RetroGames

@KingMike Not every grand idea succeeds. And not every crowdfunded project succeeds. Those people who backed the project knew the risks. And, sure, they can complain about this and that, but it is what it is. Clearly a lot was done on it, but it just didn't work out. And no grown up is gonna get all hung up on the fact he did some PR spin on half of the stuff. That's what happens in the business world all the time. Harsh they didn't get what they backed in the end, maybe even unfair, but that's life. He didn't abuse them or plan to deliberately rip them off all along; he just played the game and took a chance on an idea, tried to make it work, but it didn't. The backers can learn from this and make better and more informed choices next time, or take another gamble and just live with what comes of it. That's what real grown ups do all the time.

@gingerbeardman Indeed.

@Guru_Larry Not sure what Mickey feature you're talking about, but, no, it's not Mode 7.

Whether people think the SNES version is a better game or not, I'd have liked a sword there too.

In all honesty, I wish the SNES had gotten the Genesis game but just with a lot more colours and proper transparency so it looked even better.

@bbbbbr Yeah, that third link shows some cool examples of this effect being used, especially the version of Axelay done on the SuperGrafx that has two overlapping scrolling backgrounds with the effect [plus a large boss done with sprites too]:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CutMY8MOGRE

It's also worth pointing out that the SNES can actually have three layers with an effect like this on the backgrounds if desired [plus a large enemy done with sprites too]:

https://youtu.be/5CFd7qc_EjY?t=3404

The shadow there is done with the third lower-colour layer that's available on SNES.

And, actually, the SNES could in fact do this with four backgrounds [plus a large enemy done with sprites] if someone wanted to really go all out, which would be possible by using Mode 0, but no one has ever tried that. So there's a moonshot for some future aspiring SNES developer....

A classic SNES title right there. Not perfect, could have actually done even more on the system, but still a very solid Mickey game of the era.

I say unabandon all SNES projects. By that I just mean I want to see a bunch of cool new games for SNES in modern times.

@Scollurio Yeah, I think it would be very cool if Nintendo just re-released the original SNES with one addition to allow it to output directly to modern HDTVs too (and probably some filter options to set the aspect ratio and make it look good on those I guess). I think it would also need to re-release a bunch of the best games for the system as well to really make the whole endeavour make real sense though. It could even upgrade any games that were originally stuck in SlowROM to at least use FastROM now, just as a nice QoL bonus there. And I think the best thing is that it might even encourage more modern indie and homebrew devs to produce brand new games for it as well, which would be awesome. I'd almost certainly buy that.

Or it could try something slightly different and release a SNES Mini 2 that actually has a proper working cartridge slot for people to make basically mini SNES games, and then all the developers and publishers out there could just re-release all the classic SNES games in mini form, maybe even compilation carts, plus brand new SNES Mini games too. It would be much like the Evercade Vs really, but just an official SNES console with official mini SNES carts. I think that could be also very cool. And, honestly, if Nintendo did that [and maybe still had the 20+1 games pre-installed or even on a physical mini compilation cart this time just for the novelty and to get you started], I think I'd actually prefer that to be honest.

Really though, either one of those would be rather awesome imo, with the main plus being I think it would encourage more people to work on brand new SNES games in our current times, and I'm all for that.

On a side note, that SNES TV one of the team is working on is rather cool too.

I'm not sure you spent enough time looking at the original Neo Geo version of the game there, as the very first level has three layers of parallax in the backgrounds rather than two. The SuperGrafx version does split up some graphical elements to add another partial layer on top of that though, which is cool.

@PopetheRev28 I agree, and it's nice to see there is some stuff happening in SNES land, from a handful of exciting new indie and homebrew games like this beat 'em up as well as Till & Hat, Cronela's Mansion, and Rex Nobilis, to name just a few of the upcoming games there, to things like id's official Definitive Edition of SNES Doom that uses a new "FX3" chip and even introduces a brand new rumble controller to SNES gamers too. Fans also recently got a pretty great port of Xeno Crisis there as well. I'm also rather enjoying the direct NES to SNES ports and hope the guys working on those continue to port many more NES titles across to SNES. And, with the upcoming SNESmaker component of the Retro Game Forge game creation tool coming in 2025, I hope and believe we'll soon see many more new SNES indie and homebrew titles too. So there's certainly some things brewing and a lot more to come from the SNES.

