Retro Gaming Thread

pharmakos · Mar 13, 2017

i'm seeing lots of little shops where individuals are creating them DIY style, but prices and quality are all over the damn board, and to get all the titles i want i'll have to order from like 5 or 6 shops...

aliexpress just seems super shady to me haha. i'll probably give them a shot, tho, since they're cheapest and have a big selection. i am worried about quality and accountability tho, since my alternative would be little eBay/Etsy shops which actually will be worried about even one person leaving bad feedback.

how many repros have you gotten from aliexpress elm?

Elminage · Mar 13, 2017

pharmakos said:
how many repros have you gotten from aliexpress elm?

Zero, I should've stated that from the get-go. That being said, the singles are $6 each with free shipping. Buy one or two to see if they're good and go from there. Multicarts with like 30 games are $10 shipped. My guess (JUST A GUESS) is that they are reliable for any game that doesn't use a special chip. It's not impossible that these repros are created at the same facilities that produced the original carts.

pharmakos · Mar 13, 2017

Elminage said:
My guess (JUST A GUESS) is that they are reliable for any game that doesn't use a special chip.

also gotta look out for games that use a battery to keep track of an internal clock (like Pokemon), since many repros won't have that. Pokemon is still playable without it, just berries won't grow.

i think you have inspired me to order from ali, tho, thanks man.

will let you guys know how it goes.

Tanoomba · Mar 13, 2017

I played a lot more Secret of Mana on Saturday and Sunday. While its flaws are still infuriating, I think I found my groove and have been making fairly steady progress. You pretty much just gotta take it really slow and constantly halt your progress in order to grind. Once that becomes second nature, though, the charm of the game starts to shine through.

Even though this game comes from a time of less-than-perfect translation, the storytelling is still pretty good. I love that you hear stories about a tropical paradise in the middle of a land of snow, and when you find yourself at said area you discover that it's because a villain was keeping the fire spirit trapped in a stove to heat the area, who you release to unlock your fire spells. I also love, more for its absurdity than anything else, that friggin' Santa Claus is an important character in the game, at least for one part of the story.

Related anecdote: In Santa's house you find a chest containing a spear orb. When I opened the chest and retrieved the orb, a glitch caused the chest to still appear on the ground. Sure enough, I was able to get a second spear orb, giving me a slight advantage for the upcoming areas. I'm very curious as to what will happen when I actually find the last spear orb (since it will be one more than what I'm technically supposed to be able to find), but I imagine it will be a while before I find out.

pharmakos · Apr 20, 2017

well, i went ahead and ordered some GameBoy Advance games from aliexpress.com. Final Fantasy 4-6 and Mother 3, $6 a pop. paid for them on Mar. 23rd, and got them in the mail nearly a month later, Apr. 19th. they appear to work alright, tho. got them just in time for my hospital stay starting next monday.

Nirgon · Apr 20, 2017

Edit NVM he's still bant

I have a classic arcade setup with 2100 games. I've beaten Alien vs Predator arcade, Double Dragon 2, Ninja Turtles, Marvel Superheroes and Marvel vs Capcom.

MK 2 AI right out of the gate is instant counter attack/nigh possible but I got 3 down. Endurance matches might be impossible.

NBA Jam and Tournament edition are sick and I love them.

I saw this game Xenophobe that I never played in arcade. Any suggestions? Eyeing up King of Dragons and beating MK2 for revenge.

Arbitrary · Apr 20, 2017

Tanoomba said:
I played a lot more Secret of Mana on Saturday and Sunday. While its flaws are still infuriating, I think I found my groove and have been making fairly steady progress. You pretty much just gotta take it really slow and constantly halt your progress in order to grind. Once that becomes second nature, though, the charm of the game starts to shine through.

Even though this game comes from a time of less-than-perfect translation, the storytelling is still pretty good. I love that you hear stories about a tropical paradise in the middle of a land of snow, and when you find yourself at said area you discover that it's because a villain was keeping the fire spirit trapped in a stove to heat the area, who you release to unlock your fire spells. I also love, more for its absurdity than anything else, that friggin' Santa Claus is an important character in the game, at least for one part of the story.

Related anecdote: In Santa's house you find a chest containing a spear orb. When I opened the chest and retrieved the orb, a glitch caused the chest to still appear on the ground. Sure enough, I was able to get a second spear orb, giving me a slight advantage for the upcoming areas. I'm very curious as to what will happen when I actually find the last spear orb (since it will be one more than what I'm technically supposed to be able to find), but I imagine it will be a while before I find out.

