RetroGaming

Not mine, but I always enjoy seeing these monstrosities.

cross-posted from: https://swg-empire.de/post/3724500

This is frickin' awesome! It doesn't feel like alpha software at all, more like a beta. The Linux version froze a few times for me but the Windows version through Proton is super stable so far. Only bug I had with that was that mouse input stopped working once so I couldn't click anything.

It looks gorgeous with the HD assets. But you also have the option of using the old graphics. It plays just how I remember it. Though I did rebind the gamepad bindings to be closer to the Squadrons settings. That's how I play X-Wing Alliance as well.

Rambo III for DOS genuinely surprised me.

I’d previously played the Commodore 64 version—a predictable top-down shooter with decent graphics for the old brown breadbox, but nothing remarkable.

The DOS version, released in 1989, really stands out. It supports VGA graphics and AdLib sound, delivering crisp colors and catchy music that were impressive for the time.

What blew me away, though, was the control options. Not only does it support keyboard and joystick, but you can also move and shoot using the mouse—a rarity for the platform back then. Even better, it actually works pretty well by the standards of the day.

Rambo III came out in many versions: arcade, Master System, Genesis. The computer versions are mostly similar, each carrying quirks unique to their platforms—you could find it on Atari ST, Amiga, MSX, C64, Amstrad CPC, and even ZX Spectrum.

The DOS release covers CGA, EGA, and VGA graphics modes plus a variety of sound options, offering a surprisingly eclectic experience. While critics favored the Genesis version, I think the DOS port holds its own. It’s more than playable and can deliver some solid fun.

Silverfall delivers exactly what you'd expect from a hack-'n-slash CRPG—nothing groundbreaking, but if you’re like me, those low-poly visuals are a serious charm.

What sets it apart, though, is its difficulty. Unlike Fate or Dungeon Siege, dying here means losing whatever gear you had equipped. That forces you to either hold back on using your best loot or grind to replace it, adding a tense layer of risk and reward.

So if you’ve already beaten the usual hack-'n-slash suspects and crave a tougher challenge, Silverfall might just be worth your time.

While I didn't get any comments on my earlier post, I did get enough upvotes to consider that there was some interest in this.

So, I will arrange a Discord thing for this and hopefully we can have some fun.

Here are my plans:

I'll make a new post about this sometime around 1800-1900 CEST here, it will include directions to the Discord thing.

Now, active players will be limited due to the nature of the game, I believe that only 6-8 people can be on the same game and have a good time, this can absolutely change, but slots for players will never the less be limited, that is just how the game works.

The goal of the event is to have fun, not to absolutely devastate other human players, if you are an RTS god with a 3000APM, this is not really ment for you, you are welcome to join, but please give everyone a chance.

The event is open to men and women, while some light trash talking is to be expected, I will expect everyone to refrain from abuse, general rule is that if someone tells you to stop you respect that and stop.

The event will be held in english.

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Those are the ground rules, apart from that the event will have a very loose structure, we'll talk, find a server, join it, and try different game types.

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If you want to participate, read this!

You need the latest version of OpenRA, it can be downloaded for Windows, Mac and Linux from https://openra.net/

Warning!

1. As always with software downloaded from a random site on the internet, scan the file with your antivirus software before running it!
2. The Windows installer is a bit weird, it might show up clean on a scan, yet still be flagged by the antivirus when run, this is something I have seen in both Defender and F-Secure with several versions of the installer, so far it has worked fine after installing it, but keep an eye on it, and remember that it is your own responsibility to scan and evaluate downloaded programs before running them.
3. If you want to use a packet manager to install the game, make sure that it is the correct version.

Once you get the game running, do some practice matches to get a hang of the UI and controls.

I have had a bast playing the old Command & Conquer games with my friends every now and again, and thought to see if there would be interest among others.

BRIEFING:

What is OpenRA?

OpenRA is an open source port of the classic Westwood games; Command & Conquer Tiberian Dawn, Command & Conquer Red Alert and Dune 2000, they are all RTS games, quite simple and fun to play.

Does it cost money?

