Retro Game Stuff

[Mr. Analog]

Just wanted to start a thread about retro gaming since that's a thing I've gotten into recently.

So holy cow what a difference cleaning game cartridge contacts can make (also holy cow it's amazing how dirty they can be). I powered up my N64 for the first time in probably a decade and it had a few rough starts but came back like a champ, likely I need to clean it a bit more but for the most part it was running well. Only one game had any real problems (ironically the one I wanted to play the most; Mischief Makers) I cleaned all the gunk out of the contacts this morning while in a meeting so I'll give it another shot this afternoon.

I did the same thing last night, I have a Super Famicom copy of Final Fight 2 and it just never worked turns out the contacts were in super bad shape (the previous owner was a heavy smoker - I actually had to get rid of the smell of the box by putting it in a container with baking powder for a few days) now that I've cleaned it it's working great too.

I recently learnt that the Super Nintendo was S-Video capable (who knew?) so I bought a cord off Amazon which should be coming today. The upscaler looks great and does a really good job but apparently hooking up thru S-Video is a big upgrade from composite. I also learnt that SNES, N64 and GameCube all used the same video connector and all support S-Video... I'm regretting buying a composite only cable switch now (ah well, the NEO-GEO is composite only so when I get everything working again and hooked up it'll have to be composite signals for everybody)

I'm really looking forward to getting the NEO-GEO fixed, what a system! It plays great and looks just like the arcade (and works great with the Framemeister) I have managed to find a lot of great deals on games - many of my favorites are pretty reasonably priced (in comparison to more rare / wanted titles) collectively I've spent about $1200 but considering I've got a system, half a dozen games, a memory card and a second controller I'm not too put out. Now if I want to get some of the harder to find / awesome titles I'll have to really consider if paying more than $500 for a game is really worth it (look up Garou Mark of the Wolves or any Metal Slug game for NEO-GEO AES on eBay and despair).

Once I get all my gear set up proper I'll invite you guys over for some games (maybe Halloween?) but either way I'm drowning in retro games ... and loving it

[Lazybones]

What I find interesting playing some older games with my kids is how some games are great and stand the test of time, where others seem SO shallow in comparison to current titles that are evolutions of their game mechanics etc.

For example the Bomber man games on the SNES hold up very well but if you play too much it does where thin. Comparing to the version we have on the Xbox 360 it is mostly just better graphics and more items.

However many side scrolling brawlers from the Arcade or Console seem to be build exclusively around difficulty (quarters / continue limit) with very little variation in game play / rewards during play.

Racing games ether have great mechanics and are great regardless of graphics or are very meh...

[Mr. Analog]

I think one of the things I like about the NEO-GEO games so far is that they hard code the number of credits you get (all the games I have are set to 4 by default) most of these games are best played 2 player but even against the CPU there's enough of a challenge with the limited continues to keep me going. I honestly forgot how hard some of these games actually are until I started playing 'em (and of course many of them have "MVS" arcade difficulty settings).

I can't imagine how to beat Metal Slug, NAM '75 or Mutation Nation on just 4 continues (apparently with the memory card it can store which level you made it to and you can continue from there but still)

As for games aging I was genuinely surprised at how muddy N64 graphics look now. Back in the day they were bright and crisp but now, 20 years on, they don't even hold a candle to the likes of Mario Odyssey. That said my SNES games are still bright and play well, something about pixel art that just lasts...

That's why I was a bit surprised by the whole PlayStation Classic announcement, some PS1 games have aged really well (Castlevania Symphony of the Night is still SO GOOD) but others ... echh not so much

[Lazybones]

N64 and PS1 have crazy low texture resolutions.. They where always muddy but don't forget that CRT TVs they were designed for barley output 480i for the most part, and the interlacing future covered these issues.

