sdelfin

It goes to show what a big difference 4bpp color, 16-color sprites, made at the time. It's why some Master System games look especially nice with games like The Lucky Dime Caper Starring Donald Duck being one example. The Master System had other limitations so we'd see the PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 and the Genesis/Mega Drive take things further as the tech improved. But that jump in colors for sprites was a big deal, and jumps beyond that to 5 and 6bpp were far less impactful.

I have a Razer Edge handheld, so I like the modular concept as it's a small tablet and a telescoping controller. This is an interesting variation on the concept, though it seems less versatile. I imagine you could use the screen of this thing with one of those expanding phone/tablet gamepads, though. In the headline it says that it's a "tabletop TATE" device. It sounds like playing vertically would require the screen to be detached, and no pictures show the screen orientation vertical while attached. I forget which handheld it was, but I think it was vertically oriented, and I said then that I think a square 1:1 screen would be better, and for those that do want TATE as an option would be better served by such a device. I believe that might also apply here. Yes, both vertical and horizontal games wouldn't use the whole screen, but that seems like the best compromise as 1:1 would be simpler in that there would be no need for rotation, and both types of games would fill up a reasonable amount of a square screen. I've heard good things about that aspect ratio for handhelds.

Seeing Double Dragon in the arcade as a very small child was a major moment for me as a gamer. It was one of my first arcade obsessions and shaped my tastes to the point where beat-em-up games have been my favorite since then, which remains true for me to this day. And the port to the Master System was one of my absolute favorite games for the system. Without realizing the connection, I was also drawn to WWF Superstars and WWF Wrestlefest as I was a wrestling fan in those days. I played WWF Superstars quite a bit back then. Mr. Kishimoto's work had quote an effect on me, for which I am grateful.

It's funny to me how we've gone from The Wizard, a movie about video games with a heavy dose of marketing, to movies based on board games and unexpected video games like Battleship and Rampage.

@Sketcz I can't respond on what Ebert was specifically referring to with regard to the Wizard. I will say I always liked Ebert and found him interesting. I stumbled onto his TV show with Gene Siskel by chance one night and liked it enough to keep checking it out. I disagreed with Ebert on things. I thought he got some stuff very wrong. If I'm not mistaken, he thought Blade Runner was shallow when it first came out, but had softened and gave it praise for either the director's cut or final cut. He evolved a lot as a critic and I found him to have a more open mind later on. He surprised me a number of times in liking some things I didn't expect, so I give him credit for that. And his show helped me learn a bit about movies in general, and it was fun to get a little bit of an idea about the specific films that were in theaters at the time. I was exposed to a lot of things I never would have been, otherwise. And I will also add tat Ebert's love of film was very obvious to me on this show, and I think that was a reason I watched for as long as I did. Again, he definitely got things wrong and could seem pompous at times, especially earlier on, but he also softened over the years and tried to highlight some surprising movies that, sometimes, other critics didn't like. So perhaps a nuanced first-hand account can help you understand why some did respect him.

This is quite impressive. I've always enjoyed seeing devs push hardware to do things it was either not intended to do or to go beyond what people expected. The end result wasn't always a fun game, but I appreciated seeing what was possible. Of course, sometimes the games were fun too. I really came to appreciate such things around when the Game Boy Color came out. The GBA was a good system to see devs use in creative ways. Junk Runner is fascinating to me in the same way. In terms of the achievement, it reminds me of the GTA 3 port to Dreamcast in the sense it's doing something many might have thought impossible.

I wanted to add that projects like Portal 64 might not be "needed", they can serve as a learning experience for a developer that can lead to something like this. I'm a believer in "because you can" is a good enough reason to unofficially port games — I love those NES-to-SNES ports — but there is other value to such projects in that developers can learn from them if they choose to make original games, something we just don't know at the time such ports are in progress. Anyway, very cool to see the N64 pushed in this way.

This is a good idea, especially since those old power bricks are so chunky. Eliminating those is quite helpful. I've seen methods of running old consoles via USB-C that offers the same benefit, including running a full Sega tower of power via one USB charger. That method and this one both have the same concern, which is having to be aware of polarity as there's no simple way around that. I know center positive is pretty much what everything has used for a long time. I don't quite know how uncommon center negative is in general, but, as the list shows, it's not uncommon for old game consoles to use that and that might be the only time I ever see center negative. I wonder if other things commonly used that and if that was maybe a regional thing.

