Varor på väg: Epoch Cassette Vision, Nintendo ljuspistoler, Mega drive, famicom, konsoler , cd-rom2

Jag har köpt in väldigt mycket från Japan senaste månaderna.

Kanske för att priserna gått ner i samband med tullar och allmänt försämrad ekonomi, eller att folk är rädda för att ekonomin försämras. De brukar då handla färre spel.

Sen spelar det in att Switch 2 snart släpps. Då lägger folk inte pengar på retro-spel under ett tag. Man säljer av sina gamla spel för att få pengar och plats till det nya, så priserna går ner tillfälligt.

Jag fick in rätt mycket tillbehör nyligen, som vi la ut på Tradera. En del i nyskick. En sak jag inte lagt ut är en lightgun.

Vad är den till? Jo till en Epoch Cassette Vision, en konsol som bara gavs ut i Japan, 1981. Den följdes av Super Cassette Vision, som är en rätt okej 8-bitas maskin med flera spel. 

Vi hade föregångaren Epoch Cassette Vision för länge sen, och den såldes som otestad. Numer har någon dock kommit på hur man kan AV-modda den. Så jag har två sådana på väg. Kanske finns det inget intresse men kändes som en kul grej.

Man stoppar in ljuspistolen där i mitten på konsolen, där det står "connector". Notera att den inte har några handkontroller i övrigt, och det enda spel som man kan använda pistolen till är Big Sports 12. 

Nu när jag köpt in mer printer papper borde jag köpa in fler printers också. Så det är på väg.

Ljuspistoler från Nintendo! Hoppas att folk kommer tycka det är lika kul som jag. Gevär också.

Geväret är så långt att det inte kan skickas på vanligt sätt, så det borde vara eftertraktat av den anledningen. 

Till dessa leksaker använder man en mottagare eller sensor som vi också har på väg.

Pistolen använder en annan (också på väg).

Ni kan läsa mer om dessa saker här: http://blog.beforemario.com/2011/02/light-gun-games-kousenjuu-sp-and.html

Fick tag på 100 original AV kablar till SFC/N64/GC.

Tänker mig ett pris på 149 kr/st, egentligen rätt billigt men jag måste ju bli av med dem. Det kommer ta flera år. Hade varit kul om de är oanvända, men jag tror inte det.

Spelkassetter har jag köpt in mindre av eftersom de gått upp i pris och intresset är lågt. Förr sålde jag konstant lösa Famicom och Super Famicom spel, men numer säljer bara kända titlar. Plattformsspelet Ninja Hattori Kun var exempelvis på vår bästsäljarlista i shoppen men det har inte sålt på flera år nu. 

Har dock ett spelpaket på väg:

Kändes kul köpa in vissa populära titlar som jag inte haft på länge. Som Mother, och spelet Labyrinth som vi brukade flasha med engelsk text. Jag ägnade en gång en helg åt att ta mig genom det -- ett roligt minne. Filmen är lite av en kultfilm, så det kanske finns intresse för spelet. Solstice är ett annat ovanligt spel, lite udda och kanske mest känt för musiken. Miracle Ropits (bredvid Rambo) är underskattat, Jumpin Kid är rätt bra också.

För att visa på hur priser gått upp, så kommer spelpaketet ovan att ha kostat mig minst 3500 kr, eller minst 4000 med moms. Förr skulle spelen ha kostat runt 10 kr /st i inköp, nu är det över 30kr/st. Och då är minst häflten osäljbara spel jag får auktionera ut. Sen får man sitta och rengöra dem. 

Men annars fokuserar jag mer på konsoler och tillbehör. Har exempelvis dessa Super Famicom konsoler på väg.

Här kan man se hur svårt det är bedöma skick. Ogulnade konsoler säljer betydligt bättre, men hur många i bilden är ogulnade? Vid första anblick ser två konsoler gulnade ut, och två är halvgula. Men tittar man noga är det möjligt alla konsoler är lättare gulnade.

Även Mega Drive konsoler är på väg.

