@KingMike Thanks for these, I'll add them to my list to check out.
As for Quintet, I loved pretty much their entire 16-bit portfolio. (Are we counting Actraiser 2?) Each hit similar notes, while still retaining a distinct flavour.
No one ever gives Robotrek any love. I did a Quintet binge last year, replaying the entire SNES catalogue - Robotrek was done last given how negatively it's spoken about. (I also tried Granstream Saga, but hot damn, that game is trash!)
I discovered Robotrek to be the forgotten gem in Quintet's crown, with a story that had similar beats to Earthbound, and play mechanics which are seemingly unlike anything else (your 3 robots can be be repeatedly recustomised to suit any combat situation; you can hotkey combo attacks!).
It might be my favourite of Quintet's entire catalogue.
@Yoshif3 I played the GBA version when writing this - the resolution is very low and it loses something in the conversion. DS would have been perfect - dual screens! There's MAME if you're ok with emulation. Donkey Kong G&W is supported by the Analogue core and works well, so I'm hoping for an update that supports Zelda.
But you're right. Nintendo should release the ultimate compilation of all their G&W bavk catalogue. There's a lot. Some are still great, like Bomb Disposal.
@Asaki Someone emailed with a huge stack of packs they were considering opening. They offered to provide scans or anything else needed. I asked them to record some audio if they did.
@Asaki Yeah, measuring the coordinates for the buttons is what made me go with a text parser and text results - it prints to the same position each time, below the cards.
I only purchased a single card - #5 in the spider woods, because I had to see for myself if those arrows were on the right side in every card, or if there was a misprint.
There are a few people on YouTube opening the sealed packs. You could listen and then make a best guess approximation of unfolding or tearing paper. My scratching fx was just me rubbing my fingernail on my laptop's microphone. Be like old movies that dub sound effects in. Sawing through bone for example I've heard was replicated by slicing through cabbage.
Good call on zooming. I have "zoom text only" activated, but I can disable for this. A splashscreen instructing players would fix this without needing to calculate everything.
Good luck! A full set of 60 plus variants would be quite the undertaking.
@Asaki My version is on Itch and it has the card images. I did a search of "Zelda" before uploading, an there's like 30 other Zelda games. So unless someone reports it, they seem to turn a blind eye.
Also, HOLY CRAP! Your demo is amazing. It's basically how I imagined my version in my imagination.
Asaki, I am officially abandoning development of my inferior version, and instead vow to playtest yours and help as best I can. Once you've finished, and uploaded it, I'll put a link to your Itch page from my Itch page, and we can update this article.
The resolution might need tweaking, I need to scroll the page horizontally to see the backside of the card on the right. My desktop runs at 1280x720, out of choice, not due to an inferior monitor or rig. Higher resolutions make the icons and text small to the point where it's painful to read anything. 1280 is comfortable for me. What does everyone else use?
I like the idea of purchasing more packs. I like this idea a lot. It's kinda why I put a dollar count with inflation - it's interesting to me to consider how much one might have spent on these, when a full NES game cost... Was it $40 to $60 back in 1989? Because $40 is like 800 cards at 5 cents a card.
Would you end up doing the entire 60 card set (+variants), or just Zelda?
I suppose, if you acquire cards through purchasing, using in-game currency, you could have like a portfolio of cards, showing how many of each. And each time you play a card it decreases by one? So you might have 3x Zelda scene #4, but after playing it once it goes down to 2x? But successful memorisation and completion unlocks it permanently?
I dunno, I'm just throwing ideas out. Your version should be YOUR vision. But since it's better than my vision, you have my full support for this.
Mine took 25 hours. How many hours did you put into that scene one demo?
It uses the mouse and everything. Well done! I love it.
Everyone - I'm officially retiring my project, we have a new contender in town.
@KingMike That was Patrick Scott Patterson. Now, just to play devil's advocate here: I followed events from when he found them, and I spoke to him for a statement in The Untold History of Game Developers Volume 5, where I collected all my Akira interviews (Tom Meigs chats about making the Game Gear version, for example).
Now, I suspect some will think I'm being an apologist for him, but having followed the buying and selling of protos since the ASSEMbler days, back in 2005, I've witnessed countless time how game fans tend to be very aggressive when it comes to unreleased material. My god, the "scene drama" is off the scale!
I love the idea of the Akira games, and have dreamed of playing them (I even helped get the Genesis version leaked), but based on PSP's statement I can understand why he decided to sell them. I saw the anonymous threats online, and that stuff is scary and wrong. He put the legwork in to find these relics, and the community should have been calmer rather than immediately threatening him.
Ultimately it's a downgraded port of the horrendous Amiga version. No one really lost much. Be happy the US developed Genesis prototype was leaked - it's obviously very early, but I strongly believe that if it finished development it had the potential to one of the best games on the system.
I secretly fantasise about someone taking the incomplete Genny / MD ROM and finishing it using the suite of homebrew dev tools now available. If someone can port Arcade Simpsons to the Mega Drive, then someone can finish Akira. It's pretty well fleshed out. The ROM is out there, give it a go.
(The guy who leaked it was able to find and contact a programmer who had a test cartridge, after I gave them the contact details of this programmer's former colleague.)
Anyway...