No, you can donate to the project, but OpenRA is completely free, and can be downloaded at openra.net

What is an RTS game?

How does the game work:

You command your military forces to crush the opposition, you build bases, gather resources and produce combat units to accomplish the crushing.

What game modes are there?

You can fight against each other or you can fight together against one or more computer players.

Ok, this sounds interesting, what is the general idea?

I prefer coop against a strong alliance of Computer players, it is slower and allows people to assist eachother, I am up for either to be honest.

We would be on voice chat, either through discord or another system.

What is the skills required?

I play for fun, not hyper competition, I rather have fun loosing chaotically, than be hyper focused on winning, that being said you should play the first 5-6 maps in the respective game to get a feel for the game.

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So, what do yo think, would this be fun?

Received the new screen and want to share my impressions about the device.

New screen

For those unaware of the screen drama, I'd suggest to read this article first.

Once Retroid announced they will send free new screen replacements, I immediately filled a request for one. They prioritized US citizens due to upcoming tarifs, so I had to quite some time until they shipped mine.

It arrived in a Retroid Pocket 5 box - looks like they just reused existing packaging. I saw some people on Discord got theirs in a Retroid Pocket Mini box instead. The package includes a full black shell, since that's the only color they offer. So, owners of other colors now have a black RP Mini with different button colors 😄

But honestly, black is the best color for this device. Combined with the OLED screen, it makes the letterboxing practically invisible, which is perfect for retro gaming.

The replacement process was easy for me. I just followed their official video. It's not very optimal, though. Sticks and fan disassembly is completely unnecessary, you can skip those. I also occasionally checked this disassembly stream recording.

The screen has rounded edges, but I actually like it. The taller screen (31:27) makes Android interface less painful.

But most importantly, it plays nicely with most retro games. In RetroArch I enabled Integer Scale and set Integer Scale Scaling to Smart. This way games will use overscale, but fallbacks to underscale if when the image is cropped too much. Retro games was designed with overscan in mind, so no important content is cut, the image occupies maximum possible space and everything is pixel perfect. I usually don't enable integer scaling on high resolution screens like this, but it works great for this specific device.

No surprise, GB, GBC and Pico8 looks great. They won't take fullscreen with integer scaling, but it's very close.

But the best systems to play for me are actually SNES and NES! They were played on 4:3, but their actual aspect ration is close to a square. So for SNES9x core I set the aspect ratio to Uncorrected and for Mesen (NES) I set it to No Stretching. I know they were developed with 4:3 in mind, but this way they occupy the entire screen and look pixel perfect!

Systems like Dreamcast and PS1 look exactly the same, I don't have to turn integer scaling off, they take all horizontal space.

In Dolphin, widescreen hacks work well with the taller screen, so you can fill the entire display. However, I usually play Dolphin on my Steam Deck, since the Android version doesn't support RetroAchievements.

PS2 widescreen hacks don't work well with this screen, but it still looks fine in 4:3 - identical to how it looked before the screen swap, except with now properly aligned pixels.

PSP isn't a great fit for this device, but thanks to the OLED and black color, the letterboxing is barely noticeable. I've seen some people stretch the image, but I'm not a fan of that.

Device

Here's what I like about it:

1. Great battery life when using Android. I usually leave a game running, and it barely drains any battery while idle. This makes it easy to earn RetroAchievements in hardcode mode.
2. Pocketable. The sticks protrude a bit, but I found it pretty comfortable to carry in my jacket.
3. The stock OS is fairly clean, though I do wish I could install LineageOS.
4. It can run mainline Linux.
5. Powerful enough to handle all my favorite games.
6. Ergonomic. I can play for hours without my hands hurting.
7. And now it also has a great screen.

However, I would't recommend this device. Here is why:

1. ABXY buttons feel awfull. It's hard to explain, but I simply don't like pressing them. Even swapping to more quite PSX-style buttons from Etsy didn't help. I think it's because of the membrane and glass front. Controls are very important for me.
2. Glass front looks nice, but it's marky. Also dirt easily accumulates on edges on edges and its hard to remove it. I prefer to keep my devices clean.

