-
Posts
3,416 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
1
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Gallery
Events
Store
Everything posted by Cynicaster
-
Yeah, for the longest time I played it that way too. Then around 15 years ago I started really taking a liking to the arcade game and after you do that, IMO, the 2600 version is hopelessly dull unless you get the UFOs and the diagonal-flying asteroids in the mix to make it more challenging. It's not hard to just sit there and play indefinitely in the easy modes, which is just rather mindless and not very fun.
-
Do you know Pico-8? Here are some ports of Atari 2600 games...its fun!
Cynicaster replied to Rafa78's topic in Atari 2600
Pico-8 runs great on my Anbernic RG351MP. Pico-8 in general is a really fun idea that has been home to some really high-quality retro-styled game experiences. There are tons of ports, re-makes, and de-makes of known games as well as all kinds of all-new games. Some of the ports are of very high quality, but I almost wish those efforts would be focused on new original games rather than creating yet another way to play games we can probably play on multiple other platforms. On that note, my main "complaint" with Pico-8 is that, due to its nature, it has tons of half-cooked little programs and games which makes for a lot of junk to wade through to find the cream of the crop. I'd strongly recommend following a P8 developer named Paul Hammond, as he does outstanding and highly-polished work, including the Beamrider port pictured above. He does do mostly ports but what makes his work interesting is that he often takes liberties with the source material and adds cool new features to the games. For example, in his ports of Berserk, Demon Attack, Beamrider and others, you can get weapon upgrades which provides a bit of differentiation for his port vs. others. -
"Great" Games That You Don't Like
Cynicaster replied to scifidude79's topic in Gaming General Discussion
Yeah, definitely needs the flight yoke. I have played the game on original cabinets semi-recently at some retro-arcades I've visited. I'm a huge Star Wars fan from way back (especially Ep IV which the game is based on), I absolutely loved this game as a kid (especially the cockpit version), and I really enjoy vector games in general. But even with all of that background, this game does not hold up for me today. I still dig the vector look and the nostalgic music and voices, but none of that changes the fact that the game is nothing more than a dull rail shooter, which I find to be a pretty boring genre of game on its best day. -
I was playing that game recently on my Anbernic handheld. I remember thinking it seemed like a dollar-store "In the Hunt." Not very fair I guess, since it came before In the Hunt by at least a few years. On the cute-'em-up topic, one I played recently and actually rather enjoyed was Mamorukun Curse! on PS3. When I saw the cartoony aesthetic I had low expectations but I ended up playing for 45 minutes or so, and will happily do so again.
-
"Great" Games That You Don't Like
Cynicaster replied to scifidude79's topic in Gaming General Discussion
There would probably be a lot of these modern type games that are supposedly awesome but I would play them and say, "I'm not feeling it." I seem to have a pathological aversion to slow-burn, 100+ hour, "open world," cut-scene-heavy games that are all the rage these days. So it's more interesting for me to take stock of what games are consistent with the sorts of games I typically like, and see which "well-regarded" games don't do it for me. I'm mostly into walk-up-and-play arcade-style games from the early 80s up through the mid-90s or so. Shoot-em-ups are a favorite genre too, so if they're considered, there are games that go up into the 2010s and beyond that would be in my wheelhouse. So here are some popular ones that I don't much enjoy at all. And I realize, sometimes the problem is simply that you don't give a game enough of a chance, and you end up feeling like you don't like it simply because you're dying too quickly. The games below are ones I have actually tried to like (or even used to like when I was a kid) but I just don't find to be much fun. Galaga Moon Patrol Joust Dig Dug Mario Bros. Raiden (original, I dig many of the sequels) Gradius Simpsons Star Wars (1983, arcade) Tron Wizard of Wor Venture Gyruss Castlevania Rastan Bomberman -
Yeah, I've never been able to get into the "cute-em-ups." I guess Fantasy Zone is pretty fun, and Harmful Park is decent... but most of them are uninteresting to me. I mean, logically, I know it's just a different skin for the exact same type of gameplay seen in the usual "space ships" or "pseudo WW2 planes" fare that I enjoy. I guess it just demonstrates that these details are important to the overall experience. Music and SFX too... for me at least, these things can make or break a shooter.
