(Retro) What have you been playing this week? Vol.2

[dataDave]

I froze my arse off completing MGS1 in my colleague's flat after the midnight opening for the launch. As I was polishing off the ending sequences the sun was coming up outside IRL. The cold paired with the lack of sleep gave me a weird sense of immersion.

I started another run on the MiSTer a couple of weeks ago, but navigating the UI is just not the same without a PSX controller. I'm waiting for the RaphNet adapters to come back in stock before continuing.

[wakka]

Honestly, more games should take place over a single night. Old school Resi does it. MGS1 does it. And it works really well.

[Atticus]

I'm playing the PS1 version, via an emulator because I couldn't be arsed hooking up my PS2. Looks good drawn in at 4K on my TV though. I adjusted the brightness of the TV per the guidance in the settings in the game itself and the inky OLED blacks really work well for the colour pallet used.

I do like Twin Snakes, but for me it's inferior. The original just has a better atmosphere, and I love the visuals. Grimy, chunky polygons, and great 2D character art on the CODEC

Yeah, I agree. I love the original look too. I’m pretty sure I have it on PS3 (hope it’s not the pal rom, or it’s at least optimised) … temped to rock up on Shadow Moses once again

[phillv85]

X-Men vs. Street Fighter on PS1 and Saturn. It's my favourite CPS2 game and I'd read that the PS1 version is an abomination. It's definitely not as good as the arcade or Saturn versions, but I think abomination is a little unfair. When you're not making a comparison it's still a decent game, just overshadowed. The Saturn version is immense, as close to arcade perfect as it needs to be.

[Nu-Eclipse]

X-Men vs. Street Fighter on PS1 and Saturn. It's my favourite CPS2 game and I'd read that the PS1 version is an abomination. It's definitely not as good as the arcade or Saturn versions, but I think abomination is a little unfair. When you're not making a comparison it's still a decent game, just overshadowed. The Saturn version is immense, as close to arcade perfect as it needs to be.

Abomination is harsh wording for sure, but the PS1 ports of X-Men vs. SF, and MSH vs. SF, definitely suffered for not being able to do true tag-team battling due to hardware memory constraints.

[phillv85]

Yeah it definitely suffers and is a lesser game for it. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I read such scathing comments about it.

[randombs]

I played Marvel vs SF on my friend’s PS1 years ago. I think it only allowed tag teams if both players used the same two characters. I eventually bought the Saturn version which was much better but it was also a lot more expensive, being JP-only and needing the RAM cart.

[wakka]

Snake. We're not tools of the government, or anyone else. Fighting was the only thing I was good at. But at least...at least I always fought for what I believed in.

->Open Spoiler<-

Well, I beat it. And it took me a good amount of time, too. Almost 9 hours! I remember doing it in a lot less than that back in the day.

So, so good. And it builds to, and delivers on, a climax better than almost any other game I can think of.

Two things occurred to me as I was playing:

The use of camera angles

This is of course of the era where cameras in games were generally not good and very difficult to design well. The camera work is not as sophisticated as Mario 64 - the game mostly gets around the problem of designing a worthwhile camera by concentrating on an overhead view. But it's worth mentioning that practically any wall you press yourself up against will give you a different, carefully selected perspective on the scene at hand.

It must have taken a substantial amount of work to achieve this. It seems to me that this is not done automatically but that each angle for each wall was selected by hand. And during the credits I can see that this was a specific unit, so was clearly a real focus (although the credits are amusingly broken up into about 50 units, all with the same 15 or 20 odd people in all them. It gives you an insight into what they were focused on during development, though).

It pays off and helps the game in two ways - it is useful while playing but also lends a more cinematic feel.

The script

So, many of you will know that the script was translated/localised by Jeremy Blaustein, who pissed off Kojima because he altered the meaning of a lot of the original Japanese, rather than translating it directly. This resulted in him being booted off the series and the subsequent games receiving a much more literal and direct translation from Japanese (combined with Kojima's apparent complete lack of script editor, leading to a lot of nonsensical dialogue and overly long cutscenes).

