Reminded me of the ghost dad racer story, and the one where someone got letters from their late mother in Animal Crossing (right in the feels). Also that depressing Sonic short film about the lonely kid.
Interesting that we've reached an era where film makers who grew up with games are increasingly incorporating them.
@GhaleonUnlimited Good luck! I like CJ, we chatted back in the HG101 days, but he seems like he stretches himself waaay too thin. I use a MCD ODE flashcart on PAL modded MD - email me if you guys want a tester for SR.
I just thought of another Saturn exclusive thanks to @DexTepa
BOMBERMAN!
You think every system has BM?
Not 10 player.
It dissapointed me hugely that online BM ganes on PS3 and X360 did not support 10 player games, despite higher resolution and online capabilities.
I played it once in 10p mode. At the Barbican Gane On exhibit. Technically it was 6 player, byt we set the other 4 as CPU.
No other home system has 10 player Bomberman. Only Saturn. (I think...)
The more I ponder it, the more I feel the Saturn was my fave of the PS1/Sat/N64 war. Purely for these unique oddities.
I met the programmer on this in Germany. We exchanged business cards. Semi-regularly I email him asking about an interview. He's undecided out of concern that it's still an active property, even though he's long since moved out of game development.
Sometimes I email him funny frog videos. Sometimes personal artwork based on the game. Next I'll be sending physical letters written in Japanese.
I might harvest public statements from English fans, from various sites running news stories on this. Make like a collage, to show how loved it is.
@KitsuneNight A quest? I must see this now. There are unpleasant depths to this genre which intrigue me. Thanks.
As for Rise... The worst thing is it's without any ambition. Even that Shadow Succession at least looked like they... Wanted to make something. Rise has dull backgrounds, no moves, and boring characters.
I hacked infinite health and rinsed the SNES version. There is so little there.
I've been going through the 3DO's entire library recently (and Jaguar).
Way of the Warrior honestly isn't that bad. It's better than Kasumi Ninja on Jaguar. it's also infinity times better than Shadow: War of Succession on 3DO.
That YT vid saying WotW is the worst fighting game clearly hasn't played many. Kazumi Ninja is... too difficult, but tolerable due to its weirdness (selecting characters after beating them). Rise of the Robots is terrible. Primal Rage is shallow. War of Succession is hot trash - this is the actual worst fighting game. Fight for Life on Jag is also one of the absolute worst. Way of the Warror, is kinda goofy fun.
If we're looking only at the 3DO library, sure SSFII is better and Sam Sho too, but honestly, in the grand pantheon of one on one fighters - Way of the Warrior offers some enjoyment. I can imagine being a kid back in the day, and being impressed with all that shiny CG and digitised sprites.
Oh man. I just had to reset my password to log in.
Into my account. Shows my PSIO.
Unregistered.
Fine, I'll just register.
Except I need to download a menu system, install it to PSIO, to generate a file, to put back on my computer, to upload, to prove I own it, to then download a firmware update?
Is that right? Hell, may there are more steps - I don't even know and I will never find out!
Cybdyn and his entire crew can go whistle. Screw that nonsense. I am NEVER going to that much effort just to play some games.
@norwichred Three? LOL. OK, I retract my previous statement and will read further, it seems I was not fully informed of all events (I guess we both weren't).
As for the film: I genuinely loved it.
I read a lot of retrospectives that said it was just a cheap advert for Mario 3, and I found this weird. The game is shown only briefly at the end.
There's a whole story about brotherly love and what family means.
The videogame parts were well integrated.
I've never really gotten the cynicism towards it.
It was on UK Netflix a few years ago, but then they removed it.
So far we have a credible female character witness as to his earlier career conduct.
And the results from a full investigation into the 2018 allegations.
Unless they're both lying, Savage seems to be the victim of slander.
Today's society is way too gleeful about finding fault and demonising people.
Allegations must be taken seriously and investigated, always. But when no wrongdoing is found we need to acknowledge this. And those making false allegations need to face consequences.
I don't even like Savage. But I take a zero tolerance approach to anyone falsely accusing someone for personal gain. You can't just cry wolf for fun - people's lives are at stake. I don't mean you, I mean in general in society.
I missed that. However, it's by CJ, meaning it'll probably never get finished. He has a habit of starting projects and then abandoning them. Happened with Shadowrun on Sega CD, and other games, and then browsing that twitter thread, looks like it happened with SADF too. God damn.
I wouldn't care, except the community tends not to start work on another's project out of... politeness? Only after decades go by do others tend to restart on abandoned work.
I kinda wish CJ would stop announcing stuff. It basically puts a "reserved" marker on that game, meaning when he inevitably abandons it, nobody else is going to work on. So in effect, it kills off any chance of ever seeing an actual translation. CJ saying "I'm working on a fan-translation" is like the kiss of death.
@GhaleonUnlimited Well, I love DF so much, finished 3 campaigns, that I forced myself through DF2, in English.
It was tolerable?
The problem with dual classes is it never really makes sense. You typically end up with one doing the grunt of the fighting, and the other running around dying off.
I guess the idea was an enemy would have two classes, and you would match their two. But in practice it doesn't quite work like that. I longed for the purity of DF1.
Keep at it a bit more. You'll appreciate DF1 more afterwards.
Dragon Force 2! Though I don't know why it's so drab. I finished the fan translation. The balancing felt weird. Mixing and matching units also wasn't great.
There's also the "Spectral Force" series by Idea Factory. Not all of them, but one of the PS1 entries, and a DS entry, copy Dragon Force.
Watch some vids. It's a cheap clone or copycat, but because it's by Idea F***, it's basically hot garbage. They're almost all in JP, except for a DS version. But it was one of the worst games I'd played - just bad design.
Playing a Spectral Force game makes you realise they captured lightening in a bottle with Dragon Force.
Edit:
Spectral Force 2, even ripping off the screen layout and UI
@Diogmites For ODEs I use Rhea and Fenrir. Both do the job but I prefer Fenrir, even though it doesn't support multidiscs. Rhea does, but...
Rhea only accepts super weird file types, like CloneCD proprietry images, meaning I had to burn isos and bins to CDRW, rip with CCD, erase, and then repeat. Technically Rhea can run bin, but only if there is no redbook audio, so not a lot of games. The guy making it is also... Eccentric. I kinda hate Rhea actually. PITA.
Fenrir gets my vote, based on price and super ease. Zero hassle. Unsure about Mode.
@Diogmites Based on the games you mentioned (I do enjoy Mystic Defender too), I think you'd love Taromaru.
Wait until the stage where you're inside a frog!
It's also a showcase for great 2D graphics on the Saturn, mixed with some discrete and pleasant 3D environments.
