Currently playing...

[Goemon]

4 hours ago, Qazimod said:

I started Super Mario RPG on my RS97 yesterday evening. It was one of those games I always played the start of and then got distracted and forgot about, so I'm trying to be more committed. So far I quite like the World Map structure, as it really cements your progress and you can look back and see the "do-able" areas and your current progress blockers. It makes a change from me playing Final Fantasy with a Notepad file to hand so that I can remind myself where I was supposed to be going next!

 

The main thing that I know is going to be a problem is me attempting new areas and running out of resources partway through and dying. I'm thinking that it will be good practice to grind the hell out of opening rooms until I can breeze through encounters without too much item use. So... RPG stuff.

 

Also I'm really bad at timed attacks and blocks.  

This is one I’ve started multiple times in the past but have always got to the point where I’m I’m under levelled and can’t beat the enemies so stop playing.

 

Now I’ve got myself past the idea of grinding as a chore I may be able to try it again.

[Qazimod]

On 04/02/2023 at 13:43, Goemon said:

This is one I’ve started multiple times in the past but have always got to the point where I’m I’m under levelled and can’t beat the enemies so stop playing.

 

Now I’ve got myself past the idea of grinding as a chore I may be able to try it again.

 

I'm rotating my saves so that I don't end up in an impossible area with no way back  You get saves in the middle of "dungeons", but I keep at least one save that's in a "town" area, for example. And as far as I know there's no "rest at a save point" equivalent like Tents in Final Fantasy, so it's from an era where you have to commit to your run!

[JamesC]

I picked up a copy of Metroid Prime Pinball and I'm having a really great time with it.

I haven't been playing it for very long, so haven't unlocked all the tables and have probably only scratched the surface of what's on offer but it just feels really great, with quite a lot of variety in the gameplay considering it's a pinball game.

The great thing about video-game pinball is that the gameplay can move past the physical limitations of the table, so you get lots of cool little mini games and special effects.

The game came bundled with a DS rumble pack (I didn't even know such a thing existed) which I thought would be a silly gimmick but it's actually really cool and adds a bit of physicality to the experience.

Great stuff and very addictive! Has anyone played this one?

[Qazimod]

I cleared Seaside Town in SMRPG. King Calamari went down first time as I packed a bunch of fire bombs to throw at it and I had Peach in my team for Group Hug (party healing) goodness. I also dealt with Johnny and Yaridovich in the same session, and I think Yaridovich actually ran out of MP partway through the battle!

 

So all of that resulted in me getting the fifth star piece, but searching for this sixth one seems to be one of the most involved sequences so far. The Seaside Town shops opened up and so I restocked, I went around Land's End (mostly fine apart from having to chase "whirlsand" things to get to a new area), cleared the Belome Temple and passed through Monstro Town, but then things got a bit gimmicky.

 

Bean Valley was just a bunch of arduous platforming sequences - first with a flashback to SMB3's pipe maze (ugh) and then with a sequence where you're climbing vines and trying not to fall off them - and then Nimbus Castle had that minigame of pretending to be a statue but not getting pecked by a dodo. As you do. Nimbus Castle kind of redeemed itself with a neat boss battle where you switch between two parties to fight Valentina and the dodo, and then we spoke to a gardener to get us to Barrel Volcano.

 

So yeah, there's lots to do when trying to grab this sixth star piece, and I've still got to look at Barrel Volcano. But I'm enjoying the battles and the characters/dialogue. And since inactive party members still gain experience and level up, we're currently all around Lv20-21.

[yakumo]

Wow this blew my mind until I saw the cover art, but remember playing this when I was a wee young lad. Forget this even existed until now, currently playing it and it's not a bad game considering

 

 

[Yasawas]

53 minutes ago, yakumo said:

Wow this blew my mind until I saw the cover art, but remember playing this when I was a wee young lad. Forget this even existed until now, currently playing it and it's not a bad game considering

 

 

 

Oddly I've just been downloading old ZX Spectrum covers from my youth and that was one. Maybe not the same game but it is Ocean so presumably related. 

