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Child Item

So, what you playing at the mo? Retro Edition

CiDeRmAn

Me, I'm playing a bit of Metal Slug X, Micromachines, Einhander via PSP and about to play some Daytona on the Saturn, anyone else?

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Mr.Saturn

Marvel Superheroes: War of the Gems (SNES)
TMNT 4: Turtles in Time (SNES)

Eh, I'm not digging the former all that much thus far, and its lackingness is only exacerbated by the playing the latter, which I'm finding to be one of the finer examples of the beat'em-up genre.

johnny_ultimate

Just cleared Saturn valley (APPRECIATE), moved onto Fourside and defeated the No. 3 Moles.

Sparks43

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Every time I mention how crap PS1 emulation is on other forums I get shot down. It seems it's another bizarro topic where both me and enternow agree on it

EnterNow wrote: »

Seriously? How anyone finds PS1 emulation streamlined is beyond me

Retro and Enternow agreeing:eek::eek:

Retr0gamer

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Just cleared Saturn valley (APPRECIATE), moved onto Fourside and defeated the No. 3 Moles.

Saturn Valley and Fourside are two of the best areas in the game. You'll really enjoy fourside. There's also some great satire on JRPG mcguffins coming up

Mr Vengeance

I got out what are quite possibly my three favourite AES games last night for a bash - Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, The Last Blade 2 and King of Fighters '94.

I have mentioned the former before on here. Its is astounding - looks beautiful, plays very fast, responds to control inputs instantly and has a load of great characters to play as. Its art style is incredible as well. Its got one of my favourite covers too - so moodly, so evocative. ****ing essential!

The Last Blade 2 is as above, but with swords. It is every bit as good and plays like a dream. Another perfect game. Possibly even better than RBFF2. In fact it is, and thats coming from a Real Bout fanatic!

Lastly we come to King of Fighters '94; cheap as chips and proper old-school - holds a very special place in my heart. I first got really into SNK after playing Fatal Fury Special. Playing KoF '94 was the SNK fighter that first blew me away and then some. It is a far deeper game than Street Fighter II. It is less accessible, but is easily the best fighter of its generation (in my opinion anyway).

Now don't get me wrong, Street Fighter II is one of my favourite video games of all time, but KoF '94 is different and better in many regards - it is deeper in terms of its gameplay for a start. Think of Street Fighter II as Outrun 2 and KoF '94 as Forza Motorsport.

There are some incredible mechanics in '94 given its age, including desparation moves, charge bars, a pseudo-3D dodge mechanic, and truly jaw dropping stage introductions. The backgrounds and character line-up are excellent, as is the music. The move-lists are far longer than in Street Fighter. What I really like is the game's "heavy" feel, which makes the punches and kicks satisfying. This is a lot more "sim-like" than Street Fighter. It takes a long time to get used to for those brought up on Capcom's astounding series - but its worth it. It really is worth playing. And worth buying as its only about thirty quid!

King of Fighters '95 is an improvement in some regards, but loses something - the atmosphere just isn't quite right, and it just doesn't have the same impact as '94. It is the second and last of the initial "old school generation" of KoF - 1996 would completely change-up the series with the enjoyable and highly accessible KoF '96. But '94 is truly a special game, a magical experience that plays as well today as its did way back then...... truly a revolutionary video game that has sadly been overlooked by many in the West

Retr0gamer

I heard the KoF games are like the star trek films but the even numbered years are the better ones. I always wanted to play KoF 94, all the magazines of the time were calling it the best fighting game ever.

Mr.Saturn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I heard the KoF games are like the star trek films but the even numbered years are the better ones. I always wanted to play KoF 94, all the magazines of the time were calling it the best fighting game ever.

KOF XI bucks that trend for the better. I can't really disagree otherwise. I'm afraid to play '94, as I've seen folk who've been playing since its release, still not being able to beat Rugal's 2nd form and the chap makes me want to die in just about all his appearances.
His vanilla form in Capcom vs SNK series being a minor exception.

CiDeRmAn

Rugal's what now?
The whole SNK fighter thing seems so technical and deep, I can't make head nor tail of it, it's just flailing about on the joystick for me!
I have a bunch of the KoF games on the 111-1 cart and a proper copy of KoF'96 on MVS as well, someday, could be a long ways into the future admittedly, I will break those puppys out and play them, someday....

johnny_ultimate

Playing a bit of Serious Sam HD, reliving the world of FPS' I missed out on as a wee lad.

