Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 9 Paid Members Share Posted May 9 My Japanese Dreamcast is one of my most prized consoles. I have a whole host of games on it I love: Giant Gram 2000 (for my money possibly the best wrestling game ever), Fire Pro Wrestling D, Toukon Retsuden 4 (NJPW's game they based the SD engine on), King of Fighters '98/'99/01, Garou: Mark Of The Wolves (basically Fatal Fury: The Next Generation), Street Fighter III W-Impact/Third Impact, Street Fighter Zero-3 (the Japanese version of Alpha-3), JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (a surprisingly great fighting game), House of the Dead, Virtua Cop 2, Confidential Mission, Soulcalibur, Fighting Vipers, Grandia II, Eldorado Gate (a very unusual RPG series in that it was initially released in instalments of three chapters every two months), Crazy Taxi, Zombie Revenge (a super-hard beat-'em-up that was a spin-off of House of the Dead), Shenmue 1&2, Sonic Adventure, Dynamite Deka, Rent-A-Hero No.1, Power Stone, and some other ones that were OK, but not brilliant like Blue Stinger or Buggy Heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted May 9 Paid Members Share Posted May 9 1 hour ago, Carbomb said: Giant Gram 2000 (for my money possibly the best wrestling game ever) Carbomb recently introduced me to this at a recent retro games night, and it really is tremendous - never heard of it before, and it takes a little getting-the-hang-of, but it plays really nicely. Downloaded it on my SteamDeck emulator as well, and it's lovely. Definitely recommend, especially as a curio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 9 Paid Members Share Posted May 9 It has two very unique features that I've not seen before (not counting the earlier GG instalments) or after: 1. Create-A-Wrestler Mode is essentially training - your basic wrestler starts off with very few, basic moves. You choose one of the roster to train with for a training match, and when they hit you with a move a certain number of times, your character learns it. Depending on the type of character base you start with, i.e. striker, submission fighter, or "suplex"/slams style, you learn those moves quicker or slower. Also, the more you perform those moves on your opponent in training, the more powerful said holds get. 2. Historic Mode - these are historic, classic matches that you essentially re-create with computer guidance. It's basically a regular match with the stipulation that, at certain points in the match, you have to perform a specific move that occurred at the equivalent moment in the real, historic match, within a certain time frame, to get a percentage score to finish with. If you complete that match with 100%, it unlocks a highlight reel of the original match. You have classics like Misawa vs. Kawada, Misawa vs. Akiyama, Vader vs. Kobashi, Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen, Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Misawa, Team No Fear vs. Kobashi/Akiyama, just off the top of my head. Loads of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 1 hour ago, Chris B said: Carbomb recently introduced me to this at a recent retro games night, and it really is tremendous - never heard of it before, and it takes a little getting-the-hang-of, but it plays really nicely. Downloaded it on my SteamDeck emulator as well, and it's lovely. Definitely recommend, especially as a curio. Is there a fan translation? If not, how challenging is it to navigate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted May 10 Paid Members Share Posted May 10 The snowboarding games talk reminded me that in the past few years where I've been exploring the original Xbox library (a console that completely passed me by at the time - I was a PS2/GameCube kid) I came across a game called Dark Summit. A mad snowboarding game where they've tried to implement a storyline involving alien invasions and military cover-ups. I had fun with missions like 'knock the park rangers dinner off the bench' and 'avoid the radioactive cows' but it's short - I'd completed it 100% in about 6 hours. Worth a go if you can find it for a couple of quid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted May 10 Paid Members Share Posted May 10 (edited) Another day another Demo. This time up is McDonalds Demo 3 which is serving up Pink Panther, Rayman Rush, World Rally Championship Arcade and Destruction Derby Raw. Pink Panther is up first. It's a platformer as you could probably imagine, and not a very good one. The demo starts you in a big house which acts as a hub and half my time playing it was trying to find a playable level in the house which required me to basically force myself through a window to access it. The playable level is a Donkey Kong style dinosaur boss where you have to climb up the level and avoid the boulders it throws down, then put a bone on his platform and quickly grab a bomb and put it there too before the bomb blows up, so the dinosaur eats them and takes damage. Pink Panther is a floaty mess. His movement is all over the place, and the hit detection is shoddy. You have a spin attack to help but it rarely works at the time you expect it to. Grabbing the