Nostalgia, Gaming, and You!

Makes sense in a sens, in all this insanity, as this is probably their best work :O
Gunhed is very impressive, and some of the levels are super darn fun, but it’s got some pacing issue (as was often the case with Compile) and it features an apocalyptic difficulty spike on its last level.

I wasted a few Duos because, while awesome, as you pointed out they are very feeble. Actually, the first one I bought at a retailer had a non-working CD drive right from the start. I should have gotten a clue.
Now I am using a Laser Active. It is very bulky and a pain to import (a sciatic nerve bout that plagued 10 years of my life started because of it - zero kidding) and it is one of those things you mentionned that cannot be modded into RGB unless you pay a fortune, but it has the advantage of being super sturdy and it’s got a hidden super power, something that didn’t inform my purchase but would have if I had known about it: it makes CD loading times super fast, especially in problematic games!

Oh my, ha ha ha! That console eats batteries like nothing! I have had to replace the darn battery every couple years. The fact it is relatively accessible for replacement purpose makes me think Sega was aware of that. The battery life of the DC’s little memory card/tamagotchi things was very bad too, but at least those ones had the good taste of not forgetting about your saves when they were running out of power!

Do you have the Sega Genesis PAC for the Laser Active too? Those seem super sturdy by comparison with the Duos. Reading up on it, the Duo was made cheaply in Taiwan at the time and that’s why they had a lot of cheap capacitors in them that tend to blow or leak. That sucks. I think if I do get something, I’ll get a Core Grafx or a Core Grafx II. That seems the most affordable route and the easiest to make playable for US games. It’s a tough call though. I do really want the original hardware but nothing for that system is cheap in the US and the best games are expensive everywhere.

Sega definitely knew about that battery. It’s a bad design. The Dreamcast VMUs at least saved data regardless. Those take TWO of those damn CR-2032s. I should just by a big pack of them to last the rest of my life for the Saturn, VMUs and the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Sigh.

Hoping to rearrange everything this weekend to get things more permanently configured for living room gaming.

Just wanted to let you guys know I’ve been enjoying your conversation, even though I know nothing about this console era.

I got out of gaming after the Atari 2600 (and I had - and still own - various Gameboys), but I was an idiot and got into automobiles instead, which took ALL of my disposable income, and then some. If I had stayed with gaming, I’d probably be in better financial condition even now, probably.

I remember seeing all of the latest consoles in stores, and lusting after them, but my Trans Am payment came first, which left nothing for even a pizza now and then. I loved my cars, but they broke me back then.

I got out of cars and back into gaming with my first PC in 1993, and my next console would be the Dreamcast, which I loved so much I bought a second one for a spare (still in its box).

Anyway, please carry on. Your excitement is infectious.

Thanks! Take a few minutes to visit http://www.retrogameboards.com I know I mentioned it before, but it’s really awesome for learning about all eras of gaming, specifically consoles which this board has less of a focus on as we all know (and that’s a-ok!).

There’s a Game Boy specific thread over there that got ME into the Game Boy. That’s something I did not own in its era and I regret it now! I’ve been having a blast discovering that system via the Super Nt and a Super Game Boy 2. I’ve been looking at Game Boys used locally for about a month now and haven’t yet found the one I want. :)

Cars are awesome! I am still a huge racing fan and car guy, but I never did what you did and invested in them. I just spend my money to go see them race. That can get costly too! I lay out almost $1000 every year for the Indy trip, but I’ll go until I’m under the ground. It’s holy ground for me.

I don’t have any other PACs. I don’t really regret it, because I got it for the PC-Engine capacities (and switching PACs is bothersome), but it is true the Japanese Mega CDs were finicky piece of hardwares as well, so it could be useful — my own first gen Mega CD, which I bought only because it looks so awesome compared to later versions, will have its backup RAM randomly deleted if it is moved a bit, I am beginning to see a pattern there, Sega!
I had no idea the Duo weren’t produced in Japan. Such a shame.

