So, what you playing at the mo? Retro Edition

CiDeRmAn · 07-09-2021 6:56pm

The visuals were bumped, with the wide-screen a new feature for the previously GC only MP1 and 2, and the motion controls worked, I think, because the game depended so much on scanning rooms, aiming at points of interest and monsters who believe Samus' spine is a point of interest too.

Even so, I imagine if I could play the Metroid Prime games using the Switch Pro controller, they would be perfection

Lemming · 09-09-2021 11:16pm

On an unrelated note to motion controls and/or VR, I picked up the remastered release of Gods on Steam last night. Good fun, gives you the option of playing in modern HD shiny visuals & sound or old-school Sega Megadrive graphics. I have the original for the MD but picked up on sale for £1.43

Star Lord · 10-09-2021 2:40pm

I remember I had Gods on my old 386 PC back in the day, and at the time it really felt like a masterpiece game.

It feels a little clunky to play now, but I still very much enjoy dipping into it every now and then! Into the wonderful...

[Edit] Just looked that up... The 'remastered' graphics honestly look worse to me than the original graphics... Everything's too shiny, but still clunkily animated that just looks wrong with the new graphics. The reasonably recent WonderBoy and the Dragon's Trap remake, and the superb Wonderboy and the Cursed Kingdom are perfect examples of how you do retro games justice without butchering the look of them. The animation in both of them is smooth and beautiful, whereas here it looks like frame-for-frame swaps, only with a lick of varnish that makes it too plastic-y...

[Edit 2] That was based off the Steam preview video... Watching a video of it running, it is... smoother... but as I saw on a Youtube comment, it looks like one of those bad adverts that you see for a mobile game... The animation is ... off, in appearances, timing (weapon thrown before the arm moves) etc... It just looks bad.

o1s1n · 19-09-2021 8:49pm

Sitting here this evening playing Souky on my Fenrir modded Saturn from an image of the game through a scaler on an LED tv, using one of those Sega bluetooth controllers.

I'd be disgusted with myself if it didn't all work so bloody well!

DaveyDave · 19-09-2021 10:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117912705#Comment_117912705

thumb_whoa-slow-down-egghead-the-simpsons-meme-slow-down-egghead-51076056.png

I envy anyone with a decent modern setup. Flash carts, ODEs, scalers. I'm over here with my clone GDEMU, €5 RGB cables and a dodgy Scart adaptor for my TV that goes a funky colour if I move it :D

Retr0gamer · 19-09-2021 10:43pm

I haven't even got a tv, just my PC monitor :(

CiDeRmAn · 20-09-2021 9:37am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117913212#Comment_117913212

You are drifting further and further from your Retr0 handle there...

Next thing you know will go full Inviere, and ditch it all for emulation

Retr0gamer · 20-09-2021 9:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117913917#Comment_117913917

Eh, About that....

Anyway to try and keep my retro cred I started Guardian Legend last night. Spent ages wandering around not knowing what to do, had to look up a walkthrough and found there's a bit of scenery you just have to blast constantly to get it to open. There's clues about that which I ignored. Anyway once I figured that out the game is flowing really well now and it's an absolute cracker.

The game is made by Compile and Irem. It's pretty much a zelda clone but way more action focused. The female cyborg you play will also transform into a spaceship at points and the game becomes a shmup. And since it's made by Compile the shooting is really solid and at full 60 FPS.

Cansee why this is considered a hidden gem on the system.

Inviere · 20-09-2021 10:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117913917#Comment_117913917

You say that as if I haven't just dropped several hundred euros on four Amigas :( Oh and a 21" Trinitron the other week too.

I've always said the glow of a crt and original hardware paired together remains top dog, but the sheer convenience of emulation and the quality of it these days can bring it close enough for me.

I would love to set up my now three crts in the attic on a long bench, and have an Amiga, c64 and other assorted consoles ready to play on it. Maybe a project for next summer. A Mister too for the fun of it.

Retr0gamer · 20-09-2021 11:20am

I've been playing more retrogames recently thanks to the ease of using retroarch. It's much easier than climbing over boxes of shite and digging out my games which Sauron has left right at the back of the attic and under everything else, which I believe was done just so she can say 'why don't you sell those games, you don't even play them anymore'.

DoctorEdgeWild · 20-09-2021 11:28am

Was playing a space trading game called Crypterion because the word was that it was basically a modern and updated version of the classic PC game Gazillionaire. Played it for a couple of hours before I realised I could just play the original Gazillionaire! Not sure why I didn't think of such an obvious solution sooner, other than being an idiot.

So, Gazillionaire, the greatest game ever made.*

CiDeRmAn · 20-09-2021 5:17pm

I must call to your house Retr0, tell her I'm one of the nurses treating you for your addiction and I'm there to remove those offending items from the attic.