They should call it Serious Strafe. Fun, although 50% of the game seems to be strafing out of the way while a bull creature runs at you. The other 50% is shooting the bull creature.

Mr Vengeance

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I heard the KoF games are like the star trek films but the even numbered years are the better ones. I always wanted to play KoF 94, all the magazines of the time were calling it the best fighting game ever.

There's some truth to both points. I'd say in my opinion that KoF '94 is the best game from that time period, fighting-wise.

Regarding the KoF series as a whole, its a bit like this:

'94 & '95 - old school, hardcore fighting games with loads of moves compared to other fighters at the time. On paper '95 is the better game, but the heart still says '94 is where its at...

'96 - '98 KoF '96 is far more excessible than '94 or '95. Stripped back character move lists, rebalanced, new sprites and lovely controls. Fighters feel different - lighter even. A great game to start on for new AES / MVS owners and those new to KoF. '97 is a slight improvement, '98 has got some ugly looking levels and a boring stmosphere, a good deal overrated in my view, but its got a massive roster of fighters from the whole series to date. Very comprehensive game that should be respected, but missing a nice does of SNK presentational polish.

'99 & 2000 - Introduction of the "Strikers" system, whereby you can call in assistance from an off-screen fighter to help you out when you are in a spot of bother. A new, more realistic aesthetic and atmosphere. 2000 has some bland levels but has loads of fighters. Its a really excellent title, similar to '98 in its huge scope. The English AES version of 2000 is as rare at games come. It was released as the original SNK went wollop.

2001 - not made by SNK, but Eolith, a Korean firm. Probably the worst mainline KoF ever, though its still fun enough and not a total disaster as some would have you believe. Its an unneeded overhaul and ****s up some of the characters' move lists and abilities. Its unbalanced, has a near unbeatable final boss, has crap levels and its only real standout feature is its weighting of character selections depending on ho many fighters you select - one big tough dude or four weaker fighters - your choice.

2002 - another "Dream match" like '98 - ie its not canon. Great gameplay, a ridiculous amount of well balanced fighters, deep fighting, long move lists and some good music. Poor level backdrops for the most part and a flat atmosphere however. A big improvement for Eolith compared to 2001 however. Thing of its as a contemporary '98 basicly.

2003 - Superb. Last AES / MVS KoF and maybe the best. Some people have issues with the balance of the game and some gameplay ommissions, but I love it. Very deep, great atmosphere, fresh mechanics, lovely visuals and nearly as good as...

XI - Atomiswave and PS2. Essential. Best KoF ever, EASILY. Insanely deep, beautiful to look at, loads of fighters, great controls - ****ty final boss aside, this is practically faultless. Better than anything I've ever played from Capcom, inluding SF IV or any of the Alphas.

NeoWave - A pseudo remake of 2002 on the Atomiswave. Has a very interesting ISM-style fighting mode system. Very ****ing deep even without this. I love the graphics and the line-up of characters. A lot of people moan about it, but for me its possibly the second best game in the series. Dirt cheap and easy enough to source on PS2.

Maximum Impact - 3D KoFs..... yeah, you can probably guess where this is going. They are fun in small doses, but shouldn't be taken too seriously. Nice distractions for fans though.

Remakes - '94, '98 and 2002 were all remade. '94 was remade on PS2 in Japan and looks stunning. '98 had a UM remake and came out on XBLA everywhere and PS2 in some countries (In APL-land I think Italy got it in a small amount). 2002 UM is out on Japanese PS2 and on XBLA - its superb.

XII - EXTREMELY underrated, and I mean EXTREMELY in big ****-off style capitals

The gameplay in XII is amazing. Its fun, deep and satisfying. Sure, there is no final boss, there are but a handful of levels, some of the characters were butchered, others left out, but... for that first weekend that I had the game on my 360.... well it was one of the best gaming weekends of my life. This game is incredible - much better than any other fighter on 360 in my completelu unshared view. Just the fighting action... uh, it was so fast, responsive, fluid, engrossing, exciting, rewarding, contemporary and cool. Stunning visuals - seat of the pant stuff when the balanced fights got going.

XIII - out in October. Promises to improve and expand on XII. If it does... well it will be incredible, seriously. Colud be the best game ever by SNK if it nails it.

In short, for those of you interested in KoF and can't be bothered to read all that (and I wouldn't blame you - I don't half go on sometimes

) KoF's '94, '98, 2002, 2003, NeoWave and XI are the way to go for long term appeal. But you can't go too far wrong with any of them really....

'94 really is lovely though, as is XI.... Ah I'll shut up now

Mr Vengeance

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

KOF XI bucks that trend for the better. I can't really disagree otherwise. I'm afraid to play '94, as I've seen folk who've been playing since its release, still not being able to beat Rugal's 2nd form and the chap makes me want to die in just about all his appearances.
His vanilla form in Capcom vs SNK series being a minor exception.

He's hard but.... there are far harder SNK bosses to be honest with you. 2001's boss is a disgrace, as is XI's unless tackled in "Arrange" mode, in which he is not the coin-gobbling prick he is designed to be in the arcade...

Tip - get used to the "3D" dodge (tap A + B together) and his is beatable with practice and with a bit of cheap-ass running down the clock action!

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Rugal's what now?
The whole SNK fighter thing seems so technical and deep, I can't make head nor tail of it, it's just flailing about on the joystick for me!
I have a bunch of the KoF games on the 111-1 cart and a proper copy of KoF'96 on MVS as well, someday, could be a long ways into the future admittedly, I will break those puppys out and play them, someday....

I'll give you some advice into how I got into (and subsequently became obsessed with) SNK fighters - you got to go back to the series foundations, its grassroots....

My first SNK game was the PS2 King of Fighters Collection disc, which had KoFs 2000 and 2001 bundled together on there. I really didn't take to it, even though I tried my best - it was just far too inaccessible. It was like trying to get into Virtua Fighter starting at version 4 or 5 - it was next to impossible. For a start, who the eff do you pick? There's about a million guys on the character select screen! :eek: If you pick a character like Ryo who is close to Street Fighter's Ryu, and try to play the game like Street Fighter then you are screwed - this is not Street Fighter - this is a tougher, grittier, much more unforgiving video game than Capcom's beautifully polished, lightning fast beat 'em-up series.

So what you need to do is go back in time, and play the two game series that lead to KoF - Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting.

I'd start with the excellent little Fatal Fury Special. This is a kind of remake, or update of Fatal Fury 2. Both Fatal Fury 1 and 2 are good, but dated. Fatal Fury Special is still a fun game to play - a bit like Street Figher II Turbo is great today still, even though the first Street Fighter II is now quite slow and dated to a degree. Special is Fatal Fury 2, but vastly improved in its playability owing to a new combo system, quicker gameplay and more characters to play as.

Once you get a hang and a feel for Special, and like a character or three, try out the first Art of Fighting game (2 is **** and 3 very different to ant SNK game ever released - its superb, but we'll talk about that baby another day!).

Now this is quite a poor game, if Art of Fighting 1 - I will be the first to admit that. But... it will introduce you to the other side of the SNK fighting coin of the early 90's. It is a "heavy" feeling fighter, realistic, satisfying when its good, and very gritty. Its ****ing great at times, ridiculously frustrating at others. Don't even attempt to master it as its not worth the hassle, but do enjoy it for what it is - a tough, hardcore early 90's fighter, which is badly flawed, but contains a real statement of intent - SNK doesn't **** about!

Once you are familiar with both Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting, try out King of Fighters '94. Its got several fighters from both the above, plus other SNK characters from older 8-bit SNK games like Ikari Warriors. There are also some new characters in there as well - each of whom wants to attain the "King of Fighters" title for themselves.

With some practice, and steering clear of Capcom's fighters for a while, gamers weaned on a healthy diet of Street Fighter will begin to acclimatise to the feel and style of gameplay present in SNK world renouned fighting games.

Now some people do just take to SNK fighters instantly, but its hard at the start for most, but worth the time investment. Once '94 is mastered then a trip through the whole series is easy enough to do, once you know the ropes, at which point a wonderful journey discovering some incredible gameplay systems, and some of the most challenging bosses in fighting game history, awaits the player

Could cost a few bob though, so be warned!

Retr0gamer

Any advice about getting into Samurai Shodown? I love the series but I'm really crap at it!

Myrddin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Any advice about getting into Samurai Shodown Street Fighter 4? I love the series but I'm really crap at it!

Sorry man, but WAY too much an obvious one to pass up

unky chop chop

You want fighting games,come over to the dark side
Come over to the fighting games forum where dreams become reality(possibly)

unky chop chop

Playing Dark Seal at the moment.
I stumbled upon it and the memories came flooding back.
It was the first Isometric "adventure" type game I remember seeing and playing in the arcade environemt and it seemed out of place.Baldurs gate in the making but with a shump mix
Great stuff anyway

CiDeRmAn

Mr Vengeance wrote: »

Could cost a few bob though, so be warned!

