[Many of the vert Shmups are so similar]

On 5/7/2022 at 4:06 PM, roots.genoa said:

Yes, you forgot my favorite (because the easiest), (not) Final Soldier.

Well, I found that game on my Everdrive, and yes it's another shmup similar to others. It does seem super easy. I didn't beat the game, but I blew through the first couple of levels quite handily before losing all my ships in quick succession. Seems a nice game though!

[What was the worst system ever made?]

All I can add is the worst stuff I've ever personally played are the Game.Com and N-Gage. Game.com was pure eye torture

 

[Evercade?!]

Hey all, I bowed out of this thread a while back as I lost interest in Evercade when people were first getting their units and having problems with the controls.

 

But after seeing the continued release of carts, the Evercade is apparently doing quite well for itself. My questions are, have the controls issues been worked out? Would you suggest the handheld unit or the newer Console unit that was recently released? Has the overall reliability been there? (such as no overheating, breaking in general). I remember buying a SupaBoy years ago and it broke within weeks, and not much overall use. It got really hot and quit working.

 

 This device is a possibility for a Xmas gift suggestion for my wife to get me. 

[Many of the vert Shmups are so similar]

This is not a complaint, I love all these shmups for the most part, but I can't help but notice just how similar they all seem:

-Blazing Lazers

-Cyber Core

-Override

-Soldier Blade

-Super Star Soldier

-Tatsujin

 

They all have a pretty large ship, similar enemy attack patterns and similar power up structures. Any other similar games I'm missing from the list? I wasn't sure on Armed Formation F, I haven't played that one recently.

[Expensive SNES games that are worth playing]

Kind of a bad system to do this for, because everything worth playing is expensive.

[Am I the only one who hates Gradius?]

You are definitely allowed to hate any video game you want. I'm not very good at Gradius, but I recognize that it's a tight and expertly crafted early shmup. It was good enough and influential enough to spawn a successful series of parody games in the Parodius series, so there must be something good in it.

 

 

[Is Baseball Heroes bad?]

I don't care for it, it's kind of like jgkspsx said, it's tolerable in short sessions, but I couldn't play a whole game. Most of the sports game are pretty bad IMHO. I actually like Hockey, though.

 

EDIT: Well, Awesome Golf is really great too, forgot that one.

[Soon to be a new 7800 owner -- finally!]

Sweet, congratulations on a solid purchase! It's such a perfect system for arcade style quick games. I've always loved my 7800, I bought it at Montgomery Ward when it was sitting in the case beside TG-16, and Genesis. I still play it regularly, and yes the homebrews are among the best of any homebrews on any system out there (maybe THE best), but I still like the original catalog too. 

 

You're going to have a good time, no question about it.

[What's in your Atari Jaguar cartridge slot / disc tray right now?]

Trevor McFur In The Crescent Galaxy, because I have been using my rapid fire controller which makes the game easier on my thumbs. I still like the graphics of this game after all these years, but the shmup design is and always will be atrocious.

[5200 Activision, do you consider the ports lazy?]

I'm not on the side of the argument that Activision spent virtually no effort in bringing their popular 2600 games to the 800/5200. It seems to be a popular opinion though, that Activision games on the 5200 are basically the same as the 2600, with very minor graphical upgrades. 

 

Do you think that is a legitimate complaint, or are the expectations too high? If the gameplay was altered, because of major changes, wouldn't that have simply opened the door to attacking the games in a different way? Didn't Activision kind of do exactly what would be expected, as graphically improved games that didn't alter the gameplay one bit? 

[Give River Raid some love]

I suppose what spurred me to make this topic was that I've always been annoyed at the flippant comment and assumptions that 5200 Activision games were lazy 2600 ports. 

 

River Raid is clearly an example that this isn't the case. This is a topic that probably deserves it's own thread, is Activision's reputation on the 5200, of being lazy ports, is that deserved? I'm not convinced.

[5200 Edladdin Joystick]

I'm going to be the first to issue a 'concern' with the design, and I'm not wanting to be the bad guy. This is constructive criticism. I'm not real hip on the joystick being right above the spinner because I'm thinking my wrist is going to be resting on the spinner, which is going to be awkward and probably uncomfortable. If that design stays that way, I would probably find myself detaching the spinner knob when I wasn't using it. 

[Budget Atari and Capcom arcade cabinets to see release this fall!]

49 minutes ago, negative1 said:

how much do portable laptop arcade emulators, with spinners, and trackballs go for?

