Sumez

57 minutes ago, Gloves said:

You guys are at least on the right track in that it is indeed a crate. 

Oh man, so it's a game with a crate in it. That really narrows down our options.

I hope it's one of the games reviewed in this article
https://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/39.html

Yeah I was confused by the wording too. I don't think Reed meant the cartridge is bricked in the traditional sense. Just that you can't realistically complete the game on one?

That said, I'm pretty sure there must be a way to circumvent the glitch. There's no way no one has done a deep dive into exactly what triggers it (clearly it can't be *just* that action if it doesn't trigger it every time)

RNG and luck aren't the same thing. You can prepare for bad RNG.
That's like saying Tetris is luck based. And I feel like I've made that exact comparison before in a different thread.

I don't usually regret purchases, but if I end up spending too much money on something that wasn't what I thought it was, or I buy stuff that takes up a lot of place but which I end up never using, that's pretty much an immediate regret.

In recent memory, two games stand out to me, both were my own fault for not doing some basic research:

Devil May Cry Trilogy on Switch. I bought a physical copy because I wanted to own the game, and a real copy of especially the Switch port of DMC3, which by most fans is regarded the ultimate version of that game.
What I didn't realise at the time, is that the physical release only includes the first game, and the other two are download codes. Completely useless garbage.

Uncharted Waters on SNES. I've never been interested in this game on any platform. But @Reed Rothchild's insane praise of the game in his SNES Rankings list (better than TNWA? must be really fucking great) convinced me to shell out for a game that's unfortunately an import exclusive, meaning absurd shipping, customs, etc.
Buuuut it turns out there are apparently two Uncharted Waters games on the SNES, and the game he praised was the other one, which is also an import exclusive. Sucks. I'm never going to play this game.

19 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

While all of this sounds minor, it can become an issue if you have muscle memory from playing these games every year for over 25 years.

Nah man, I understand grievances like this completely. It might be a small thing, but if it affects your experience with the game, it counts.

When you said controls I imagined what you meant is that Lara moves slightly different, causing you to miss jumps etc., but sounds like it's mostly a question of input settings, and the lack of the ability to change it.
I haven't played these games in decades, so it probably wouldn't bother me - but it would bother me if I knew that I was playing a game that didn't play according to how the game was originally designed, in a package advertised as the new "ultimate" way to play those three games.

On 3/30/2024 at 5:06 PM, Tanooki said:

DK is the original game, for the first four stages, so I'd think for that it counts and is an improvement too.

This is something you'd only say if you have never played the original game.

It looks like them, sure, it's a really nice homage. But it has nothing of what drives the original arcade game, it's barely the same genre.

Yeah, I don't think people beating Dark Souls without getting hit would ever be valid as an argument that the game isn't hard. Rather, the fact that it took so much practice is proof that the game is hard.

Likewise, all you're saying about Slay the Spire is that it's a challenging game with a lot to learn and improve at. Saying the game is about luck makes no sense at all given these arguments sorry.  As someone who only played through each class once or twice, and then a couple more runs to have some stabs at the heart, it was extremely clear to me that the game wasn't about luck - you don't need insane dedication to see that, IMO. That said, that level of dedication wasn't for me either.

14 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

Is there a specific supergun that you recommend? It’s my understanding there are many available. 

A supergun is really just a mapping between controller ports, power supply, and RGB+audio outputs on the arcade connector, so IMO you're not gonna get a meaningful better quality out of more expensive solutions, I guess they're just less likely to break (and some times come with extra bells and whistles you don't know if you'll ever need).

That said, depending on where you live, the stock RGB output from an MVS might not be too useful for you. If you're in Europe (or have a PVM or similar professional monitor) you can just hook it into a CRT, but if you live somewhere else or only have a HDTV that's of course a challenge.

I wouldn't want to invest in a supergun with any built in video encoding, however, as you're always gonna get a better and more future-proof result with an external box.
For example, if you get one that outputs component or s-video instead of standard RGB, that's not gonna help you with a HDTV that needs HDMI input - that's just gonna result in more useless conversion steps and a slightly lower quality.
Instead I'd use a RetroTink or OSSC for lag-free HDMI upscaling - this is something that any video game nerd with an interest in old-school console hardware should probably have at this point anyway, unless they are still hauling a bunch of CRTs around.

