Retro Gaming

[Renato]

It's nice to have an "All things video games" thread, but recently it seems to be about "video game news" than anything else, so I propose starting a discussion on the stuff we all grew up with and get nostalgic pangs for every so often now.

I'll start by explaining that I had hardly played any video games for probably over a decade until I bought a PSP when Macross Ace Frontier came out. MAF was fun and everything, but it was the old school emulators that got me hooked again.

Back in the day I had a Super NES and Gameboy, and I believed they were the greatest things on the planet. Going to school in the UK I bought CVG (Computer & Video Games) magazine every month (with awesome airbrushed artwork on the cover every issue), and later switched to the new NMS (Nintendo Magazine System -- yeah, what a name). The free gifts were incredible at the time. A "Time Boy" clock/keyring in the shape of a gameboy, the entire Street Fighter 2 arcade soundtrack on CD (with all the speech and everything)...

Anyway, needless to say most of my favourite games were on Nintendo machines. Here are some which I enjoy even to this day.

Axelay: There was a wholesale store called Makro which always had an excellent selection of hardcore shooters like this. I distinctly remember Cybernator and Super Aleste being on the same shelf, but I went and got this one. It was the European mainland edition because it came with two instruction booklets, one in English and one in Portuguese. Holy crap were these graphics gobsmackingly-insane. It moved like 3D, but it was all cool sprite-scaling and Mode 7 wizardry. And the music was amazing. It was around this time that I realized that the Konami logo was really just a seal of quality, and a guarantee of fun.

Starfox/Starwing All the UK mags made a big deal about this one not least for the fact that it was the first real, full speed 3D shooter on a console (unless you count Faceball 2000?) but also for the involvement of British developer Argonaut Software. That meant lots of interviews with the staff. Ironically due to copyright reasons the name had to be changed since there already was some Starfox game on the Spectrum or C64 or some Amstrad thing, who knows. The game itself was incredibly fun, and I remember playing it with my friends on my 12th birthday party. "BOGEY ON MY SIX!"

Yoshi's Island: As this one was released really late in the life of the console, I don't really have as "nostalgic" feelings for it as the others, yet have plenty of memories trying to solve all the puzzles and whatnot. The control system was like no other game before it and extremely daunting at first, as the whole structure of the game was based on the concept of getting Yoshi to aim and throw his eggs at enemies, obstacles, power-ups; and the whole thing gets even more complex when you incorporate the calculations you have to make to get the eggs to rebound at the perfect angle to hit the switch that activates the thing to transform Yoshi into a car (with comedy vertically-extending axles) or helicopter and whatnot. Yeah, weird but really fun. And I never managed to unlock all the levels, as there are still some flowers and coins and stuff that I never found.

Street Fighter 2: The big one. My cousin and I played the hell out of this game. "SHORYUUKEN!!"

Mario Paint: OK, so, not really a game. But it was certainly something I spent a lot of time on, since I loved drawing and making animations. The sound composer was great too, and the fly-squatting game was the most fun I've ever had with a mouse-click type of game. Simple but sweet.

Super Game Boy: Again, not a game. BUT.... since I had LOADS of Gameboy games, I thought it was a godsend. To be able to play GB games on TV, in colour?? Also, being able to mess with the screen borders and stuff as player 2 when your mate is trying to concentrate on staying alive is really fun. You can even graffiti over the screen, blocking his view if you're feeling douchey-like.

Donkey Kong GB: I bought this at the same time as the Super GB, I think on the day of release. I remember they both came out at the same time. This is not the Gameboy version of Donkey Kong Country, which came out later, this is the "extended" version of the classic DK game. 100 levels of puzzle-solving, barrel-jumping, switch-flicking, deep-sea diving, monkey-tail-climbing, key-finding, trash-can-throwing, back-flipping, power-line-swinging action! Looking back now it seems really easy, but back in the day I remember being stuck on figuring out some of the more complex levels. The perfect portable game.

Zelda: Link's Awakening: A great adventure. I don't know what else to say. I also got the other GB Zelda games that Capcom developed, and they were good, too, but they seemed much more systematic than the organic, natural feel of the flow of the original's story. I don't know why I never got the SNES one.

