Retro Gaming

[JetJockey]

On 10/25/2017 at 4:49 PM, Scyla said:

Well I got an Email this morning from Amazon that they aren't able to fulfill my preorder for the SNES mini, since they didn't get a restock in October. This is getting annoying two preorders with two different stores and none was able to fulfill it. 

Maybe I should just buy the cartridges that I'm missing. How high is the percentage of knock off cartridges compared to genuine ones on ebay?

 

I don't understand why Amazon wouldn't just wait for the next restock since it will continue production till next year.

 

I don't know about bootleg SNES games. I would assume sticking to domestic sellers would be a good start though. Maybe trying to get complete versions with boxes.

13 hours ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

https://www.konami.com/games/corporate/en/news/release/20171026/

 

I'm more interested in the Contra statue from HMO that I hope they will get around to making. Even though Contra is a good game and has potential, there is no way a movie version will be better than the movies that influenced it.

[ScrambledValkyrie]

On 10/25/2017 at 5:49 PM, Scyla said:

Well I got an Email this morning from Amazon that they aren't able to fulfill my preorder for the SNES mini, since they didn't get a restock in October. This is getting annoying two preorders with two different stores and none was able to fulfill it. 

Maybe I should just buy the cartridges that I'm missing. How high is the percentage of knock off cartridges compared to genuine ones on ebay?

 

Pretty low. In my experience over the last couple of years, the bootleg cart situation on EBay really isn't too bad. The operative word in this hobby is "repro" (as in reproduction) and it's mainly the rare and super expensive games that get repro'd. Some legit sellers will even show you a pic of the board inside as proof. Just read the descriptions, and if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is. And if it's got natural wear in the label from years of use, that can be reassuring. 

[ScrambledValkyrie]

Has anyone else here played through Dracula X Rondo of Blood for the PC Engine (aka Turbo Duo)?

I've been a Castlevania fan for a long time. I own copies of all the non-mobile 2D console Castlevania titles, and I'm on a gradual quest of replaying through them from oldest to newest. After the NES games and Super Castlevania, I'm currently working through Dracula X again and remembering what a great game this is. It's got colorful visuals, a nice soundtrack, reasonable difficulty, multiple paths, and multiple playable characters. 

After this, it's on to Bloodlines for the Genesis, the inferior Dracula X for the SNES, then Symphony of the Night and Chronicles for PS1...

[JB0]

Castlevania X is a pretty sweet game. I say this as someone who doesn't usually get along with the pre-Symphony Castlevanias. 'S got style in spades, and the controls are fluid enough that you aren't fighting your character while still rigid enough to lend everything a sense of momenteum.

[JetJockey]

20 hours ago, ScrambledValkyrie said:

Has anyone else here played through Dracula X Rondo of Blood for the PC Engine (aka Turbo Duo)?

I've been a Castlevania fan for a long time. I own copies of all the non-mobile 2D console Castlevania titles, and I'm on a gradual quest of replaying through them from oldest to newest. After the NES games and Super Castlevania, I'm currently working through Dracula X again and remembering what a great game this is. It's got colorful visuals, a nice soundtrack, reasonable difficulty, multiple paths, and multiple playable characters. 

After this, it's on to Bloodlines for the Genesis, the inferior Dracula X for the SNES, then Symphony of the Night and Chronicles for PS1...

I still own the TurboDuo Dracula X. I think it's the best Castlevania game. It was one of those $100 import games from back in the 90s. Gradius I think II was another. And there might have been one more Konami game that I can't remember. I probably didn't get that one though.

I did play the recent PSP update but I still think the original is better. And I hated the twist of the remake. I was tempted to toss my PSP because of that.

[JB0]

2 minutes ago, JetJockey said:

I did play the recent PSP update but I still think the original is better. And I hated the twist of the remake. I was tempted to toss my PSP because of that.

The best part of the PSP remake was that it included the original as an unlockable bonus feature. That was most of what my PSP disk was used for.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

http://www.seganerds.com/2017/11/15/review-sega-genesis-flashback-hd/

 

 

[JetJockey]

16 hours ago, JB0 said:

The best part of the PSP remake was that it included the original as an unlockable bonus feature. That was most of what my PSP disk was used for.

Both original Dracula X and Symphony of the Night. And a good soundtrack mode but you have to find the tracks in the games. There are a few I'm still trying to get since you have to use gameplay tricks.

[JB0]

13 hours ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

http://www.seganerds.com/2017/11/15/review-sega-genesis-flashback-hd/

 

 

AtGames pulled it off!

...

Is this compatible with their SD card reader, I wonder...

4 hours ago, JetJockey said:

Both original Dracula X and Symphony of the Night. And a good soundtrack mode but you have to find the tracks in the games. There are a few I'm still trying to get since you have to use gameplay tricks.