I ordered the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 after asking for a screen replacement, and somehow they managed to deliver it earlier. But I'm enjoying it much more - it's more pocketable, has a bigger screen, and avoids the drawbacks of the Mini. And it's only $20 more.

The 'Third Party Deformed April Fools Day Lara Croft Controller' has been brought out back and shot, sorry for the mix-up. Welcome back to another, now slightly shorter, deep dive into the PlayStation back catalog. What PlayStation/PS1/PSX games, you ask? Only the Wheel has the answers! (Wheel spoilers below)

Tap for spoiler

• Philosoma
• Steel Harbinger
• T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/42745436
(this is my first attempt at cross-posting within Lemmy, I hope I'm doing it right)

I've played a lot of Castlevania games in my life and I wanted to break down all the various eras (as I see them) for anyone who hasn't played a Castlevania game before and might be interested. I'm going to cover all of the Castlevania games. So yes, this will be an extremely long and rambling post. We're going to see if Lemmy has any content limits for its posts.

The first thing to know about Castlevania games is that (almost) all of them have the same plot: someone resurrected Dracula (or is about to) and must be stopped. That's it. If a plot is present, that's the plot. Also, there are very few actual "sequels" throughout the entire franchise. This means there's no real continuity and you can jump in wherever you want. And with the magic of emulators, truly any of these games are available to you if you're interested.

In general (with some exceptions), Castlevania games fall into two categories. One which fans refer to as "Classicvania" and one that became "Metroidvania". Classicvanias are the "move to the right, fight a boss at the end" level-based games. Metroidvanias are the "entire map available at the start but you need additional abilities to access it all" type of game. I'll get into details later, I just wanted to clarify my section headings before diving in.

Classicvanias (8-bit era)

NES games:

• Castlevania (1986)
  The first one. It was released early in the life of the NES and is therefore more clunky than later games, but it sets the stage. The start screen has a film reel on it to show the major inspiration here is classic horror movie monsters. This isn't a horror game though, it's just a spooky game. As for gameplay, it's your standard "move to the right, fight a boss at the end" design. Overall, this is a tough game with knock-back (an enemy bumps into you and you fall into a pit) and some pixel-perfect jumps (I made that jump easily the first time, why can't I land it now??). With emulators and save states, it could still be fun. If you try to play it the way kids in the 80s were forced to though, you'll snap your controller in half.

• Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987)
  When the first Legend of Zelda game came out, it was a huge hit. It defined the top-down dungeon-crawling style of game on the NES. So naturally, for Zelda 2 they... completely reworked the entire gameplay and gave it side-scroller combat. Simon's Quest is a bit like that. After the success of the first Castlevania game, with its "move to the right, fight a boss at the end" design, they decided to completely rework the gameplay for the second game. Simon's Quest is non-linear. You have to talk to villagers to get clues, you have to collect items and then back-track to access a new area, and there's a day/night cycle (enemies are more difficult at night and villagers aren't around). This isn't an RPG though, it's just confusing. I said some villagers will give you clues, but some of those clues were mistranslated when brought to America so they weren't helpful at all. Today, this is a game you can't play without a walkthrough. It's ridiculous. I would absolutely skip this game unless you're a completionist.

• Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989)
  Castlevania 3 is more of a "return to form" to Castlevania 1's gameplay and is better for it. This game also has some improvements. For example, after beating a stage, you can choose between one of two stages to go to next. This allows you to have more of a "journey" to Dracula's castle. Also, you can unlock additional characters along the way. Between the level selection and additional playable characters, there's actually quite a bit of re-play value here. Personally, this is my favorite Castlevania of the NES era. Castlevania 1 is an interesting time capsule, Castlevania 2 is an awkward mess (in my opinion), and Castlevania 3 is what I consider NES Castlevania to be. One interesting thing to note here is the American version of this game is more difficult than the Japanese version. For whatever reason, the enemies in the American release do more damage. There's also some minor 8-bit nudity that had to be censored in the American release to protect those poor impressionable American children.

