The UKFF Retro Gaming Thread

[Big Bully Busick]

7 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Oh, wow! It never occurred to me they could've done essentially a Golden Axe port for MOTU. Why didn't they?! Glad someone's done it now, anyway.

The franchise was made for a hack n slash type game instead we got stuff like this

 

And this (I owned this one sadly) 

 

 

[Carbomb]

See, that's a shame - because I think there's also mileage in a MOTU franchised Zelda-style RPG. Shame they didn't put the effort in to make it good.

[FLips]

That He-Man game looks incredible. Love the animation style on it. With a little more depth it could be like the Dungeons and Dragons beat em ups.

The VIP Demo Disc I won arrived earlier today so I've had a little go of it. It thankfully isn't a demo of the Pamela Anderson vehicle, but a regular demo disc. The playable games are:

• ESPN Extreme Games
• Mickey's Wild Adventure
• Mortal Kombat 3 (UK and France only)
• Total NBA '96
• Twisted Metal
• Warhawk

As you can probably tell it's from 1996 so you're looking at early games and ports from the last gen. There's no preview videos here oddly, and of all the discs so far it has the worst title music. Real ear-piercing stuff.
I've had a go of Mortal Kombat 3 which was exlcuded from the German release due to their strict laws at the time. It's always weird to go back to stuff like the old Mortal Kombats or the original GTA games and see what all the fuss was about. Even as someone who lived through it and knew how, for a kid at least, realistic those games could feel, you would think adults would find them comical.
MK3 has Kano and Sonya playable and The Streets level as the only stage. It does taunt you with the full roster including Smoke visible, but alas they're locked away. As someone who had this on the Mega Drive I can tell the graphical and sound differences but I would never say it was worth the console upgrade, especially as Mortal Kombat Trilogy was out not long after and was amazing. They miss a beat by not having the AI do a fatality by default to really demo the game.

Mickey's Wild Adventure is another port, this one of Mickey Mania from the previous gen. Again, great game but unless you owned both you won't be able to really appreciate the differences. The playable level here is one of the worst and most boring ones too, being the ghost level. It's a brilliant platformer with some stunningly creative levels and this demo shows none of that sadly.

I tried NBA 96 as well but it's not for me. I've never been a fan of basketball both on the TV or in games (though NBA Jam, Space Jam and Inside the NBA all get a pass) and this didn't change my mind. For as amazing as the PS1/N64 era was for other genres like platformers, RPGs and action/adventure, it really is a no-man's land for sports games other than racers. A clunky middle period between the pick up and play simplicity of the 16 bit era and the fluidity and speed of the PS2 onwards.

Warhawk was an early big-box game (which are just lovely) and apparently received critical acclaim and releases. It's not my kinda thing though. Maybe I'm just bad at it, but I imagine if you like stuff like Ace Combat it might be up your alley. It's like a grown up Starwing. I just flew into everything I saw like a daddy long legs though. It does look impressive for 1995 though.

Twisted Metal is up next, I assume a spinoff of the Samoa Joe tv show. We all know what Twisted Metal is and while the demo is very generous with the character select (you can pick anyone from what looks like a full roster) it's lacking in the gameplay department. One Arena Duel and it kicks you back to the demo menu so good luck with the load times trying to get multiple goes of this one. Combat racers have never been my jam the same way battle modes on kart games haven't. If you like that sort of thing though then Twisted Metal and Carmageddon are the two PS1 big names to look at.

And lastly a game that pleasantly surprised me was ESPN Extreme Games. I expected a Tony Hawk knockoff but instead got a very responsive and fun Road Rash style brawling racer. Skateboarders, BMX bandits, Lugers (not Lex, but the guys that lay on their backs on skateboards downhill) and Rollerbladers all race from A-Z with all four shoulder buttons throwing left and right high or low punches and kicks to knock the other racers on their arse.
There's big stunts and jumps to do, cash to be won and, though I didn't quite work out what it did, a count for how many hoops you've raced through. It's even got those pixelated digital graphics that Road Rash has. Looks good, plays great. Only thing missing was music which the full game has, so that's an all-rounder.

A little something for everyone on this demo. Not taking into account what I owned on previous gens and only judging them on face value, MK3, Mickey and ESPN would all be potential buys for me, though a better level choice on Mickey would turn it into a definite yes. NBA 96, Warhawk and Twisted Metal don't do anything for me but I see the value in the latter two, especially in 1995 when the console was fresh out and there wasn't a full library to compare them to.

