(Retro) What have you been playing this week?

[Jay]

Spent the weekend hammering Donkey Kong Jr on the Famicom. Never really played it and got off the first level, from memory, but really *really* enjoyed it. A very fine mix of skill and concentration, with any break or distraction meaning at least 2 lives gone! Top little game.

You should check out the amazing conversion someone completed on the Commodore 64 recently. I've been playing it quite a bit. Great game.

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

[fallenangle]

Returned to the original Xbox ported version of Final Doom:The Plutonia Experiment to find and do the secret levels I'd read about but missed. That meant I had to replay a huge chunk and do a lot of exploring but I found them eventually.

The second Map 32, described by the creators as the hardest Doom level they'd designed, was an utter nightmare. Dozens of the hardest enemies spawning all at once, then just as you think you've cleared an area another set come out of the woodwork, usually behind you. I've not felt so overwhelmed by enemies in a FPS since I played Serious Sam and that was easier than this. If you got caught in the open it was curtains most times.

I was playing it on the default, normal difficultly and finished it eventually. Cleared the whole of Map 32 by saving much more often than I'd do normally. Heaven knows how those who've done either of these two levels on the harder and hardest difficulty settings managed it. Respect.

[chocklo]

Just decided to stick Shinobi on for a blast on the Master System. It was all going great till I got to that spinning budda stage. My hands have totally cramped up....I used to breeze this boss!....sob.....

[JazzFunk]

Metroid Fusion on the GC GBA Player. Never got on with it back in 2003 on my original non-backlit GBA, now it feels like a really good orgasm. Life is weird.

Also, a bit of SOR2 on PS3. Feels slower than the PAL MD one, Axel moves like a wardrobe full of leather coats, Skate moves like your granny's fave armchair with the castors removed. Pah.

[dave heats]

I'm on a bit of a dreamcast bender at the moment, re-buying all of my favourite games that i owned back in the day, and also a few bargains that I never got when they were released.

As part of this DC marathon I've started a fresh game of MSR, and absolutely loving it. I always dug it out every few months for a practice run around Tokyo or London using a previous save file, but starting a new game has proved incredibly fun. I almost forgot how satisfying the handling was, even with the DC's fairly driving game un-friendly stick. The kudos system is even more knackered / bizarrely weighted than I remember, but it's just such good fun.

The fact the soundtrack is still absolutely superb / hilarious in equal measure makes it even more enjoyable.

[fallenangle]

Finished Final Doom: The Plutonia Experiment and now moved on to.........Final Doom TNT: Evilution. Even more really good level design which puts into perspective just how little the modern FPS has developed since then, at least in that respect. In fact few I've played come close to matching the variety and cleverness found in some of these Doom maps.

[Strider]

Just finished Peter jacksons King Kong on xbox. It only clocks in at 6 hours or so and the kong sections aren't the best, but it's full of clever little touches and feels really cinematic. Well worth the 50 pence it cost.

[VR46]

Yeah I enjoyed that back in 2006 or whenever, wasn't the best game ever but still a decent play through, was almost a launch title on the 360 I think.

[jonathan_ingram]

Got my Neo Geo back so been playing some KOF98, Blazing Star and Metal Slug 3.

Happy days.

[Colin]

That's an expensive gaming session.

[jonathan_ingram]

That's an expensive gaming session.

Haha, not at all! I got KOF98 on AES years ago for a not too bad price, the other 2 are MVS carts I got shockboxes for...I first got my AES about 10 years ago and quickly bought a super mvs convertor v2. I've only got Last Blade, Windjammers and KOF98 on AES, Slugs 1 - 3, Pulstar, Blazing Star, Neo Turf Master and Garou on MVS (just the carts I put in shockboxes with sleeves)

[Pulsar]

I've just started a 120 star run on Super Mario 64. Got to 8 last night.

First play through on my RGB modded machine with the Framemeister and Panny ZT60. Looks pretty nice all things considered!

[wakka]

Had an hour on Initial D for PS1 last night as I'd had it sat on the shelf for about 7 years. Still had a 1200Y price sticker on it, lol.

I'm playing with the Negcon and it's surprisingly fun actually - I've always heard not to bother as Special Stage is superior but I really enjoyed my blast through some of the early Story levels. I know Initial D the anime pretty well so I make up my own dialogue during the cutscenes

I've been playing lots of Outrun 2 SP and Ridge 7 recently so it was initially tricky to adjust to ID's very sensitive handling - even a slight turn will initiate a drift that you then need to work pretty hard to control. By the time I'd done a few downhills on Akina though I'd gotten the hang of it and was pulling off some pretty sick powerslides. Got Special Stage - which I'm more familiar with but haven't played for years - sat on the side too, so I think I'll crack on with that next and then jump into the much-maligned ID4 (which I spent a ridiculous amount on in the arcade back near its release).

Love using the Negcon too. A very satisfying controller and a shame that it didn't see more support into the PS2 era.

I've also been playing Yakuza 2 recently, which I think I've mentioned elsewhere on the forum a few times now. Absolutely love this game - took me years to pick it up after playing through Yak 1 back on its release, but it really is wonderful. One of those games where it's about 50% playing, 50% watching, with great and slightly hammy cutscenes breaking up the action with large helpings of story. Very enjoyable fighting system too.

It does surprise me how much they got away with reusing material from Yak 1 in this game though - most of it seems to be set in the exact same area in Kamurocho, and you even still use the (now closed-down) Serena bar as your base! A bit cheeky really but it doesn't bother me as it's just so much fun. Managing a hostess bar has to be one of my favourite side games in any title ever.

Only downside is that my PS2 laser appears to be struggling with it as it's a dual layer disc. I defeated a boss last night and was swept straight into a long cutscene with no opportunity to save. It started stuttering and freezing before freezing up entirely, and I had to turn off the machine pretty annoying. I'm going to buy one of those lens cleaning discs to hopefully resolve the issue in the near term, but it does mean that I'm going to speed up my plan to start playing everything non-PS1 off the internal HDD.

[Colin]

Haha, not at all! I got KOF98 on AES years ago for a not too bad price, the other 2 are MVS carts I got shockboxes for...I first got my AES about 10 years ago and quickly bought a super mvs convertor v2. I've only got Last Blade, Windjammers and KOF98 on AES, Slugs 1 - 3, Pulstar, Blazing Star, Neo Turf Master and Garou on MVS (just the carts I put in shockboxes with sleeves)

Even a nice, complete KOF98 isn't cheap these days. Blazing Star is just plain silly though. I must get round to shifting my extra AES stuff when I get time.

[beecee]

i've been having a go on PlayStation Doom, and a quick blast now and then on Starfox.

but put in a good few hours on Illusion of Gaia recently as well. going to give this a good go, and not play any other game until its finished.
other than the odd half hour on doom or starfox for a change of pace.