Retro Gaming Thread: Free of Microtransactions

[Scoops]

Recently, I've gotten into collecting retro consoles and games, and thought it would be nice to have a thread to talk about games from previous generations and consoles.

[Paul]

Yars' Revenge on the Atari 2600 is excellent.

[dirtyoldman]

I love the old 8 bit 16 bit retro video games and arcades. It's the part of Twitter I like being part of and isn't as toxic as the rest of the place.

I like that there's games being released that using the retro asthetics such as Darkside Detective and Rise of the third power.

And yes, f*** microtransactions and loading times and that bull shit.

[thehottag]

I subscribe to a magazine called Retro Gamer, who cover the entire retro gaming scene (from old classics, to new games for old consoles, to what the news was this week in the '80s/'90s/'00s). The only bone of contention is what counts as 'retro', as some of the older readers are upset the likes of the PS2 are included. Does beg the question though - when does 'retro' begin?

[castletonsnob]

Do you think AVGN should do an episode on Famiclones? They're an interesting part of video game history.

For those who don't know, Famiclones are knockoff versions of the Famicom, made in parts of the world where the Famicom wasn't as popular as it was in Japan or the NES was in the US.

[Mozenrath]

Replayed Phantasy Star IV last week. Still really holds up, outside of some things I could see modern gamers getting annoyed about (there aren't in-game descriptions for spells/skills, leading to either trial and error or reading a guide, plus you have limited item slots, encouraging you to not hoard stuff you do not need or be overly precious with healing items).

If anyone does play, a word of advice: This is an RPG where buffs you place on your party are very useful, like Saner to buff your speed so your whole team outspeeds the enemies, or Deban to take decreased physical damage. They make boss fights or hard enemies like sandworms much more manageable. The buffs do not wear off during a battle unless you die, or the enemy neutralizes buffs, something I think only two enemies in the entire game can do, in which case you can just reapply the buffs.

Debuffs, however, are an almost never worth using. Bosses are usually immune, I am pretty sure, and even if they weren't, you aren't really given that many stat debuffs to begin with.

There are two exceptions, however. There are a few moves that can make enemies fall asleep. This is still worthless on most bosses, but most regular biological enemies can fall victim to it, which will make them miss turns. This can be very useful if you're underleveled or just not confident you can kill the enemies in only a turn or two, anyway, so it's more worth the shot.

The other exception is, unlike many turn-based RPGs, instant death moves are not worthless in PS4. In fact, they can be quite potent if you're using the correct ones. Some instant death moves work on biological creatures only, some only on fiend/demon-like enemies, and osme, only on machines. There are a few instant-death moves that work on all susceptible enemies, but these are rarer. Surprisingly, "Crash" from Gryz, a party member you get early, is one such move, and it is fairly accurate. Instant death moves work on MOST enemies, but only one specific boss fight where it's not worth using, anyway. Instant death moves also do not work on Sandworms or a few other highly-powerful enemies, but you probably could guess as much.

Other bit of advice: There is an error that, if you level to 99, you start encountering glitches like deleted moves, androids getting MP, basically, etc. This would be a problem except you will NEVER, EVER, EVER see this unless you're doing it on purpose. The game is simply not one where maxing your level is feasible or necessary, and you can quite easily complete the game before you so much as hit level 50, and in fact, you probably will. It's simply not a problem should should worry about encountering.

[Joker]

I used to collect snes games for my original super nintendo, but since I got a snes mini and hacked the thing with most of the games I've kind of lost interest in the whole collecting part of it.

However actually playing the games is always something I like doing, Scoops which consoles and games are you focusing on at the moment?

[Desi]

I've been slowly collecting games from my childhood (so mostly Playstation & Nintendo DS/3DS JRPGs.)

[Scoops]

May 5, 2022 7:42:14 GMT -5 Joker said:

I used to collect snes games for my original super nintendo, but since I got a snes mini and hacked the thing with most of the games I've kind of lost interest in the whole collecting part of it.

However actually playing the games is always something I like doing, Scoops which consoles and games are you focusing on at the moment?

I started with the Nintendo 64, mostly so I could replay Majora's Mask. The N64 also has a small but great library, so it seemed great to start there.

On Tuesday I got a PS1 and a genesis (which I'm taking back since it doesn't work) since they're only $40 each. I'm hoping to rebuy a lot of the classic tank controlled survival horror games for ps1 but am really picking up whatever due to it having such a big diverse library (much cheaper than the N64 too).

