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

[Colin]

I've been really in to scrolling beat 'em ups this week. Some great, some not so great. For some reason I had a lot fonder memories of Knights of the round than the replay brought. It just has no real gameplay hook, it's very plodding and dull, a surprising lack of charm for a Capcom game of the era. On the flip side Streets of rage 2 is still the absolute business, had a total blast having a play through of this again, a stone cold MD classic.

Also had a play through of ALL of the Metal Slug series, as I wanted to see how the Pi dealt with them. I always avoid playing 4 these days as I have nothing but hateful memories of it, especially as I bought it on AES release at full price. Started playing it and was thinking despite it not having the same graphical beauty of the proper SNK games it wasn't that bad. That thought was soon forgotten after a couple of levels when it became clear what a dog it is to play at times. Hopefully I'll remember that if I ever feel the twinge to try it again!

[dataDave]

There was never any real heart to any of the SNK Playmore backgrounds. Lots of copy/paste and lack of detailing.

[_SD_]

Including CD exclusives there’s 153 titles, plus the released Bang Bang Busters and Ghostlop protos. Treasure of the Caribbean is also a completed proto too, if I’m not too mistaken.

I make it that there’s 51 1 vs. 1 fighting games on the system... a third of the library.

And these games were made for a few quick goes in the arcade, it’s only when you get them home and expect them to hold up as home games the cracks start to appear.

[Jaz]

I finally got around to reading my copy of the Neo Geo Visual Compendium by Bitmap Books.

Having never really dabbled in the Neo Geo, only owning some of its ports to other systems, like Metal Slug on Saturn, I decided to download the entire ROM set and FBA-XXX PRO for the original Xbox. Then I realised that the ROM sets you can find online do not match the requirements of the emulator, so I spent about 10 hours manually unzipping each one, find or renaming the missing files, using an ancient set someone sent me about 15 years ago, and then zipping them back together.

Finally got it all working and...

I think I hate the Neo Geo and its collection of games. There's very little here that appeals to me.

I ignored all mainstream conversions to other systems. So that's the entire Metal Slug series, because I already own copies on other platforms.

I also dislike fighting games, so skipped over those entirely. The only fighters I like are the Psychic Force series and Fighter's Destiny on N64.

So what I was left with was a very short list of games, basically consisting of a couple shmups, a couple run n guns, a couple of overhead racing games, a couple of platformers, several scrolling brawlers, and a bunch of crappy sports games.

The majority of everything I disliked.

The good stuff:

Blue's Adventure
The Super Spy
Thrash Rally (surprisingly fun despite looking cheap)
Last Resort
Windjammers
Shock Troopers #1
Magician Lord
Pulstar
Viewpoint

Maybe Robo Army too?

That's it. There's like 150 games and the majority I thought were all garbage. There was only about 10 games I actually enjoyed, which is crazy, considering the CDi and 3DO and Jaguar all contain more than 10 games I like. Well, maybe not the Jaguar... But the ratio of stuff I like and dislike for this thing is ridiculous. Classic example of Emperor's Clothes.

Even the above list of games is not that amazing. Shock Troopers is like Mercs. Pulstar is like R-Type. Blue's Adventure is like a hundred other platformers. Viewpoint is like Zaxxon et al. Windjammers is the only game I cannot think of with a direct equivalent on any other system. The rest are all clones or were later cloned by someone else.

It's weird because throughout my teen years the Neo Geo was this scared machine only for the rich, which I dreamed of someday playing. And now that I have finally gone through literally everything on it, I realise that actually I was much better off with my Mega Drive and SNES growing up.

My thoughts exactly. Not the system's fault - I just don't like fighters.

[Jaz]

Skyblazer on my NT. Trying to finish it. Cracking game. Also finished Goof Troop with the lad.

[Leon Retro]

1080p isn’t a great resolution to upscale to, .

It's nice for image clarity, but 720p with scanlines looks more uniform without any problems like shimmering etc... It's a shame about 1080p having slight issues, because 1080p on the Pi with scanlines and sharp rendering looks really impressive. At least the scanline issue only appears now and now on solid colours mostly.

I think 4K[[3840x2160] is the perfect resolution for upscaling retro games with scanlines. You'll get a really clear vibrant image with scaling and scanlines that makes the most of 240p games. I think there's a lot of potential with 4K and powerful computers to create an image that looks very much like a good CRT.

I won't be buying a 4K screen for quite a while though, so I have something to look forward to.

I think I hate the Neo Geo and its collection of games. There's very little here that appeals to me.

I would add the following:

Spinmaster
Top Hunter
Cyber-Lip
Ninja Combat
Andro Dunos
Alpha Mission 2

I realise that actually I was much better off with my Mega Drive and SNES growing up.

As much as I am fond of my AES and like some of its games, I would much rather have a Mega Drive, PC Engine, or SNES. I'd say that owning a Mega Drive & SNES gives you so many great games across all sorts of genres, that you really wouldn't miss the AES unless you love 2D fighters.

