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Messages - DreamcastRIP

#31
Quote from: "Greyfox"...as with DC's comment, it was the Atari ST version which had all this amazing visual presentation with great music and the game allowed you to morph into a land machine and ship, a first for me on the all new 16-bit platform...

That pretty much encapsulates what, for me too, made Xenon on the ST so freakin' great at the time.

I still vividly recall the memories of having first seen the game on display running on the local independent computer and videogame shop's ST and marvelling at those 'metallic'-looking visuals and the cool ability to switch between landcraft (which looked curiously similar to the Millennium Falcon, imo!) and the flying craft.

Seeing it in motion was the first real moment I knew the world of the 8-bit systems had had its day and it was time to move on to the 'next-gen' 16-bit Atari ST. It took a while after that before I became an ST owner but in the meantime I managed to play the Speccy conversion of Xenon and I was pleasantly surpised by its very high standard. Sure, it was often difficult to make out where the bullets were due to the monochome graphics and the scrolling juddered a fair bit but the gameplay was still largely all there.

I loved Xenon 2 Megablast too but despite its wonderful presentation it was the gameplay of its predecessor I most enjoyed. *

As for the two main Speedball games, I preferred the more claustrophobic intensity of the gameplay present in Speeball relative to Speedball 2 Brutal Deluxe. Not that I'm claiming the sequel wasn't a great game too, because it obviously was. I've since bought the mildly enhanced Amiga CD32 version of the sequel and have warmed to it more these days. Iirc, in an old interview in gamesTM one of the Bitmap Brothers said he preferred the first Speedball to its sequel too so I know I'm not the only one!

As for their other games I can't say they were my cup of tea.

* Yes, I'm aware that The Assembly Line were the devs for that game but the Bitmap Brothers still designed it, apparently.
#32
Quote from: "Rogue Trooper"
Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"Such details are outlined in Marty and Curt's book.

I really ought to buy said book.

It's only £18.08 for the paperback on Amazon UK or £13.42 if you prefer the Kindle version. That's great value for what it is, imo, and a damn sight cheaper than I paid for my copy...
#33
Retro News & Chat / Re: Free making of R-Type book
October 01, 2013, 19:03:43 PM
Truly stunning - especially so for those of us bought that sublime arcade coin-op conversion on the Speccy back in the day and were amazed to see what wonders had been worked on the increasingly not-so-humble computer. Cheers for the heads-up, zapiy.  :1:
#34
Quote from: "DZ-Jay"Wow, really?  Why not let people read the entire transaction and make their own opinions?

It's all out there, really.

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?/topic/217049-Elektronite's-blackmail-attempt

Yes, really. Anyone is welcome to go read that thread on AtariAge should they wish to. I don't know why you're seemingly inferring that I have some sort of power to let or 'not let people read the entire transaction'. I also don't care for your inference there that by having given my opinion it somehow means I am obstructing others from forming their own opinions on the matter.

As for the story "all" being "out there" in that thread you've linked on AtariAge then that's a matter of opinion. In my opinion, anyone who believes that the whole story is covered on AtariAge is naive in the extreme.
#35
Yep, that appraisal of the GameBoy's screen quality sure sounds fanboyish to me. It's not merely trying to put a positive spin on something that was of so-so quality because the system's screen was utterly abysmal.

The comment was at least partially balanced by it also stating "Using one today will either evoke pangs of nostalgia or hoots of derision", i.e. a recognition that a great many people today fall into that latter category when judging the GameBoy.

Insofar as the article having said nothing about GameGear's screen, it does state "build quality of the Lynx II is impressive, the screen sharper than that of Sega's Game Gear and the speaker louder and crisper" in the Lynx section at least.

Yep, the "soon forgotten" and "the "64-bit" Jaguar" comments were laughable in how they highlighted the author's ignorance.

Some interesting (in a facepalm-inducing kinda way!) quotations from past gaming magazines there and thanks for posting them, RT.
#36
Retro News & Chat / Re: Fact Behind The Fiction
October 01, 2013, 18:25:49 PM
... and the game's main protagonist, the since iconic Lara Croft, was at one point to be named Laura Cruz. FACT!
#37
I never enjoyed playing the original Pac-Man all that much, to be honest. Ditto Ms. Pac-Man.

That said I enjoyed playing a few Pac-Man clones, most notably this tabletop colour LCD game an old school friend had back in the day -



(Although the release he owned was named Ogre Eater, iirc)

Of the variants and spin-offs I thought Pac-Land and Pac-Mania were reasonably good. The former because it was quite innovative and because it did things Super Mario Bros. did before Nintendo's game that gets all the credit. The latter because the 'isometric' viewpoint worked surprisingly well.

