Funnily enough I have just finished playing Eternal Champions on my Retron5 and I don't know whether it was playing the US ROM but I had to turn the speed down to the lowest setting, it was ridiculous. It could also be an age thing though to be fair.

I had the bit between my teeth as it's a game I have always wanted to complete but never have due to the ridiculous single player structure. The Retron5 let's you save state so I got to the Eternal Champion and save stated. You have the two rounds to beat him but he has 4 states per round and you have to beat all 4 in either round to complete the game with the meagrest of health top up after each state. If you lose your back to the start again. A proper pad smasher.

The good news is I finished it with Nightmare my favourite character, the bad news was the underwhelming ending; a wall of text. Anyway I feel really pleased with myself tonight so here is my own wall of text!

Dynamite Headdy next, a game I have never really given enough of a chance to.

One for PC Engine fans:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/04/hardware_review_terraonion_super_sd_system_3_unlocks_the_entire_pc_engine_library

Agreed.

Since then I got a retropi though, so this is a hard sell personally now.

Its very nice though.

Looks suspiciously like the emulators that come with the bog standard retropie.

I looked recently as it's no longer on back order but when you add the remote and power adapter it's still quite expensive so I thought I'd wait untill I have a bit more disposable cash lying around. It's had rave reviews davy, if I had the cash I wouldn't think twice.

So, here's the deal.

Wii U Pro Pad + 8Bitdo dongle + SNES Mini = works
8Bitdo SNES pad + Switch = works
8Bitdo SNES pad + 8Bitdo dongle + SNES Mini = doesn't work

WTF.

Yeah, the dongle has a Wii connecter. The 8bitdo site lists the dongle + pad as compatible with the SNES Mini. But it's the only combo that doesn't work. (And the only one I want to work.)

http://www.playretrogames.com/3972-wwf-wrestlefest

Anybody remember wrestlefest? I bloody loved this game, it still plays just how I remember too.

You can play loads of 8/16 bit classics on that website. They're all playable in the web browser and can be played with a pad/stick.

Just search for what your after or click on the games systems in the top left.

Entered the wonderful world of Saturn import.

Get Virtua Cop 1 & 2 next then.

Found it

Guide to the Saturn (import edition)

This info assumes you don't want to modify your console:-
1. First of all , make sure you power it properly. It will require a step down power converter as it runs on 110v and our UK 240v supply will fry it. You can get them easily online but I got mine from Maplins. They aren't expensive items. At a guess £20 should get you one (though it's been a while since I bought mine).

2. Cable. RGB SCART is optimal. There are suppliers online. Check out Rob Webb but there are plenty of other UK suppliers such as retrogamingcables.co.uk

3.Using a modern TV? You will probably be alright. If using a CRT (which is optimal) it might be a lottery if it will work with an NTSC source. You can test your CRT by plugging in a Freeview box or some other AV source and setting the output to NTSC to see if it works. The most common problem is a black and white image.

4. You will probably need a battery for the clock and backup memory. Dead easy to get and cheap - a CR2032- common as muck. Will last you a year or two. Easy to install too - facing the back of the console there's a port on the left into which the battery fits.



5. Optional - you can change the language settings of the console to English - helps navigating the Saturn's own built in menu system easier.


6. The cartridge port and what it does. The system memory powered by the CR2032 gets you started but you will need more space for game saves once you start buying more games. The Saturn has a cartridge port on top. An official backup cartridge will have more storage than you will ever need. Some people say they are glitchy but I've had no problems. The Saturn cart port itself can be temperamental and any cartridge may need some gentle jiggling to ensure the Saturn recognises it but once it's in and working you should be fine.

An alternative to the official backup cartridge is an Action Replay 5 in 1 cartridge (called the 4 in 1 as well). This is a pretty useful device as it :

** Defeats the region lock so you can play US and PAL games on your JP console.

**Works as a 4MB RAM expansion feature that is required for playing the Capcom versus Fighter games such as Xmen vs Streetfighter. SFZ 3 needs this too.  (SF1 and 2 don't need it). It can also act as a 1MB RAM expansion cartridge that some games need but there aren't many of these (and that's why some people call the cart a "5 in 1" instead of a "4 in 1" as the 1MB RAM expansion could be considered an extra function).

**It has backup storage to copy your game saves too - though unfortunately Saturn games cannot save directly to it like the official backup cartridge - instead you have to save to the system memory (powered by the CR2032) and then use the AR cartridge's menu to copy between the cartridge memory and the Saturn memory. Easy to do but just not as slick. However the AR's other features more than make up for this. It's firmware can also be updated to play burned discs but I have no experience of that.

** The cart also acts as a cheat device but I've never used this feature.

It's a very useful cartridge but I rarely use mine any more since I got a JP console and have bought mostly JP games.

You can just get a dedicated 4MB RAM expansion cart - quite often the Capcom versus games that use it will come with a cartridge - so look out for that when looking to buy such a game online. The carts themselves aren't that expensive. (SFZ3 isn't cheap though!)

Using a dedicated 4MB RAM cartridge means you can't play PAL or NTSC 4MB RAM games on your JP console but - there aren't any! All those games are JP releases.

Christ I've had my Japanese Saturn for two years and didn't know I could change the system language.

Davy wins the thread.

Recommendations for where to get a guaranteed working NTSC-J Saturn with an official power supply outside of Akihabara?

Can also vouch for Rob Webb.