Of course, I'm not bashing the Neo Geo tech, which can easily do things cheaper 16-bit consoles could only dream of. When it comes to having a diverse library of good to great game though, the Mega Drive and SNES wipe the floor with the Neo Geo. That's not to say there aren't good reasons for that being the case, but it is still a clear fact which easily makes the PCE, MD and SNES better options for people wanting to play all sorts of fun retro games.

Skyblazer on my NT. Trying to finish it. Cracking game. Also finished Goof Troop with the lad.

Yeah, a beautiful looking game with great music. I remember being really impressed with it back in the day - and being surprised that Sony published it. It's like a top quality game from Capcom or Konami.

[Cepp]

Playing Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys using the fan translation and fan dub. The dub is of... mixed quality but I appreciate not having to revert to a text file every time characters speak. The game itself is great, as is the music of course (apart from Darm Tower, I wasn't feeling that rendition).

[CMcK]

A bit of Final Soldier on the PCE and a recent Megadrive homebrew Escape 2042 which was released on cart a few months back. Cracking little platform / puzzler you have to use the local computer terminals and items you find to make your way to the exit on each screen avoiding traps and guards. Shame my Mega-CD doesn't seem to like the audio CD-R I burned to accompany the game.

[samanosuke]

So Escape 2042 is pretty decent? I was thinking of picking up the Gameboy version a while ago due to the novelty of it being a new Gameboy game, but watching it on YouTube I thought it looked pretty average.

[Leon Retro]

I set my N64 up and played Wave Race. Despite the frame rate being quite low, it's still a joy to play. The wave physics and feel of the Jet Ski blend perfectly to make the racing really intense and exciting. I also like the bright arcade-style graphics and overall design of the game. The character models look really funny in their blockiness, but you can just pretend they're part of the Lego universe. The music in the 'Drake Lake' course is still a fave of mine. Some of the music is a bit bland, but there are some really nice tunes in there. I came away thinking it's still one of my favourite games.

[Atticus]

I've been playing Aliens (the Konami arcade game) ... the mechanics are simplistic but the atmosphere and nostalgia factor make it great to go back to. Still loads of xeno-blasting fun

I also had a game of Megadrive Marble Madness. It's a pretty good version given the hobbled interface, but the game holds dark memories of disappointment, having stumped up £40 back in the day (went halves with my brother) and the experience was rinsed in under 30 minutes. Maybe a little bit of buyer's ignorance there, but still. It was still nice to see the old mazes though and hear the music/SFX again ... but it was designed for a trackball and can only ever be kind-of-okay with a std controller.

[Leon Retro]

I've been playing Aliens (the Konami arcade game) ... the mechanics are simplistic but the atmosphere and nostalgia factor make it great to go back to. Still loads of xeno-blasting fun

Yeah, it's a really fun action fest. I like the way Konami was brave with the graphic design, so the game has a lot of charm. It offers a nice contrast to AvP from Capcom.

[Team Andromeda]

I set my N64 up and played Wave Race. Despite the frame rate being quite low, it's still a joy to play. The wave physics and feel of the Jet Ski blend perfectly to make the racing really intense and exciting. I also like the bright arcade-style graphics and overall design of the game. The character models look really funny in their blockiness, but you can just pretend they're part of the Lego universe. The music in the 'Drake Lake' course is still a fave of mine. Some of the music is a bit bland, but there are some really nice tunes in there. I came away thinking it's still one of my favourite games.

No game has ever come close, much less bettered the water physics and sence of weight to water, quite like that, in Wave Race 64. Your posts brings back such happy memories, of me and my bother playing the USA version the week it came out on import. My brother is (was) not one, for racing type games, but me and him played the game for hours on end... Also Loved the announcer in the game too, he was mad lol

[Atticus]

Yeah, Wave Race holds great memories for me too. As soon as you switch the game on the music and turquoise water takes you somewhere sun soaked and exotic. It makes you feel good before you even press a button. I never got tired of carving through the waves on that game. The realism of the water and control of the ski has never been matched. A near perfect package of a game ... it does everything brilliantly.

[Leon Retro]

No galen has ever come close, much less bettered the water physics and sence of weight to water, quite like that, in Wave Race 64.

I've played all sorts of water-based racing games, but none have come close to delivering the wave physics and overall realistic feel that Wave Race has. It also feels really satisfying and fun to play, so the developer made sure the gameplay keeps you coming back for more.

me and my bother playing the USA version the week it came out on import. My brother not one, for racing type games but me and him played the game for hours on end... Also. Loved the announcer in the game too, he was mad lol

That's funny, because I also have great memories of playing it with my brother. When I went to buy an American import N64, I saw Wave Race and knew it was a must-have. I still have my original copy that must have delivered thousands of hours of fun.

Yeah, the announcer really boosts the fun atmosphere of the game. "Banzai!!!"

A near perfect package of a game ... it does everything brilliantly.

Yeah, it's a near perfect package. A remake with a smoother frame rate and more courses would be nice, but the physics and the overall feel of the game would have to be the same. If we don't get one, I'm more than happy to keep playing the N64 version for years to come.