classic
This is my favourite of the Castlevania games I’ve played so far. I do still have to play SotN, a couple of the GBA ones and all the DS ones, so maybe that view will change. Although I’m really not into all the RPG and card collecting nonsense, so maybe not.
Re: Interview: "Localization's Come A Long Way In The Last 25 Years" - The Incredible Story Behind Final Fantasy IX's Epic Translation
This was really interesting to read, thank you. It sounds like they did a great job with the translation.
I played FFIX a few years ago, on the PS1, for the first time. I never played it originally and read good things about it, but I have to say I didn’t really enjoy it much. I don’t know why specifically, whether it’s because I’m just not into JRPGs like I used to be, or because I don’t have that connection to it like I did FFVII or earlier ones.
Re: Feature: "Like A Completely New Game" - The Untold Story Behind Prince Of Persia's Impressive SNES Port
Great read, thanks. I do like this game, despite never actually finishing it myself.
The Japanese version has an extra scene or two in the opening cinematic, where the prince is getting beaten while chained to the wall, which was cut from the European/US release. I guess because we can’t handle it or something.
Re: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Will Be The Next NES Classic To Get A Native SNES Port
Hopefully this ends up looking and sounding like a SNES game, and doesn’t have a 500 piece orchestra performing the soundtrack via the MSU.
Re: "I Lost Myself" - Nostalgia Nerd Opens Up On "Starting Again"
He isn’t one of the main content creators I eat co on YouTube, but I have enjoyed numerous videos of his over the years so hopefully this means there will be more for me to enjoy in the future too.
Re: This Custom Game Boy Color Takes A Forgotten '90s Hardware Trend To The Next Logical Stage
As someone who really doesn’t like clear cases on electronics (it makes the aesthetics look busy and messy to my eye), you can imagine how much I’m not a fan of this 🤣
However, I didn’t realise clear PCBs were a thing so that’s cool. And I’ve recently started basic soldering myself, so I can only dream of having the skill to solder this together when the board has a melting point of 200c. Kudos to their skill!
Re: The Making Of: Chibi-Robo - How Miyamoto Saved A Cult Hit From The Scrapheap
I really need to play this. I’ve had it for the GameCube for years, but for whatever reason never get around to playing it. I like the sound of it too, I think I’d enjoy it….
Right that’s it then, play it I shall!
Re: DreadXP Rolls Dice With Promising New Black & White Love Letter To Old School RPGs
This looks like the artwork from the Puffin first run of Fighting Fantasy game books. It looks great!
Re: "I've Put My Entire Heart & Soul Into Creating This Tribute To The Past" - Arcade 'Blast From The Past' Set To Close
I love how they’ve made that living room space look like it’s just come out of the early 80s. If I could ever have a games room, I’d aim for something like that, although I’d probably aim for an early 90s look. So a more modern CRT, and ancillary details like an Aiwa stack hi-fi system and some cans of Skol lager 🤣
Re: "No Generative AI Was Used In Earthion's Final Version" - Yuzo Koshiro Debunks GenAI Rumour
Damn I spent hours polishing my pitchfork too. Seems a waste to just use it on the veg patch now.
Re: Three Years Later, And Hyperkin's PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Clone Is Finally Coming Out
I got one of Hyperkin’s SNES clone consoles (I forget the name). It was pretty bad. I recall it looked ok when everything was still, but the moment there was movement it just went all blurry and weird looking. Plus the audio delay was really off-putting (why is there always audio delay on these types of devices?). I can handle a bit of audio delay but this was really obvious and distracted from just enjoying the game. There was also noticeable input lag. I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to input lag, but I couldn’t forgive this.
I returned it for a refund and it’s put me off ever buying a Hyperkin product ever again.
Re: The Story Of Jet Set Radio's Unexpected Journey From Dreamcast To Game Boy Advance
I’ve never played JSR, as I’ve never had a Dreamcast (and have no plans to ever get one).
Looking at the list of platforms it’s on, it seems PS3 is the only system I have. Is the PS3 version any good?
Re: Rare And The ZX Spectrum Are Coming To Evercade
@RupeeClock not only that, but its save data can only work on one version at a time, so if you had save data for the GBC version, and popped it in a DMG/Pocket, it would wipe the save data (with a warning first I believe) before it would let you start that version of the game. Very strange!
Re: "It's Easier To Just Walk Away" - Developer Of PS1 Emulator DuckStation Threatens To End Linux Support
I hope he pulls it. Just so I can read the next article about random entitled internet people going off on one. I find it entertaining.
Re: "Please Support Us" Pleads Yuzo Koshiro As Pirated Earthion ROM Appears Online
Hopefully they sell enough copies on Steam and on the Switch and PS5 for this to not really matter to them. It’s reviewed well and is priced well too, so fingers crossed.
Re: This Keio Flying Squadron 2 Patch Fixes A Decades-Old Crime Against American Saturn Fans
@Guru_Larry those were the days.
Re: The Analogue 64 Might Be Delayed, But You Can Lovingly Fondle Its Controller Ahead Of Schedule
Personally I much prefer the OG controller for N64 games. Certainly the exclusives. They need the longer handle and the longer stick, it just feels better and more accurate. Each to their own though.
Re: Palmer Luckey's Nintendo 64 Clone Will Cost $199 For Early Adopters
Has any technical info been released on this system yet? I’d be interested to see how it compares with Analogue’s take on the N64, hopefully someone does a comparison if/when they release.
Re: The Making Of: Utopia - The Creation Of A Nation, Gremlin Graphics' SimCity In Space
Not a game I knew about before this article, but I enjoyed reading this none-the-less. Thanks. I’ll have to give the soundtrack a listen, everyone is mentioning how good it is.
Re: Bitmap Bureau's Upcoming Terminator Game Has Suffered A Delay
That last paragraph in the article. Is this being planned to be released on retro consoles at some point?
Re: Talking Point: If You Think AI Can Make SNES Games, We Have Some Magic Beans We'd Love To Sell You
Who is Al Bros? Is it short for Alan Brosnan? He gets mentioned quite a few times in the article but I’ve never heard of him.
Re: WayForward Distances Itself From ModRetro's Re-Release Of Sabrina: Zapped! On Game Boy Color
So, erm…. I like the pink colour of the cartridge.
Re: ModRetro's Chromatic Is Back In Stock, Alongside Sabrina The Teenage Witch
@RupeeClock also how do you find it to play games on? Does it feel responsive etc? I find the GBCs with the Funnyplaying screens, aftermarket shells and buttons feel horrible to play. They may have amazing looking screens, but the games feel unresponsive and it doesn’t always recognise button presses. I much prefer having everything original, with just a basic drop-in IPS screen so you can actually see it. Im just wondering which side of the camp the Chromatic falls into. (Sorry for the questions, it’s just nice to hear the experience from a real person rather than a YouTuber wanting those likes!).
Re: ModRetro's Chromatic Is Back In Stock, Alongside Sabrina The Teenage Witch
@RupeeClock can you remember what it cost you total from Dragonbox shop in GBP? I see the 1st edition listed on their site for 200EUR (though out of stock obviously), but there would have been postage and (probably) duty to cover on top of that.