Sadly it's insanely expensive (isn't everything these days?), but if you have an ODE or emulation option, go for it.
I'd urge ODE if possible, because those 2D visuals really work nicely on a CRT.
Fun fact: I was in Japan in 2001, in some remote-ish mountain town with my class (school trip; it was the hills outside Beppu City), and I went into a little mom and pop video rental / game store. They had Taromaru for like £10 used. I liked the look of the 2D, but ultimately I passed on it for Sin & Punishment on N64. I'd never seen anyone else talk about it so didn't realise its rarity. To this day that moment haunts me.
@smoreon Really? Interesting. It auto-updated for me, and I was curious to see what would actually happen. I assumed maybe I could just load old installs but not new. But it did this weird thing... Where the Steam browser sort of popped up, and there was the menu, but just black beneath, and then it would crash. Buggy as heck.
I have a Win10 desktop, but it's a toaster. I prefer Win7 for multiple reasons. Including the ability to hack the registry and disable auto arrange in folders. With Win10 Microsoft were hellbent on NOT allowing anyone to disable auto-arrange, ever, so would keep updating the security to disable anyone's attempts at a registry hack that disabled.
I hate auto arrange so much. Despise it.
There's also certain utilities and programs that only work properly with Win7. If anyone has any intention of truly "using" their rig, and not just for Word processing, art packages, and the internet, but all sorts of nifty little programs, then Win7 offers the best options, plus legacy progs that will not work on newer OS.
Heck, I keep an offline XP rig, for the really old stuff which won't work on Win7.
If I can save up I'll probably just be forced to buy another game rig, Win10, but only use it for Steam. Then keep the Win7 rig for proper work, since it's easier to parse folders.
Like seriously. How does any other human being look at an auto-arranged folder and even "see" what's there. I'm going to invent a new term: folder dyslexia. It's where your brain just switches off when you see rows of folders. I need to move them about into distinct clusters based on purpose (todo, WIP, finished, junk, images, pages, etc.) for each new project folder.
I owned all 3 back in the day. Technically I only got the Saturn after it died. Guy sold me his, most of the must haves, £60. I think he wanted to buy an N64?
(We were not rich - my dad bought the yellow papered Diamond Free Ads every week - people selling old tat before eBay existed - I scanned that paper religiously, and picked up used bargains like the Saturn.)
In hindsight, the Saturn is my favourite.
Not for nostalgia.
Not for volume.
But because there's a tiny handful of games, which are so good, and have no real equivalent elsewhere, that the only way to achieve that experience, out of 50 years worth of games history, is to own a Saturn.
For me it's not Sega Rally or Virtua Fighter. Plenty of racers and fighters elsewhere. It's Panzer Dragoon Saga. Dark Saviour. Bulk Slash. Shinrei Jusatsu Taromaru. Burning Rangers. Guardian Heroes (X360 ported). Nights (ported). Dragon Force.
My god, it's 2024 and there are still so few equivalents to Dragon Force. A lame sequel. A JP only PS2 remake. A copycat PS1 series which is JP only and terribly balanced (I forget the name).
A few games were ported. Most are trapped on the system.
Yes, the PS1 has more games. But there's a unique flavour I can't get anywhere other than Saturn.
It's not bias. I ask anyone to direct me to games on other systems that match those I mentioned. (OK, Alissa Dragoon is pretty close for Taromaru, I will give you that... But the rest?)
@GhaleonUnlimited
Good call on those fan translations. For holy grails, mine is Cyber Doll. Insane story, totally original combat system, gorgeous 2D graphics.
As for the PS1 launch, I agree. The games sucked so badly, I went back to my SNES and wondered why people cared. (Rapid Reload was an exception - JP/PAL exclusive, but I never saw it here in UK)
I would say it's an insta-purchase, but Steam no longer works on my gaming rig since Valve abandoned Win7 in January. (All my installed games also stopped functioning.)
@smoreon I quite like it when you can select, and I'll swap between soundtracks. I recall Castlevania Chronicles on PS1 had the original music and a remixed selection you could swap between. I used both, even though my tastes lean towards chip-generated sounds. (I hope I'm remembering that right, it's been years since I owned Chronicles.)
Sadly retro collecting in the UK, not just America, has been utterly ruined by scalpers. I just go without - I'm not giving in to their insane price demands. Those items get relisted infinitely.
I miss old Japan. Visited 2001, 2002, and 2013.
The first time Akihabara was incredible. Paradise. I brought a Duo-R home. The last time Japan had changed. It sounds like it hs changed even more.
@fout21 I've met Frazer, and he's honestly not scammy. Very down to earth actually, and a nice guy. Some NG collector's online can be unpleasantly elitist. Which is the absolute opposite of Frazer when you chat with him.
The problem is, prices are the easiest way to make a non-gamer take note. You saw the clip. One of them was never interested in games, and the other said they really like Worm. Did they mean Worms? Snake on their phone? Or the 1979 mainframe game, Worm?
I've had this experience myself. You try to talk about the beauty of pixel art. The fun of four players sitting together competing. The way a game can allow you to explore the world of your favourite book, via an adaptation. And usually they just don't get it.
But you say: "£20'000"
And boom. Non-gamers take note.
If you remove that particular quote, he talks about the joy of playing, the cleverness of bundling Tetris with the GB, and the immediacy of old games. The Virtual Boy was a good hook too, because now people are interested in VR, so this is an early example.
I was able to talk about the Vectrex 3D Imager to someone who didn't play games, because they were looking at current VR for business use, and they were fascinated at the technology's proto origins.
Frazer is a decent bloke. Sometimes you need to mention money to catch their attention, and then hit them with the real knowledge.
@amongtheworms Indeed. I prefer the ones where the author's character comes through - esp if they're a good writer. I recently looked at my first ever FAQ, written age 18, and it had pointless anecdotes about Ghibli films I'd watched at the time, lol. Terrible FAQ, but amusing to look back on.
@gingerbeardman Thanks. I knew about the endings, but I meant in terms of improving mecha performance. I never unlocked the 7th character. It seems they're the only ones who improve things.
LOL, I forgot about this. I think the original article was written in 2013, and then after the site was redesigned the article was republished in 2017.
To this day I am convinced there are zero difference between the navigators.
Reassuring to see others online run into the same mystery. Hopefully it gets solved some day. I reckon the hackers who did the translation might be able to peek and see?
Anyone fascinated by rising game prices should watch this extremely excellent documentary. All of it is the result of speculative resellers. This is not a natural organic occurrence:
@BulkSlash Ahh, the wedge a pen in and load the music menu, swap discs, and exit out? Fascinating that it messed up the audio. I got a chip pretty quickly.
