So, what you playing at the mo? Retro Edition

Quigs Snr

I got a box of N64 driving games today (Rush, Cruisin, XG2 and another half dozen or so)... and wow, they have aged like a pint of milk in the sun. But worse than that.. these were up against Ridge Racer, Need for Speed and Gran Turismo on the PS1 at the time and they are so bad that they feel like a generation behind the PS1. I mean, yeah episode 1 racer, Mario Kart.. good but the average driving game was a fairly poor and extremely janky mess on N64 I feel.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121667912#Comment_121667912

There's some great ones.

Beetle adventure racing is a little game. I've a soft spot for the midway Rush series of games although I usually play the Dreamcast ones. Also Fzero X takes a big dump all over the wipeout series in terms of how well it plays. Excitebike 64 is fantastic and always have fun with waverace.

The PS1 definitely had a lot more games and in terms of realistic racing games was way ahead but the N64 had a decent selection of arcade racers with F-zero being an all timer. The sheer volume the ps1 had with R4 and wipeout etc can't really be topped.

o1s1n

I was playing FZero X the other night a bit while testing out my N64 in my AV setup and wow, it sure does hold up well. The PS1 does have a lot more big hitters when it comes to racers but I'd say FZero potentially tops most of them. The handling is amazingly fun.

I spent probably 3 hours last night with PCE CD games. I think it's potentially the most Japanese library I've ever played. I'm no stranger to import games but a lot of these don't seem to have much westernisation in them at all. A lot of what feel like very rushed titles too, almost 32X-esque. (I'm looking at you, Godzilla, Golden Axe and Black Hole Assault)

So far Rondo of Blood has been amazing, I've really enjoyed Dead of the Brain and all the shmup games. But am finding it hard to find anything else. Was quite disappointed to find out that Snatcher on the system doesn't actually have an English fan translation.

The CD quality music can be really jarring sometimes, particularly with games that have very low quality visuals, feels hugely mismatched.

Super Raiden is quite an interesting port though, quite enjoying the updated take on the Raiden chiptune tracks.

Have to say, I'll have to dig out the trusty old XE-1 Micomsoft stick from the attic to continue playing games. The DPad on the standard PCE pad had my thumb destroyed!

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121669148#Comment_121669148

The tale of the console addon, is an old, and wise one...

Retr0gamer

Tengai Makyou might be worth a look as it got a recent fan translation but Ive also heard it's a bit 8-bit rpg as well.

Also heard about a game you should try from retronauts. Think it's the double dragon game on PC engine but the new soundtrack is.... Well it needs to be experienced.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121669238#Comment_121669238

It sure is!

I next have my eyes on a new Mega Everdrive Pro so I can play through all the crud on the Mega CD 🤣

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121669305#Comment_121669305

I think there's some decent stuff on the PC engine and mega CD. The working design games are fun as long as you use the hacks that remove all the working design gameplay changes. I'm really fond of popular mail. The libraries have just enough good stuff on them to make them worth it.

Also robo aleste is peak Compile!

o1s1n

They do indeed. Honestly the PCE CD is worth it for Rondo alone, it's brilliant. I absolutely love the cut scenes with the CD music, I'd say it gave the whole thing a really premium feel back in the day.

Speaking of Compile, I was playing my way through the Famicom library the other night throwing on some random games and came across Gun Nac.

Went in blind and after about 5 minutes had a 'why does this feel so much like MUSHA Aleste?' moment, had that same extra long level vibe, even some of the weapons were the same. Just felt like I was playing MUSHA on the NES.

Not only was it also made by Compile, it was actually released just two weeks before MUSHA Aleste on the Megadrive. So the development of both games must have had some crossover. Amazing that you can literally 'feel' it just by playing the game if you're familiar with either of them.

Mr.Saturn

That Dragon Quest 8 remaster on the 3DS just has a way of making like everything in life seem like it's going to be okay. They were real careful with what they changed (aside from the orchestral score, obviously) and it gently updates something that aged real well anyways, like the speed of it, for one. It absolutely zips by a la DQ11 without feeling it's on fast-forward or something.

CiDeRmAn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121667773#Comment_121667773

All ports of Golden Axe are awful!

But then, they are ports of an awful game!