Nope, won't cost me a penny more, I have a ton of unplayed NeoGeo fighting games on the 111 in 1 MVS in my consolised sytem.
I have a hacked Dreamcast Arcade Stick and an AES stick doing the controlling duties.
Up to now I have used it mainly for Metal Slugs, Aero Fighters, the occasional game of Last Blade and Pulstar and Blazing Stars but I will break out the KOF and FF series for a blast.

I loved Samurai Shodown II, I had it on the 3DO of all machines and a damn fine conversion it was too, far ahead of the other home editions, keeping the screen scaling and most of the animation too, brilliant!

Mr Vengeance

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Any advice about getting into Samurai Shodown? I love the series but I'm really crap at it!

Want me to be totally blunt? Don't bother - play the Last Blade games instead.... they are better games, and were basicly SNK creating a more realistic weapons-based fighting game series with a more serious, mature feel. The first is very accessible, the second less so. They look and sound incredible. Could bring a tear to the eye they could as they are so evocative and atmospheric..... truly atounding video games that are well worth the considerable cost as you will play them for years.

But.... the Samurai Shodown series is still good fun, though a little over rated in my opinion. Saying you shouldn't play them is a bit harsh.

A lot of people do go on about SamSho II as its often many people's first or only experience of SNK beat 'em-ups. Back when it came out in arcades it was very different to everything else, plus it was quite violent. This gave it a lot of fans. Today though I believe that the series is somewhat dated, and made largely redundant by the superior Last Blade series, which was designed to succeed the SamSho series. Here's a quick rundown anyway....

Samurai Shodown 1 - dated looking, controls aren't great. Quite slow, but okay in small doses. Cheap as chips though.

SamSho II - A darker looking game than 1. Improved gameplay, and a so-so line-up of fighters. Its very slow and a "considered" fighting game with no combos - eff up and leave yourself open and you will be punished. Best played in two-player if you want a patient, tense fight with a friend. Single-player is very hard. A good game, highly regarded, but far from being the best weapons-base fighter in existance, as some would have you believe (in my view of course, others will disgaree no doubt, but they are entitled to their opinion!). To play it requires dedication and practice and a good understanding of your enemies' abilities.

SamSho III - Each strikes takes off a ****-load of health, meaning fights can be over very quickly. A new line-up of fighters for the most part. Very very dark in its visual design. Has two types of fighting "mode" - 'Bust' and 'Slash'. Quite buggy, but some hardcore types really dig it!

SamSho IV - Similar to III, but polished and tweaked. Still drab and dark though for a fighting game.... You now have two energy bars, so bouts are longer.

SamSho V / Zero - A prequel released in about 2003, about seven years after IV. Gorgeous box art! But... its got a lot of re-used assets from IV, is considered very unbalanced and a bit of a mess by some SNK fans. An interesting game though none-the-less.

SamSho V / Zero Special - a brand new game than fixes the issues found to be in V / Zero by fans. Looks astounding. The last official AES / MVS game, coming out in 2004, and exclusive to the Neo Geo format. Plays very well, and includes fatalities. SNK Playmore recalled this game to sort out the level of gore in it, so those that are unaltered, known as "unfixed" in eBay listing, are as rare as hens' teeth, but are censored to a degree. They go for silly money on eBay, as do "fixed" copies, though the latter are cheaper.

SamSho VI - Atomisawave game, looks good. "Dream match", like King of Fighter '98 and 2002, in that it has characters from across the whole series, even if they "died" in the story.

Others: SamSho Sen is an arcade and Xbox 360 game - is okay, but in 3D. A bit like the Neo Geo 64 version - its alright but nothing special. Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Colour games are said to be very good.

I hope that gives you an idea at which title to start playing. I suppose SamSho II or IV are the way to go, but its by no means perfect. The whole series has issues and its no wonder you are having problems with it. Just break open the piggy bank, eat beans for a week or work an extra shift or two and invest in The Last Blade 1 or 2 in whatever format you desire. They really are the way to go....