@Diogmites I only played the first level and put it off pretty quickly. I only stumbled upon it because I was looking for Saturn game mods, and someone had swapped the Saturn audio for the PC, and I was curious, so finally sat down with the 32-bit vers. BulkSlash points out there are alternate heavier tracks, but I never bothered to leave the first level.
@sdelfin I've never played Doom II funnily. Though it's sat on my X360. Maybe I finally should...
@PKDuckman I love the 3DO version! Someone has been using the source code to optimise it, with a plethora of options for improving the frame rate. Coupled with that remixed garage soundtrack, and proper circle strafing using the 3DO L&R (something the 32X and Jaguar lacked!), it's a fantastic port now. If they had only given Rebecca more time, it could well have ended up as the definitive console port for several years. I can't get into the Jag version: zero music, and no circle strafing. (I'm running it on USB-2-3DO, the nifty ODE for 3DO)
@RetroGames I read your entire reply and respect the position you're coming from. I especially like the Contra / Super Metroid audio comparison. And good points regarding the context of the era with the keyboard. I first played it at a friend, and we used... arrow keys to move and space to fire? I did treat it the way I would Contra. He did not have the internet, but later he found a way to replace the sound effects with train noises and other silly stuff, which I didn't like.
What I find interesting is how dramatically different our approaches, based around the sound. It makes me ponder the idea of allowing custom soundtracks on modern systems - anyone could alter the original intended atmosphere of any game.
@JonathanChapman In a news item about the altered soundtrack, I was curious if I was in the minority. I think it's fascinating that this one iconic game can be appreciated in two radically different ways based on the audio. And if someone only enjoys it with the ambient music, that's cool, because they are still enjoying a revolutionary title.
Group hug fellow enthusiasts. At the end of the day we all still love Doom, and that's what counts.
Dear Sega: I know you've been going around stomping on lots of different people writing books which promote your creations, but maybe just take a bit of a break, yeah? I'd kinda like to read this one.
@Diogmites So glad this is reaching Langrisser fans. The day was indeed incredible, lots of fun, two great interviewees, so many anecdotes, but processing all the material later was quite an undertaking - and then to receive email documents and not be able to use them for so long was stressful.
I mainly just feel relief that the words he entrusted me with are now out there. My quest is fulfilled.
Am I the only person who despises the 32-bit Doom soundtrack? As perhaps the only outlier in a comments section where everyone will proclaim their love for it, I respect everyone's free choice to enjoy and engage with what they like, and not engage with what they don't. I don't "cancel" because I'm not into something. If you prefer the 32-bit music, that's cool.
But I have to know: am I the only one who prefers the original Robert Prince soundtrack over the Aubrey Hodges music on PS1?
I only played the 32-bit games last year - prior to this I'd only known the PC versions, or the X360 port.
As soon as original Doom starts it pumps heavy metal and gets you pumped up. You feel energised, ready to give a demon a chainsaw enema. I mean, just listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSsfjHCFosw
I feel pumped and ready for carnage, and I'm just browsing the internet!
When I finally played the 32-bit ports (Saturn, actually, not PS1, but the music is the same), I was disgusted at how slow it was. This wasn't the adrenaline surge I craved. Where was the RIP AND TEAR? Where was the energy? Where was the maniacal gun-toting marine commando anthem to slay the armies of hell?
It was... Like the wrong game. Like it was meant for... An X-Files point-and-click adventure. I just could not stomach it. Have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfg-9AX4qU
I'm ready to fall asleep now. Is this... even music?
Does anyone out there feel the same? Please. I need to know I am not alone.
(I know the PC version had a few non-metal tracks, but I hate those - Kitchen Ace, Sawed the Demons, Facing the Spider, various cover songs, all the heavy ones, those are the ones that stand out for me as perfection.)
Buying online and the JP address means nothing. As pointed out by @LowDefAl proxy sites solve this.
I spoke to Joseph of the GPS, and according to research done by Beep, the figure he quoted me was, something like 70% of games sold on Japanese auction sites end up leaving the country. Way above half.
I do it myself - scalpers and speculators on UK ebay have jacked up prices to such insane heights, with items that sit getting endlessly relisted (artificially inflating the sense of value these items have), that even after domestic shipping within Japan, handling fees, import tax, and postage out of Japan to my house, an item via proxy is STILL cheaper than from these filthy damned local scalpers.
I feel bad for the Japanese. Or people who live there, regardless of origin. Even foreigners in Japan.
Around 2001 it was a paradise. Even in 2013 when I went again, it was OK. Lose games, controllers, all sorts were fairly priced and abundant.
I absolutely blame the speculators. Places like Wata and Heritage Auctions. They put games in plastic coffins, sell stuff for millions, speculators see this and want in on the investing action. Boom! All domestic prices rise astronomically. So legitimate players turn to importing direct.
It's over for Japan. It'll never recover.
Now the wealthy collectors are travelling further afield in Asia. Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, etc.
They're buying the Japanese games which had been imported into these countries back in the day, and which still haven't yet been picked clean by speculators and scalpers.
@Poodlestargenerica There was a Superman 64 you never played!
A much earlier beta was leaked, and it was actually better than the retail version. The license holders apparently demanded whole sections be cut, leaving behind the drek we got. It's out there, incl vids and analysis.
(Unless you were referring to this - and I misunderstood)
I get nervous with SGB borders. They're static images. I actually had burn in on my cheap Goodman's CRT (upper left) due to a constant unchanging border image on something.
My guess, since these were not Wata graded yet, is they were bought by Wata staff or speculative investors, will be graded as 9.8 shortly, and then in 6 months will be auction by Heritage Auctions for 2 or 3 million.
Every time you see a silly high priced auction - think of Jobst's documentary.
The whole scene is a lie. I started investigating this myself, getting speculative investors to admit to it, and then I was like: screw this, just now I end up on someone's hit list.
Just trust in Jobst. Guy is putting his life on the line challenging this mafia.
@NatiaAdamo I've read this a lot. My 210 and 220 models (UK, PAL) do not. They boot up just fine. The clock reverts to the factory default? Actually, not quite. On my 210 it shows "0 January". (The 220 was sold years ago, but had the same problem.)
They load and play games. And they retain saves as long as they're kept powered. Cutting the power kills the saves.
Since I've not had a model that gets stuck in the boot loop described online, I had to assume it's one of the other models of CDi. Of which there are... Many! Even the 210/220 has several internal board revisions, which dramatically affects how you can mod them.
I'm just going to say there's over 50 different models / revisions / variants of what is the same basic hardware. I do not know which specifically suffer from that problem. Only that mine did / do not.
