There aren't many practical ways you can make a portable console without it looking like a Gameboy (Buttons on the sides of the screen would make it like a GBA), testament how Nintendo got the design right the first time.
I said yes, the "I guess, some more so than others"-option is a bit of a false argument, that most games were pretty bad isn't a retro-only thing, the old "90% of everything is rubbish" has been true throughout gaming history, and still is true now.
The inflation-argument is missing one important thing: Everything else has gotten quite a lot more expensive, too.
"Back in the day", i got almost all SNES games i had on sale, and later second-hand (Only way to get "A Link to the past" affordably), paying top dollar (Or guilder, in my case) was a tall order even then, and now with rampant inflation nipping at our heels, game companies need to be careful they don't overprice themselves out of people's reach.
And don't come up with the "Sales"-argument, the big titles, like the "Mario bros."- and "Legend of Zelda"-titles rarely (If ever) get noticeable discounts.
The hints were rarely very helpful, a big part was stuff lifted wholesale from the game manuals (Like explaining the items from "Legend of Zelda"), but it was fun to read, and still is, in a "Document from a forlorn age"-sort of way.
I miss those times, games that came in a box, with a proper manual.
Sure, those boxes took up space, but it's better than "Read the PDF on the disc" or "The first three hours of this game is filled with tutorials, no need for a manual!"
Oof, i hate floppy disks, in the olden days (25 or so years ago), i'd copy games onto floppies (Well, the 3.5 inch ones) at a friend's house, and half the time, at least one file ended up corrupted and the whole game useless when i got home.
I still have a few floppies, more as mementos of a bygone age than out of any expectation that there's still any usable data on any of them.
The cover for NES game “Power blade” looks very Schwarzenegger-esque, as well as the in-game character design for Solid Snake in “Snake’s revenge” for NES.
@BionicDodo They played to the strengths of the gameboy (Such as they were), with simpler, cartoony sprites rather than trying to cram big 16-bit sprites (Adjusted to 4 colours) onto the gameboy screen, gameboyessentials.com has a write-up about games that fell into that pitfall (Donkey kong land is also notorious for that)
@BionicDodo Don't forget "Battle arena Toshinden" (A personal favourite of mine, ironically the GB-version aged better than the PSX-games), also one of those conversions (A reskin of one of the games you mentioned, actually), Gameboy games turned out the best if they worked with the hardware design, rather than despite it.
Look at the SFII screenshot, big detailed sprites and a detailed background, looks... decent-ish here, but on an actual Gameboy? Good luck discerning anything in the motion blur...
Comments 59
Re: GoRetroid's Next Handheld Has Copied The Game Boy's Homework
There aren't many practical ways you can make a portable console without it looking like a Gameboy (Buttons on the sides of the screen would make it like a GBA), testament how Nintendo got the design right the first time.
Re: Poll: Are Game Boy Games Still Worth Playing In 2023?
I said yes, the "I guess, some more so than others"-option is a bit of a false argument, that most games were pretty bad isn't a retro-only thing, the old "90% of everything is rubbish" has been true throughout gaming history, and still is true now.
Re: Upset By Zelda Being $70? We've Arguably Never Had It So Good
The inflation-argument is missing one important thing: Everything else has gotten quite a lot more expensive, too.
"Back in the day", i got almost all SNES games i had on sale, and later second-hand (Only way to get "A Link to the past" affordably), paying top dollar (Or guilder, in my case) was a tall order even then, and now with rampant inflation nipping at our heels, game companies need to be careful they don't overprice themselves out of people's reach.
And don't come up with the "Sales"-argument, the big titles, like the "Mario bros."- and "Legend of Zelda"-titles rarely (If ever) get noticeable discounts.
Re: Flashback: Flicking Through Club Nintendo Classic, 1990's Best Advert For Nintendo
Hey, i have the Dutch version of that one!
The hints were rarely very helpful, a big part was stuff lifted wholesale from the game manuals (Like explaining the items from "Legend of Zelda"), but it was fun to read, and still is, in a "Document from a forlorn age"-sort of way.
Re: CIBSunday: Dungeon Master (IBM PC)
I miss those times, games that came in a box, with a proper manual.
Sure, those boxes took up space, but it's better than "Read the PDF on the disc" or "The first three hours of this game is filled with tutorials, no need for a manual!"
Re: Talking Point: Have You Checked Your Floppy Disks Recently? They Might Be Dead
Oof, i hate floppy disks, in the olden days (25 or so years ago), i'd copy games onto floppies (Well, the 3.5 inch ones) at a friend's house, and half the time, at least one file ended up corrupted and the whole game useless when i got home.
I still have a few floppies, more as mementos of a bygone age than out of any expectation that there's still any usable data on any of them.
"Good old days" my backside...
Re: Random: Is Arnold Schwarzenegger The Centre of The Gaming Universe?
The cover for NES game “Power blade” looks very Schwarzenegger-esque, as well as the in-game character design for Solid Snake in “Snake’s revenge” for NES.
Re: Random: Performing Combos In The Worst Version Of Street Fighter II Is Pretty Hard, But Possible
@BionicDodo They played to the strengths of the gameboy (Such as they were), with simpler, cartoony sprites rather than trying to cram big 16-bit sprites (Adjusted to 4 colours) onto the gameboy screen, gameboyessentials.com has a write-up about games that fell into that pitfall (Donkey kong land is also notorious for that)
Re: Random: Performing Combos In The Worst Version Of Street Fighter II Is Pretty Hard, But Possible
@BionicDodo Don't forget "Battle arena Toshinden" (A personal favourite of mine, ironically the GB-version aged better than the PSX-games), also one of those conversions (A reskin of one of the games you mentioned, actually), Gameboy games turned out the best if they worked with the hardware design, rather than despite it.
Look at the SFII screenshot, big detailed sprites and a detailed background, looks... decent-ish here, but on an actual Gameboy? Good luck discerning anything in the motion blur...