De brukar sälja rätt bra. Japanska konsoler kan omoddade spela de flesta PAL spel, som då går i "rätt" hastighet. Vi kommer också modda några, vilket också är populärt, för de senare MD spelen är regionslåsta (exempelvis Thunder Force IV och Sonic Spinball). 

En annan kul grej är att många spel ändrar språk efter konsolens språk, såsom Rambo III och Quackshot, så har man en regionsfri konsol kan man spela dem i 60Hz och dessutom på engelska! 

Slutligen har min kollega efterfrågat cd-rom2 till Pc Engine. Det är rätt mycket problem att få dem fungera men jag har några på väg, och så kan vi se om han lyckas!

Om ni har önskemål, såsom om vi ska göra någon modd eller något ni tycker vi ska köpa in, så kan ni göra en kommentar eller mejla. Dessa Interface Units som konsolerna sitter i kan exempelvis moddas för RGB men det blir extra 1000 kr (minst).

Mega CD (Sega CD), repair, impressions and gameplay

I got a Mega CD recently.

It didn't work so I took it apart and replaced some components on the power board that looked like they corroded the board. After that it powered up, but there was problems with the tray. It didn't move in and move out smoothly and the CD didn't read.

So I took a look at http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?22027-Sega-CD-systems-repair-thread
Sega CD systems repair thread. It listed a whole bunch of things that could be wrong. But it didn't say what was most common. This is typical of people with less experience who start to replace every possible component.

Suppose your car doesn't start. If you ask some random guy on a forum he might give you 25 reasons that could be wrong, in all kindness. But even I who don't have a car knows that first you should check the battery, then maybe oil, etc, before you start replacing every single component.

People also give long threads about how to move the wheels around and so on. But i know from my experience of calibrating FDS that in 90% of cases, the calibration depends on 2-3 things, and that people who don't know will give you around 20 things they suggest you  should do when in reality the problem is usually careful adjustment of those 2-3 things.

Luckily, I found a thread at digitpress and at the bottom a guy with some experience said he always suggested replacing the drive belt.http://forum.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?159943-Sega-CD-Model-1-Repair&p=1914116&viewfull=1#post1914116 . Thank you "oldskool". I went back to the sega-16 thread and saw some suggestions for replacement belts (with some suspicious suggestions in between), of which I chose to buy a "DVD Drive Tray Motor Rubber Belt for XBox 360 Slim" from eBay for 2.5$ and it arrived in about a week.

Worked perfectly, and the the tray moves smooth and with a strong movement. So that was excellent, and it reads perfectly too.

The one little problem is a studdering in the sound, a dudududu sound that is noticeable in some games such as Night Trap. It might actually be that the console makes this sound by default because it seems to be an early model without grounding. I tried replacing a bunch of capacitors ("caps"), and I tried to ground some things in very rudimentary way with wires, but NO CHANGE what so ever... I decided against spending 20 hours more on this, if it might even be the default behavior. Anyways, it is fully playable and I thought it was good enough to sell.

Now, I am going to make the opposite of the AVGN... Here is his "review". He took some games, said they sucked (although he briefly said Sonic CD is the best Sonic game, and Sol-Feace and Terminator were good game) , and then scream that "the Sega CD FUCKING SUCKS!"

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First of all, I made a review of Night Trap in my last post, so I won't mention that game here again. But I enjoyed it, the way I enjoy many "crappy" games (it might not be for everyone...). In that blog post I also wrote why I like the Mega CD, so do check it out, because I won't write the same here again.

First of all, I want to say that these gameplay videos were recorded with RCA cables and have MUCH worse quality than an RGB cable would have.  

Sol-Feace is a rather generic shooter game. The soundtrack improves the game, I think. A cheap game, around 10$.

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Bari-Arm is a Mega-CD exclusive. I am not a shoot'em up fan in general, so I'll just link to hardcore gaming to explain why this is a must-own game: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bariarm/bariarm.htm


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Sold for 159 SEK (24$, incl 25% VAT). The usual list price is twice that, but this game had the nasties manual I have ever seen. It literally has mold on the pages.

