The UKFF Retro Gaming Thread

[Merzbow]

This is a crazy undertaking, a seamless setup of over 600 Windows 95/98 games from 94 to 96 (other years will be done later).

https://www.retro-exo.com/win9x_M.html

All under one program, it's wild because so many of these games will need very very specific emulation settings but they've all been handcrafted to work out of the box as best as they can. 

[FLips]

My wife, who aside from Baldur's Gate 3 (If you would count that?) has never played a turn based RPG, has just finished Final Fantasy VII for the first time and really enjoyed it!

She knew Aerith dies, as does everyone at this stage, but her reaction was very similar to mine the first time you play it. Who cares? She's integral to the plot but as a character she virtually has nothing going on and her death, while big for the shock value, effects nothing with the rest of the playthrough, My wife compared her to Heath Ledger which I think is accurate.
It was a joy watching her play through it and find the characters she loved (Tifa, Red XIII) and hated (Cait Sith, obviously) and in general her enjoying this has opened up a huge list of games we can now play together. I'm burning a copy of Final Fantasy IX as we speak at her request.

On the whole, it's still a brilliant RPG that holds up. It's flawed in many ways, with game breaking bugs all over the place, a very slapdash story and a bit of a drag of a 1st disc, but you can't fault the music, the gameplay and the feeling of depth for a game at that time and place. Going from VI to VII is such a huge leap that you just don't get in games these days, even IX to X didn't feel as drastic but that was probably the last generation where improvements were massively noticeable.

[FLips]

I've lost track of what I've mentioned in here but I think these are the ones I got recently I didn't write about.

For the Gameboy I picked up Batman which sadly isn't a port of the fantastic NES one but a whole new thing where Batman has a gun for some reason. It's by Sunsoft who did the NES one too, so not sure why it's a different thing. It looks a bit basic but plays great, and has a mix of platforming and shoot em up levels in the Batwing. The music is really good too. One of my mates in school had this so it was nice to play it again after 20 years.

I also got Star Wars which my cousins had growing up. I couldn't do it then and I can't do it now. Like it's console counterparts it's a poorly made difficult nightmare. Similarly it was nice to play it again after all these years but I couldn't recommend it like I could Batman. The hit detection is especially bad, as enemies melt your health and knock you across the screen on a single hit. There's a speeder "open world" area between stages which is never explained and just as hard as the rest of it.

I can't remember if I mentioned them but I picked up Donkey Kong Land 2, completing the trilogy, and Kirby's Adventure which was the first Kirby game made (to my knowledge) and so he has had no character development yet, to the point he doesn't even learn enemy skills yet. He just kinda floats and blows stars. Fun, if a little basic compared to later games.

Elsewhere, my wife went to the Metro Centre the other day so I got her to pick some bits up from the CEX there.

GODS on the SNES, which I've wrote about in more detail previously, but I'm thrilled to pick up a physical copy of this one. A bit of a guilty pleasure game, even if I still struggle to make heads or tails of it. @Onyx2 will be pleased to hear the console version has music in it, so it's not just sound effects and grunting during the levels. Despite me thinking it was possibly an emulation thing when I played earlier in the year, the PAL copy still runs at 10x speed. It simultaneously improves the game while making some of it harder.

She also picked me up Dr Mario on the NES, and Kabuki Quantum Fighter on the NES. The former is what it is, it's Dr Mario. Not much to say, and not really any different from the Gameboy and SNES versions I own, but it's one of those games I wanted in my collection. The latter though is a fairly obscure action platformer that's got a lot in common with NES era games like Ninja Gaiden, Bionic Commando and Batman. It has a unique movement where you attack and swing off platforms with your hair. Pretty fun and worth the £8 paid for it.

We're both still playing through Final Fantasy IX as well, which I'll be completely honest we're enjoying, but I don't think it's my favourite any more after years of thinking it was. Playing it right after VII has exposed how slow and talky it is, and while the story is still great and there's nothing wrong really with the gameplay, it can feel really sluggish coming right off VII which moved at a breakneck pace at times. Sometimes we'll jump on for a session and spend an hour watching dialogue and come off. The music is brilliant, but VII's is perfect from start to finish. We're both enjoying it though, and we're nearing the end of Disc 3 so not long to go. After this I think it'll be Final Fantasy X or Dragon Quest XI, we'll see!