Those were some of the ones which I remember the most. I often play retro games now, too, in particular shooting games. It's just a simple form of grammar that I can pick up and enjoy for a few minutes when I have free time, and that's what gaming is to me -- I'm not into hardcore RPGs for that reason. I'll write about those games too at a later date: Gunhed, Soldier Blade, Aleste, Zanac, etc. Oh, and I forgot SCRAMBLED VALKYRIE, hehe.

[kaiotheforsaken]

Yoshi's Island was freaking awesome.

F-Zero and Megaman X are some of my all time favorites as well as R-type 3.

[Renato]

I always liked the classic Megaman series, never really got into the whole X thing. I see they remade it in 3D for the PSP, though. As for R-type, yeah, another classic, but way too hard for my likes. That and Gradius, with the one-hit-you're-dead-and-have-to-restart-with-nothing scenario makes my blood boil.

[taksraven]

Lets talk REAL retro games. Starglider II, Dungeon Master, Carrier Command, Elite, Imperium, Nebuluus, Galaga, etc....

Taksraven

[Black Valkyrie]

Well Renato I think you should get a Gamecube with a Gameboy Player . Any Commodor-64 fans , for 8-bit computer it really had an excellent sound chip. Back then many gaming companies in the UK pushed the chip to full use, like ocean for Rambo-II, Elite for Commando and many more but the company that pushed it to its limits was none other than System-3 for its THE LAST NINJA games and remember BARBARIN with its excellent BGM.

[Ghost Train]

Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES), still fresh, still awesome, even today.

Strider (Mega Drive), this game seriously needs to be rebooted.

So... is Dreamcast considered retro/classic ?

If so:

Ikaruga

I also liked some of Renato's picks, Axelay was so cutting edge for its time.

[Renato]

Lets talk REAL retro games. Starglider II, Dungeon Master, Carrier Command, Elite, Imperium, Nebuluus, Galaga, etc....

Taksraven

I had an Atari 2600 with Frogs & Flies, Combat, Cannonball Man, etc. My friends had Busy Police and Superman. My favourite was probably that game made by Sega with the squadron of five triangles spaceships shooting infinitely scrolling waves of aliens. I had recently looked up the name but I forgot it again.

[Renato]

Well Renato I think you should get a Gamecube with a Gameboy Player .

Ok... Why? As I recall the only advantage over the SGB was that it was also compatible with the Color games that came after... Did it do the Advance carts too?

Any Commodor-64 fans , for 8-bit computer it really had an excellent sound chip. Back then many gaming companies in the UK pushed the chip to full use, like ocean for Rambo-II, Elite for Commando and many more but the company that pushed it to its limits was none other than System-3 for its THE LAST NINJA games and remember BARBARIN with its excellent BGM.

I never had one but I certainly remember going to my friend's house to play the Back to the Future games. On cassette tape, lol.

Also I remember GODS and Days of Thunder on the Amiga..

[mikeszekely]

Did it do the Advance carts too?

Yes. That was its main purpose. In fact, I don't think I ever used a pre-Advance cart in mine.

Anyway, with regards to the topic at hand, the original Mega Man games on the NES are pretty much my all time favorite games, especially the first three.

[eriku]

While I love many modern games, my heart is firmly cemented to the 8-bit/16-bit era. I'm not going to list the games I can happily replay to this day because there's too many (although to name one - Super Metroid is possibly the most perfect video game ever created). I can't say it's totally nostalgia because I grew up with Atari and I simply cannot replay those games, I get bored and frustrated after about thirty seconds.

One reason I'm so in love with GBA/DS and WiiWare is the attention they give to the 8bit/16bit style. I'm also happy that there are a lot of home-grown games that reflect the classic era, such as Cave Story. When Cave Story was released on WiiWare with a pseudo-16bit makeover I was a very happy panda indeed.

Edited June 4, 2010 by eriku

[Roy Focker]

KOEI Uncharted waters 2 New Horzions is the best game ever!

[gerwalk25]

Chrono Trigger is still great after all these years. I had the SNES version and bought the DS retranslated remake and still holds up.

[jenius]

Playing the NES Castlevania series is a memory that sticks with me well after all these years. I can't remember which one it was but I had an older cousin come visit just as I reached Dracula and I became uber anti-social until I beat him. I can't remember which Final Fantasy game on the NES also sucked up a bunch of my hours. No baseball fan should have been without Baseball Stars (and Baseball Stars II). Then I became a Genesis fanboy with Phantasy Star II. Man... those were much simpler times.

[RD Blade]

M.U.S.H.A., Android Assault, Arrow Flash, Valis III...