A lot of the best (but that is subjective, and my best may be your worst, after all ;) weren’t, not so long ago, but the market seems to have changed so much, I do not know what to think. The second hand market for older consoles has been pretty much laid in ruins quite suddenly in Japan, merely 4 or 5 years ago, with a lot of stores unexpectedly going unders, and most retro offerings that you could find in about any supermarket or Book-off disappearing at the same time. I am not an observer of markets, so I am only conjecturing based on my limited experience and maybe you can inform us better, but could it be that a recent trend of heavy speculations are causing the hurt to the retro minded amateur?
This made me check something else: last year’s crazy speculation bubble on DOS game guides seems to have busted now, so there might be hope too, on the old consoles front!

Such a teasing. There’d better be pictures!

What’s that, never heard of those?
I was probably console gaming because PC gaming was way out of my league for my young age (I have always had the habit of getting consoles years after their release, and the need for upgrades on computers lost me, back in the 8bits to 16bits transition). But geography also forges our taste, I think: imports were everywhere in 90s’ France (it really took years and years for Sega and Nintendo to realize where the country was on a map), which is why a lot of Japanese exclusives were familiar games here.
Samewise the only reason I am not boardgaming is because board games are not really accessible where I live. In fact, the US sound like a boardgaming and wargaming promised land when I read the QT3 scriptures.
And spending one’s life in an ultra urban area makes one ignore what cars are, to answer my own initial question :O

So if you have any interest in the history of SNK pre-Neo Geo then I cannot give the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection any higher of a recommendation. It’s a brilliant compilation of some of their best work and it’s so lovingly put together with a ton of historical information, scans of fliers, newsletters, sale sheets and even japanese strategy pamphlets. I was smiling the entire time I toyed around in it last night.

Best of all, the games hold up very well and run perfectly as far as I can tell so far. I started with Vanguard, which is still one of my favorite quirky early '80s shooters. I have fond memories of it because it was one of my older brother’s favorite games when we were in an arcade or stumbled upon it somewhere else. It’s the first arcade game to feature a continue function, which is weirdly stated when you lose your final life because it was such a confusing idea in 1981. For those that are unsure about what it is, it’s the arcade game with the diamond fire buttons…

SNK’s first four button game (and their last until Neo Geo I think).

I kept going chronologically in the collection until I got to Ikari Warriors last night, mainly because it was getting late and I was bushed. T.N.K. III totally grabbed me though, and I cannot remember playing it in arcades. I may have, but it left a massive impression on me last night. It’s still really playable and it also features the first appearance of Ralf Jones from King of Fighters. He’s the tank driver! Of course, he and Clark Still became much more famous as the Ikari Warriors, and later as the best grapplers in KoF (arguably… most flashy for sure!), but it’s really neat to see the original art work and how the character got his start. The NES game is included too, Iron Tank: The Invasion of Normandy in the West or Great Tank in Japan. You can play either version too!

In fact, that’s another really neat inclusion. You can switch your region at the push of a button. You can switch to the console game if there is one, also at the push of a button. Another amazing feature is that you can watch a playthrough (tool assisted from what I understand) of the entire game and at any time you can pause, push a button, and start playing right there. It’s a really incredible feat of engineering IMO.

Finally, if you have ever played Ikari Warriors, Victory Road, Ikari III, Time Soldiers, etc. you know that they used the Loop Lever/Rotary Joystick in arcades…

image

This has been replicated via twin sticks on the Switch and it works perfectly. It’s a fantastic implementation that feels really good and gives the same control you could get with one of those sticks. It’s probably made the games a little easier to be honest, but given they’re arcade games and tough as nails, you’ll welcome the help.

I highly recommend anyone with a mild interest in these games to pick this up. What’s in the box is only HALF of what they are selling because they’re adding more games via DLC over the next month for free. Pretty much everything with any reputation pre-Neo Geo will be in there when this is all done. It’s absolutely great for both on the TV and on the go play. Of course there is a rotation option in there for vertical games so you can use a stand or eventually a Flip Grip to play with the proper screen orientation too! Oh… and the filters ar excellent as well… one if a “TV” filter and one adds scanlines like a proper arcade monitor. I like both of them AND the standard display too. It’s testament to the art and design of the games that they look so good.