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Got one of those handheld emulators that get advertised on Temu and TikTok for Christmas (picked up in November at Comic Con) and spent a bit of time playing round with it today after fully charging it

The FIFA games, particularly 98, on the SNES section are dreadfully clunky and have bad audio though the PSP port of FIFA Street 2 is ok

Tiny Toon Adventures and Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers on the NES were the Japanese ports so were hard to make out instructions on the cut scenes but Aladdin played fine

Power Rangers was a fun play through though I struggled to beat Mr Bones as the level boss

WWF War Zone on the N64 was fantastic though, just played like it was actually on the console though the Owen Hart RIP graphic on the load up hit me in the feels as he’s still playable in game

Next tester I think will be checking how the Mario and Sonic games fare with it as there are a load to get through

[Merzbow]

Blade Runner

Sure the "Enhanced" version was a rare L for Nightdive Studios (I think they're a slightly over hyped team imo) but with a few patches over the years it's now more than playable and you can finally turn off the horrible AI upscaling. Retro chunky DOS graphics all the way here. 

If a game was ever to score highly on vibes alone it's this one, the atmosphere, sound design and dialogue are all excellent while feeling completely in universe with the original film and is only really let down by being in that clunky era between 2D and 3D where point and clicks were also falling out of favour everywhere but Germany (they never stopped loving them there).

If you give this a go while it's dirt cheap I'm the PlayStation sale don't feel bad about having a guide next to you, it's typical of the era to have some really obscure puzzles or never knowing where to go next.

[gmoney]

I've not played it in over 20 years, but Blade Runner was so great back then. Really opened my eyes up to what games could do, with it's multiple endings, different characters being replicants on each playthrough. I'd be a bit worried about playing it again, as I don't want to wipe away the magic. 

[westlondonmist]

7 hours ago, Merzbow said:

Blade Runner

Sure the "Enhanced" version was a rare L for Nightdive Studios (I think they're a slightly over hyped team imo) but with a few patches over the years it's now more than playable and you can finally turn off the horrible AI upscaling. Retro chunky DOS graphics all the way here. 

If a game was ever to score highly on vibes alone it's this one, the atmosphere, sound design and dialogue are all excellent while feeling completely in universe with the original film and is only really let down by being in that clunky era between 2D and 3D where point and clicks were also falling out of favour everywhere but Germany (they never stopped loving them there).

If you give this a go while it's dirt cheap I'm the PlayStation sale don't feel bad about having a guide next to you, it's typical of the era to have some really obscure puzzles or never knowing where to go next.

I've played it and actually really enjoyed it. Needed a guide at times but it tells a good story and feels very truthful to the story. 

[Merzbow]

Yeah it links in with the film really well, a nice little easter egg is that Deckard is the absolute worst shooter on record though.

[Merzbow]

Speaking of Nightdive, I also picked up Powerslave: Exhumed from the PSN sale. This is an interesting port as it's not actually faithful to either PSX or Saturn version which were very different games and manages to be a remix of both games and taking elements from each, it's... OK but one of the more middling Doom Clones that's luckily helped by being very distinctive in it's Egyptian theme. It's got me wanting to emulate the original versions though and I wouldn't mind seeing more old obscure console FPS get a refresh.

Edited January 2 by Merzbow

[BigJag]

I visited Retro Computer Museum in Leicester today. They've moved from their previous location to a larger building on the same estate.  Really developing the layout since my last visit, which was around 10 years ago. Establishing a library of games and other media that is truly amazing. The collection covers computers and consoles from before the BBC Micro upto a PS4 with VR. Its worth a visit to marvel at the Library alone. They've got a couple of areas on the ground floor that are set up with various games machines. Including a LAN area that was hosting Quake. They've also set up an Arcade area that houses a number of varied arcade machines. About 3 original Virtuality units, huge and very impressive.Two twin Outrun machines cover the majority of the back wall. Tucked away in the far corner is an incredible table top 4 stick MAME set up. The clever people that run the place have even managed to get this unit to support Smash TVs twin stick control method. My friend and I had great fun playing through the full game. The museum is a charity and run by friendly and knowledgeable volunteers. I highly recommend visiting.

https://retrocomputermuseum.co.uk/

Edited January 3 by BigJag

[Jazzy G]

Saw a couple of articles saying the Disney Afternoon Collection is coming to Switch and Switch 2 and that Digital Eclipse are still involved. There's also speculation that because Atari are publishing instead of Capcom there may be more than just the NES versions on there like with the other Digital Eclipse compilations. If this comes out and is about £15-20 it'll be decent, but I wonder whether they'll be getting the full museum treatment as part of the Golden Master series. Hopefully it'll be more Tetris Forever than Mortal Kombat Kollection. 