[SuperBacon]

13 minutes ago, FLips said:

For as amazing as the PS1/N64 era was for other genres like platformers, RPGs and action/adventure, it really is a no-man's land for sports games other than racers.

*stares in FIFA: Road to World Cup 98*

[Big Bully Busick]

19 hours ago, FLips said:

That He-Man game looks incredible. Love the animation style on it. With a little more depth it could be like the Dungeons and Dragons beat em ups.

The VIP Demo Disc I won arrived earlier today so I've had a little go of it. It thankfully isn't a demo of the Pamela Anderson vehicle, but a regular demo disc. The playable games are:

• ESPN Extreme Games
• Mickey's Wild Adventure
• Mortal Kombat 3 (UK and France only)
• Total NBA '96
• Twisted Metal
• Warhawk

As you can probably tell it's from 1996 so you're looking at early games and ports from the last gen. There's no preview videos here oddly, and of all the discs so far it has the worst title music. Real ear-piercing stuff.
I've had a go of Mortal Kombat 3 which was exlcuded from the German release due to their strict laws at the time. It's always weird to go back to stuff like the old Mortal Kombats or the original GTA games and see what all the fuss was about. Even as someone who lived through it and knew how, for a kid at least, realistic those games could feel, you would think adults would find them comical.
MK3 has Kano and Sonya playable and The Streets level as the only stage. It does taunt you with the full roster including Smoke visible, but alas they're locked away. As someone who had this on the Mega Drive I can tell the graphical and sound differences but I would never say it was worth the console upgrade, especially as Mortal Kombat Trilogy was out not long after and was amazing. They miss a beat by not having the AI do a fatality by default to really demo the game.

Mickey's Wild Adventure is another port, this one of Mickey Mania from the previous gen. Again, great game but unless you owned both you won't be able to really appreciate the differences. The playable level here is one of the worst and most boring ones too, being the ghost level. It's a brilliant platformer with some stunningly creative levels and this demo shows none of that sadly.

I tried NBA 96 as well but it's not for me. I've never been a fan of basketball both on the TV or in games (though NBA Jam, Space Jam and Inside the NBA all get a pass) and this didn't change my mind. For as amazing as the PS1/N64 era was for other genres like platformers, RPGs and action/adventure, it really is a no-man's land for sports games other than racers. A clunky middle period between the pick up and play simplicity of the 16 bit era and the fluidity and speed of the PS2 onwards.

Warhawk was an early big-box game (which are just lovely) and apparently received critical acclaim and releases. It's not my kinda thing though. Maybe I'm just bad at it, but I imagine if you like stuff like Ace Combat it might be up your alley. It's like a grown up Starwing. I just flew into everything I saw like a daddy long legs though. It does look impressive for 1995 though.

Twisted Metal is up next, I assume a spinoff of the Samoa Joe tv show. We all know what Twisted Metal is and while the demo is very generous with the character select (you can pick anyone from what looks like a full roster) it's lacking in the gameplay department. One Arena Duel and it kicks you back to the demo menu so good luck with the load times trying to get multiple goes of this one. Combat racers have never been my jam the same way battle modes on kart games haven't. If you like that sort of thing though then Twisted Metal and Carmageddon are the two PS1 big names to look at.

And lastly a game that pleasantly surprised me was ESPN Extreme Games. I expected a Tony Hawk knockoff but instead got a very responsive and fun Road Rash style brawling racer. Skateboarders, BMX bandits, Lugers (not Lex, but the guys that lay on their backs on skateboards downhill) and Rollerbladers all race from A-Z with all four shoulder buttons throwing left and right high or low punches and kicks to knock the other racers on their arse.
There's big stunts and jumps to do, cash to be won and, though I didn't quite work out what it did, a count for how many hoops you've raced through. It's even got those pixelated digital graphics that Road Rash has. Looks good, plays great. Only thing missing was music which the full game has, so that's an all-rounder.

A little something for everyone on this demo. Not taking into account what I owned on previous gens and only judging them on face value, MK3, Mickey and ESPN would all be potential buys for me, though a better level choice on Mickey would turn it into a definite yes. NBA 96, Warhawk and Twisted Metal don't do anything for me but I see the value in the latter two, especially in 1995 when the console was fresh out and there wasn't a full library to compare them to.