@RetroGames Can the SNES game even be considered a "port"? It's so utterly different to Rondo on PCE, it's like whoever made it overheard a drunk conversation between the original team in a bar and based it on that.
It's weird discovering years after the fact the original had a bad reputation. I only found it was considered kusoge by some when they started doing the updated versions a few years back.
Growing up with a Famicom this was a personal favourite of mine and my brother. Since it never had a Western NES release we never, ever saw talk of it in magazines. So it was one of our earliest obscure gems.
It was one of a tiny selection of simultaneous 2 player games on the system (Contra, Battle City, and TMNT III were other examples we owned). And in 2P it worked well as you had to cover each other to avoid the quick spawning enemies.
Even in single player, it was not too long or too difficult. You could rinse it in 20 minutes easily.
The music was funky.
Every stage was filled with weird diversity. One-off items that only appeared in one spot - which is impressive, given how early NES games would re-use assets to make a game longer. To have an item that filled only a few second of gameplay, was wasteful but enjoyable.
The controls were great. Top down view, fast movement, responsive, and your projectile weapons had a slight homing effect, so you didn't have to aim too precisely.
It featured extremely smooth multi-direction scrolling in the four cardinal directions! Not even Super Mario Bros did that (it scrolling in one direction only). Zelda didn't do that. Metroid didn't do that (again, two directional only). It did stuff on a technical level that some beloved classics didn't even do. Mario 3 and Snake Rattle n Roll had multi-directional scrolling, but they came out much later.
The invincibility items allowed you to wreak carnage.
Each of the... four levels? five levels? Were totally different. In terms of colour, graphics, and mechanics. The graveyard maze which restricted movement. The open fields with water that slowed you. The vertical level with the paper walls. The bonus level! Each felt different.
Once we got bigger and better games like Mario 3 and TMNT III, we didn't play it too much, but due to its short length we'd sometimes load it for a quick completion as a warm up before another better game. A very literal "B Game" that precedes the main feature.
I genuinely don't know why it has a poor reputation. Its simplicity? Short length? Easiness?
Comments 538
Re: We Never Got A Panzer Dragoon Saturn Console, But This Is The Next Best Thing
Stunning.
I wish every human being on Earth had easy access to the original Panzer Dragoon Saga. Not a remake; a remaster only if it the changes are miniscule.
Because the original is an absolute masterpiece.
The low polygons and texture resolutions of the Saturn enhance's the feeling of a decayed world filled with mutated creatures.
This Saturn art enhances that even further.
(Though Azel's face is a little wonky in that top image...)
Re: Ever Wondered What The Symbols On The PlayStation Controller Really Mean?
@Poodlestargenerica Same. I always disliked how similar the pink and orange are, aesthetically.
Also, no mention of Skyblazer? Published by Sony. With those symbols in its password screen.
It was devved by Ukiytoei (spelling is wrong). Always wanted to know.
Re: New Short Film Shows How Video Games Can Connect Us Across Generations
Reminded me of the ghost dad racer story, and the one where someone got letters from their late mother in Animal Crossing (right in the feels). Also that depressing Sonic short film about the lonely kid.
Interesting that we've reached an era where film makers who grew up with games are increasingly incorporating them.
Re: Is It Time To Change The Narrative On The Sega Saturn?
@GhaleonUnlimited Good luck! I like CJ, we chatted back in the HG101 days, but he seems like he stretches himself waaay too thin. I use a MCD ODE flashcart on PAL modded MD - email me if you guys want a tester for SR.
I just thought of another Saturn exclusive thanks to @DexTepa
BOMBERMAN!
You think every system has BM?
Not 10 player.
It dissapointed me hugely that online BM ganes on PS3 and X360 did not support 10 player games, despite higher resolution and online capabilities.
I played it once in 10p mode. At the Barbican Gane On exhibit. Technically it was 6 player, byt we set the other 4 as CPU.
No other home system has 10 player Bomberman. Only Saturn. (I think...)
The more I ponder it, the more I feel the Saturn was my fave of the PS1/Sat/N64 war. Purely for these unique oddities.
Re: Random: Former CeX Staffer Holds Reddit AMA, And The First Question Is A Doozy
Plastic and silicone particulates breaking down and saturating the air?
Re: Game Boy Cult Classic With A Zelda Connection Joins Nintendo Switch Online, But There's A Catch
I met the programmer on this in Germany. We exchanged business cards. Semi-regularly I email him asking about an interview. He's undecided out of concern that it's still an active property, even though he's long since moved out of game development.
Sometimes I email him funny frog videos. Sometimes personal artwork based on the game. Next I'll be sending physical letters written in Japanese.
I might harvest public statements from English fans, from various sites running news stories on this. Make like a collage, to show how loved it is.
I will note rest until Frog Bell has a making of!
Re: Street Fighter 6 Director Has A Soft Spot For Naughty Dog's Maligned 3DO Fighter, Way Of The Warrior
@KitsuneNight A quest? I must see this now. There are unpleasant depths to this genre which intrigue me. Thanks.
As for Rise... The worst thing is it's without any ambition. Even that Shadow Succession at least looked like they... Wanted to make something. Rise has dull backgrounds, no moves, and boring characters.
I hacked infinite health and rinsed the SNES version. There is so little there.
Re: Street Fighter 6 Director Has A Soft Spot For Naughty Dog's Maligned 3DO Fighter, Way Of The Warrior
I've been going through the 3DO's entire library recently (and Jaguar).
Way of the Warrior honestly isn't that bad. It's better than Kasumi Ninja on Jaguar. it's also infinity times better than Shadow: War of Succession on 3DO.
That YT vid saying WotW is the worst fighting game clearly hasn't played many. Kazumi Ninja is... too difficult, but tolerable due to its weirdness (selecting characters after beating them).
Rise of the Robots is terrible. Primal Rage is shallow. War of Succession is hot trash - this is the actual worst fighting game. Fight for Life on Jag is also one of the absolute worst. Way of the Warror, is kinda goofy fun.
If we're looking only at the 3DO library, sure SSFII is better and Sam Sho too, but honestly, in the grand pantheon of one on one fighters - Way of the Warrior offers some enjoyment. I can imagine being a kid back in the day, and being impressed with all that shiny CG and digitised sprites.
Re: Three Years On, PS1 ODE PSIO Gets An Update - Along With Some Terrifying DRM
Oh man. I just had to reset my password to log in.
Into my account. Shows my PSIO.
Unregistered.
Fine, I'll just register.
Except I need to download a menu system, install it to PSIO, to generate a file, to put back on my computer, to upload, to prove I own it, to then download a firmware update?
Is that right? Hell, may there are more steps - I don't even know and I will never find out!
Cybdyn and his entire crew can go whistle. Screw that nonsense. I am NEVER going to that much effort just to play some games.
Re: Three Years On, PS1 ODE PSIO Gets An Update - Along With Some Terrifying DRM
Bought one new from Cybdyn, and even posted them my PS1 to solder the board on. It works great, and has worked fine since the last firmware upgrade.
Did I register? I don't even know.
Can I find my log in details? Nope.
Can I be bothered to jump through hoops? Not on your life.
Eh. Everything I want to run works after the last update (was waiting for Ghost in the Shell - it's now supported).
None of these extras look like they're worth my time.
Are there any cool obscure games which have received support with the recent update? Because if not, then maybe I'll just never bother updating again.
I really don't feel like bricking this thing because the manufacturer expected me to keep track of stuff. Not how I roll, mother-funsters!
Re: The Making Of: The Wizard - An Oral History Of Nintendo's Hollywood Debut
@norwichred Three? LOL. OK, I retract my previous statement and will read further, it seems I was not fully informed of all events (I guess we both weren't).
As for the film: I genuinely loved it.
I read a lot of retrospectives that said it was just a cheap advert for Mario 3, and I found this weird. The game is shown only briefly at the end.
There's a whole story about brotherly love and what family means.
The videogame parts were well integrated.
I've never really gotten the cynicism towards it.
It was on UK Netflix a few years ago, but then they removed it.
Re: The Making Of: The Wizard - An Oral History Of Nintendo's Hollywood Debut
@norwichred I can't comment on the actor playing Wayne. But I followed the Savage claims.
His former female co-star defended him on The Wonder Years:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/entertainment/fred-savages-wonder-years-co-star-defends-actor-against-decades-old-sexual-harassment-claim.amp
As for the newer allegations, Fox conducted a full investigation and officially stated they found zero evidence of wrongdoing:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fox-stands-fred-savage-investigation-194859754.html
So far we have a credible female character witness as to his earlier career conduct.
And the results from a full investigation into the 2018 allegations.
Unless they're both lying, Savage seems to be the victim of slander.
Today's society is way too gleeful about finding fault and demonising people.
Allegations must be taken seriously and investigated, always. But when no wrongdoing is found we need to acknowledge this. And those making false allegations need to face consequences.
I don't even like Savage. But I take a zero tolerance approach to anyone falsely accusing someone for personal gain. You can't just cry wolf for fun - people's lives are at stake. I don't mean you, I mean in general in society.
We need to focus on facts and follow due process.
Re: Is It Time To Change The Narrative On The Sega Saturn?
@GhaleonUnlimited I thought I better check this, and it turns out the Sega Ages remake of DF1 was being fan-translated:
https://twitter.com/cj_iwakura/status/1444876124941651969?
I missed that. However, it's by CJ, meaning it'll probably never get finished. He has a habit of starting projects and then abandoning them. Happened with Shadowrun on Sega CD, and other games, and then browsing that twitter thread, looks like it happened with SADF too. God damn.
I wouldn't care, except the community tends not to start work on another's project out of... politeness? Only after decades go by do others tend to restart on abandoned work.
I kinda wish CJ would stop announcing stuff. It basically puts a "reserved" marker on that game, meaning when he inevitably abandons it, nobody else is going to work on. So in effect, it kills off any chance of ever seeing an actual translation. CJ saying "I'm working on a fan-translation" is like the kiss of death.
<sigh>
This frustrates me.
Re: Is It Time To Change The Narrative On The Sega Saturn?
@GhaleonUnlimited Well, I love DF so much, finished 3 campaigns, that I forced myself through DF2, in English.
It was tolerable?
The problem with dual classes is it never really makes sense. You typically end up with one doing the grunt of the fighting, and the other running around dying off.
I guess the idea was an enemy would have two classes, and you would match their two. But in practice it doesn't quite work like that. I longed for the purity of DF1.
Keep at it a bit more. You'll appreciate DF1 more afterwards.
Re: Strong Museum Reveals Its 2024 World Video Game Hall of Fame Inductees
I voted for NeoPets. Not because I believe in it, but because I don't advocate vox pop democracy, so like to disrupt it every time I can.
Re: Is It Time To Change The Narrative On The Sega Saturn?
@GhaleonUnlimited What else is like Dragon Force?
Dragon Force 2! Though I don't know why it's so drab. I finished the fan translation. The balancing felt weird. Mixing and matching units also wasn't great.
There's also the "Spectral Force" series by Idea Factory. Not all of them, but one of the PS1 entries, and a DS entry, copy Dragon Force.
Watch some vids. It's a cheap clone or copycat, but because it's by Idea F***, it's basically hot garbage. They're almost all in JP, except for a DS version. But it was one of the worst games I'd played - just bad design.
Playing a Spectral Force game makes you realise they captured lightening in a bottle with Dragon Force.
Edit:
Spectral Force 2, even ripping off the screen layout and UI
https://youtu.be/aX4NRSm-XoA?si=tprt3WLJjc6eKt5L
Re: Is It Time To Change The Narrative On The Sega Saturn?
@Diogmites For ODEs I use Rhea and Fenrir. Both do the job but I prefer Fenrir, even though it doesn't support multidiscs. Rhea does, but...
Rhea only accepts super weird file types, like CloneCD proprietry images, meaning I had to burn isos and bins to CDRW, rip with CCD, erase, and then repeat. Technically Rhea can run bin, but only if there is no redbook audio, so not a lot of games. The guy making it is also... Eccentric. I kinda hate Rhea actually. PITA.
Fenrir gets my vote, based on price and super ease. Zero hassle. Unsure about Mode.
Re: Is It Time To Change The Narrative On The Sega Saturn?
@Diogmites Based on the games you mentioned (I do enjoy Mystic Defender too), I think you'd love Taromaru.
Wait until the stage where you're inside a frog!
It's also a showcase for great 2D graphics on the Saturn, mixed with some discrete and pleasant 3D environments.
Sadly it's insanely expensive (isn't everything these days?), but if you have an ODE or emulation option, go for it.
I'd urge ODE if possible, because those 2D visuals really work nicely on a CRT.
Fun fact: I was in Japan in 2001, in some remote-ish mountain town with my class (school trip; it was the hills outside Beppu City), and I went into a little mom and pop video rental / game store. They had Taromaru for like £10 used. I liked the look of the 2D, but ultimately I passed on it for Sin & Punishment on N64. I'd never seen anyone else talk about it so didn't realise its rarity. To this day that moment haunts me.