I ate and slept and existed for these games.

[Einherjar]

I loved Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy VI on the SNES. On the NES, Master Blaster and Rambo (a poor man's Metal Gear, which I wish I knew more about back then instead).

[bob joe mac]

Ducktales and any of the mario or megaman games for the NES and its so hard to pick just a few of my SNES game but the ones I still bust out on a regular basis are Megaman X, Mario World and lufia II.

I don't understand what has changed with games but the simple charm old 8-16 bit games had just seems gone with every game having a plotline no matter how simple the game is just another reason I LOVE megaman 9 and 10 just proving you dont need developed characters and tutorials and complicated controls and huge environments to have a good game they just have the be FUN.

[HappyPenguins]

oh man so many good times so many fun addicting games....

super mario bros, super mario world, megaman 2, ducktales, mike tyson punch out, super castlevania 4, secret of manna, Legend of Zelda link to the past, lion king game, Aladdin game, and so many others I can't think of at the moment, oh wait

there was also Primal Rage, I was so obsessed with that game lol and collected most of the toys (only the ones I liked though) Vertigo, Talon, Sauron, & Diablo

didn't care for the monkeys =P

ah and super castlevania 4 was another obsession even though beating Dracula was

too damn hard, dont know how I did it, but only managed to do it once

I actually have some footage of me playing the game and defeating the mini bosses

My favorite mini bosses aka Slogra & Gaibon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j70rjnMUUgk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2aDLyVFSWc

[Black Valkyrie]

Agreed Cv4 the is best Castlevania in the series and my favorite one of all time. Beaten it several times.

[bluemax151]

People probably assume my screen name is directly related to Max from Macross and I guess it kind of is but in reality I had this game named "Blue Max" for the Atari 2600. The game play was kind of a combination of your general top down shooter but added other aspects of gameplay that where about as infuriating as Top Gun's carrier landings and mid air refueling. Basically a masochists wet dream I know I have my Atari somewhere but I don't think it functions anymore unfortunately so I won't be reliving those memories anytime soon. I do still have my NES and SNES systems and carts handy. I play them fairly frequently and I think my favourite title of the bunch is the SNES Turtles In Time.

Einherjar mentioned Blaster Master which I think was pretty innovative at the time because not only did you have the ability to get in and out of your vehicle but gameplay also changed between top down and side scrolling. It's really hard for me to define BM genre wise as it's kind of a Platformer but then also very much an Adventure title. I feel the same way about Act Raiser actually.

[Renato]

KOEI Uncharted waters 2 New Horzions is the best game ever!

I don't know that game but I went to karaoke with the daughter of the head of Koei a few years ago. That's as close as I ever got to those games.

[Renato]

I don't understand what has changed with games but the simple charm old 8-16 bit games had just seems gone with every game having a plotline no matter how simple the game is just another reason I LOVE megaman 9 and 10 just proving you dont need developed characters and tutorials and complicated controls and huge environments to have a good game they just have the be FUN.

OK, but let's not forget that back in the early 90s every other game was a dismal boring platformer with the ubiquitous "gotta rescue the princess" plot. I didn't mention Plok, Aero the Acrobat, that McDonalds game, etc. for a reason (and those are only the ones which I still remember!).

Having said that... Yeah, I was really surprised to see Megaman 9 and 10! At first my brain didn't understand what I was seeing. Was this a joke? A parody? Hehe.

[Renato]

Agreed Cv4 the is best Castlevania in the series and my favorite one of all time. Beaten it several times.

Is that the one on the SNES that was kind of a half-port, half-reworking of the PC Engine one? Or am I thinking of something else? "Blood Rondo" or something like that?

[Black Valkyrie]

Is that the one on the SNES that was kind of a half-port, half-reworking of the PC Engine one? Or am I thinking of something else? "Blood Rondo" or something like that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania_4

[JB0]

Is that the one on the SNES that was kind of a half-port, half-reworking of the PC Engine one? Or am I thinking of something else? "Blood Rondo" or something like that?

Super Castlevania 4 was a sequel to/remake of the first game(we're still not clear, and the story seems to change every time someone asks Konami).

Castlevania: Dracula X was the (Bad) remake of Rondo of Blood.

Edited June 6, 2010 by JB0

[Black Valkyrie]

Super Castlevania 4 was a sequel to/remake of the first game(we're still not clear, and the story seems to change every time someone asks Konami).