And if you do intend to hook it up to a CRT, but don't have the option of an RGB input, there are also cheap s-video or component encoders out there you can get. These should all be lag-free, so no worries there.

I'm sorry, this ended up sounding a lot more convoluted than it needs to be. You probably already know how to deal with RGB video.

MVSX is really cool because it looks like a classic red Neo Geo cabinet, but it's actually quite space effecient and can fit into many discreet locations.

BUT it really is "just" emulation. It's an emulated Neo Geo on a modern flat LCD. You get the exact same experience out of just booting up MAME on your PC, except that comes with a bunch of other advantages as well. The big distinction to me between going the MVSX route or MAME is whether it's important to you that you own the games legit (and even then, every MVSX setup I've seen, has been loaded with pirated roms anyway, so they could play any Neo Geo game )

Like @glazball said, if the goal is merely just "playing the games", emulation is in many ways the "ideal" way. At least if minimal extra setup and zero money spent are important factors to you. A MVS system itself isn't too expensive, but a few games can be a bit spicey at this point.

Of course, this depends a lot on how you look at this. I rarely play emulated games at all, and if I'm interested in a system, and not just curious about a few individual games, getting the actual system means a lot to me. I also prefers playing these sorts of games on at least somewhat original setups, ideally on a CRT. Personally, I play all my Neo Geo games on my Astro City cabinet, and I wouldn't want it any other way. This may matter less to another person.

Also, if you're considering emulation but want to keep it legal, the Neo Geo Arcade Archives series released across all modern console platforms, offer a vast majority of the best Neo Geo games at this point, available to purchase individually at a ridiculously low discount price.

There's a lot of things to criticize Facebook for, but your account getting hacked over and over might be a "you" problem. I've never seen it happen to anyone who didn't click something dumb  

On 3/22/2024 at 7:52 PM, TDIRunner said:

The biggest issues is that the "classic controls" are not the same as the original game.  They are very similar, but not exactly the same, and I have absolutely no idea why.

What is the difference?

I've heard lots of praise for the remaster, but haven't seen anyone mention this before.

On 4/2/2024 at 10:42 AM, Brickman said:

I’ve always heard good things about Kiki Kaikai (known as Pocky & Rocky in the west) but have never gotten around to playing it. I was excited to give this one a go but was disappointed to discover the GBA game was poorly received. Still, I had to see for myself if that was indeed true. Unfortunately, it was. 

To be fair, you could have played the first SNES game, or even better the new remake/sequel from Tengo Project which is phenomenal. You didn't hear good things about Kiki Kaikai because of the GBA game  

I guess I need to bump this one up my backlog. Got a physical copy sitting around

I remember people getting the Saturn port of Duke3D just to play this game:

IIRC a secret code on the title screen or some such thing

On 4/1/2024 at 7:27 PM, a3quit4s said:

Howdy do folks! Usually I post in the water cooler but I thought this might warrant a discussion. Neo Geo is way out of my league of knowledge and rather than Google myself to death I thought it might be fun to get some opinions of our esteemed members. 
 

So what say you? What is the best way to go about playing Neo Geo games in 2024? Emulate? AES vs. console modded MVS? Some sort of mini console? The best way may include more expensive options which I am not opposed to but I’m also probably not interested in trying to collect every game. Maybe just play some bangers? I can mod consoles no problem so is an AES with UniBios the way to go?

MVS is absolutely the way to go, as it has been since forever. Games aren't as dirt cheap as they have been, but compared to how much NES and SNES games, etc. have gone up, MVS isn't too far removed, and the motherboard ("console") system itself is still super cheap because they are so ubiquitous.
There are a few really cool titles that'll set you back over $100, but the majority of interesting games can be acquired for less, including every Metal Slug lower than 4 (ie. the good ones).

Compare AES games, most of which will set you back $1000 or more. 