 

I've had the emulation week of dreams - bought a Retroid Pocket 3+, discovered the computer I bought a year ago can emulate PS2 flawlessly (I had assumed it would be a slideshow and just never tried ) and then Nintendo put GBA titles onto that lovely OLED Switch screen yesterday. So:

 

Gran Turismo 4 (PS2) - my favourite in the series and the reason I was even investigating the means to play PS2 again. Just great, relaxing, comfort-food gaming for me.

 

Castle of Illusion (MD) - the MD is probably my favourite console, I love the Sega Disney games and yet somehow I've never completed this. I think it was the first game I ever played for the system way back when so I hold some affection for it (especially the music), and it still holds up as a solid platformer to this day. Got lost in stage 3 earlier but I'll be back, you spooky woods, you.

 

Super Mario Bros 3 (GBA) - those names are confusing but you know the one I mean. Put it on on Switch to play the eCard levels then got sucked in to the game proper. What a ridiculously perfect thing, and this version is beautiful and well-suited to a Switch-sized screen. I feel like trying to beat every level since I'm not convinced I've ever done that and it's an excuse to coo over it all over again. 

[Qazimod]

9 minutes ago, Yasawas said:

Super Mario Bros 3 (GBA) - those names are confusing but you know the one I mean. Put it on on Switch to play the eCard levels then got sucked in to the game proper. What a ridiculously perfect thing, and this version is beautiful and well-suited to a Switch-sized screen. I feel like trying to beat every level since I'm not convinced I've ever done that and it's an excuse to coo over it all over again. 

 

I play SMB3 when I can't think of what to play, and whenever I try to beeline the "two warps to World 8" route, I inevitably miss having an inventory full of useful items that I can activate before commencing a stage (not to mention a huge stockpile of extra lives) - so trying to beat all of the levels definitely pays off.

[yakumo]

20 minutes ago, Yasawas said:

 

Oddly I've just been downloading old ZX Spectrum covers from my youth and that was one. Maybe not the same game but it is Ocean so presumably related. 

 

I've had the emulation week of dreams - bought a Retroid Pocket 3+, discovered the computer I bought a year ago can emulate PS2 flawlessly (I had assumed it would be a slideshow and just never tried ) and then Nintendo put GBA titles onto that lovely OLED Switch screen yesterday. So:

 

Gran Turismo 4 (PS2) - my favourite in the series and the reason I was even investigating the means to play PS2 again. Just great, relaxing, comfort-food gaming for me.

 

Castle of Illusion (MD) - the MD is probably my favourite console, I love the Sega Disney games and yet somehow I've never completed this. I think it was the first game I ever played for the system way back when so I hold some affection for it (especially the music), and it still holds up as a solid platformer to this day. Got lost in stage 3 earlier but I'll be back, you spooky woods, you.

 

Super Mario Bros 3 (GBA) - those names are confusing but you know the one I mean. Put it on on Switch to play the eCard levels then got sucked in to the game proper. What a ridiculously perfect thing, and this version is beautiful and well-suited to a Switch-sized screen. I feel like trying to beat every level since I'm not convinced I've ever done that and it's an excuse to coo over it all over again. 

Yup same company, not sure if its the same port.

 

As for the Retroid since its the plus it can handle some PS2 I thought?. 

[Qazimod]

On 09/02/2023 at 12:38, Qazimod said:

So yeah, there's lots to do when trying to grab this sixth star piece, and I've still got to look at Barrel Volcano. But I'm enjoying the battles and the characters/dialogue. And since inactive party members still gain experience and level up, we're currently all around Lv20-21.

 

Sixth star piece get, at Lv22. I basically levelled up enough for my stats to trivialise most regular encounters in the volcano, but then at the end of the volcano you're faced with a mini-boss that has two forms, a 

 

Spoiler

fake-out ending to the dungeon

 

and then the main boss. I've been going in with Mario/Mallow/Peach so that I'm covered for support as well as offence, and the healing/revives are invaluable, because that last series of battles caused some ally KOs. I just need to buy more Maple Syrups (MP recovery) and Pick Me Ups (revives) now!