bomb and bone in time is a faff on too. The biggest crime is it doesn't even play the Pink Panther theme either. I didn't like the cartoon as a kid and I don't like this. PS1 has a banquet of great platformers and even some of the midcarders like Bugs Bunny Lost in Time or Rugrats are a lot better than this. After playing the demo it's a no-go for me. Would not have bothered. I followed that up with Destruction Derby Raw which is by Studio 33/Psygnosis. Psygnosis had a really strong presence on the PS1 and it really is a shame that the console was their last hurrah. Not much to see with this one though. There aren't many options to choose from and the racing isn't that responsive. There was one particular corner where I slammed into it every single time because the turning was so wide and slow. Not really sure what the aim of the game is either as there's a lot less emphasis on the destruction than I thought there would be. Like Cool Boarders 4 the winner is whoever finishes first and so the destruction was a pointless addition as it makes more sense to avoid everyone. There is a cool bit of programming at the end of the demo though where on that last corner (the one I kept crashing into) during the final lap, the game cuts your controls and forces you to drive head-on into the barrier so it can cut to black and end the demo. That impressed me. If I was playing it back in the day though I can't say I'd have been looking to get it. It doesn't hit any right notes as either a simulation driver or an arcade driver, it's just kinda there. Rayman Rush was next and this very well may be the most barebones and unfinished of the demos on here. A lot of plain text menus, not much pomp or circumstance. You get to play one level and that's that. I was a massive fan of the original Rayman. My cousins had it and I thought it was beautiful even if I couldn't get past Band Land. Even to this day I've only ever "completed" it once and I have to put air quotes there because I had to use a password to unlock the last boss as you can't fight him unless you 100% the game which I just couldn't do. So I've done every level legit, but balls to doing it properly. As soon as Rayman moved into 3D he lost me though. Rayman 2 has never been one I got on with. You name 2D platformers on the PS1 better than Rayman and it's a struggle to even make a list at all, but as soon as you get into 3D he's competing with Crash, Spyro, and sadly thanks to my tastes at that time even Gex. Rayman Rush sticks with a 2D/3D combo where you play some parts of each except now it's a racing game. Maybe it's just way ahead of it's time as a speed-based platformer like Super Meat Boy or Celeste or maybe it's just junk from Ubisoft, a company that has produced almost exclusively junk for decades. Again, not a fan of this one. 3D Rayman has never worked for me and making it a 2 player platform racer was a poor decision. Upon further research it seems this game is actually a demake of a PS2 game called Rayman M featuring worse graphics, less gameplay options and less players. Not actually sure why they bothered and it was rightfully panned. Weird to see a demo of a PS1 remake of a PS2 game though, so i'll give it that. Last but not least is World Rally Championship Arcade. I'm not sure if that's Arcade like Gran Turismo 2 had Simulation and Arcade or if it's a port from the Arcades or something else. The demo opens with an advert for a competition to WIN A SONY WIDESCREEN. Entries close August 31st 2002. Over 21 years ago and on that day not only were Blazin' Squad #1 in the charts with Crossroads but someone won a TV. Great day for them. The competition was really weak but this is by far the best demo on the disc. Only one track (Argentina) and only one mode (Time Trial) but it lets you pick from 8 cars and they're all different manufacturers with different stats which is really generous for a demo disc and if you like the gameplay means there's plenty to be had here as it also saves your times. The graphics are genuinely impressive too with some terrain effects that even today have stunned me a bit. There are muddy patches that if you drive through them spray mud everywhere and it makes your car look dirtier, then later there are large puddles and if you drive through those it cleans the mud off. Terrific. The cars handle pretty well though like most racing games of this era the drift is lacking. Games like Gran Turismo, Ridge Racer and Crash Team Racing have the leaders in functional, easy to learn drifting and this one sadly isn't up there with them despite the "arcade" banner. When it all comes to it though, as impressed as I was by the presentation and the generosity of the demo, I wouldn't be buying this one either. The only "realistic" racing game I was interested in on the PS1 was V-Rally 2 after seeing a feature on Big Breakfast about making your own tracks and that is one I ordered a chipped copy of. Again though, my Brother was more into stuff like this and had the Moto GP games and that so he'd have maybe went for this one. Personal taste aside it is a really good demo. So that was McDonalds Disc 3. 