80s Synth Pop

Playing Zelda Links Awakening DX on the 101 GBA. Don't have the time to play it but just two more dungeons to go.. Have to say I’m really enjoying this game (again)

Also found myself face to face with old workstations running Grannies Garden this week so had a game of that

Andrew76

Managed to get some cab time in tonight. Raiden still breaking my balls, finding it hard to get back to level 3. Gave Dodonpachi, Tetris and Sunset Riders a lash before 1 cc'ing Aliens on my first attempt, that brought back fond memories of Amusement City in town.

zero19

80s Synth Pop wrote: »

Playing Zelda Links Awakening DX on the 101 GBA. Don't have the time to play it but just two more dungeons to go.. Have to say I’m really enjoying this game (again)

Also found myself face to face with old workstations running Grannies Garden this week so had a game of that

Just started DX this week myself, my favourite GB game by far.

pdbhp

80s Synth Pop wrote: »

Playing Zelda Links Awakening DX on the 101 GBA. Don't have the time to play it but just two more dungeons to go.. Have to say I’m really enjoying this game (again)

Also found myself face to face with old workstations running Grannies Garden this week so had a game of that

zero19 wrote: »

Just started DX this week myself, my favourite GB game by far.

Links Awakening is a fantastic game. I found it very hard but thoroughly enjoyable. I have the original not DX does DX have anymore dungeons?

Pyongyang

What's the deal with those 870 trillion in 1 carts? Are they glitchy? Laggy? Pot luck if some games work and some don't?

Steve X2

Pyongyang wrote: »

What's the deal with those 870 trillion in 1 carts? Are they glitchy? Laggy? Pot luck if some games work and some don't?

If you mean the MVS ones they are not to bad. I have the 161 in 1 which is the latest or one of the latest versions and most of the games are ok.
There are some sound glitches in some of the games but not that much.
They are great to have as you can play the games and decide what original ones you want to buy.

One problem I have noticed is that some Pulstar has some slowdown in parts of the game(the busy parts

), I'm not sure if this is the same on the original cart or not.

CiDeRmAn

I have a 111 in 1 MVS cart and its fine, once you remember that about 40 of those are hacks of existing roms, that is things you'll never play, other than that my cart works great, I can play most of the greatest games on the system for a bargain price.
And, the carts themselves seem to have gotten cheaper.
www.arcademachines.ie is where I got mine.

o1s1n

Steve SI wrote: »

One problem I have noticed is that some Pulstar has some slowdown in parts of the game(the busy parts ), I'm not sure if this is the same on the original cart or not.

I haven't played Pulstar that much, but the original Blazing Star board slows down loads during hectic parts. I wouldn't be suprised if that slowdown happens in the original Pulstar cart too. They were really pushing the Neo Geo hardware with those games.

Pyongyang

Steve SI wrote: »

They are great to have as you can play the games and decide what original ones you want to buy.

One problem I have noticed is that some Pulstar has some slowdown in parts of the game(the busy parts ), I'm not sure if this is the same on the original cart or not.

Thanks lads for the sage advice.

@Steve SI: That's the reason I wanted to try one of the 968.529 trillion in 1 carts, to test the waters first. May just emulate though.

As for Pulstar, that's actually an issue with the game itself and it's not intentional.

Steve X2

Pyongyang wrote: »

Thanks lads for the sage advice.

@Steve SI: That's the reason I wanted to try one of the 968.529 trillion in 1 carts, to test the waters first. May just emulate though.

As for Pulstar, that's actually an issue with the game itself and it's not intentional.

It's always nice to have one of those 968.530 trillion in 1 carts as you can just stick one in the MVS if you have kids/humans around that want to play a few games and you don't want them going near the innards of your cab.

I just wish they would at least allow you to edit the menu(hide the crappy hacks) and enable high score saves somehow.

Edit:
I've only ever played Pulstar on the emulators and the 161 in 1 cart. Thats why I thought it was running badly as on the emulators it runs nice and smooth, even on the busy parts(benefits of a modern pc i guess)
.

CiDeRmAn

Those shooters have slowdown, just part of the hardware unfortunately.
Same thing with Metal Slug 2, so bad in fact that SNK issued a re-version called Metal Slug X to deal with it.
Emulation doesn't have the same bottlenecks, or rather even if the emulation was so good that it even emulated the flaws of the architecture of the hardware and poor programming the built in frame rate throttle would smooth the whole thing out anyway.

Retr0gamer

The framerate throttling is built into the game's code. If the game doesn't slow down you'll get screen tearing and frameskipping and the game would become unplayable and unresponsive. It's why when you emulate games they will slow down in the same places as on real hardware. I can assure you Pulstar suffers from bad slowdown on real hardware.

CiDeRmAn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The framerate throttling is built into the game's code. If the game doesn't slow down you'll get screen tearing and frameskipping and the game would become unplayable and unresponsive. It's why when you emulate games they will slow down in the same places as on real hardware. I can assure you Pulstar suffers from bad slowdown on real hardware.

I stand corrected, event though you have little respect for Need for Speed, philistine!