-
I'm a latecomer to Ikaruga as well. I had heard about it or read about it a million times through the years but never played it until last year when I finally upgraded my crusty old MAME cabinet PC to a unit capable of running NAOMI at full speed. I was very excited to finally try this game to see what all the fuss is about. In the time since then, I've also picked up a Dreamcast and have played it on there as well (on CRT with arcade controls = lag-free win). I'm not one of those crazy 1CC shoot-em-up jedi types, but I think I'm half decent relative to most, and I really enjoy the genre as a whole. As someone who has tried literally hundreds of shoot-em-ups in the last 10 years, from big-name titles to long-forgotten curiosities buried deep within the MAME and 8- and 16-bit console archives, here is my take on Ikaruga. First of all, I absolutely love the visuals and music. I normally find the more modern 3D type visuals to be an impediment to 2D shooter games, but Ikaruga looks and sounds awesome. As for the things that actually matter - i.e., gameplay and fun-factor - the game is an acquired taste for sure. The mistake I made was, I went in with a short-attention-span mindset of wanting "just another shooter game" with immediately-obvious rules and controls. Going into Ikaruga with that mindset will only lead to disappointment... I played a few games and moved on. At some point a few months later, I was participating in a little score competition on Twitter and Ikaruga was the selected game, so I tried it again. Since I was actually trying to score as high as possible, I took the time to really figure out how the game works, and watched some expert runs on Youtube (wow, by the way). Trying the game again after this, I started to genuinely enjoy it. Getting the big bonuses from chains and the like provides that usual arcade-style rush that is addictive for me. Ikaruga will never surpass my favorite CAVE games, but it's something a little bit different from the rest and I like it a lot. My main "problem" with it is that, due to the game's nature, it doesn't shine under the conditions of casual, sporadic play. Meaning, I play a bunch of times in row and get in a groove and set my personal best score, and that's super fun. But if I go any time at all without playing the game, then when I finally go back to it for another go, it feels like I'm starting from ground zero again which is daunting and sort of deters me from playing it as much as I otherwise would.
-
Here’s my setup. Was just playing some Under Defeat on PS3 in TATE mode… it looks amazing! That bomb weapon is one of the coolest I’ve seen… utterly nukes the screen in a rolling wave of flames and smoke. This game is definitely worth a look. I believe it originated on NAOMI and Dreamcast, and the version I’ve got here on the PS3 is given the cliched “HD” designation.
-
I’ve been big into shooters for the last year or so since I built an arcade controls pedestal setup that I can move across various systems in seconds. So far, I have: 2600, NES, SMS, Genesis, PS2, Dreamcast, PS3, Wii/GC, with a XB360 coming soon. There is also an emulation PC to fill the gaps: SNES, TG16, Sega CD, Neo Geo, PS1, etc. I’ve also got both CRT and rotatable LCD for TATE action. This has introduced me to so many new (to me) shooters, especially later ones that I would not have encountered in MAME. Last night I was playing some Castle of Shikigami games and Psyvariar on PS2. Any thoughts on these games? They try to introduce new concepts like this “buzz” mechanic where you are rewarded for hanging out close to enemy bullets and hazards. Not really feeling this, at least not yet, but probably deserves a bit more of a chance before I give up on it.
-
Frostbite is a top 5 video game for me (on any system) and by my last count, I think 8 of my top 10 favorite games on the 2600 are Activision titles. That's coming from someone who had quite a collection back in the 80s; if memory serves, we had just shy of 100 games at the time we finally upgraded to a 7800 on Christmas of '87. I haven't done the math, but I'm certain that Atari and Activision were by far the best represented companies in that collection. As for how the games hold up now, there are actually several Activision games that have moved up on my list of favorites as an adult vs. what I would have said as a kid - Kaboom, Megamania, and Seaquest come to mind immediately as examples. I don't really understand the "clone" tag being applied to these games in what seems like a pejorative sense. I mean, I guess they're "clones" in the sense that they pilfered game mechanics from proven arcade games. But isn't that how the industry has always worked, and how it's grown into what it is? For example, Xevious was a groundbreaking vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up... does that detract from 1943 or Star Force on the grounds that they're just "clones" of Xevious? I don't see it, myself. Activision definitely lifted some ideas that were proven to be fun in other games, but they worked those ideas into new games built specifically for the 2600, which gave them the latitude to exclude features of the source material if they couldn't be done well, but also add new/different stuff if there was an opportunity to do so within the tight constraints of the platform. I think that's why, when I'm in the mood for some 2600 goodness in the present day, I gravitate to Activision's library of "original" games more so than Atari's port-heavy library. With few exceptions, I'm happy to leave blocky old console ports of arcade games in my childhood past and just play the real versions of those games via emulation on my MAME cabinet. Of course, that was not an option in 1983, which created a raison d'etre for the console ports that has since gone away (for me, at least - YMMV).