I played through back to back runs in December and I think there's spots in the game where it'll catch you up if you are behind in orbs. Like, in the castle the girl comes from you can just skip talking to the king after doing the ruins and then just straight miss out on the two orbs there. If you come back with a fully upgraded spear or sword the chests just poof.

I definitely remember as a kid having areas in the mana temple (that long ass dungeon towards the end where you have to use all the different elemental magics to get around, forget it's name) where I would get multiple chests like that. I think it was because I had missed them in other places.

pharmakos · May 8, 2017

Got my new flip top for my PS2, going to pirate so many PS1/PS2 games. Excited to finally be in a good time to track down some of those super rare classic titles... About to play Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon 2!

Lunis · May 8, 2017

I finished Suikoden 2 for the first time and I think it is vastly overrated. To many times you are just standing around in the war room or watching some boring cutscene/dialogue. I actually prefer the first one because you could wander the world more and do stuff at your own pace.

pharmakos · May 9, 2017

^both are in my list of games to play now that i'm hacking my PS2. loved Ogre Battle back in the day and Tactics style games, just never got around to Suikoden yet!

Szlia · May 23, 2017

My gigantic backlog shook on its base today as, 28 years after buying it, I finally beat Batman on NES. Never beat the 4th stage back in the days, but, with increased maturity and some advice from EndySWE who holds the 2nd best time for the speedrun of the game, the Joker got thrown off the top of the cathedral!

A very pleasant game even if there are some bullshit sections. A very kind continue system helps make it a palatable experience in this day and age. Superior visuals for a NES game along with some nice music also helps.

Siliconemelons · May 24, 2017

Got sucked back into my most recent replay of Zelda 2 that got interrupted by BOTW....

lulz botw is ezmode.

yimmien · May 25, 2017

Actraiser 2 is bullshit.

Siliconemelons · May 25, 2017

Going to trim down the number of roms on my RetroPie and set it up for my kids.

what essential SNES and NES for a 4&6 year old - they love bubble bobble - but their skill at vidyaghames as nothing compared to what I remember myself at around that age.

I am thinking just normal standards... that are simple and let them just learn... they have shit hand eye coordination with the controller - they are all touch and swipe with their ipad games.

Mario 1,2 and 3 NES
Zelda 1
Super Dodge Ball
Bubble Bobble
Kirby

???

Szlia · May 25, 2017

Fun and not too hard? Tiny Toon Adventure on SNES?

ValkyrieIATD · May 25, 2017

You run the risk of giving them Train level nightmares.

Scoresby · Jun 23, 2017

McCheese said:
The first official strategy guide I ever bought was for Secret of Mana. Pretty sure I'd have never beaten the game as a kid without it, due largely to some of the things you mentioned. I remember it was key to know exactly which kind of magic to use on each boss, because using the right one basically trivialized it, but using the wrong one made things almost impossible.

View attachment 125311

Same goes for FFIII. God I can't even count how many times I read through this bad boy:

View attachment 125312

I remember one time I was playing and had the strategy guide open on the floor next to me, and a spider was crawling on it. I slammed it shut and mashed the spider into the pages, so I was never again willing to open up to those pages.

I still have the original box and manual for Chrono Trigger that I stumbled upon a while back while moving. That smell when you open the box, lol...talk about a Pavlovian response!

This probably has been posted, but if not it's worth checking out.

Browse capcom-cps-2 games (Page 1) | Game Oldies

I was impressed by the Capcom arcade games they had: Dungeons & Dragons AND Aliens vs. Predator arcade!?, yes please!

Nirgon · Jun 23, 2017

Beat Samurai Showdown V Special Edition, Vampire Savior (Dark Stalkers 3) and Street Fighter III: New Generation. Man I love fighting games.

Holy FUCK Gill was hard.

Caeden · Jun 24, 2017

Having finished BotW, I've done an about face and left my WoW and D3 addictions slightly. Still being a filthy casual on my DK off and on, but not marathoning 5 characters.

So I've gone back to my 30 year backlog. I have owned Final Fantasy IX in disc form since maybe 2002. Never touched it. Tried using my PS3 but it looked like ass. So I've loaded the ISO on my Raspberry Pi. Plays well so far. Only about 6 hours in. Sometimes in intrigued. Sometimes the combat bores me. I have done 1, 4, 6, and 7. I think 9 may be my last FF game. I do want to give 6 a replay since I haven't touched it since the late 90's.

Up next is finishing up Arkham City and maybe doing that Wii Metroid Prime collection.

Fogel · Jun 24, 2017

The gameplay in 9 is a little weak but the story is good enough to make you want to finish it imo.

Retro Gaming Thread

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