PSP's statement, from page 317, is below:
The story of the Akira Game Boy prototypes isn't as sexy as many want to believe. Basically, I got introduced to a former THQ programmer who told me he had a bunch of "old work stuff" in his attic. He said I was welcome to it if I wanted to come by, as he figured otherwise it would just sit there until he passed away, likely to be junked by his family at that time. I took him up on his offer and as I left, I only knew of one development cart that was present in the batch, memorable by his 20 foot toss of it into one of the boxes. I live-streamed my exploration of the stash when I got home and found several protos. Right there, live... I was as stunned as the viewers to find FOUR different Akira prototypes. My plan was to get legal permission to release them, with one version combining the most complete parts of them all to give a relative idea of what could have been. The incomplete versions would have also been included. But fans of this stuff are a unique type. False narratives and assumptions lead many to demand I dump them or give them over to them. One even threatened to come break into my home and take them by force. Once it got there, I scrapped my plans and found them a new home. But it was cool for a time to play - a game that many thought was long lost forever and maybe someday the new owner will complete what I started to do with them.
@Asaki Thank you kind reader! I asked, and I received. This is fantastic. All eBay? Because I browsed current and ended auctions and found only a few. This was UK eBay with international ticked, so were you on US eBay directly?
It doesn't matter. I now feel confident about several things.
We have enough data to replicate the original odds.
Cards definitely had fixed symbol positions!
This morning my S1 Link #5 card arrived (spider woods). I found that a cotton bud and warm air breathed onto it, followed by gentle circular motions, allowed me to remove the latex ink. I think it possibly is just a bit dry, and people on YouTube were too aggressive with their keys and coins.
The silver is removable through gentle constant friction.
And here's the other thing: some of these cards have strange odds. Let's focus on that card #5, because it definitely features 2 arrows on the right side. Was this simply a means of having two useless symbols? Sort of like how the shield is actually useless, providing neither a win nor a lose condition? Or is it a misprint?
I feel it is misprint, since there's only 2 swords on the right. Meaning if you fail to get a sword on the left, and end up on the right first scratch, the best you can hope for is 2 useless arrows, 2 sword strikes, and then dying due to there being 4 spiders.
Unless they really expected kids to replay this multiple times (I have to LOL at the scratched cards, where the kid obviously died after scratching a third enemy strike, and then was like: yeah, I'm not going to scratch the rest, I'm playing this fair and square).
On the other hand, swapping those right arrows with the left side swords give you a 4:3 win ratio on the left, and a 4:4 win/lose ratio on the right, which feels more fair and logical.
I'm finding myself oddly intrigued by the minutiae of this whole endeavour.
What are readers thoughts on implementing actual odds? Also, does anyone even want a shuffled mode, given the difficult odds and expectations to memorise symbols?
I need to finish the Zelda games article, and the Adventure Books feature, but at some point I will be updating this (and crediting Asaki for their help).
By the gods Sega, please, please, PLEASE do not butcher the Jet Set Radio art style like it was butchered in Roller Champions. Make the JSR characters cool, not hideous mutants. Thanks Sega. Your fan.
@Asaki Do you mean pre-scratched, for sale, or high res scans? The previous eBay auction gave me pretty much everything I needed at a tolerable resolution (obviously not high enough for archive purposes).
@sdelfin You need a Twitter account to get full Twitter access, but that specific tweet is a reply to an earlier tweet, and the earlier tweet has the Flickr links.
Thank you for the eBay link!
I think we have solved the mystery of the second set now! And it includes Metroid!
I can't promise when, but I am saving these images and will be trying to incorporate the Link ones into the game at some point.
Also, the nine Metroid cards might make their own nice little standalone game. Sadly it looks like the symbols on the Metroid cards get pretty complicated! A best guess attempt will be tricky. Still, my friend at The Metroid Database will be keen to see these.
I suggest anyone interested save a personal copy of those 2nd set images from eBay, because I have not seen a full archive of them online yet. I will also ask the seller about higher resolution images.
@mattesdude Thank you! But I would prefer people don't sacrifice intact cards - not yet anyway. I'm hoping someone kept a bunch already scratched just for the art.
Thanks for the tip on the alcohol. I'll see what else I can do when my card arrives.
@Spider-Kev Not sure who VS is. Pure coincidence though. I discovered the cards last week when searching the Internet Archive for a PDF of the Zelda adventure books (which I ended up buying). Or perhaps the universe was channeling the idea of them...
Not sure if I should try installing a NG CD emulator on my original Xbox, or wait for this to be implemented in the PS1/Saturn version, and then use that on my PSIO or Fenrir ODE... What's everyone else doing?
I actually planned to import one back in the day. I was envisioning Zelda add-on quests, etc. Ultimately all the good games came out on cartridge so I passed. Thankfully!
Anyone remember that? N64 Magazine speculating on all the cool RPG stuff that it could be used for. Anual update disks for Zelda with a slew of new adventures. Etc. I find it ironic that the magazine had a dedicated RPG section, even though the N64 only had like 7 or so RPGs released for it.
I wonder if there's any way to back up the saved data in the 64DD design software? Presumably it saves to the magnetic disks and can't be transferred to PC?
@KoopaTheGamer To reiterate what others said, if one likes a game, owning an award for that game would be super cool.
I never played Medievel. But he also made Silverload. As a collector, if Silverload had gotten a Bafta, I'd love to have it on a shelf next to my big box PC copy, and PS1 edition.
It would make a fun talking point.
I'd also be willing to sell it back again if he got back on his feet and wanted it.
Someone mentioned fake acceptance speeches. I'd do that. Get some mates round, some beers, everyone would standing at sone point, holding the award, giving a fake speech.