Just for the sake of making things even more tricky, because why not, I see the Game Gear is both center negative and center positive, which is based on the region. I had no idea and never would have guessed. That seems to strange. The important thing is to always check the polarity to be sure.

First of all, very cool. Interesting that he has a target of 64 megabits. It's a decent amount of space for the SNES, but it will require some effort to use the space efficiently, but that was what developers dealt with at the time at lower capacities. We already see other fighting games on the 16-bit systems, so it's not hard to believe the SNES could do a respectable version of KOF. And game development is probably a bit easier now in some ways. For example, no worries about cart size and profitability.

So there are issues that come to mind. First is resolution. SNES has a typical resolution of 256x224 which is lower than Neo Geo, so a port would need some adjustment. That is normal and common. Street Fighter 2 was scaled down from a higher resolution. Then there are the sprite and pixel limits, particularly the horizontal limits. That's a normal limitation of the systems at the time. But it's not hard to come up against the limit with big sprites(made of smaller sprites). But other games do that just fine and the SNES seems well suited to fighting games. KOF is not a tag-team game, so it''s basically a one-on-one fighter in terms of its gameplay. The team element adds different complications, but the fights are one on one. I imagine dealing with the sound is another difficulty, but that would come later and depends on how everything else fits in the 64 megs.

KOF on the GBA turned out pretty well, especially the second one. The sprites looked good with some animation loss and it has the resolution limitation. As for the SNES, there are a number of fighting games from Capcom, SNK, and others. Natsume did two that I am aware of, the Power Rangers fighting game and their Gundam Wing fighting game, both of which are very impressive. And they used SlowROM. The Gundam game in particular looks really nice and always struck me as looking like it could pass as an early PS1 or Saturn fighter.

@h3s My recollection of KOF games at the time is that they didn't use the zooming effects of other SNK fighters. I'm not seeing the effect in a video either. If it was a factor, however, I think the best approach might just be to leave it out like the ports of Samurai Shodown did. As I recall, the Genesis version was zoomed in while the SNES version was zoomed out. Since a port of KOF would need some major adjustments due to the resolution, taking the zoom out might not be a bad idea in a hypothetical situation. But, as I said, I think KOF is different in that it didn't use that effect.

I know that the passage of time and hindsight factor in here, but it's interesting to see what might have been possible with a different approach. I had remembered seeing the Sonic fan game Sonic Robo Blast 2. It was a faux 3D game in the same way Doom was because it used the Doom engine. There's a 32X demo of it. It's pretty well done considering the limitations of not using polygons. The point is that it shows that both the Saturn and 32X could pull off a 3D Sonic in this style. Something like that could have turned heads, especially if they had it ready early enough. And then games like Croc and Tomb Raider, along with the aforementioned Penguin game, show that 3D was also viable in some way. I would also say that a 2D Sonic in a style that was clearly beyond the Genesis and SNES might not have been a huge system seller at the time, but it would have simply been good for the image of the system, not unlike how Symphony of the Night reflected well on the PS1's library a bit later. But it was a different time then. 3D was new and players were interested in that, but I also think execs took it too far at times, especially on the Sony side.

I played Kiaidan about a decade ago and figured I'd see it mentioned here. It was a good time and I liked the concept. I forget if I found out about Geppy because of Kiaidan, or if I discovered Kiaidan after learning about Geppy. The confusion stems from some indie games also using a '70s anime robot aesthetic. I do love anime robots, so I've always been curious about Geppy. I'm just finishing up watching Combattler V this week to show where I'm coming from. It's great that a game like this can get a second chance, along with getting a translation. I'll have to check it out. This type of game, a 2D shooter combined with extensive animated story sequences sounds like the same vision NEC and Hudson had for the PC-FX. From a game development standpoint, it doesn't sound very efficient in terms of making a profitable game, but it's super cool hearing the attention to detail that went into it. Also, nice to hear a bit about the process and how they consulted with the right holder of Getter Robo and how they were open to parody stuff while being protective of their IP. This was a great read.