[Mr. Analog]

So true, I remember the colours in Mario 64 being a lot more vivid than this. I'm so used to watching people play emulated N64 nowadays

[Tom]

I found the colors look pretty good on my setup, perhaps things are getting enhanced, I'm not sure. Or I just don't have very high expectations for these old machines? Take a look at the images I posted in the other thread, the picture only looks better in person.

[Mr. Analog]

I found the colors look pretty good on my setup, perhaps things are getting enhanced, I'm not sure. Or I just don't have very high expectations for these old machines? Take a look at the images I posted in the other thread, the picture only looks better in person.

I was saying only for N64, everything else looks as bright as it ever was.

[Tom]

I found the colors look pretty good on my setup, perhaps things are getting enhanced, I'm not sure. Or I just don't have very high expectations for these old machines? Take a look at the images I posted in the other thread, the picture only looks better in person.

I was saying only for N64, everything else looks as bright as it ever was.

Oh. I see. Not sure really. I don't have any screens of my n64, but I believe I had a svideo cable for it last time I set it up, but I'm not sure now. I was looking through all those cables last weekend as I was trying to set it up, and only saw one compatible cable, and I think it might have been composite. And I need two. *sigh*. I need to go through all my gear again. I might have had to throw away one of those cables too. Darn cats (sick cats )

I really don't have a lot of pre-existing expectations anymore. It's been so long since I played anything on them for a length of time that'd make me remember anything like that. At most it'd be SNES SimCity, FF6 and FF7. And maybe some Darius Twin. Played that a lot with a friend. Probably the only side scrolling shooter I didn't suck terribly at. Oh, and of course some Clay Fighter, and DidyKong Racing.. Played those a fair bit.

[Mr. Analog]

Darius Twin! Now there's a classic! Nice

I've been addicted to Final Fight 2 for a little while now, it's not as relentless as Final Fight was but still fun to fire up and play. Same thing with Sonic Blast Man 2 I also have a couple Parodius games that are just too funny not to play

It's been interesting going through the old collection and trying games that I haven't touched in ages and seeing what's good still and what's ... less good. Some games still hold up incredibly well, Castlevania IV and Mega Man 7, Mario World and the like all super good. Some games I feel like I'm better at playing as an adult than when I was a kid (CYBERNATOR) all I know is that retro gaming is super fun.

If I can get that NEO-GEO fixed and N64 cleaned out I'll be a happy camper!

[Tom]

I'm sadly missing some games we had as kids. Not sure where they all went, but I presume some got "traded" or "lent" out and never made it back. Ah well.

[Lazybones]

I'm sadly missing some games we had as kids. Not sure where they all went, but I presume some got "traded" or "lent" out and never made it back. Ah well.

We had the N64 kicking around for a while, I don't recall what happened to it however. The last time I remember seeing it was when we lived in Edmonton in the house on the corner lot.

[Mr. Analog]

Wow what a difference S-Video makes on the look of games, now I know how people get really good capture out of their SNES, the old composite cable I was using was also in pretty rough shape and wasn't shielded very well which washed out the image quite a bit more than I expected. I'm genuinely impressed.

I also got replacement controllers because while the old controllers work great after a good cleaning the cables are kinda short. Highly recommend the CIRKA S91 SNES controller, nice solid feel good button action for the most part and decent cabling. My only complaint are the L & R buttons are kinda limp and the connector doesn't click in as nice as the actual SNES controllers do. Overall pretty good though.

[Tom]

I'm sadly missing some games we had as kids. Not sure where they all went, but I presume some got "traded" or "lent" out and never made it back. Ah well.

We had the N64 kicking around for a while, I don't recall what happened to it however. The last time I remember seeing it was when we lived in Edmonton in the house on the corner lot.

I was given the N64 at some point after you guys got the Cube.

I'm just missing old NES and SNES games sniff. There might be a missing N64 game, but it'd be from before you guys had it. So no worries

[Lazybones]

NES and SNES emulate very well on retropie.

[Mr. Analog]

I need to document my library but I'm sure I can lend you some games if you are interested.