I love the combination of Kojima's story and Blaustein's localisation in this game. It works so well. It's just the right level of corny and melodramatic, while really making you warm towards the characters (particularly Snake himself, who I think is at his most relatable in this entry).

It helps that the voiceovers rock, too. Liquid's arrogance ("Dear brother"), Mei Ling's cheerful encouragement ("You should be happy you have enough free time to play a game. Enjoy yourself, OK?"), and of course gravel-voice-with-a-heart-of-gold David Hayter as Snake ("David. My name's David."). A million miles from its contemporaries - Resident Evil's dialogue is kind of funny and nostalgic in some ways, but let's face it, it's basically just godawful.

If you are interested in the story of how it got localised and why Blaustein made the changes he did, there's an interesting article here:

https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/18/20...remy-blaustein

Conclusion

Best game ever.

[Colin]

Power Stone Collection, PSP. When you haven't played it in quite a long time you forget just how good it is. In a world where we have about a gazzilion iterations of Street Fighter, I don't understand Capcom's decision to stop this after two games, madness.

[Hirst]

Power Stone Collection, PSP. When you haven't played it in quite a long time you forget just how good it is. In a world where we have about a gazzilion iterations of Street Fighter, I don't understand Capcom's decision to stop this after two games, madness.

Bloody amazing game that one, really nice PSP port too (even if I have to squint a bit for the second one). I found mine the other day when I was digging through the storage (just need to find the PSP now).

[Atticus]

If there's one game I've started and never finished over the years it's Silent Hill 2. Nothing to do with a 21st century attention span ... it's just so utterly smothering in its atmosphere I've just found it too much. But then so much of it draws me in. So I'm heading back in to hopefully complete it this time. I've hooked the old PS2 up and on the new/old Panny plasma it looks ace ... RGB scart straight in, looks lovely ... so much better than the old Bravia lcd I had it hooked up to last, both RGB and component looked very poor on it.

I started a new game last night and straight away I'm lost in the tone and the music (the soundtrack ) and atmosphere and characters. It really is an incredible piece of work. I've made it to the apartment building in town and I forgot how super dark it is until you find the torch. Even walking up the stairwell fills you with dread. Walking the corridors I love how the torch lights the vivid blue carpet and casts shadows through the bars. It's a game that can look rough one second and stunning the next. I won't be burning through this one but chipping away ... as long as it doesn't turn out I'm still soft as clarts.

[wakka]

That's one I really want to play Atticus. I've never actually played a Silent Hill and that seems the best one to dive in on (although correct me if I'm wrong).

Good to hear you're enjoying it.

Personally I've enjoyed MGS1 (and our MGS thread MC'd by Neon) so much that I'm mulling a runthrough of the series as a whole. Need to go back to my Mum and Dad's to get my PS3, though.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Power Stone Collection, PSP. When you haven't played it in quite a long time you forget just how good it is. In a world where we have about a gazzilion iterations of Street Fighter, I don't understand Capcom's decision to stop this after two games, madness.

There's no such thing as too much Street Fighter, but a Power Stone 3 is definitely LONG overdue.

[Atticus]

That's one I really want to play Atticus. I've never actually played a Silent Hill and that seems the best one to dive in on (although correct me if I'm wrong).

Good to hear you're enjoying it.

Personally I've enjoyed MGS1 (and our MGS thread MC'd by Neon) so much that I'm mulling a runthrough of the series as a whole. Need to go back to my Mum and Dad's to get my PS3, though.

Well I'm certainly no authority on the series. Only other one I played was the first. I remember it being really good but I have a feeling it may be a little rough on the eyes going back. If playing 2 it is recommended to play the PS2 version if you can. I tried the HD collection once and it's definitely deserving of its bad reputation ... it's pretty ropey (god knows who Konami farmed it out to) and loses a lot of atmosphere.

[Cepp]

Finished Briley Witch Chronicles. Unfortunately the combat just isn't very good and it's far too slow. There's some odd old-school jank in there as well. It's an impressive effort overall though, and from what I understand a lot of time was spent developing the tools to make the game possible. Sarah Jane Avory seemed very happy with the sales and it sounds like a sequel will come eventually (with some much needed QOL hopefully).