Retro Gaming - The Bear and Badger

davyK

Mouse and keyboard on Dreamcast was excellent. I was actually able to play Quake 3 Arena and Outtrigger with a sense of being in control.

davyK

Import PS2 collection just because. Look at the lovely colours

https://i.imgur.com/LRX8S1r.jpg

davyK

Getting into some local MP with the daughters - I can see there being more of this.

I've turned into the whipping boy......Tetris Party Deluxe battle mode on Wii ? 3 and 4 player - power up items on or off - my youngest canes me - I must have won maybe 6 or 7 matches in 2 hours. What on Earth has happened to me? She is 20 to be fair.

Not looking forward to Mario Kart.....

Browsing though the SD card on the Wii - there are some cracking little local MP games I had forgot about. Most of them have aged well even with an old 480p image on a 50" screen.

Eric

I might suggest some family gaming if I can get the wife on board. She does like columns so maybe that's a good starting point.

I fixed my PS2 last night, resoldered the fan bracket that had come off the main board and replaced the laser. Put it all back together and it works! Over the moon with myself.

This was Escapes old PS2 which he game me about 18 months ago and only just got around to fixing. I know he doesn't frequent the forum anymore but if he is reading thank you!

davyK

My daughters are 21 and 20 and were fed a steady diet of games. They can remember playing all sorts of shit including credit feeding bullet hell games in 2 player.

Their skills now exceed mine largely - but I thought I still had the measure of them re tetris.

The elder one is unbeatable at tile matching for speed - I have a few console based games with battle modes and I rarely win a session.

Both are better than I at Mario Kart - esp, DD but at the Wii version too. I will lose badly over a session in a 3 way.

Tetris, Dog fight and Fencing in Wii Sports Resort are the younger ones' strengths.

Wifey is useless. Only joins in if it's something like Wii Party. In the past she cleared a couple of tough GB games - there was one called Splitz I couldn't get on with and she cleared Picross as well. Used to play a fair bit of Bust-a-move time trial and wasn't half bad.

The daughters used to play a lot of Animal Crossing and DS link up stuff.

Both daughters have availed of a recent deal on The Sims.

We have had larks with SF IV, Sonic Racing, Mario Tennis, Let's Tap, Monkey Fight, Melee, Geometry Wars 2. Light gun games get a blast every so often : HOTD 2+3 on Wii are liked.

hunk

That's a good steady healthy diet of games to feed your kids.
Makes a badger proud!

davyK

They have played on most consoles I have - the elder one even liked some 2600 games when she was younger - liked Flag Capture which is a primitive predecessor of Minesweeper.

Their main diet was Gamecube and Wii, but there was some Ps2 (Outrun C2C was a hit) and Dreamcast exposure too.

Now that they are older they tend not to take to anything pre Dreamcast because of the graphics - a gen thing really. Was playing Wii VC N64 Mario Tennis on Sunday with one of them and she laughed at the fuzz and the chunky polys - we had a blast at doubles co-op against the CPU though. She admitted it had a charm and didn't notice the graphics as much while playing.

davyK

My daughters can't play retro games on my CRTs - they can both hear a high pitched squeal from both of them.

Maybe just the age of the screens. I know elders don't have the same range of hearing but I don't remember any issues when I was young.

retroking1981

Haha, I noticed that when I last used my CRT.

poprock

Can’t hear a thing over my tinnitus anyway.

cockbeard

davyK wrote:

My daughters can't play retro games on my CRTs - they can both hear a high pitched squeal from both of them. Maybe just the age of the screens. I know elders don't have the same range of hearing but I don't remember any issues when I was young.

Must be the same concept as those high pitched things that they used to put outside off licences to stop kids hanging around. Only perceptible by teens and young sdults

LivDiv

I remember that being a thing as a kid. Could tell if a TV was on in the next room even if there was no audio.

davyK

Heh.

Puts paid to any isolation MP on the CRTs.

We are rediscovering some Wii gems though.

Wii Party was a late release and is a smorgasbord of game styles / minigames that was overlooked. If feels a bit like a cutting room floor album but it's very good indeed.

It has a mode called Swap Meet / Mii or a Kind in EU - that has you collecting Miis like a hand of cards - matching on colours,gender etc - plays like Rummy. You get to swap one Mii in your hand of 6 after a minigame - the result of which dictates the order players get to pick one to swap in from a pool of 4 miis. It is skill and luck blend - enough to claim credit when you win and enough to blame luck when you lose.

4 player support and that usual Nintendo charm and polish in the presentation with some serious ear worm jingles.

The scoring allows for some thought as there's lots of little bonuses and tricks to learn about. It all starts off very simple but a nice little tactical game soon shows itself.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rZvFOAAubRo/maxresdefault.jpg

davyK

Been playing a bit of N64 Mario Tennis today. Some MP and single player. I never beat all the cups this game has. The AI is pretty good once you get past the first few cups. I have the PAL original but I'm playing the Wii VC version using the GC pad and control really is a delight. The character movements varies quite a bit depending on selection so there is a lot of replay here. It has a real kinetic feel to it. A classy old game. It generates lots of really enjoyable rallys (rallies?).

