Retro Gaming - The Bear and Badger

Questor

Damn you , now I need to fire up Castle of Illusion again and relive the days of being 14 years old playing a Mickey Mouse game, and fucking loving it!

Blue Swirl

davyK wrote:

No real surprise with that poll given the 16bit era is still considered golden by many retor gaming folk. I'd say it says more about the age of the readership than anything else. I would rate the SNES highly too but the fact is I rarely play SNES games any more. I eye up my SNES collection and consider its worth on the market.....

I reckon the 16-bit generation is the first one that'll really stand up to the test of time. Super Metroid, Super Mario World, etc., are still fun now and will still be fun in the future, I think. While there are fun 8-bit titles, a lot of that era and before are pretty brutal to experience now.

As others have mentioned, if you were to ask a more 'mainstream' audience, you'd probably find PlayStation at the top. But I reckon SNES/Mega Drive will still be in the top 10. As time moves forwards, the 'best' machine probably will do, too - but I think the 16-bit era will survive better than the stuff that came before it. (And probably the first generation of 3D machines, too. IMHO, YMMV.)

retroking1981

Blue Swirl wrote:

I think the 16-bit era will survive better than the stuff that came before it. (And probably the first generation of 3D machines, too. IMHO, YMMV.)

Agreed

davyK

16bit was certainly when 2D artwork reached a zenith. It still looks great while retaining charm because of the discernible pixels.

In my view the best of MD/SNES is ageless.

davyK

davyK wrote:

SNES minis in my local CEX have dropped to £100.

£80 now.

[Deleted User]

I have been playing a real mix of psx stuff this past week or so.
There are some brilliant games on there, including some amazing sprite based stuff it's a shame that spritework died a bit of a death.
I was chatting to my mate and we were saying how back then we wouldn't touch 2D stuff, it seemed old and dated back then, 3D was the real deal. We both would have been about 8 or 9 when the psx was released so just dumb kids but I think that was a general attitude at the time.

Going back now a lot of the 3D stuff isn't as bad as I thought it might be but depends on the art direction. Crash Bandicoot looks and plays great, as does Dino Crisis 2. Alien Resurrection not so much.

I think Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the stand out 2D title I have played so far.

retroking1981

Liveinadive wrote:

I was chatting to my mate and we were saying how back then we wouldn't touch 2D stuff, it seemed old and dated back then, 3D was the real deal... that was a general attitude at the time

It really was.

I'm a huge 16-Bit 2D gamer but it was also the right thing to happen at the time.

3D pushed things forward and we wouldn't be playing Monster Hunter World's, Bayonettas etc without it happening.

Saturn wasn't exclusively 2D and I'm sure all its big sellers were 3D titles but it's sales really show the shift that occurred at that time.

It simply wasn't as good at 3D as the PS or N64.

I know it's popular to sing it's praises now, especially looking at its 2D library but it's easy to forget just how popular and important the PS and N64 were, I think they get a bit of a rough deal in the retro scene.

retroking1981

davyK wrote:

16bit was certainly when 2D artwork reached a zenith. It still looks great while retaining charm because of the discernible pixels.

In my view the best of MD/SNES is ageless.

I'm also bidding on 7 SNES games atm :-)

Blue Swirl

davyK wrote:

davyK wrote:

SNES minis in my local CEX have dropped to £100.

£80 now.

Last time I checked Amazon were about to get some more stock - £69.99.

Blue Swirl

Liveinadive wrote:

I was chatting to my mate and we were saying how back then we wouldn't touch 2D stuff, it seemed old and dated back then, 3D was the real deal... I think that was a general attitude at the time.

I wasn't quite that anti-2D back then, but I do remember thinking that 2D games should be a lot cheaper than 3D ones. I was a bit ignorant of the effort that goes into 2D sprite art at the time.

But you're right, I remember Street Fighter III being dismissed out of hand because it was 2D. People will be playing SFIII a long time after early 3D fighters like Virtua Fighter 1 and OG Tekken have been assigned to the history books, I reckon.

retroking1981

Yeah I agree, a lot of 2D games from that era have obviously aged better than the 3D efforts.

I just don't like the idea of all those great (for the time) 3D games being completely lost in the history books as you put it.

I guess they already are, its only those of us that were at the right age to appreciate them that still sing their praises.

Driver is most likely in the 15-25 frames per second bracket and probably plays like utter shit to someone born in the mid 90s, despite that same person enjoying SMW etc.

Driver was fucking amazing, still is to me. I'm in the minority there though.

davyK

I just never got the 3D buzz. Most of the games looked shit no matter what the platform - especially the earlier generation of stuff. I just couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Ridge Racer looked alright. Mario 64 was first 3D game that impressed me though.

I'm still not really into the whole 3D thing except for driving and flying. I like the fake 3D look - the way Streetfighter looks now is great.

Running around in 3D environments - just can't be arsed.

Moot_Geeza

Can I put Nu retro games in here or would that just get annoying?

Retroking, I think you'd love/hate this as much as I do. It's on Bone/PS4/Vita/PC/Switch.

optimark_prime

I think that’s quite fitting, Moot, considering the recent discussion regarding 2D games.

Moot_Geeza

I do think modern gamers have got it made with throwback indie titles mimicking their inspiration yet doing away with some of the problems that plagued them. Gunman Clive, Shovel Knight, Volgarr the Viking, Rive (shut uuuup), Renegade Ops, Astebeed; I'm more or less less typing random titles in here but they fit - there are multiple dozens of retro inspired digital only games that scratch the itch of whatever era you're pining for. What a time to be alive indeed.

Moot_Geeza

Plus we can always play the old ones too, on one tiny box under the telly. YAY.

wonderbanana

Blue Swirl wrote:

davyK wrote:

davyK wrote:

SNES minis in my local CEX have dropped to £100.

£80 now.

Last time I checked Amazon were about to get some more stock - £69.99.

Having my mini 'upgraded' with a selection of SNES, MD, NES and MS games at the mo

Blue Swirl

Yeah, I heard that the SNES Mini had been cracked like the NES mini, so you can add more games. You'll have to let us know how well it works, especially with non-SNES software.

retroking1981 wrote:

I just don't like the idea of all those great (for the time) 3D games being completely lost in the history books as you put it.

Don't worry, being in the history books is better than nothing.

And there's always the exception to the rule - people are still speed running Mario 64 loads. The graphics may be rudimentary, but gameplay will always be king.

davyK wrote:

I like the fake 3D look - the way Streetfighter looks now is great.

Agreed. The way they've managed to make stuff like Dragon Ball FighterZ look like a 2D cartoon, despite being rendered in 3D, is phenomenal. I love the way that the animation runs at 15 fps to make it look like 90s anime, but the actual mechanics of the game run at 60 fps.

Blue Swirl

Talking about early 3D graphics and the Saturn's capabilities, I recently watched this video from Maximillian. It compares Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn to Tekken 3 on PlayStation. Bearing in mind that VF2 came out on a system not geared towards polygons, and that T3 came out three years later, you have to admit that VF2 looks freaking phenomenal.

The developers at SEGA AM2 must have been fuggin' wizards or something to get the Saturn to do that.

regmcfly

I'm about to start a Wii retrospective. So many cool games I've collected that I haven't fired up. Will draw up a list, but thinking a month long thing

Blue Swirl

regmcfly wrote:

I'm about to start a Wii retrospective. So many cool games I've collected that I haven't fired up. Will draw up a list, but thinking a month long thing

Sold.

wonderbanana

@Swirl

Will do. Will bag some pics too.

regmcfly

Here's my Wii collection.

I've been through it twice with different filters - games I haven't given a fair shake (so things I've finished like Pandora, Galaxies etc)
Then games that show a bit of variety on the system

This is what I've got left. If anyone wants to suggest one from the first pick, let me know. I've got some I'm keen to finish (Silent Hill, Disaster) but some I'll just arse around in.

optimark_prime

The fact that the Wii is now considered retro, makes me feel old.

regmcfly

optimark_prime wrote:

The fact that the Wii is now considered retro, makes me feel old.

I started collecting N64 stuff in 2006 when the N64 was 10 years old (from launch)

optimark_prime

Did you not have an N64 near launch?

Paul the sparky

I'm going to say...

Probably.

regmcfly

I got one on launch day. I got rid of it when I moved to America and then recollected when I came back and finished uni and got disposable income.

Paul the sparky wrote:

I'm going to say...

Probably.

Well played

Moot_Geeza

Blue Swirl wrote:

VF2 looks freaking phenomenal

Definitely. One of the most impressive ports ever.

optimark_prime

Inspired by watching Swirl’s Virtua Fighter 2 Saturn vid, I stumbled across this one about VF3 and potential upgrade in Saturn’s specifications.

https://youtu.be/0hk84nSsAv4

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