GravyThief

Can the Swich’s built in screen even refresh at 50Hz? If not, they’re going to be even worse than on a TV playing in handheld mode!

I had one of these back in the day. Imported it from Lik-Sang (remember them?!) and it wasn’t cheap even then. It was nice to look at, but I used my normal GameCube more due to the GB Player and I was able to use an RGB cable with it. The Panasonic Q didn’t have the standard Nintendo AV socket at the back from memory. Kind of wish I’d kept it, but I can still play GameCube games so that’s the main thing.

I’ve only played Circle of the Moon from this collection (or just ‘Castlevania’ as it’s called here in Europe). I enjoyed it, except for the cards (I don’t think I ever like cards when in games) and I got to the final boss but couldn’t beat him. Really should get around to the other two at some point, I just find I can only play large Metroidvanias every so often, there are too many of them these days.

“In the future”

I mean, I’m pretty sure Nintendo will release lots of different things at some point in the future. Get this - even a new console! I came up with this without being an insider, I must be psychic.

Classic FM is my radio station of choice. I do like it when I hear a Zelda, Final Fantasy or other video game music piece. They certainly don’t sound out of place with all the other classic or film music pieces they play.

I hear about these VGM radio shows on the likes of Classic FM, BBC and so on, but they’re so badly advertised I always hear about them after they’ve happened, sometimes months or years afterwards! I’d love to be able to replay them all now, but from what I can tell none are available any more. It’s a shame.

I still don’t own a Switch because it’s current RRP is not worth it to me. More so since hearing all the stories about the lack of durability in those joycons. So I’ve been waiting over 4 years for a price cut! And I’ll happily wait 4 years more if I have to. They have to reduce the price at some point 😀

Glad to see Metroid Fusion get a mention. Not just the boss screams but those satisfying crunchy explosion sounds have always stuck with me. Surprising considering the limitations of the GBA audio hardware

Koopa Beach theme (Super Mario Kart) by The OneUps.

Super Mario Bros theme by The OneUps.

Super Buck II by Estradasphere (a cover of the Super Mario Bros 2 Ground Theme mentioned in the article).

For anyone who enjoys Mario music covers.

It’s still made by Mercury Steam and I’m guessing uses the analogue stick to control? In which case I’ll be keeping my expectations in check. It looks good, but so did Samus Returns and that was not an enjoyable 2D Metroid game.

Much better picks from DKC Tropical Freeze in my opinion:

Staff Credits feat. David Wise (not Funky’s Staff Credits)

Busted Bayou

Busted Bayou always sticks out for me in particular because it’s such an awesome level in the game, it’s the one in silhouette where you can see Samus’ ship in the background, and make shapes with all the silhouettes of the foliage.

Also just to add to my above comment, I think a soundtrack like the remake of Wonder Boy III Dragon’s Trap is again much more fitting than a full orchestra. I’m not sure if it was actually done by an orchestra, certainly it was a large group of musicians. But it uses instruments that fit the game, so didn’t have the typical ‘orchestral’ sound to it.

One of the best modern soundtracks in my opinion.

I listen to orchestral renditions of video game music as my music of choice when working.

I don’t, however, think it always fits in a game. Especially older games or games in that style. Everyone seems to be adding orchestral music to SNES games with the SD2SNES and its MSU, and it just sounds wrong, and honestly, silly.

Something much more fitting for 8-bit/16-bit games would be like the VRC6 chip music on the Famicom version of Castlevania 3. It fits the game but has much more oomph.

“Is an official announcement on the way?”

.heck//I.DON’T.KNOW.MAYBE

I was a big fan of earlier FE games, up to and including Awakening. But Fates put me off, I really didn’t like much about it and the direction FE has taken. I haven’t played this but I don’t think I’ll like it.

I have Valentia still to play on 3DS, I think I’ll like that as it doesn’t seem to have a lot of the guff from Fates I hated.

I’m currently playing Vandal Hearts on the PS1 and I must say I like it very much, more so than FE. Shame that series never went anywhere.

Despite not watching the Pokemon cartoon back in the day, I still knew the theme tune. And I can still sing most of the words to this day. What a theme tune it was!