Of course, now that I have told you of my plan, I will have to come up with another...

If I just tell her the truth, that I'm there to take them for myself, she'll probably just give them all to me!

Retr0gamer · 20-09-2021 8:21pm

I think that later plan would be the best bet.

Retr0gamer · 20-09-2021 9:45pm

Contra 3 on Hard Mode is absolute insanity.

Retr0gamer · 21-09-2021 9:07am

Played a good bit more Guardian Legend last night. It's an absolute classic. Really enjoying it.

Star Lord · 22-09-2021 3:07pm

Just played through the old Speccy version of the original Dizzy. Until you get your hands on the various items to get rid of the various enemies/hazards, it's a bit of a nightmare, with random flight patterns for the birds/bats etc. Still enjoyed it immensely, and brought me back to playing it in our neighbours house on their old Amstrad CPC464, with the eternal loading from the tapes only made that little bit better by some great loading screens.

Worztron · 22-09-2021 6:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117924315#Comment_117924315

I remember playing Dizzy aka Dizzy: The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure (1988) for the first time on my C64. I got a lend of a friends cassette tape. I love the Dizzy series of games. My favorite of the series was Magicland Dizzy (1990). Happy days! 🥚

Star Lord · 23-09-2021 10:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117925372#Comment_117925372

Seems that there was a new one released in December 2020 too, Wonderful Dizzy, which is essentially Wizard of Oz Dizzy. Haven't tried it yet, but you can download it / play it online here:

https://www.olivertwins.com/wonderfuldizzy

They have all of the Dizzy games available for download for free too, which is the most wonderful thing there!

Retr0gamer · 23-09-2021 2:32pm

Up to stage 4 now of Contra 3 on Hard.

It's a bit like Gunstar Heroes in that they make a few small changes to hard mode and yet it's very well done and turns it into a very different game.

The first overhead stage though is complete and utter horseshit. The enemy placements you need to take out are a pain in the arse as they all have different rules on how to get them to open which make them super annoying. Two in particular are utter bullshit, one you have to stop shooting at tot get to open and another than you have to face away from to get to open which is near impossible to get decent damage on.

Really missing Hard Corps iFrame slide as well!

Inviere · 23-09-2021 3:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117929182#Comment_117929182

The NTSC-J version is apparently more forgiving (Contra Spirits). From memory, I think I only ever beat the game on normal (no continues obviously.)

Retr0gamer · 23-09-2021 3:57pm

Normal is very manageable.

Hard at least isn't unfair but going to take a while to master it, which I'm ok with! Well except Stage 2.... and Not looking forward to the second top down stage.

Retr0gamer · 24-09-2021 12:42am

The stage 5 spinny boss of Contra 3 has literally made my life worse.

Retr0gamer · 25-09-2021 1:48am

Contra 3 Hard Mode finished. Well worth giving a go once you get over the games bullshit in the overhead stages. The only issue I have with how I played it is I never quite got the alien heart boss down and kind of brute force it with lives and smart bombs.

Inviere · 25-09-2021 5:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117936181#Comment_117936181

Just while I remember, there's an SA-1 romhack available for the game which removes all slowdown (the author of the hack has released a few for other games too), works brilliantly.

Congrats on beating it on hard, tough game.

Worztron · 25-09-2021 10:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117927879#Comment_117927879

Cheers ST. I had the 'Dizzy VIII - Wonderful Dizzy v1.3.1.tap' file already. I play it via my ZX Spectrum emulator. I just checked here (https://yolkfolk.com/wonderful-dizzy) and saw that v1.5 is out. It can also be played online.

🥚 :-)

MadYaker · 29-09-2021 7:24pm

I'm playing Metroid Prime on my old Gamecube for the first time and enjoying it a lot. The controls take a bit of getting used to but they're actually really good and it still looks nice in a retro kind of way. Also if anyone could recommend a good walkthrough guide for zelda the windwaker id appreciate it. The Gamecube still runs like a clock after being in an attic for over a decade.

CiDeRmAn · 29-09-2021 8:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117955716#Comment_117955716

I have to say, for me at least, the Metroid Prime titles, especially the first one, have aged incredibly well.

Where Halo, which came out around the same time as Metroid Prime on the GC, looks quite dated, and feels that way even with the updated visuals on the XBox One/X/S port, Metroid Prime still looks fantastic and the areas quite original.

The only thing the GC one lacks it proper 16:9 support, it's 4:3 only.

The Wii MP Trilogy adds all of this as well as motion controls (not so great).

I think the controls on the GC are probably the thing that has aged the poorest, but that is a simple matter to repair.

Fingers crossed, that collection will appear on the Switch in the next couple of months.

