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So, what you playing at the mo? Retro Edition

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Comments

  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    I've started Castlevania Order of Ecclesia in between being absolutely absorbed by Elite Beat Agents.

    It's the only handheld Iga-vania I never beat. I was really excited for it but when I played it something was a bit off about it.

    It's not a bad game but it has some issues, mainly that enemies and especially bosses take way too many hits to put down. The game also have a very different structure to the other Castlevania games. Its more a call back to Simon's Quest than SotN so stage layouts are a bit weird.

    I'm going to stick with it and beat it. I might also replay the other two DS vanias as I never played the new game plus characters which apparently are very different experiences from the base game.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,803 ✭✭✭Inviere


    So, went back to this and did much better today. I was able to make it to the next save point, then farmed up a load more lives on an easier level, and saved again. Making progress...though that later half of that hilltop something level with all the barrel timing kicked my backside severely. Anyway, progress!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,992 ✭✭✭Mr.Saturn


    I don't get the love for like 99% of stuff with Sonic branding. Even the much-lauded Sonic Mania bored the arse off me and, yet, I keep playing these games for reasons only known to a higher power.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    I was fecking about with some 32X games recently enough and decided to dedicate some time to Knuckles Chaotix. Spent a couple of hours with it, longer than I think I ever have to be honest.

    Such a frustrating game. You get sightings of what a real Sonic game could have been like on the system with this absolutely horrendous (and most offensively, not fun) shoehorned in tether system. It literally sucks every bit of fun out of the game.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,803 ✭✭✭Inviere


    Yeah that system always just meant I turned the game off before long. I imagine the level mechanics are built around it, or else there'd have been some romhacks to restore it back to single character gameplay...



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    It would need someone to care enough about the game to romhack it. Not even the sonic perverts will touch it, and they all seem hell bent on the historical revisionism that sonic heroes is good.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Check this out, it's actually possible to play it with the 'combi-link' disabled via an action replay code:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS8Z1Rs6QsY

    I might be late to the party, but recently I found the Action Replay codes to play Knuckles' Chaotix Solo (without the Combi Link).

    To use this you will need to use the Action Replay Code FFFCEA:00. The partner will still tag along, but you are free to move by yourself.

    By playing alone I noticed that the physics are weird. Spin dash is pretty much useless, probably nerfed to put emphasis on the combi link instead. There is no speed cap when running and you can reach top speed in a few seconds, regardless of the terrain - even with slopes. Movement just doesn't feel as precise as it does in Sonic 3&K.

    So far the Combi Link is only mandatory for the main boss in Botanic Base (the boss won't trigger without it) and the Final Boss (otherwise the Robotnik/Metal Sonic cutscene won't work). You can pretty much clear the entire game either by gliding or wall climbing.

    If the partner gets hit by an enemy you will lose a life and you will be sent to the World Entrance. The easiest way to avoid this is starting a 2 player game and using the AR code to disable the ring link. Without it, the other player will just stand still at the beginning and you are free to go anywhere without risking losing a life due to the partner getting hit. Unlike the previous Sonic games the partner will never die if left behind and you can always recall it to start machines that require both characters.

    Without the Combi Link I noticed Mighty is MUCH faster than all other characters, which to my knowledge is something that doesn't exist in other classic Sonic games - all run at the same speed.

    I highly recommend playing like that. Feels like a completely different Sonic game.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,803 ✭✭✭Inviere




  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Up to the final mission on sweatin' difficulty in elite beat agents. It's making me hate the rolling stones after I just fell out with Bowie.

    It's driving me mad but at least you can skip the song intros, ready steady go drove me insane in Osu Tatake Ouendan.

    The worst thing is I have to play it again at the higher difficulty.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,992 ✭✭✭Mr.Saturn


    Also giving a Castlevania a rip, namely Circle of the Moon. It's gotten a bit of a bad rap because of how dark it ran on a launch GBA, but it's a pretty decent Metroidvania so far, especially with the benefit of a backlit screen.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Beat sweatin' mode and unlocked the elite beat divas hard rock mode for the ultimate challenge. I'm a good bit in but at the final 4 stages which give the most issues so I guess I'll be stuck here.

    The hard rock mode has the same icon patterns as sweatin' except they mirror them, make the icons smaller and give you half the time to react to the icons appearing. It's a real ball buster.