I just bought Dementium Remastered on the 3DS eShop this past week. I have a few digital only titles I want to make sure I buy before they close the eShop. Code of Princess is another, although I’ll try and get a US Physical copy if I can first.

Hopefully we still have a few years left in these eShops.

I bought 40 Winks from Piko a year or two ago. What’s different here? Is it just another print run?

If it plays anything like Samus Returns on 3DS, then not a chance. At least this looks better from trailers (it runs much smoother), but it still seems to have that clumsy counter mechanic. I bet it uses the analogue stick to control too. 2D platform games should always use the D pad. Not that the Switch has a proper D pad.

I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

I was deciding whether to buy this last week, made the decision this morning to buy it then saw it was out of stock.

I’m going to look on eBay for a scalper charging double the price and buy it there. No not really I’m going to wait until October. I’m glad they’re reprinting it.

Fair play to him. Wish I’d made close to £100k when I was 16.

I used it on the Wii U all the time until I got my PS4. Now I use it on that

Netflix is on my Smart TV but I never use it, it’s so clunky to use so I don’t see Smart TVs as a suitable replacement, not my one anyway. I’d be really annoyed if I only had a Switch, it really should be on there.

That said I have a Roku stick for the bedroom and that is by far the best device I’ve had for streaming. It includes more apps too, like ITV Hub which isn’t present on PS4 for some reason. It’s much faster than the Fire Stick which was horrible. Only cost me £16 too on offer!

$2.1m at $50 a month = 3,500 years. Seems practical.

I’d prefer it if they did re-run of the mini console itself so I can buy one. Missed it the first time around, all the 2nd hand ones I see for sale are either from people who don’t seem to be able to look after their stuff or a rip-off

I’ll only be interested if they re-make them into open world metroidvanias with branching paths based on random dialogue choices, crafting and skill trees. And I want every dungeon to be procedurally generated rogue-likes. With DLC.

Oh, and I want to be able to make the main character myself because I’m definitely better at it than a team of seasoned artists.

What does a shiny Pokemon do? And can you get a shiny Psyduck? That’s the only one I’d be interested in.

@nessisonett yeah I didn’t realise that on my first play through. I hardly used any health items as I’m used to them being scarce like in Resident Evil. Didn’t realise the game thought I was acting suicidal, being at low health a lot of the time, and so provided me with a suitable ending!

@HammerGalladeBro I have multiple Peppa Pig toys for my daughters and I can tell you it looks somewhat disturbing

I do wish I’d bought a Mega Drive mini when they first came out.

I’m glad I stopped buying Amiibos a couple of years ago. I got sucked into it, and have used a few for sure (and my daughter loves the big woolly Yoshi amino), but most are still sealed in their boxes stored away. I need to get the motivation to sell them.

Just do the first 2 games. The 3rd one is an abomination anyway. All that chinwagging at the start of the game with NPCs is not a bloody Metroid game.

@Desrever disc rot is my biggest fear. I haven’t experienced any yet (and I have fairly large PS1 and GameCube collections) but it’s always on my mind. Doesn’t stop me buying more of them though!

How were your games stored?

I’m really not into Mega Man. I’ve tried both MM2 and MMX (the best two according to this list) and just couldn’t get into them. I really don’t like not being able to shoot up and diagonal.

I prefer my platformers slower paced with a focus on exploration, so that’s another reason. I do like the looks of Legends 1 & 2 and Tron Bonne, but they’re about as far removed from a traditional Mega Man game as you can get.

@twadebarcelona I’ll check it out, thanks!

I wish I could find new thermal paper that fits the Game Boy printer these days (ideally as stickers like the originals). My daughters would love it. I’ve found rolls for tills but they need cutting to fit and never seem to work. I’m sure I could find Bluetooth printers for my iPhone that could print photos and stuff, but it doesn’t have the same novelty and appeal to me.

I don’t think those trending prices are accurate. Pretty sure a cib copy of Final Fight Guy (with CD) doesn’t routinely sell for $27....