Re: Angeline Era Is A New 3D "Bump-Slash" Adventure Inspired By Hydlide & Ys
@smoreon Really? Interesting. It auto-updated for me, and I was curious to see what would actually happen. I assumed maybe I could just load old installs but not new. But it did this weird thing... Where the Steam browser sort of popped up, and there was the menu, but just black beneath, and then it would crash. Buggy as heck.
I have a Win10 desktop, but it's a toaster. I prefer Win7 for multiple reasons. Including the ability to hack the registry and disable auto arrange in folders. With Win10 Microsoft were hellbent on NOT allowing anyone to disable auto-arrange, ever, so would keep updating the security to disable anyone's attempts at a registry hack that disabled.
I hate auto arrange so much. Despise it.
There's also certain utilities and programs that only work properly with Win7. If anyone has any intention of truly "using" their rig, and not just for Word processing, art packages, and the internet, but all sorts of nifty little programs, then Win7 offers the best options, plus legacy progs that will not work on newer OS.
Heck, I keep an offline XP rig, for the really old stuff which won't work on Win7.
If I can save up I'll probably just be forced to buy another game rig, Win10, but only use it for Steam. Then keep the Win7 rig for proper work, since it's easier to parse folders.
Like seriously. How does any other human being look at an auto-arranged folder and even "see" what's there. I'm going to invent a new term: folder dyslexia. It's where your brain just switches off when you see rows of folders. I need to move them about into distinct clusters based on purpose (todo, WIP, finished, junk, images, pages, etc.) for each new project folder.
Re: Is It Time To Change The Narrative On The Sega Saturn?
I owned all 3 back in the day. Technically I only got the Saturn after it died. Guy sold me his, most of the must haves, £60. I think he wanted to buy an N64?
(We were not rich - my dad bought the yellow papered Diamond Free Ads every week - people selling old tat before eBay existed - I scanned that paper religiously, and picked up used bargains like the Saturn.)
In hindsight, the Saturn is my favourite.
Not for nostalgia.
Not for volume.
But because there's a tiny handful of games, which are so good, and have no real equivalent elsewhere, that the only way to achieve that experience, out of 50 years worth of games history, is to own a Saturn.
For me it's not Sega Rally or Virtua Fighter. Plenty of racers and fighters elsewhere. It's Panzer Dragoon Saga. Dark Saviour. Bulk Slash. Shinrei Jusatsu Taromaru. Burning Rangers. Guardian Heroes (X360 ported). Nights (ported). Dragon Force.
My god, it's 2024 and there are still so few equivalents to Dragon Force. A lame sequel. A JP only PS2 remake. A copycat PS1 series which is JP only and terribly balanced (I forget the name).
A few games were ported. Most are trapped on the system.
Yes, the PS1 has more games. But there's a unique flavour I can't get anywhere other than Saturn.
It's not bias. I ask anyone to direct me to games on other systems that match those I mentioned. (OK, Alissa Dragoon is pretty close for Taromaru, I will give you that... But the rest?)
@GhaleonUnlimited
Good call on those fan translations. For holy grails, mine is Cyber Doll. Insane story, totally original combat system, gorgeous 2D graphics.
As for the PS1 launch, I agree. The games sucked so badly, I went back to my SNES and wondered why people cared. (Rapid Reload was an exception - JP/PAL exclusive, but I never saw it here in UK)
Re: Angeline Era Is A New 3D "Bump-Slash" Adventure Inspired By Hydlide & Ys
I would say it's an insta-purchase, but Steam no longer works on my gaming rig since Valve abandoned Win7 in January. (All my installed games also stopped functioning.)
Here's hoping it comes to GOG.
Re: Jon Miller, Creator Of The Sound Driver Used In Hundreds Of Mega Drive / Genesis Games, Passes Away
@NinChocolate Ignore the hate. We both know the truth. (That Mega Drive sound was glorious.)
For me too that sound is a powerful gateway to youth.
But it's also just objectively excellent, even without the nostalgia.
Re: Rare SNES Prototype Auction Cancelled After Passing The $2 Million Mark
Why did the SNES Playstation sell for so little?
Theories?
Re: Sega Saturn Is Getting A Fan-Made Remake Of Revenge Of Shinobi
@smoreon I quite like it when you can select, and I'll swap between soundtracks. I recall Castlevania Chronicles on PS1 had the original music and a remixed selection you could swap between. I used both, even though my tastes lean towards chip-generated sounds. (I hope I'm remembering that right, it's been years since I owned Chronicles.)
Re: Sega Saturn Is Getting A Fan-Made Remake Of Revenge Of Shinobi
Hoping for a toggle option so we can still enjoy these delicious chiptunes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ekCndckJfU
I feel redbook audio is over-rated. So is the SNES' fancy music chip. I say this as a long-time SNES enthusiast and owner.
Re: The Truth About Retro Game Hunting In A Post-Pandemic Japan
Thank you for the fascinating write up.
Sadly retro collecting in the UK, not just America, has been utterly ruined by scalpers. I just go without - I'm not giving in to their insane price demands. Those items get relisted infinitely.
I miss old Japan. Visited 2001, 2002, and 2013.
The first time Akihabara was incredible. Paradise. I brought a Duo-R home. The last time Japan had changed. It sounds like it hs changed even more.
Re: Limited Run Games Accused Of Shipping "Premium" 3DO Games On CD-Rs
Yeah, but are they Taiyo Yuden?
I bought the last batch produced and have been rationing my burns.
46 left. Why did you abandon us Taiyo? T_T
The 100 spindle cost less than one of those limited editions. I think.
Re: Retro Gaming Takes Over The BBC's Breakfast Show
@fout21 I've met Frazer, and he's honestly not scammy. Very down to earth actually, and a nice guy. Some NG collector's online can be unpleasantly elitist. Which is the absolute opposite of Frazer when you chat with him.
The problem is, prices are the easiest way to make a non-gamer take note. You saw the clip. One of them was never interested in games, and the other said they really like Worm. Did they mean Worms? Snake on their phone? Or the 1979 mainframe game, Worm?
I've had this experience myself. You try to talk about the beauty of pixel art. The fun of four players sitting together competing. The way a game can allow you to explore the world of your favourite book, via an adaptation. And usually they just don't get it.
But you say: "£20'000"
And boom. Non-gamers take note.
If you remove that particular quote, he talks about the joy of playing, the cleverness of bundling Tetris with the GB, and the immediacy of old games. The Virtual Boy was a good hook too, because now people are interested in VR, so this is an early example.
I was able to talk about the Vectrex 3D Imager to someone who didn't play games, because they were looking at current VR for business use, and they were fascinated at the technology's proto origins.
Frazer is a decent bloke. Sometimes you need to mention money to catch their attention, and then hit them with the real knowledge.