@Martin_H I've heard anecdotes like that before. It's weird because, while dark, the screen never gave me any problems. It was very easy for me to see. I wonder if there was some amount of variation with the screens(like for the 3DS), or maybe the difference came down to eyes or lighting. It's just odd to have such wildly different experiences with that. Again, I'll admit it's dark, but it never seemed that dark to me. Perhaps that's why the reviews didn't mention it either.

@PowerPandaMods I alluded to that in my comment when I said I gravitated back to older style 2D games in that time, but you've stated that so well and concisely. Many GBA games felt like the 2D games from the past, but there were plenty of new ideas as well, which the platform itself enabled.

I have so many great memories of the GBA. It was what I was looking for in gaming at an important time in my life. With the Dreamcast failing to be the smash hit Sega needed, and after SNK's troubles, I was in a bit of a gaming depression. I also started to notice that, largely, I preferred the simpler 2D games of prior generations compared to where gaming was going. I also liked Nintendo the most during the Gamecube/GBA era. They were not on top of the world and seemed to be more consumer oriented as a result. I was a bit disappointed when Nintendo revealed the DS so soon into the GBA's life, but I understand that the PSP forced them to respond in some way.

When the GBA came out here, it seemed all the retailers only offered bundles. That's probably one of the reasons I waited a few weeks after launch, but I eventually relented after hearing all the praise for Tony Hawk, which I initially had no intent to buy. The bundle forced some accessories on me as well. The carrying case ended up being nice. The worm light came in super handy in 2012 when I was without electricity for three days. I played Pokemon(for the first time) to pass the time. So the bundle ended up being really good. Strangely enough, my first GBA arrived with a defective headphone jack.

I love the form factor of the original GBA. The screen didn't seem that dark to me at the time, but my only frame of reference was the Neo Geo Pocket. I had no problem playing Castlevania Circle of the Moon on it. Of course, now I can see how dark it is. But it wasn't as much of a struggle for me as it seems it was for others.

@Hairlesswookiee I imported it too, shortly after it came out. I don't know if it is true, I have come across speculation that Sega was looking to bring the 4MB RAM cart to the other territories, but the issue there would come down to how to distribute the cart and perhaps who should bear more of the cost, Sega or Capcom. More than anything, I think the timing of it all was the issue. X-Men vs. Street Fighter and the RAM cart came out late in 1997. Bernie Stolar had already infamously announced that the Saturn was not Sega's future, hastening its demise. In my opinion, he did that intentionally thinking the next system, eventually the Dreamcast, would be ready to go sooner than it was. But the RAM cart made even less sense after he did that.

It would have been interesting if things were a bit different and they did release the cart. It was one way where the Saturn was significantly superior to the PS1. Sega could have made the case for the Saturn being the real arcade-at-home system and try to also position it as a better second system for enthusiasts. The potential numbers probably weren't there. 2D fighters still sold well, but probably not well enough for that, but it's interesting to think about that time.

Sometimes "because you can" is not a good reason to do something. But sometimes it is. This is a situation where it is a great reason.

I understand the knee-jerk reaction to say "this is pointless" when taking just a quick glance at these projects. For example, a lot of people don't realize that those NES-to-SNES ports have added features or changes. Metroid gets a map. DuckTales gets accurate colors for characters(Scrooge gets his blue coat). They also include multiple soundtracks when available, and can fix flicker and slowdown. They can then be used as a foundation for future hacks, including graphical upgrades. I liked the ports in the first place, but ended up liking them way more after seeing them in action. For those who think they're pointless, just skip them and move along.

Of course, there is a point to them, even if its mostly on the developer side. There is much to learn from doing these projects, which can lead to original games later. Besides, the complaints of them being "pointless" often assumes the people who do these things would do something else otherwise, but that's not a given. Anyway, I appreciate these things.

Nobody needed Final Fight for the Mega Drive. But it's really cool to see. It's also my favorite version of the game because it looks and feels better than the Sega CD version, and is better balanced than the arcade version, in my opinion.

I never played this one, but I've had the experience where a "bad" game was way better than I was led to believe, or a bad game can be enjoyable when played in a specific way. And back in those days, we often did have to extract some kind of enjoyment out of a game that had issues because Steam backlogs hadn't been invented yet. I don't remember being familiar with this Macross game when it came out. I may have considered it since I loved anime and robots. I took a chance on the Gundam game for Dreamcast, Rise From The Ashes, which I imported from Japan, and ended up really liking it.

