KingMike

I'm not sure how much this has been previously rereleased other than on the DS Konami Arcade Hits.

Dreamcast had games released after the console discontinuation, I hear in part because it was so easy to make unauthorized discs (though at the expense of being incompatible with later consoles, I understand) that it's hard to tell what's "official" but I suppose if, regarding the original, the boxart does use the proper Dreamcast branding, then it is likely an official (Sega-approved) release.

@JackGYarwood Those are very limited explanations of two of the games exclusive to this collection (so far).

In Syvalion, you ARE the snake-dragon and your method of attack is to breath fire on enemies while navigating through the mazes (which is about as difficult as you'd imagine). It has a very unique soundtrack.
I swear I saw a cabinet ONCE as a child (you don't forget a game that looks like that) but I'm told the actual cabinet in the west was so elusive that the only USA and "World" ROMs in MAME are ripped from a compilation released on PS2 rather than dumped from an actual board. Infamously the English version of the SNES port (reportedly only sold in Spain) is only slightly less elusive.

Cameltry is a game where you navigate a ball through a maze, by rotating the maze itself. Naturally there are lots of hazards to steer around, including trap blocks that will drain your precious timer. This game also got a SNES port which was titled On The Ball in North America. I feel like it might've gotten a PAL release with the original title intact. But I'm not certain at all.
I can remember the first time I saw the game was running on a demo console at Software Etc. back in the day, and it looked like a cool game but I didn't play it until emulation.

With Arkanoid, I wonder if they'll make a spinner controller for it, as I don't think one existed for Switch. I know it is often considered necessary to play this game well, enough that Taito originally made an optional one for Arkanoid DS in Japan (though left unavailable with the North American release since Square-Enix published the game as a budget title).

@Damo Sounds like one big problem with Heavy Barrel: it's a rotary joystick game. Meaning the joystick is meant to be twisted as well as pushed. That usually is not emulated well.
(so was Midnight Resistance. I know the Genesis port had to come up with a different control scheme to compensate.)
I have heard the SNK 40th Anniversary collection went to the extent of modifying Ikari Warriors into a twin-stick game but that is an unusual effort. I had downloaded the PSP Minis version of Time Soldiers and that one used the L and R buttons to rotate the player which sounds a bit more like what emulation developers would come up with but it's definitely rather slow in practice.

@Damo I suppose the Neptune is more famous as EGM's April Fools 2000 prank. They set up a fake website claiming to have some warehouse stock of the console for sale, but when one tried to complete the purchase of a unit, they would be told of the prank.
It was against a couple other seeming contenders for their annual AFD joke, the Game Boy-powered sewing machine and the announcement that Conker had become a foul-mouthed game.

@hste But is it emulated properly? From what I've heard, analog controls in MAME have always been a nightmare so having a working machine somewhere the public can play it is better than not existing.

Though the attitude you have used to express your points doesn't give me confidence you are particularly concerned about SegaSonic the Hedgehog being properly functional in hardware or emulation.

@PopetheRev28 It was officially ported to Mega CD.

"That had a lot to do with our ability to deliver half of the good games that were made available for the Sega in the next couple of years to essentially end up with half the market,"

Did he just say that his company made as many good games as the rest of the publishers combined?

Even if EA did publish over 50 games on the Genesis, out of over 700 licensed games total (internationally), that's still a rather arrogant response.
There's still some questionable choices in EA's library. (and possibly the weaker of the two Marble Madness ports to the hardware)

"Death by scrolling" is how I described Devil World, the Nintendo Pac-Man like game, the first time I played it in the 2000s.

@SegaAges I've seen some argument that the late '90s Game Boy development appetite had a part to do with Pokemon.
It could be argued that was one killer app to push enough hardware sales even another console hardware generation had begun.

@Zoinkity I've thought about that in recent years. The one US Gear Gear ad that compared Sonic to Tetris (thought it might be the most of the below-the-belt advertising SoA produced)... I have to wonder if mentioning Tetris was ultimately against Sega. (I know, Sonic was a much more "hip" game which is what they wanted to promote but Tetris undoubtedly has more longevity. Even when I tired Columns, which of course, was a game Sega bought and tried to push as a direct competition, it just couldn't hold me for very long. Puyo Puyo though, might've been a better competitor.)

@juliobrand I thought I had heard of a Brazilian Portuguese localization of A Link to the Past for SNES. Was that just a packaging variant then?
I do recall hearing of it when emulation developer byuu/Near once had a full collection of licensed North and South American-region SNES games. I thought it was mentioned alongside the French Canadian version of the game.
I do remember hearing the legitimate versions of the USA region variants of both SNES ISS games are extremely rare (as it believed they did not actually release in the USA).

@The_Nintendo_Expat I remember reading about that a few years ago. One of the most development hell games there was.
At one point, Nintendo was going to publish it, but both the Japanese and American branches each pushed conflicting demands on the developer. Sounds like they should've talked to each other before pushing the developer.