The demo disc years were truly amazing 

Alot of people collecting them now too

[Merzbow]

I managed to grab a whole bunch from the 40/50's range of magazines for less than a fiver a while back, sadly they're all later games and I prefer the 96/97 era but there's a good mix of games where devs were really utilizing the hardware.

I've got a couple from 98 which were "volume 2" discs from that period where they went back to numbering the discs from 01 again, when did they scrap that?

Edit: it was issue 37, the one after the special Tekken 3 disc in the black case.

Edited May 17 by Merzbow

[Chris B]

Talking of demo discs, going back a bit further... how about demo tapes? This site is awesome. Reviews and scans of the much-loved Commodore Format from back in the day. As well as descriptions of the Cover Tapes! The C64 was my first computer and gaming experience, and I have fond memories of both the games and demos that worked and those that just never did, constantly loading and never actually working.

https://commodoreformatarchive.com/

Talking of C64, I got the Ghostbusters game on budget release, and was so confused by the Space Invaders mini-loading game. A stroke of genius in some ways, but I thought it was just the wrong game, and it took me a couple of days to play it long enough for the game to actually load.

 

Edit: Also, running a small retro gaming night tonight in Turnpike Lane. The cables. SO MANY cables.

Edited May 17 by Chris B

[SuperBacon]

We had a Spectrum ZX and I can remember getting demo tapes with some magazines as well. 

Colin The Cleaner was the first game I ever played on the ZX and what a game. I am amazed we had one as my Dad was not really the type to be in to that sort of thing at all.

[Keith Houchen]

2 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

We had a Spectrum

All the cool kids did. Speccys > Commobores. 

[DavidB6937]

2 hours ago, Chris B said:

Talking of demo discs, going back a bit further... how about demo tapes? This site is awesome. Reviews and scans of the much-loved Commodore Format from back in the day. As well as descriptions of the Cover Tapes! The C64 was my first computer and gaming experience, and I have fond memories of both the games and demos that worked and those that just never did, constantly loading and never actually working.

https://commodoreformatarchive.com/

Talking of C64, I got the Ghostbusters game on budget release, and was so confused by the Space Invaders mini-loading game. A stroke of genius in some ways, but I thought it was just the wrong game, and it took me a couple of days to play it long enough for the game to actually load.

 

Edit: Also, running a small retro gaming night tonight in Turnpike Lane. The cables. SO MANY cables.

Ah this is amazing, thank you. Going to lose a lot of time on that site.

I do miss the days of a good joystick wiggle for the athletics.

[Chris B]

7 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Ah this is amazing, thank you. Going to lose a lot of time on that site.

I do miss the days of a good joystick wiggle for the athletics.

A bunch of the Commodore Format crew went on to be involved with the glory days of SFX Magazine as well.

The first demo tape I got included a level from the Viz game, which was just rude enough to be perfect for 10-year-old me.

[Carbomb]

I remember a friend who had a C64 - he had the Spitting Image game, which was a Street Fighter-style beat-'em-up. Lots of fun.

[Fog Dude]

6 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

All the cool kids did. Speccys > Commobores. 

Oi, my stepbrother had a Spectrum and I had a Comm- oh hang on, that checks out. Never mind. 

[Jazzy G]

13 hours ago, Carbomb said:

I remember a friend who had a C64 - he had the Spitting Image game, which was a Street Fighter-style beat-'em-up. Lots of fun.

I had that Spitting Image game. It was an awful unbalanced mess. The SID version of the theme was decent, though. 

[Devon Malcolm]

17 hours ago, Chris B said:

Talking of C64, I got the Ghostbusters game on budget release, and was so confused by the Space Invaders mini-loading game. A stroke of genius in some ways, but I thought it was just the wrong game, and it took me a couple of days to play it long enough for the game to actually load.

Invade-a-Load it was called, wasn't it? Sometimes I just used to stop a tape loading and play that.

I used to buy a budget game from The Likely Lads on Stockport Road with my £5 pocket money every Saturday afternoon. Highlight was when they released Buggy Boy on budget, a great day. Or if they had a good compilation box coming out,  I'd save up for a couple of weeks and get that.