 

Oh and

 

 

EDIT: additional notes from Bowser's Keep. It gets pretty intimidating for most of the start, because you have these "Battle Rooms" and each one is just a gauntlet of battles, one after another. You do get to trigger each battle yourself, so you get the opportunity to go into your items and recover, but it's presented like one big corridor so you never know how far it goes! There are also other rooms that have platforming gauntlets and small quizzes - nothing too bad, but the isometric view still fucks with me during platforming challenges, even now.

 

With all of that done, you get a fairly straightforward Magikoopa miniboss, and are then taken to a room where you can save, heal, shop for items and use a treasure box with seemingly unlimited coins. I did a lot of grinding and then went on to Exor, who you've seen before as

 

Spoiler

the big sword in the title screen image!

 

There was some kind of "destroy the parts and then the core" gimmick going on, and I did end up with a few KOs, but after some levelling and more preparation the boss went down. We're currently Lv25, and it's kindly given us a new unique "Gate" waypoint on the map, so I can go and do bits in town and then come back without having to do the initial part of Bowser's Keep again.

[Yasawas]

10 hours ago, Qazimod said:

I play SMB3 when I can't think of what to play, and whenever I try to beeline the "two warps to World 8" route, I inevitably miss having an inventory full of useful items that I can activate before commencing a stage (not to mention a huge stockpile of extra lives) - so trying to beat all of the levels definitely pays off.

 

It's my "testing a new controller or emulation device" game but I always get the whistles, go to a world in the middle somewhere and then never come back to it. Feel like doing it right this time though. Besides, I'm only cheating myself out of cult favourites like the tanuki suit and Kuribo's Shoe otherwise.

 

9 hours ago, yakumo said:

As for the Retroid since its the plus it can handle some PS2 I thought?. 

 

I hadn't got round to trying that yet (I've only just got my head round the fact it can do Saturn!) but GT4 is a bit of a stretch in any case from the compatibility sheet I've looked at. Although going by results on the same sheet, a Persona 3: FES replay might be in my future.

[Qazimod]

At the end of SMRPG now, I think. I have a level 27 party at the Factory save, and from the save point we can drop down to a gauntlet of boss battles which seems to culminate in a battle against the main antagonist, but he ruined me when I attempted him. That said, they're kind enough to let you double back to an item shop and - slightly further back - as many battle encounters as you'd like if you feel like you need some more levels or cash. So all things considered I'm in a fairly "safe" place.  

 

EDIT: he can pretty much KO my party from full health once he starts being able to do two actions in one turn. So that's nice.

 

EDIT 2: TIL the level cap is 30.

[Camel]

On 09/02/2023 at 18:50, yakumo said:

Yup same company, not sure if its the same port.

 

As for the Retroid since its the plus it can handle some PS2 I thought?. 

The old micro releases by Ocean are clones of an old arcade game, but for some reason Ocean really ran with the character and released sequels and even a sports game. I haven’t played that GB game and now I’ll have to. I have a bit of a soft spot for the arcade machine having played it a bit as a kid and I had the weird Ocean games too.

 

edit: having looked it up, it seems those Ocean releases were official ports. 

[Qazimod]

Completed Super Mario RPG! Rubbish phone camera shot of end screen provided:

 

Spoiler

 

As per my above edits, I realised that I hit the level cap, so the only thing I could do was get whatever recovery items I could and just do it. I was always in the worst place when one of my healers got KO'd and I had nobody who could heal or revive, or when I was trying to keep up with the boss KO-ing my allies and just get everyone healthy again - eventually I tried to get into the habit of topping health up each round if necessary. There was a nice gimmick to the final boss that gave it a unique rhythm:

 

Spoiler

It essentially changes between sets of abilities, but you can "lock" the set it's using by destroying part of the boss - eventually the boss repairs itself, but if you're able to stick with a moveset that isn't too painful, you can make progress more easily. Even though I was at the level cap, I didn't have any of the silly overpowered secret stuff I've heard about - I imagine if you can do enough damage per round you can easily stop the boss from changing its abilities when you want.

