Sumez

I won one in a competition, and I think it's alright, but maybe I just didn't expect anything from a controller I'd never heard of before.

One thing I kind of hate is how it really tries to look like a SNES controller, but feels absolutely nothing like one. Like others have said, the D-pad is really weirdly stiff.

Meanwhile the SNES Mini controller feels just like the real deal.

10 hours ago, B.A. said:

That is the downside the releases like DQ11 on Switch with all the DLC and that included.  It's great that it's free, but when that stuff initially releases it's done a few months after the initial game so you get a nice break before jumping back in. Silly complaint to say out loud! I'd still take the free content vs the alternative.  

DQ11 never had any DLC

That was a bit of a unique situation, as the X360 came out around the transition from CRT to LCD or Plasma TVs. When I got mine in early 2007 (1½ year after its release), I still had a CRT - and despite obviously using RGB video, the text in Dead Rising was still completely unreadable. And Gears of War was actually a significantly worse game because you couldn't spot pickups on the ground, and it was impossible to tell friendly soldiers from the enemy.

I got a 42" plasma HD TV very shortly after, but even at the time those were still really expensive, and having a TV like that was a rare geeky thing - by far the majority of everyone would keep their CRTs for quite a bit longer. It's kind of crazy to think of just how recent and how quick the transition actually was though.

That was really two completely different TV standards, not just a question of some people using "low quality" cables (I still used analog video for my X360 in HD because the launch model didn't support HDMI), and I think by the latter half of the system's life cycle, there are probably games that would have been even more laughable on CRTs, but no one ever played them on one XD

Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that, but had forgotten it! There's an interview about it somewhere out there.

On 12/1/2019 at 12:39 PM, Memblers said:

I play NES pretty much exclusively on CRT.  From what I understand, PAL artifacts are completely different from the NTSC ones.  Patterns that are OK on NTSC might look bad on PAL, and vice-versa. 

Colors look different, but the artifacts are roughly the same.

But NTSC colors already look different on every TV (and every emulator) as it is, so there's that.

Why even consider TG-16 when you have the PC Engine? Exactly the same hardware, but a much bigger, more expansive game library.

One of my favourite console platforms for sure, but what they saw released in the US was an embarrassingly small subsection of what it had to offer.

On 11/30/2019 at 3:27 AM, CasualCart said:

would you say the Ocean port is different enough to seek out as well?

Absolutely. I'd say you gotta be appreciative of NES jank, or a big fan of the game in the first place, but that also goes for the US/Jap version. They definitely feel like very different games.

Personally I'm a huge fan to the point where it's my favourite arcade game of all time, and I have yet to play a home port that accurately represents the game (jury is still out on the PCE port - I own it, but most of my consoles are hidden behind a construction mess at the moment). So with that in mind I find it more interesting to play something that is drastically different.

I've worked a lot with typography professionally, and I think there's a point to be made about lowercase characters not working as well in a fixed width font (but VWF on NES is typically more of a hassle than it's worth, or not technically feasable due to CHR space restrictions)

Both screenshots look "fine", but objectively I'd say the one on the right is definitely more intuitively readable. I think keeping it as a setting in your game is a nice approach though.  

16 minutes ago, Mugi said:

I mostly made this topic to see how other people actually making content approach it, Do they care and to what extend.

For what it's worth, I'm making NES content too.   I actually have a lowercase font of my own that I'm planning on replacing, I just don't feel like drawing text, that's boring XD.

When making an NES game specifically, it's definitely relevant to consider composite artifacts, at least on text and other central UI elements. Especially due to the "jitter-effect" build into the NES, which gives its composite output a bit of a unique look.
But you also have to be real and realise that most people will play your game on an emulator, and you'd be catering to a niche market, for the sake of authenticity. But hey, that's what homebrew is all about, right? That said, I wouldn't go out of my way to consider composite artifacts for every piece of graphic.
I also wouldn't worry about RF. RF signal is a real shitshow, and anyone willingly subjecting themselves to that is asking for it themselves  Besides, the artifacts introduced from that is similar to composite.

On consoles with a higher fidelity, like the SNES, there is typically less of an issue, as larger color palettes usually makes graphics stand out more clearly. Also, I'd assume a lot people who are hardware-nerdy enough still play SNES games on an original console are probably using better quality cables than composite, as both RGB and S-video are supported out of the box.

As a side note, I think your text actually looks better in caps, even on the emulator screenshot.