Still want to see a lot more on this, as it looks pretty early right now--hoping they'll really try to push the SNES a bit here--but happy to see it's coming along. Keep up the good work.

@Deuteros Super Play would be another one I'd be well up for.

I think I'll get this.

Other request: Can someone make a Mean Machines "Compendium" [physical printed version] that's basically every page of every single issue [including Issue 0] just all stuck together in one big book (or maybe like a set of two or three than come together in a nice holder if required to fit them all without it being two thick to bing a single book). And maybe get Bitmap Books to make it or use the same company that puts those books together, as they are top notch. I think that would be frikin' awesome, and I'd back it in a heartbeat.

Nice to see all these Satellaview games being preserved.

@gingerbeardman Well, technically Mode 7 is actually just about background rotation and scaling [and shearing] only, and HDMA is actually its own thing entirely that's about allowing the SNES to do various tricks on a per-scanline basis like offsetting the horizontal position/scroll of the background or changing the backdrop colour or switching background modes or changing the left and right values of the two windows/masks, etc. But, in many cases you'd see the two combined on SNES to create the overall sense of something being on some 3D perspective surface, like you see in F-Zero and so on, and that's typically how most people think of Mode 7. So there is a half truth there from a casual perspective. That's why the developer better refers to this as "fake HDMA", as that's what it really is more akin to.

Some people really don't understand what Mode 7 is, do they.

There's a reason the developer put "Mode 7" in the air quotes.

That's not Mode 7, but rather a cool raster effect that simply works on each scanline. It's the same effect seen in some of the stages of the shmup Axelay on SNES, which is not using Mode 7 either. Still looks impressive though, especially when you see it on an 8-bit system like the NES.

So, yeah, it looks very cool here, but it's not Mode 7.

There's a reason real Mode 7 was such a huge deal back in the day.

@bring_on_branstons Yeah, tell me about it. And it just bugs me all the more because there's still a whole lot of people going around trying to misinform others that the slowdown in most of these games is entirely due to the SNES being "slow" rather than in the vast majority of cases because it was actually running at only 70% full speed due to cheap publishers going with the budget cartridge option. Just imagine if you took any other console from that generation and ran the games on it with the CPU suddenly artificially throttled to only 70% speed. So it's rather disingenuous for people to tarnish SNES based on such a situation, especially in modern times where I know most of the people doing that know better. But thankfully some people are now patching most of these SNES games to run at least in FastROM finally.

@Hexapus Yeah, I don't think the guy working on the Bloodlines port will do too much to be honest, but I'm happy to have him maybe complete even a couple of full areas with some added effects and such, just to at least see a hint at the possibility of what could be done there SNES.

There's also this updated title screen that he's not used yet:

https://x.com/iNCEPTIONALNEWS/status/1820850236216037718

I expect the guy doing the Genesis port of IV will actually bring over a lot more of the SNES game in all honesty.

But I guess we'll see how both projects progress and turn out.

@X68000 Have you seen the FastROM version of IV on SNES?

And that's still running the original 33 years old '90s code other than the switch to FastROM, so there's no doubt the game could not only be optimized further still, but actually pushed much further in terms of graphics, audio, and even gameplay in many areas too.

It certainly doesn't need any of that extra stuff, but just saying.

@Hexapus

By the way, following on from one of my previous comments regarding people's reactions if someone did the same in reverse and ported Bloodlines to SNES adding in stuff like proper transparency and more layers and such:

https://x.com/Proteus_Ressus/status/1826693579290673213

https://x.com/Proteus_Ressus/status/1813087383031804285

https://x.com/Proteus_Ressus/status/1818108405183033722

https://x.com/Proteus_Ressus/status/1815403857075429746

Warning: There are some flashing lights in the third link.

