Ristar24

@the_beaver I hear there are some story spoilers for the plot of the first game if you intend to play that later, but's it's a self contained game.

I bought this at the weekend, first time playing the series. I restarted three times to get a feel for the controls and menus, then the game clicked and it's really engaging. Honestly demonstrates you dont need the latest graphics to create atmosphere and tension. Very glad finally got around to playing on Switch.

Still playing Sonic X Shadow Generations on Switch (the Sonic Generations port mainly), it's fun just to replay stages and do the challenges to unlock music. I've also been playing Fear the Spotlight which I quite like and has some spooky moments. I also found myself playing the Game Gear version of Sonic yesterday so may do some more retro gaming.

This game is one time I'm really not feeling what Digital Foundry were saying. I've played it for going on 20 hours and while it's 30fps, it's nice to play on my OLED and I'm not feeling the frame inconsistency they referred to at all. Maybe its the really well implemented motion blur. Be nice to have a 'performance' mode I guess but honestly I feel it plays fine and it looks sharp, at least the Sonic Generations component.

I was playing on PS4 around launch. Then one day I was walking home from work up a very steep hill with my back pack on, and I just decided I wanted to play something different when I actually got home.

It's not the best emulation, but it's passable for playing the original Streets of Rage for me. When people say bad emulation, I always think 'well it's not SEGA Smash pack on Dreamcast bad'. I have it digitally on Switch and the PS4 disc. What is poor on Switch is the resolution scaling in portable, as you have shimmer no matter what.

That's good, I've bought a lof of digital games on Switch and means the Switch successor will have the instant massive Library of the current console.

I own a Lite (the console that got me into the Switch and back to gaming on Nintendo as my main platform) and an OLED, so at this point unless one breaks I'm waiting for the successor.

Need to get back into this one. Replaying TR1 for the first time since the Saturn was a lot of fun. I never had a PS1 myself, so never completed the sequels. Got quite far into TR2 and put the game down for a bit.

@Truegamer79 I agree, I played Frontiers on PS4 (so not the best version granted), but it just didn't work for me that well as a game. I feel Bowser's Fury did an 'open zone' far better. I also feel Shadow Generations kind of suffers more than Sonic Generations on Switch, I find the lower resolution a bit distracting. I'm really enjoying Sonic Generations on Switch though, those short replayable stages are great to zip through in portable play.

@gojiguy I hear your health recovers quicker on rewind mode. I've not played the original mode to compare, but I got through the game OK. The actual rewind feature isn't much use as it's so short it wont really allow you to correct many errors.

I think the game looks nice personally, it has a sparse and clean look that fits the atmosphere well. The sprite work and animation are nice. Would be good to have some greater differentiation between doors as they do look mostly the same. As some rooms also move around, you need to memorise where particular rooms are each time. It is a small game though, so not such a big deal.

I bought it, I've meant to play the game for years and good to see an official release and translation. I confess I checked a guide online at one sticking point, but once I got past that I got a bad ending and tried again. As the game is so short it encourages multiple play throughs, and the random swapping of rooms, events and items keeps things fresh. The Scissor Man also did succeed in making me jump a few times (with the sudden music too). Very glad I picked this one up.

I played Crow Country and currently playing Fear the Spotlight (plus the new release of Clock Tower, I have three endings so far). Good times for horror games on Switch.

On Switch it's Sonic X Shadow Generations and Clock Tower. I'd never played Clock Tower, so glad it finally got a official release in English. It's puzzling and creates a good sense of tension for a 16-bit era game. Sonic is great, playing this a lot more than I did on PS3, it's so well suited to portable play too.

It's weird I am not feeling this judder they are describing in Sonic Generations at all, maybe its the well implemented motion blur, but I've played about 14 hours and it's not bothered me at all. I trust them that it's there though. Shadow Generations I've not played much as the lower resolution is quite noticeable. I'll probably buy the PS4 version too.

I remember posting on here that I found the demo I played at Hyper Japan back in the day a bit underwhelming and unintuitive, and I think I recall I really upset some Star Fox fans. If I'd had a Wii U I might of played it, I liked the SNES and N64 games.

Zero would be a good fit for Switch I think, plus had some of the funniest missions for me, Miracle Johnson, and the bit with the band asking you to help them act tough which had some really funny lines.

Nice, wanted to try this but never had a Wii U.

@PC2 Trying to get those A ranks with Chao races in Sonic Adventure 2 on Dreamcast was such a pain. I just wanted to play the unlockable Green Hill and got lucky when I bought a 2nd hand memory card that had a save file with Green Hill unlocked. I don't think I'd ever have passed those Chao races otherwise.

