DC SBI's - best downloads

[crc_73]

To any SBI burners here, what are your recommendations for stuff to download?

 

I've looked at some stuff already, but most stuff runs fairly slow, so I'd be interested in stuff (emus, homebrews, ports) that runs fairly much full speed with sound.

 

I was dissapointed with neomamed, as it would only load Puzzle De Pon (love that game) but it's as slow as hell. 80's WOW pack looks like a better bet - games are classics, and run almost full speed - need to seek out the correct sets for the rest of the games first. Are there any Genesis/Megadrive emus that run full speed with sound? The only other good emus I've tried are NesterDC and SMEG. What about SNES emus, which runs best and how well?

 

Also, are there any good homebrew or ported games worth downloading?

 

Thanks for any pointers.

[Trooper]

DreamSNES is the one I've been using and it works great, in a few games you'll experience a bit of slow down but not to the point where it's not playable.

 

The Atari 800 emulator runs perfect.

 

/Troop

[xenomorpher]

Nester is a dream for me. You can even speed things up with the analog stick. Next Im getting DreamSnes and hopefully I can find an emulator (besides Nester) that has a GameGenie.

[uosipa llamxew]

80's WOW pack is great. The only problem I have is that all my skin/screenshot graphics jumble up in the menu mode - I can't figure out what I did wrong!

 

StellaDC is pretty good, but is in need of an update. There are a few ROMs that will deafen you with some hideous screeching... and others that will unintentionally send you into epileptic fits with their flashing screens.

 

Gnuboy is really good for GB and GBC. There are some gems in the monochrome library... don't let the lack of hues put you off!

 

NesterDC v6.0 is excellent - I don't own a lightgun yet, and v7.1 seems to be a little flakey at times.

 

A while back I found a torrent for a hacked version of the Sega Smash Pack that would let you load your own Genesis ROMs. While it doesn't play everything perfectly, it is better than the other Genesis emulators for the Dreamcast. My gripe with this is the menu font is so small that you have to squint to figure out what game you are choosing. I suppose it's an okay tradeoff for good emulation.

 

I don't use the SNES emulation much, anymore. It's much too slow and I haven't the patience. Also, I don't know if it has been fixed since, but the ROM menu would send my CD spindle into fits trying to read each of the rom names. SNES is almost too modern for my tastes anyways.

 

NeoCD is very impressive. I've had Metal Slug running at full speed. The ISO I have has been stripped of music though for size reduction, so I don't know how the sound is with this emulator. Also the game crashes at the end of the first level. :-P I haven't done much else with it since.

 

I have used a lot of the other emulators and have been less impressed for one reason or another. Usually it is lack of a user-friendly interface or slow emulation that puts me off. I'd recommed downloading all of the emulator & homebrew SBI's that you are interested in, and putting them on one cd. Then use the swap method to play the roms till you decide which of the emulators you want to keep and what not.

[Bruce Tomlin]

DreamSNES is the one I've been using and it works great, in a few games you'll experience a bit of slow down but not to the point where it's not playable.

One warning with DreamSNES... the memory save files are based on the first seven (I think it's seven and not eight) characters of the ROM file name. This can be a problem with multiple games in the same series. In particular, the Picross NP series has a problem with this. You should name the files something like PI1CROSS, PI2CROSS, etc.

 

Oh yeah, and another warning. Picross (there are nine carts total of this, one Mario and eight in the NP series) will eat your brain. I've been playing way too much of it lately. Also, the music is pretty lame, so I just switch the amp to a talk radio station or mute the amp while I'm playing.

[crc_73]

Thanks for all the good info up there; much appreciated.

 

There certainally is plenty to play around with, my favourites so far being the 80's WOW pack (still have to generate a full ROM set though), SMEG and Nester, although as mojofltr noted above, emulation is a bit dodgy with some ROMs with version 7 - I found a few games weren't responding to the controls. Must try version 6.

 

I'm kinda tempted to pick up the odd Neo-Geo CD if they're a good price; I'd buy the unit if they had Turf Masters, Puzzle De Pon and Waku Waku 7 (only fighter I really got to grips with) on CD, but alas they're not.

 

What about the PC Engine/TurboGrafix machine? Has anyone tried DreamEngine (or others if any)? As far as I remember, there are a few good shooters on that platform - might be worth looking into.

 

Anyway, thanks again for all the pointers.

[uosipa llamxew]

Last I checked, the emulation was a bit dodgy and there was no sound for TG-16 on the Dreamcast. It has been some time, so that may have changed. I used to own a TG-16 along with the Turbo Booster, and I bought MagicEngine for my PC years ago; I've been spoiled with glorious sound and cannot force myself to play Splatterhouse or Bonk's Adventure without it. (I love the cathedral music in Splatterhouse! )