@fromwithin @Dinis the statement that it was ahead of its time struck me as a joke. The idea is that dithering has made a comeback because of quirks in graphics rendering, not unlike the Saturn for which dithering was a workaround for the system's own quirks. It's not so much praise for the Saturn as much as it is a mild dig against modern GPUs.

@metaphysician Yes, he did make a statement about that and it was covered here on this site. Here it is:

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/09/creator-of-ps1-emulator-duckstation-threatens-to-shut-the-whole-thing-down-following-license-change

One thing I will point out, and I mentioned it in a comment there, is that, despite his insistence that he knows how the licenses work, previous drama around this emulator clearly exposed that he didn't know how the GPL license worked. That's why he makes that assertion at the very beginning, because people pointed out he was wrong. I don't know enough to say he was wrong in his other claims, but I can't take his word for it.

I'm going to be up front and say that I don't particularly like this developer, but I do give him credit for developing what is apparently a very good PS1 emulator with great features. I know there's a lot of toxicity in this segment of the gaming community, so I'm not disputing that he gets hostile or entitled messages, but he also has stoked that in the past. Still, it's not cool. He's just so vague here. Android users don't want updates? What does that even mean? Mobile users tend to want more updates in my observation. That explanation is just so strange to me and communicates almost nothing. Clear communication has never been his strong suit. Volatility, however, is something he excels at. It's his choice to make, and that's fine. Good thing PS1 is well covered overall.

@tonyhoro Duckstation was open source not too long ago. He changed it. It has been forked and earlier versions under GPL can still be forked. The only issue here is the standalone Android version, though the current one should still be functional for a while. Someone could make a standalone fork for Android.

What jumps out at me as a potential issue of ergonomics is how close the bottom button is to the second stick. It looks like it could be an issue. Perhaps it wouldn't be in practice, but that's what came to mind. Of course, when you're adapting an existing controller to a dual-stick design, you're going to have more limitations on placement than if it were designed with that in mind from the start.

@Saki-Endo Yeah, that's one of those things that's just a feeling I get about it. I've never seen any hard evidence on that one, but also PC-FX information has always been limited in the past. There are also the rumors that Namco had a home console design around 1990 and that NEC was interested in it. There's enough reporting on it to conclude it existed, but not much beyond that. If the part about NEC being interested in it was true, that would have caused problems with Hudson. All that may have had some influence on the PC-FX as well. It's amazing how much changed in the industry in that transition from the early 1990s to the end of the decade, both it terms of the business side and the tech side of things.

@KingMike While I agree that something is not always better than nothing, it also is often the case. It looks to me that this is one of those situations where that old adage does apply, based on how the version that actually exists has been received. That this version has now been declared "a terrible waste of time" is their choice, and they're free to make it. It doesn't have to be a waste. But if their revised translation is so much better, then there's still good reason to continue, yet they don't.

When this controversy originally started, I said that since the material was open source, the only thing breached was some silly etiquette. And I saw some of the comments that were more negative on the translation that was actually released(and if I recall it may have been revised), but at the end of the day, having something released is better than nothing. Considering how much time the project was taking from the original people, I am also among those who believe it was unlikely to ever come out. And then they insisted their translation was worth waiting for and they were totally going to do it. I would have believed it if I saw it, but believed we never would. They could release their script, if they truly don't want this to be a waste of time. But this conclusion is what I expected, and the way they've handled their public image has been less than stellar, to put it mildly.

I always got the impression, accurate or not, that the PC-FX was designed just a tad too early and potentially held back from release. It is possible that was not the case but NEC and Hudson just didn't think 3D was going to be ready for the home for a while still. Even Sega, a pioneer of 3D in video games, misjudged the timing of 3D for the home, perhaps because their arcade 3D was incredibly expensive making them blind to what was possible for home consoles in the mid 1990s. And this also reminds me of Sega's other poor timing with 3D, with the Dreamcast being impressive in 1998, but with a huge explosion of 3D hardware to follow shortly, leading to very quick ramping up of capabilities. In terms of being a direct upgrade to the PC Engine, it doesn't seem so bad. It's possible too that it might have been capable of higher resolution 2D in gameplay with the memory upgrades which were planned. And the high quality FMV wasn't a bad idea at the time for enhancing the presentation of the games and making development easier. That's another thing the Saturn didn't quite get right, while the N64 didn't have the media that lent itself to good FMV.

