Comments 1,085

Re: 36 Years After It Released, There Are So Many New Genesis Games Someone Has Built A Site To Track Them All

RetroGames

I actually think there are a lot more new games than that for Genesis either already released or in the works, so maybe it's only covering boxed games or something?

Someone should do something like this for SNES too--but it also needs to start getting a lot more new games to really make it worthwhile. Still, I'd like to ask someone out there to start it to get the ball up and running for that system too.

Here's some to start: Yo-Yo Shuriken, Nightmare Busters, Xeno Crisis, SNES Doom Definitive Edition, Cooly Skunk, Shockman Zero, Aero the Acro-Bat (re-release?), Black Jewel Reborn, Rendering Ranger R2 (western release), etc.

Edit: Ah, yeah, it says at the top it's physical releases. My bad there.

Re: We Can't Quite Believe That Former Dawn Is Running On Real NES Hardware

RetroGames

Genuinely, I would have believed this was a Genesis game if I hadn't been told otherwise, both the visuals and audio.

Apparently these guys plan on making a SNES game next. And if that happens, I cannot wait to see what they do there.

It's bonkers that this game isn't funded on Kickstarter already, especially with some of the games that got all their money in hours-days on there.

PS. I think this game also shows that a lot of what makes many modern games on these old consoles look so dang impressive actually often comes from them being made in modern times rather than somehow the specific system being this magical device capable of feats beyond all others. We have a NES game here that could pass as a Genesis title imo, so it's made it clear to me that many of the new games and demos I'm seeing on some of these other retro systems are a result of the same conditions of having extra time, experience, sheer dedication, and new tools and even ways to enhance the hardware that simply weren't a realistic option in the past. It makes me wonder what some of those other systems would truly be capable of under the same conditions. And I'm thinking of the SNES here personally, and just how far it could be pushed in the right hands by that same standard.

Re: Think The NES Can't Handle Mode 7? Think Again

RetroGames

@nitro2k01 Yeah, there's always ways to approximate something. But the real deal is the real deal, and I think most people can usually see the difference, be it in resolution, frame rates, smoothness of the rotation and scaling, the full screen effect, etc.

Interestingly, all of those other ways of faking Mode 7 can be used on SNES too. The unfinished port of Puggsy on SNES actually used the same faux rotating technique as on Genesis, and it was actually slightly smoother on SNES due to the system having higher fidelity column scrolling (columns are 8 pixels wide on SNES vs 16 pixels wide on Genesis):

https://youtu.be/Pvn5mAqisaU?t=1450

But it's still particularly cool when you see a system like the NES pulling off even something somewhat similar to these 16-bit systems with fake Mode 7 and fake HDMA effects and such be honest.

Re: After The Epic Failure Of The Intellivision Amico, Tommy Tallarico's New Goal Is Becoming A Backgammon Legend

RetroGames

@KitsuneNight I don't care if people disagree on "principle". The truth it what it is, and I'm just stating it. Too many people are far too willing to jump on whatever the new bandwagon is. The Internet generation is utterly desperate to be seen as all virtuous and pure. But painting him as some criminal or person of evil repeatedly doesn't make it so, and it doesn't make the people doing that any better. All the people casting stones should go ahead and try to start their own companies, try to have decades long successful careers in their chosen field, make their own crowdfunding campaigns, try to turn some old business into something new again with all the odds against them, win some world championship in whatever field they choose, etc, and we can all see how much sunshine shines out their a**** by the end of it. Like everyone else is pure and innocent. Children drink that Kool-Aid. Adults see right through such childish naivety. I'm not getting onboard the false virtue train.

Edit: Oops! I forgot I said I wasn't going to say anything else on it. My bad. Have at it.

Re: After The Epic Failure Of The Intellivision Amico, Tommy Tallarico's New Goal Is Becoming A Backgammon Legend

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.

Re: Think The NES Can't Handle Mode 7? Think Again

RetroGames

@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....

Re: Triple Impact Is A Promising New SNES Beat 'Em Up

RetroGames

@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.

Re: Triple Impact Is A Promising New SNES Beat 'Em Up

RetroGames

@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.

Re: New EGM Compendium Project Smashes Kickstarter Target In Under 24 Hours

RetroGames

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.

Re: Think The NES Can't Handle Mode 7? Think Again

RetroGames

@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.

Re: Think The NES Can't Handle Mode 7? Think Again

RetroGames

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.

Re: Fan-Made 'Mega Castlevania IV' Project Is Alive And Well In This New Footage

RetroGames

@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.

Re: Fan-Made 'Mega Castlevania IV' Project Is Alive And Well In This New Footage

RetroGames

@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.

Re: Fan-Made 'Mega Castlevania IV' Project Is Alive And Well In This New Footage

RetroGames

@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.

Re: Fan-Made 'Mega Castlevania IV' Project Is Alive And Well In This New Footage

RetroGames

@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

Re: Guide: SNES FastROM Games - How Hackers Are Supercharging Your Super Nintendo

RetroGames

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.