I’d like to know how the sound quality of Secret of Mana’s soundtrack (technically speaking) sounded so much ahead of any other 16 bit soundtrack of the time. I’ll always recall thinking that the track ‘Into The Thick Of It’ sounded like it was being played on a real guitar (or whatever the instrument is).

@Zeldafan79 my brother and I always got a laugh from the speech samples on the Mega Drive version of Street Fighter II back in the day. Still do in fact!

Is this NL’s April Fool’s article for 2021? It’s not quite as obvious or silly as previous ones.

You forgot the option “who cares”

The thing I will always remember the most about Dungeon Master: you can die from walking into walls! It provided me with hours of laughter as a child.

Wish I’d watched the original when it was on Prime. Hopefully they can make it available to watch online when they bring the sequel out.

Still don’t have one. Waiting for the price to drop first. To be honest there aren’t many Switch exclusive games I’m that bothered about. Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Odyssey are the main ones I want to play off the top of my head, but not much else. I’m quite content with my PS4 and numerous retro games and systems. I’m sure I’ll get 1 or more when my daughters get a bit older, hopefully by then they’ll have dropped the price! Not that they need to of course.

I still recall getting my first 3DS, the OoT 3D edition which I still have today. I now have many more models including the New 3DS variants which are easily the best ones with their head tracking stable 3D.

Getting the 3DS also opened up the DS library to me as I’d been away from games since the GC/GBA so missed out on that generation.

My only real gripe is the fact it’s not region free. Such a disappointing move by Nintendo. I still have US exclusive 3DS games I can’t play as waiting to get a US model. I’ve looked into hacking one of my 3DSes but I’m put off by the fact it’s not really reversible. I wish it was as simple and elegant to hack as the PSP was!

@Krisi yeah there is a small handful of genuine GBA games that use battery saves. Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission spring to mind. Not all copies have them though (unfortunately mine do), and they’re not counterfeit either. But you’re right, most do use flash memory for saving thankfully, and obviously by the DS era they were a thing of the past.

I just remembered, even consoles have batteries too! PS2 and Gamecubes use them for their internal clocks, and they’re a pig to change.

@Krisi I totally agree. I have lots of old carts with battery saves and all I think of now is how much work it is to replace them all. I actually like it when I find an old game uses passwords. I can’t believe some N64 and GBA games used batteries too. Of course with things like flash carts you get the convenience of battery saves without the need for battery maintenance!

I also don’t understand why Microsoft get stick for having AA batteries in their controllers. At least it’s easy to replace those batteries as long as AA batteries are still around. Good luck finding replacement batteries for all the Sony and Nintendo wireless controllers down the line.

This definitely had a similar impact for me when I first played it and stepped out of the temple as adult link.

However, the Dark World in Link to the Past had a bigger impact. Because I was younger and it was unexpected. I already knew before playing OoT you switched between present/future, but I had no idea about the Dark World until I got there. Even the initial glimpse from Death Mountain before the 3rd dungeon didn’t clue me up as I was young and didn’t really understand what it was all about. It was only when I got to the Dark World properly and realised there were 5 (or was it 7?) more dungeons to get through I was like... WOW!

I love how they go for the nostalgia feels with these releases by including loads of tat alongside the game, you know, like it used to be in the 90s. Oh no wait.....

If I get a GCVideo device I’ll get the Kaico from Amazon. It’s nice for one of these retro gaming devices to be readily available, at a decent price, from a normal retailer who is based in the UK. I’m fed up with these devices costing the earth, only available from one retailer in god knows where, with a 6 month waiting list.

“There's clearly no accounting for taste”. Couldn’t agree more.

According to NL commenters, Bitmap Books should have released a book called ‘SNES Box Art Collection’, because we all know they got the best box art.....

If it’s anything like the PS1 digital solution, it will make the N64 look as good as it ever could on a HD TV. But I bet there’s a waiting list for it of about a thousand years at the cost of a million pounds.

I’ll stick with CRTs until mine all die. Hopefully by then these solutions will be cheaper and more readily available, or Analogue will have released an N64 in the same vein as the SNES and Mega Drive.