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First time I played combat with my brother and cousins. 2 players versus has never been so competitive.

In Parodius 2 (Fantastic Journey) - there's one of the levels that starts with the William Tell Overture playing in the background - could not believe such a moment was possible on a home system ( the Saturn).

Realising you could make Mario tip toe in Mario64.

The first time you play Wario Ware and your hands are trying to keep up with your brain which is trying to keep up with the game...

The first attempt at Defender on the 2600 was a big disappointment for me. The above average flickering was annoying but almost forgivable - it was the fact that when you fired your spaceship disappeared....the game code must use the same hardware sprite for the ship and the gunfire - heartbreaking.....

However I played it a fair old bit - clocked the score (999,999) and clocked the wave counter too (99) so it couldn't have been that bad!!  Play wise it was quite good but I couldn't play it now.

Defender 2 blows it away and Chopper Command by Activision is a decent alternative

PAL PD saga - worth a few bob. Nice collection.

Yeah - I'd say get both

Mario Tennis on N64 and Virtua Tennis (1 or 2) on the DC are my other favourites.

Smash Tennis on the SNES is the business - 1ups the mighty Super Tennis in the pure fun stakes because of the variety of courts but mainly because it supports the multi-tap. Super Tennis has better and richer control  - it was an early release so only supports up to 2 players.

They're quite sweet to use - you can clearly see how the DC controller came from them - but it's not so clear why the dpad didn't make it to the DC unscathed.

OK - the 1 player stick would certainly be more practical in more ways than one...

The PS2 is a great old workhorse with a brilliant catalogue - I got one to play RType Final and Gradius V and ended up getting loads of games for it. I'm very fond of my old phat PS2 and I wouldn't be without one - but it just doesn't really invoke the same sense of affection that the DC does...

Don't actually use them all that much since the Saturn pad is so nice - but yeah - I've heard those sticks are much better.

I use the stick with Fantasy Zone - it's the one game I really get the benefit of a stick with for some reason.

Jesus that pro stick is beautiful - had heard of it but hadn't really paid much attention - just watched an unboxing video for one.....drool.

my Saturn hardware pics...









Have been working on getting rid of the defacing to the 2nd virtua stick - almost all gone now..

Alien Crush is the business. The PC-Engine is a brilliant console that punches way about its weight - it would have been mind-blowing to have back in the day.

[Parappa the Rapper]

I got the PS1 to play Parappa which seems a bit weird now - but back then there was nothing like it. But I got loads more for it - here's my favourites:

Parappa the Rapper The famous rhythm action game - still looks and plays good and has loads of charm.
Bishi Bashi Special - nutty boy mini game comp
Devil Dice - little devils rolling dice around
Kurushi and Kurushi Final - splendid 3D puzzle - run around a flat plane dealing with rolling cubes and avoiding getting squashed.
Landmaker - isometric puzzle with arcade mode and PS1 exclusive absorbing puzzle mode
Gradius Gaiden - was a PS1 exclusive. Best in series.
Metal Slug X - lots of nice extra features to enjoy.
No one can stop Mr Domino - hard to describe really - kind of an obstacle race game with puzzle element.
Power Diggerz - JCB sim but in a nice weird Japanese arcade style - uses all PS1 controller buttons.
Puchi Carat - cross between Arkanoid and Bust a move - special edition comes with a paddle controller.
R-Type Delta - great entry in the series that still looks quite lovely in a pixelly jaggy way - and PAL gamers got full screen too.
Tempest X3 - slight variation on T2K - Minter approved for what it's worth. T2k mode unlockable.
Vib Ribbon - excellent, charming rhythm game- generates levels from any CD.
Wipeout 3 SE - best version all told. 2097 is very nice too though.
In The Hunt - lovely submarine shmup in the style of Metal Slug.
Xevious 3D/G More Xevious that you will ever need. Main game is a semi-3D version that keeps the great shmupping gameplay intact and still looks quite good because of the Xevious style is kept - but the icing on the cake is the traditional versions that accompany it - Xevious, Super Xevious and Xevious Arrangement are here in all their glory too.
Raiden Project and Raiden DX Excellent recreations of the arcade games with all the right options like TATE mode etc.
Castlevania Chronicles port of the Sharp computer version which was a JP exclusive. Really nice linear old school entry with an arrange mode, an unlockable TT mode and a video interview with the producer.

I think you are pretty much spot on there....people like us look for new IP and when someone is brave enough to publish it not enough people buy it - gaming is maybe going the way of the music industry with the majority of stuff produced for the mainstream being pretty bland but well made.

The new publishing models can come to the rescue which is great in one way - but the absence of physical copies is bad news for collectors.

In my earlier mini-rant I named EA - that was maybe a bit unfair - I was using them as representative of that part of the industry and market that just seems happy to churn out and consume the low risk, low innovation stuff that just doesn't interest me.

Out of date collection pictures - have a few more than this - need to update my pics.

Sports games always have been and always will be vital to a console. Hence Fifa being one of the biggest selling games every year. 

more's the pity - the only purpose of EA sports games seems to be making the good stuff stick out on pre-owned shelves.

To be fair I was quite surprised when I tried their golf game - it is rather good and the Wii M+ version is excellent. They also pushed out the splendid Boom Blox for example - but my beef is that the segment of the market they tend to aim that is in danger of drowning out any innovation and new IP in the rest of the market.