Earnest Evans. It is an Indiana Jones type of game. Not a great game and I wish they would have done a better CD-quality soundtrack, but I think a platforming fan would enjoy it after they learn the controls. (this game is also sold already, for around 15$)
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Prince of Persia. First it required me to free some save game space on the console so I had to try to do that for the first time, but I did it without much difficulty. You see, the console has save game space built in, just like a Sega Saturn.

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No special addition to the original here, it is simply Prince of Persia, if you enjoy that.

Sonic CD - I spent a couple of hours with.
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The higher speed compared to previous Sonic games, more colors, and CD sound shows how to make the most of a 2D sonic game. If you are a Nintendo fan, imagine if someone would have done the same with the Mega Man series. (we didn't need any lame 3D versions of those games, thank you!)

I also played a little of the excellent port of Final Fight. Better than the SNES version in my opinion.
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I tried some other FMV (Full motion video) games, and they were boring, as is well known. However, I think a console should be evaluated by its good games and not by its unplayable stuff.

Well, my Sega CD is already sold (999 SEK, or 150$ incl 25% VAT) but I liked it so I'm going to be buying more of it. The Mega CD 2 is more reliable so I might try that next, although I suspect most Mega CD 1 can be fixed by simple methods.

Night Trap, Mega CD (Sega CD)

I recently got a Mega CD, and after a lot of work with it, I got it to play games. I will write about the the Mega CD some other time. It doesn't work perfectly, as you can hear from the audio below there is some drumming noise. It should have been a wind sound... I am still working on fixing that, if possible.

For this blogpost, I will only be talking about one game I played -- Night Trap (or Nighttrap).

I will just briefly give my impressions of Mega CD (or Sega CD). I have previously written about how I find Mega Drive games to lack in story and sort of feel empty in that way. I also find that the graphics and sound doesn't impress me... So what about the Mega CD? I am impressed! The graphics feels slightly improved (even if it may not technically be), the CD quality music is a big improvement, and the games have nice video intros and cut scenes. This is how the Mega Drive should have been!

The video quality of the Mega CD is of course not up to standard with modern video, but it was released one year after the SNES and one could compare those two. The SNES didn't even have video intros, only sprites moving against a fixed background. Too bad the Mega CD didn't have a better fate. Today it is known as another one of Segas failed consoles... Mostly because Sega quickly released another add-on, the 32X, and after that it became known that they were developing the Saturn interest for the Mega CD died down.

So, now let's review Night Trap.
The story surrounding Night Trap is part of popular culture, at least in the US (for more information, see Wikipedia or the link below). Also public opinion is that the game is really crappy... As so often, I think this is likely an indicator of an interesting game, and I hope that you will agree with me. I am at least not alone in thinking that the game is actually a fun "camp" game.

Some argue of its terribleness, and it frequently appears on "Worst Games of All Time" lists. Unfortunately these lists are drawn up by people who have totally missed the charm of the game - the same charm you'll find in Troma flicks like The Toxic Avenger. Night Trap is camp, it's silly, it's low budget, and it's pretty dire at times, but it seems to know it and turns itself into a strange send up the slasher genre. It's all a bit of good fun. -- http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/nighttrap/nighttrap.htm

I agree. And the more I can copy and paste from other sources, the less I have to write myself.

The game has a nice intro that isn't shown in my videos. One reason is because if you watch the video, the time goes so you won't be able to trap the bad guys.Here is some one else's video, English version. (the Japanese version speaks Japanese and that's another reason why there isn't any point to show it)

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It is quite enjoyable to play the game, and the game has several interesting concepts that I haven't found in other games. One is that you are playing a movie, but if you decide to watch the plot you won't be able to catch the "bad guys".  Let me quote again:

The basic concept is you watch footage of a low budget horror film and are required to press a button at certain times to save the characters as they are being attacked. If you do this correctly, footage of them escaping will be shown and the film will continue, giving the impression that you have had some control of the movie. What makes Night Trap more clever than today's DVD games or the FMV titles that followed it, is that you also have to tear yourself away from the movie, which isn't too hard, to check over locations in the film where the main action currently isn't. At certain times, these locations show footage of invading monsters, and require you to press a button at the right time to capture these too. Failure to do so will result in a Game Over. -- http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/nighttrap/nighttrap.htm

The main problem may be that to get the best ending you need to catch all the bad guys... As well as avoiding the many pitfalls that results in an immediate game over! This is almost impossible without following a guide.