 

and even though the boss' own healing was annoying, I just tried to be patient.

 

This was another past "classic" that I always regretted missing out on originally, so it's nice to have closure I guess.  

[Goemon]

On 11/02/2023 at 00:10, Qazimod said:

Completed Super Mario RPG! Rubbish phone camera shot of end screen provided:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

As per my above edits, I realised that I hit the level cap, so the only thing I could do was get whatever recovery items I could and just do it. I was always in the worst place when one of my healers got KO'd and I had nobody who could heal or revive, or when I was trying to keep up with the boss KO-ing my allies and just get everyone healthy again - eventually I tried to get into the habit of topping health up each round if necessary. There was a nice gimmick to the final boss that gave it a unique rhythm:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

It essentially changes between sets of abilities, but you can "lock" the set it's using by destroying part of the boss - eventually the boss repairs itself, but if you're able to stick with a moveset that isn't too painful, you can make progress more easily. Even though I was at the level cap, I didn't have any of the silly overpowered secret stuff I've heard about - I imagine if you can do enough damage per round you can easily stop the boss from changing its abilities when you want.

 

and even though the boss' own healing was annoying, I just tried to be patient.

 

This was another past "classic" that I always regretted missing out on originally, so it's nice to have closure I guess.  

 

Nice, well done!

 

Urk, a boss in a turn based game where their special is 'have another turn' always found this super cheap in Advance Wars. It's actually the reason I stopped playing it, so it doesn't bode well that it's in this game. 

 

Now you've finished it, where does it sit in the classic RPGs of the SNES?

[Qazimod]

49 minutes ago, Goemon said:

 

Nice, well done!

 

Urk, a boss in a turn based game where their special is 'have another turn' always found this super cheap in Advance Wars. It's actually the reason I stopped playing it, so it doesn't bode well that it's in this game. 

 

Now you've finished it, where does it sit in the classic RPGs of the SNES?

 

I haven't played many of the classics, but since a few years back I've been making up for lost time with FFVI, FFV (Advance), CT and this. I think that SMRPG has simpler "systems" than those other games - there's nothing like Dual Techs, Esper assignments or FFV's insane Job/Ability combinations - but the structure of the game and how you progress is much more appealing. One of the things I loved about CT was that save files had individual chapter names and the time-hopping gave the game an "episodic" feel (the future episode, the prehistoric episode, etc.) It cemented a sense of progress in a much more transparent way and avoided potential for player ennui. And SMRPG breaks its adventure up incredibly well. Not only is there a very transparent indicator of progress from the beginning - you have obtained 0 of 7 star pieces - but the point-to-point nature of the "world map" is a very blunt acknowledgement of JRPG exploration. Go here to rest and shop, go here to dungeon crawl, and you won't have to walk through fields of random battles to get to where you're going. Each location is named and I was able to pick out locations that were too much for me, or locations that were great for farming. Just like CT, it makes your progress in the game very black-and-white, and gives you clear mini-goals for each play session. I also appreciate the simple approach to abilities (just earn them as you level up) and gear (weapon, armour and accessory slot and that's it.)

 

I think that overall I'd probably say CT > VI > SMRPG because CT is the perfect storm of depth and structure and VI just has so much going on, especially once you get to WoR... but if I were to rate them in terms of just always having something new to look forward to and the bite-sized structure, SMRPG would be above VI. (V Advance just exists in its own little bubble because I didn't think much of the story or exploration but the job/ability system was on another level of crazy.  )

[beakbeak]

I’m playing the fan translated version of tactics ogre on my super NT. I love the remasters but there’s something special about this version. The more minimal dialogue helps it all rally along faster and the graphics are quite incredible given the age of this game. The animation is also gorgeous with the exquisitely detailed little fighters parrying, blocking and swinging their swords around. 

but aside from all the stuff… the music. I mean, what the fuck. It’s just so good. The opening intro with the credits interlinked with dramatic scenes of the dark knights slaughtering a village with the epic music playing is right up there with vagrant story in terms of cinematic beauty.