IMO any game that's short, fun, and doesn't require a lot of strategy and thought is replayable to me. True replayability is probably one of the biggest qualities a video game can have.

As someone who has a huge collection of games, it's really hard to justify playing the same game over and over, when you have so much else that "you need to get to", and I can imagine a lot of people in here feel the same. That makes it really hard to judge a game's true replayable qualities, and in turn the game's genuine potential, which is kind of sad.

But I'd say these are probably the games I've seen myself returning to the most:

• Tetris
• Super Mario Bros.
• Castlevania
• Rainbow Islands
• Bubble Bobble
• Ninja Gaiden

Master System, PC Engine, Saturn, what? This thread has a really funny standard for a console "not succeeding"  I was expecting stuff like 3DO and N-Gage.

I mean sure, if you look specifically at the American TurboGrafx, that was a bit of a failure, but that's kind of no surprise with the absurdly lacking game library it had compared to the Japanese version. I'm a huge fan of the PC Engine, but the US library just isn't good, outside of a couple of bangers (Ninja Spirit and Parasol Stars)

On 11/24/2019 at 6:40 AM, Tanooki said:

I find the Ninja Warriors PCE game is more fun in ways than the SNES one.

Well that's a take I've never seen before. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what makes the original Ninja Warriors better, let alone the PCE port.

The two games are barely comparable, but I always found the original crude and repetitive, so I'd love to hear a different approach.

On 11/23/2019 at 5:49 AM, Californication said:

I got Streets of Rage 2 and Ghouls N' Ghosts from GameStop last week. They are both as good as people say. To get back to Streets of Rage 2, can anyone suggest any other Beat 'Em Ups that are complex like Streets of Rage 2?

SkyBlazer is a good game IMO, but comparing it to SOR2 and GnG is unfair.  SkyBlazer has always been more of a "hidden gem" type game.

I often see the former is commonly namedropped as "the best beat'em up ever", which is high praise, while the latter is a port of what is one of my favourite arcade games of all times (it's really a tight squeeze between GnG, Rainbow Islands, and TGM2).

On 11/23/2019 at 5:49 AM, Californication said:

I'm not a big fan of Beat 'Em Ups in general. I own maybe five. Most beat 'em ups feel repetitive, but this game doesn't do that for me. You gotta be on your toes. Theres a counter to being thrown, the rear attack for people behind you,  debating whether its worth losing life to do a power move. The game really has a lot of different ways to approach getting through the level. 

I've thought about getting King of Dragons, Final Fight, and maybe Ninja Warriors, do any of these offer conplex mechanics?

I'm kind of in the same boat. Very few beat'em ups ever grab me, but when I play one I like, I really like it.
The SNES sequel to The Ninja Warriors (simply Ninja Warriors in the west, The Ninja Warriors Again in Japan, or Ninja Saviors in its recent remake for Switch, PS4, etc) however is probably the one that clicked the most to me. It's very good. Very very very good, and another contender for one of the best (or THE best) in the genre.
It's single plane which is unique, but something I really like, since it forces to to approach every enemy head on, and always gives you perfect feedback on what you're dealing with. Every enemy type is very unique, so you constantly need to react to what you are facing.
There are three playable characters. Ninja and Kunoichi are definitely the way to go if you want complex mechanics (the third character makes it very easy to just cheese through the game). Ninja is huge, heavy, and based on crowd control and throws which IMO is the most fun way to play the game. Kunoichi is the agile character who jumps around and can essentially bounce back and forth on enemies without even touching the ground.

Also the game looks like a million, one of the most beautiful things on the SNES. If possible, get the Japanese version as the western releases completely cut out one enemy type. Or just get the remake, which adds a lot to the game.

Mighty Final Fight is a great "my first beat'em up" too. For an NES game, it's incredibly good at recreating the tight controls of the original arcade game, and though there's sadly no two-player options, you can actually play as all three characters unlike the original SNES port. Of course, this is not a port, but entirely its own game.
Like Ninja Warriors Again, it's focused a lot on grabbing and throwing enemies, and reacting to what constellation enemy types you are facing at any time. There are only ever two enemies on screen at time, but they are randomly picked, and even have a random health bar that you need to consider also. Very entertaining game.