Re: Random: This Bulk Slash FAQ Has Been Puzzling Fans For Almost 20 Years
@amongtheworms
Indeed. I prefer the ones where the author's character comes through - esp if they're a good writer. I recently looked at my first ever FAQ, written age 18, and it had pointless anecdotes about Ghibli films I'd watched at the time, lol. Terrible FAQ, but amusing to look back on.
@gingerbeardman
Thanks. I knew about the endings, but I meant in terms of improving mecha performance. I never unlocked the 7th character. It seems they're the only ones who improve things.
Re: Random: This Bulk Slash FAQ Has Been Puzzling Fans For Almost 20 Years
LOL, I forgot about this. I think the original article was written in 2013, and then after the site was redesigned the article was republished in 2017.
To this day I am convinced there are zero difference between the navigators.
Reassuring to see others online run into the same mystery. Hopefully it gets solved some day. I reckon the hackers who did the translation might be able to peek and see?
Re: Google's Wildly Inaccurate Attempt To Celebrate Sonic Causes Complete Confusion
Is AI using their Twitter to post?
Re: The ESA Says Its Members Won't Support Plans For Online 'Game Preservation' Libraries
Based on what the ESA is saying and doing, the ESA comes across as scum in my opinion.
Re: Japan Is Getting Psychic Force 2012 Collectables
There was also a PS1 spin-off.
TV Animation X Unmei ko Tatakai
It reuses the engine and mechanics, but diff story and charas. It's damn cool.
https://lunaticobscurity.blogspot.com/2015/02/tv-animation-x-unmei-no-tatakai.html?m=1
Re: The Sony PSP Gets Upgraded For 2024
I just want a new functioning battery that isn't some cheap Chinese knock off that dies in a week and risks catching fire.
Re: "Legendary Haul" Of Retro Games Worth Hundreds Of Thousands Sold With No Knowledge Of Their Value
Anyone fascinated by rising game prices should watch this extremely excellent documentary. All of it is the result of speculative resellers. This is not a natural organic occurrence:
https://youtu.be/rvLFEh7V18A?si=tZ4haKcS7wzkJ_-T
Re: PS1 Doom Has Been Backported To PC, Along With Its Amazing Soundtrack
@BulkSlash Ahh, the wedge a pen in and load the music menu, swap discs, and exit out? Fascinating that it messed up the audio. I got a chip pretty quickly.
@Diogmites I only played the first level and put it off pretty quickly. I only stumbled upon it because I was looking for Saturn game mods, and someone had swapped the Saturn audio for the PC, and I was curious, so finally sat down with the 32-bit vers. BulkSlash points out there are alternate heavier tracks, but I never bothered to leave the first level.
@sdelfin I've never played Doom II funnily. Though it's sat on my X360. Maybe I finally should...
@PKDuckman I love the 3DO version! Someone has been using the source code to optimise it, with a plethora of options for improving the frame rate. Coupled with that remixed garage soundtrack, and proper circle strafing using the 3DO L&R (something the 32X and Jaguar lacked!), it's a fantastic port now. If they had only given Rebecca more time, it could well have ended up as the definitive console port for several years. I can't get into the Jag version: zero music, and no circle strafing. (I'm running it on USB-2-3DO, the nifty ODE for 3DO)
@RetroGames I read your entire reply and respect the position you're coming from. I especially like the Contra / Super Metroid audio comparison. And good points regarding the context of the era with the keyboard. I first played it at a friend, and we used... arrow keys to move and space to fire? I did treat it the way I would Contra. He did not have the internet, but later he found a way to replace the sound effects with train noises and other silly stuff, which I didn't like.
What I find interesting is how dramatically different our approaches, based around the sound. It makes me ponder the idea of allowing custom soundtracks on modern systems - anyone could alter the original intended atmosphere of any game.
@JonathanChapman In a news item about the altered soundtrack, I was curious if I was in the minority. I think it's fascinating that this one iconic game can be appreciated in two radically different ways based on the audio. And if someone only enjoys it with the ambient music, that's cool, because they are still enjoying a revolutionary title.
Group hug fellow enthusiasts. At the end of the day we all still love Doom, and that's what counts.
Re: New Book Aims To Celebrate Saturn, Sega's Beloved 32-Bit Console
Dear Sega: I know you've been going around stomping on lots of different people writing books which promote your creations, but maybe just take a bit of a break, yeah? I'd kinda like to read this one.
Re: The Making Of: Langrisser / Warsong - Fire Emblem's Oft-Ignored Rival
@Diogmites So glad this is reaching Langrisser fans. The day was indeed incredible, lots of fun, two great interviewees, so many anecdotes, but processing all the material later was quite an undertaking - and then to receive email documents and not be able to use them for so long was stressful.
I mainly just feel relief that the words he entrusted me with are now out there. My quest is fulfilled.
Please share it with any other fans you know.
Re: PS1 Doom Has Been Backported To PC, Along With Its Amazing Soundtrack
Am I the only person who despises the 32-bit Doom soundtrack? As perhaps the only outlier in a comments section where everyone will proclaim their love for it, I respect everyone's free choice to enjoy and engage with what they like, and not engage with what they don't. I don't "cancel" because I'm not into something. If you prefer the 32-bit music, that's cool.
But I have to know: am I the only one who prefers the original Robert Prince soundtrack over the Aubrey Hodges music on PS1?
I only played the 32-bit games last year - prior to this I'd only known the PC versions, or the X360 port.
As soon as original Doom starts it pumps heavy metal and gets you pumped up. You feel energised, ready to give a demon a chainsaw enema. I mean, just listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSsfjHCFosw
I feel pumped and ready for carnage, and I'm just browsing the internet!
When I finally played the 32-bit ports (Saturn, actually, not PS1, but the music is the same), I was disgusted at how slow it was. This wasn't the adrenaline surge I craved. Where was the RIP AND TEAR? Where was the energy? Where was the maniacal gun-toting marine commando anthem to slay the armies of hell?
It was... Like the wrong game. Like it was meant for... An X-Files point-and-click adventure. I just could not stomach it. Have a listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfg-9AX4qU
I'm ready to fall asleep now. Is this... even music?
Does anyone out there feel the same? Please. I need to know I am not alone.
(I know the PC version had a few non-metal tracks, but I hate those - Kitchen Ace, Sawed the Demons, Facing the Spider, various cover songs, all the heavy ones, those are the ones that stand out for me as perfection.)
Re: Visions Of Mana's New Japanese Trailer Goes Heavy On Nostalgia
I'm not keen on whatever they're advertising (I've long since given up on modern games). But the intro to this is beautiful and resonates so strongly.