Yeah, but the Symphony port wasn't very good, as I recall.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/12/sega_dreamcast_saturn_and_mega_drive_hardware_coming_from_retro-bit_in_2018

 

[mikeszekely]

On 11/17/2017 at 12:59 AM, JB0 said:

AtGames pulled it off!

...

Is this compatible with their SD card reader, I wonder...

I'm getting one for Christmas. I'll let you know.

[mikeszekely]

On 12/20/2017 at 1:47 PM, mikeszekely said:

I'm getting one for Christmas. I'll let you know.

No SD slot.  Just the cartridge slot on top and two jacks for original Genesis controllers on the front.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

No SD slot.  Just the cartridge slot on top and two jacks for original Genesis controllers on the front.

I meant does it support the SD adapter they sold for the Firecore-based Genesissies. Most of those didn't have an integral SD slot, but they could read SD cards through a special cartridge(that didn't work in a real Genesis).

 

https://atgames.co/collections/accessories/products/mega-expert-passport This thing.

[davidwhangchoi]

4 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

No SD slot.  Just the cartridge slot on top and two jacks for original Genesis controllers on the front.

kinda curious about this release. on the fence about getting it. 

 

 

change of topic:

been retro gaming pretty extensively and been doing some hardcore CRT collecting recently.

and opened up to repair a few:

 

[mikeszekely]

1 minute ago, davidwhangchoi said:

kinda curious about this release. on the fence about getting it. 

I'll post some thoughts when I've had a chance to mess with it.  I also got a SNES Classic today, so what free time I had today I spent running hakchi2 and adding more games to it.

[davidwhangchoi]

Just now, mikeszekely said:

I'll post some thoughts when I've had a chance to mess with it.  I also got a SNES Classic today, so what free time I had today I spent running hakchi2 and adding more games to it.

awesome, thanks Mike and Merry Christmas

[mikeszekely]

Ok, I got a little time with the Genesis Flashback HD.  And... it's ok.  The interface looks nice enough, but the way it operates is weird.  There's two areas; on the left is a list of sections, and they basically break down to the cartridge slot, favorites, Sega Games (which are not all Genesis games, but also include Game Gear and Master System games), Sonic Games (which also show up in the Sega games), Mortal Kombat games (MK1-3, which oddly do not show up in any other category), and Bonus games, which are basically shovelware crap like Snake that AtGames can use to make the "85 Games!" on the front of the box technically correct by padding the 40-something Sega and MK games with stuff you will likely never play.  You scroll through those categories using the B and C button on the controller.  The d-pad only moves between the games in a given section.

As far as hardware goes, while the Flashback HD is smaller than the original Genesis 1 that it imitates, it's still much larger than the SNES Classic.  I think, from what I recall, the Genesis 3 was smaller than the Flashback HD.  It weighs way less, though.  It feels so light I was afraid they'd packed an empty console shell in the box until I peeked into the cartridge slot.  Aside from the console, you'll find the AC adapter, an HDMI cable, and two wireless controllers in the box.

The controllers are a little small and the buttons are mushy, but I didn't have any problems playing with them.  Two minor irritations I have are that it uses AAA batteries (seriously, use AA if you're not going go rechargable!), and that to open the battery compartment you have to remove a screw first.  If you don't like the packed-in controllers, you can always use actual Genesis controllers.  I happened to have an old 3-button pad laying around, and despite some people online claiming you have to have a six-button, it worked fine for me to navigate the menu, launch Sonic the Hedgehog, and finish Green Hills Zone 1.  If you use real controllers, aside from having a wire you're missing out on two functions built onto the AtGames controllers.  They have two extra buttons, rewind and menu.  Rewind takes the game's state back six seconds.  Potentially useful, I guess, but I didn't try it.  The other, as you might have guessed, opens a menu.  You can save your state, load your state, change state slots, toggle a scanline filter, or quit the game and go back to the console menu.  All of that worked like it should on the two games I tested (Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe III).  Now, there's a menu button on the console itself, and in theory it works the same as the one on the controller.  In practice it was really wonky, bringing up and closing menu before I could do anything and causing glitches in the game I happend to be playing.

As you're probably aware, rather than clone the original hardware AtGames is using an emulator, and it's OK.  Offhand, I've seen better Genesis emulation, and I've seen worse.  To be honest, although I'd play sometimes at friends' houses, I personally never owned a Sega system until the Dreamcast, and I'm honestly not familiar enough with how any of the games played on the original hardware to nitpick.  Suffice to say there was sound, and it seemed ok (but not as good as Kega Fusion on my PC), I didn't notice any slowdown or flickering that wasn't present in at least Kega Fusion on PC or MD.emu on Android, I didn't have any noticeably (by me) input lag, and again I had no trouble completing Green Hills Zone 1 (and 2, but I quit after 2).

That just brings us to the games themselves.  Aside from Mortal Kombat, it seems like it's mostly (all?) 1st party Sega games.  If you were a hardcore Sega fan back in the day there's probably stuff you're going to find that it doesn't have that you wish it did (Jurassic Park, the X-Men games, all the sports games that helped sell the console in the US).  From my POV as a Nintendo kid who didn't feel like he was missing out on anything besides Sonic, it's adequate (although, oddly, no Sonic 3.  Music licensing, maybe?).  Sonic 3, TMNT: The Hyperston Heist, and Castlevania Bloodlines are the only games I really wish it had, although it'd have been nice to get Streets of Rage, Shadow Dancer, Mutant League Hockey, Splatterhouse, and Mega Man: The Wily Wars.

Of course, there is that cartridge slot.  I don't own any Genesis carts to test, but in theory the Flashback HD is a console that can play your old Genesis carts on a modern TV.  This week, while my wife is on vacation, I might even swing by some of the shops that carry older games and pick up a cart just to try it out.

All-in-all, if you already have a Genesis and a CRT, stick with that.  If you just want to play a handful of Sega game, especially ones that aren't included, you're probably better off running an emulator on your PC.  But if the model 1 Genesis gives you nostalgic feels, you like 1st-party Sega games like Sonic, Golden Axe, and Shining Force, you have some Genesis carts laying around, and you're absolutely stuck with a modern HDMI TV then the Flashback HD isn't bad.  It's just not great, either, and OK might not be enough for you open your wallet and drop $70-$80 on it. 

[davidwhangchoi]

26 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Ok, I got a little time with the Genesis Flashback HD.  And... it's ok.  The interface looks nice enough, but the way it operates is weird.  There's two areas; on the left is a list of

Mike, thanks for the writeup!

[mikeszekely]

OK, now for some thoughts on the SNES Classic.

As I mentioned previously, I was a Nintendo kid growing up (although never at launch; I got my NES in '87 and my SNES in '93), so YMMV but I was instantly struck with some seriously strong nostalgia just by the box.  And inside the box, you get the console, an HDMI cable, two wired controllers, an AC adapter, and a micro-USB cable.  The console's power jack is actually micro-USB, which is handy because you can use many other chargers or even power it from the USB port on many modern TVs.  It'll also come in handy for another purpose, which I'll get to in a minute.

The console itself is a nice but not totally faithful replica of the SNES I had as a kid shrunk down to a size closer to an Apple TV or a Roku than the original SNES.  Plastic quality seems fine, but the bottom is smoother than a real SNES and the controller ports and cartridge slot doors are just molded detail.  Ditto for the eject button.  The working power light is in the right place, though and then there are the Power and Reset buttons.  Both work identically to the original, with Reset sliding up and springing back while the Power button moves up with a satisfying click.  The Power button turns the console on, just like the original, but this time the reset button is for brigning you back to the console menu, where you can save your game state to one of four slots per game or pick a different game.  As for the controllers, they're faithful recreations of the original SNES pads, except the ends are the kind of connectors that plug into a Wiimote instead of actual SNES controller plugs.  Sadly, to plug them into the SNES Classic you have to pull the panel with the molded controller ports forward and down, revealing the Wiimote-style jacks behind them.  The cords on the controllers are fairly short, and the controllers don't have any sort of buttons needed to return to the menu, forcing you to get up and use the Reset button on the console.

The interface is for the SNES Classic is simple and effective.  A happy chiptunes jingle plays in the background, and you use the d-pad to scroll horizontally through the 21 included games.  Each game has the original box art and icons to indicate the number of players and which if any slots have a save state.  Underneath is a smaller representation of all 21 games with an arrow to indicate which game is in focus.  You can highlight the game you want and press Start or A to launch it, or you can press down on the d-pad to see what save states you have.  From in a game, pressing Reset will bring you back to this interface except you'll see a tiny screen with wings indicating the game state currently in the RAM.  To save press down, to get into the save state window, use the d-pad to pick a slot, and press Y.  Then you can either go back into the game or pick a different one to play.

Super Nintendo emulation at large is pretty good these days, so it should come as no surprise that the emulator built into the SNES Classic runs great.  Playing a game like Mega Man X with the same controller I used back in the day felt just like I was in the 90's again.  Everything felt spot on.

Now again, as a Nintendo kid, I can't really argue that any of the games on the SNES Classic aren't all classics that deserve to be there.  If you had a SNES back in the '90s you almost certainly had at least a few of the included games and most of them hold up really well.  The catch is that there's just 20 SNES games from the '90s plus the unreleased Star Fox 2.  And I think that's the SNES Classic's biggest problem.  While a case can be made that 20 excellent games and some nostalgic feels are worth the $80 price of admission, another case can be made that you might already have a lot of those games on a Wii, Wii-U, or 3DS Virtual Console.  Or that you'd rather have a Switch Virtual Console library.  Or that you could just fire up a SNES emulator on your PC/smartphone/Android TV/PSP/whatever.  And in those cases you'd probably have access to many of the just-as-classic yet not included games.  Like, the SNES Classic has Final Fantasy III (VI) but not II (IV), Mega Man X but not X2, X3, or Mega Man 7, Super Mario World but not Super Mario All-Stars, Donkey Kong Country but not its sequels, not to mention that there's no Chrono Trigger, no Turtles in Time, and no Super Bomberman.