1/4 ain't bad. --- As a side note to the demos, I recently won a GunCon off Ebay which arrived yesterday so I've been playing Time Crisis with that which as you'd imagine is fantastic. Next time I get blank discs I'll have to get the Point Blanks and another few light gun games I've heard good things about. Also need to keep my eyes peeled for a Konami Hyper Blaster which is the other main Light Gun for the PS1. I had no idea but it seems only some games are compatible with certain guns which is a huge shame. Thankfully all the best ones seem to be with the GunCon so I'm ok for now. I also won a huge bundle of PS1 demo discs too which were dispatched today. The winning bid by mere pence! Can't wait! Edited May 10 by FLips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Alan Grant Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 7 hours ago, FLips said: I have really fond memories of Syphon Filter and Soul Reaver. I’d be curious to know if they still hold up. Out of curiosity, what is the X-Men/Spider-Man demo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald J Trump Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 7 hours ago, FLips said: Not much to see with this one though. There aren't many options to choose from and the racing isn't that responsive. There was one particular corner where I slammed into it every single time because the turning was so wide and slow. Not really sure what the aim of the game is either as there's a lot less emphasis on the destruction than I thought there would be. Like Cool Boarders 4 the winner is whoever finishes first and so the destruction was a pointless addition as it makes more sense to avoid everyone. In the first PS1 Destruction Derby (Raw was last in a three game series) there were four modes. Time Trial, which is a solo time trial, Stock Car racing, which is a straight race with no points awarded for damaging other cars and a mode called "Wreckin Racing" where you got points for winning races and for damaging other cars. There was also a mode where cars competed in a big circle and the aim was just to cause as much destruction as you could. This was by far the most fun mode. I gather Raw was very similar to the previous two games only with a different focus on realism, physics and better presentation. I really liked DD at the time but I never played any of the modes that didn't involve carnage and mayhem. As you say, I didn't get the point. It sounds like this demo featured the least enjoyable mode in the game, which is an interesting choice. That was a fun write up though, brought back a few memories and got me looking up videos of long forgotten games. Some great titles in among the recent purchase, Populous the beginning is pick of the bunch for me. Sunk a good many hours into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted May 11 Paid Members Share Posted May 11 @Carbombis it the Capcom Jojo's game? It's somewhat overlooked, or it was at the time, but managed to get a re-release on XBox360 a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted May 11 Paid Members Share Posted May 11 5 hours ago, Dr. Alan Grant said: I have really fond memories of Syphon Filter and Soul Reaver. I’d be curious to know if they still hold up. Out of curiosity, what is the X-Men/Spider-Man demo? I’m not sure! I imagine it’s going to be Marvel Super Heroes but the other games on the demo don’t track at that time so maybe Marvel vs Capcom but they’re using two Marvel characters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 A bit of a spoiler(?) but here's the demo disc! 14 Net Yaroze games, too. I've got a few ISO files that contain seemingly all of those from different regions, not got around to trying everything though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted May 11 Paid Members Share Posted May 11 Fantastic stuff! I see Cool Boarders 2 on there as well so will give that a go and let @SuperBaconknow if it still holds up. Bought 50 more blank CD-Rs today as well so can start adding more full games as I go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 (edited) Here's a link to the Net Yaroze collection I have, I don't know if there's been any more since but I know that people still make stuff with it. I'm pretty sure the ISO files work on an actual console. https://archive.org/details/ny2014 Edit: Here we go! With all new games too. http://netyaroze.com/Media/Downloads Edited May 11 by Merzbow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 11 Paid Members Share Posted May 11 7 hours ago, Jazzy G said: @Carbombis it the Capcom Jojo's game? It's somewhat overlooked, or it was at the time, but managed to get a re-release on XBox360 a few years ago. It is indeed. Was in the arcades when I was first living in Japan in 1999, so I was thrilled when it was released on DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted May 11 Paid Members Share Posted May 11 @Carbomb (or anyone else really) are there any good wrestling games outside of Smackdown 1 and 2 on the PS1? I’m looking more in the spirit of No Mercy/Fire Pro or something unique than I am the awful Acclaim games. Japanese exclusives are fine, my PS1 should play them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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