One of the things Nintendo did better than everyone else was developing brand loyalty. NEC and Hudson made some missteps with the likes of the Supergrafx. Not only is the library small, but game releases were spread out over a period approaching two years. That couldn't help them either.

Great piece. Very enjoyable to read.

@Reko yeah, my phrasing was poor. I meant it only got a Neo CD version as home conversions go. Obviously, it had that arcade MVS release. Nice to see that the game has seen re-release since I first commented.

I remember those rumors at the time and they were persistent enough that I assumed they were based on reality. Yes, Sega did themselves no favors with their hardware strategy prior to that undermining consumer confidence in them due to the add ons especially the 32X. The Saturn's install base was probably a factor as well and not worth it at that stage of its life. And it may not have been worthwhile based on what results the TRIP could even produce and the cost. It would be cool to get an idea on both of those. The RAM carts were viable in Japan, so it would be interesting if they had brought those west, especially the 4MB with X-Men vs. Street Fighter. I think there was a way to do that without too much confusion. It's a shame because that expandability was one of Saturn's best features and a weakness of the PS1. But again it comes down to install base and game sales. Fighting games sold well, but probably not THAT well going into 1998.

It's a tricky thing because I would assume they're abandoning the concept, if that's the case, because of low interest. But then that might stem from the price of the unit limiting the appeal. Different control options might appeal more to the retro crowd since modern control schemes are more standardized, and a unit like this is more than most retro types would want to pay. The concept was cool, though it leaves the six-button module oriented oddly, but I can't judge it without trying it. Personally, as much as I prefer the original layouts when possible, though not necessarily original controllers, I'm also highly adaptable, for example I can switch between Xbox and PS layouts no problem, so a module setup like this is not enticing enough for me.

A bit over a year ago I opted to get a Razer Edge, which was reviewed here earlier last year. The review was mixed, but fair, though the issues didn't put me off. The unit had a nice discount for black Friday which made it a good value. The fact that it's a mini tablet means I can change controllers that can accommodate phones and such. I already have 8bitdo's telescopic pad in addition to the Razer pad that came with it for different feel and to have a backup option. If someone made such a pad with six face buttons, then I'd be well covered.

PPSSPP is really good and improvements are always welcome. I did run into some audio issues on certain stages of Guilty Gear Judgement(which I do own, and it was one of the first PSP games I bought, actually). I'll have to update once it's rolled out and see if that game is fixed.

The dream will turn into a nightmare when the hand cramps kick in. That does not look comfortable for gaming sessions of any reasonable length for NES and SNES games. I know it's not meant to be practical, but I don't think such a mod is worth the time.

I've always heard Layzner was a well liked mecha show among those who have seen it. I read about a while back and hoped they'd bring it over here on blu ray which they eventually did. I waited patiently for that. I don't believe it got a proper release here due to technical issues the first time they tried to bring it over. It's still on my watch list, but it's probably something I'll get to later this year. I'm making my way through shows at a steady pace. Perhaps I'll move Layzner up the list of stuff to watch. Similarly, I've only played a tiny bit of Omega Boost, but I've heard good things about it over the years. Perhaps I'll move that up the game back log too. Seems like a good idea to coordinate it so that I play Omega Boost while I'm in the middle of Layzner. Anyway, that was cool to hear, but also his stuff about game design was very interesting. It all made a lot of sense, but it's not the kind of stuff you'd realize without someone telling you, I think.

This looks cool. I like when devs take a bigger concept, like MGS and make it fit within something more limited like the GBC and Ghost Babel. However, I have to be cautious because I don't like Metal Gear Solid as a franchise. Ghost Babel was more enjoyable for me, especially the VR missions, but it also did some of the things I don't like about MGS, like being more wordy than it needed to me. I also didn't love the stage design of the main missions. The base gameplay was really good though, especially considering the limits of the GBC. As this has a demo, I'll have to check it out and see what I think.

Always sad to hear news like this. Just from what was listed here, his work on the DS Castlevania games are what I know best and I enjoyed those games very much. 52 is too young, but that's the uncertainty of life.

