Blister

@spadgy Thanks for the review and response. Thought it wouldn’t work with flip grip. If I had realised there was a demo I could have tried myself 😹 Don’t be gutted, it is a great review.

Although vertical scrolling, I guess this won’t work with FlipGrip full screen? Trying to decide if there is any advantage to getting this on Switch as opposed to Steam Deck.
There is a demo on Steam.

I have the NSO N64 controller and have been enjoying it with an updated Blueretro receiver on my N64. This is a tempting project, but I guess I don’t need it… I wonder if it pairs with the Blueretro? That would get around the fact you can’t plug in a Controller Pak, which you occasionally need on the N64.

@EarthboundBenjy Ah. I didn’t experience anything like that, but maybe these are more recent issues. Thanks for letting us know.

I completed the main game perhaps 18 months ago on Switch and it was absolutely fine - perhaps some slowdown in the tower of twin dragons when the big bad shows up. I bought it physically cheaply close to release in the wake of reports of poor performance, but updates soon massively improved visuals. It is a very good game especially if you love the Metroidvanias.

Physical £32.99 on Am*zon UK as Spring Deal. Another £10 or so less for Ubisoft PC digital - which handily you can play on Luna.

So, my copy has arrived early. Day 1 download halfway through… 😸

@Nintendo_Thumb Thanks! Might give it a whirl.
Because I hardly have any backlog... 😬😬😬😆

These games are really fun and you can see effort has been.put into the port. It is a bargain in the US right now!

Always intrigued by Pandora's Tower on Wii. It is available as a WiiU download, and physical copies are now very expensive. Should I take the plunge??
Also I loved some of the TurboGrfx16 shmups, and they will disappear with the demise of the Virtual Console...

Bought this back in the day, and though I liked the tabletop aesthetic I was too stupid to understand how to play it. I think there is a bit too much about gameplay that is poorly explained. Just gave it an hour or two and realised the you really need to play with a guide, particularly if you don’t have time to faff about!

Both the titles that comprise this package are available on the eShop for pennies right now 80 and 90% off respectfully.

@dartmonkey Great article. I have been expecting it to be written for some years.

"Our advice? We definitely recommend backing up your hard drives if you've got them, and getting your personal 3DS/Wii U affairs in order while you can."

I personally would love a practical article about how best to backup digital games from these systems. For instance whether solid state drives might be best for WiiU harddrive backups? I was poorly advised when I sent my 3DS for repair at Nintendo AND LOST ALL MY DIGITAL GAME SAVES...

@MeloMan Always intrigued by this one. I did rent it once. Loved the atmosphere, but got approximately nowhere before I had to return it 😃

@BenAV Same!

@gb_nes_gamer From what I recall, the Ecks Vs Sever game sequel was at least as good as the first. They had pleasingly lo-fi visuals that my brain compensated for the longer I played - a blur of pixels really started to look like an enemy combatant after a while.

@gb_nes_gamer Yeah. Ecks V Sever was a weird thing. Apparently the game was adapted from the movie script. Game was good, lord knows what the film was like!

@FargusPelagius I guess you win sometimes and lose others! 3rd party peripherals were and can still be a bit of lottery!

@FargusPelagius I had a portable screen for my Gamecube too. It was pretty terrible, small and blurry. When it got hot after a short time the picture would start to roll and it even melted the adhesive holding the plastic over its surface. I think I played it on a train once...

Before the GC GameboyPlayer I modded my original GBA to get TV output. That machine had a hard life - I put an Afterburner backlight in it too, but my rubbish soldering skills fried the dimmer wheel so it was forever washed out and too bright!

@Farmboy74 I relate to so much of what you say there! I miss the arcades... Hope there are further DLC packs down the line.

@mr_benn Yes, I found the push the right stick for credits a pain too. With the arcade stick I found I had to have my pro controller as player 2 to add credits!
@OorWullie Cheers. I think it won't be long before this could be on sale...

I have dabbled with this playing 1943. I have my TV on a rotating mount for vertical shooters. I'm very slightly disappointed that when docked though the screen can be freely rotated, the controls appear locked so that vertical shooters play as if side scrolling. It is great they included that option for Switch Lite users, but it would have been nice to have been able to play on a rotated TV - it feels amazing when it works coupled with an arcade stick. I'm glad it is Flip-grippable however.
The pricing is excellent, and I feel I may go the whole hog here...
P.s. Don't sleep on Progear - it's a great shooter.

