Last Retro Game You Played? What Retro Game Are You Currently Playing?

You may well be right. I don't think we have much else on the subject, so I can understand the desperate fans (and me who's not that desperate) grabbing it as the only thing on the topic available. Another reason for you to keep learning Japanese!

Buskalilly wrote:

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
I had very fond memories of this and the sequel.
It ... hasn't aged well.

Yeah, it's a shame - I have fond memories of my LOTR-loving parents playing Return of the King in co-op (accusing each other of friendly fire even though it doesn't exist, and then that the other got them killed even though their character is still visible on screen... those were the days) but there are just some clunky bits that look awful by today. ROTK was in the most recent SGDQ, and even the world record speedrunners were like "look we might just die on this bit, no-one knows lol"

Jimbob wrote:

even the world record speedrunners were like "look we might just die on this bit, no-one knows lol"

I ran into that instantly lol; there's not really a proper block or dodge as far as I could tell, so you just have to time your sword with theirs and hope for a deflection.
If it has old beat-em-up style respawing, maybe it makes more sense in co-op?

I've been spending time revisiting Plants vs. Zombies, and it's as brilliantly addictive as I remember. Despite having zero intention of exploring the series further, this feels like one of those perfect videogames that will never age. It does reach an unnecessary difficulty spike when the giant fellas turn up, but this definitely goes high on my favourite games of all time.

One that I adored back in the day was Perfect Dark but it feels a bit off nowadays. It's very fast, pretty easy and without the multiplayer aspect really being a thing now (I'm no longer a teenager with mates willing to crowd around a 14" CRT for some split-screen) - this made me a little bit sad. It still holds up as a game, but I wonder whether the shift to two sticks removes some of its soul. The c-buttons on the N64 pad meant you strafed through levels, almost like you were power sliding around corners. It's what made Goldeneye so special when you mastered it - it felt like you glided through levels rather than plodded. It will be interesting to see if Goldeneye experiences something similar because that game was all about the art of strafing and timing headshots (for me, at least).

I’ve got to admit that I didn’t like Perfect Dark, either as a teenager crowding round a 14” CRT with mates or through trying to finish it when I battered through all those N64 games during lockdown. Replaying it three years ago I thought it was confusing, and another example of Rare being too ambitious for their own good. I’ve never finished it, I’ve always given up on it. It’s definitely the N64 game where my personal feeling is furthest away from the general impression and overall critical response.

I’m not sure how Goldeneye will fair when it re-releases on Xbox and Switch. It’s been ages since I’ve properly played it, I’ve been holding my breath for an authentic remake or remaster for years now. I liked Goldeneye much more than Perfect Dark, but again I didn’t love it as much as everyone else. It wasn’t in my collection when the N64 was my main console - it one of those games I was happy enough for my mates to have, and to play over at their houses.

gjones wrote:

I've been spending time revisiting Plants vs. Zombies, and it's as brilliantly addictive as I remember. Despite having zero intention of exploring the series further, this feels like one of those perfect videogames that will never age. It does reach an unnecessary difficulty spike when the giant fellas turn up, but this definitely goes high on my favourite games of all time.

I replayed this a couple of years ago on my iPad and it absolutely holds up. It doesn't have that issue of overwhelming the player that other tower defense games struggle with and it's very simple to pick up as a result, but not to a degree where it's painfully basic. It's a shame that the sequel really ramped up the microtransactions and lost a lot of the charm after EA got their claws into it.

My friend Rob, with whom I used to work but who now lives on the other side of the mountains, had a day off on my day off. My girlfriend was busy with her sister visiting. It seemed like a good day to spend 14 hours playing videogames. We broke in the tasteful new apartment by playing SEVEN GENERATIONS OF NINTENDO.

NES
We started with Mario Bros. Unlike Chris Pratt, I knew not to stomp onn Koopas. Got old fast. Then some Balloon Fight and Doctor Mario, which are both great for a laugh. Finally, Super Mario Bros, on which I got to flex by speedrunning right to the last world.


SNES
We did a complete runthrough of Turtles in Time. I like these kind of brawlers in this kind of setting or an arcade, but I could never play them over and over as my main game, y'know? Then Super Mario Kart. I started out well, but a series of dumb errors cost me the cup.


N64
A pass-the-pad runthrough of Starfox 64 was great fun with real pads - that game feels awful on anything other than an N64 controller. A quick round of Pokemon Puzzle League was ridiculous but I took the win. Finally Mario Kart 64, in which we both got schooled by the outrageous AI and its frankly busted rubber-banding.


Gamecube
F-Zero GX. Absolute banger. Still phenomenal. TWENTY YEARS? Fucking, sort it out.
Pikmin 2. Fun little multiplayer, criminally slept on. Rob has played Pikmin more recently than me and it showed.
Double Dash. One of Rob's first times on this one. Schooled him.


Wii
Started out with a run through of Ghost Squad, which is just so god-damn fun. Then Mario Kart Wii, which is usually the one in which Rob can beat me. He picked Daisy and got absolutely clowned on by items, coming 7th in the first race to my 1st. After that, three 2nd place finishes won me the cup. Consistency, baby!


Wii U
Rob had never played a Wii U but his girlfriend owns one. The menus and the UI kicked me in the gut with a wave of nostalgia. I loved that little machine! We played the first world of Tropical Freeze, and I'm happy to say my glowing opinion holds up. I should play some more Donkey Kong . . .


Switch
Some co-op Age of Calamity was fun, a side of that game I'd not experienced. Despite my many disappointments, the tone, music and excuse to spend time in that world are still great.
Then Mario Kart 8. What do you think happened? I finished the last race in reverse, even.