-
It will play Sega carts, charge your fit-bit, and have wi-fi.
-
Well yeah, clearly I'm not the target market. And I also understand that the rom-dumper method is the only viable solution in this price range. ^^ This is the part that baffles me, that there is actually a market defined by these parameters. "Here's what I need. I have a lot of Sega Genesis cartridges and I'm looking for a cheap Switch-like device that I can plug the cartridges into and pretend that the ensuing emulation provides any meaningful differences from the emulation performed by dozens of comparably-priced retro emulation handhelds, other than the fact that I have to carry cartridges around and perform the pointless ritual of inserting them into the device rather than using a slick software front-end to load the games from a tiny ROM file stored on a micro-SD card." Whatever yanks one's crank I guess...?
-
Play, Graphics, Depth or Story?
Cynicaster replied to John Van Ryzin's topic in Gaming General Discussion
Gameplay Depth Graphics Story With few exceptions I'm pretty much "exclusively retro" in my gaming tastes and that's reflected in my list here. By a wide margin, the most import thing is that the core mechanics of the game are exciting and fun, which can be achieved by simple means. For depth, IMO, the adage "more is not better" applies. There is a sweet spot. A game like Laser Blast or Space Invaders is not deep enough to maintain my interest. But throw in some interesting scoring systems and strategies and techniques that can be learned and mastered over time, and that is just the right amount of depth. Graphics have to be pretty bad to be a deciding factor in disliking a game for me, but certainly well-executed graphics can help with enjoyment. And "well-executed" doesn't mean "the higher-res and more realistic, the better." It means just what it says - well-executed for the task at hand. Great examples would be Neo Geo titles like Metal Slug and Baseball Stars - pleasing to the eye, charming, fun to look at, etc. For story, I could not possibly care less. I understand I am very out-of-touch with modern gaming so maybe there are examples where the story really elevates the game to heights that would not be possible otherwise, but I've played a few AAA titles up to the PS3 era and my take is, if I can just skip through or outright ignore every cutscene in the game and just go back to shooting things and going to certain spots on the map, then the story is inherently pointless. The absolute worst is when they try to put thick layers of story on old game styles like shoot-em-ups. I downloaded Raiden V on my daughter's Switch and the game looks nice with some nice touches, but there is this constant dialogue going on with these "background characters" and it never stops, even when you're right in the middle of playing the game. They even have a section on the right of the screen where there are transcripts of these stupid conversations, as if you can pay attention to that crap when you're trying to dodge and weave through hundreds of bullets and enemies at a time. It is so stupid, it's baffling... like, who play tested that and thought it was a good idea? -
I absolutely cannot understand what the point of this thing is. If you're just going to dump roms and emulate anyway, why not pick up an Anbernic handheld (or similar) for about the same price, and get your Genesis emulation fix that way instead? It saves you the objectively silly hassle of carrying around a box of bulky cartridges in 2024, and also enables you to emulate dozens of other platforms as well. If it were some kind of actual Genesis hardware or FPGA then - even if I personally would never bother carrying Genesis carts around with me in 2024 when emulation is so good - at least such a gadget would be doing something a bit more novel for those who want to eliminate input lag and be as authentic as possible on the go. What next? A coffee maker where you put whole beans in the top to "enjoy the experience" of doing so, while the coffee maker does nothing with those beans and brews you a cup of Folgers crystals in the background?