 

everything else i've found is comparable or more expensive.

 

later

-1

I don't understand this overpriced complaint. I don't want one of these couchcades, but it's comparable in price to an Hori Real Arcade Pro joystick. Pretty typical for the size and equipment in my estimation. Is there not supposed to be any profit made?

[A fix for peeling labels?]

Elmer's Glue Stick. I've used that on many cartridge labels in the past. It's not messy, and easy to clean any overspread.

[What Lynx games do you just absolutely hate?]

I can't stand to play Zarlor Mercenary, or Electrocop. Gates of Zendocon isn't that great either, but it's pretty to look at. 

[Give River Raid some love]

 

This game seems to have gotten some more work put into it than other Activision titles that were brought from the 2600 to the 5200. The land has actual detail to it, with the banks of the river and hills in the background. I know the Hot Air Balloons are new, but it's been so long since I spent time with the old 2600 game, off the top of my head the Bridge Tank is new as well?

 

I don't know all the differences, I just know I love playing this way better than I did the original because the graphics are quite a bit better. The sound seems exactly the same though, with no discernable upgrade there. 

[5200 Edladdin Joystick]

OMG I am so getting one of these!

[Metal Slug 5; the end of an era on Neo Geo]

It's a pretty good game nonetheless. It has some narrative problems which make the game seem incomplete. I know narrative isn't the point, but Metal Slug games usually  have some kind of story unfold throughout the game, while in MS5 you have this weird jungle tribe, and their leader gets struck by lightning and puts a mask on, and he has 'power'? It's never really fleshed out all the way, so what you have with MS5 is a bunch of random stages, some of which are new, and some of which are old assets from previous Slugs (nothing surprising there, and not the first game to do that). IIRC the game just drops the story about half-way through, so it's never brought to a conclusion.

 

The mecha-slug is the bomb though, what a great addition to the series, and I enjoyed the slug with the big legs too. There's alot about Slug 5 to enjoy, even if the story isn't finished.

 

 

[E-SPORTS - does anyone care?]

I don't watch sports and I don't watch people play their vidyas either. I suppose on a superficial level, they are all one in the same thing, I.E. watching a baseball game = watching a 'pro' video game in progress. 

 

The difference is I can't play baseball, but I can play the shit out of some video games, so it seems really a giant waste of time to watch others do what almost anyone else can do if they want. That's the allure of watching sportsball, at least it offers an escapism for people who can't physically do what naturally gifted athletes can do.

[What's the most under-rated retail game on the Atari Jaguar?]

2 hours ago, zzip said:

Theme Park was cool until Rollercoaster Tycoon came along and did everything better.  Now Theme Park feels like the 'kiddie version' of that

I can't be alone in that I would play Theme Park quite a bit if only the SAVE feature was better integrated.

[What's the most under-rated retail game on the Atari Jaguar?]

5 hours ago, jeremiahjt said:

I love Power Drive Rally, but isn't it generally very well regarded?

I love Baldies too. Have you defeated all 100 levels?

I got very far into it, but considered the game unbeatable because of the frequent crashes. Congrats to you, as I searched the forums and found your thread where you completed the game. You are much faster in your level clears than me, as when I deep dived into this I calculated you needed about an hour to win a level (the way I was playing), compared to your 10 minutes per level.

[Roguebook]

Just wanted to follow up with my OP, and say that after a month I'm still playing this every day. It's highly addictive thanks to plenty of random elements, adjustable difficulty, and the 10 different character pairs to play with. It's really the only xbox game I want to play at the moment. I feel I've gotten my money's worth.

[What's the most under-rated retail game on the Atari Jaguar?]

19 minutes ago, cubanismo said:

Supercross 3D *ducks*

[What's the most under-rated retail game on the Atari Jaguar?]

Defender 2000. 

 

Has more haters than not. I think it's a masterfully programmed game, and the ridicule, some of it fair, is way overblown and has a rep for being a piece of crap game, which is wrong.

[Budget Atari and Capcom arcade cabinets to see release this fall!]

9 hours ago, Toaddio said:

The iiRcade looks “good enough” aesthetically, although I think the Arcade 1UP looks better. Based on features though, it seems like the iiRcade is a better option as long as the updated game isn’t crap. I don’t know what they changed but the thought of changing anything and not including the original is kinda gross. 

The new iirCade Gold design is better looking aesthetically compared to their original. I think the first version looks like they bolted a ghetto blaster on top.

 

I definitely prefer the control deck and overall artwork and design of the A1UP machine.