Also, just because I should note it, the collection also contains their NES action RPG Crystalis which I’m sure some played and have fond memories of. I plan to dig into that because it’s a blind spot in my 8-bit past.

I recall adoring Crystalis as a youth, but it’s reportedly somewhat difficult to go back to, just for general quality of life features.

That may be. I usually don’t bounce off things like that because I get so immersed into the period when the games come from. Those quirks, provided they aren’t game killing annoyances like the tweeting in 1942 on NES (which is honestly an attempt at a proper port, but horrible to listen to now), just establish the age of the game and how it fits into gaming chronologically.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll post about it here or at RGB once I play it. I think one of the things I love best about this collection is how it establishes SNK’s past among their peers. When people (like me I guess…?) look at the arcade era, I think they can easily put groups of games together by publisher. Capcom, Konami, Namco, Atari, Williams, Taito, etc… they all have distinct bunches of games that define their history and in many cases those games have been brought together in collections that further put the exclamation point on their video game defining pasts. SNK really didn’t have a touch point like that pre-Neo Geo and now they do, and man, it’s better than any collection I’ve ever bought before this.

Digital Eclipse has been a mixed bag for YEARS when producing this kind of thing. Bad emulation. Clunky menus. Ugly changes to things. They’ve kind of done all that at one time or another. There’s still some jank in this because I’ve noticed some out of place artwork in the history stuff. On the whole though, with this collection they’ve gotten a lot closer to the brilliance of M2, the Japanese developer who has handled Sega’s amazing recent collections like the 3D transfers to 3DS from arcades and consoles as well as the shooting games they’ve been putting on PS4 (M2 Shottriggers line). No one touches M2 yet, but these guys did good.

Good to hear that the emulation quality and historical extras are well done! Curious to hear more about how you like the games themselves after putting some more time into them. I haven’t heard of most of these, and my concern with retro compilations is usually how much I’ll actually get into the games when they’re competing for my time with everything else on the system.

I’ll talk more in the thread. I’ve considered making a video. It’s inspired me a bit to do more of that, or stream on Twitch maybe? I dunno? I’ll post if I do that within the week.

I think the one thing with SNK whether it’s this era or the Neo Geo era is so many of their games have a timeless quality to them. They just seem to nail what it is about video games that makes me excited to play them. I think partly it’s that the action is often so immediate and in your face. The graphics are usually top notch for the time and the sound design is almost always memorable in a good way.

One thing in the hardcover book it notes is that their designers actually would record the sound of an arcade and then while doing sound design on their games they’d have the sounds of the arcade playing in the room so they could make their game stand out from the rest in how it sounded as they would test. How cool is that?!

Of the ones I’ve played so far, Alpha Mission, Ikari Warriors, T.N.K. III and Vanguard all held up really well. Athena stands up less so, but I see the depth in that one. The mechanics of it feel the most dated of the bunch It’s a platform action game with an odd jumping and attacking scheme. It feels rough but I can also see how it would have been pretty progressive at the time designwise. It’s got all sorts of interesting shortcuts and paths you can take.

With any arcade collection, I think the most important thing to remember is you would have been putting in a quarter and playing as far as you could. You’d show up with a few bucks to spend and probably played a surveyed bunch of games in the time you spent there. That’s how I approach these collections. I might play one game for a couple “quarters” and move on. Now, something tougher like Ikari is going to get more quarters, but the progression may not be too far if I try to do it without continues!

It’s got thirteen games in the box and another eleven will come for free. I’m not sure you have to buy before the DLC hits to get it free or not (you might) but 24 really solid arcade games with this depth and breadth of historical information for $40 seems pretty good to me. I like that the Switch is a system I can jump from game to game on super easily via the Home button and it’s ideal for arcade games because you can orient it vertically to play them the way they were intended.