This is interesting to see. In addition to the color capabilities of the system, another thing the SNES has going for it is the pixel resolution matches the original PS1 game as it was 256 pixels wide. Strange that the Saturn did not support that resolution which is why the graphics in the game look a bit off in spots like diagonal surfaces having some issues. If such a project was to go beyond a demo stage, the matching resolution would be helpful as assets throughout the game could be used without modification in terms of size and it would look correct.

When it seemed like everone I knew got the NES, I got a Master System, then got the NES later. I thought I would wait for the SNES, but opted for the Genesis instead and got the SNES later. I could have gone either way as far as being a Sega or Nintendo guy, but I always found myself coming back to Sega. I never had much interest in the N64, but I loved my Saturn and ended up importing a Dreamcast early. It's impressive how he was involved in designing all of the Sega systems I had and loved so much.

Of course, I had many good times with Nintendo too. The NES and SNES were great. Peak Nintendo for me was Gamecube and GBA at the same time.

With it being set in the year 2997, they won't have to worry about getting things wrong when that year comes around like with games and other media set in the near future. Stuff like that can be pretty funny sometimes. As for the game, the pixel art looks very nice. And in the little video clip, the animation looks great as well. Seeing that level of quality for the presentation definitely makes this worth keeping an eye on.

I have no problem with other visual styles. The overall art in the new Castlevania looked pretty good to me. I had other concerns with it. I do think pixel art tends to look more cohesive more often. The sprites usually look like they belong in their settings. That seems to be a bit more difficult with other 2D styles where characters and backgrounds can come across as disconnected, or just seem really flat. That's not in every case or even the majority, but it can be an issue with more modern non-pixel graphics.

@smoreon My understanding is that this is a further overclock over the prior Turbo core. The main CPU is also overclocked in those cores past the 94MHz. This new core overclocks the coprocessor even more than the 80MHz of the prior core and it's apparently 94MHz. That's where the confusion comes in.

I think there are a lot of factors in that shift. Japan was at the forefront during the 8-bit era through the PS2 era. Games were different then. I remember reading someone's thoughts on this topic. Back then, games were games. They were playthings designed for novelty and a high amount of entertainment value. As the technology improved, large 3D worlds were possible. This favored western developers who had already prioritized realism. As new kind of games emerged, or when 3D worlds increased in scope, some people gravitated towards those things, while others still preferred the more surreal stuff that Japan was so good at. One example of a great concept that came out of Japan in a time of changing tastes was Katamari Damacy. When I first saw that, my thought was that it was a genius concept. Western games seem to excel when the point is creating a large world with tons of stuff to do. Plus, over time, we've seen an influx of indie developer from all over the world. I think it's just an inevitable evolution of the industry. As there are more choices of different kinds, there's less of a concentration of the player base, even though some of these games with giant worlds do seem to have a wider appeal.

Of all the things one could do, they made Mandara a little bit harder? This is why we can't have nice things.....

Cool seeing a hack like this for Shinobi and the Master System in general. I don't think there are a ton of Master System hacks. The SMS port of Shinobi was also my introduction to the Shinobi series. I don't know when I learned about the arcade version being different. I enjoy both versions now. The changes to the SMS version work quite well and the game was one of my favorite games for the SMS. Back to the Mandara thing, I assume it's to maintain game balance if the firing rate is increased. Mandara used to be so irritating when I was a kid. I know in the arcade version that Mandara's statues will take more damage before destruction if you're playing well. The game has some variable difficulty going on.

I had Battletoads when it was new. The Turbo Tunnel was tough, but I memorized it and was able to reliably beat it. I beat it many times, so I agree with others who say it's not as hard as some say. But it is a big difficulty spike. However, later stages in the game really irritated me. There's the rat race, the snake level, and the hand bike part. The timing on some parts is just so obnoxious. I reached a point with that game where I said "never again" and never played the game ever since. That's not what you want a game to do.

A previous commenter said they don't like beat-em-ups much. I'm the opposite. I love beat-em-ups. Another thing I found irritating about Battletoads is that it had too much variety for me. From the platforming, to the different "bikes", the rat race, etc, I eventually just got annoyed that so much of the game wasn't a beat-em-up. As a result of it all, I was one and done with Battletoads. Never touched any game in the series after that.

