Retro Gaming Thread

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Noodleface

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So here's the deal. The other day I was at my father's house and he kept going on and on about how they're selling these Atari units at stores now so people can play all the retro games:

Atari Flashback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It had me thinking, since he was talking about them so much this would be an awesome christmas gift. Unfortunately when I read the reviews.. awesome wasn't really the word they were getting.

I started looking around and it appears that the business is a lot bigger than I ever thought. There's a sega genesis one, one that plays NES/SNES, and everything in between. Some require cartridges, some have games pre-loaded and you can use an SD card with more games. It's kind of crazy.

Can anyone recommend anything above anything else? I'm really looking for something that will either have games on it already or allow for some sort of USB/SD card to put more games on. I originally saw the Atari but thought that anyhing with Sega Genesis would be great too, unfortunately the Sega Genesis version that I saw doesn't allow you to save your games (WTF).

Any ideas?
 

Profundis

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My sister-in-law got one of these for my kids last Christmas (Genesis version). They play the shit out of my Genesis Collection on PS3 so she figured they'd enjoy this.

I can come back later and add the exact model/brand she got, but it was pretty much a giant piece of shit. I think it advertised something like, 60+ games on it and half of them were not even licensed Genesis games. It stated as such on the box, and the list of actual Genesis games was kind of underwhelming (this isn't something I probably would have purchased myself, for what it's worth) and I think my kids played it for maybe 2 days or so. Also, the controller recognition was really sporadic.
 

The Master

Bronze Squire
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Emulators. They even sell USB converted classic controllers if you want that original feel (or you can do it yourself, wiring diagrams and youtube tutorials abound).
 

Lodor_sl

shitlord
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0
Just get a ouya or mojo(comes out soon and is better and more expensive though) then just dump every emu/rom known to man on them and play on your tv.
 

Noodleface

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Why not just go the emulator route?
My father is pretty technically unsavvy, so that route is probably not a good option.

One thought I had was to make an emulator box out of a Raspberry Pi or something, but that's far too much effort given the time frame. I wanted a set-top box he could just plug in and go.

Ouya sounds cool but $99 for some old video games isn't really worth it.
 

The Master

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My father is pretty technically unsavvy, so that route is probably not a good option.

One thought I had was to make an emulator box out of a Raspberry Pi or something, but that's far too much effort given the time frame. I wanted a set-top box he could just plug in and go.

Ouya sounds cool but $99 for some old video games isn't really worth it.
There are programs that act as front-ends for emulators, so all you see is system > pick system > scroll through games > pick game > click on game > loads emulator, loads, game, play game. Nothing complicated to use. Can be time consuming to set up if you're running 12 emulators and you need to download all the game packs and point everything to the right files. But it can be configured to load on boot, so it can be plug&play from your Dad's perspective.

GameEx - Gaming Front End and HTPC Software
is one, though it is also an HTPC front-end which is more functionality than you probably need. Emuloader is another one. There are a quite a few.

GameEx 2012 - YouTube

Video of Gameex in action.
 

Caeden

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Looked and all I found was a screenshot thread. Seems there should be one here. Two I loved growing up:

rrr_img_132124.jpg


Act raiser was seriously under rated. All those little dudes worshipping you. And the Angel. It was like Sim City meets Thor or something.

And this:

rrr_img_132125.png


So many fucking arguments when someone's ship was pounced. It was just the local people on the BBS playing. My tiny rural county didn't have internet yet in 95-97.
 

Tanoomba

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A place to reminisce about the classics. NES, SNES, old PC games, it's all good. Screen shots and videos welcome.
 
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Tanoomba

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Played through Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout yesterday.


It's got a reputation for being a lousy game but I remember quite enjoying it as a kid and, playing it again, it's not half bad. The graphics are decent with some great color use, although the Loony Tunes sprites are hit-and-miss (some look great, some look like ass). The controls themselves are pretty awkward, with your main attack being surprisingly difficult to use for being a giant mallet. Still, with a bit of patience you get used to it.