MadYaker · 29-09-2021 10:17pm

At first I hated the controls but now I like them, the movement makes more sense combined with the lock on feature. I bought a scart to hdmi adapter for 15 quid on eBay and it works fine.

Retr0gamer · 30-09-2021 12:31am

Metroid Prime controls are perfect. No need to change them. People moan and moan and moan that it doesn't play like halo but the controls are basically the same as 3D zelda games only it's in first person and not third. The lock on camera is pretty much essential so that dodging works properly.

CiDeRmAn · 30-09-2021 11:13am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117957322#Comment_117957322

I hope that wasn't aimed at poor me!

It doesn't bother me that it doesn't control like Halo at all, but I still think the game could be made friendlier to play with a more standard control scheme.

Retr0gamer · 30-09-2021 12:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958243#Comment_117958243

I think it's a very different game to a standard FPS. It's designed around those controls. The enemy encounters are designed so you can strafe around them and use the dodge mechanics to get out of the way but still be locked on to their position. It's pretty much zelda's z-targetting.

Now change that to a traditional FPS control scheme and instead of really tightly designed encounters and bosses that are designed after traditional japanese scripted boss design you know have something that's more free form but also janky.

Name another FPS where the platforming and boss battles work as well as Metroid Prime. You can't because none of them use Prime's control scheme.

Basically adding a FPS control scheme is like adding traditional 3rd person controls to Resi 4 and letting you move and shoot or letting you move after jumping in Ghouls'n Ghosts. It would disrupt the entire flow of the game change it at a fundamental level that makes it a different game.

Star Lord · 30-09-2021 3:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958438#Comment_117958438

Honestly, couldn't agree with this more. Primes controls are perfection for the kind of game it is, and is very much orientated around those controls, designed to work in that way.

Colonel Panic · 03-10-2021 10:35am

Continuing the Metroid theme, I finished Zero Mission and have moved on to Fusion. It's quite different! Both it and Zero Mission seem to spoon feed you the main path, although more so for Fusion so far!

I also had a quick go of Metroid Prime. My original save of that it at 89% just before Ridley! Turns out I never finished Metroid Prime! So I guess that'll be played again. I did buy Trilogy digitally on my Wii U, but I prefer the original controls too.

I didn't finish the 3DS Metroid game either so I'll have to give that a bit of attention before I even think about buying Metroid Dread.

o1s1n · 04-10-2021 8:35pm

Playing some Psychic Killer Taromaru this evening. Forgot how insanely good it is! Basically Alisia Dragoon mixed with Shinobi mixed with Guwange and a massive price tag for entry.

Some absolutely beautiful sprite work, that big multi sprite spider in the first level is absolutely (horrifically) gorgeous.

Retr0gamer · 04-10-2021 9:55pm

I must go back to that. Last time I played it was when I was back from japan trying to convince myself it was worth the price I paid!

As for what I'm playing. Well if you are following the emulation thread you will see I'm having trouble with getting Enemy Zero to work through emulation.

So I took a long shot and tried the PC version. Was pretty easy to find.

So a game from 1998, from a japanese company, using a quad renderer, made for a 32-bit operating system running on 64-bit windows 10. Wasn't looking good.

And.... it just works. No issues at all. Well I had to figure out if the game would accept me mounting virtual drives when alt tabbed.... and it does. Runs really well. It behaves really nicely with my 21:9 screen (which a lot of modern games don't). Really hoping I don't get any crashes later.

Anyway the PC version seems to be the definitive version. I looks way nicer in the 3D sections and the video seems to be high quality. They also added two new enemies which I've yet to meet.

Retr0gamer · 13-10-2021 9:42am

Anyone else have experience with Sweet Home?

Been playing it for October and really loving it. It's a weird mix of JRPG and Resident Evil. It's really quite playable and fair for a NES JRPG. I've one issue in that it is easy enough to soft lock the game is you aren't paying attention to how the planks of wood you use to bridge gaps work but otherwise it's a really unique and brilliant game.

Mr.Saturn · 15-10-2021 9:58am

Polished off We Love Katamari and Taiko Drum Master on the PS2 there this week. We Love Katamari is how you do a sequel when you've already milked the core concepts for all its worth, in that they give you new goals/limitations entirely in addition to the usual "get x by y." Taiko is kind of limited in its appeal when you're playing with the standard PS2 controller, feels a bit like cheating at times. It can still get tough when it really wants to, mind you.