This is probably a good call for now for a brand like this. I've never been sucked into Warhammer, but as an outsider, it looks like there's a lot of great art that goes along with it. A property like this seems to celebrate creativity and keeping that human touch seems like it would be important to the fans that they have. Embracing AI-generated visuals likely wouldn't be received well by the fan base that they have.

@Ristar24 The shoulder triggers on the DC controller are also much less durable than the Saturn 3D pad. I'm easy on my stuff, and I had one break on me. It's quite common. I've been inside both pads and the Saturn triggers are obviously better built.

@Deuteros Happy to recommend it and hear that you're interested. It's a long one, but I watched and enjoyed every minute, so I'll likely do the same for the ones you suggested. I will make a note shortly so I don't forget. I hope you enjoy the Sunsoft one as much as I did.

Sega's one of my favorites and was a big part of my life as I gravitated toward them more than Nintendo, so thanks, indeed, for "paving the way" as was said above. And 95 is a long life. I hope they were quality years. It was such a novel idea at its start at the right time and it took on a life of its own. I remember how surprised I was when I first learned of Sega's American roots.

@Deuteros Yeah, I think it's easy to forget the early connections such as Gulf + Western, though I've definitely heard that before. The Sega brand goes back a long way, but the company feels more like distinct incarnations.

I have not seen any of those documentaries, but I imagine they could be very good. I just watched the Digital Foundry retrospective on Sunsoft two days ago, and it was fantastic.

@gojiguy from what I've been seeing, people have reported getting shipping notifications and some people already seem to have received their units.

This is cool. I don't remember how I first heard of the game years ago, but I found it appealing and hoped that there would be a translation of the PC Engine version someday. I'll have to try it out soon.

@KingMike and to think I bought Gunstar Super Heroes at full price when it was new. I didn't look at the bargain bins much because the stores in my area never seemed to have good stuff most of the time. But I do remember my one great "clearance" find, also at Best Buy. Beyond Good & Evil was a game I was planning to pick up anyway, but it was competing with a bunch of other games that I got first. BG&E was marked down to $10 within a month of its release, and I didn't hesitate to get it when I saw that price.

The funny part about me getting Gunstar Super Heroes right away was that I had never actually played the original up to that point.

I get the urge to poke fun here because of just how many of these things have come out, and it seems some companies have a new model every few weeks. The idea of taking a shot at them crossed my mind as well. And other people did that. Sadly, while these emulation handhelds are not that important in the grand scheme of things, this is a good symbol of the current mess with PC hardware, and the RAM pricing spike. I'd rather live in a world of way too many emulation handhelds than the one where AI data centers buy up all the hardware they can while giving the manufacturers an excuse to price gouge and even shutter consumer brands reducing competition further.

@Guru_Larry I remember finding the whole Roguelike/Roguelite thing so confusing. After looking into it, the way I look at it is: Rogue is Rogue. All games that use the same rules and setup as Rogue, but are not Rogue, are Roguelikes. Games that use some of the characteristics of Rogue, but not all, are Roguelites. So a side-scrolling game has to be a Roguelite because Rogue is not a side-scrolling game. Is my view of this whole situation right? I have no idea!!!

When the term was fresh, I saw it as describing Castlevania games done in the Metroid style of exploration. From the time SotN came out, all the way through Order of Ecclesia on DS, all those Castlevania games were the most prominent examples of the genre and were considered to be among the best games on their respective platforms. That's why the term stuck, and morphed into a catch-all term for games of the style. Say what you want about Metroid doing it earlier, but Castlevania snatched ownership of the genre away from Metroid, arguably doing it better, but definitely being more popular for a long time.

Language is a funny thing, and imperfect. Metroidvania as a term became a thing organically. There are people who don't like the term, and that's fine. There are those who want to push alternatives. One of the reasons why is because to understand what Metroidvania communicates requires prior knowledge of the games to a degree. Every suggestion I've heard falls short and communicates almost nothing. For those who know what Metroidvania is, even in passing as most people do now, it communicates so much more than any generic term people suggest.

I liked Pit Fighter in the arcade and I enjoyed the Genesis port which my friend had. This is an interesting find. It's functional because it's basically the first game's engine with some new stages and characters. I bet a lot was meant to change. The clock is not implemented which breaks the grudge match mirrod fights. I found it funny how you fight the Executioner three times in a row. Definitely placeholder stuff in the game. Good to see it regardless.