(Retro) What have you been playing this week?

[Ghost]

F-Zero GX. Picked up a GameCube recently along with this, Mario Sunshine and Super Monkeyball from my local branch of Chips Anyway, F-Zero GX ... Been wanting to play it again for ages and it's even better than I remember. So slick, does so many things right, and best of all it captures much of the magic of the brilliant snes original, especially the aeropolis circuit. Loving it!

Ive been getting back into this as well with the goal of finishing all of the cups on all difficulties with all of the racers. IMO its the best racing game ever made, graphically it still holds up today and puts most racing games to shame, gameplay wise its timeless and the framerate never drops. I can see why Nintendo has never made a sequel to it, how can they top that? I think they would be best to do a HD remaster, add online racing and a few new tracks and call that it.

[sj33]

I've been feeling a bit of WiiU envy recently, quite a few good games coming out but I'm in no position to but one right now. So instead, I'm playing the GameCube version of Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (on Wii using Wavebird controller).

To be honest, I've never played this properly. I've started it a couple of times, but always been distracted. This is despite completing both Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. So this whole game is completely new and fresh for me, and I'm loving it. Such a charming game that sucks you in, you feel empathy even for the most minor non-player characters despite the game not being overly-heavy on the script, such is the game's charm. It still looks gorgeous today too, even in it's GameCube incarnation.

[fallenangle]

I have GC (PAL) Wind Waker too waiting to be played some time but I'm, very slowly, getting more into Majora's Mask now I understand the gameplay mechanics a bit better. One thing I'd like to know is if PAL WW can be forced to play in 480p like the NTSC version which is listed as supporting prog scan.

There's nothing in the manual and, so far, despite the original PAL GCs having the 'digital' port I've not come across any PAL GC game that say they support prog scan. Holding down the B button at boot up is supposed to bring up a prog scan ON/OFF option. It certainly doesn't work on my PAL GC even though it is one of those older ones being used with a official GC Component cable.

[egparadigm]

^ Took hours to locate those last two exits!

There's nothing in the manual and, so far, despite the original PAL GCs having the 'digital' port I've not come across any PAL GC game that say they support prog scan. Holding down the B button at boot up is supposed to bring up a prog scan ON/OFF option. It certainly doesn't work on my PAL GC even though it is one of those older ones being used with a official GC Component cable.

I think someone said the other day this can be done with a QOOB chip or softmodded Wii. They were all disabled on PAL versions for usual use, although I seem to recall someone once saying that Buffy: Chaos Bleeds could be played in 480p. And, for those who enjoy such trivia, Mercury Meltdown Revolution was region free on the Wii.

[MiG]

The progressive scan option was replaced by 60hz in the PAL versions of GC games, I traded all my PAL games for US ones for that very reason. You will also need a component cable..

Like pat says above, nowadays you can force it with a qoob chipped GC but you will still need a component cable

F-Zero GX is eye meltingly good in Progressive scan!

[sj33]

If you have a softmodded Wii, you can force 480p mode using Gecko. This doesn't always work even if the NTSC version has 480p, though I suspect it may work with Wind Waker. You can even force 16:9 if you have your Wii set up to load GameCube games from USB hard drive.

[aticatac]

Encounter at L-5 (Atari 2600)
Retrograde (C64)
Gynoug (Wings Of War) and Gley Lancer (MD)
Mixed homebrew games on the Zx Spectrum

[acidbearboy]

ADK Special on Neo Geo CD. Anybody know what you unlock after clearing all the minigames? I've got stars on all but the quiz and the 19XX shmup.

[fallenangle]

Thanks for the info. I suspected that was the case about the PAL GC, shame. I did import NTSC GC MGS Twin Snakes and I can get that playing in 480p using a Datel boot disc on my PAL GC but I'd hoped that there was some sneeky trick that I'd not come across with PAL games to get them running in 480p.

Can't really justify importing the NTSC versions now but in any case all Zelda games like OoT, MM, WW and TP still look damned good through Component or RGB SCART at 480i on my 32" CRT.

[nakamura]

Quake II and Goldeneye on N64. Almost completed 007 now, only on agent I admit but I will gradually go through it on harder difficulties. I love it, very challenging and really makes you think about what you need to do. Quake II is also really damn good. Meaty weapons and well designed levels in there, smooth visuals too. Only downside is the controls aren't amazing but the work well enough.

[sj33]

Thanks for the info. I suspected that was the case about the PAL GC, shame. I did import NTSC GC MGS Twin Snakes and I can get that playing in 480p using a Datel boot disc on my PAL GC but I'd hoped that there was some sneeky trick that I'd not come across with PAL games to get them running in 480p.

Can't really justify importing the NTSC versions now but in any case all Zelda games like OoT, MM, WW and TP still look damned good through Component or RGB SCART at 480i on my 32" CRT.

One workaround would be to use something like SDGecko to load homebrew apps on the GameCube, then use an app called Swiss that can force 480p and/or 16:9.

Check the compatibility list to see if the games you want to run are supported, though. http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index...atibility_List

[fallenangle]

Thanks, will defintely look into that.

[acidbearboy]

Aero Fighters 2 - solid but unspectacular vert shooter. Couldn't beat Stage 10.
Aero Fighters 3 - an improvement on the above, if only for the Jungle soundtrack! Cleared this one.
Aggressors of Dark Kombat - Nice big sprites and detailed backgrounds. Probably a good game in there but I got tired of getting my ass served to me by the cpu.
Alpha Mission II - old school vert shooter - too much so for me to be honest.
Art of Fighting - bit disappointing that there were only 2 characters in story mode but it was ok. I was terrible at it though.

[acidbearboy]

Finished Resident Evil 3 last night. It was... OK. I think I enjoyed the mechanics as much as the scenario. The story really was bad and disjointed. I checked out all the bonus content on YouTube afterwards, as I won't be going through it again in a hurry. I will probably play mercenaries mode, though.

Not sure what to play next; REmake, CVX or 4.

[sj33]

Despite not being a fan of action-orientated survival horror, I rather liked Resident Evil 3. I think it had to be understood in context, it was a natural follow-up to Resident Evil 2. It expanded on areas that people liked (such as Nemesis being based on Mr. X from Resident Evil 2), gave fans a bit of fanservice by allowing them to explore the rest of Raccoon City (seriously, being able to enter the police station from the *other side* of the fire was such a big deal back in the day, the ability to explore areas that you could see in Resident Evil 2 but were inaccessible was really great), and experimented with new gameplay ideas - some of which worked very well and were maintained in later games (the 180 degree turn), some of which were dropped (branching gameplay, weapon mixing etc.). Overall, I think it is a very good game if you see it as a bit of an expansion upon Resident Evil 2 rather than a true sequel.

I would play CVX next. It is chronologically the next game in the series, and I think you would enjoy is less if you played it after REmake (which is the pinnacle of the series). CVX was a very different kind of sequel to Resident Evil 2, and one with a much stronger plot and villains, in my opinion. Resident Evil 4 is a very different beast and should be left until after CVX, REmake and Zero.