Also a bummer is that the best ending is Sheila telling you that no one has ever been perfect and walks away. The less good ending is Sheila telling you that you could do better and walks away... Come on! A game deserves a decent ending, even more if it is supposed to be a movie-game.

I played the game in Japanese of course and I couldn't understand any of the plot. From what I've read, the acting is so bad, it might not be a loss to play it in Japanese!
But I wanted to see if it was playable in Japanese and I think there is no great difficulty because you have to follow the guide anyways. I had a few problems that I will describe how to fix:

Problem 1. How to play
When you see an intruder, wait for the meter to reach red. Then press B to spring the trap.

The C button changes color code. This brings us to problem 2.

Problem 2. Color codes
The color code always starts with Blue. After a while it will change to another randomly chosen color. I recommend following the gamefaq guides if you want a chance of getting the time for change. In the Japanese version, they will speak the codes in Japanese. Please see video part 1 below at around 08:12, where she says "Aka", and at 12:50 where he literally says "Code change" and "Orange".

Orange is called "Orange" ( オレンジ ), blue is called Aoi ( アオイ ), green is Midori ( ミドリ ). Red is Aka ( アカ ). And so on... There aren't that many colors, so one can guess and if the code gives error then try another. Or pay attention to what they say...

At the end of part 1 the code changed again and i didn't hear to what. I think they said the color after I stopped watching, after 14:16 in-game time (20:35 in the video). I tried and failed two colors, and had I not got it when I did a main character would have died and I would have gotten game over. But luckily I got it right with Green. 

Problem 3. Trapping the right people and not trapping the wrong people.
This is trial and error even in the English version, if you don't have a guide. So, follow the guide is my recommendation.

Problem 4. The game ends around 13:00
That seems to be if one doesn't catch enough bad guys. I didn't see this described in the gamefaqs, but it happened to me.


Here are two videos of me playing through the game. As mentioned, there is some sound problem but other than that it played fine.

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I got to the ending alright as you can see below, it is one of the "good" endings. Then climax scene starts around 11:40 in the video. After the ending credits, I used a trick to see an easter egg (Press Up, then A five times).

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Guides. 
 They have some different stuff in them, so look at both, and print them out so you can follow them as you are playing.
* http://www.gamefaqs.com/segacd/920185-night-trap/faqs/45159
* http://www.gamefaqs.com/segacd/920185-night-trap/faqs/53217

Moonwalker, Mega Drive: Thriller Dance

I recently uploaded a video of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, as you may have seen. From that video I clicked on a related video by AVGN, although I had seen it before. His video is actually a reason I make my own because he always make games look worse than they are and that bring down their value.

He shortly mentions something that I missed earlier, about how "some versions of the game" has the Thriller dance. Hmm, so I looked it up on the internet forums (and gamefaqs), and it says that there is a "Rev 0" that has the Thriller music which for copyright reasons was removed from later versions.

A forum post says that the two versions are exactly identical otherwise, and their boxes, carts and manual are also identical.

I suspect that one could open up the cart and see a difference on the chip, but the problem is that Japanese carts have a label on the backside that you have to remove to get to the screws.

The forum says you have to play up to a point where there are zombies, and then execute the Dance Attack (hold the A button for a while) to see what music will play.

I actually have two copies of the game because no one ever bought them.
It is usually just a problem for me as a seller when a Japanese game is rare and expensive, while the PAL version is more common.

It took around 15 minutes to reach the zombies and I did it for both games. This is the video for the second time. I have improved playing the game, and didn't die, LOL. Although I almost died once, when I got stuck behind a boss...

