The UKFF Retro Gaming Thread

[Merzbow]

Any classic fighter fans know the best way to play/emulate Primal Rage?

I know the arcade is notoriously difficult to emulate due to FPGA copy protection so what's the closest console port?

[TildeGuy~!]

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

Any classic fighter fans know the best way to play/emulate Primal Rage?

I know the arcade is notoriously difficult to emulate due to FPGA copy protection so what's the closest console port?

Probably the Genesis/Mega Drive port. 

It’s not censored like other ports.

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by TildeGuy~!

[Merzbow]

I don't mind the censorship so much, I just want it fast and fluid with decentl sized sprites.

I've went and got the Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe DVD release for Windows, I hear it's not perfect but it's still better than MAME.

[FLips]

2 hours ago, Merzbow said:

Any classic fighter fans know the best way to play/emulate Primal Rage?

I know the arcade is notoriously difficult to emulate due to FPGA copy protection so what's the closest console port?

A quick look into it and the consensus is the Playstation and Saturn are the most arcade accurate, with the Saturn having better visuals but being harder to emulate. In terms of accuracy and ease I'd go with Playstation.

Not sure why Tilde has said Sega Megadrive because that's not even the best Sega version, which would be the 32X.

[Jazzy G]

Midway Arcade Treasures 2 on PS2, XBox and Game cube has it. 

[TildeGuy~!]

On 4/2/2022 at 11:39 PM, Merzbow said:

Has anyone pre-ordered this history of Gamesmaster book? Looks ace.

I just heard Dominik talk about it on a podcast from a year back or so and I might just have to get a copy. They even tempted Dave Perry back to be in it.

https://readonlymemory.vg/shop/book/gamesmaster/

 

Was getting ready to pre order this again(it keeps getting delayed) I saw somewhere last week it’s been delayed again to October but not entirely sure, does anyone know the exact release date? 

[FLips]

On 4/18/2022 at 6:42 PM, jazzygeofferz said:

@FelatioLipssee if you can get hold of Shadow Fighters for some Miggy fighting game action. Project X is a decent shooter. Lotus 3 is heaps of fun, as is the second Super cars. Walker is interesting. 

Moving the Amiga talk to the Retro thread, I've been playing some more of it including recommendations. 

Walker

I'd have loved this as a kid. It's Cannon Fodder meets Future Cop LAPD. A bit samey and similarly to most of the Amiga games I've played it's hard due to poor design rather than choice. You get 3 lives but no real way to dodge anything on screen and no health pickups so it becomes a grind of attrition until you ultimately die. A shame I couldn't make it past the first stage as the mouse controls are intuitive and the gameplay was basic but fun.

Turrican II

I went back and gave this another shot because it's so widely considered one of the best games on the platform so I wanted to give it more time. I made it as far as 1-2 this time and the soundtrack somehow got even better on the second level. I really really want to love this game because it has all the right parts, but the combination of a lack of a dedicated jump button and enemies that drain health on touch with no knockback coming in from off screen is holding it down so badly. It's fun, it looks and sounds great, and the core gameplay is brilliant, but it's cheap and difficult by poor design. "You are a Top Ten Turrican" is always a treat though.

Magic Pockets

Catchy theme song (which I hear is sampled from a Betty Boo song) and a decent premise which feels like playing Bubble Bobble/Parasol Stars through an actual stage. I enjoyed it but in a pattern that emerged early it's another game where enemies are packed randomly onto the screen and do damage without knockback or i-frames so half the time I died jumping up platforms and an enemy I couldn't see would land on my head from off-screen.  

Project X

The powerup concept is interesting and I was enjoying the game up until I assume the first boss which jumped up so far in difficulty and turned the game into a bullet hell with no pattern. I feel like saving up for the Stealth powerup might have helped but by that time it was too late to do anything. Might be good after that but I couldn't be bothered to find out.

Shadow Fighters

Shite. Rubbish characters, rubbish music, controls I couldn't figure out and input reading AI. Slow, clunky and floaty gameplay. Sorry @jazzygeofferz this is a stinker.

Agony

Looks and sounds lovely. I like that you play as a well animated owl rather than a spaceship. A bit more fair than Project X but still difficult. It's OK. Theme song is better than the game.

Moonstone: A Hard Day's Night

Really interesting game with impressive graphics and a unique control style. A troll thing absolutely fucked me both times I encountered it. Will probably give this another shot at some point.

Best so far - Chaos Engine, Turrican II

Worst so far - Shadow Fighters, Xenon 2

Could be great but held back by rubbish controls or bad design - GODS, Magic Pockets, Walker, Toki, Parasol Stars

Overall the Amiga is pretty much exactly what I was worried it would be. Games that look brilliant and sound brilliant but for most parts it ends there. The games that could be absolute world beaters are dragged down by stupid control or design choices. If Turrican had knockback or I-Frames it would be near perfect. If half the games had a dedicated jump button and fair enemy placement they'd be brilliant. 

I can still see the merit in it for the era it was from though. It may not be overall as good as it's peers but if I had Sensible Soccer, Turrican II, Chaos Engine or some of the others growing up I'd still look back fondly I imagine, similarly how I do with the Mega Drive version of Zool or the NES version of Parasol Stars.

[Merzbow]

 

@FelatioLipsmaybe you can remap one of the controller buttons to Up so you have the choice of using that to jump, I've done it before when emulating old computers.

