Atomic Playboy
Member
Initial impressions after very little playtime...
First off, the console itself. It's tiny. I mean, everyone says it's tiny, but you really can't conceive of how tiny it is until you hold it in your hand. It's such a pinpoint replica, but at like 1:8 scale. That said, I'm really not a fan of the controller port door that you have to open to plug in the controllers. I get that it keeps the original look intact, but the hinge feels flimsy and when you have it open (such as in the case of USING IT), it looks stupid. It's a pointless design feature for people who want to display it in a case instead of playing it like a console, and that annoys me.
I am loving the CRT filter mode. Based on screenshots, I thought I was going to be about pixel perfect, but when it's blown up on a 65 inch screen, pixel perfect sort of reinforces that these games look like SHIT. CRT filter softens the image, but it really makes the artwork shine as opposed to revealing that it's just a couple hundred squares. Screenshots don't do it justice; the CRT filter looks absolutely stunning in motion in a way that I didn't expect. It took me right back to that Christmas when I first got an SNES and plugged in Donkey Kong Country. Nostalgia filter FTW.
The games. At this point, I've only opened three. I started with Super Mario World (more on that in a minute). I played Street Fighter II for a minute and was amazed that I was still able to pull off combos as Ken (the jump kick, low kick, dragon punch is as deadly as ever). And it's so funny to cheese the CPU as E. Honda. Then I played through the first level of Donkey Kong Country and I was SO annoyed that I missed a secret. I tried every filter on DKC, and that's really what solidified the CRT filter for me.
OK, Mario. This is the best platform game ever made, and it's so amazing to be playing it on a gigantic screen, even if it does mean I can count the pixels. I'm amazed how many secrets I remember. Also, I didn't remember the levels being quite so short. Like, I breezed through the entirety of Yoshi's Island in about 5 minutes. I didn't know if I'd be able to devote much time to it, but I'm pretty confident I can 96 star this bad boy in time for Stump's challenge. I'm already halfway through Star Road and I wasn't even sure I'd remember how to get there.
So, obviously I have a lot still to explore, but my early impressions are this thing is astonishingly good. It runs off USB plugged into my wife's laptop in sleep mode. Do you remember how hot the AC bricks used to get for the real console? That alone is a piece of wizardry. I have never played some of the best games this system has to offer (Metroid, Final Fantasy III/VI, Earthbound), so I feel like that 11 year old kid on Christmas again. What an absolute joy this thing is.
First off, the console itself. It's tiny. I mean, everyone says it's tiny, but you really can't conceive of how tiny it is until you hold it in your hand. It's such a pinpoint replica, but at like 1:8 scale. That said, I'm really not a fan of the controller port door that you have to open to plug in the controllers. I get that it keeps the original look intact, but the hinge feels flimsy and when you have it open (such as in the case of USING IT), it looks stupid. It's a pointless design feature for people who want to display it in a case instead of playing it like a console, and that annoys me.
I am loving the CRT filter mode. Based on screenshots, I thought I was going to be about pixel perfect, but when it's blown up on a 65 inch screen, pixel perfect sort of reinforces that these games look like SHIT. CRT filter softens the image, but it really makes the artwork shine as opposed to revealing that it's just a couple hundred squares. Screenshots don't do it justice; the CRT filter looks absolutely stunning in motion in a way that I didn't expect. It took me right back to that Christmas when I first got an SNES and plugged in Donkey Kong Country. Nostalgia filter FTW.
The games. At this point, I've only opened three. I started with Super Mario World (more on that in a minute). I played Street Fighter II for a minute and was amazed that I was still able to pull off combos as Ken (the jump kick, low kick, dragon punch is as deadly as ever). And it's so funny to cheese the CPU as E. Honda. Then I played through the first level of Donkey Kong Country and I was SO annoyed that I missed a secret. I tried every filter on DKC, and that's really what solidified the CRT filter for me.
OK, Mario. This is the best platform game ever made, and it's so amazing to be playing it on a gigantic screen, even if it does mean I can count the pixels. I'm amazed how many secrets I remember. Also, I didn't remember the levels being quite so short. Like, I breezed through the entirety of Yoshi's Island in about 5 minutes. I didn't know if I'd be able to devote much time to it, but I'm pretty confident I can 96 star this bad boy in time for Stump's challenge. I'm already halfway through Star Road and I wasn't even sure I'd remember how to get there.
So, obviously I have a lot still to explore, but my early impressions are this thing is astonishingly good. It runs off USB plugged into my wife's laptop in sleep mode. Do you remember how hot the AC bricks used to get for the real console? That alone is a piece of wizardry. I have never played some of the best games this system has to offer (Metroid, Final Fantasy III/VI, Earthbound), so I feel like that 11 year old kid on Christmas again. What an absolute joy this thing is.