I agree it's really good, but worth noting there is a resolution drop in the Shadow game. I find it quite blurry in comparison to the Sonic Generations port and even on the smaller screen, there is a noticable loss of detail. I went with Switch version myself for portable play and the game is still really good overall, but I'm more drawn to replaying Sonic Generations at the moment than the new levels, just as it looks much nicer.

I bought the game on Switch. Was going to go PS4 at least as I hear the Sonic Generations portion is 60fps there, but the portability of the Switch won out. It's still much improved from the PS3 version I had on original release and looks nice on the Switch even at 30fps.
You can tell those Shadow levels are really pushing the hardware though, as seem to run with a lower resolution. Still fun and playable, I may also buy on PS4 in the future.

More spooky games for October. I finished Crow Country which I thought was great, really enjoyed the plot revelations and the story overall. I may now go back to Signalis but I've also downloaded the improved emulation of Siren on my PS4 so I might try progress more in that game. It's challenging to get into as its so unusual in it's design.

Was thinking of playing the original Silent Hill 2 but I can't find my original Xbox copy, seems odd I would have sold it, oh well.

I think I probably skipped the scenes originally on PS3 as I can't really remember the story much. Really just waiting for Switch footage, I'm guessing 30fps so if PS4 manages 60fps I'll get it there.

If it's 30fps on PS4, I'll probably skip it as I don't have a 'current gen' machine and I'd want a real upgrade to the gameplay beyond resolution, from the version I played years back.

My weekend is delayed as working today, but once I have some time am currently playing Crow Country which I am really enjoying, even if getting your health drained by mini monsters you can barely see in portable mode is a bit frustrating.

I still like the NSO, it's relatively cheap and I play the retro games a lot more than I was anything I had acces to when I subscribed to PS Plus, which I dropped when Sony increased the price. Be good if there was an option to buy individual games. Be interested to see what this is.

My next planned Switch purchase, sounds like my type of survival horror, hope it's as good as Alisa which I really enjoyed.

Finally properly got around to playing Signalis, it's a really impressive game. It reminds me why you don't really need to persue cutting edge graphics in computer games to convey horror themes, or movie style acting to make a player feel something about a game and it's characters.

Also Castlevania, I always play Super Castlevania IV in October as it is one of my all time favourites, but I think will finally try finish the third game this month as it's one I've never completed.

Ah Sonic Jam. It was actually possible to Glitch out of the mini 3D world in the Saturn game where you would have an infinite VDP2 plain streched out in front of you to run towards. I still have the PAL and Japanese versions.

Am interested to see how Generations runs on Switch, be a bit disappointing if 30fps as that was what my PS3 managed. Almost certain this will be too though, as Colours was.

Very nice to hear, was such a great game even though I played through a fairly rough version originally as a late PS3 release. Switch port is outstanding.

I have this disc, nice find! Whenever anyone says bad official emulation though, my mind immediately replies SEGA Smash Pack Vol.1 on Dreamcast. Thankfully, there was no Vol.2.

Been playing some arcade racing games on my PS3 Super Slim, from the days when Sony actually sold budget hardware. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, Ridge Racer 7, Need for Speed: the Run, Daytona, it's been interesting going through my old purchases back over 10 years ago and the games still look quite good to me.

As it's October I think time for some Castlevania staring with the NES / Famicom game on Switch. Great that the Switch has so many of the classic Castlevania games now available in collections.

I played Link's Awakening and couldn't get used to the inconsistency. I am fine with 60fps or 30fps. Some standard frame drops or frame pacing in games bother me less. A game with vsync enabled which halves the frame rate to 30fps and then jumps back up 60fps does become distracting for me to play, as I can not adjust to one or the other.

I mentioned in a previous comment, but SEGA Rally 2 on Dreamcast was one of the first games I played that did this, and I noticed it immediately. Saturn SEGA Rally was a mostly consistent 30fps and I much preferred how that game played.

I was playing the original game episodes as they were released, back on PS3. I remember watching YouTube videos speculating about what would happen next. I didn't play the subsequent games, I did try True Colours on Switch but it just didn't hold my interest as the first game did.

I might get my PS3 out as feel like some classic arcade racing, maybe Daytona and Ridge Racer 7 (would have made a great Switch port). Aside from that I feel in a retro mood so perhaps some Castle of Illusion on the Mega Drive or Streets of Rage. If I have time, might also play some more Witcher 3 on Switch.

I think back in the 80s and 90s, from the 8-bit micro computers to SEGA and Nintendo, the 'war' aspect was mostly that if you were a child, you could only really ask your parents for one system. Then, look at games you might like to play on another system but didn't own and decide to downplay them instead! The marketing really fed into that I think.

The technological differences in computers from the ZX Spectrum to the C64 offered different strengths, as did the Master System and NES, Mega Drive and SNES, the Saturn, PS1 and N64. They all had great unique games though.

With the persuit of the latest tech, I've really lost interest in 'current gen' after the PS4. I really like the convenience of the Switch and it won me over after drifting over to a PS3 and PS4 during the WiiU era. I like what Nintendo did with the system and I also really liked the DS and 3DS (though also owned a PSP and Vita).

I find the 60-30 fps V-sync type frame drops really distracting. I remember first time I played SEGA Rally 2 on Dreamcast and the game immediately felt really bad to play after the original's stable 30fps on Saturn. It's the worst type of framerate inconsistency for me, as I can't become accustomed to either as it abruptly jumps between the two.

@BANJO Just went back and edited my comment as realise PS4 version does not have the gyro aim. Must have got confused, but I still think seems the better demo overall!

Desert Falcon, I thought that was in there already somehow! Maybe I played it in a previous collection. Was one of my actual Atari carts at the time so I have a real nostalgia for that one.

@BANJO Yes, I really noticed it on the floor, the Switch version seems to use that kind of texture filtering where you can see an obvious line ahead when you move. Used to see that a lot in Dreamcast games and I find it quite distracting. That issue is eliminated on PS4, the distant detail looks nicer, resolution and framerate are better.

I like these games having played the original on Wii and the Sequel on PS3 and Vita. I really like the visual style of this new version, but I feel the Switch version is a little too cut back.

Great they have the demos out really so you can compare.

@BANJO Yep, if you download the demo on PS4 you can really see the difference when you get to the larger open areas. It looks and runs much nicer than the Switch docked. While I usually go for portable play, with this game it's a bit too rough for me going on the demo comparison at least.

I liked the orginal and played the demo on Switch and PS4, I might need to go at least PS4 with this one. Switch just looked and ran a bit rough.

After very belatedly getting into the game on Switch, I've been finally playing the Witcher 3. I picked up the PS4 version too as it's so cheap and looks better, but found myself mostly playing on Switch portable.

Also bought the Mavel vs. Capcom collection on Switch. X-Men vs. Street Fighter was one of my favourite Saturn imports way back (I still own it). I'd not played The Punisher game before and it's a really nice extra. Might also contine some DS Castlevania in the Dominus Collection, those games are still really enjoyable to play.

@NeonMullet I played a lot of UK specific software probably, and cassette was the most popular format here. Back then I pretty much bought what was in my local WH Smith! You can always add software to the mini (or the larger version) with a USB. I miss those old tape loaders that way though. Platoon is way better than it has any right to be (at least the first two stages), I have the NES cart too, but it's poor next to the C64. Stunt Car racer is almost as good as the Amiga. I'll certainly be looking out for this in Switch too.

'The Spectrum' is the next device from Retro Games which I'll also be picking up.

Looks good but digitally I think it's a bit expensive at £35. One for a sale for me I think, or will keep a look out for the physical version.

@-wc- So true, imagine if Street Fighter 2 on the SNES or Mega Drive had big arcade sprites, but with an awful framerate. Or, I think how well some arcade ports played even on 8-bit micro computers, as they were pretty much their own version.

I guess it's this whole 'scalability' that's the problem, what potential is there technically, and what skills, time and resources do developers have to make their game a pleasant experience on lesser powerful hardware. Arkham Knight is an example of a Switch port which is a total disaster, but I'm finally playing The Witcher 3 on Switch at the moment and I really appreciate the achievement in getting the game running as well as it does.

I always like to see a retro racing game. Not familiar with Big Run but the arcade version looks pretty good. This SNES version looks very cut down visually, but is really reminding me of the home computer ports of Buggy Bug.

It didn't seem 720p portable in the demo on Switch, or maybe was just some muddy textures, the framerate also dropped a fair bit. I also downloaded the PS4 demo version which certainly looked and performed better than the Switch docked.

I liked this game on Wii but on the demo impression, the Switch version didn't sèem too great so not one I'll buy at release.

I bought the The Witcher 3 on Switch in the recent sale. I did try the game on PS4 years ago and put it down, but as usual, portable play has seen me spend more time with the game at last.

Also still playing the Castlevania Dominus collection.

@Toastmaster Great list, Tim Follin also really impresses me on C64, the Ghouls 'n Ghosts intro and soundtrack was so atmospheric. The various Ocean loaders were also great, sometimes better than the games themselves!

£700, plus another £100 for a disc drive, then the expensive subsciption for online play, and they have increased the price of the controller. My launch PS4 broke during the pandemic, I replaced it with a new slim and to be honest, it's good enough for me for most cross gen games at this point.

I bought a Switch Lite around the same time and it impressed me enough to get an OLED. I mostly moved to gaming on Switch and I'm certainly waiting to see how the follow up is priced, that pro is out of my range for a games console, for sure. I really hope Nintendo can balance decent performance and price, they usually do. Put it together with backwards compatibility and good support, and Switch 2 will be my go to console for quite a while I think.