Retro Gaming - The Bear and Badger

davyK

Daughter#2 picked up MK64 for the first time last night (Wii VC version which tidies up the graphics a bit and runs widescreen). Beat Special Cup first go on 100cc

She loved the old school slightly crappy look of it - thought the track map/radar was adorable for some reason.

retroking1981

Nice. I still have a huge soft spot for MK64. It's been bettered in pretty much every subsequent release but it's still one of my favourites.

7 & 8 are the kings though.

ChopperByrne

Super is the king. They've progressively felt slower and slower. Super lap times were so short, that it just made it much more intense. Plus, it had the best battle mode.

davyK

Aye. I just booted up my JP copy of 64 on my modded RGB SCART with a CRT - and even then it can look ugly in places - depends on the tracks. But it plays great - the control on N64 is slick. I don't think it feels quite the same on Wii VC. But the sense of speed isn't always there - as the tracks have become less tight that has been the casualty.

64 is the black sheep of the series for me. I was underwhelmed by it - it was butchered in PAL but it couldn't have lived up to my expectations.

Just booted up the original on SNES - still a superb game. Will get the daughter to give it a go - I doubt she will find it easy. It's amazing looking back at it now and seeing how much they got right first go.

The one I have enjoyed the most is DD - far and away. But then my girls were in their formative years - it's their favourite too - many happy MP hours with it. I really enjoyed the Wii version too. That has been getting some playtime this last few weeks.

Have yet to sample the latest iterations. It's the one reason I would get a Switch.

retroking1981

Super is one of the best for battle modes for sure.

It's also on a par with 7 and 8 when it comes to time trials.

Where it falls short now is the GP mode. I don't like the way the opponent racers drive along an invisible train track, have unique items and always finish in the same order - unless you hit them on the line.

Still great though, I think they all are. The only ones I didn't fall in love with was Super Circuit and Double Dash, both of which I know are quite popular here. I think it was probably because I wasn't big into the GBA or GCN more than the games tbh though.

retroking1981

So I've been going through ROMs on my SNES mini with a keep or delete process and got absolutely addicted to Tetris Attack.

What a great little puzzle game!

My only complaint is it has sod all to do with Tetris and the name was just added to the Western release to give it a bit of a marketing edge.

Turns out there's been a few sequels which they rebranded as Puzzle League.

Through finding all that out I discovered there was a remake of Puzzle League released for the GameCube in 2003 as part of Nintendo Puzzle Collection, alongside Dr. Mario 64 and Yoshi's Cookie.

As a puzzle and GameCube fan I thought you might like to know @davyK if you didn't already ;-)

Moot_Geeza

Super Circuit was my favourite (my first MK) until MK8. I didn't give DD anywhere near a fair go, I doubt the Edge review helped much.

LivDiv

The edge score was stupid. They totally fucked up there.

retroking1981

Speaking of reviews being wayyy of the mark... I was reading an old Super Play the other day and they gave The Simpsons: Barts Nightmare 91%

Awful game that I fell for as a huge Simpsons fan back in the day.

LivDiv

Oh yeah, I had that for the MD.
Thankfully it was a cheapo car boot purchase. It had decent graphics and a good concept but the gameplay was as cheap as it comes.

retroking1981

Agreed, it was a decent enough idea.

Unfortunatley I paid somewhere between £30-£40 from my local independent game store.

LarryDavid

Krusty's Super Fun House was good (at the time).

I only played Bart's Nightmare via emulator years later when it looked utterly laughable.

retroking1981

I don't know what possessed SP to give it 91%

davyK

retroking1981 wrote:

So I've been going through ROMs on my SNES mini with a keep or delete process and got absolutely addicted to Tetris Attack. What a great little puzzle game! My only complaint is it has sod all to do with Tetris and the name was just added to the Western release to give it a bit of a marketing edge. Turns out there's been a few sequels which they rebranded as Puzzle League. Through finding all that out I discovered there was a remake of Puzzle League released for the GameCube in 2003 as part of Nintendo Puzzle Collection, alongside Dr. Mario 64 and Yoshi's Cookie. As a puzzle and GameCube fan I thought you might like to know @davyK if you didn't already

Oh I know about it. Own it.

Tetris Attack is originally called Panel de Pon and appears as that in that GC collection. Wifey and I played the SNES version in bursts. Beautiful game - they did a really nice job of (albeit unnecessary) reskinning with the Mario brand for the West I thought. Still have the cart in the box with manual,

It got redone on N64 with a Pokemon skin (Pokemon Puzzle League) which was unfortunate but it's still a rock solid game - beautifully presented too. They added a 3D mode which has you working with a cylinder. It's very good but I think the hard core don't like as its too easy and makes 2 player versus unworkable.

davyK

Played some Bomberman with the daughters last night. Bomberman Blast which was a WiiWare game. Had completely forgot I had this on my SD card (which I REALLY NEED TO BACKUP).

For MP this comes damn close to the mighty Saturn version. Too close to call actually. The only thing that makes me favour the Saturn version is its battle mode is hand drawn 2D - whereas this has that slightly modern angled view - but that's a matter of taste. Bomberman Generation on Gamecube is another great version which is in the mix but that's limited to 4 players.

Four remotes + 4 GC pads = 8 players and that's supported here. Any mix of player/CPU/blank slot you can wish for and it saves results to your Mii profile.

There's no campaign mode here - pure battle mode only - but it's got a tonne of options and modes. This was online too but I don't remember playing it that way.

I presume the Wii has been hacked so that folk can play all the WiiWare stuff now - if yours has been (mine hasn't btw - this was all bought and paid for) then if isolating with family this is quite possibly the definitive Bomberman experience.

There's a Crown mode - winner of each round is last holding it when the timer runs out. A completely manic, mental hoot.

davyK

Free time eh?

Booted up my GC with GBA player today which I haven't done in years - I've never really spent time with it to be honest - I just picked it up when the opportinity arose before prices got stupid for such things. Rooted out MK Super Circuit. I've only ever played it on the GBA SP - looks great through the GBA player.

I only have 1 other GBA title - A Castlevania title. I really should look at picking up some games. I only got the SP to try out Pacman Vs in the first place.

Entertaining game - I'd played through some of the cups at 150cc - I remember it being a walkover but it wasn't tonight. I was playing a lot of KM at the time so 100cc probably didn't present too much of a challenge at the time.

Played some SMB1 on the SNES today too - All Stars version. Yikes my skills have deserted me - crapped out in World 5 - I could have had a go at 1 -lifeing this with no warps a decade ago.

retroking1981

Super Mario All-Stars was such an amazing collection.

I was hoping the Switch would get New Super Mario All-Stars with the 4 games from the 'New' series given a similar treatment.

Instead Nintendo just re-released the Wii U game at full price.

Questor

I'd love to get a Gameboy player for my GC. The players aren't that hard to come by but the boot disc is the problem

davyK

Questor wrote:

I'd love to get a Gameboy player for my GC. The players aren't that hard to come by but the boot disc is the problem

Only realised this recently. People are so careless.

I tried DK '94 on the GBA player - sadly it doesn't do what the Super GB player does which uses the border art built into the cart. Can't have everything - it is a GBA emulator I suppose.

DK'94 btw is a stupendous game - one of the best platformers around handheld or console.

hunk

Poly mega looks nice...
I was a bit sceptical about this all in one product at first but it seems the product dev team is pulling it off. A professional alternative to the raspberry pi, complete with cartridge support.

regmcfly

davyK wrote:

Questor wrote:

I'd love to get a Gameboy player for my GC. The players aren't that hard to come by but the boot disc is the problem

Only realised this recently. People are so careless.

I tried DK '94 on the GBA player - sadly it doesn't do what the Super GB player does which uses the border art built into the cart. Can't have everything - it is a GBA emulator I suppose.

DK'94 btw is a stupendous game - one of the best platformers around handheld or console.

So I picked up a GC and GBA player combo last year in Tokyo, but I also have a GBA Micro from the time before. What is the best way to play?!

davyK

I'm impressed by the GBA player I have to admit. I only got it as a collector thing but the 2 games I have tried look great. You can play them native res or slightly scaled up. Have never tried the Micro - only the SP - and its picture is OK but it's frontlit so no exactly vibrant on the colour front. Is the Micro backlit?

zonipoi

Micro has an amazing backlit screen but it really is tiny. Sold my Famicom edition but still have six different colours left because I'm stupid. It's a lovely looking handheld but my hands start to hurt really quick.

cockbeard

hahaha, My answer was gonna reference how big are your eyes, but hey, here;s pro

davyK

I'm of an age now where size matters.

Questor

Nah it's whether it still works or not...

davyK

Quite. Everything's a bonus after that.

davyK

Test recording off the screen of my Asteroids Dx...needs a bit of work - as do my skills- it's been a few weeks since any focussed practice and this game takes no prisoners.

Just plonked my phone on the plexi - if it was zoomed in a bit it would be clearer and you wouldn't see the CRT down below - only the reflected display.

Heh..listen to those big old Atari leaf switches clacking away...

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

Moot_Geeza

I probably say this every time but Asteroids really was a wonderful choice for a home arcade cabinet.

Questor

I really really need to get my mame cab finished. Had the panel done for years

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