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

[JazzFunk]

^backgrounds in that put me off, too. Surely they could've slapped something better together???!!!

Fun game but the ugliness always put me off. Pity cos it plays well.

[Ghost]

Played through Ghost in the Shell on PS1 in the last couple of days. Originally started on my Japanese copy but switched to emulator so I could use an English ROM so I could hear all the original voice actors. Good job I did as that game is hard and never seems to save. I got through it with save states and never once saw a save option.

After that I gave The Bouncer a go. I'd always heard people hated and thought it couldn't be that bad. Boy howdy is the combat slow and dull.

Then tried Dino Crisis 3. Again, always heard it was bad but didn't realise just how soulless and charmless it is. So that got turned off.

Also tried D2 on the Dreamcast. Wanted to play it for ages but it's a no go. During cut scenes the disk drive makes really loud noises every two seconds or so. It's fine in gameplay but during cutscenes I can hear the disk drive over my headphones and it was driving my girlladypartnerfriend mental. I assume it's pulling audio off the disk constantly during cutscenes. Going to have to emulate it on the PC.

Also got a PS2 slim out of the garage and popped a Free Mcboot memory card in to test using burned disks. I often buy Japanese copies of games for my collection as they're much cheaper but stuff like Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner is somewhat difficult to play without the English. So now I can be mental and have physical copies of games but use burned disks to play them if I need them in English.

How do you burn backups for PS2 games using a mac?

[chopemon]

I'm not sure, I use Windows. On windows you need to download the ESR patcher program. Open that up, point it at the iso you want to burn then it patches it to run on modded/Free Mcboot systems. Then just burn the iso as normal and it should boot on a PS2 that is modded or has a hacked memory card.

[speedlolita]

Worth looking up FreeDVDBoot for anyone with a slim PS2. Though if you already have a FMCB memory card maybe not so much. But yeah lots of these hacks and such are only supported by Windows.

[ZipZap]

How do you burn backups for PS2 games using a mac?

I have an XP VM which is good for burning discs for retro consoles (although a lot of PS2 discs are just DVD ISOs, so might be a bit easier)

[Cepp]

Messed around with the PSX Superman Beta that recently got leaked. It's still pretty bad obviously, but it does look quite nice in places.

[Cepp]

Felt brave and decided to try and beat Boulderdash. I got further than normal and beat every level up to and including world 3 except for one. I think it requires me to guide an enemy down a narrow shaft and then drop a rock on it to create an explosion which in turn will create an opening into a blocked off room for the final two diamonds I need to beat the level. Needless to say, I didn't manage it.

I also gave Ghost Hunter (Seirei Gari) a try which is one of those Famicom adventure games that were quite popular at the time. I got pretty far before succumbing to a silly death but I'm going to head back to it tomorrow. Its short and fun.

[chopemon]

Played Project Minerva, one of the localised Simple 2000 games. You play the leader of a mercenary squad tasked with fighting back against a global take over by some of the worst looking androids the world has ever seen. It's a Simple game so obviously it looks and plays bad but Jesus Christ, the art design for the enemies is shockingly awful.

Like most Simple games, it has some cool ideas. Marking enemies for your squad to attack and issuing squad orders are neat but poorly executed. The difficulty spikes are insane as well. Since these games are made so quickly, the balancing can be nonexistent.

Also started Sakurazaka Shouboutai on the PS2. It's a fire fighting game made by Irem. It's really cool, seemingly has a cool mystery story (there isn't an English version) and has some elements from the Disaster Report games. Looking forward to playing more.

[Ghost]

Just finished getting all 120 stars in Mario 64 on the Switch collection. The switch version might just be my favorite way of playing the game, I have no idea why people were so negative, it’s easily the best way to officially play the game and the emulation and added textures are superb, plus the addition of rumble from the Japanese only version of the original is a nice extra touch. I played the original on my ultra hdmi N64 for comparison and yeah its no contest, other than a full on modern day remake I cant see how Nintendo could have done a better job. My only nitpick is the black border while playing in docked mode.

Also been doing my annual play through of Ocarina of Time on the N64, just finished the fire temple and gained Epona.

Lastly I finished Resident Evil Directors Cut on the PS1. I’m a bit confused though as Im sure there was a second tyrant fight at the end on the helipad, is that only in the European Saturn version of the game? (I played the US Saturn one which also didnt have it). Or do I need to go through the arrange mode?

[Ghost]

Bought the Aleste collection and played through and finished GG Aleste. This is one series that I never played as a child and hadn’t played any of the games until I played MUSHA on the Wii VC. GG Aleste is a huge amount of fun, graphics are fantastic and the soundtrack is really good. Its pretty incredible that this was a Game Gear game originally. Going to get stuck in with GG Aleste 2 next.

[Cepp]

Really need some comfort food so dropped back into Baldur's Gate II.

[ZipZap]

Bought the Aleste collection and played through and finished GG Aleste. This is one series that I never played as a child and hadn’t played any of the games until I played MUSHA on the Wii VC. GG Aleste is a huge amount of fun, graphics are fantastic and the soundtrack is really good. Its pretty incredible that this was a Game Gear game originally. Going to get stuck in with GG Aleste 2 next.

I plan to pick this up shortly. The big appeal to me is GG Aleste 3 which I hear is really impressive! Great to see M2 gathering together talent like this to create something new. I hope they'll do the same with some other series.

[chopemon]

Started Link to the Past just before bed last night. Never played it before and playing on the SNES app on the Switch. I'm not sure if I'll finish it because I often don't like Zelda dungeons. Not a fan of one solution puzzles in games. Used guides for the Divine Beasts in BotW and dungeons in Wind Waker because my mind just don't work like that. Love puzzle games like Tetris but not puzzle games like Layton. Still, seems great so far! Just busted the princess out of her cell. Playing it in short bursts before sleeping.

[JazzFunk]

CARRIER AIRWING on the modded 360. It's not as chunky and boisterous as I remember it being in the arcade, it basically feels the same as UN SQUADRON.

And as UN SQUADRON is bloody ace, this is too.

[Ghost]

Been playing more Ridge Racer 4, it really is amazing what Namco managed to get out of the original PlayStation and its still probably my favorite RR game, the tracks, handling and graphics are all fantastic and the soundtrack is simply superb and still holds up to this day. I also enjoyed the stories in the grand prix mode which really added to the game, something they unfortunately dropped in all of the Ridge games after R4