Moved on to Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast after threatening for years. It's the right mix of addictive and tricky, though I feel as though I've broken it a bit by upgrading to some of the OR cars - they just let you bomb through the competition in the races.

o1s1n · 15-10-2021 12:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118012559#Comment_118012559

Have been meaning to play that for years! really that good yeah? I think I'll put that on my to play list for October :)

Retr0gamer · 15-10-2021 1:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118023394#Comment_118023394

Yep it's very unique but also a really well designed game. There's some bullshit adventure game stuff sneaking in now and again but nothing a walkthrough won't fix.

Inviere · 16-10-2021 4:30pm

Sat down to start A Link to the Past today, but on my 3DS XL. I just can't. Whatever it is about handheld gaming, I just don't enjoy it whatsoever. I got les than 15 mins into the game, and I felt I was just wasting the (re)experience. I enjoyed Link Between Worlds a few times on the XL, but only because there was no other way to play that game which was fair enough. If I enjoyed handheld games I'd prob have dropped money on the Analogue Pocket, but knowing me it'd sit there collecting dust and then be Cidey'd after a while.

o1s1n · 17-10-2021 8:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118029054#Comment_118029054

How are you with the Switch in handheld mode?

I only really ever play Nintendo handhelds, have loads of others but don't really play them beyond a casual 10-15 minutes.

Nintendo ones didn't fully click with me until the DS, mainly down to how badly the screens were lit.

Inviere · 18-10-2021 11:59am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118033446#Comment_118033446

Before I sold my Switch it was used primarily docked, and only rarely in handheld mode (which is why I won't bother with the new oled model, it'd just be wasted on me.)

I just never really connect with or feel engaged with games unless they're on a TV and I'm using a controller.

o1s1n · 18-10-2021 12:49pm

You sold your Switch? Madness! Such a fantastic system. I do play mine most of the time in docked mode these days tbh.

Although I've seen how good emulation is for it now so can totally understand if someone was just playing Nintendo games on a PC instead of on an actual console.

CiDeRmAn · 18-10-2021 2:46pm

I'm playing a lot of Metroid Dread right now and loving it.

When I'm finished it I'll definitely play Samus Returns, as I barely scratched the surface, and I might even play Metroid Other M, which I didn't enjoy because it wasn't Metroid Prime 4!

o1s1n · 18-10-2021 2:51pm

I'm hearing great things. I have a reserved copy sitting in Argos waiting for me and just haven't had a chance to collect it yet!

johnny_ultimate · 18-10-2021 4:13pm

Metroid Dread's really fun especially when it hits its stride with new navigation abilities. Some of it is a pain in the arse though. The EMMI encounters are actually probably the weakest thing, fairly random stealth sections with counter / parry windows so small they may as well be non-existent. Some of the bosses are magnificent and surprisingly challenging, but also there are one or two cheap tricks scattered throughout. There's one late boss who does a left swipe, a right swipe and a centre swipe you need to jump to avoid - but his arms are flailing around awkwardly for the centre jump so you only have a narrow, awkward safe area and it just feels cheap when you get hit.

With another few passes on some of those rough edges it would have been truly masterful. As it, it's merely a damn good Metroid game, which does the job nicely.

Inviere · 18-10-2021 4:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118035853#Comment_118035853

Aye sold it over a year ago. Was a gen 1 unpatched unit, so was running Atmosphere custom firmware. Still wasn't enough to hold my interest unfortunately. I've nothing inherently bad to say about the Switch, but I definitely don't view it as a console, hybrid or otherwise. It's a low/mid range handheld machine with a display out on it, and comes with all the limitations you'd expect from that. Serious machine for handheld fans, but that's just not me.

Retr0gamer · 18-10-2021 10:28pm

I adore handheld gaming but I feel I do far less of it the last 5 years. It just doesn't suit my lifestyle as much as it did when I was commuting on public transport. I still feel a lot of the best games are coming out on switch, especially with how shot triple A games are but I also feel that handheld games are now competing with the indie space which is amazingly strong now.

o1s1n · 19-10-2021 10:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118037142#Comment_118037142

Do you at least have another means of playing Nintendo games like via emulation on a PC?

I absolutely love my Switch. Sure, it's way underpowered in a modern sense, but it's a Nintendo console through and through IMO. The list of games coming out on it is fantastic, I seriously can't keep up - even for the indie games alone!

Mind you, mine is 100% up to date firmware wise and I'm paying full whack for games, so am definitely in that 'savor each and every game' mode with it rather than the 'try absolutely everything out via homebew and get spoiled for choice' one which I'd be afraid might happen to me if I installed CFW.

o1s1n · 19-10-2021 10:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118039202#Comment_118039202

Definitely hear you on the commuting aspect. Back when the DS came out and R4 cards were all the rage, I'd a 1 hour 45 minute commute from Bray into Tomas Street and back every day - it was an absolute godsend. Don't think I've ever played through so many new games upon release.

So, what you playing at the mo? Retro Edition

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