However, these days I own Pac-Man CE (iOS) which works incredibly well with touchscreen controls and the sublime Pac-Man CE DX (PS3) and Pac-Man CE DX+ (PC). I consider this current Pac-Man game to be one of the finest videogames ever made... which bemuses me a little considering I never particularly enjoyed playing the original Pac-Man. Go figure!
#38
Xenon (ST) for me.
#39
Introductions / Re: NeoGeoThai from Thailand
October 01, 2013, 18:07:35 PM
Welcome to RVG, NeoGeoThai.  :13: your soul has been partially redeemed by those five Saturns!  :4:
#40
Such details are outlined in Marty and Curt's book.
#41
I saw this recently published article on Eurogamer and thought it worth the heads-up here for those interested -

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ultimate-retro-handheld-collectors-guide

Re: the Atari Lynx summary,

Positives to commend the article for:

* recognising it as the "first portable games system with a colour LCD"
* mentioning the "unique ambidextrous control layout" that benefitted left-handed people
* commenting that it had an "array of top-notch arcade conversions"
* "S.T.U.N. Runner, Xybots... showed what the Lynx could do when tickled in the right places" - indeed
* "incredible power for its time" - so very true... and for many more years following its release too
* "much bulkier than the Game Boy and its appetite for batteries was legendary" - but no worse than GameGear
* "Second-hand Lynx consoles are slowly rising in value, a fact which illustrates just how beloved the system is with retro collectors" - impressed that a Eurogamer journo' would be aware of the retro scene for Lynx
* recognising that there are "enough quality present to make it worth looking into today"
* "In hindsight, it's a bit of a mystery as to why Atari never bundled Klax with the Lynx - it was the best puzzler available by far - the system's very own Tetris" - an interesting point
* "build quality of the Lynx II is impressive, the screen sharper than that of Sega's Game Gear and the speaker louder and crisper" - indeed


Questionable content:

* "...before Atari stepped in to assist with hardware production and marketing" paints a false picture
* "offered 16-bit gaming on the go" is an interpretation, not fact
* "These features couldn't help it overcome Nintendo's humbler hardware" - They meant to say commercially but failed to make that key distinction
* "(GameBoy) hit the market with a more compelling selection of software" - opinion not fact
* "(Lynx II) had a less blurry screen" - the screen of Lynx is superior to Lynx II imo
* "(Lynx II launched at) almost half that of the original model at launch" - well, yes, but that's to overlook certain other factors
* "the "64-bit" Jaguar" - oh dear, yet another ignorant individual propogating that myth
* "The underrated portable was soon forgotten" - 1989-1994 must mean 'soon' according to this journalist
* "the handheld's 16-bit processor" - a somewhat misleading statement when the CPU is 8-bit
* "If you're considering dipping a toe into the murky waters of Lynx ownership" - are GameBoy/GameGear 'waters' less 'murky' then? What a stupid statement
* "The ability to flip the display made the handheld friendly to left-handed gamers, demonstrating some neat 'out of the box' thinking on Atari's behalf" - contradicts earlier statement that Lynx was entirely down to Epyx whereby Atari only 'assisted' in its production and marketing

So, rather like many other print and online-based coverage of retro gaming these days the article was somewhat hit and miss. Many of the positives and negatives of the product in question were recognised but there were a few issues with factual accuracy, some liberal interpretation of the facts and a few notable omissions. All in all, better than I expected from Eurogamer but nothing particularly impressive either, imo.

I'll leave it for others to comment on the GameBoy, GameGear and PCE GT/TurboExpress sections although the write-up they've generally received appears to be of a higher quality journalism than what the Lynx received.

Overall, as a brief summary piece seeking to summarise the key points regarding four different retro handhelds I thought it reasonable and I welcome that the editor was intelligent enough to not let a moronic fanboy loose to pen the article.
#42
Quote from: "Elektronite"
Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"It sure does suck. At the very least I hope word spreads far and wide about this so nobody else suffers the same fate as Elektronite has.  :1:
#43
It sure does suck. At the very least I hope word spreads far and wide about this so nobody else suffers the same fate as Elektronite has.  :-
#44
Atari Chat / Re: The Atari Jaguar Thread
September 30, 2013, 22:15:25 PM
So there would appear to be a real possibility that some bloke on the internet ascertained that a videogame has a 30fps frame rate based on having viewed a video on Youtube. Where do I sign up to this bastion of professionalism?  :24:
#45
Retro News & Chat / Re: RVG loading screen.
September 30, 2013, 18:57:21 PM
Quote from: "Carl"
Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"
Quote from: "Carl"perfect synergy

 Kraftwerk ZX Spectrum Loading Screen.

 :69:

Superb pixel art there. Puts many of the monthly competition winners in Crash back in the day to shame. Great stuff.  :1: