BulkSlash

I don’t know if The Wizard was ever in cinemas in the UK, but I do remember renting it on VHS and enjoying it a lot. I remember wondering why the footage of TMNT was level 1 yet Beau Bridges claimed to be on level 3. While it’s probably a production mistake, he was on the third sewer of level 1, so maybe he thought it was level 3? 😅

Now if we could just get a soundtrack release for the film…

It’s OK, it wasn’t a real arcade machine. 😉

@Lofoten I think technically there are four known variants now. You're right that pictures 1 and 3 are the same prototype (from what we can tell from the picture anyway!)

But the "red switch" prototype now has three known variants (assuming this auction is legit)- there's the one in the picture above with the controller ports on the right and no EXT port; and then there's another version similar to the one being auctioned but with a yellow volume knob, a more bulging eject switch and different mouldings on the controller ports. This tweet has a close-up of the port differences:
https://twitter.com/covell_chris/status/1788019147659727104

@bobby_steurer 🤣 I could definitely see that happening!

@RetroGames Yeah, if I go to a garage sale the best I'm likely to find is a copy of Just Dance for the Wii and the empty box for Hannah Montana on the DS.

Somehow other people go to these things and find one-of-a-kind PlayStations or Saturns or Super Famicom prototypes! 😩

@smoreon Thanks. I’ll perhaps try to track down a copy of that version! It’s been a long time since I played DOA2.

@LowDefAl Blimey, I didn't know if was that convoluted! 😅 So is the DC version better? I'm sure I'd heard the PS2 version looked better, had more features and had 60fps cut scenes compared to 30fps on the DC. I wonder if this adds in everything the PS2 version had? (Incidentally the only version I've ever played is the EU DC release).

@KingMike You could fit a cart by removing the case and just inserting the PCB, of course whether the slot in the console is the same and has the same wiring is another matter! 😅

I’d still be fascinated to see the insides and know how close to final the hardware is.

Wow, I didn’t think any of these still existed. I’d love to have it but I’d bet it’s going to go for millions (assuming Nintendo don’t stop the auction).

I’d be fascinated to know what’s inside and if it can run any commercially released games.

It’s a shame the 64DD didn’t get more of a chance. Having (relatively) large amounts of storage space, decent access speeds compared to CD and most tantalisingly- the ability to write to the disks and persist changes in the game world could have made it quite special.

Perhaps if it had been the N64’s launch format instead of carts things might have gone differently (although even 64MB was paltry compared to the 700MB of CDs). I wonder if the DD’s capacity could have increased over time?

I really don't see the attraction of US/EU protos of games released in Japan first. They're very unlikely to have any major differences compared to the released game in them.

Protos of games still in development could well yield interesting differences, but aside from the odd game like Probotector, they aren't going to massively change the Western release, so why pay so much for a title screen with a different date?

I think anyone selling a proto should be required to dump it and show a binary comparison with the released version so people know how different the version is (the dump doesn't need to be released, it's just to prove if the ROM is worth anything).

It might surprise you when I say I’ve played Bulk Slash a lot, and I’ve never noticed any difference between the MISSes with one exception- the final unlockable MISS, Kina, will recharge the bomb in robot mode and the seeker missiles in flight mode much more quickly. The bombs in particular are the secret to a good high score as you can set off massive combo chains with them.

In terms of endings, if you get a high enough score you’ll get an extra FMV cutscene with the MISS you used after the credits. Also depending on your score you can get a different “wallpaper” of the MISS, with a particularly high score awarding you a picture of them in a bikini. It’s why I avoid playing as Kina as she’s like 5 and they have a bikini picture of her. 😫

This actually sounds like it could have been really good. I especially like the idea of them creating a bunch of fictitious wrestlers with silly names for it. Being able to damage the backgrounds or inflict damage on enemies using the environment is something I've wanted to see in a beat 'em-up for a long time.

@UK_Kev The DC would probably have better textures though as it had double the VRAM of the PS2.

I hope they plan to include the improvements Immorpher has made to Doom 64, including a much better brightness range.

My personal favourite improvement is showing how many secrets/enemies/items are left in a level so I can make sure I get 100% before finishing.

They'll probably have to put weapon selection on the d-pad as there aren't enough face buttons on the DC controller.

