Topic: What Game(s) are You Currently Playing?

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Was just messing around with another free 7 day trial for NSO(NES, SNES & GameBoy)...

And even though Nintendo did a really good job with the new and improved updated CRT filter(CRT Mode setting) like a few or so months back, I still find the experience sub par compared to the real deal. The NES & SNES updated CRT mode looks really good, but Nintendo doesn't allow to shrink down the FullScreen/4:3 image. So on a 55" 4K TV for example, you're getting close to a 45" 4:3 image, which is waaaay too big for 8-16 bite sprite based graphics and 100% tarnishes the visuals. As does modern sample and hold motion blur vs CRT.

27" 4:3/FullScreen, imo, is ideal(There's a reason why most arcade CRT monitors back in the late 80's & early to mid 90's were 25"), and you can't get anywhere close to that with CRT mode, unless you play it on like a 32" QD-OLED 'Monitor' which is about 26" in 4:3. and on a 42" LG C6 OLED? You're getting around 34". But then, even on that 32" QD-OLED, you still have to deal with all of that extra latency and big step back in motion clarity. The advantages? True blacks, higher brightness, whiter whites, the monitor itself is readily available, light, slim and NEW.

Anyways, NSO latency is definitely there, and to get the lowest amount you'd be wise to use the JCN2's with the controller shell/grip attachment. If not, the Pro 2 controller, wired. With each NSO emulation, best case scenario, you're getting hit with 1 frame(16-17ms of lag, best case scenario) and your 4K TV will have 10ms of lag. So 27ms of latency IF you're lucky, not including the small amount from the JCN2's. Ultimately, 27 is too much imo. I think most people won't care, but when you stack it up against the cartridge of the same game on an FPGA SNES(Think Super Nt) connected to your 4K TV, you basically cream 17ms or more since there's no emulation latency and that right there makes ALL the difference. A wired in OG SNES Controller probably has sub 1ms too.

Wii VC was so much better, using component cables, paired with a good CRT during the Wii generation. No input lag coming from the TV(10ms less.), perfect blur free CRT motion clarity, perfect sizing at either 27 or 32" which fits retro SD games display size perfectly(No ugly black boarders) no upscaling and a perfect legit CRT-look we all grew up with, at least with composite or RF.

But back to NSO, I used to be in love with the GameBoy, especially during 2011 during the 3DS handheld VC era. I was juggling 3DS VC GameBoy games and original GB carts on a GBA SP if whatever game wasn't available on the eshop. 3DS was a better fit for GB games simply because it had a D-pad, there was no akward analog stick placed directly below B,A,X,Y and it could display the exact same GB screen size in 1:1/Pixel perfect mode.

I foolishly sold my 3DS years ago, so my digital library is officially out the window. At this point, I'd much rather get original carts and play them on the Modretro (V2) Chromatic - Bubblegum or Analogue Pocket(White). Thing is, I've played practically everything I've wanted to on GB, based on when it came out in 89, and then delving even deeper into it's library in 2011 & 2012.

Most of the games don't even hold up anyways. One of my favourites > Wario Land 1, feels a pinch slow and slightly sluggish(But it's still very good), SML 2 is just awful(Kitchen sink level design and wonky controls), TMNT I & II are a product of their time(Even then they were never great), Kid Icarus of Myths and Monsters doesn't hold up all that well, Operation C(Favourite GB game of all time) is slow compared to the NES games and even the NES games(1 & Super C) now fall short thanks to Super Cyborg on Switch.

Link's Awakening DX? Loved that one too, but why even bother when you can re-experience the updated NS2 version of Links Awakening Remake? Metroid II has always been mediocre(NES original is better), Fortified Zone is a slow burn, Mega Man V(GB) is painfully overrated, Castlevania I & II feel like you're trudging through quick sand, i could go on and on.

Wario Land 1 is I'd say is still the grand daddy, DK 94' is excellent too, along with Gorgoyle's Quest, and i would of said the same for Link's Awakening if the remake didn't exist. Love me some Contra Operation C, but It just isn't anywhere near as enjoyable to revist thanks to recent new wave contra's that do it that much better like Cyber Shadow. But ya, NSO just doesn't do it for me, and the same goes for really any console emulation on Switch combined with a 4K TV.

For NSO GB, I'd much rather play it in handheld mode on Switch 1 OLED, with a D-pad mod and Skullgrip/handle grip attachment, if i were to. Using either the monochrome green filter or Black & White. It would be nice to have the original GB's display filter(Instead of sharp/crisp raw sprites) but without the persistence blur being applied. But they don't give you that option! But both the Analogue Pocket & Chromatic do.

Sigh. That GB magic is kind of gone for me. I've already experienced it when it was cutting edge and in the now back in 89 and during the early 90's, I scooped up a GBA SP(001) in 2011 and loaded up on GB Carts, including diving deep into the GB's catalogue with the 3DS's Handheld VC. At this point, the only game that I'm interested in playingghat I haven't played is Batman: The Video Game.

Anyways, ramble ramble. The only NSO platform i'm interested in, if that, is Virtual Boy, simply because of the newly added and exclusive color filter options, and unreleased D-Hopper. But blowing $100 for a plastic shell that's reliant on a monthly or annual payment plant really irks me, instead of just being able to buy the games individually. Plus emulation lag.