"I would like to thank all the little people who made this possible. I'm told this mask was hand carved by a hundred tiny Borrowers, hewing it from solid granite."
@Captain_Retro If you did make an app, would there be the possibility for user reviews of games? Something like Letterboxd, but instead of films, games?
I've been hoping for such an app for years. None exists. So I figure, if a large database providing entity is considering an app featuring a database/collection of games, I'd ask: will we be able to track our collections, follow our friends, and write reviews of games?
Either way, good luck growing the site. Ebay utterly sucks these days.
I don't understand how someone with a portfolio of excellent games can struggle so desperately to find work. Did he anger the wrong person? What has led to his downfall?
He's responsible for Silverload, the Wild West / vampires / werewolves themed point and click for DOS and PS1.
It had some flaws inherent to point n clicks, but otherwise was one of the most original and enjoyable examples in genre! Fantastic presentation too.
@RetroGames Same. I saw the title, with the overlaid sprites to give the impression of more colours (quite clever), and thought: this is almost maybe PCE quality? It was fleeting, but this homebrew definitely pulls a few tricks to punch above its weight.
When the enemies (top of screen) which drop projectiles turn up, just let them. You'll see cascading projectiles falling down with scarcely any flicker. It's quite a sight.
Someone mentioned Crisis Force - I thought the same. That's usually the game I reference as the pinnacle of FC commercial game graphics.
They've announced it now, so we'll see if any publishers take an interest.
Loved my 3DO. It had a fascinating selection of exclusives, especially Japanese imports like Doctor Hauzer (inspired Mikami for Resident Evil), Taiketsu! Rumizu (awful Bomberman clone), a chef-themed RPG (Grand Chef), and an Egyptian pyramid alien dungeon crawler (Seal of the Pharaoh, which I've checked, apparently got a USA release). I also liked the Demolition Man game, even though it's not great.
Thing is this was coming to the machine years after release when everything was still cheap. Today prices for the console are up again.
Has anyone else experienced this strange anomaly?
My FZ-10 R·E·A·L 3DO model could not play the in-game music in Road Rash. It would say "insufficient RAM" when trying to turn music on. It played in the cinemas, but not in-game.
I could never work out if this was my system being faulty, or just a glitch in the game.
This is actually one of the best Dungeon Master games. The fluid 3D movement is wonderful and makes it easier to orient yourself, cognitively, in the overall environment. It's so good I forced myself through the early sections despite the vertical cliff that was the language barrier. I urge anyone who enjoys the Saturn to give a go.
I loved TMNT III on NES. It shaped my taste in the scrolling brawler genre.
Controversial POV: TMNT III on NES is better than Turtles in Time / Hyperstone Heist on SNES / MD.
Firstly, you can swap turtles after dying and continuing - unless I didn't know how to do it right, I was stuck with the same turtle throughout the 16-bit outing. Each turtle has unique attacks, so this was annoying.
There's more variety, in terms of regular enemies. I actually checked the spriterip database. There's a huge variety in TMNT. There's also greater level variety compared to the MD game (which if I recall, only had like 5 levels?).
There's more vertical scrolling. I found this really weird actually - the SNES/MD games just scroll horizontally, with one level on an elevator that goes vertically.
TMNT III is swapping between vert and hori all the time!
The NES game lacks the Mode 7 gimmicks of the SNES game, but I found that the core game underneath was more fun and provided me with more.
I only really put serious time into the 16-bit outings a few years ago. And I was kinda shocked at how lacking they were compared to TMNT III.
@AJB83 Oh wow, I've just looked up a longplay. This looks like a high-speed high-action arena FPS and it looks fantastic. Thanks for the rec - I'll be adding it to my RHEA. As a fan of all the unsung Japanese FPS, I need to play this! O_O
The interesting thing about the Gundam games (mecha games in general) is they provide solid examples of Japan making good FPS.
Troy on X360 has been fan-translated into English (RHDN has it). If you've imported a copy and installed it to a modded 360, you just need to patch and overwrite a few files. Easy via USB.
These add saving, maps, change the way energy refills work, correct the RNG problems, plus a myriad of other things.
I've been using the "Metroid + Saving" hack, which adds three save files to the NES game, plus an assembly coded map via pause and a minimap in the corner. It brings it in line with Super Metroid. A map fellow enthusiasts - A MAP FOR THE NES GAME!
Also there are hacks to make Samus look Super Metroid Samus, and another which has you start the game with full energy, instead of the default which is almost no energy.
Not all of these hacks will be to everyone's taste, but for goodness sake, he should at least add the save file option and the minimap! Do you really want to play it on SNES with passwords when you could just play the NES original hacked to have save files?
I'll be honest, I am really starting to dislike Infidenlity's ports. What even is the point of these things?
They are bare bones, contain no extra features, and are inferior to playing the original game with hacks on an actual NES. His Zelda port didn't bother to add the auto-map which already exists, nor did it improve inventory selection. It is less than worthless when compared to an improved version running on the NES. Maybe you don't want an auto-map in Zelda, but at least he could have improved the controls so that L+R cycle your items? He did nothing - literally NOTHING - to improve the base game. It's complete madness.
The worst thing is: by creating these crappy, slapdash ports, he discourages others from doing so. Someone who was maybe considering making a premium port of Zelda or Metroid to the SNES, with bells and whistles and cool extra features, will now think: "Eh, someone already did a port, why bother?"
Maybe some players want a pure and authentic experience? Well then the bells and whistles should be togglable in a menu.
I'm going to raise my hand and say: RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN might be my favourite GBC game. More so than MGS.
I put off playing it due to bad reviews, but when I finally did, I realised: this was absolutely my sort of game.
Tough survival horror. Limited ammo. Top down perspective with persistent free roam environment (like MG). Tense combat system. Good flow in terms of objectives, player characters, and bosses. Gorgeous pixel art and animation. Decent story (Barry!). Nice music.
Magazines back in the day complained you could only save at checkpoints, losing progress if you turned off mid-game. Which is untrue. There are checkpoint saves, but the game also constantly auto-saves allow you to turnnoff and resume as you please.
I've completed it three times I love it so much. Please try it if you can.
EDIT:
Random trivia: only get the EU edition of MGS. The US version uses a smaller ROM to cut costs, and thus has cut content only found in the JP and EU versions!
@GhaleonUnlimited Considering PM sells for £600 a piece now, I'm wondering why no one's looked into Limited Run or elsewhere relicensing it to manufacture new copies. It's worked for plenty of other old cartridge games - and CDs are easier and cheaper to manufacture.
Is there an accepted minimum standard in terms of scanning resolution? Magazine archivists have a set of accepted standards when preserving magazines - guidelines.
Is there such a thing for 3D printing scans?
I just feel that after all this hard work, in 5 years it'll be decided it never reached the expected minimum threshold. Or something.
@EarthboundBenjy My interpretation was characters starring in their own game. So while Luigi is in Hotel Mario, it's ultimately a Mario game. I'd love to read the contract Nintendo and Philips signed for all this.
Sadly the whole deal has always been murky - at the time of interviewing DeSharone there was almost zero inside information - and now DeSharone is no longer around to elaborate on that statement.
I've always wanted to get hold of Radosh, the producer, and run DeSharone's interview by him, since they worked together.
Comments 552
Re: Flashback: When Hideo Kojima Argued Over Policenauts' Bouncing Boobs With Sony
lol. Everyone getting worked up about Hideo Kojima games has clearly not played Onechanbara Z2 with the fruity feeldoe DLC.
His stuff is mild.
Never change Japan, never change.
Re: Square Enix, Yuzo Koshiro Really Wants 'Illusion Of Gaia' And 'Terranigma' Remakes, Thanks
@KingMike Thanks for these, I'll add them to my list to check out.
As for Quintet, I loved pretty much their entire 16-bit portfolio. (Are we counting Actraiser 2?) Each hit similar notes, while still retaining a distinct flavour.
Re: Square Enix, Yuzo Koshiro Really Wants 'Illusion Of Gaia' And 'Terranigma' Remakes, Thanks
No one ever gives Robotrek any love. I did a Quintet binge last year, replaying the entire SNES catalogue - Robotrek was done last given how negatively it's spoken about. (I also tried Granstream Saga, but hot damn, that game is trash!)
I discovered Robotrek to be the forgotten gem in Quintet's crown, with a story that had similar beats to Earthbound, and play mechanics which are seemingly unlike anything else (your 3 robots can be be repeatedly recustomised to suit any combat situation; you can hotkey combo attacks!).
It might be my favourite of Quintet's entire catalogue.
Re: How Many Of These "Lost" Zelda Games Have You Played?
@Yoshif3 I played the GBA version when writing this - the resolution is very low and it loses something in the conversion. DS would have been perfect - dual screens! There's MAME if you're ok with emulation. Donkey Kong G&W is supported by the Analogue core and works well, so I'm hoping for an update that supports Zelda.
But you're right. Nintendo should release the ultimate compilation of all their G&W bavk catalogue. There's a lot. Some are still great, like Bomb Disposal.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Someone emailed with a huge stack of packs they were considering opening. They offered to provide scans or anything else needed. I asked them to record some audio if they did.
Re: MSX Cyberpunk RPG 'Illusion City' Finally Gets An English Translation
Secretly hoping this gets inserted into the Mega CD port.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Yeah, measuring the coordinates for the buttons is what made me go with a text parser and text results - it prints to the same position each time, below the cards.
I only purchased a single card - #5 in the spider woods, because I had to see for myself if those arrows were on the right side in every card, or if there was a misprint.
There are a few people on YouTube opening the sealed packs. You could listen and then make a best guess approximation of unfolding or tearing paper. My scratching fx was just me rubbing my fingernail on my laptop's microphone. Be like old movies that dub sound effects in. Sawing through bone for example I've heard was replicated by slicing through cabbage.
Good call on zooming. I have "zoom text only" activated, but I can disable for this. A splashscreen instructing players would fix this without needing to calculate everything.
Good luck! A full set of 60 plus variants would be quite the undertaking.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki My version is on Itch and it has the card images. I did a search of "Zelda" before uploading, an there's like 30 other Zelda games. So unless someone reports it, they seem to turn a blind eye.
It's linked in the above article:
https://szcz.itch.io/game-pack-simulator
Also, HOLY CRAP! Your demo is amazing. It's basically how I imagined my version in my imagination.
Asaki, I am officially abandoning development of my inferior version, and instead vow to playtest yours and help as best I can. Once you've finished, and uploaded it, I'll put a link to your Itch page from my Itch page, and we can update this article.
The resolution might need tweaking, I need to scroll the page horizontally to see the backside of the card on the right. My desktop runs at 1280x720, out of choice, not due to an inferior monitor or rig. Higher resolutions make the icons and text small to the point where it's painful to read anything. 1280 is comfortable for me. What does everyone else use?
I like the idea of purchasing more packs. I like this idea a lot. It's kinda why I put a dollar count with inflation - it's interesting to me to consider how much one might have spent on these, when a full NES game cost... Was it $40 to $60 back in 1989? Because $40 is like 800 cards at 5 cents a card.
Would you end up doing the entire 60 card set (+variants), or just Zelda?
I suppose, if you acquire cards through purchasing, using in-game currency, you could have like a portfolio of cards, showing how many of each. And each time you play a card it decreases by one? So you might have 3x Zelda scene #4, but after playing it once it goes down to 2x? But successful memorisation and completion unlocks it permanently?
I dunno, I'm just throwing ideas out. Your version should be YOUR vision. But since it's better than my vision, you have my full support for this.
Mine took 25 hours. How many hours did you put into that scene one demo?
It uses the mouse and everything. Well done! I love it.
Everyone - I'm officially retiring my project, we have a new contender in town.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Link #10 has a similar need to get swordstrikes on the left first. Could be deliberate.
For hosting how about Itch? It's free.
What is your card randomiser and how does it work?
Re: Flashback: How An American Businessman Tried To Turn Akira Into A Blockbuster Game
@KingMike That was Patrick Scott Patterson. Now, just to play devil's advocate here: I followed events from when he found them, and I spoke to him for a statement in The Untold History of Game Developers Volume 5, where I collected all my Akira interviews (Tom Meigs chats about making the Game Gear version, for example).
Now, I suspect some will think I'm being an apologist for him, but having followed the buying and selling of protos since the ASSEMbler days, back in 2005, I've witnessed countless time how game fans tend to be very aggressive when it comes to unreleased material. My god, the "scene drama" is off the scale!
I love the idea of the Akira games, and have dreamed of playing them (I even helped get the Genesis version leaked), but based on PSP's statement I can understand why he decided to sell them. I saw the anonymous threats online, and that stuff is scary and wrong. He put the legwork in to find these relics, and the community should have been calmer rather than immediately threatening him.
Ultimately it's a downgraded port of the horrendous Amiga version. No one really lost much. Be happy the US developed Genesis prototype was leaked - it's obviously very early, but I strongly believe that if it finished development it had the potential to one of the best games on the system.
I secretly fantasise about someone taking the incomplete Genny / MD ROM and finishing it using the suite of homebrew dev tools now available. If someone can port Arcade Simpsons to the Mega Drive, then someone can finish Akira. It's pretty well fleshed out. The ROM is out there, give it a go.
(The guy who leaked it was able to find and contact a programmer who had a test cartridge, after I gave them the contact details of this programmer's former colleague.)
Anyway...
PSP's statement, from page 317, is below:
The story of the Akira Game Boy prototypes isn't as sexy as many want to believe. Basically, I got introduced to a former THQ programmer who told me he had a bunch of "old work stuff" in his attic. He said I was welcome to it if I wanted to come by, as he figured otherwise it would just sit there until he passed away, likely to be junked by his family at that time. I took him up on his offer and as I left, I only knew of one development cart that was present in the batch, memorable by his 20 foot toss of it into one of the boxes. I live-streamed my exploration of the stash when I got home and found several protos. Right there, live... I was as stunned as the viewers to find FOUR different Akira prototypes. My plan was to get legal permission to release them, with one version combining the most complete parts of them all to give a relative idea of what could have been. The incomplete versions would have also been included. But fans of this stuff are a unique type. False narratives and assumptions lead many to demand I dump them or give them over to them. One even threatened to come break into my home and take them by force. Once it got there, I scrapped my plans and found them a new home. But it was cool for a time to play - a game that many thought was long lost forever and maybe someday the new owner will complete what I started to do with them.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Thank you kind reader! I asked, and I received. This is fantastic. All eBay? Because I browsed current and ended auctions and found only a few. This was UK eBay with international ticked, so were you on US eBay directly?
It doesn't matter. I now feel confident about several things.
We have enough data to replicate the original odds.
Cards definitely had fixed symbol positions!
This morning my S1 Link #5 card arrived (spider woods). I found that a cotton bud and warm air breathed onto it, followed by gentle circular motions, allowed me to remove the latex ink. I think it possibly is just a bit dry, and people on YouTube were too aggressive with their keys and coins.
The silver is removable through gentle constant friction.
And here's the other thing: some of these cards have strange odds. Let's focus on that card #5, because it definitely features 2 arrows on the right side. Was this simply a means of having two useless symbols? Sort of like how the shield is actually useless, providing neither a win nor a lose condition? Or is it a misprint?
I feel it is misprint, since there's only 2 swords on the right. Meaning if you fail to get a sword on the left, and end up on the right first scratch, the best you can hope for is 2 useless arrows, 2 sword strikes, and then dying due to there being 4 spiders.
Unless they really expected kids to replay this multiple times (I have to LOL at the scratched cards, where the kid obviously died after scratching a third enemy strike, and then was like: yeah, I'm not going to scratch the rest, I'm playing this fair and square).
On the other hand, swapping those right arrows with the left side swords give you a 4:3 win ratio on the left, and a 4:4 win/lose ratio on the right, which feels more fair and logical.
I'm finding myself oddly intrigued by the minutiae of this whole endeavour.
What are readers thoughts on implementing actual odds? Also, does anyone even want a shuffled mode, given the difficult odds and expectations to memorise symbols?
I need to finish the Zelda games article, and the Adventure Books feature, but at some point I will be updating this (and crediting Asaki for their help).
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Excellent! The Zelda and Link ones would be handy.
Re: Sega Announces The Return Of Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, And More
By the gods Sega, please, please, PLEASE do not butcher the Jet Set Radio art style like it was butchered in Roller Champions. Make the JSR characters cool, not hideous mutants. Thanks Sega. Your fan.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Do you mean pre-scratched, for sale, or high res scans? The previous eBay auction gave me pretty much everything I needed at a tolerable resolution (obviously not high enough for archive purposes).
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@sdelfin In case anyone else wants them, here are direct links to the Flickr albums mentioned earlier:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/historyofhyrule/52681872584/in/album-72157629221232021/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/historyofhyrule/52686168849/in/album-72157629221285423/
The 2nd contains the variants.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@sdelfin You need a Twitter account to get full Twitter access, but that specific tweet is a reply to an earlier tweet, and the earlier tweet has the Flickr links.
Thank you for the eBay link!
I think we have solved the mystery of the second set now! And it includes Metroid!
I can't promise when, but I am saving these images and will be trying to incorporate the Link ones into the game at some point.
Also, the nine Metroid cards might make their own nice little standalone game. Sadly it looks like the symbols on the Metroid cards get pretty complicated! A best guess attempt will be tricky. Still, my friend at The Metroid Database will be keen to see these.
I suggest anyone interested save a personal copy of those 2nd set images from eBay, because I have not seen a full archive of them online yet. I will also ask the seller about higher resolution images.
Great work everyone!
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki I'm on my phone, which might be affecting what shows up, but...
That tweet links to two Flickr albums, which state the images in them are in the Internet Archive set, which they then link to.
However when I go there, that Int Arch set seems to be missing the 9 variants from the Link set, which are shown in the preceding Flickr album.
Meaning the Flickr album has all of them, including these 9 extra cards, whereas the Int Arch does not.
Also, while I'm glad we've found these variant cards, with their even cooler artwork, I can't seem to find the backs of these 9 variants?
As said, I'll have a proper rummage tomoz at a proper computer.
Great work - thank you!
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Thank you for finding this tweet - looks like we've found the variants for the Link game!
Great work!
I'll save them tomorrow.
Though it'll be a while before I can implement them into the code.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@mattesdude when you say "different", do you mean different to the current know set of 10 and 10?
The mysterious Canadian cards I refer to?
If so, please post photos online somewhere, front and back, since not even the Zelda wiki has info on this mysterious second series.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@mattesdude Thank you! But I would prefer people don't sacrifice intact cards - not yet anyway. I'm hoping someone kept a bunch already scratched just for the art.
Thanks for the tip on the alcohol. I'll see what else I can do when my card arrives.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Spider-Kev Not sure who VS is. Pure coincidence though. I discovered the cards last week when searching the Internet Archive for a PDF of the Zelda adventure books (which I ended up buying). Or perhaps the universe was channeling the idea of them...
Re: "My White Whale Has Finally Been Slain" - Samurai Shodown RPG Translation Is Live
@MoriyaMug Our hero has entered the communal discussion! Thank you kind sir for your efforts. (I'll ping you on messenger in a bit.)
Thanks also for clarification on the versions. I'll go with NGCD in that case.
Re: "My White Whale Has Finally Been Slain" - Samurai Shodown RPG Translation Is Live
Not sure if I should try installing a NG CD emulator on my original Xbox, or wait for this to be implemented in the PS1/Saturn version, and then use that on my PSIO or Fenrir ODE... What's everyone else doing?
Re: Second-Hand Nintendo 64DD Offers Up Some Welcome Surprises For New Owner
I actually planned to import one back in the day. I was envisioning Zelda add-on quests, etc. Ultimately all the good games came out on cartridge so I passed. Thankfully!
Anyone remember that? N64 Magazine speculating on all the cool RPG stuff that it could be used for. Anual update disks for Zelda with a slew of new adventures. Etc. I find it ironic that the magazine had a dedicated RPG section, even though the N64 only had like 7 or so RPGs released for it.
I wonder if there's any way to back up the saved data in the 64DD design software? Presumably it saves to the magnetic disks and can't be transferred to PC?
Re: Nintendo Game & Watch Core Coming To Analogue Pocket
Just installed this. It also supports Tiger LCD games.
Sadly Zelda G&W, the reason I downloaded it, isn't supported yet. Ah well.
Re: Ex-Sony Creative Director Is Selling The BAFTA He Won For MediEvil 2
@KoopaTheGamer To reiterate what others said, if one likes a game, owning an award for that game would be super cool.
I never played Medievel. But he also made Silverload. As a collector, if Silverload had gotten a Bafta, I'd love to have it on a shelf next to my big box PC copy, and PS1 edition.
It would make a fun talking point.
I'd also be willing to sell it back again if he got back on his feet and wanted it.
Someone mentioned fake acceptance speeches. I'd do that. Get some mates round, some beers, everyone would standing at sone point, holding the award, giving a fake speech.
"I would like to thank all the little people who made this possible. I'm told this mask was hand carved by a hundred tiny Borrowers, hewing it from solid granite."