Game Boy games:

• Castlevania: The Adventure (1989)
  This was one of the first games released on the Game Boy, and it shows. It's another awkward, clunky mess. It's interesting how Castlevania games tend to be one of the initial titles on a new console... and are worse for it. It usually takes a couple years for developers to really figure out what a console can and can't do, and Castlevania games seem to be testing grounds. All that is to say, this is a terrible game. The character has slow movement, there are no sub-weapons, and you have to constantly climb ropes (which are hard to grab). This game was remastered as Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth on the Wii and was improved in every single way for that release. You can play the original Game Boy title just to see what it's like, but I would recommend playing ReBirth if you actually want to try this game. You'll need to pirate the game of course since it was a WiiWare exclusive and Nintendo shut down the WiiWare shop.

• Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (1991)
  There are some improvements here, like the addition of sub-weapons. Plus, it has a stage select screen like a Mega Man game where you can pick whichever level you want to complete first. Dracula's castle then unlocks after beating all the levels, like Wily's castle in Mega Man. Otherwise, it's still a game boy Castlevania game, it's pretty clunky.

• Castlevania: Legends (1997)
  The last Castlevania game on the Game Boy. This was released towards the end of the Game Boy's lifespan (the N64 was already available by this point) so it does a lot of things right. This is easily the best Castlevania game on the Game Boy but that's not saying much. The Game Boy had a small screen and limited hardware; so even when done right, these games are pretty minimal. You could skip all of the Game Boy Castlevania games and you wouldn't be missing much.

Classicvanias (32-bit era)

• Super Castlevania IV (SNES) (1991)
  The first Castlevania on SNES. This is typically regarded as the "easiest" Castlevania game, which makes it a good entrypoint for the Classicvania style of games. You can shoot your whip in 8 different directions (rather than just left or right) which really helps manage the difficulty. I don't know what else to say about this game. It's good. Unless you have nostalgia for the 8-bit era, this is where you should start with Castlevania.

• Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine Super CD-ROM) (1993)
  I'll admit I'd never heard of the PC Engine Super CD-ROM prior to digging into Castlevania's backlog. And the game never left Japan. But among fans of the franchise, this is typically considered the "best" of the Classicvanias mostly due to gameplay and level design. There isn't much here that's unique, it's just all done extremely well. There are some branching paths in each level and you can unlock another playable character if you take the correct diverting paths. There was a SNES game called Castlevania: Dracula X which was released in 1995. It re-used a lot of the sprite work from Rondo of Blood but is actually an entirely different game. You can't play Dracula X and claim you've played Rondo of Blood, even though they look similar. That isn't to say Dracula X is a bad game, it just isn't as good as Super Castlevania IV or Rondo of Blood, which were both available at this time. There was also a PSP game called Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles which was a 2.5D graphical upgrade of the original Rondo of Blood. As far as I can tell, playing that game is more similar to playing Rondo of Blood than playing Dracula X. Also, if you beat the game it unlocks the original (32-bit) version of Rondo of Blood.

• Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis) / Castlevania: The New Generation (MegaDrive) (1994)
  In America, it was called Genesis. In Europe, it was called MegaDrive. In America, it was called Bloodlines. In Europe, it was called The New Generation. Whatever. This is a fun game with some really good graphics at the time. You also get to choose one of two playable characters right at the beginning. One has a standard whip, the other has a longer-reaching spear. This is a solid Classicvania game. It isn't the "best", it isn't the "easiest", it's just a solid game. And it's better than Dracula X.

• Castlevania Chronicles (PSX) (1993/2001)
  In 1993, there was a Japan-only game called Akumajō Dracula for the X68000. It was intended to be a remake of the original Castlevania (NES) game. 8 years later, it was ported to the Playstation 1 as Castlevania Chronicles and released to the rest of the world. This game is an interesting throw-back to the Classicvania genre and is actually the last of its kind. No more Classicvania games have been made after this game. And that's because the entire Castlevania franchise was redirected thanks to:

Metroidvanias

• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX) (1997)
  And here it is. The masterpiece. The game that defined Castlevania for all future games. If you want to play a Classicvania, you can play Dracula III, Super Castlevania IV, Rondo of Blood... there are plenty to choose from. But if you want a Metroidvania, you start here. Metroidvanias have become an entire genre of video games, an entire category in Steam. The genre's name is based on the two defining works of the genre: Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Those two games set the standard. And here we are.