I wonder if that's why they ended up making the GTA franchise.

@juliobrand Maybe the irony is not lost. One meme that has spread on the Internet is Ronaldino Soccer 64, which I understand was a bootleg Portuguese localization of International Superstar Soccer 64 because Konami didn't deem it worth effort to localize it officially. I heard the game was officially sold there but only identical to the USA English version.

@slider1983 I was thinking towards unique games, not Game Gear conversions (which I can only guess were made in the ROM hack manner. Much as what the fans had given a large push nearly two decades later to finish the job of converting the library, also of varying quality results among varying authors.)

@missingno_fgc I was surprised when I learned the 6502 exists because of the Motorola 6800 (yes, hundred, not thousand).
Some Motorola engineers felt there was demand for a lower-cost version but the execs said no. So they left Motorola to form their own company to sell the 6500. That and update 6501 before Motorola sued them and they had to revise it into the legally-distinct 6502.

@slider1983 The only one I know that has gotten attention is Battletoads in Battlemaniacs. I've heard it has signs of being unfinished, also the fact that it's in English signifies maybe a EU port that was canceled.
I've heard Brazil did get a fixed Rainbow Islands. I heard it has a bug that happens when you play the game without a SMS boot ROM (such as on a Genesis), the game just crashes if you get the complete ending. Though it's uncertain if that was a Tectoy fix or just a revision that didn't get printed in the EU.

@sdelfin Despite how many ports Ghouls 'n Ghosts got, not a single one was for a Nintendo console until the Genesis version came to Wii VC in 2007. Capcom Arcade Stadium on Switch marks only the second appearance of the middle game on Nintendo hardware despite the other two games in the initial trilogy being famous for being on Nintendo hardware.

Though I have heard the GBA port of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts did have a stage or two or Ghouls 'n Ghosts as unlockable content.

@Sketcz But Capcom has been reselling old games since even the PS1 and Saturn (with the Capcom Generations series released in Japan and on the former in Europe.).

I am not familiar with Cardcaptors but I've seen one of the streamers I watch rant about the cartoon being HEAVILY cut down and edited for the English version to give it more androgynous appeal.

@smoreon My guess is that more frequent updating created a bigger draw on the battery life, remembering that through the original model of the GBA, portables still used disposable batteries.
I've heard that's often why music on the GBA was often not as good as it could've been, a battery performance concern.

@slider1983 I don't approve of people being scammed but I do want to see how big of a wreck the SuperSega was.

@NoirConceit Such an obvious statement I'm not certain why it needed to be made. Being concerned about prices implies one cares about obtaining something through legitimate means.

I know larger manuals is the reason that European DS cases are thicker than Japanese and American region cases.

Out of my USA collection, my copy of Wild Arms 1 lacks a manual but I understand that my dual CD case is not missing a CD but the manual was big enough to require the extra space.

Japan did get some larger than standard single-CD cases.

Banking machines was one of the uses of that hardware.

So we could easily make a number of bank jokes about this release.

@RossoftheRobots On an American N64? You have to cut or file down plastic bumps in the corner of the cartridge slot (that was Nintendo's region lock to prevent Japanese cartridges from fitting in a US console).
Running NTSC-region carts on a PAL console will be a more technical modification (it would be true for the opposite direction, though there was literally only about three PAL-exclusives).

@Damo It was one of the first "Import" games released on the Wii Virtual Console (next to Super Mario Bros. 2) so it was technically "available" to the west for most of those years.
Though translation of the subtitles would've been great on the Wii. It sounds like I'm not the only one who, despite the voice acting being in English, had a hard time following.

"it would have made more sense with a TATE setup"
If only NeoGeo cabs had rotating monitors but that would probably be a maintenance nightmare today, let alone in 1990.

@RossoftheRobots I've been told it's one of the few NeoGeo games to get a dedicated cabinet.
At the least, said cabinet got a rather memorably silly magazine ad, with a bunch of nerds bowing to the machine "We are not worthy!"
At least I've heard that cabinet got released, not just an ad prop.

(Well, the Irritating Maze was also a dedicated cabinet, but that was an exception to SNK's rule that a NG must be playable with a horizontal monitor, joystick and four buttons.)

It is sad about the cost of US healthcare. But without those costs, how on Earth will the companies be able to afford blasting us with commercials nonstop on radio, TV and now every two minutes on YouTube, only to tell us to see our doctor, something one shouldn't need a commercial to tell them if the product is right for them.

It is very sad to see such a pioneering person in the industry almost defeated by cancer. Even though I'm not as familiar with their work as others, I can respect their great contributions.

@Guru_Larry That sounds like something that would have consumed a lot of ROM space on the cartridge and it's hard to imagine publishers would be okay with wasting that in those days.

@JJtheTexan I'm not sure but if I want to find out I could play one of the Game Boy games I have sitting around.
One of those games that was so ubiquitous that if you bought a reasonably sized lot of loose Japanese Game Boy cartridges, you were likely to get one.