Re: How Online Store Retroplace Aims To Become 'Discogs For Retro Games'
@Captain_Retro If you did make an app, would there be the possibility for user reviews of games? Something like Letterboxd, but instead of films, games?
I've been hoping for such an app for years. None exists. So I figure, if a large database providing entity is considering an app featuring a database/collection of games, I'd ask: will we be able to track our collections, follow our friends, and write reviews of games?
Either way, good luck growing the site. Ebay utterly sucks these days.
Re: Ex-Sony Creative Director Is Selling The BAFTA He Won For MediEvil 2
I don't understand how someone with a portfolio of excellent games can struggle so desperately to find work. Did he anger the wrong person? What has led to his downfall?
He's responsible for Silverload, the Wild West / vampires / werewolves themed point and click for DOS and PS1.
It had some flaws inherent to point n clicks, but otherwise was one of the most original and enjoyable examples in genre! Fantastic presentation too.
Re: The Making Of: Mario Artist: Paint Studio, The Japan-Exclusive Mario Paint Successor
I wonder who this NOA employee was, with the vendetta?
Re: The Making Of: Gunstar Heroes, Treasure's Mega Drive Masterpiece
The game is truly a masterpiece.
I'd also like to remind everyone EDGE gave it a 6/10 score. From that specific moment I knew EDGE was an absolute trash magazine.
Re: Zanac, Aleste And Gunhed Devs Join Forces For NES Shmup 'Chouyoku Senki Estique'
@RetroGames Same. I saw the title, with the overlaid sprites to give the impression of more colours (quite clever), and thought: this is almost maybe PCE quality? It was fleeting, but this homebrew definitely pulls a few tricks to punch above its weight.
When the enemies (top of screen) which drop projectiles turn up, just let them. You'll see cascading projectiles falling down with scarcely any flicker. It's quite a sight.
Someone mentioned Crisis Force - I thought the same. That's usually the game I reference as the pinnacle of FC commercial game graphics.
They've announced it now, so we'll see if any publishers take an interest.
Re: New Video Takes A Closer Look At The Internet's "First Emulation Streaming Series"
Watching that video - the nostalgia hit is strong and potent. Almost overwhelming. Wowsers.
I lived all of that. Checked Zophar often. What a time to have been alive.
Re: 27 Years Later, PlayStation Cult Classic 'Krazy Ivan' Is Getting A Soundtrack Release
That draw distance. It's about 2 metres.
Compare that to Doom which had zero pop in.
Yeah, this game sucked.
Re: A Fanmade SNES Port Of Metroid Is Now Available In Beta Form
@KingMike The extra work has already been done.
Someone else has already implemented the map in the NES version through assembly coding.
He could just port that version.
I mean, if he's going to port a NES game, he might as well port the best version.
Re: Best 3DO Games Of All Time
Loved my 3DO. It had a fascinating selection of exclusives, especially Japanese imports like Doctor Hauzer (inspired Mikami for Resident Evil), Taiketsu! Rumizu (awful Bomberman clone), a chef-themed RPG (Grand Chef), and an Egyptian pyramid alien dungeon crawler (Seal of the Pharaoh, which I've checked, apparently got a USA release). I also liked the Demolition Man game, even though it's not great.
Thing is this was coming to the machine years after release when everything was still cheap. Today prices for the console are up again.
Has anyone else experienced this strange anomaly?
My FZ-10 R·E·A·L 3DO model could not play the in-game music in Road Rash. It would say "insufficient RAM" when trying to turn music on. It played in the cinemas, but not in-game.
I could never work out if this was my system being faulty, or just a glitch in the game.
I have never seen it mentioned anywhere online.
Re: 25 Years Later, Dungeon Master Nexus Is Finally Playable In English
This is actually one of the best Dungeon Master games. The fluid 3D movement is wonderful and makes it easier to orient yourself, cognitively, in the overall environment. It's so good I forced myself through the early sections despite the vertical cliff that was the language barrier. I urge anyone who enjoys the Saturn to give a go.
Re: Best NES Games Of All Time
I loved TMNT III on NES. It shaped my taste in the scrolling brawler genre.
Controversial POV: TMNT III on NES is better than Turtles in Time / Hyperstone Heist on SNES / MD.
Firstly, you can swap turtles after dying and continuing - unless I didn't know how to do it right, I was stuck with the same turtle throughout the 16-bit outing. Each turtle has unique attacks, so this was annoying.
There's more variety, in terms of regular enemies. I actually checked the spriterip database. There's a huge variety in TMNT. There's also greater level variety compared to the MD game (which if I recall, only had like 5 levels?).
There's more vertical scrolling. I found this really weird actually - the SNES/MD games just scroll horizontally, with one level on an elevator that goes vertically.
TMNT III is swapping between vert and hori all the time!
The NES game lacks the Mode 7 gimmicks of the SNES game, but I found that the core game underneath was more fun and provided me with more.
I only really put serious time into the 16-bit outings a few years ago. And I was kinda shocked at how lacking they were compared to TMNT III.
Re: Best Gundam Games Of All Time
@AJB83 Oh wow, I've just looked up a longplay. This looks like a high-speed high-action arena FPS and it looks fantastic. Thanks for the rec - I'll be adding it to my RHEA. As a fan of all the unsung Japanese FPS, I need to play this! O_O
Re: Best Gundam Games Of All Time
The interesting thing about the Gundam games (mecha games in general) is they provide solid examples of Japan making good FPS.
