I like them but don't love them a whole lot compared to platformers and beat em ups. I'll still play them though.
It's probably my phobia.=p
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RadarScope1
Member
It's the cost for me. No problem importing. I'm also not too into shmups.
Shin Johnpv
Member
The PC Engine is definitely the way to play I&II, when it comes to III, they all kind of have their plus and minus'. While the PC Engine one has the best music, it suffers from some really wickedly bad stuttering in the scrolling, and an anemic amount of animation frames (which makes NO SENSE). The Genesis and SNES versions are much closer, very similar sounding music and closer graphics. Though they can be harder, have no voice acting like the PC Engine version, and the hitboxes on the SNES one seem slightly off to me.
That said though you can't really go wrong with any of the 3, you'll have a good time with any of them.
CD Games (outside of Dracula X, Sapphire and a few others) are still mostly affordable from Japan it seems. HuCards are absolutely insane though.
I have to say my best investment has been a TurboEverdrive. HuCards have just gotten so ridiculously priced.
D.Lo
Member
My experience, including Japan (both in person every couple of years and yahoo auctions), is the opposite.
Loose Hucards are cheaper, but loose is lame
Maybe it's all about perspective about what 'expensive' is. I mean we're not talking Mega Drive Vampire Killer, but so many top games (eg Spriggan, Air Zonk, Magical Chase, Lords of Thunder, Gate of Thunder, Coryoon, Ninja Spirit, Hellfire, Kaze Kiri, Rainbow Islands, Bonk 3, Faussete Amour, Sylphia, Renny Blaster, Sapphire... the list goes on) are $100+ games.
I'd say if the cutoff is $100, most of the top 20% of the system's best games are inaccessible outside of outright piracy.
I'm not someone who whines about prices, they are what they are, and I have a pretty good collection already, but I would probably consider a decent collection prohibitive if I was starting now.
Shadowman16
Member
Speaking of Raindow Islands, what is the "definitive" port, which includes the hidden worlds?
Up to now, the only one I play often is the Amiga port, one of my favourite games of all time (apart from the level 3 boss, he can get lost), but the Amiga port didn't have the hidden levels. I'd love to finally play through the entire game.
Day 2 of my quick plays on various arcade games. Man, I miss classic Sega... they really had the touch back in the day. Enduro Racer is a game I've never played before, but its incredibly addictive. Thunder Blade seems pretty fun as well (and the ports of the game never really seemed to do the original arcade game justice).
Up to now, the only one I play often is the Amiga port, one of my favourite games of all time (apart from the level 3 boss, he can get lost), but the Amiga port didn't have the hidden levels. I'd love to finally play through the entire game.
Day 2 of my quick plays on various arcade games. Man, I miss classic Sega... they really had the touch back in the day. Enduro Racer is a game I've never played before, but its incredibly addictive. Thunder Blade seems pretty fun as well (and the ports of the game never really seemed to do the original arcade game justice).
I just opened my Mega Drive 1 to lift pin6 on the Sony Video Encoder to get rid of some jailbars However, it is a unit i have bought premodded with a 50/60hz mod and some others (overclock, jap/eng and a halt-function), and it seemed the mod was done pretty messy. So while I tried to lift it all up to get to the video encoder, i ended up breaking a few of the cables going from various pins to the switches. Which means the machine is pretty much useless unless I can fix it lol.
This means i need to finally learn some soldering, shouldnt be to hard to rewire those cables if i just can get those soldering skills down. So i guess my question to the guys in here that know the skill:
1) What do I need?
2) What do I need to be careful about?
3) How do I do it?
This means i need to finally learn some soldering, shouldnt be to hard to rewire those cables if i just can get those soldering skills down. So i guess my question to the guys in here that know the skill:
1) What do I need?
2) What do I need to be careful about?
3) How do I do it?
My experience, including Japan (both in person every couple of years and yahoo auctions), is the opposite.
Loose Hucards are cheaper, but loose is lame
Maybe it's all about perspective about what 'expensive' is. I mean we're not talking Mega Drive Vampire Killer, but so many top games (eg Spriggan, Air Zonk, Magical Chase, Lords of Thunder, Gate of Thunder, Coryoon, Ninja Spirit, Hellfire, Kaze Kiri, Rainbow Islands, Bonk 3, Faussete Amour, Sylphia, Renny Blaster, Sapphire... the list goes on) are $100+ games.
I'd say if the cutoff is $100, most of the top 20% of the system's best games are inaccessible outside of outright piracy.
I'm not someone who whines about prices, they are what they are, and I have a pretty good collection already, but I would probably consider a decent collection prohibitive if I was starting now.