Capcom's two Dungeons & Dragons games are also a great choice if you think beat'em ups suffer a lot from repetition. These constantly throw new enemies at you, and you rarely have to move very far forward before you're facing another boss fight.
Though very playable single player, it's designed very much with co-op in mind, with different characters having very clear advantages and weaknesses. Despite being action games, they are designed with the Dungeons & Dragons rules in mind, in terms of what each character can do, and even the best strategies for several boss fights. The game is very based on resource management and tactics, as well as fighting-game like movesets and blocking.

15 hours ago, MeganJoanne said:

but the game never allows it because he's special, yeah like every unlikable character.

Skyrim could learn a lot from Morrowind...

Jesus, I just bought Arcade Edition. Capcom promised they wouldn't do this thing this time around, but of course they did it anyway

2 hours ago, CMR said:

Rainbow Islands has a US release.  I have it

The US Rainbow Islands is the Taito version, similar to the Japanese version (but with different music).

The European release is the Ocean port, which IMO surprisingly both looks and plays better. It's more similar to the original arcade version (though it lacks the last three "hidden" islands), while the Taito one changes up a lot of stuff, and has completely different stages, enemies and boss fights. It's almost like a "sequel".
Unfortunately Ocean's NES port isn't anywhere near as spot on as their Amiga one though. They must have had a different guy working on it or something.

I've beaten one loop, never two.

7 minutes ago, Hangoin said:

That's witchcraft! Tell me your secrets!

1. Ideally you want to beat them before they start moving, this is only doable for some of the arremers that start out sitting on the ground (such as the one on stage 1). You need to jump and land a certain distance from them, not too far away, and then spam your attack at them (ideally the dagger, but lance works) before they get to take off. This will partially stunlock them, getting in enough attacks to kill them before they get out. To spam attacks faster, constantly switch between tapping the attack button and moving forward to cancel the attack "cooldown". The last part is useful for several bosses, too, as well as the ogres/pig men.

2. If you do get into a fight with them, don't try to go aggressive on them. You can attack them to force them away from you, but you probably won't connect. Instead wait for them to land on the ground and walk back and forth a few times. After a while they'll rush straight at you, which is where you want to spam attacks at them, since they won't ever dodge while doing this. This is very similar to how you deal with them in Super Ghouls n Ghosts.

In general each arremer in the game is different due to their placement, and practice usually finds a way to consistently deal with each of them. The one at the halfway point of stage 3 took me a while to grasp. Basically I always start by walking right under him as he flies in.

41 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

Although some enemies and their attacks are cheap enough to be aggravating.

Arremers are kinda the newbie bridge of GnG. There's a trick to beating them, in fact there are a few tricks. But yeah, if you don't know them, I can see them being aggravating.

Oh cool. Now I know about Bishojo Control

Disclaimer:

The Messenger is 0% like Ninja Gaiden unless you consider having a ninja as the protagonist enough to qualify, in which case it's 1% like Ninja Gaiden. It's been riding a lot on the NG comparisons since seeing stills from the game makes it very easy to assume that, but if you pick up The Messenger expecting a modern Ninja Gaiden, you'll be severely disappointed.

To be honest, I really don't think it's like any of those three games. It's primarily centered around in-air movement tech (which is occasionally clumsy due to dumb button configurations), exploration and basic puzzle solving. Hell, it's probably closer to Celeste.
It's a pretty cool game IMO, but don't expect anything outside of the typical modern indie platformer semi-metroidvania. We stil have yet to see any new 2d action game take up the Ninja Gaiden mantle.

7 hours ago, mbd39 said:

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Red Arremer from Ghosts n Goblins unless I missed it.

They're great.

So are hammer brothers, lakitu, and angry suns. What, do you want enemies in video games to not try to kill you?

I think there are a few misunderstandings in your writeup, but the essence of it is correct: There are different standards which causes the games to run at different speeds depending on which console is running it.

Since it's not the intended topic of this thread, and since several people asked about my list, I'll start a new one outlining the important difference between PAL/NTSC consoles and releases.

That's great news, really! I'm glad I managed to snatch a boxed copy before the price hike, but I'd prefer if other people get the chance to own a copy, too.

I wonder if the re-release of Metal Storm will have a similar effect.

You just plug it in via an adapter same as any other Famicom cartridge.
You need a mod to get the expansion audio though, same as Gimmick, Akumajou Densetsu, etc.

That's how I played FDS games initially before getting my AV Famicom  I'm sure there are people who have made it work on a front loader too, but you'd need quite a unique adapter.