 

 

[Shimmyhill]

I’m playing Super Mario World, started on OG hardware but today moved over to the Super NT - my world the game ramps up the difficulty and punishes you far more than I remember! I am going to try and get a perfect completion with all exits but fear this will take some time, having just done the ‘secret’ castle in the asshat woods and opened up star road…. Many words were said, pads nearly took flight but even with all the unfairness its just such a fun game to play, the controls are perfect and im not feeling any lag on the 8bitdo pad!

 

For me its perfect nostalgia, it looks incredible on a moder TV, sounds amazing but most importantly plays beautifully  

[Elginmcqueen]

New season of Retroleague kicking off soon (https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/retroleague/season-59-nominations-thread-t1574.html#p38352) So mainly trying old arcade and console games to see if I can find something interesting, and suitable, to nominate. Always like finding new old gems I'd never heard of. 

 

Any recommendations of something fun but ultimately quite short? From past experience stuff like Tapper and Anteater are my forte. 

[smac]

On 29/11/2022 at 18:21, MattyP said:

Atari 50 Anniversary Celebration. And it's brilliant ❤️ Reignited my passion for gaming. I do love games that are easy to pick up and addictive..

I picked this up at the weekend - man, I had totally forgotten just how zen playing Lunar Lander is.

 

I think I can be forgiven - the last time I played it was in an arcade nearly half a century ago…

[Goemon]

Just finished a save state playthrough of Gradius on the PC Engine.

 

I did a half way house of saving at the start of each area so when I died I reloaded back to the start of that stage. This meant I did play through each level without dying but didn’t do the whole game. I moved to this due to the brutality of Gradius and dying basically meaning game over and a restart.

 

Another reason I moved to this was that the game suffers chronic slow down, to the point (IMO) where it’s detrimental to the game. I’m in no way a veteran of Gradius so I don’t know how bad the slow down was in the original arcade version but I’d personally consider it an issue in this version. It’s not like a busy section where it slows down and then returns to normal, it was constantly fluctuating speeds as enemies/bullets came onscreen and was leading to harsh deaths where you’d be trying to dodge something and the game would suddenly flick from 5fps to 30fps and you’d suddenly career into something.

 

This only happens in latter stages when it starts chucking everything at you though and I guess it’s something you could get used to the more you played but I found it pretty annoying in my sessions.

 

Glad to have gone through it and seen the ending. Gradius is something I know but haven’t had extensive play (apart from the amazing Gradius V). 
 

I played it on my new PC Engine mini, which I had a hankering to pick up for the exact reason above, being able to move to save states when I don’t think I’ll be able to stick out the game.

 

I have to say the PCE mini is a lovely piece of kit. Some real nice production values in there like when switching between PCE and TGX games, they could just fade the screen but they have this lovely little animation of a CRT TV turning off, which is cool.

 

[Yasawas]

Just finished Castle of Illusion on the Game Gear having never played the 8-bit version before. I suspect the debate over which version is better is just as bitter and tedious as the SNES/MD Aladdin one but I’m very much on the side of the more primitive hardware here. Just beautiful looking, inventive and with a nice ramp in challenge at the end without getting cheap about it. Lovely, gimmick-free platforming. And a wonderful first use of the expensive emulation handheld I bought to play GameCube and Dreamcast games.

[spanky debrest]

On 19/02/2023 at 12:56, Goemon said:

Just finished a save state playthrough of Gradius on the PC Engine.

 

I did a half way house of saving at the start of each area so when I died I reloaded back to the start of that stage. This meant I did play through each level without dying but didn’t do the whole game. I moved to this due to the brutality of Gradius and dying basically meaning game over and a restart.