    I did enjoy circle of the moon when it came out but it retrospect it's a bit weak. There's boss fight with two dragons that near killed my progress in the game.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,992 ✭✭✭Mr.Saturn


    Based on my experience with the Post-SOTN games and my little tinkering with the DSS system, surely there has to be some utterly broken combination to trivialise any difficulty spike? Like in Aria, where you get that item that turns enemy HP into XP and you can just roll up the counter in a matter on minutes.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Oh of course there is but it's not as customisable as you'd think. And while there might be broken combinations, the DSS system is also based on totally random drops so by that point you only have a few cards to play with and I had nothing but junk.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Played way too much EBA last night as I've had serious Tetris effect from it all day.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Finally last night I beat Jumping Jack Flash on the hardest difficulty in Elite Beat Agents. I'd been trying on and off for days. It's absolute insanity. Even when I had most of the song off by muscle memory there were always moments when my execution was just off. The penultimate stretch in the song is a series of very fast stretches of 13 notes, each punctuated by a spinner. Absolute pain in the ass as you really have to spin like crazy to complete the spinner. You don't really have time to hit the next note so you have to stop the spinner early to move to the next note string.

    On this attempt my fingers were getting very sweaty on the final spinner so they were right down to the nub of the stylus but I managed to keep it together.

    Haven't felt this sort of an achievement in a videogame since I beat Mike Tyson.

    The only bad news is that there's still Ouendan 2 to beat...



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    How's your DS screen doing after all that? 😂 sounds mental!

    I'm just approaching the end of Chrono Trigger myself. Second last chapter. Thought I was taking my time on this run through but looks like I'll have it beat in about 15 hours total.

    Just to reiterate, the Analogue Pocket is amazing for 16 bit RPGs. The screen is just the absolute perfect size for reading text and menus. I think its going to be go to for that genre now in future for that era of consoles. Trying to figure out what to do next, maybe another runthrough of Earthbound? Should probably try something I haven't played before though.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    There's definitely signs of the spinners when you catch the light right!

    What makes the final difficulty so hard is that only perfect '300' hits will gain you back meter. '100' hits seem to loses net meter and '50' hits might as well be a missed hit.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6 9jamie


    Might be an obvious one but have you played Super Metroid? It's still an absolute classic.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Yeah played through it a few times, one of my favourites on the Snes for sure! I really wish I'd played the first time around when I was a kid, say I would have loved it. Didn't actually have a run through of it until the early 00s when I started collecting SNES games.

    Played through Super Double Dragon last night on real hardware. Have a nice little PVM setup in the front room now. It's one of those games I grew up playing with my cousin a lot as he had a copy, so the nostalgia is through the roof whenever I play it, really really love the game.

    Taking the rose tinted glasses off for a moment, it really can't hold a candle to the Likes of Streets of Rage 2.

    I know it's slow by design with the grab mechanic (which is great fun), but the game really struggles pushing more than three enemies on screen at once. The character sprites themselves have some lovely little animations, but they really are tiny. The levels are also all very bland with not a lot going on. Particularly when it comes to the bosses. If I didn't have such a huge nostalgic connection to it, I'd say it's a very bland game.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,325 ✭✭✭KeRbDoG


    …I had a large box Super Metroid 'back in the day', one of those 'I really should have kept it' regrets



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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    After a rocky start I'm really getting into Castlevania Order of Ecclesia. The game starts tough with two boss fights that take way more damage than they really should but once you get past that it gets really good.

    There's a bit of Simon's Quest DNA here with each stage being its own mini metroidvania and all interconnected. There's also a town that you fill up with villagers that gives side quests that expand the shop inventory.

    It looks stunning as well, it might be the last example of traditional pixel art from a big Japanese developer.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    About a year ago I was dared to play Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories by a... Friend. Not sure I can call them a friend anymore but I guess forcing this game on someone is not grounds for dismissing a friendship.

    I decided to finally get this game off my backlog and I'm mixed about the game but it's mostly bad.

    It's remaster of a PS2 game which was a budget remake of a GBA game. It has kingdom hearts combat but also throws in card mechanics. It's sounds ****, and it kind of is, but it also kind of works.

    The problem is that there's an actual good battle system here. Boss battles are excellent and I have to admit the last few boss battles were challenging and a lot of fun. The problem is you have about 30-45 minutes of the same random battles over and over between boss fights. It really drags the game down. The move to 3D apparently doubled the length of the game, although this remaster did add extra balancing.

    There's other issues, it being a Kingdom Hearts game means the story is absolute ballocks.

    I beat Sora's story which opens up the very difficult Riku story so I'm not done with the game yet but I did make sure to drop the game difficulty ro easy this time as those random battles are hell to slog through.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Playing some games on the original Nintendo Switch this evening.

    My original Revenge of Shinobi cart I got for my birthday in 1992. Peeled off label where my mam tried to remove the Quinsworth price sticker but failed miserably.

    Was actually having a great non infinite shuriken run and the bloody game froze at The Terminator! Noooooo



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Well that's Chrono Trigger finished.

    It's one of those games I never want to end so kept putting off the last boss. Decided today it was time to say goodbye to the gang.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,730 ✭✭✭romperstomper


    That analoue pocket looks neat. How does it compare to R36s (which I was also considering)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    You're comparing a 50 euro device to a 300 euro device, there's no contest really.

    I will say that the power button and the volume buttons on the pocket are pants. Everything else about it is glorious though. The screen is stunning!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,730 ✭✭✭romperstomper


    thank you for replying. I'm guessing the AP is aimed at those with original carts for the systems it supports?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Thats the idea alright, you can also run 'Open FPGA' though which lets you play ROMs on FPGA emulators, so can use it as a portable emulation machine too.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    The OLED screen also makes a massive difference.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,803 ✭✭✭Inviere


    Worth noting too, that it's hardware emulation….a far cry from those cheap Ali handheld thingies.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,038 ✭✭✭Colonel Panic


    I’ve got a play through of Chrono Trigger I need to finish. Was having problems with one of the final side quests in terms of fire resist and was grinding in the prehistory era.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,142 ✭✭✭✭Tom Mann Centuria


    Personally speaking I'd be inclined to give a cheapie device a go first, you can get the r36s for under 40 euro, before splurging 300 euro.

    As has been hammered home they're in different leagues with regard to quality, and for purists that is probably a deal breaker, but for an awful lot of people the cheap and cheerful crap will scratch the itch.

    If you enjoy that, there's significantly better software emulation devices, you enjoy that then there are FPGA devices (that are at the cheaper end), enjoy that, then the serious money FPGA devices....….

    The devils advocate argument is go the whole hog on the Analogue Pocket and if it isn't for you, sell it, I don't see a scenario any time soon where you'll lose money on one.

    Oh well, give me an easy life and a peaceful death.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Also remember that it isn't emulation 🤣



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    That's probably the Son of Sun boss in the Sun Palace?

    He's actually not too bad once you figure out you can only hurt him by hitting one of the fire orbs around him at a time in single attacks. (Avoids him doing a big counter attack) He then does a roulette wheel type spin and the orb that can be hurt changes. Repeat until dead.

    Chrono Trigger is really well balanced, shouldn't have to grind at all, just try not to run away from fights as you go through. If you're having difficulty with a boss it's probably more down to him having some trick to killing him rather than being under levelled.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,038 ✭✭✭Colonel Panic


    yeah that’s the one.

    I meant fire resist gear rather than levels but perhaps the same statement about ballance applies there too.

    Will try it out.

    I’ve never actually finished the game before despite owning it for years!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,177 ✭✭✭Quigs Snr




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Ah yeah you get all that by trading horns and bits and pieces in 65 million BC alright. Best of luck, it's definitely a game worth seeing till the end :)

    It was back before the days of folks making handy drop in kits! Inviere modded it for me well over ten years ago now. I think the LCD was from a car reversing camera that a few of us bought from Dealextreme.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,177 ✭✭✭Quigs Snr


    … you weren't wrong on N64 Sin and Punishment. Officially have everything I care about on N64 now and it seems like I left the best until last. On the one hand I can't believe this didn't get a release outside of Japan. On the other hand… the sequel on Wii does not appear to have sold well either. We dont deserve to have nice things over here in the west folks.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,803 ✭✭✭Inviere


    It's also the old composite mod, whereas the new ones use rgb. Still, even composite is a huge improvement over the stock screen.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Honestly I actually rather composite on this occasion. I've a million and one ways of playing Megadrive games in RGB. My Nomad is the only way I can see dithering effects in Megadrive games. The screen is so small it still looks nice and sharp too.

    The mode button being linked up to the 50/60hz switch is also a great way to show people in real time the difference between PAL and NTSC speeds.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,803 ✭✭✭Inviere




  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Been on holidays so haven't been playing a whole lot. Since I was starting a new handheld game I decided to stick with the DS for now and started the remake of the first Shiren game. It's a proper rogue-like, pretty hardcore but also quite approachable with some interesting mechanics that differentiate it from other games. I've gotten to floor 18 out of I think 50 floors so far. Some runs have been a disaster where I got beaten in the very first room but runs are usually relatively short anyway. There's also a surprising amount of humour in the game and little side quests that make future runs a little easier.

    Also played a little of contra 4. Right old ball buster. Its great fun but there are some annoyances with the dead space between the top and bottom screens.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Decided to move on to Final Fantasy IX over the weekend after finishing Chrono Trigger...just occurred to me that I'm actually kind of lucky given I haven't played it far beyond the first disc. Basically a PS1 era FF game Ive never played properly.

    Hooked my PVM back up for it specifically. Was trying it on th big tv with a retrotink. Looked like absolute ass. I just don't think PS1 games can really work on a big modern screen, even with good shaders thrown at it.

    The PVM on the other hand is jaw dropping. The FMV videos look absolutely incredible.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Started Tomb Raider 3 in the remake collection and the game is just mean. So many bullshit moments to catch the player off guard and it's really not a good starting off point for people new to the series. The levels are also way too big.

    It's very obvious that by this point the core design team behind tomb raider was getting very burned out with the yearly production cycle and there's a lot of stuff here that feels like it didn't go through polishing during the play testing.

    For instance you have the choice of 3 stages after you beat the India stage but if you choose Nevada last you will end up losing all your weapons before the final set of stages.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    It never really occurred to me how quickly the Tomb Raider games on the PS1 were released one after another, that's a pretty crazy schedule alright.

    1996 - Tomb Raider

    1997 - Tomb Raider 2

    1998 - Tomb Raider 3

    1999 - Tomb Raider The Last Revelation

    2000 - Tomb Raider Chronicles

    I gave up at Tomb Raider 3 myself back in the day, was definitely starting to grow stale at that point. Don't even think I bothered finishing it.



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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    I'm only really going through it because I couldn't finish it back in the day because my memory card corrupted on the second last stage. This is revenge.

    I've heard Last Revelation is a real return to form for the series but never played it. Chronicles is meant to be really bad but bad in an interesting way so I'm curious.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,449 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Been a few years since I've done an actual disc change in a PS1 game.

    I opened the box and Vagrant Story was sitting where disc 2 was meant to be. :eek:

    Luckily Disc 2 was hiding underneath...



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Tomb Raider 3 just screams 1998.

    Aesthetically the game is chock full of garish coloured lighting, putting it after the late 1997 release of quake 2 and the 3D accelerator revolution on PC where coloured lighting was all the rage.

    There's a level set in Area 52 with aliens and spaceships putting it around the maximum hype point for the X-Files.

    The only thing that's a bit of a stretch are the forced stealth sections in the London levels. Forcing stealth sections into an engine that can barely support the main gameplay elements let alone stealth is a very post metal gear solid thing to do. MGS was released in September 1998 in Japan while TR3 had a release of November. However considering the insane crunch the game was under (and how buggy and badly designed the stealth is) it might not be a push that it was shoehorned in last minute considering how much a month would be as a percentage of total development time.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,803 ✭✭✭Inviere


    I loved the coloured lighting phase….was real 'wow' stuff on my Voodoo 3 2000 at the time.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,803 ✭✭✭Inviere


    Just noticed my above post was the 10,000 post in the thread - previously, under vBulletin Boards….this would have meant the end of the thread and the beginning of a new thread with a crafty name as voted by the forum users. Those new threads felt fresh, new, and used to invigorate discussion as a result.

    Now, under the Vanilla platform (shudder), we'll just have massive, meandering, creaking threads with tens of thousands of posts in them, likely used by the same people all of the time.

    Unless….the sage forum moderator here wanted to stick of the old system of 10k limits that is….



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