@Farmboy74 I'm tempted to get all the packs too. I own a fair few of the games elsewhere, but ease of play here is tempting. And yes, hopefully more games will come with time. 🤞

@Farmboy74 This was what I was most excited about in the direct. I love old vertical shooters. I have a flip grip too. However I also mounted my TV on a rotating mount to allow TATE play. Frustratingly when docked it assumes you are playing vertical shooters on their side and the controls are orientated for that! Similar situation to the SNK Anniversary Collection which removed the rotation option when docked. Gah!

@WhiteTrashGuy I found Samus Returns a little slow to start, but I'm really enjoying it now. Stereoscopic graphics are splendid, and countering is a fun mechanic, if a little overused. The structure of the gameboy original it follows means the metroid fights can get a little repetitive and it misses the feel of epic "set pieces" I recall from the other 2D Metroids. But I'm nit-picking, it's pretty good!

@WhiteTrashGuy Order of Ecclesia is interesting as it doesn't really have a huge sprawling map, but is setup as discrete levels. It's really hard in places and took me a decade to finish
Visuals are great, and the villager quests have been somewhat carried over into Bloodstained: RotN. I liked it a bit less than the best of the GBA/DS 'vanias. Still worth playing though.

@WhiteTrashGuy Aria is such a great game. Close to being a favourite of mine probably edged by Symphony of the Night. I'm jealous of anybody experiencing it for the first time.

A bit of Octopath Traveller, which I have struggled to "click" with and Samus Returns which is starting to really open up in Area 5.

I came very close to buying a brand new one for £30 in a John Lewis bargain bin long ago. I always regret passing it up, but can't argue with my logic at the time that I didn't need it...

@Asimilate84 @Spoony_Tech your moment may have finally come - £3.99 on WiiU eshop sale now!

This looks like a great option. Most complete feature set I have seen on a Switch stick.

Not a terribly exciting update. But then I hardly need to add to my backlog. Filled my boots with Doom in the recent sale. Enjoying the visual fidelity of Eternal on PC.

That 2nd video showing Diddy Kong getting 100 lives is an exploit I didn't know... redownloads on New Nintendo 3DS

Ugh. This is terrible news. I have made use of these emailed codes on a number of occasions to get a better deal on games.

@Damo Thanks for this response. This game is definitely on my radar. The content you guys produce is very much appreciated!

Hmm. Not a game I know. I wonder if Advance Wars fans might find something to love here?

@Ventilator Thanks, there have definitely been a couple more updates of the MagicNS since I last looked. I'm very impressed with the lengths they have gone to in making such a cheap device do everything. Cheers.

@Ventilator Ooh. I have a MagicNS I scarcely use. Hadn't really thought of it affording greater compatability (and thus choice) for fight sticks. I ended up buying a Mayflash F500 Elite for Switch/Pi/NeoGeoMini...

@nessisonett Man, what a bunch of jokers!

(endlessly quotable)

@nessisonett I see what you did there in that first sentence...

@MS7000 Gosh. I think I got stuck on the very same boss on Wii. Had another half hearted stab at it recently but beat me again. Looks much prettier this time, but not sure I can face restarting. Maybe I can push myself through it...

I was new having problems with my Pro controller yesterday, but it seemed to be the D-pad and not usual drift. Hopefully this is the fix.
The electrical contact cleaner fix has thankfully worked on all my drifting joycon so far.

Really splendid work Chris. I work in the NHS and I know we all really appreciate the love and support forthcoming right now. 🙏

@Woodyshoe Yes. 89p for Flashback. Nice spot.

Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is a quite fun NES game that will benefit a lot from restore points and rewinding! Definitely worth a look. I had more fun with it than Splatterhouse itself. Horror cuteness!

Not seen the Direct, but hopefully the female ring voice is less irritating than the male one...

@bro2dragons You just beat me!

Edit: Oh, you have deleted your comment.

Intriguing.
@Damo It "costs X". Wow, are we using roman numerals now? ;p

Edit: Ok, this comment now looks less smart now the X has been substituted with the actual price...

@kuliddar I'm not salty. I got the PS classic for £13 and with Retro Arch it is an amazing arcade machine.