 

Another reason I moved to this was that the game suffers chronic slow down, to the point (IMO) where it’s detrimental to the game. I’m in no way a veteran of Gradius so I don’t know how bad the slow down was in the original arcade version but I’d personally consider it an issue in this version. It’s not like a busy section where it slows down and then returns to normal, it was constantly fluctuating speeds as enemies/bullets came onscreen and was leading to harsh deaths where you’d be trying to dodge something and the game would suddenly flick from 5fps to 30fps and you’d suddenly career into something.

 

This only happens in latter stages when it starts chucking everything at you though and I guess it’s something you could get used to the more you played but I found it pretty annoying in my sessions.

 

Glad to have gone through it and seen the ending. Gradius is something I know but haven’t had extensive play (apart from the amazing Gradius V). 
 

I played it on my new PC Engine mini, which I had a hankering to pick up for the exact reason above, being able to move to save states when I don’t think I’ll be able to stick out the game.

 

I have to say the PCE mini is a lovely piece of kit. Some real nice production values in there like when switching between PCE and TGX games, they could just fade the screen but they have this lovely little animation of a CRT TV turning off, which is cool.

 

 

I played through Gradius PCE recently too and was kinda shocked with the slowdown.

 

The original and the updated version from the PCE Mini perform identically - i.e. getting fully powered up (4 options / multiples) results in borderline SNES Gradius III levels of chug every time the fire button is pressed. So for me it kinda turned to shit from the end of Stage 1.

 

It's still a great port. Just don't get too powered up.

[Colonel Panic]

Just turned 30 years old. Still great!

 

[Goemon]

/Unpopular opinion coming...

 

See, I personally think the SFX game have aged badly and I consider them pretty unplayable TBH.

 

What's the FPS on these games? 21/22 FPS? (Edit: quick google search seems to indicate 20!)

 

Back when I was a kid, I found the FX games really tough and looking at them today I put a lot of that down to the low FPS. Trying to dodge things, navigating tricky sections etc. was made far harder when the game is running like that. The games have tough sections too, which I personally found a pretty frustrating experience. 

 

I'm not doubting the game's legacy in the move to polygons but for me the vison of Starfox wasn't recognised until it game came out on the N64. 

[Colonel Panic]

I’ve just played through two of the three paths and I think it’s okay, personally. Stunt Race FX I might agree with you on. 
 

I had a blast playing it, personally but it’s definitely showing its age. 

[Alexlotl]

I find Starfox has aged much better than Donkey Kong Country, personally, and I enjoyed them both back in the day. The frame rate is pretty poor, but flat shaded polygons have aged pretty gracefully IMO (certainly compared to pre-rendered graphics), and the game's just so well put together.

 

What I never played back in the day was Stunt Race FX, and I found it utterly appalling when I picked it up a few years ago. So perhaps there's some nostalgia factor involved.

[Shimmyhill]

Ive just come back from a place in Norwich called retro replay, ive been playing many old arcade games - brilliant fun but my god im half dead from the light gun games! A full play thru with a pal of HOTD 2 and Time Crisis 4 and i need some physiotherapy 😂

 

It felt like a mini RMC the cave type place esp when they have a Nintendo play choice 10 that ive only recently watched the RMC video on - not sure Super Mario is a good fit for a joystick tho, maybe just me…

 

Brilliant fun, ive been have so much fun with older games of late - still on SMW and getting near the end, hope to do a full 96 exit run through and just finished the star section (not the secret extra bit) today, the final castle level kicked my ass a couple of times - not a great idea playing it when tired and hungover tbh! 

[Fuddle]

 

I've kinda forgot how to play it. Just spent an hour or so doing 777 speedway.

Managed a 3rd place, but I think you might have to be perfect to win, and not even touch any other cars.

So difficult, but amazing fun with the wheel and a clunky gear stick.

[yakumo]

Currently playing one of my all time favourite games growing up. Such a blast from the past, remember when a time a game made by Konami meant you were in for a banger.

 

 

[dave7g]

Been playing SSX Tricky today, it's still so good. I wish EA would do something with it instead of vomiting out FIFA every year.