Maybe i'm out of touch, since most of the hucards I wanted (aside from stuff i'd need to play in english and stuff like Coryoon and Magical Chase) I got a couple years back. I guess if you dont look at prices consistently, thats what happens. Well at least Jackie Chan is still low, along with Valkyrie.
StevieWhite
Member
Not sure if it's definitive, but I always thought the Saturn version was pretty great.
Shadowman16
Member
Good to hear. I grabbed that version super cheap a little while back. Pity they had to change the music for the game, it doesn't sound as nice as the original "over the rainbow" theme. I might have to give it some playtime this week...
D.Lo
Member
Jackie Chan can be $80 complete.
Yes it's jumped considerably in the last couple of years. I went on a casual sidequest to get all the Wonder Boy non-WB ports and have watched them climb.
In the early 2000s I got many things for 100 yen (much like many PS1 games are now). And SEALED big name Famicom Disks for $2 lol.
RadarScope1
Member
Really wish I would have been into eBay earlier on. I didn't start until about 2006 but actually didn't use it much until later.
D.Lo
Member
2006 was still pretty good, random invoice from my email history (I can't actually look much further because I changed to gmail in 2005)
Nocturne has only doubled, Zero 3 is now worth $300-400 lol.
RadarScope1
Member
Yeah, I got CIB copies of some black box games for cheap. But they were the common ones - SMB, Pinball and Gyromite. But only $10 for the lot! All five-screw carts with hangtab boxes in decent shape.
Shin Johnpv
Member
Same here, I got sealed Famicom Disk copies of Legend of Zelda and Metroid for like 10 bucks shipped each from Japan about 10 - 12 years ago.
Have you ever soldered before? In school maybe?
Get a basic soldering kit and a continuity tester (a multimeter) from your nearest diy retailer, watch a few tutorial videos on how to handle the iron, how to do good solder joints, etc. If you have specific questions you can ask here
Have you ever soldered before? In school maybe?
Get a basic soldering kit and a continuity tester (a multimeter) from your nearest diy retailer, watch a few tutorial videos on how to handle the iron, how to do good solder joints, etc. If you have specific questions you can ask here
I have no experience, no, but figured this was the opportunity i needed to start to learn it. Already did start to read a few guides, watch videos etc, will hopefully try to solder the cables back on later this week.
T.Slothrop
Member
Bought the Seaman 2 controller. Might be the ultimate retro gaming pad for those of us that missed the Saturn controller boat. Used Saturn controllers are all pretty beat up, and the USB ones are impossible to find for a decent price.
This thing is USB and feels very solid, if not quite as perfectly shaped as the Saturn pad seems to be. Otherwise though, it has that amazing D-pad, six face buttons, two triggers and even an analog stick. The one I got was totally new for about $20 bucks plus Japan shipping. Can't recommend it highly enough.
This thing is USB and feels very solid, if not quite as perfectly shaped as the Saturn pad seems to be. Otherwise though, it has that amazing D-pad, six face buttons, two triggers and even an analog stick. The one I got was totally new for about $20 bucks plus Japan shipping. Can't recommend it highly enough.
Fabthegnome
Member
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RadarScope1
Member
Sometimes checking Craigslist religiously pays off. Got a Super Metroid manual today. Not really into manuals or CIB stuff for SNES but ... greatest game of all time, etc etc.....
Fabthegnome
Member
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D.Lo
Member
I thought I'd try the DS Castlevania games again. I quit after the second back when they came out because they were so samey.
You know what, these are just outright bad games. The level designs suck so bad. The character movement is just an outright chore. The action design is pure garbage (chop chop chop with no strategy required) and is just completely unsatisfying. They play like high budget fan rom hacks.
They're everything bad about SOTN just repeated indefinitely. The graphics are fairly nice but nothing special and they kind of solidified a bland art style for the 'trilogy' (not talking about the character portraits, the in-game graphics are basically identical across the three).
Aria and Circle on GBA I enjoyed, but maybe it was the novelty of them being handheld back then. Circle has better combat design, Aria has very nice graphics for GBA. Harmony is hot garbage, it's the same as the DS games except it looks and sounds like complete shit.
Igarashi really was and is a complete fraud.
You know what, these are just outright bad games. The level designs suck so bad. The character movement is just an outright chore. The action design is pure garbage (chop chop chop with no strategy required) and is just completely unsatisfying. They play like high budget fan rom hacks.