[SuperBacon]

This sounds so much fun.

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jan/15/commodore-64-ultimate-review-computer

The first kid on my estate to have a Commodore 64, was affectionately nicknamed Screech after the Saved By The Bell character, and used to bring his round most Saturday nights so we could all play Champ Manager. Legend, I hope he's doing well.

[Merzbow]

I was in a Kim Justice livestream recently and she didn't go into details but when asked about that vs the Spectrum Next she said there's some serious wronguns behind that computer.. if there's anyone I'd trust in the retro scene it's her. 

It does look great though.

[FLips]

After decades of just not getting it, I've found myself hooked on Dr Mario. 

As I mentioned recently my wife got me the NES version and that then became my 3rd version of Dr Mario that I own, so I figured now was as good a time as any to sit down and actually play the thing properly.

Now I'll preface this by giving a little information on Dr Mario. It's not a Tetris clone like you would believe, not even in the loose sense like a Puyo Pop or Columns is. It's more like the various Puzzle Modes you see on those games. You get a Virus Level that sets how many germs will appear spread across the playing field (Red, Yellow, Blue) and then you get double-sided pills to drop in and try to match 4 to cure them. Once you cure all the viruses, the level is complete and you move on to the next more difficult one, from 1-20. You can choose speed and starting level from the off though, so it can be as easy or hard as you want it.
Once you get your head around you're not playing Tetris and you start to play by Dr Mario's rules, that's where the fun comes in. It takes a while to figure out how to properly combo, and it's a lot more difficult than its peers to do so, my max combo being 3 still after maybe close to 100 games.

Most folks would recognise the Dr Mario Fever music, but it's the alternative theme Chill which is the standout for me, and I'll be posting each version's version of it because it's just a bop, as the kids say.

The NES version is fine, but maybe my least favourite of the three versions I own. It's colourful and sounds absolutely fine, but it's the most vanilla of the three. For me personally though it's like Tetris on the NES, some people might swear by it, but I don't find it as addictive as the handheld counterpart.

NES Chill - 

The SNES version, which I've owned for quite a while now and never properly got around to trying is actually Dr Mario & Tetris and has a few unique features to it. First of all, a graphic and sound upgrade as you would expect, but also the gameplay gets a tweak with an optional "Mixed Match" mode, where you play against P2 or CPU in 3 rounds, Tetris, Dr Mario, Tetris in that order. You race to finish each stage the fastest and send junk blocks each other's way. Whoever finishes with the most points at the end of the 3 rounds or time limit wins. It's really fun.

The standard game modes for both games are what you would expect though, but I find this version of Dr Mario better firstly due to the Mixed Match option, but also the sound upgrade goes a very long way to giving the game heaps of character it was otherwise missing. I believe the composer is the bloke behind Earthbound, so it has this familiar weirdness to it that shines a lot more on the SNES.

SNES chill for that reason, sounds amazing and is my favourite version of the three -

Then finally you get the Gameboy Version, which might be my favourite of the three overall. I've been playing it every night in bed for about a week now and it's just such a great game to pick up and play for a few rounds. Due to colour limitations, the germs are black, white and fuzzy but the game still works the same. Being condensed down into the smaller screen makes everything really responsive too, the same way Gameboy Tetris is.

It doesn't have the frills of the SNES one but it just goes to show that if the core gameplay is good enough, you can deal with the limitations. It also reminded me how addictive some handheld games can be.

Gameboy Chill - 

[BigJag]

I've recently set up a bit of a man cave. Big TV and a raft of consoles.

PS4 with VR

Really enjoying the VR experience. The game tend to be  great for shortish burts of play. Played Ironman VR this week. Liked the innovative way they use the Move controllers in various set pieces. Knockout League is a lot of fun too as well as a half decent workout. Think Punch Out in VR. I didn't expect to enjoy Start Wars Squadron as much as I have. Having now played Iron Man. I was surprised to find that they are quite similar.

PS3

Need to track down my copy of Motorstorm.

N64

Goldeneye and Lylat Wars. Plus a bit of No Mercy.

GameCube 

Mariokart Double Dash. Also have the Donkey Kong bongo drums. Will have to see if my niece will enjoy playing that. She liked Beat Sabre on the PS4 VR.

Saturn 

Got the Saturn running today with the above adapter. Sega Rally is going to take up a fair bit of my free time.

Please offer your suggestions for VR or any of the other machines.