Blue Swirl

New overlays for the Vectrex... with added ultra-violet!

davyK

Latest acquisition. Slowly upgrading from PAL. I'll be selling that version on. Seeing this running on my CRT via RGB SCART is a delightful new experience. Wonder why the 64 moniker was dropped in PAL.

Played through the first couple of cups to test it out which is before the AI really kicks in. It's still a really solid Tennis game. Bit of a classic really. Has a real kinetic feel to it. Found myself leaning into the shots.

Genki games the supplier. UK and all his stuff is in lovely condition for the collector.

Some bargains to be had too for what you are getting. This is complete with manual and fold out quick play guide in really nice condition.

retroking1981

davyK wrote:

Wonder why the 64 moniker was dropped in PAL.

Maybe because they had Mario Tennis on the Virtual Boy so added the 64 to distinguish it from that.

Not having the VB in PAL meant this was our first Mario Tennis, so no need to a sub title.

davyK

Yup.

I was looking for a JP version of Bust a Move 2 but no joy - JP only seemed to get BAM 3 called Puzzle Bobble 64.

No sign of a JP copy of New Tetris either - ended up getting it US cart only. I can swap the PAL cart out of the box if I feel the need. Boxed versions just weren't to be found.

I'd really like Dr Mario 64 - it was US only and goes for a packet though. Thinking how nice the box for that would have been in Japan..

Blue Swirl

If this isn't shit, this could be really good. If you see what I mean. PSP style handheld with carts. They've got licensed game bundles from Atari and such, and new retro-style games in the pipeline.

https://evercade.co.uk

Blue Swirl

Official trailer:

Various YouTubers (Metal Jesus et al.) have had pre-production units sent to them, so you can find plenty of videos of the machine in action. Here's hoping it's actually decent.

Eric

I think Adam preordered one of these if I remember correctly. As he has now left the forum we will never know his thoughts.

davyK

Has made tbe usual mistake of not being 4:3.

Doesnt look like the buttons support tate either. Same old issues before its even switched on

At least it doesnt stretch the game display so theres that.

Appreciate 4:3 is probsbly because it uses an off the shelf display. Still. Compromised from the off by not being rotate friendly.

Blue Swirl

Eric wrote:

I think Adam preordered one of these if I remember correctly.

Adkm?

Blue Swirl

davyK wrote:

Has made tbe usual mistake of not being 4:3.

You can choose between a 4:3 image or stretched to fit, depending on title.

Questor

Blue Swirl wrote:

davyK wrote:

Has made tbe usual mistake of not being 4:3.

You can choose between a 4:3 image or stretched to fit, depending on title.

Yeah but having a native 4:3 screen would mean you're not wasting a good portion of the screen to run in non stretched resolution

davyK

4:3 isn't TOO bad on a wide screen....but there are plenty of older arcade games that are 3:4 - and that's when space is really wasted. Pacman, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug etc. would all benefit from a rotated display. Going by the trailer Pacman isn't emulated as it's been reduxed to fit the screen albeit with a load of wasted space.

A couple of buttons alongside the dpad and a rotate option would fix that.

It's really nice too - love the carts - and if the screen is vibrant it could be great. Hate being a moaner but these same mistakes are made over and over again - designed clearly by people who don't really like retro games or know enough about them.

Eric

Blue Swirl wrote:

Eric wrote:

I think Adam preordered one of these if I remember correctly.

Adkm?

Yep!

Blue Swirl

Questor wrote:

Yeah but having a native 4:3 screen would mean you're not wasting a good portion of the screen to run in non stretched resolution

It would also mean you can't run anything wider than 4:3 at all. I'd rather have the choice.

davyK wrote:

...designed clearly by people who don't really like retro games or know enough about them.

I don't think you can legitimately claim that. It's damned if you do, damned if you don't. They could have put some extra buttons on, Lynx-style, but that would have added to the price. And then people would just bitch about that.

Eric wrote:

Yep!

Ahh. Well, as he pointed out himself a few times, his name wasn't actually Adam.

Eric

Well I never knew that! Was it Andy then?

davyK

Blue Swirl wrote:

Yeah but having a native 4:3 screen would mean you're not wasting a good portion of the screen to run in non stretched resolution

It would also mean you can't run anything wider than 4:3 at all. I'd rather have the choice.

Fair enough but I thought this was a retro game console. Widescreen doesn't really have a place then. But I accept for 4:3 it's just about workable. This is a handheld....screen real estate is valuable.

BlueSwirl wrote:

...designed clearly by people who don't really like retro games or know enough about them.

I don't think you can legitimately claim that.

Running a 3:4 game on a wide screen? I think that makes any claim I make legitimate. It's a shitty feature of an otherwise nice looking proposition.

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