Troy on X360 has been fan-translated into English (RHDN has it). If you've imported a copy and installed it to a modded 360, you just need to patch and overwrite a few files. Easy via USB.
Re: Metroid Is The Next NES Game Getting A Fanmade SNES Port
Direct link to the map and save hack (the only way to play Metroid now):
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1186/
Updated version of the map hack which makes the game a tiny bit easier, might not be to everyone's taste:
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4471/
Re: Metroid Is The Next NES Game Getting A Fanmade SNES Port
Forget the FDS version, there are 56 quality of life hacks for the original NES game on ROMhacking.net:
https://www.romhacking.net/?page=hacks&game=805
These add saving, maps, change the way energy refills work, correct the RNG problems, plus a myriad of other things.
I've been using the "Metroid + Saving" hack, which adds three save files to the NES game, plus an assembly coded map via pause and a minimap in the corner. It brings it in line with Super Metroid. A map fellow enthusiasts - A MAP FOR THE NES GAME!
Also there are hacks to make Samus look Super Metroid Samus, and another which has you start the game with full energy, instead of the default which is almost no energy.
Not all of these hacks will be to everyone's taste, but for goodness sake, he should at least add the save file option and the minimap! Do you really want to play it on SNES with passwords when you could just play the NES original hacked to have save files?
I'll be honest, I am really starting to dislike Infidenlity's ports. What even is the point of these things?
They are bare bones, contain no extra features, and are inferior to playing the original game with hacks on an actual NES. His Zelda port didn't bother to add the auto-map which already exists, nor did it improve inventory selection. It is less than worthless when compared to an improved version running on the NES. Maybe you don't want an auto-map in Zelda, but at least he could have improved the controls so that L+R cycle your items? He did nothing - literally NOTHING - to improve the base game. It's complete madness.
The worst thing is: by creating these crappy, slapdash ports, he discourages others from doing so. Someone who was maybe considering making a premium port of Zelda or Metroid to the SNES, with bells and whistles and cool extra features, will now think: "Eh, someone already did a port, why bother?"
Maybe some players want a pure and authentic experience? Well then the bells and whistles should be togglable in a menu.
Re: Best Game Boy Color Games Of All Time
I'm going to raise my hand and say: RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN might be my favourite GBC game. More so than MGS.
I put off playing it due to bad reviews, but when I finally did, I realised: this was absolutely my sort of game.
Tough survival horror. Limited ammo. Top down perspective with persistent free roam environment (like MG). Tense combat system. Good flow in terms of objectives, player characters, and bosses. Gorgeous pixel art and animation. Decent story (Barry!). Nice music.
Magazines back in the day complained you could only save at checkpoints, losing progress if you turned off mid-game. Which is untrue. There are checkpoint saves, but the game also constantly auto-saves allow you to turnnoff and resume as you please.
I've completed it three times I love it so much. Please try it if you can.
EDIT:
Random trivia: only get the EU edition of MGS. The US version uses a smaller ROM to cut costs, and thus has cut content only found in the JP and EU versions!
Re: 'Curious Video Game Machines' Shines A Light On The Most Obscure Hardware Of All Time
Pre-ordered. Does it feature the Taiwanese Super A'Can? I couldn't see it listed, but I assume so?
Re: New 'Vectrex Plus' Controller Offers A Cheaper Alternative To The Original
This is great news - I love the surge of after market peripherals we're seeing for retro systems.
When will we see after market controllers for the Philips CDI? These things are, sadly, now triple figures.
Re: The Making Of: Popful Mail, The Game That Nearly Became Part Of The Sonic Series
@GhaleonUnlimited Considering PM sells for £600 a piece now, I'm wondering why no one's looked into Limited Run or elsewhere relicensing it to manufacture new copies. It's worked for plenty of other old cartridge games - and CDs are easier and cheaper to manufacture.
Re: Archivist Preserving Video Game Toys 1 Piece Of Plastic At A Time
Is there an accepted minimum standard in terms of scanning resolution? Magazine archivists have a set of accepted standards when preserving magazines - guidelines.
Is there such a thing for 3D printing scans?
I just feel that after all this hard work, in 5 years it'll be decided it never reached the expected minimum threshold. Or something.
Re: Worms For Teletext Is Real And Runs On A Commodore Amiga
@JJtheTexan We even had a daily games magazine called DIGITISER on Teletext. Its comedy jokes are legendary in the UK.
Re: Here's Why Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night's English Dub Is So Iconically Amusing
@Gitface Many would agree, myself included.
Now consider that Sony Computer Entertainment America didn't want it released in the US due to it being 2D, and Konami having to strong arm them.
I sometimes try to imagine a gaming landscape where it only had a Japanese and EU release...
Re: Like Zelda And Mario, Donkey Kong Was Supposed To Get A Philips CD-i Game - What Happened?
@EarthboundBenjy My interpretation was characters starring in their own game. So while Luigi is in Hotel Mario, it's ultimately a Mario game. I'd love to read the contract Nintendo and Philips signed for all this.
Sadly the whole deal has always been murky - at the time of interviewing DeSharone there was almost zero inside information - and now DeSharone is no longer around to elaborate on that statement.
I've always wanted to get hold of Radosh, the producer, and run DeSharone's interview by him, since they worked together.
Re: Phøde Is The Optical Drive Emulator To Rule Them All
Ordered mine. Due October. Nervous about needing to solder it into the CDi. Anyone else have one on order?