If you're going with an AES console, definitely get a cart adapter. But honestly unless you really want your setup to look sleek, I'd just get a single-slot MVS motherboard and hook it up to your TV with a cheap supergun - no reason to modify it right off the bat IMO, and while a unibios is cool, it's by no means mandatory - I had my neo geo for nearly two decades before I got one.
Also, the RGB output from an MVS is better than what you get from an AES anyway.

Can't really argue with this show's peak era.

Looking back at some of the most memorable episodes (which is nearly every episode from that era), it's actually unbelievable just how much wit and creativity worked its way into The Simpsons - it's truly like nothing else, despite seemingly not really doing anything to visibly distinguish itself from its peers. It's not trying to be weird or edgy, it's not over-the-top joke-heavy, or based on strange ideas and gimmicks. It's just really well written!

It's remarkable, honestly.

Easy 10/10

None of these games are in the MegaDrive's top 4 haha  

Contra is pretty good tho

I missed both the top 16 and top 8 votes since you posted and ended both of them during the easter holidays. This thing is moving too fast.

I'd say '75 is right at the verge of where this sort of counter-culture was still considered rebellious.

That said, the mid-to late 70s was also the point in time where any young artistic output was expected to embrace that same sort of rebellious nature. If you were in a band and you wore nice clothes and had a haircut short enough to see your ears, you were considered the outsider.

On 3/27/2024 at 8:17 PM, glazball said:

I'm quite surprised to not see any mentions of Parodius Da! (or any other Parodii) yet.

Seconded. Parodius was the absolute first thing that came to my mind when I saw the thread title! It should be anyone's.

On 3/25/2024 at 6:46 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

In a world where Turtles in Time exists, Hyper Stone Heist isn't that good.  I said it.

In a world where <any good beat'em up> exists, neither Turtles beat'em up is particularly good 

Is there any way to purchase the Game Boy version outside of MegaCat? Ideally European distribution

jesus

3 hours ago, Brickman said:

I didn’t go for a 100% so maybe that‘s where the difference is.

That would definitely make a difference.  Without going for 100% I find neither of the games super enjoyable (fine, but nothing extraordinary). Getting the gems is definitely where it's at, and I highly recommend it (but that also introduces a whole array of issues with 4.... more on that soon )

3 hours ago, Brickman said:

I enjoy the challenge of 1 but I overall find the levels in 2 to be more enjoyable. The environments look better and the gameplay is mixed up just enough not to feel tedious (like 3).

1 actually mixes up environment and stage themes more often than 2, which I felt was another strike against the second game, even if it's a admittedly a very minor complaint.
In the first game, each stage theme came with its own dedicated style of challenges which governed how that entire stage would play, and each of them were only repeated twice (one only appeared once, because the second occurance was canned, and reinstated in N.Sane Trilogy!). In Crash 2, most of them are used three times, which makes the game feel a bit more repetitive. 50% more to be exact

2 does look better than 1, but I think 3 feels extremely upgraded in that department. I'm not a fan of PS1 era 3D graphics in general, but Crash 3 is actually one of the few 3D PS1 games I think looks really nice.

50 minutes ago, Brickman said:

I have played all of those and 2 is the best of them all. Definitely found the right balance with 2.

I'm actually really curious why you'd think that. Do you think getting all boxes is more enjoyable when you can keep resetting at the latest checkpoint until you get them - banging your head against the wall, instead of needing to learn the stages and play well? I understand that it's probably more stress-free, but to me it just becomes tedium instead.  

Getting them all in Crash 2 really felt to me like I was just doing work, rather than playing a game. The worst part was when getting them relied on some obscure secret you couldn't possibly tell up-front, such as going to a different stage entirely and standing in an inconspicuous spot in order to get warped to the first stage, and get access to a bunch of crates there. That's just god damn weird!

Maybe it's just that I'm generally more into straight forward arcade-style video game with a gameplay focus, but I find the streamlined focus of Crash 1 way more enjoyable.

And as for all the things Crash 2 adds, I'd say 3 does the same thing, but better.