The best Amiga games aren't action games imo, it's better for strategy, point & click or other genres not seen on the consoles as much, the best versions of Monkey Island or Megalomania etc. It was the PC killer more than anything, pre-1992 or so it did so much better than what DOS games were doing.

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Merzbow

[FLips]

2 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

 

@FelatioLipsmaybe you can remap one of the controller buttons to Up so you have the choice of using that to jump, I've done it before when emulating old computers.

The best Amiga games aren't action games imo, it's better for strategy, point & click or other genres not seen on the consoles as much, the best versions of Monkey Island or Megalomania etc. It was the PC killer more than anything, pre-1992 or so it did so much better than what DOS games were doing.

 

I might have to try that because I really want to love Turrican. 
I’ve avoided playing the point and clicks so far but have Cannon Fodder, Syndicate, Monkey Island and Dune II lined up for my next round!

[Merzbow]

I've been playing a modern source port of Dune II, it keeps the original graphics and sounds but makes it much easier to play on a modern computer with full wide-screen support and general tweaks. It's still really fun and I kind of wish that RTS games were still like it.

[RedRooster]

30 minutes ago, FelatioLips said:

I’ve avoided playing the point and clicks so far but have Cannon Fodder, Syndicate, Monkey Island and Dune II lined up for my next round!

Nostalgia obviously plays a heavy part in this, but the Amiga version of Monkey Island is by far my favourite version of this game. The music is a step above the other versions for me, and it's just a delight to play. 

Some recommendations for you: 

Rod Land - A really fun twist on Bubble Bobble. You collect items and use your magic rod to kill enemies, and clear the level. Also, you can't jump, you use ladders to get from platform to platform. It's criminally underrated, you should try it. 

Super League Manager - A football manager sim that it pretty unique. You can get an idea why if you skim through this video. It's certainly a different approach to the genre. 

The Addams Family - The best platform on the Amiga, by my estimation. It's clearly taken inspiration from the Mario series but heck, if you're going to be inspired by another game, be inspired by the best. 

Benefactor - A fun puzzle platformer, in which you save "the merry men" from their captors. I've not played it for a long time, so it may or may not have aged well, but it was one of my childhood favourites. 

Cruise for a Corpse - A fun murder mystery point-and-click game. I never could find the murderer, back in the day...

51 minutes ago, FelatioLips said:

Worst so far - Shadow Fighters, Xenon 2

I really enjoyed the original Xenon back in the day, but never played the sequel. It's disappointing to hear that it's not so good, or at least hasn't aged well. 

[FLips]

1 minute ago, RedRooster said:

Nostalgia obviously plays a heavy part in this, but the Amiga version of Monkey Island is by far my favourite version of this game. The music is a step above the other versions for me, and it's just a delight to play. 

Some recommendations for you: 

Rod Land - A really fun twist on Bubble Bobble. You collect items and use your magic rod to kill enemies, and clear the level. Also, you can't jump, you use ladders to get from platform to platform. It's criminally underrated, you should try it. 

Super League Manager - A football manager sim that it pretty unique. You can get an idea why if you skim through this video. It's certainly a different approach to the genre. 

The Addams Family - The best platform on the Amiga, by my estimation. It's clearly taken inspiration from the Mario series but heck, if you're going to be inspired by another game, be inspired by the best. 

Benefactor - A fun puzzle platformer, in which you save "the merry men" from their captors. I've not played it for a long time, so it may or may not have aged well, but it was one of my childhood favourites. 

Cruise for a Corpse - A fun murder mystery point-and-click game. I never could find the murderer, back in the day...

I really enjoyed the original Xenon back in the day, but never played the sequel. It's disappointing to hear that it's not so good, or at least hasn't aged well. 

Thanks I'll give those a go!

Sadly I can't reconfigure Up to a button on FS-UAE Launcher it seems. I tried there with Turrican but it looks like the face buttons are duplicated so even though it has Buttons 1-4 they're actually 1-2 repeated, so mapping Up to one of them made two of them jump and I couldn't use the special weapon or turn into a ball.

[Guest]

Joysticks were possibly more popular than control pads in the Amiga's heyday, so if you've been using the latter then you might struggle less with the former.

[patiirc]

53 minutes ago, johnnyboy said:

Made famous by being on kids TV where you'd shout down the phone to have it controlled.  I want to say Saturday morning on ITV.

The king of Amiga beat 'em ups was Body Blows where instead of yelling "Hadouken" it sounds like the main protagonist is shouting "Judith."

Aye, Motor Mouth Or Ghost Train. First game was Weird Dreams. The original Xenon and Starglider popped up on the Millenium Dustbin ' Get Fresh'. 

Xenon 2 suffers from being a Euro shooter, for many used to faster paced games. 

 

Other games for Miggy Lovers to try include Myth, Colorado, Cadaver, Moonshine Racers, The Ocean Vietnam game I can never remember the name of, Battle Command, Amourgeddon, Midwinter 2, Geoff Crammond Grand Prix, Gold of The Aztecs, Murder. Team Yankee 2 Pacific Islands, Space Crusade, Lords of Chaos and Jimmy White's Snooker.. Ooh and Banshee. 

 

Lemon Amiga has a decent top 100 list here too https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/votes_list.php

 

 

[Lorne Malvo]

1 hour ago, patiirc said:

 Miggy Lovers