I also want to get into console modding and update all my systems with HDMI ports, but I need to first actually learn to solder and the parts I need are expensive and always sold out, so that's a ways away.

[Malcolm]

For my retro gaming fix, when I want to play on actual hardware, I pull out one of these bad boys.

During the NES mini craze I looked into getting an aftermarket system and some games instead and saw how insane the prices were. I decided to get a multicart instead.  I have one that's kinda like this one but with a few more games. Unlike those 500 in 1 carts, there aren't any junk/filler games and the games run pretty good.

I have another multicart with over 800 games and 2 multicarts for the Sega Genesis. Now I've decided to take a reverse way of collecting games: seeing if I can get the most of my favorite games in the fewest carts possible.

I'm thinking about getting an SNES and a Nintendo DS and collecting multicarts for those, too.

[thehottag]

When my son was first born, I stayed up playing Mega Man 2 when on night feeds. I never had an NES growing up, so there was no nostalgia, I'd just heard good things about it. It's an absolutely fantastic game, & I can now beat it back-to-front without dying once.

I've now decided all these years later to start playing Mega Man 3, but I'm finding it a lot tougher. Any tips from anyone?

[Scoops]

Just bought: Pokémon Snap and the AKI WCW games for the N64 along with Crash 2, Tomb Raider, and A Bugs Life for PS1.

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

just sorted out my PS2 and PS1 demo discs (i'm in a sorting kind of mood as i did that with all my dvds and blurays last week)
the PS2s are disc 37 september 2003 to disc 89 september 2007 ...
and the PS1s are disc 17 and 18, and disc 37 to disc 82, and disc 90 to disc 94 because i stopped buying the magazine as it was the same demos on them ... with one or two i didn't buy, including that beautiful tekken 3 demo disc in the black case!

AND AND with five of the sent away demo discs including DEMO1!

and they're all in a shoe box

eventually i'll go through all my spectrum games and demo tapes too, and my PRIZED your sinclair magazine collection from issue 7 to the BIG FINAL ISSUE 93, paying "particular attention" to issue 29, i also got some sinclair user and crash magazines but alas threw them away like the vast majority of my magazines, jesus i spent hundreds on them from C&VG to GBA ACTION to ACE to MEAN MACHINES to AMIGA POWER

the pirated amiga games don't count, you never saw them right the last time i put my amiga 600 with TWO megs of ram, it worked perfectly!

my PC games are lovely with quake 2, homeworld, homeworld catalysm ... unreal tournament and unreal tournament 2004 ... gta3, half life, supreme snowboarding ... sim gold and links 2003 ... and THIEF and THIEF 2!!! a total of 19 games plus the AUTOCRACY pack with four games, which i never tried

my megadrive and the games i still have are in a box behind me

i had a SNES and at the end before trading it in, i had THIRTEEN games for it, the last game i bought was DOOM

traded my SNES for a SEGA SATURN with sega rally and virtua cop 2, loved that machine especially both sega worldwide soccers

my PS1 is sitting in it's box near me too, as i gave it to my nephew, so i got it back on boxing day ... it lacks the CONTROLLER, the MEMORY CARD and the POWER LEAD ... there will be words with my sister ... but i'm going through my PS1 games and trying them on my PS2 ...

here's two



didn't wanna stop playing metal gear either it's that flipping good, i also played with with the official guide when i rented it out, fear effect is an ass ... can't stand tank controls, that's why i couldn't be bovverd with resident evil

i miss my GAMEBOY, and if i had found my 4-way power adapter i could STILL have it and playing it ... well if i had bought the RIGHT donkey bloody kong game that is

and if we wanna go back further, there's nothing like GALAXY 2000 and POCKET PUCK MAN, and a lovely little baseball game my aunt got for me from canadia, the BANDAI ELECTRONICS BASEBALL handheld ...

i could go on

[Scoops]

May 5, 2022 15:40:08 GMT -5 Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie said:

just sorted out my PS2 and PS1 demo discs (i'm in a sorting kind of mood as i did that with all my dvds and blurays last week)
the PS2s are disc 37 september 2003 to disc 89 september 2007 ...
and the PS1s are disc 17 and 18, and disc 37 to disc 82, and disc 90 to disc 94 because i stopped buying the magazine as it was the same demos on them ... with one or two i didn't buy, including that beautiful tekken 3 demo disc in the black case!

