Hi guys. I thought I'd start a thread where we could post everytime we uncover a new retro title thats worth playing. I'll start with a review of the game I've been playing most recently.
I’ve played through pretty much every entry in the main Final Fantasy numbered series with the exception of V so I recently picked it up on the PSN and have been playing through it on my PSP. Here is a mini review of the game so far after about 10 hours play.
I came to the game with very little expectations as this iteration seems to be overlooked in favour of VI and VII. So far though I have really enjoyed the game. Some might say gameplay is simple but as I see it, it contains the core of what a good RPG should have. Fun characters, interesting story without being impenetrably complex and although the combat is indeed simple the job system, which was innovative at the time, is well implemented. I think what I like best if the fact that a lot of the extra baggage that modern JRPGs have accumulated is absent. In other words, no complex “crafting” system or battling the same monster for 10 hours waiting for a rare drop. No open world wondering where you need to go next or superfluous side mission that accomplish nothing apart from prolonging the end and allowing the publisher to say “100 hours of gameplay” on the back of the box. Dialogue and cut scenes are suitably brief and to the point and carried off in a light-hearted way.
Graphics wise it’s an old-school RPG from the SNES era and this is what you get. I don’t know though, I still find some of these simple sprite characters are more expressive than some of the newer high tech “uncanny valley” avatars. Music is outstanding and I would thoroughly recommend playing with a pair of good headphones.
Overall, this title in many ways represents the heyday of the JRPG. You know what you’re going to get and the designers deliver in spades. It’s a great portable title and as the dungeons aren’t too long it really suits a pick up and play style. Most importantly Final Fantasy V is simple a lot of fun and gets a big thumbs up from me.
Anyone else playing anything interesting right now?
I'm still working through FF5 and I highly recommend it. Its actually more similar to FF7 than any other title in the series. I'm about 90% of the way through now and starting to think about what to tackle next. I haven't played FF4 yet but not sure if I can take more random battles.
What do you think about the emulator v original hardware debate. Some people will argue that sitting in front of a PC playing Super Mario Bros for example is so fundamentally different from using a NES controller on a tv that you aren't experiencing the game as it was designed to be played.
What do you think about the emulator v original hardware debate. Some people will argue that sitting in front of a PC playing Super Mario Bros for example is so fundamentally different from using a NES controller on a tv that you aren't experiencing the game as it was designed to be played.
Opinions?
I'm not using a pc for my emulators. I am running them on the wii, and using the wii classic controller. I feel it is a close as it gets to actually running them on the old systems. I have played nes, snes and sega games that way so far and had no issues with the emulation. Right now, I have been spending most of the time playing NHL 94 on sega and it has been a blast for me to revisit my youth that way.
My wii has been collecting dust for ages, and I figured this was the best way to bring that system back to life. They have a ton of other games systems, arcade and pc emulators that you can run with varying degrees of success on the wii.
That would be a great use of my Wii as it is buried in a box somewhere in my house. Worst money spent as even the kids don't want to play it.
Mine got used for the first couple months b/c it was a new toy, then collected dust for a couple years until I saw baseball teams using MLB Power Pros 2008 after the games as a promortional home run derby contest. That last a couple more months, and it sat collecting dust until I rediscovered running homebrew and emulators on it.
I used the letter bomb method and it took like 2 min's to get it up and running. It took longer for me to upgrade to the newest firmware than it did anything else. I've had zero's issues with NES, SNES or Sega. The PS1 and Nin64 has been spotty at best. I don't know how comfortable you are with installing homebrew on anything, but if you have any experience at all, it will be a piece of cake for you.
FINAL FANTASY V MINI REVIEW
I’ve played through pretty much every entry in the main Final Fantasy numbered series with the exception of V so I recently picked it up on the PSN and have been playing through it on my PSP. Here is a mini review of the game so far after about 10 hours play.
I came to the game with very little expectations as this iteration seems to be overlooked in favour of VI and VII. So far though I have really enjoyed the game. Some might say gameplay is simple but as I see it, it contains the core of what a good RPG should have. Fun characters, interesting story without being impenetrably complex and although the combat is indeed simple the job system, which was innovative at the time, is well implemented. I think what I like best if the fact that a lot of the extra baggage that modern JRPGs have accumulated is absent. In other words, no complex “crafting” system or battling the same monster for 10 hours waiting for a rare drop. No open world wondering where you need to go next or superfluous side mission that accomplish nothing apart from prolonging the end and allowing the publisher to say “100 hours of gameplay” on the back of the box. Dialogue and cut scenes are suitably brief and to the point and carried off in a light-hearted way.
Graphics wise it’s an old-school RPG from the SNES era and this is what you get. I don’t know though, I still find some of these simple sprite characters are more expressive than some of the newer high tech “uncanny valley” avatars. Music is outstanding and I would thoroughly recommend playing with a pair of good headphones.
Overall, this title in many ways represents the heyday of the JRPG. You know what you’re going to get and the designers deliver in spades. It’s a great portable title and as the dungeons aren’t too long it really suits a pick up and play style. Most importantly Final Fantasy V is simple a lot of fun and gets a big thumbs up from me.
Anyone else playing anything interesting right now?
I'm still working through FF5 and I highly recommend it. Its actually more similar to FF7 than any other title in the series. I'm about 90% of the way through now and starting to think about what to tackle next. I haven't played FF4 yet but not sure if I can take more random battles.
Most of my retro gaming is on different emulators right now.
Thats interesting in itself.
What do you think about the emulator v original hardware debate. Some people will argue that sitting in front of a PC playing Super Mario Bros for example is so fundamentally different from using a NES controller on a tv that you aren't experiencing the game as it was designed to be played.
Opinions?
I'm not using a pc for my emulators. I am running them on the wii, and using the wii classic controller. I feel it is a close as it gets to actually running them on the old systems. I have played nes, snes and sega games that way so far and had no issues with the emulation. Right now, I have been spending most of the time playing NHL 94 on sega and it has been a blast for me to revisit my youth that way.
My wii has been collecting dust for ages, and I figured this was the best way to bring that system back to life. They have a ton of other games systems, arcade and pc emulators that you can run with varying degrees of success on the wii.
Here is the controller that I am using:
http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Classic-Controller-Pro-White-Nintendo/dp/B0037...
That would be a great use of my Wii as it is buried in a box somewhere in my house. Worst money spent as even the kids don't want to play it.
Mine got used for the first couple months b/c it was a new toy, then collected dust for a couple years until I saw baseball teams using MLB Power Pros 2008 after the games as a promortional home run derby contest. That last a couple more months, and it sat collecting dust until I rediscovered running homebrew and emulators on it.
Do you have any links with info on how to do that to the Wii? I wouldn't mind doing some reading
Of course I do:
I used the letter bomb method and it took like 2 min's to get it up and running. It took longer for me to upgrade to the newest firmware than it did anything else. I've had zero's issues with NES, SNES or Sega. The PS1 and Nin64 has been spotty at best. I don't know how comfortable you are with installing homebrew on anything, but if you have any experience at all, it will be a piece of cake for you.
THanks for the info. Never done it before but it looks simple enough. Might have to give it a go in the future.
Guys sorry for being an ass but I removed the links. Probably better to continue the conversation in private.
No worries. Can you message me the links through the site? It would be appreciated
No problem.