Suckage incarnate!

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121670067#Comment_121670067

I adore that game. I also love that it's a 80-120 hour build up to one of the best jokes in a videogame. The 3DS version just felt so good. I remember finding the PS2 version a little slow going, I didn't realise they sped it up.

Quigs Snr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121669040#Comment_121669040

Both Rush games were in the pile. I thought Rush 2, although the usual blurry N64 mess was very playable. Easily the most playable of the pile. F-Zero... amazing. Going to give the Gamecube version a shot at the weekend, been about 20 years since I saw it in motion, but I do remember being very impressed with it back then. I played or owned nearly all of these back in the day but testing this bundle has shattered my rose tinted specs.

Beetle Racing keeps showing up highly on N64 best of lists, gonna have to pick that one up too. Never owned it. Looks a fair bit smoother than most. Certainly better than the first cart I pulled out of the pile : MRC, Multi Racing Championship which seems to have been reviewed ok at the time but to me it looks like a parody skit of the worst of N64 jank.

CiDeRmAn

I always loved the chunky visuals and the grippy feel of the vehicles in the first two games, plus the different secrets to find

Beetle Adventure Racing feels like it started as a Need for Speed title and ended up as something a little different, but it was still a fun title.

MRC is pants.

But Top Gear Overdrive with its expansion cart support isn't bad.

Retr0gamer

Finished two sort for retro games at the weekend. The system shock remake which was incredible. It's mostly just tightens up the original game to bring it up to modern standards but it looks great, the gunplay really feels good as well. There's a little too much back tracking and the game also expects you to figure out your objective by yourself which might be a bit old school for some people. It's an absolute delight though and there's really not enough immersive Sims.

I was a little disappointed by the final area of the game.

Spoiler Warning

It the remake this is a cold sterile almost server room type area. In the original it's covered in a bio organic material radiating from shodan servers to signify how she is growing and becoming more creature than machine. It's incredibly creepy. The final battle is cyberspace is also disappointing. The original battle wasn't amazing but had a great premise where you battles SHODAN in cyberspace and try to take her down. All the whole she is hacking you and your controls and vision deteriorate as the battle goes on and if you fail your vision is just shodans face.

Apparently this final area and battle will be totally updated for the eventual console release.

I also finished Weapon Shop de Omasse so I've now beaten all the Guild games on 3DS. This one was a disparate mix of genres that don't quite work together but the charm of the whole thing pulls it through and I ended up really enjoying it. It's a game where you run a rpg weapon shop and Smith new weapons I'm a rhythm action game.

Since I've hacked my Vita Ive started a game I've wanted to play for a long time, Valkyria Chronicles 3. Quite nostalgic hearing the soundtrack to this one as I adore the first game. The fan translation of this on seems good although there are some text overflow issues and they haven't translated the newspapers which I enjoyed reading in all the other games.

Spoiler Warning

Retr0gamer

Really enjoying valkyria Chronicles 3. It's a lot more structured than VC2 which felt more like monster hunter but still retains all the content of that game. Also the game so far provides a challenge whereas I found VC2 way too easy as you end up over levelled quite quickly. Still early days though but the VC combat loop is as strong as ever with some fun new class types.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121693671#Comment_121693671

I really loved the first game but couldn't quite get into 4. Might have been somewhat jaded as I went straight into it after finishing the first. 2 and 3 worth checking out then I take it?

In a similar style of game, I'm still dipping in an out of Front Mission 5. Always forget how much I enjoy mech based games.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694363#Comment_121694363

Not played enough of 3 to comment.

VC2 is designed around handheld so your mileage may vary. It's structure is similar to monster hunter or crisis core with loads of little missions sprinkled on between the main campaign. It means you can get over levelled very quickly and maps are repeated a lot. I did really enjoy it and played it for 120 hours but I also played it every night while writing my PhD thesis to keep my sanity in check. (It's a very long game if you do all the optional stuff which the game pushes you to do).

Anyway the VC gameplay in 2 is still in tact and just as much fun with some really great new classes added to it.

One place where game utterly fails is the story which is total anime bullshit. One of the big main character story climaxes might be the dumbest thing I've seen in a videogame since illusion of Gaia's infamous pig scene, although it was so bad I was laughing through it.

So yes, I liked it but it's a game more suited to playing an hour or so a night as it can get repetitive.

Colonel Panic

N64 this evening.

My OSSC hadn’t seen much love but using it this evening with the worst RGB modded N64 ever.

This machine needs some tlc.

Still love Pilotwings 64 so much.

accensi0n

Been playing Strider on the NES. Trying to complete it using the speed runner glitch of level skipping by getting the sprite to move out of bounds into a wall. Haven't managed it yet.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121718596#Comment_121718596

There's an agdq video of a speedrun were the speedrunner had to teach someone to beat the game in 20 minutes. I'd give that a watch.

DaveyDave

AGDQ is fantastic, seeing people speed run without glitches just by absolutely main lining it through is impressive on its own but the glitched runs are even more impressive. I think it was Silent Hill Homecoming where someone glitches through a door in a house and skipped like half the game. How people find that stuff is mental, sure we're seeing more of it now with people finding secrets or new cheats for games that are 20+ years old.

Even those long play videos, people obviously have impressive skills and know the games well. It's mad seeing them played where people barely get hit, barely use ammo/attacks and just dance around enemies.

It makes me realise I'm not that good :D

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121718712#Comment_121718712

I think a lot of people can get good at a few games they grew up with. I'm pretty great at contra hard corp, Megaman 2 and rocket knight adventures but it's because I played them so much. Even then looking at speedrunners play them and they are on another level.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121720324#Comment_121720324

They really are on another level. The thing about being that high level though, is you're kinda locked into it....you have to commit massive amounts of time to keep that level up, and the moment you take a few days/weeks off, you're falling backwards quickly. To reach those levels, you kinda need to be obsessive about it, and that type of mentality can be very tough on people too.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121720498#Comment_121720498

As a matter of interest I was looking at some Sonic 1 speedruns to see if there are any interesting glitches in the game.

Have you seen the glitch at the start of Marble Zone act 2? You stand on a ledge to get Sonic to do the balancing animation, it glitches as the edge goes down and if you jump correctly you get catapulted to the end of the level. It's actually quite cool to pull off on real hardware!

o1s1n

Any of you guys trying out the new GBA game Goodboy Galaxy? It's really lovely looking, lot of work has gone into it. Overall it's a Metroidvania but feels like more of a platformer while you're playing it. Works great on the Analogue Pocket.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121726221#Comment_121726221

Great video showing what I'm talking about above. The term for this kind of glitch exploit is called 'zipping'.

All in the game already, no hacking or anything. You could boot up your childhood copy of Sonic on your Megadrive and give it a go.

Handy thing is the first one is at the very start of Marble Zone 2, so you can just use the level cheat and go straight to it to give it a go.

I managed to get it to work after three tries - but then couldn't replicate it again on another 20 or so tries. 😂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=46&v=O_6a-BJC0O8&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo

Retr0gamer

The zipping in the levels that have infinite vertical scrolling looks crazy. Not sure about sonic 1 or 2 but they definitely don't in sonic 3.

Mr.Saturn

Not sure if it's exclusive to the remake or I just managed to miss it first time, but Metal Slime farming in DQ8 on the 3DS is the most straightforward example of the fact I've come across in the entire franchise. You can literally grind them to your heart's content on the critical path.

Loving the game as much as I did the first time a couple years back, but really get the sense Squeenix sought to wind down the difficulty in the 3DS remake a fair whack. I know it wasn't the toughest game in the world in the first place, but have literally yet to be wiped out once despite running new builds and forgetting like 90% of the game's strats.

Retr0gamer

Metal slime farming in DQ is insanely satisfying. The games seem to be built around you doing it as well.

Colonel Panic

Inspired by a post further up I tried out some N64 racers.

Wipeout 64, Beetle Racing and Ridge Racer 64.

I also owned Extreme G back in the day so o gave that a lash.

A lot of jank going on but I did enjoy playing them. XG is nostalgia for me and I think it’s actually okay despite the iffy handling and unfair AI.

Then I put on F-Zero X. It genuinely holds up from a speed and handling point of view. Looked a bit crap even back in the day but it’s great fun.

I prefer it to GX, which really pushed the “use energy to boost” concept to the edge of enjoyment.