Metalwario64

My Dad overheard me talking to my sister about the 3DS on the phone, so for my birthday, he decided to buy me the 3DS XL with New Super Mario Bros. 2. I love the system itself. I have eye problems, but surprisingly, the 3D works perfectly for me (though there's a tight viewing angle horizontally for the 3D. I really have to be sure not to move it left or right, or the 3D effect is lost). Me and my brother both agree that the 3D really helps immerse the players in the games, and he was always impressed with the 3D visuals in even NSMB2, as was I. One interesting side effect to the 3D that I initially had was that my eyes were trying to see every 2D object on my computer screen in 3D for a week or so. It was really odd, and I'd have to refocus my eyes to see them in their correct, flat ways. It hasn't happened since though. My unit also doesn't have any dead pixels, nor screen scratching issues, though it has a warmer top screen than the bottom, resulting in some clashing on all white/grayscale images, but it doesn't bother me too much, and I have had a couple of DS systems with the same problem. I find it really comfortable to hold, though I still hate the thin and flatness going on. It's more comfortable in terms of size, but I still have to have my fingers more pinched to grip it. I'm really looking forward to the XL Circle Pad Pro to rectify that. My brother also loves the system, as it corrects the issues he's always had with portables: the small screens and small size. He'd always play my DS-Lite, but after a while his hands would get cramped, and his eyes would get strained, and he says this system is much more suited to him. I'm really wanting to check out a lot of the 3DS' library, and still there are many upcoming games I'm interested in. I feel like it's still underrated in the library department, as I still see plenty of people who still claim that there are "no games" for it. I find the amount of games I'm looking towards to about the same in number to how many I was looking towards at the corresponding point in the DS' lifespan. I have other things to buy, but I'm going to slowly start building up my library of 3DS games whenever I have the cash to do so.

I got an XL on launch day, and I'm convinced the people with "scratches" on their top screen are either being rough with the system, or theirs are defective. There are two bumpers on the top of the top screen that prevent the two screens from making contact, and when I close the system, I can see a space between the two screens. Also, I've opened and closed mine tons of times, and I have no scratches at all on mine.

Has to have Wario Land 3. Best Wario game in my eyes, and is to the Game Boy Color what Super Mario Bros. 3 is to the NES. One of my favorites of all time. I know you said stuff like Super Mario Land is obvious, but a lot of people just mention the first Wario Land, and I feel the two GBC sequels are superior, especially the third. For something more obscure, Mole Mania is one off the top of my head, and maybe Adventures of Star Saver. If I think of others, I'll post them as well.

Wily 1 and 2 is definitely a really good song, and one of Mega Man 2's better tracks. However, I'm just getting sick of how prevalent and sorta overrated it has become. Any time I'm watching a video that ends up having any NES Mega Man reference at all, I can expect to hear this song, or one of it's bajillion remixes to be played. I'm growing weary of hearing it over and over again. Kinda the same thing with Mega Man 2 as a whole. I love it, but that's mostly out of nostalgia because it's the one I played back when I was a young kid. After having played 3, I definitely believe objectively that it's where the classic series really hit its stride. Though, that's not to say that Mega Man 2 is bad; it's still one of the best, but it has been surpassed I feel. Having said that, I'm not sure which I'd pick as my favorite from Mega Man 2. I can't decide between Air Man, Bubble Man, or Wily 1 and 2, despite the overexposure I've had towards it lately. Though, I think there have been better songs than the best in this game. I usually see the top MM2 songs listed as the greatest in the entire franchise, but there are better out there, in my opinion. Even Mega Man 1 had some really great tracks.

The thing is, I don't get why anyone would want to strip it away in the first place. I would only use an abrasive like Brasso or very fine sandpaper if there was heavy oxidation and other corrosive defects on the contacts that other, less destructive methods could not correct; as a last resort, in essence. icemanxp300 may be referring to heavily corroded contacts that they use Brasso on, but because I don't think it wasn't stated, I just wanted to throw that out there.

Mmmm.... Spaghetti and NES cartridge connectors.... Yum...

Yup, you're right. I was pretty tired. Forgive me.

That's a good way to ensure that system will not last in the long term. Brasso is a strong abrasive, and using it on plated contacts such as on the NES and games will strip away the plating, making oxidation a ticking time-bomb. I speak from experience too. I tried using Brasso once years ago, and it stripped off much of the gold plating on one of my NES carts, leaving me with faded, silver tinted contacts. Do not use Brasso on plated contacts on NES systems and cartridges, unless you want them to be useless in a few years. Instead, I'd recommend Q-tips with rubbing alcohol, and (preferably white) erasers. Here's information to back me up: http://nesdev.parodi...1c0aa9c8d#42565 http://www.nintendoa...&threadid=26600

If I recall correctly, that's due to a form of copy protection Nintendo instated on the classic NES series games (or just games around that time). Also, Nintendo's stock emulator used on the classic NES series is pretty useless on its own. It only supports mapper 0 games, so it only supports a small number of games. I'm not up to date on which games used what mapper, but if any games were released which used any other mapper, it was because the emulator was partially rewritten for that specific game.

Yeah, yesterday when I was at the site, there were two pages worth of threads that their servbot was duplicating every 10 minutes, and reply counts on the pages of he forum weren't updating, meaning you had to click a thread to see how many replies it actually had.

Yeah, that's a great tune. I like the c64 version the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUT12F3nzCU

Yeah. The closest used games store sells loose carts (even ones with severely ripped labels) for $20, so when I saw a good one on eBay for $20 CIB earlier this year, I had to pick it up. The game itself is in great shape (much better than the used one I got a few years ago with nasty looking brown spots on the label, which is why I wanted to get another copy). Athough the box was complete, it had the previous owner's name lightly etched in the corner of it, seemingly by a pen without ink, but you have to look at it from certain angles to see it, so I'm still pretty happy with it.

Wow... Wasn't the standard Wii + Mario Kart bundle already at $150?

Haha! I love how they misspelled Nintendo as "Nintend", and the picture is of a kid playing the original Game Boy Advance instead of the NES Advantage.

No, it is in fact, very real. The coder took a decompiled source from Super Mario, ran it through an ASM converter and ported the rest of the code by hand, so it is literally running most of the same code. It doesn't work on real hardware unfortunately... Despite a few minor glitches with background elements, a few physics problems and a non-functioning "world -1" (more than likely due to rearranged level data), it's still miles above those cheap pirated versions. Here is the original release post which is also in the Kotaku article.

Well, a YouTube user by the name of "8bitjunkies" has recorded some footage (and has a review) of the Retron 3. It is recorded off of a camera however, but you can get a general idea of the sound quality and performance at least. The only NES game he has footage of is Castlevania... and it sounds like the same old inaccurate NOAC with the square waves being switched with saw waves (incredibly noticeable on Super Mario Bros.), which would explain why Castlevania 3 won't work... If that is the case, then it boggles the mind why Hyperkin would go back to the old, outdated hardware when they just made it a point to use the latest NOAC on the FC Mobile 2, and even stated in interviews and whatnot that it would be a newer NOAC and would, in fact, play Castlevania 3... Also there are conflicting reports of the SNES button layout. Some people are reporting that the layout is unchanged, which could mean that the unit StoneAgeGamer tested may have been defective.

Oh, I see. Somehow I had completely missed that... Makes sense then in that case.

Ah, so that makes it even more curious... Maybe there is a lockout chip in the Retro Twin? Why would the Retron3 have better NES hardware, but the same SNES hardware as the RetroDuo, but the Retro Twin has better SNES hardware, but the same NES hardware? It's very strange if that is indeed the case... Also, since we know the button layout is messed up on the SNES side with official controllers on the Retron3, can you tell if the R and L buttons are at least mapped correctly? That hasn't been tested yet and I am a bit curious to see if they at least got that right.

That is really strange. The only SMRPG that has worked on SNES clones has been the earliest released version, because it doesn't check for the lockout chip. That has been the version that has worked on every SNES clone to date, so it's very strange that the same one would work on the other SNES clones, but not the Retron3...

The Genesis and NES portions may be enough to make the deal for me (depending on if Castlevania 3 is compatible). How bad is the counter-clockwise rotated SNES controller layout though (if you've tested it)? Would you say it is game-breaking, or is it operable with some getting used to? Maybe the SMRPG cart is a bit dirty, or the pins are being finicky on the Retron3. I would assume the Retron3 uses the same SNES hardware as the Retro Twin. Also, it's curious as to how the sound is worse in the Retro Twin, which has less hardware than the Retron3. Perhaps it has the same innards as the Retro Duo? Are the carts cleaned? Sometimes these clones' pins can be finicky. If the Retro Twin does have the same NOAC as the Retro Duo, or at least an updated one, then it should work. If Castlevania 3 truly doesn't work though, I may have to pass on this one...

...They rotated them counter-clockwise on the official controllers?! Just when they got my hopes up... I thought Hyperkin had learned from their mistakes with the button layout of the FC Mobile, because they made that one of the major points of the FC Mobile 2... What happened here? At this point, I might still end up getting it, because I really don't have enough space in my room to have all three systems (and my NES and SNES are stacked), but I may only buy this if the actual hardware is really good.

I don't think that it being from the same factory necessarily makes the chipset the same. The Retro Entertainment System apparently came from the same factory of the Yobo FC, yet it had a much better NOAC, one comparable to the RetroDuo and revised FC Twin (although Castlevania III didn't work on it, and still had a few other sound issues, but those were likely issues with the audio circuitry as opposed to the NOAC). If it has good Genesis and NES hardware, I will most likely buy this. I hardly have any space in my room, although I have the original NES and SNES. I can just put those into another room, and have the RetroN3 for playing these games in my room. It could also potentially make a decent Genesis placeholder, as I have yet to buy another used one since my old one was sold many years ago when I was a kid. Though I do still intend on getting one (mainly for Sega-CD support), but as it stands, it will not fit in my room, and I already have the SNES stacked on my NES which is annoying... The major reason I passed on the FC3 was the lack of official controller support, and the proprietary controllers on my GN-Twin fell to pieces on me... The outdated NOAC was just the nail in the coffin. I just hope this doesn't have the glitch of the FC-Twin where, on multiplayer games if both players press the same buttons at the same time, the system would register random buttons (which only happened on official controllers).

Wow... The biggest necropost I've ever seen... 7 years!?

What's going on here? I checked out Stone Age Gamer's website, and the GenCore and GenMobile are now delayed to October... I thought this was supposed to come out around the middle of September, and now it's coming out early October? Anyone have any idea what's going on?

If you mean by getting to the Top Secret Area, then no. But that area makes it super easy to stock up on lives and power ups however. The center [?] contains a Yoshi. Get on the Yoshi and continue re-entering the stage as many times as you want to get endless 1-ups from the Yoshi [?].