AND AND with five of the sent away demo discs including DEMO1!

and they're all in a shoe box

eventually i'll go through all my spectrum games and demo tapes too, and my PRIZED your sinclair magazine collection from issue 7 to the BIG FINAL ISSUE 93, paying "particular attention" to issue 29, i also got some sinclair user and crash magazines but alas threw them away like the vast majority of my magazines, jesus i spent hundreds on them from C&VG to GBA ACTION to ACE to MEAN MACHINES to AMIGA POWER

the pirated amiga games don't count, you never saw them right the last time i put my amiga 600 with TWO megs of ram, it worked perfectly!

my PC games are lovely with quake 2, homeworld, homeworld catalysm ... unreal tournament and unreal tournament 2004 ... gta3, half life, supreme snowboarding ... sim gold and links 2003 ... and THIEF and THIEF 2!!! a total of 19 games plus the AUTOCRACY pack with four games, which i never tried

my megadrive and the games i still have are in a box behind me

i had a SNES and at the end before trading it in, i had THIRTEEN games for it, the last game i bought was DOOM

traded my SNES for a SEGA SATURN with sega rally and virtua cop 2, loved that machine especially both sega worldwide soccers

my PS1 is sitting in it's box near me too, as i gave it to my nephew, so i got it back on boxing day ... it lacks the CONTROLLER, the MEMORY CARD and the POWER LEAD ... there will be words with my sister ... but i'm going through my PS1 games and trying them on my PS2 ...

here's two



didn't wanna stop playing metal gear either it's that flipping good, i also played with with the official guide when i rented it out, fear effect is an ass ... can't stand tank controls, that's why i couldn't be bovverd with resident evil

i miss my GAMEBOY, and if i had found my 4-way power adapter i could STILL have it and playing it ... well if i had bought the RIGHT donkey bloody kong game that is

and if we wanna go back further, there's nothing like GALAXY 2000 and POCKET PUCK MAN, and a lovely little baseball game my aunt got for me from canadia, the BANDAI ELECTRONICS BASEBALL handheld ...

i could go on

Those prices in that picture are amazing.

I also went through my attic to find old games. I found a damaged Sega Saturn and three games. 😞 One of them though was Sonic Jam, which is super rare, no Manual though.

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

May 6, 2022 15:41:56 GMT -5 Scoops said:

Those prices in that picture are amazing.

I also went through my attic to find old games. I found a damaged Sega Saturn and three games. 😞 One of them though was Sonic Jam, which is super rare, no Manual though.

they're charity shop prices, all of them were usually that price, the really good ones got another pount on them lol
helps if you volunteer in one too, got my employee discount off them too!

thehottag i got RETRO GAME 232 today ... yes i'm late ...

[Deleted]

I am really big into retro gaming and emulation...I have retroarch on my xbox series S (i beat new super mario bros wii on xbox series s with an xbox controller recently) and built my own wrestlefest cabinet from a recroommasters cab. I have also worked in IT for over a decade so if anyone has any questions regarding images, emulation, even button mapping I would be willing to help.

[Deleted]

Here is my collection. Modded 1ups and the "HawesomeTron featuring Wrestlefest"...My last name is Hawes haha

[Allie Kitsune]

May 5, 2022 6:53:38 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Replayed Phantasy Star IV last week. Still really holds up, outside of some things I could see modern gamers getting annoyed about (there aren't in-game descriptions for spells/skills, leading to either trial and error or reading a guide, plus you have limited item slots, encouraging you to not hoard stuff you do not need or be overly precious with healing items).

If anyone does play, a word of advice: This is an RPG where buffs you place on your party are very useful, like Saner to buff your speed so your whole team outspeeds the enemies, or Deban to take decreased physical damage. They make boss fights or hard enemies like sandworms much more manageable. The buffs do not wear off during a battle unless you die, or the enemy neutralizes buffs, something I think only two enemies in the entire game can do, in which case you can just reapply the buffs.

Debuffs, however, are an almost never worth using. Bosses are usually immune, I am pretty sure, and even if they weren't, you aren't really given that many stat debuffs to begin with.

There are two exceptions, however. There are a few moves that can make enemies fall asleep. This is still worthless on most bosses, but most regular biological enemies can fall victim to it, which will make them miss turns. This can be very useful if you're underleveled or just not confident you can kill the enemies in only a turn or two, anyway, so it's more worth the shot.

The other exception is, unlike many turn-based RPGs, instant death moves are not worthless in PS4. In fact, they can be quite potent if you're using the correct ones. Some instant death moves work on biological creatures only, some only on fiend/demon-like enemies, and osme, only on machines. There are a few instant-death moves that work on all susceptible enemies, but these are rarer. Surprisingly, "Crash" from Gryz, a party member you get early, is one such move, and it is fairly accurate. Instant death moves work on MOST enemies, but only one specific boss fight where it's not worth using, anyway. Instant death moves also do not work on Sandworms or a few other highly-powerful enemies, but you probably could guess as much.

Other bit of advice: There is an error that, if you level to 99, you start encountering glitches like deleted moves, androids getting MP, basically, etc. This would be a problem except you will NEVER, EVER, EVER see this unless you're doing it on purpose. The game is simply not one where maxing your level is feasible or necessary, and you can quite easily complete the game before you so much as hit level 50, and in fact, you probably will. It's simply not a problem should should worry about encountering.

PS4, for as much as it apes PS2, is like its exact opposite. PS2 is slow and grindy, PS4 has a breezy pace and if pretty easy overall.

One thing I'd add, though : If a player wants to do combination attacks, make sure to set the SLOWEST character to go first in the macro, to minimize the chances of an enemy's turn interrupting and keeping it from happening.

[Allie Kitsune]

Also, I really wish PVMs weren't so expensive.

Sure, the RetroTink 5X is nice for upscaling old systems on HD Displays (especially since the Framemeister XRGB-mini is no longer remotely affordable), but it's not as clean as a PVM, and PVMs are lag-free.

[Mozenrath]

May 6, 2022 16:25:50 GMT -5 Allie Kitsune said:

May 5, 2022 6:53:38 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Replayed Phantasy Star IV last week. Still really holds up, outside of some things I could see modern gamers getting annoyed about (there aren't in-game descriptions for spells/skills, leading to either trial and error or reading a guide, plus you have limited item slots, encouraging you to not hoard stuff you do not need or be overly precious with healing items).

If anyone does play, a word of advice: This is an RPG where buffs you place on your party are very useful, like Saner to buff your speed so your whole team outspeeds the enemies, or Deban to take decreased physical damage. They make boss fights or hard enemies like sandworms much more manageable. The buffs do not wear off during a battle unless you die, or the enemy neutralizes buffs, something I think only two enemies in the entire game can do, in which case you can just reapply the buffs.

Debuffs, however, are an almost never worth using. Bosses are usually immune, I am pretty sure, and even if they weren't, you aren't really given that many stat debuffs to begin with.

There are two exceptions, however. There are a few moves that can make enemies fall asleep. This is still worthless on most bosses, but most regular biological enemies can fall victim to it, which will make them miss turns. This can be very useful if you're underleveled or just not confident you can kill the enemies in only a turn or two, anyway, so it's more worth the shot.

The other exception is, unlike many turn-based RPGs, instant death moves are not worthless in PS4. In fact, they can be quite potent if you're using the correct ones. Some instant death moves work on biological creatures only, some only on fiend/demon-like enemies, and osme, only on machines. There are a few instant-death moves that work on all susceptible enemies, but these are rarer. Surprisingly, "Crash" from Gryz, a party member you get early, is one such move, and it is fairly accurate. Instant death moves work on MOST enemies, but only one specific boss fight where it's not worth using, anyway. Instant death moves also do not work on Sandworms or a few other highly-powerful enemies, but you probably could guess as much.

Other bit of advice: There is an error that, if you level to 99, you start encountering glitches like deleted moves, androids getting MP, basically, etc. This would be a problem except you will NEVER, EVER, EVER see this unless you're doing it on purpose. The game is simply not one where maxing your level is feasible or necessary, and you can quite easily complete the game before you so much as hit level 50, and in fact, you probably will. It's simply not a problem should should worry about encountering.

PS4, for as much as it apes PS2, is like its exact opposite. PS2 is slow and grindy, PS4 has a breezy pace and if pretty easy overall.

One thing I'd add, though : If a player wants to do combination attacks, make sure to set the SLOWEST character to go first in the macro, to minimize the chances of an enemy's turn interrupting and keeping it from happening.

Yep, and/or using Saner on turn one, where enemies will then be unlikely to outspeed you and interrupt after for the rest of the fight. This is paramount for if you're trying to do one of the really strong ones like Blizzard or Grand Cross for a fight you need it in.