Although there are a variety of settings to platform in, the game does seem to drag on at times. There are a couple of spots with cheap deaths (including some leaps of faith), but if you're halfway competent you can stockpile lives with the bonus stages. The music is not terrible, but it's not great either and can get repetitive.

Despite its shortcomings, it's simple and fun and engaging for what it is. Maybe I'm a sucker for platformers, but I think BBBB is better than people give it credit for.

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Tanoomba

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Played through most of Jackal last night.


Great little game. Love the attention to detail. Everything looks crisp and clear and polished. Running over little people is a joy. I especially like how the rescue chopper flies in from behind you before picking up the POWs you rescued, then flies off ahead before looping back and returning. It's a small thing, but definitely adds to the immersion.

My main complaint is that you've got to get really close to the edge of the screen before it starts scrolling. That's actually where most of the game's challenge comes from, as you are given very little time to react to an enemy who just appeared very close to you.

Otherwise, it's a really solid game that's refreshingly short. Holds up really well.

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pharmakos

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plok

Bought this for $8 at a flea market the other day. Loved it as a kid. It is way harder than I remember, I must have relied on infinite lives via Game Genie when I played it as a kid. Really great game tho, one of the better SNES non-first-party platformers for sure.
 

Djevel Innenfor

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plok

Bought this for $8 at a flea market the other day. Loved it as a kid. It is way harder than I remember, I must have relied on infinite lives via Game Genie when I played it as a kid. Really great game tho, one of the better SNES non-first-party platformers for sure.

You know, I found going back through my old NES and SNES libraries....tons of shit was way harder than I remember it being. Did my skills degrade? Am I less of a poopsocker than I was? I struggled trying to beat ninja gaiden, and I breezed through that when I was a kid.

Ok that was a total lie, shit was always brutal haha.
 

Tanoomba

ジョーディーすれいやー
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You know, I found going back through my old NES and SNES libraries....tons of shit was way harder than I remember it being. Did my skills degrade? Am I less of a poopsocker than I was? I struggled trying to beat ninja gaiden, and I breezed through that when I was a kid.

Ok that was a total lie, shit was always brutal haha.

Ninja Gaiden was always ridiculously difficult. I can image a really patient kid getting good at it if he has no other games to play, but it's not something you can just put a couple of hours into and beat it.

ninjagaidenbirdemic.gif
 
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Vandyn

Blackwing Lair Raider
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You know, I found going back through my old NES and SNES libraries....tons of shit was way harder than I remember it being. Did my skills degrade? Am I less of a poopsocker than I was? I struggled trying to beat ninja gaiden, and I breezed through that when I was a kid.

Ok that was a total lie, shit was always brutal haha.

I know for me my twitch/controller skills have degraded a lot over time, I just don't have the response time like I used to anymore. Some of that is age and some of that is being exclusive to PC (keyboard/mouse) for the past 10 years.
 

Djevel Innenfor

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I think part of my "skill" at NG was memorizing enemy positions and where they appeared, what attacks they would use. Tricks like getting the orange shuriken that would return and timing my jumps and falls so that it would endlessly boomarang around me and I never had to spend any resources till the boss. I did that for every level in that game.

Holy shit that's autistic as fuck now that I think about it
 
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Tanoomba

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I think part of my "skill" at NG was memorizing enemy positions and where they appeared, what attacks they would use. Tricks like getting the orange shuriken that would return and timing my jumps and falls so that it would endlessly boomarang around me and I never had to spend any resources till the boss. I did that for every level in that game.

Holy shit that's autistic as fuck now that I think about it

tumblr_m67isgjZAW1r0ralmo1_500.gif
 
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Kedwyn

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Never played bithday bunny, shocked because I would of eaten that up (still would).

Jackal was an awesome game.
 
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pharmakos

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My friend's brother holds the speedrun world record for Ninja Gaiden 2... This isn't his record run, but here's a really quick run he did for charity, starts at about 6:45

 
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