Fortunately, if you're feeling a little adventurous it's extremely easy to add games to the SNES Classic with a tool called hakchi2.  The tool itself will provide a series of prompts walking you through the process (just be sure to use the tool to back a backup of the system's default kernel in case something goes awry or you otherwise want to restore it to its factory state).  While you can apparently do things like install Retroarch and run emulators for other consoles, add new borders for the emulation window, or replace the menu background music with a little work simply adding more SNES games to the built-in emulator is as simple as telling hakchi2 where your ROMs are.  It'll process them into the right format, plus give you a chance to add cover art and edit name, publisher, release date, and number of players (although those fields will be auto-populated if hakchi2 recognizes the rom and you can even Google search for cover art within the tool itself).  When you're ready, you simply hit the button that says to copy the games to the console, wait a minute, and you're done.  Once loaded, you'll see a folder icon added to the default games.  Opening it will reveal the games you added (although, depending on how many games you added, you might have half and another folder for the other half).  The games are displayed identically to the built-in ones and most run fine.  I personally added around 56 more games, which is pretty much every SNES game I'd want.  Adding games to the console makes it a definitive SNES experience for me, and definitely makes the console a worthwhile purchase if you can find one.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

Nice review Mike, for Genesis HD and the SNES CE.  I have the SNES but until now I didn't open it, I guess cuz of the lack of games, in a way I prefer the NES CE. 

 

 

 

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Black Valkyrie said:

I have the SNES but until now I didn't open it, I guess cuz of the lack of games, in a way I prefer the NES CE.

If Nintendo follows through on their stated intent to re-release the NES Classic in 2018 I will try very hard to get my hands on one, because the same process used to add games to the SNES Classic works on the NES Classic.  I'll do the same thing, cram it full of all the best NES games it was missing and make it the definitive NES experience (for me).  Between the NES and the SNES classic my gaming youth would be pretty well covered.

[Axelay]

I will completely lose my nut if there is indeed a retro Dreamcast forthcoming. If there is any miracle that it would have a network port and online capability, just think of some of the incredible potential for this system to live again. Soul Calibur, Power Stone 1+2, Project Justice, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Street Fighter 3 Third Strike... oh, my. Perhaps my greatest hope come true would be Phantasy Star Online. I'd love nothing better than to jump through these kinds of hoops in order to be able to resurrect the files from my old VMUs...

https://virtualdreamcast.com/how-to-transfer-save-games-from-your-dreamcast-console/

[davidwhangchoi]

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

If Nintendo follows through on their stated intent to re-release the NES Classic in 2018 I will try very hard to get my hands on one, because the same process used to add games to the SNES Classic works on the NES Classic.  I'll do the same thing, cram it full of all the best NES games it was missing and make it the definitive NES experience (for me).  Between the NES and the SNES classic my gaming youth would be pretty well covered.

they already started, nes classic was restocked recently. a few days ago, i'd imagine more coming down the pipeline.

[davidwhangchoi]

a page back while ago i posted my recent MVS 2-slot acquisition.

finally got my supergun and been rockin it via RGB.

 

[JB0]

Hawt.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

Retro-Bit announces R-Type Bundle and .....

 

[Convectuoso]

I just got a SNES Classic, and filled it with games. However, some of them are not working, not even using the Retroarch option. Could it be a problem with the ROM files?

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Convectuoso said:

I just got a SNES Classic, and filled it with games. However, some of them are not working, not even using the Retroarch option. Could it be a problem with the ROM files?

It could be. I didn't go with the Retroarch option, but I saw attached there's a compatibility chart. I don't know if that list is supposed to be just what compatible with the original emulator or not.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

Made some custom covers for my SNES CE / Mini, 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by Black Valkyrie

[Convectuoso]

That's a great idea. I had trouble finding rhe right cover for some games. The funny thing is that in some cases the cover file is larger than the rom itself.

[dizman]

Great job as always on the covers, I'm really liking that Super Turrican 2 box.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

Thanks to both of you. 

 

 

[Black Valkyrie]

 

One more  

 

 

[davidwhangchoi]

i started to play this Saturn title tonight. definitely a cool survival horror title

 

[dizman]

Deep Fear, now there's a game I haven't played in a long time. It's a terrible RE clone but it has some campy story stuff going on that makes it worth it in a so bad it's good kind of way. Good luck!