Retro Gaming - The Bear and Badger

Moot_Geeza

My MD came with a Jpn converter Davy - just a cart that fits in the PAL slot that the Japanese cart sits in. Might be worth seeking one out if you'd rather not trim the slot.

Moot_Geeza

Darius 2 came with my console actually - in Sagaia form (Genesis cart). One of my favourite scrolling shooters, the first stage music is superb.

Questor

I remember snipping the plastic off my megadrive cartridge slot in the 90s so Japanese carts would fit.

davyK

Yeah - I'll just snip the slot. I'm not precious about that type of thing. It's keeping the games themselves in good condition that's more my thing.

My SNES slot is butchered too for US games.

Darius 2 is proving to be splendid. But it's shocking how much better the modern Darius remake looks and sounds compared to it...but then D2 isn't crashing.

Hard to believe it's the same console. But I suppose that having more ROM for graphics and sound isn't an issue nowadays.

I'm also surprised how much better it feels to play with the old MD joystick in all its spongy goodness.

hunk

Sacrilege!
I still have a Pal to NTSC converter for my now very yellow SNES.

davyK

Heh.

The US and JP N64 use the cart slot for region control. Apart from that the games are interchangable. I have a bridge for one of my JP N64s that deals with that but my RGB one has the slot doctored.

retroking1981

Yeah, SFC and NTSC SNES were the same. All really easy to do apart from the SFC.

MD is the same I believe, at least for early software. All you need is a bridge adapter, but I think they did start region locking them later into the systems life.

davyK

Aye most early MD games are region free. Even the later PAL ones that aren't usually just moan about the 60Hz setting which can be got around by booting at 50Hz and flicking to 60Hz. Some PAL SNES games are like that too.

GurtTractor

SID chip best chip -

That is all I wanted to say.

Blue Swirl

Givin' me flashbacks.

tigersgogrrr

Ignoring the beautiful Analogue, has anyone here forked out for a top tier retro handheld? I'm seriously tempted to treat myself.

EvilRedEye

I got a cheap one last year. And even on that, the screen was pretty nice. How high-end were you thinking? There's a new generation of Chinese stuff coming through but then there's also your stuff that verges on being a tiny laptop/Steam Deck etc.

EvilRedEye

Here are a couple of end-of-year best of year lists that sum up the state of the market right now Tiger.

There seems to be a bit of buzz around the Retroid Pocket 2+ at the minute.

tigersgogrrr

Thanks.

I'm tempted by either the Retroid Pocket 2+ or the RG351MP. Think I may go for the Retroid. Think Saturn is the most powerful console I'm bothered about going to - I'm aware it's a bitch for emulation, of course.

tigersgogrrr

fuck it's not even out yet

Moot_Geeza

'Super Poweres: 30 games that pushed the limits of the SNES' is a nice little spread in this month's Retro Gamer.

tigersgogrrr

Ordered the RG351MP. I'm not a patient man.

davyK

Moot_Geeza wrote:

'Super Poweres: 30 games that pushed the limits of the SNES' is a nice little spread in this month's Retro Gamer.

Haven't read RG in an age - but that might tempt me to get it.

For sheer number of things going on I found Super Aleste and Super Smash TV really impressive. Not a hint of slowdown in either of them - though that could be the nostalgia talking.

Ed_Flanders

A fun and pretty detailed article on 2D graphics in Japan: https://vgdensetsu.tumblr.com/post/179656817318/designing-2d-graphics-in-japan-from-the-late-70s

davyK

davyK wrote:

'Super Poweres: 30 games that pushed the limits of the SNES' is a nice little spread in this month's Retro Gamer.

Haven't read RG in an age - but that might tempt me to get it.

For sheer number of things going on I found Super Aleste and Super Smash TV really impressive. Not a hint of slowdown in either of them - though that could be the nostalgia talking.

Picked the magazine up. The nostlagia is strong with that SNES article. It has made me realise that SNES and 2600 hold my most beloved gaming memories. There was something about the excitement of a new game and playing with friends and family. May have been to do with my age too. SNES was the first console I bought with money I earned. It has made me glad I have held onto my collection - those carts, boxes and manuals are 30 years old now. Wow.

Anyhow. It's a good list though I'd still argue SmashTV should be there even though there were a few issues with short bursts of graphical breakup in very busy sections. I was gobsmacked when I got to the pleasuredome and unlocked turbo mode....

Learned something about Pilotwings too. Knew nothing of the prototype Dragonfly game. I had accessed all of the bonus games in the day - even the tricky hang-glider one. I have since upgraded my PAL copy to a US one though I'd like a CIB JP copy. Need to go back and replay it now.

Street Fighter Alpha 2 on SNES. Wow.

I fancy picking that up.

Moot_Geeza

Retroking had that, it clearly had to be squashed and squeezed to run but it's got to be up there with the most impressive ports ever.

Edit: Alpha 2 SNES

Moot_Geeza

Super ports:

Alpha 2 SNES
DOOM SNES
Virtua Fighter 2 Saturn
Sega Rally Saturn
Ori & the Will of the Wisps Switch

Duff ports

DOOM Saturn
House of the Dead Saturn
Sonic the Hedgehog GBA

davyK

Saturn ports were spellbinding for a year or 2. Virtua Cop 1 & 2 were great.

VF2,Rally, VC1&2 all ran full screen (or damn close) and proper speed in PAL. Rally has small borders but I can't discern a speed difference between PAL and JP version. The controls in PAL may even feel slightly smoother. No driving game has used a dpad better. Sorcery.

If you allow for the 4MB cart, the Capcom vs fighters on Saturn are astounding too.

After playing Parodius on Saturn I realised just how good the SNES port of that was. Some slowdown in places but in terms of sights and sounds it's quite amazing.

davyK

Just played some Smash TV on SNES there. It's better than I remember if anything. I would have been playing it bordered when I first got it. On my modded SNES it runs full screen and probably gets a bit of a speed boost too. Graphically it is rock solid and hurls loads of sprites and bullets around the screen without a hiccup. It overloads the sound channels at times but it adds to the sense of chaos.

It's missing some of the effects of the original arcade game and I guess the sprites are a bit smaller but it's a hell of a job and the SNES controller is a great match. A lot tougher than I remember too.

Marvellous port.

hunk

Best 16-bit twinstick shooter ever. Not that there were many to begin with.

Blue Swirl

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Duff ports DOOM Saturn

I thought Doom was meant to be a bit of a marvel? Or am I thinking of the 32X port?

Moot_Geeza

Neither of those was hotstuff really. 32X version was smooth at least. SNES version is the mst impressive considering the hardware. It's been ages since I've played the GBA port but I remember that being decent too.

Moot_Geeza

You might be thinking of Quake, the Saturn version of that was a bit of a marvel.

EvilRedEye

Wasn't there a decent homebrew tart-up of the 32X port recently? Also, there was an FPGA-driven port for the EverDrive Pro for the MD. Could be thinking of one of those?

davyK

Blue Swirl wrote:

Duff ports DOOM Saturn

I thought Doom was meant to be a bit of a marvel? Or am I thinking of the 32X port?

Saturn Doom is a bit of a rabbit hole. There was a brilliant version of it better then the PS1 port. Was more or less the full PC version. It was given the boot by Carmack because of some graphical effect he didn't like. He later admitted he shouldn't have rejected it. The result was the crippled port that the Saturn got.

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