That was a great shop. I seem to remember thinking everything was very expensive, I bet if I saw those prices today I'd think everything was an utter bargain compared to today's prices! 😂

I tried this on Friday. The intro text goes on for something like 5 minutes, I assume it's summarising the entire anime up to that point or something! 😂 It probably needs some controls to slow down the scrolling as I couldn't quite keep up with the text towards the end!

In terms of gameplay it's pretty decent, I plan to give it a longer go at some point, but it certainly felt pretty fun to play, it feels a bit like Shinobi when you've run out of throwing knives.

@Sketcz Yeah that’s the method that mixes the tracks up, because it scans the TOC of the first disc and then assumes it’s still that disc loaded after you’ve swapped them.

I got my console modded eventually too, but for quite a while I was whipping the disc out while it was still spinning as if you got the timing right it would load the correct TOC for the disc. Can you believe the CD drive eventually broke in my PS1? 😂

This is quite huge, the Z80 is in so many arcade boards, many used them for sound like Capcom's CPS1 and Konami's TMNT board. Having new Z80s available has meant repairs have been quite easy, but if they start to become scarce that could be a problem.

@Sketcz Slightly funny story, but because I had an import PS1 I had to use the CD swap trick to play Doom on it. This would mess up which music tracks it used, which meant the levels would use the heavy metal tracks that were supposed to play on the map screens between levels and those map screens would get the atmospheric tracks.

I do agree Doom works well with aggressive music and the game playing those wrong tracks actually fit the game really well! I wonder if it's possible to switch the tracks around in this port... 😉

I thought Citra had to be shut down along with Yuzu after their problems with Nintendo? Is there some way they are allowed to carry it on?

It won't run on my old ST as it's an STFM! 😅

It's really cool to see such smooth scaling, especially considering how poor the OutRun port to ST was (I did enjoy playing OutRun back in the day, but I needed to use the STARION cheat to win).

I remember someone was porting Ghouls 'n' Ghosts to the ST a few years back because it used the same 68000 CPU as the CPS1 making moving the code over easier.

@Pillowpants Yeah that DX mod of Metroid II is outstanding, I wouldn't want to go back to the original now! 😅

I’ve been compiling MAME and Provenance to install on my iPhone and iPad for a few years now. It will be nice if this means I can just install them from the App Store directly. MAME is easy enough but Provenance can be a real pain to get it to build.

Some interesting stuff in there. I’ve never owned a NegCon, I’d really like to try one of those one day. I did have the JogCon which was pretty good.

I certainly wouldn’t argue with OoT getting the top spot, it’s still an amazing game to play even today (it’s my joint favourite Zelda alongside ALttP and ALBW).

I have noticed (and I’m not criticising) that RPGs tend to be over represented in topping most online games polls. I’m not sure why, maybe RPG players surf the web more than most gamers? Whatever it is, you can usually expect to see an RPG win even if it actually sold less than other games in the poll.

That’s interesting to hear about Jerry’s involvement with Time Crisis as he’s listed in the special thanks section of the game’s end credits.

The funny thing about Jack’s take on GTAIII is that it’s the player who runs over hookers or shoots a load of civilians, the game doesn’t make you do any of that.

Heck, if you find all the missions so objectionable you don’t have to do any of them, you can just explore the first island in peace. You won’t get very far in the game, but it’s 100% the player’s choice to participate. Plus it’s not like killing innocents isn’t consequence free, the police do come after you.

Finally a Flash card that doesn't only hold two games! I'll definitely be getting one of these at some point. I can't see copying the ROMs to the 16Mb portion being an issue for me as I usually only have a handful of favourites and then I can copy in anything else if the mood takes me.

I need to get an NGPC with one of the new backlit screens too, the original screen is not very easy to see! 😅

@-wc- Yeah, I bought a cheap Sony TV a few months back and I've thrown out my OSSC (it was breaking down so it wasn't binned for no reason) and just use the TV for my games now. The picture on the CRT so nice that I can't see myself going back.

At the moment CRTs are really cheap, so even though the Retrotink 5X is amazing, it's just way too expensive, it's cheaper to just get a CRT.

I actually regret getting rid of my RGB Famicom and N64 and replacing them with HDMI modded ones as they're now the odd ones out amongst all my other systems.

Personally I like Shinobi III the best. The surfing level just screams '90s and the controls feel the most refined in III. The early games (particularly the arcade game) feel like a reskin of Rolling Thunder, and just don't seem to control as fluidly as the later games.

GG Shinobi deserves a shout out too for the great way each ninja has their own special abilities. I need to get around to trying the sequel...

@Diogmites I only got into Vampire Killer a few years back too. The fact that we find it amazing without any nostalgia attached shows it’s a genuinely great game rather than rose tinted glasses affecting things.

These days pretty much all I play is Turbo on the CPS1, especially after I modded the ROM to remove the difficulty scaling. 😅

The PC Engine port was a real favourite of mine back in the day, along with the SNES port of Turbo.

"Morio: It is me your legally distinct Italian creator" 😂

This sounds right up my alley! I just hope they include a map screen, I found backtracking and getting around in Yooka Laylee really tricky without one, especially after I got used to having one in Mario Odyssey.

I seem to have been lucky in that neither of my Steam Decks creak and I'm a terrible one for gripping controllers too tightly and pushing the buttons too hard! 😅

I had a green one of these backplates for my LCD Steam Deck, it was a nice simple install and that extra heat pad did get warm which I took as a sign that it was taking heat away from something. It looked really cool too.

I eventually got adventurous and did a full case replacement on my LCD model, it looks pretty good, but getting the original screen unstuck from the chassis and all the old glue removed was really hard work so I wouldn't recommend it unless your case needs replacing.

I love Fall of the Foot Clan, it was the first game I ever beat (admittedly it's not very hard). As an early GameBoy game it really was quite impressive, with parallax scrolling backgrounds, great stereo music and very detailed graphics. The three hidden bonus games were a nice extra too.

I'll be interested to see how closely this matches the original gameplay, if it can keep the little details like being able to quickly turn around while attacking to attack in both directions it will really kick some shell.

@Damo Nice one, easily done. I mean there's two versions of RE4 on there already! 😂

An… interesting list. I’d personally put RE1 Director’s Cut, REmake, Code Veronica and RE4 Wii Edition at the top (in no particular order). I also beat RE3 Remake over the weekend and enjoyed that a lot too.

Also, is RE4 Remake missing? I didn’t see it.

I wonder how Sega would have handled this? In 1996 the Saturn was still their primary focus and the Dreamcast wouldn't launch until late '98. Would this have replaced the Saturn sooner? Or would it have been released instead of the Dreamcast (which seems unlikely given how old it would have been by then)?

Looking at the specs it wasn't as powerful as the Dreamcast so I'm curious what value Sega would have seen in the endeavour at all. Unless this was Sega of America making moves behind Japan's back again? 😂

It's definitely Christian Bale, it was the stare on that billboard that won him the part in American Psycho. 😉

Maybe we can finally get that Bubsy 3D re-release we’ve all been desperate for!

Hiding the image on the spine is hilarious. The on-going in-jokes you'd get in some magazines back then were always fun.

@KingMike Yeah that could be it. The previous X-Men Arcade1Up had it mixed with some Data East games but Data East aren’t really around to object like Capcom could!

I'm surprised they're not including the Konami game, especially as Arcade1Up already licensed that game. I know it's not based on the same X-Men cartoon but it feels like it belongs as part of this collection.

I've seen cabs in much worse condition than that saved, so all is not lost. It might not be economical for the owner (unless the insurance pays for the restoration) but they could live again.

@Blofse Oh to be able to go into an arcade like that today where I’ve got my own money to play on as many games as I like; instead of having to beg my parents for enough coins just for a single game on something! 😅

Oh man, Weird Dreams, I'd forgotten all about that game. I only bought it because it was on one of those Saturday morning shows where you'd ring in and play the game by barking commands down the phone line.

The controls were so laggy and slow it made it impossible to dodge things, so doing it down a phone line must have been doubly impossible! I might buy it to see if it's as terrible as I remember! 😅

No, but also don't censor them.

Love that Speccy rendition of the Knightmare theme. You can just imagine a port from that era having that tune permanently on loop as you play!

That’s a real shame, I often get pre-patched ROM hacks and translations from there as it’s often quicker than doing the patching myself (I usually find I’ve got the wrong dump of the ROM that the patch needs!)

Sometimes I find hacks there I’d not heard about too, so it was a really useful resource. Hopefully this “workaround” continues to be available.