I was that child. (Except not in Japan, obviously.) I think many of us were.
Re: "The Tourists Have Taken Everything" Laments Japanese Resident As Retro Runs Dry
Buying online and the JP address means nothing. As pointed out by @LowDefAl proxy sites solve this.
I spoke to Joseph of the GPS, and according to research done by Beep, the figure he quoted me was, something like 70% of games sold on Japanese auction sites end up leaving the country. Way above half.
I do it myself - scalpers and speculators on UK ebay have jacked up prices to such insane heights, with items that sit getting endlessly relisted (artificially inflating the sense of value these items have), that even after domestic shipping within Japan, handling fees, import tax, and postage out of Japan to my house, an item via proxy is STILL cheaper than from these filthy damned local scalpers.
I feel bad for the Japanese. Or people who live there, regardless of origin. Even foreigners in Japan.
Around 2001 it was a paradise. Even in 2013 when I went again, it was OK. Lose games, controllers, all sorts were fairly priced and abundant.
I absolutely blame the speculators. Places like Wata and Heritage Auctions. They put games in plastic coffins, sell stuff for millions, speculators see this and want in on the investing action. Boom! All domestic prices rise astronomically. So legitimate players turn to importing direct.
It's over for Japan. It'll never recover.
Now the wealthy collectors are travelling further afield in Asia. Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, etc.
They're buying the Japanese games which had been imported into these countries back in the day, and which still haven't yet been picked clean by speculators and scalpers.
Re: The Making Of: Ride To Hell, The Open-World Epic That Became One Of The Worst Games Of All Time
@Poodlestargenerica There was a Superman 64 you never played!
A much earlier beta was leaked, and it was actually better than the retail version. The license holders apparently demanded whole sections be cut, leaving behind the drek we got. It's out there, incl vids and analysis.
(Unless you were referring to this - and I misunderstood)
Re: Metroid II Gets A Colourful Super Game Boy Upgrade
I get nervous with SGB borders. They're static images. I actually had burn in on my cheap Goodman's CRT (upper left) due to a constant unchanging border image on something.
Re: A Bunch Of Sealed NES Games Just Sold For Utterly Insane Amounts On eBay
Karl Jobst did an amazing investigative job documenting the scam that is high priced sealed games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvLFEh7V18A
My guess, since these were not Wata graded yet, is they were bought by Wata staff or speculative investors, will be graded as 9.8 shortly, and then in 6 months will be auction by Heritage Auctions for 2 or 3 million.
Every time you see a silly high priced auction - think of Jobst's documentary.
The whole scene is a lie. I started investigating this myself, getting speculative investors to admit to it, and then I was like: screw this, just now I end up on someone's hit list.
Just trust in Jobst. Guy is putting his life on the line challenging this mafia.
Re: CEX Is Launching Its Own Repair Service For Retro Consoles
@NatiaAdamo I've read this a lot. My 210 and 220 models (UK, PAL) do not. They boot up just fine. The clock reverts to the factory default? Actually, not quite. On my 210 it shows "0 January". (The 220 was sold years ago, but had the same problem.)
They load and play games. And they retain saves as long as they're kept powered. Cutting the power kills the saves.
Since I've not had a model that gets stuck in the boot loop described online, I had to assume it's one of the other models of CDi. Of which there are... Many! Even the 210/220 has several internal board revisions, which dramatically affects how you can mod them.
I'm just going to say there's over 50 different models / revisions / variants of what is the same basic hardware. I do not know which specifically suffer from that problem. Only that mine did / do not.
Re: Batman Artist Calls Sonic The Hedgehog Casino Similarities A "Coincidence"
Didn't the Sonic Adventure team fly to a variety of locations, including South America, for research? That's where the Aztec ruins designs came from.
I can't find the interview now where I read that, but I wonder if they didn't visit Vegas too? Or at least look at photos.
I drove around Vegas once, there's all sorts of weird looking casinos.
Are we certain there isn't a casino which resembles the above, and has some sort of screen to the side to entice gamblers walking past?
Re: CEX Is Launching Its Own Repair Service For Retro Consoles
My Philips CDi needs a new timekeeper battery soldered in to maintain saves and...
No Philips CDi option on their web pages.
Jokes aside this is pretty cool. I wonder if they'll expand to do mods. 60Hz switches for everyone!
Re: Flashback: The Lost 32X Castlevania That Led To Symphony Of The Night
@RetroGames That would have been incredible. The non-linear progression and save system were excellent.
Re: Flashback: The Lost 32X Castlevania That Led To Symphony Of The Night
@RetroGames Can the SNES game even be considered a "port"? It's so utterly different to Rondo on PCE, it's like whoever made it overheard a drunk conversation between the original team in a bar and based it on that.
Re: Legendary "Crap Game" Ikki Gets A Second Chance On Switch This April
It's weird discovering years after the fact the original had a bad reputation. I only found it was considered kusoge by some when they started doing the updated versions a few years back.
Growing up with a Famicom this was a personal favourite of mine and my brother. Since it never had a Western NES release we never, ever saw talk of it in magazines. So it was one of our earliest obscure gems.
It was one of a tiny selection of simultaneous 2 player games on the system (Contra, Battle City, and TMNT III were other examples we owned). And in 2P it worked well as you had to cover each other to avoid the quick spawning enemies.
Even in single player, it was not too long or too difficult. You could rinse it in 20 minutes easily.
The music was funky.
Every stage was filled with weird diversity. One-off items that only appeared in one spot - which is impressive, given how early NES games would re-use assets to make a game longer. To have an item that filled only a few second of gameplay, was wasteful but enjoyable.
The controls were great. Top down view, fast movement, responsive, and your projectile weapons had a slight homing effect, so you didn't have to aim too precisely.
It featured extremely smooth multi-direction scrolling in the four cardinal directions! Not even Super Mario Bros did that (it scrolling in one direction only). Zelda didn't do that. Metroid didn't do that (again, two directional only). It did stuff on a technical level that some beloved classics didn't even do. Mario 3 and Snake Rattle n Roll had multi-directional scrolling, but they came out much later.
The invincibility items allowed you to wreak carnage.
Each of the... four levels? five levels? Were totally different. In terms of colour, graphics, and mechanics. The graveyard maze which restricted movement. The open fields with water that slowed you. The vertical level with the paper walls. The bonus level! Each felt different.
Once we got bigger and better games like Mario 3 and TMNT III, we didn't play it too much, but due to its short length we'd sometimes load it for a quick completion as a warm up before another better game. A very literal "B Game" that precedes the main feature.
I genuinely don't know why it has a poor reputation. Its simplicity? Short length? Easiness?