It sure looks like the Japanese title is "Medarot" which is a far less appealing name.
I do remember reading once of someone who registered the River City Ransom for giggles while it was lapsed, but also reading they were a smart enough person to not try to mess with the copyright owner and be nice when they surely asked for it.

@h3s I think just that, Lufia II and Breath of Fire II.
As to turn-based RPGs, I easily forget about the dungeon crawler Might & Magic II. The only one I think that was PAL-exclusive (I've read Japan got a completely different port by a different developer and North America didn't get the game at all on Nintendo hardware. We got its predecessor on NES and its sequel on SNES.)

@Azuris One issue that became much more apparent on the Wii VC is that the game had one significant bug. When a new team member joins up, their magic/status resistances won't be updated until the save file is refreshed (the status screen will show the intended effects, but they won't actually apply in battle until a reboot). You probably wouldn't notice since you'd maybe reset the console often enough on real hardware, but it becomes apparent on the Wii since it runs as if you never turned it off (you'd have to click the Reset button on the Wii Home button menu after making an in-game save if you want to play the game as it was meant).
The low-Level guide on GameFAQs I read recommended exploiting that bug, so I guess it was known a lot longer than I did.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant I do remember some years ago someone made their own HD remake of Mystic Quest and then dared to sell it on Steam.
The Square-Enix police (for once) rightfully shut it down but then the seller put it back up just with a different title.

I do enjoy MQ and even after I had already played FF4. Sometimes I want a RPG that is dumb, short and simple. I think even Nintendo Power praised its brevity when re-reviewing it briefly some years after release.

@Damo Conker's Pocket Tales was released BEFORE the transition from Twelve Tales (the original version that was condemned by critics for being too child-friendly) to Conker's Bad Fur Day.
Pocket Tales was released in 1999, the foul-mouthed Conker was announced in 2000 (as a good but wrong guess for EGM's annual April Fools prank).

Though as to why Namco wouldn't release this.
You can probably guess how interested Namco was in Famicom releases in 1993 by the fact the only FC game they did release that year was a Famista (their baseball franchise) update.

@Damo "an obscure Namco mapper" That was par for Namco, there's multiple "mappers" which were used only by a single game.
There's entire articles on NESDev just to sort out the cluster**** that is Namco's Famicom mappers. (different chips, some have extra RAM, some have expanded sound, etc.)
I suppose the only thing separating this from emulating Namco's released games is the lack of a physical cartridge to crack open and study.

Konami's mappers are probably equally of a mess though Konami was more known for swapping address lines around to make things harder for pirates to crack (and sometimes harder for their own programmers, such as how I heard Ganbare Goemon Gaiden treats you to a game crash where an ending should've been because some poor programmer surely got a little confused themselves. There seems to be a Rev 1 which has a functional ending but I don't know how commonly that was compared to the broken Rev 0.)

When I first used ZSNES in the very late '90s, I was still on our family 486 PC.
The only way to get full speed on that was to disable sound and maximum frameskip.
On ZSNES, disabling sound would disable the sound CPU emulation entirely, and very notably a lot of SNES games don't like that and will freeze up. I remember SNES9x though would still emulate the sound even when disabled, so games would run but the emulator would be slower.

ZSNES was great in its time but it unfortunately achieved the same effect as Nesticle in that it got so popular that people continued to use it and praise it as a perfectly fine working emulator even after newer emulators has surpassed it in critical accuracy improvements.

@RaeDawnChonglingBay Slap Fight MD is perhaps an even more hilariously misleading name.
Why have the medical practitioners suddenly wished blunt aggression?

Did the Bully guy always look so much like Bobby Hill grown up?

Still though, in North America in the '90s, Nintendo and Sega were absolutely doing as much mudslinging at each other than any political candidates.

As soon as I saw that, I knew "I bet there's 50-somethings who would like to sell us about Intellivision vs. Colecovision, something out of the '80s."

If this is about the history of the series and "celebrating the art", wouldn't it have made more sense to just leave the old portraits untouched?

Speedruns usually forbid cheat codes anyways, so this would probably just be classified as that.

And the Famicom RPG Metal Max allows you to jump to the ending at any point after only a couple minutes into the game.
(basically, your daddy calls you an idiot for your monster-hunting aspirations and kicks you out of the house in the opening cutscene, but you can anytime go crawling back to daddy and tell him you'll get "a real job" or whatever and it ends the game. Something along that line.)

Obviously the "win" condition would need to be redefined per game by speedrunners.

@Lowdefal Tommy Tallarico, maybe? So it's been said he was nowhere near a formal agreement with the Earthworm Jim IP holder before announcing the game as one of his Amiico headline games.

@Sketcz I see Pop 'n Magic is the single-screen platformer (a Bubble Bobble-like) pictured in the article.
That name is easily confused with Magical Pop'n, the absurdly expensive cute SFC platformer by Pack-in-Video (who eventually became the company currently known as Marvelous).