-
Your favourite fourth generation console
Cynicaster replied to Kirk_Johnston's topic in Classic Console Discussion
If playing habits are where you show your true colors, then I'd probably have to pick Neo Geo but I'm not going to pick Neo Geo because to me it's just not really a relevant comparison to the others on the list. I have never in my life been in the same room as a Neo Geo console (that I know of), and only associate it with the 90s arcade scene. And that price tag back then was utter lunacy. So, Genesis it is. All my gamer friends had SNES and I was the guy with the Genesis. I used to go on local BBS's and argue with people over what was better, like a moron. I think SNES is really cool to fire up once in a while and I definitely appreciate some of the polish that its tech made possible. The hardware scaling/rotation always looked super cool to me and, while I really enjoy the audio on the Genesis when it comes to game music, these days I find lots of the sound effects abrasive and annoying on Genesis compared to SNES. The Turbografx is super cool too. I didn't care much for shoot-em-ups back in the 80s and 90s but I love them now, and the TG has all kinds of great stuff in that regard. Really, I could happily play any one of these consoles exclusively for extended periods and be happy. -
I’m in my 40s but I must confess I have never played a single Amiga game - on hardware, emulation, or otherwise - in my entire life. I got to thinking, maybe it’s time to add some Amiga games to my emulation setup(s). Any recommendations? My taste is as follows: - arcade-style games, score-based - shoot ‘em ups, beat-‘em-ups, run ‘n guns, arcade-y sports games, wrestling games, puzzlers - don’t care for: RPGs, one on one fighters, metroidvania, complicated sports games What games should I hunt down? Thanks
-
The Official Sega Naomi Thread!
Cynicaster replied to Cobra Strike Down's topic in Classic Console Discussion
I started exploring Naomi and Atomiswave earlier this year when I upgraded my MAME cabinet PC to something with enough power to emulate those systems smoothly. Very glad I did this as it's provided a ton of entertainment over the last several months. I really dig some of the shoot-em-ups on Naomi, such as: Ikaruga Border Down Under Defeat Zero Gunner II Triggerheart Exelica Castle of Shikigami 2 Trizeal Cannon Spike ... and others Some other interesting games Cosmic Smash (weird pseudo-futuristic 3D pong type game - pretty fun once you figure it out) Spiker's Battle (arena-style beat-em up) Heavy Metal Geomatrix (one-on-one battle in 3D environment) Virtua Tennis Power Stone (sort of like Heavy Metal but different theme) Atomiswave is neat but there isn't a whole lot on there that I'm excited about. A few I like are: Dolphin Blue (run n gun) Demolish Fist (beat 'em up - best name ever) Not a big fan of one-on-one fighters so that makes big parts of these libraries kind of outside of my realm. -
I can't believe I forgot to mention Lynx Klax - I 100% agree. Klax is on just about every 90s console/handheld there was - on lots of computers, too. It's even on some earlier consoles all the way back to Atari 2600. It's not a very complicated game so most of the versions are at least decent but for me the Lynx version is my all-time favorite. Most of the versions I've played - including on some of the more powerful systems of the lot - just don't capture the feel and sound ambience of the arcade game. The samples and voices on the Lynx are outstanding and very close to the arcade game. The one thing I don't like about the arcade game is the brick-wall of difficulty you experience after just a few screens. The Lynx version is still very challenging but it smooths out that step-change in difficulty and makes it more of a slope, which makes the game more playable and thus another rare exception of a port that I would say I prefer to play over its arcade original.
-
If you try to run the wrong version of a ROM you will get an error message that usually lists the files in the .zip that are wrong or missing. This is a tell-tale sign that you're trying to run a mismatched ROM version and it trips up countless MAME newcomers daily. To my knowledge, there is no way to reverse engineer the roms (i.e., pick through headers or whatever) to discern what versions they're compatible with which is why grabbing full verified sets is well worth the big download, just to avoid the headaches.
-
To be honest I'm not super up-to-date on where would be the best place to find ROMs because I've been using the same basic set for 10+ years and have had no need to look for any others, except for a few odds and ends as I mentioned. Again, I'd recommend you don't try to "curate" a set of games from the ground up because most sources of single games that I've ever seen do not specify what version of MAME the roms are associated with. This means that it can be a hit-and-miss affair; some will work, others will give you errors and you'll have to find a different source and try again. If you get a complete set, it will be labeled as such (i.e. MAME242_all_arcade_roms). Yes, it will be a download of a few dozen gigabytes but at least you know all the roms it contains will work on the specified version. From there, you can simply cull it down to remove the stuff you don't want. Or better yet, just keep it all and make playlists in your front end to provide quick access to your favorites.