Edit: Actually… thirteen games, but also their NES counterparts that drive up the number beyond 24 total when all is said and done. The home versions are often different with more exposition or RPG elements, etc.

Any chance of that SNK collection coming to other platforms?

Nintendo and SNK seem to have some kind of partnership at the moment so I’m not sure you’ll see this collection migrate to other platforms too quickly. There’s probably nothing stopping it, but it does seem like it’s fixed to the Switch atm.

It really is great. The free DLC arrives on the 11th.

Since I just got the Flip Grip and this supports it, I’m pretty excited to play it even more. The biggest issue in our house atm is my oldest son is playing Zelda so the Switch is in high demand.

This was Pokemon at my house. Solved with a Christmas Switch. Works well with a digital library now that Nintendo has the same DRM as Sony and Microsoft - meaning game sharing is possible.

I considered that. Between, Pokémon, Smash and the Zelda time (which is over now thankfully…), ours has been in constant use. I have three boys though and just got nailed with a $1k medical bill so instead of $1k on Switches, I spent it on healthcare. Wheeeeeeee!

Maybe next year.

Not sure this is old enough for this thread but it is a fun bit of video game / music trivia… this song and several others by well known bands were made for a video game soundtrack. The idea was to have modern bands (circa 2005) cover 1950s standards songs, fitting the game’s theme. The game is Stubbs the Zombie, made by an independent studio started by a Bungie founder. It is the only other game made using the original Halo engine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stubbs_the_Zombie_in_Rebel_Without_a_Pulse

I’d prefer this be a simple “Retro” thread as not all “old” games are played for nostalgia reasons no matter how hard people want to believe that. Stubbs would definitely fall in the Retro category now. Anything over ten years in gaming is retro IMO.

Hmm…if they did put an SNK character into Smash Bros.(which I don’t think they will), who would it be?

Probably either Terry or Athena.

I wanted to reply to your post before and with the holidays it totally slipped away @CLWheeljack. I do think if they put in an SNK character it’s going to be Terry. Athena is a choice I hadn’t considered but definitely possible too. If they hadn’t loaned out Geese to Namco for Tekken 7, I would have said he’s in the running.

That said, I think someone like Joe Higashi would suit the cast of Smash really well. I just don’t think he’s someone SNK would consider. Kyo and Iori are probably in the running, too. No matter who it is, the moveset would translate!

I know there are few Retro enthusiasts here at Qt3, but there are a few things I picked up recently that are worth talking about…

This is one of the best gamepads I’ve ever owned. It has a perfectly responsive d-pad that feels just like the Sega Genesis 6 Button Arcade Pad. Everything about it is quality and you can use it on a PC via wired connection too. Get the 2.4g version if you buy one because the Bluetooth does introduce a lot more lag. It is incredible.

Since I’m playing Genesis games on the HDTV again via the RetroTINK-2x on original hardware using the above controller, I bought a few new things to play. Mystic Defender and Granada are two games I have never owned. I think I played Mystic Defender on a rental during the early '90s but definitely never touched Granada. Mystic Defender is excellent and quirky in the great way many games of that era were. In Japan it was known as Kujaku Ou 2 based on the anime. The main character got kneepads for a US release.

Castle of Illusion is the best Mickey Mouse game ever made in my estimation. World of Illusion is prettier, but this one is harder and plays better. It got a recentish remake that isn’t as good as the original.

I love that controller so much I bought a white one too for two player Genesis or PC fun. There is a firmware update for it that requires you take apart the receiver. A pita, but the controller is worth it.

I have not ordered a Mega Sg, but that shipped recently and people are receiving them. It seems like a fantastic way to play Sega Genesis and Master System games in 2019. I may still order in the future. It allows for transparency through dithering that simulates the pixel blending some games used on CRTs. That is very cool.

I like what I’ve seen of the Mega Sg and I have some old Genesis cartridges lying around that I’d love to try again, but I can’t see justify paying $190 for the console. Hopefully that comes down in the future.