Castlevania: Dracula X was the (Bad) remake of Rondo of Blood.

Cv4 was a remake, in Japan its called Super Akumajo Dracula. As for the Dracula-X SNES, we know its not like the PC-Engine CD ver. but it was good, also completed several times.

I really wish for Cv3 remake at least for the DS.

[David Hingtgen]

Axelay still is in my all-time top 10 soundtracks. Just awesome.

As for Yoshi's Island---I did *everything*. Every flower, red coin, etc. Took a while, but it was fun, 2D platforming at its very best. I really wish there were trophies then, that'd be worth a platinum...

Zelda: Link's Awakening. The best Zelda game nobody's played. I rank it VERY high. Maybe above Link to the Past.

[Uxi]

I'm regularly playing the NES emulator on my N97. Favorite ROMs I leave on always are: metroid, mike tyson's punch out, tecmo bowl, legend of zelda, super mario bros 1, 2, 3, cho jiku yousai, megaman 1, 2, 3

[Mog]

007-373-5963

For me, my personal fave's would be

• SMB3 (my all-time favorite Mario game);
  
• Tecmo Bowl (and those stupid unstoppable plays!) ;
  
• Adventure of Link (found the challenge rewarding);
  
• Mike Tyson's Punch-Out (Tyson? Super Macho-Man? No prob'! Mr. Sandman? He'd regularly kick my ass with his special moves!);
  
• FFVI (the best in the series); and
  
• Chrono Trigger (still haven't gotten all the endings yet).

It isn't really reflected in my above list, but the other big difference between the old school games (primarily the 8-bit ones) and the newer ones is that the old games RARELY had a battery back-up.

It became a bit of a twisted challenge/merit badge to complete a game in one sitting. I think that little extra challenge is what made playing the games so hard and fun. You'd get to that last level with maybe one or two lives left, thinking to yourself, "Damn it. I'm about to finish this game. I CANNOT make a mistake!!," and the pressure would be on!!

[Black Valkyrie]

Well these are the classics I'm playing from time to time :

Super Mario Bros. 1 & 3 (GBP)

Castlevania- NES (GBP)

SALAMANDER (Saturn)

Macross DYRL (Saturn)

Konami MSX Collection (Saturn)

Super Mario World (GBP)

Gradius Generations (GBP)

Star Wars OT (GBP)

[Renato]

What's a GBP when it's not a currency nor fat giant robot?

[Black Valkyrie]

Gameboy Player.

[HappyPenguins]

thanks to this thread, now I've got the urge to play these games =P

[Renato]

Gameboy Player.

Ah.

A lot of these games have had re-releases on newer platforms, of course.

On the PSP alone you can find the "PC Engine Soldier Collection" with all the Star Soldier shooters, Konami did a bunch of them with Gradius Portable, Parodius Portable, Twinbee Portable and Salamander Portable, and each of those had 5 games on one disc, including Life-Force and stuff like that.

Another game I had was Jurassic Park on the SNES. That thing took hours and hours of my life away precisely because of the lack of battery-backed memory.I recently saw the ending on Youtube. I'm glad I never finished it: it was such a half-assed ending sequence that I would've smashed the TV set.

Lastly, I have to give a shout out to Terminator 2 on the Gameboy. Not the Arcade Game version, the platform shooter one that came before that. I had somehow convinced myself that that game was so great, even though I look back now and it is awful, awful, LJN trash. Its only charm is its nostalgic value, really.

Any similar betrayals of memory?

[Graham]

Games on the 48k Sinclair ZX Spectrum were the best. I spent many a happy hour in the early-to-mid 80s playing Ant Attack, Manic Minor, Jet Set Willy, Combat Lynx, Elite, Tranz Am, Saber Wolf etc.

Ah, I miss the sound of casette tapes loading.

At that time IMO, the UK really lead the world in games design.

Graham

[Black Valkyrie]

At that time IMO, the UK really lead the world in games design.

Graham

That was very true, some UK gaming firms pushed the home computers to its limits. Also in Japan with their home computers [sharp X68000] some of the games on it were almost arcade perfect like Gradius, Gradius II, Salamander and many more. In the 80's another Console brought Arcade quality games in the home use, even before the Mega Drive/ Genesis, it was none other the PC-Engine, that console was a head of its time but sadly it only succeeded in Japan and Asia.