Retro gaming

[OldBailey]

The GameCube pad is my favourite controller of all time. Just fits so snugly in the hand and the build quality has never been matched. I have nearly 20 year old GC pads that have aged better than my current gen stuff.

[Alex79]

So Michiel mentioned Shock Troopers the other day on Chris' Ikari Warriors stream and it reminded me that I have the Wii VC release but never actually played it.

Decided to remedy that today and what a fun game! Great sprite art, cool soundtrack and very tightly polished top down run and gun goodness. The VC version is excellent too and like all Neo Geo releases, utilises the Wii's 240p output so looks awesome on a CRT.

It's undeniably derivative, even for 1997, and doesn't really do any one thing spectacularly well but it's very solid and highly playable. A little easy perhaps on it's default difficulty (I cleared it on my first attempt) but I'm definitely going to attempt a harder setting and see if Mrs Bailey fancies giving co-op a go. There are multiple routes through the game and 8 playable characters so plenty to keep me going.

I've heard the sequel is a little divisive but I'm looking forward to checking that out too nonetheless.

Oh yeah Shock Troopers is fantastic fun, arguably moreso than Metal Slug even. The sequel really is nowhere near as good though, they changed quite a lot, its not really all that similar a game.

[KSubzero1000]

The GameCube pad is my favourite controller of all time. Just fits so snugly in the hand and the build quality has never been matched. I have nearly 20 year old GC pads that have aged better than my current gen stuff.

Yeah mate, same. They are ridiculously robust, I've never had a single one break down in all my years of use. My pet theory as to why the sticks in particular are so solid without any drifting issues has to do with the lack of push-in stick buttons. I also adore most of its signature design choices, like the analogue/digital triggers, clever face button layout and octagonal gates around the sticks. And those ludicrously comfortable handles!

The D-pad is a bit too small, the Z-button is rather awkwardly placed and they're not really suited for conventional shooters or dual-analogue games, but apart from that, amazing all-around. No wonder the Smash community is basically strong-arming Nintendo into continuing to manufacture it to this day!

[OldBailey]

Yeah mate, same. They are ridiculously robust, I've never had a single one break down in all my years of use. My pet theory as to why the sticks in particular are so solid without any drifting issues has to do with the lack of push-in stick buttons. I also adore most of its signature design choices, like the analogue/digital triggers, clever face button layout and octagonal gates around the sticks. And those ludicrously comfortable handles!

The D-pad is a bit too small, the Z-button is rather awkwardly placed and they're not really suited for conventional shooters or dual-analogue games, but apart from that, amazing all-around. No wonder the Smash community is basically strong-arming Nintendo into continuing to manufacture it to this day!

Agreed on all counts. There's something indescribable though about how the combination of those things create such a lovely feel when playing. Games that really take advantage of the controller are actually elevated because of it. RE4 for instance just feels so good on that pad, the precision of that stick for aiming and that big, juicy 'A' button for firing. It doesn't feel right playing that game with anything else.

Oh and Mrs Bailey loves the owl pic!

[OldBailey]

Oh yeah Shock Troopers is fantastic fun, arguably moreso than Metal Slug even. The sequel really is nowhere near as good though, they changed quite a lot, its not really all that similar a game.

Ah, shame. That mirrors what I've heard elsewhere but I'll go in with an open mind.
The original isn't quite Metal Slug level for me. Boss fights and set pieces aren't on the same level and of course the sprite art doesn't compare. It is undeniably brilliant fun though.

[KSubzero1000]

RE4 for instance just feels so good on that pad, the precision of that stick for aiming and that big, juicy 'A' button for firing. It doesn't feel right playing that game with anything else.

Not a very popular opinion around these parts, but I couldn't agree more! Although to be fair, I think the modern ports are mostly to blame rather than the controllers themselves. The PS2 port massively expanded the analogue stick deadzone for some idiotic reason and Crapcom hasn't bothered to fix it in all the years and dozen or so re-releases since. It's so unresponsive in comparison...

I would argue the other RE games, Viewtiful Joe, Killer7, Super Monkey Ball, Star Wars Rogue Leader and Mario Kart Double Dash!! also really benefit from the GC controller's unique ergonomic properties. (And Smash, of course). Dunno if you've played this, but Baten Kaitos also has a very interesting combat system that is meant to be played exclusively with the D-pad and C-stick, which is super intuitive once you get used to it.

The only GC exclusive which I feel benefits from being played on a different controller would be Metroid Prime, and that's only because the additional fluidity of the Wii version very gracefully complements the core movement system without devaluing any of its skill-based elements. It's rather remarkable how well they pulled that one off.

One of a kind this one, it's a shame its fantastic design choices have all but been forgotten about by now. I think the diamond layout of the face buttons that has become the industry-wide norm is a straight downgrade, for example.

[OldBailey]

I've played all of the above, including Baiten Kaitos and I'm with you all the way. Agreed on Metroid Prime too, the Wii port is a straight upgrade for me and possibly my favourite implementation of motion controls period.

The GameCube pad was certainly not as versatile as it's modern equivalents but a new iteration with improvements to the dpad and shoulder buttons would be nigh on perfect for me.

[Alex79]

Oh yeah, the pad was perfect for Viewtiful Joe. I can't imagine playing it on anything else. I really liked the GC pad. Very satisfying to click those triggers, and I liked the button layout and style.

[Michiel K]

So Michiel mentioned Shock Troopers the other day on Chris' Ikari Warriors stream and it reminded me that I have the Wii VC release but never actually played it.

Decided to remedy that today and what a fun game! Great sprite art, cool soundtrack and very tightly polished top down run and gun goodness. The VC version is excellent too and like all Neo Geo releases, utilises the Wii's 240p output so looks awesome on a CRT.

It's undeniably derivative, even for 1997, and doesn't really do any one thing spectacularly well but it's very solid and highly playable. A little easy perhaps on it's default difficulty (I cleared it on my first attempt) but I'm definitely going to attempt a harder setting and see if Mrs Bailey fancies giving co-op a go. There are multiple routes through the game and 8 playable characters so plenty to keep me going.

I actually think it takes everything that was good about Commando, MERCS and Ikari Warriors and amps it up to 11. There's even callbacks to some set pieces from MERCS in it! Maybe the best game of that particular subgenre, while paying tribute to it and adding melee and roll mechanics. Just lovely stuff.

[OldBailey]

I've gone back and cleared it on hard since and yeah, I've had a great time with it. The roll is a brilliant addition, if a bit too forgiving. It's so effective it kinda makes me wish the action was a little more frantic to compensate! Small criticism though.

[ratsoalbion]

Recommended Xeno Crisis in that case.

[OldBailey]

Thanks Leon. I definitely was planning on playing it at some point, but you're right, might be exactly what I'm looking for.

[Michiel K]

On the MD with the 3-button pad, it plays almost exactly like Shock Troopers.

[OldBailey]

Great, I did like what I saw from your stream a while back.

[Alex79]

I was thinking about my earliest arcade game memories and remembered how much I used to love Pole Position. They had a stand up cabinet in a pub in Aberdovey we used to go to when we were on holiday when I was tiny. I remember standing on a chair to steer and my dad doing the pedal for me. Anyway, got me wondering - does anyone know if there's a legit way to play it on current consoles? Is it part of any retro packs or anything? Thanks!

[ratsoalbion]

Not on current gens, no. It was part of the Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for 360 but it isn't playable on Xbox One.

It has previously been released as part of compilations for PS1, N64, Dreamcast, GBA, PC, Xbox, GameCube and PS2. All emulated versions - apart from GBA - one would assume.


Edit: Actually just watched some footage of the GBA version. Looks quite authentic tbh, but any version with digital only controls isn't going to play remotely how you remember the arcade version.

I still get electric shocks off of the metal steering wheel spokes when I play this at Arcade Club, just like I did back in the early 80s..!

[OldBailey]

I was thinking about my earliest arcade game memories and remembered how much I used to love Pole Position. They had a stand up cabinet in a pub in Aberdovey we used to go to when we were on holiday when I was tiny. I remember standing on a chair to steer and my dad doing the pedal for me. Anyway, got me wondering - does anyone know if there's a legit way to play it on current consoles? Is it part of any retro packs or anything? Thanks!

Hmm... there was a Namco Museum release on the 360 that had pole position 1 and 2 but it's not backwards compatible with the Xbox One. I'm not aware of anything more recent.

Edit: Missed Leon's post. What he said!!!

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

I was thinking about my earliest arcade game memories and remembered how much I used to love Pole Position. They had a stand up cabinet in a pub in Aberdovey we used to go to when we were on holiday when I was tiny. I remember standing on a chair to steer and my dad doing the pedal for me. Anyway, got me wondering - does anyone know if there's a legit way to play it on current consoles? Is it part of any retro packs or anything? Thanks!

Love Pole Position!

It seems to have featured on many Namco Museum compilations over the years all the way back from the PS1 onwards (you can see exactly which ones here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namco_Museum), but it looks like the most recent release it's available on is Namco Museum Virtual Arcade on Xbox 360. It sadly didn't feature on the more recent Switch compilation.

Annoyingly it's not backwards compatible on Xbox One so you'd need a 360, plus it looks like they've taken it off the digital store so you'll be heading to ebay or CEX to pick up a physical disc copy (https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id= ... ual-arcade).

I'm sure there are sneaky emulation methods of course...

[Suits]

Today I bought a PC-Engine CD ROM2 and interface unit.

I'm very pleased with myself.



It's rather scruffy and dirty at the moment so I'm looking froward to giving it a thorough clean and freshen up.

It's all working and in order.

However, there's some work that's going to be done to the glorious looking device, work that is perhaps beyond my basic soldering and knowledge of the PCE anyway.

It's going off to someone that I know and trust who has done things for me in the past and we've already discussed what needs to be done.

All three units will have a the capacitors changed as some of these, in here, are older than my wife.

It will also be modified to allow for RGB video out, which will be similar to the type of RGB performance you get out of a Mega Drive 2.

Things like lasers, gears and other mechanical parts will also be addressed and serviced.

I've wanted one of these for a while and I'm so excited to start exploring the library.

I've picked up a few games already, I tried to get a spread of things to start with, Super Darius, Pomping World and Valis 3.

Just got to get her shipped off now and wait - but the hard bit is done.

[Alex79]

Thanks all for the Pole Position replies. Shame it's not included on the upcoming Namco collection. I'll have to go to MAME I think!