---

I really bloody enjoyed that. I love spending time in nature. I love making podcasts and doing writing. I love my girlfriend, visiting her in Tokyo, having incredible sex. I like my job and I get rewarded for my hard work. I enjoy the gym and being strong means a lot to me.

Be nice to bin it all off and play Nintendo all day like this again, though . . .

Meh meh meh, look at all the friends and sex and Tokyo I have, meh meh meh.

That Wii photo. is class though.

. . . I have one friend and a girlfriend

Exactly! And they're different people, you jammy git!

That was a brilliant exchange

There's nothing like local multiplayer though is there? For all the epic single player Zelda and Mario games or online sessions on Rocket League and GTA Online I've had, none of them ever come close to being in front of the same screen and playing some good old fashioned multiplayer with pals, glad you enjoyed but also envious of the plethora of friends and sex and Tokyo.

I'd never try to compare the joys of a great single-player game to the similar joys of a great multiplayer one (er, apart from all the rankings lists where I have ). They're such different experiences. Agreed about online though, just never got into it in the same way.

Buskalilly wrote:

I really bloody enjoyed that. I love spending time in nature. I love making podcasts and doing writing. I love my girlfriend, visiting her in Tokyo, having incredible sex. I like my job and I get rewarded for my hard work. I enjoy the gym and being strong means a lot to me.

Be nice to bin it all off and play Nintendo all day like this again, though . . .

I too enjoy all of these things.

Where did you get those illuminous purple socks from by the way? They're belters!

Treesmurf wrote:

There's nothing like local multiplayer though is there?

So many of my happiest memories revolve around local multiplayer gaming, and they're much-missed days. I'm happy to be surrounded by folk IRL to share my other IRL interests with, but not anymore with gaming.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Where did you get those illuminous purple socks sock from by the way? They're belters!

Uniqlo, I think.
Also, you can only see one foot in that pic but I always wear odd socks.

Buskalilly wrote:

Also, you can only see one foot in that pic but I always wear odd socks.

Always? As in, if you find yourself with a pair of matching ones, you'll change one of them?

Balladeer wrote:

Always?  As in, if you find yourself with a pair of matching ones, you'll change one of them?

Yep.
One time, when I moved home before coming to japan, my dad thought it would be funny to pair them all up after doing the laundry. I undid them all to make sure I had odd ones.

I think I find that funnier than Cappa's Simpsons image. Just, er, don't look at the needlessly meticulous ordering of my socks.

Played a bunch of Evercade VS


Pretty bad at all the games and is a long video due to 12 games, with me learning the buttons and looking at UI etc

Still pretty fun though

More EC

Hydro Thunder Hurricane (2010)

Oh boy.

I've been having a blast playing this powerboat racer, which I downloaded from the Xbox store for a measly £2.49. A semi-sequel to 1999's Hydro Thunder this was a digital-only game released in one of those old 'Summer of Xbox Live Arcade' promotions and dared to embrace the arcade name. It reminds me of a mash-up between Wave Race Blue Storm and 1080 Avalanche, particularly with the way you need to navigate the waves, as the world falls apart around you. It's not afraid to be completely bonkers, and I imagine the original did something similar, but it reminds me of OutRun2. Statues attacking you, warping to Area 51, trying to outpace Viking ships - none of it makes any sense, but who cares?

I love the options with boost, where you can choose to stack them, or try and chain them between each other. There's some neat modes in here to suppliment the main races (ring attack, time attack with bombs), but the best thing is that it plays really smoothly, looks remarkable for its age, and has that magic 2-3 minute length that keeps me coming back for one more go.

What a cracking little racer.

Microsoft keep spending billions of dollars acquiring different studios and publishing and developing games like Halo, Starfield and Forza, but they’re pishing away money by not tapping into Hydro Thunder’s obvious top shagger potential.

I purchased an RG35XX, one of those 'naughty boy devices'. It arrived with thousands of games pre-installed on an SD card - pretty much everything on GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, NES, SNES, Master System, Mega Drive and Neo Geo. Plus 50+ PS1 games (the heavy hitters like Gran Turismo, Resident Evil, Symphony of the Night).



Giving it a test run, I played some Alleyway (GameBoy), Metal Slug (NeoGeo), Capcom vs. SNK (PS1), Streets of Rage (MegaDrive) and Tekken 3 (PS1). All of them play flawlessly, so I'm impressed and contemplating if I'll ever return to my Xbox. Just need to write a plan to try and tackle the games in a way that isn't overwhelming, because many of these deserve more than the inevitable ten minutes these retro devices end up providing.

Well it's been nice knowing you GJones, see you in a couple of years maybe.

(That really is the ultimate evolution of those rubbish 15-in-1 game thingies you used to see in toy stores isn't it?)

The temptation to get one of those ‘naughty boy devices’ has always been strong, but I level that out by looking around me and seeing the massive retro games collection that I’ve been gradually building up for the last thirty years. I need to figure out a way of tackling those before I equip myself with another five thousand games.

I played some SEGA Rally in the arcade, and I was underwhelmed. It's a game I've always respected over the years, and dabbled with occasionally, but in the cold light of 2024, it just didn't hold up. The courses were largely empty, although well-designed to the point I was shaving times off of my lap times the more I played it. The problem I had was that I could only get to halfway around the third lap - I was using automatic transmission and flooring it the whole time, so either the machine was fucked (the second player screen was like looking through a beekeeper's mask) or I'm missing a trick. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter, as I spent years failing at the original OutRun because I had to switch up gears, but I played it in two players too, and we both just got to the same point on the third lap. Has anyone played this one?