They're everything bad about SOTN just repeated indefinitely. The graphics are fairly nice but nothing special and they kind of solidified a bland art style for the 'trilogy' (not talking about the character portraits, the in-game graphics are basically identical across the three).
Aria and Circle on GBA I enjoyed, but maybe it was the novelty of them being handheld back then. Circle has better combat design, Aria has very nice graphics for GBA. Harmony is hot garbage, it's the same as the DS games except it looks and sounds like complete shit.
Igarashi really was and is a complete fraud.
You should check out Order of Ecclesia if you havent already. I think that was by far the best handheld Igavania.
D.Lo
Member
That's what I'm playing and it's just the same shit again.
For real? I think this game is awesome
But i do kinda agree on the others, they are pretty mediocre imo.For real? I think this game is awesome
I finished the game recently and must agree I thought it was awesome. If you claim to like any 2D Castlevania games, I don't see how you can dislike OoE
Shadowman16
Member
I loved all three DS Castlevania games, with OoE easily being my favourite (and probably my favourite Castlevania game since SOTN). I do miss the older CV games though before they all went Metroidvania, I'd probably still rate Dracula X for the PC Engine as my favourite in the series (SOTN misses out since I have to purposely level myself down with crap gear just to make the game any kind of challenge). But I love the atmosphere, music and sheer scale of the game.
That said, I don't think any CV game (including any of the 3D ones) comes close to how bad the arcade version - Haunted Castle was. I was playing that game again this week and managed half of stage 1 before I got pissed off again with it. Your sprite is too damn large and avoiding anything is almost impossible. You take way too much damage as well. Amazing soundtrack though.
That said, I don't think any CV game (including any of the 3D ones) comes close to how bad the arcade version - Haunted Castle was. I was playing that game again this week and managed half of stage 1 before I got pissed off again with it. Your sprite is too damn large and avoiding anything is almost impossible. You take way too much damage as well. Amazing soundtrack though.
D.Lo
Member
The issue I have with the DS games in particular are the same I have with SoTN (detailed here) except that their presentation isn't as good as SoTN.
They're just failures as action games IMO. It is not fun to traverse the environments (floaty walking and jumping make moving a chore), or attack enemies. No platforming challenge, no action challenge. The fun of the games comes from exploring and opening new areas, and they're all far weaker than Metroid games, and many other Metroid style games, in that aspect.
They're just failures as action games IMO. It is not fun to traverse the environments (floaty walking and jumping make moving a chore), or attack enemies. No platforming challenge, no action challenge. The fun of the games comes from exploring and opening new areas, and they're all far weaker than Metroid games, and many other Metroid style games, in that aspect.
2D Castlevania is a broad church. I was one of the biggest fans ever of the real CV games, before they became Igarashi's Metroid clone production line.
I think Dawn is the best of the three on DS honestly. I'll finish OOE though I guess.
try the Japanese version, it's much easier, the US version ramps up the difficulty too much. Still pretty clunky, but I've finished it (on the PS2 port).
Fabthegnome
Member
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Is it like a smearing ghosting effect where the image of the sprite says visible...if so it could be image retention problem with the LCD
Sectorseven
Member
Does anyone ever start to play a retro game and then a few minutes in you're like, "I can't do this?"
Only when I have to leave for work within half an hour
Fabthegnome
Member
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Finally got my CRT and old consoles set back up. Genesis looking amazing on RGB. My PS2 controller is all kinds of fucked but that won't stop me from playing light gun games - any suggestions for the guncon2? I have Time Crisis 3 and Resident Evil Dead Aim.
But yeah my PS2 controller has a weird issue where the tops of the analog sticks get 'sticky' on their own over time. I've cleaned it off extensively many times, but every time I dig it back out of storage it's like it's recently had juice spilled on it or something. It'll be covered in hair and all gross. But nothing has EVER been spilled on it, and I took quite good care of it when it was in active use. But I did use it a lot, so is this some kind of horrifying phenomenon related to years of skin oil buildup? Or the rubber deteriorating?
That aside, the d-pad is also screwed up and the down/right inputs don't work. Taking it apart didn't reveal any obvious solution to that problem but I'm sure a dualshock 2 isn't THAT pricey.
I might stop by a retro game store on the way home...I've apparently drove past it multiple times and never noticed it. Not expecting much but surely they'll have a PS2 controller.
But yeah my PS2 controller has a weird issue where the tops of the analog sticks get 'sticky' on their own over time. I've cleaned it off extensively many times, but every time I dig it back out of storage it's like it's recently had juice spilled on it or something. It'll be covered in hair and all gross. But nothing has EVER been spilled on it, and I took quite good care of it when it was in active use. But I did use it a lot, so is this some kind of horrifying phenomenon related to years of skin oil buildup? Or the rubber deteriorating?
That aside, the d-pad is also screwed up and the down/right inputs don't work. Taking it apart didn't reveal any obvious solution to that problem but I'm sure a dualshock 2 isn't THAT pricey.
I might stop by a retro game store on the way home...I've apparently drove past it multiple times and never noticed it. Not expecting much but surely they'll have a PS2 controller.
Just read your review of SoTN linked in this post.
I thought I was the only one that felt like the game played rather generically. I also agree that it's nowhere near the same league as Super Metroid. Very spot-on analysis in my opinion.
What really adds an additional element of truth to it is that I know you're a major Konami fan.
D.Lo
Member
Got another 'grail' find today - a mint copy of the Game & Watch 'Gold Cliff' complete in box! For a great price since the seller left the 'complete in box' detail to the last picture in the listing lol!
I always wanted to try it, since I'm a sucker for any Amazon/Mayan/Indiana Jones type themed games. And it's a pretty fun little adventure-y thing. And has a 'continue' option, and multi height jumps. Not quite as advanced as the Zelda G&W, but pretty close!
I always wanted to try it, since I'm a sucker for any Amazon/Mayan/Indiana Jones type themed games. And it's a pretty fun little adventure-y thing. And has a 'continue' option, and multi height jumps. Not quite as advanced as the Zelda G&W, but pretty close!
Thanks, yeah I'm an old school Konami fanatic basically. So if I'm saying one of their more revered games is actually pretty bad at its core, you know it's not coming from bias!
Quintet at first was remaking the first ActRaiser for Saturn in a deal between Sega and Enix.
Apparently an actraiser 1&2 collection was planned for Saturn, or rumored? Never heard another source on this.
Coverage of the Tokyo game show 96 that mentions metal gear as a follow up to the nes game but also lists it under the n64 section, not playstation. Maybe a misunderstanding but I always heard that mgs was initially planned for n64.
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But during development they choose to create a new game based on similar concept and so Solo Crisis began life.
A curiosity is that in the end Solo Crisis was published by Quintet and not by Sega as expected.
As for Metal Gear on N64, the only connection I can think of is Hybrid Heanen for which isn't clear the ties with MGS.
The game is indeed an hybrid between 3rd person action and RPG (and wrestling):
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1253592
sixteen-bit
Member
I enjoyed most of the Quintet games I played on SNES. Would have prefered to see Soul Blader/Blazer remake on Saturn than Actraiser, tbh.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
I was a huge fan of DoS, in particular, when it came out, and thought it was almost as good as SOTN. Playing it again a couple years ago, I realized that, while I still like it... Yeah, it's not even close.
Well my dual shock 2 analogs used to do that all the time, even before they hit retro status, not sure why but it's not uncommon from what I've read.
I think my main gripe with the Igavanias was that they were all too easy. But OoE fixed this by being a much more difficult game. It was also more linear and focused which i thought was a breath of fresh air at the time, and i actually liked the level design. All in all, I am a sucker for all things metroidvania AND Castlevania though, so guess that helps me enjoy these games more.
Shadowman16
Member
Thanks for the tip. I have the Japanese version a try and its like night and day, its so much better, I feel like its actually playable now. I need to get the PS2 port when I have a chance, if only I could find one that was priced reasonably!
You read my mind. Difficulty and the linear levels at the beginning of OoE are the main reasons why I loved that game so much. Plus the other awesome thing is that, after all those smaller levels you still have one huge castle to explore. Loved it, even if the final boss was fairly disappointing, its the one thing I give Portrait of Ruin over OoE - is that I loved the final boss in that game, it was a nice twist on the Dracula battle.
I'm actually (slowly) playing through OoE right now. Giant enemy crab is kicking my ass right now, lol.
They are all rather the same, OoE being an outlier, but I enjoy them nonetheless.
I was playing the Dracula X Chronicles on PSP a while back. Going from the Rondo remake to then playing a bit of SotN, SotN is way easy.
They are all rather the same, OoE being an outlier, but I enjoy them nonetheless.
I was playing the Dracula X Chronicles on PSP a while back. Going from the Rondo remake to then playing a bit of SotN, SotN is way easy.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Now that I think about it, my biggest problem with the GBA and DS 'Vanias is that the music was constrained by Nintendo's garbage-ass sound hardware. Bad instrumentation, low-fi as hell, etc. There were some good compositions, but portables were the worst thing to happen to the series, especially after a game like SOTN.