Symphony of the Night took inspiration from that failed attempt at non-linear gameplay in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and the successful non-linear exploration of Super Metroid. It also added RPG elements, with weapons and armor of differing stats that the player could equip. The beginning of the game has you playing as Richter Belmont and throws you right into a battle with Drcaula. This is actually the end of Rondo of Blood. After beating Dracula, you then play as Alucard for the rest of the game. So while Symphony of the Night is technically a sequel to Rondo of Blood, that opening sequence is the only real connection between the two. There's nothing else for me to say. This game defined a genre.

Igavanias

Koji Igarashi (known as Iga) was the assistant director on Symphony of the Night. After its success, he was given control of the Castlevania franchise and had a hand in all of the GBA and DS Castlevania games that came next. Basically, every metroidvania-style Castlevania game had Iga's involvement. All of them are good, all of them have the same level of quality, and I can barely remember the difference between any of them. They're all just "more Castlevania" to me. That isn't a bad thing, but this is where the franchise just blurs together as a non-stop barrage of metroidvanias. You really can't go wrong with any of them but I find it hard to rank them. The earlier games all had some quirk or oddity to discuss, but now we're into the meat of the franchise where they hit their stride and I don't have anything to add.

Game Boy Advance games

• Circle of the Moon (2001)
• Harmony of Dissonance (2002)
• Aria of Sorrow (2003)

Let's see... Circle of the Moon was released as a launch title for the GBA so it was of course more clunky and awkward than the games that came after. Aria of Sorrow introduces the character Soma Cruz, who is also the main character in Dawn of Sorrow, making it one of the few true "sequels" in the franchise. I remember nothing from Harmony of Dissonance. I'm sure it's fine.

Nintendo DS games

• Dawn of Sorrow (2005)
• Portrait of Ruin (2006)
• Order of Ecclesia (2008)

Again, Dawn of Sorrow is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow (for what it's worth). Portrait of Ruin has less of a connected map than most metroidvanias since you have to go into separate, distinct portraits that transport you to a different world. Order of Ecclesia is a great game and I don't remember anything specific.

All of the GBA games are available on steam as the Advance Collection. All of the DS games are available on steam as the Dominus Collection.

3D Games

While Classicvanias and Metroidvanias are where Castlevania shines, there have been a couple attempts to break into 3D gameplay.

• Castlevania (N64) (1999)
  The first attempt at 3D gameplay for the Castlevania franchise. It was awkward. This game isn't very good, even by N64 standards. Every N64 game at this time was trying to figure out exactly how to do 3D gameplay. How do you handle the camera? How do you actually "lock on" to an enemy so you don't miss? Also, this game was too ambitious and kept having to cut content in an attempt to hit their release date. It released in January of 1999.

• Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness (N64) (1999)
  The same year as Castlevania N64, Legacy of Darkness was released (in December). Legacy of Darkness is what Castlevania N64 was supposed to be. This is literally the game the development team had wanted when working on Castlevania N64. So it's more polished and coherent than Castlevania N64... but it's still clunky. I really don't have much love for the N64 era of games. This was the gaming industry as a whole trying to "figure out" how to make a 3D game. It took some time to perfect it.

• Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (PS2) (2003)
• Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (PS2) (2005)
  I didn't own a PS2... I never played these games. But by the PS2 timeframe, the gaming industry as a whole had figured out 3D gaming and I believe these games are well-regarded. I don't think they were award-winners, but they succeeded where the N64 Castlevania games failed. I'm sorry I can't go into more detail with these games but I believe they're worth playing.

The Reboot

• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (all consoles) (2010)
  "Castlevania has been around for over 20 years doing the same thing! We need a REBOOT! What's that? 'God of War' is a popular game? LET'S MAKE ONE OF THOSE!"

• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (all consoles) (2013)
  "What's that? Castlevania fans want something called a 'metroidvania'?? MAKE ONE OF THOSE!"

• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (all consoles) (2014)
  "Stealth games are popular now?? Make a Castlevania game with stealth in it!"

The Lords of Shadow series is an outlier in the franchise but are also the most recent Castlevania games to come out. It's a full reboot of the franchise and an attempt to make an actual storyline. They even hired Patrick Stewart to play the mentor character and got Hideo Kojima as a producer in the first game. They did their best to make this a AAA title.

The first Lords of Shadow game is very reminiscent of God of War (the Greek ones). Overall, it's a solid hack 'n' slash. I think the puzzles get a bit tedious and the game drags out, but it doesn't really do anything wrong.

After the first Lords of Shadow, they released Mirror of Fate, which was a 2.5D metroidvania game that followed the same storyline. While the graphics look a bit weird in this game, it was made by MercurySteam. MercurySteam later went on to make Metroid: Samus Returns and after that, Metroid Dread. So they know what they're doing. While it's strange to shove a 2.5D metroidvania in between two 3D-based hack 'n' slash games, it's a solid game in its own right.

Lords of Shadow 2 takes place in the modern day and is the first Castlevania game to let you play as Dracula. And yet, while playing as Dracula, you're forced into stealth sections where if a single human guard spots you the level restarts. As if Dracula can't handle a lone guard. If you can ignore the fact that you're Dracula doing all this, it's a perfectly serviceable action stealth game. It's also a direct sequel from Lords of Shadow 1 so you can't really jump straight into this game (If you care about the plot).

The Oddballs, Oddities, and Black Sheep

• Kid Dracula (Famicom/Game Boy) (1990)
  A parody/chibi spin-off of the Castlevania series. You play as a childish version of Dracula (or maybe Alucard?) in a standard Classicvania-style format. I always liked how in the Game Boy version, Kid Dracula's teacher (Death) asks if he's been practicing his abilities and he says no, he forgot everything. Then as you beat each level, he "remembers" something he was always able to do and it unlocks an ability (like turning into a bat). I just liked the idea that he could've always done these things, he just forgot because he's lazy.

• Haunted Castle (Arcade) (1988)
  This is such an awful arcade game. The main character's sprite is huge and so slow moving you can't even avoid most enemies. Just terrible. A Haunted Castle Revisited was included in the Castlevania: Dominus Collection but I haven't played it to know how much they improved it. Who knows, it might actually be playable now.

• Castlevania Judgment (Wii) (2008)
  A fighting game using Castlevania characters. But all the characters have been re-designed to be more anime-like so you can't even recognize them. Ridiculous sexy outfits and buckles everywhere.

• Bloodstained
  Koji Igarashi left Konami in 2014. Since his departure, Konami has not made another Castlevania game. But Iga wasn't done making Castlevania games. So he made his own. Bloodstained is basically a "spiritual successor" to the Castlevania franchise from the guy who made every metroidvania Castlevania game. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a Castlevania game in all but name. It was actually the result of a successful kickstarter and one of the stretch goals was to make a Classicvania. That game is Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. If you enjoy Castlevania games, you'll want to pay attention to the Bloodstained franchise.

That's it. That's every Castlevania game. If you're interested in Classicvanias, Super Castlevania IV is a great starting point. If you can handle that style of gameplay, branch out into Rondo of Blood or Bloodlines. If you're interested in metroidvanias, you start with Symphony of the Night. After that, any of the GBA or DS games are great. I barely consider the Lords of Shadow series to even be Castlevania, but they're perfectly fine "recent' games since everything else is retro. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I wonder how many people actually read all that.

Are they the 'epics' of their time, or some things that are less well known?

As someone with a weird, irrational nostalgia for how the PC speaker sounds, this was an interesting little showcase video.

Apparently PS3 is considered retro now so I hope this post is allowed. I'm liking the game so far even though it's a blurry mess.

I have an old Raspberry Pi 1 (!) still going strong with Batocera Linux running NES, SNES and Mega Drive (Genesis) emulators.

I’m looking for easy multiplayer games that can be played with a 5yo. Non violent and ideally co-op, bonus points if somewhat educational.