He's not done much on it lately, and I'm not sure if he's going to be able to get a properly high standard to be honest, but it would still be very interesting to see how far an upgraded port to SNES could be taken in the right hands.

Also, I think it's kinda cool to see the two versions of IV next to each other to compare how things are coming along on Genesis too:

https://youtu.be/iKJX1ItAlWY?si=4v63wjNdYjGB3Aj1&t=26

https://youtu.be/0fQ54I5N2kU?si=w76tDnYqvy8FwxGE&t=205

Looks pretty cool.

Interestingly, it's not even supercharging the SNES here, but just letting it run at proper 100% CPU speed finally in all these cases of games that were once stuck in SlowROM because a bunch of publishers cheaped-out and went with the lower cost cartridges that artificially throttled the console to 2.68 MHz, which is only 70% of the system's full CPU speed. So, yeah, not supercharged, but rather just the stock SNES as it should have been all along in these cases.

Yeah, we're starting to see here some of the benefits of having these direct ports running on SNES now. I'm really hoping we get a lot more "All-Stars" tweaks to many of the direct NES to SNES ports in the future too.

Well, I found the trailer pretty funny with the voiceover.

Seems like a good mix getting some of that old Satellaview content in there.

Yeah, CVG, Mean Machines and Super Play most definitely need to be on any such list.

This is obviously a very nice addition there.

Ah, the good old days . . .

Ooh, this is quite interesting.

Well, this is going to come in very handy for a lot of people.

Now, can this be used as an actual console in its own right?

As long as it's legit--impressive stuff.

Bringing back dem real old Satellaview levels, boyeee.

@jamess Exactly. You get it.

Really, from now on in this world, I think we should post only full and complete videos of any interviews, debates, presentations, comments, posts, etc.

I mean, have snipped sections for the sake of a simple snapshot in a short article or whatever, but then always have the full thing linked right there too for everyone to investigate properly if they so desire. I've seen far too much of "This person said this" or "This person incited this" or "This person lied about this" or "This person is a [insert very serious accusation here]", almost all based on just intentionally misrepresented clips designed to push lies and manipulate people into certain views and beliefs, and I'm sick of it--because it clearly has exactly that effect on a whole lot of people.

If everyone could simply see the full truths of all of this stuff, I think a whole lot of people would have different opinions for sure. Then we could all form actual fair and unbiased opinions based on the real facts and such too, and actually have reasonable conversations and debates about, and, God knows, maybe even find some common ground and come up with real answers and solutions.

With interviews like this one, the overall sentiment doesn't seem like it would change much even after the correction--and I agree with that original sentiment portrayed in the interview as such--but the facts need to be the facts and nothing else.

I think with all the stuff going on in the world right now, and with how easy it is for anyone with bad intentions to create entirely false narratives around whatever and whomever they want, sometimes to potentially totally destructive effect, we need to push for the simple truths and facts more than ever.

Only when people have all the facts can they form fair and honest opinions and make the right decisions and choose the correct path forward. But they do indeed need the actual unmanipulated and clear facts as ground zero there.

I'm sure our gaming journalists can manage this at least.

@HylianFox Totally hear you on that one.

And, honestly, I would just love to see a version of the original that is basically untouched other than being output in full HD, running at 60fps, and with no draw-in/pop-in. The audio could use CD quality, but otherwise be the same. And the controls could just be mapped to a modern controller, but otherwise be the same, even keeping the game on-rails and such. Maybe adding in some rumble support could be cool though.

Most people probably won't believe me, but I think that would still hold up and actually be a brilliant game to this day--even the very best Star Fox imo.

Totally worth it!

Honestly though, this doesn't look half bad at all.

@slider1983 'Tis true.

Well, I'll say no more than they're certainly playing to a very particular rabid fanbase.

I tell ya, there's like a thousand Japanese SNES games that didn't get released with English translations, so plenty for these guys to continue to work on too.

I like it. Looks very cool.

I very much am against Nintendo on this one.

@slider1983 Well, you're stating the obvious there. Lol

I don't get what the subtitle of the article has to do with anything mentioned here?

PS. I backed the Kickstarter.

I side with the developers on this one.