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Anyways, both games have the same music: The Thriller music. Supposedly, if you have a later cart, you will only hear the "just another part of me" music.

The webforum says that on later zombie stages you will hear a different part of Thriller being played. But I don't enjoy the game that much that I want to play that long.

After doing this,however, I noticed that if you just start the game and let the intro demo play for 3 minutes, you should hear the music too!
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Rolling Thunder 2, Mega Drive

Last Friday I had a Mega Drive Friday.

I spent most time with this game, Rolling Thunder 2.
5 hours Friday, and then 5 hours Saturday.

The Japanese version is entire in English, which is nice for me. It has a story mode where you are two agents who have to save the world like James Bond, but you can play as either man or woman. They are equal in every way. I think the girl is nicer to look at, but she has this odd sound when she gets hit. If you have a friend you could also play the game 2-player co-op boy and girl, which I read is fun.

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The game is basically a platformer game with slightly special controls and some strategy elements. One feature is that when you run into an enemy, you will flash as if hit, but you don't actually take any damage. Use this as a strategic advantage, for example you  can jump into an enemy in a pit.

What I like about games is when there is some strategic element and not just plain run-and-shoot shooter or run-and-jump platformer. You have to think about how to best beat the enemies, without wasting bullets or time. You can also go into doors to hide from enemies at times.

Some people find it annoying that you can't jump and shoot at the same time, but I think a gamer will get used to it quickly. It is part of the gameplay and I think it makes it more interesting to try a different style of playing. It also adds to the feeling of realism.

With the three button MD1 controller it is difficult to do things like jump straigh up or simply duck, at least for me. I still wanted to play the game with a real controller and not with my HORI mega controller, so after a while I changed from the MD1 to a 6 button MD2 controller that works better than the MD1 controller. One thing I like about the MD2 controller is that it feels soft to press the buttons but it isn't flimsy. MD controllers also don't seem to wear down the way famicom or SNES controllers do.

The game is hard in places but it is never unfair.  Sometimes there are deaths you can't avoid the first time, but anyone who appreciates the classic platformers like Contra, Mega Man, or Ghost n Goblins (or I could mention Shinobi for once, since this is on MD) should be happy playing. You always make progress, there is continues on each stage, and there is ammunition here and there . Even when you run out of ammunition you will fire one slow bullet at the time and that is enough to last you a little while. 

What took the longest was the boss on level 8 that I played for 2 hours or so until I found how it could be beaten in 10 seconds. Level 9 and 10 took around 45 minutes each. Then the last level 11 took 3 hours because the final boss has a complicated pattern where I died every time (beam goes like this: 1. up, 2. up, 3. down, 4. up, 5. up, 6. down, 7. up, 8. down, and then no 9 is the same as no 1 and it loops from there). To look at my papers I had to pause all the time.

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It may not look hard but that's because I had learnt where all the enemies are so I could shoot them before they had a chance to hit me.
As you see, I discovered a secret door before the last boss. There are other secret doors around the stages. You have to press Up everywhere to find them.

When you beat the game, you will be told you have to play again to beat the boss once and for all. You then start again with a password for hard mode. I am not going to do that now, so technically maybe I didn't beat the game fully. You do see the staff roll, and the ending says like "you won, but he will be back unless you play hard mode". It isn't as in Ghost n Goblins where it says "you have to play all over again to win". I'll consider the game beaten but not 100% beaten.

I think it is a lovely game. You play in different stages, such as Egypt, on a street, and inside a giant laboratory. It is nice with a game that feels as if it is for adults, playing like James Bond rather than a cartoon with an oversized head. The music is very nice and the graphics is pleasant to look at. It is fast paced and has appropriate sound effects. I recommend it and I think it has good replay value.

More information:
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Thunder_2
* http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/rollingthunder/rollingthunder.htm
* http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rolling-thunder-2-review/1900-6184778/

If you enjoy the difficulty, the gameplay, the strategy element, and the 2-player coop mode, you might want to check out Ninja Crusaders that I wrote about a while ago.

Assault Suit Leynos (Target Earth) on Mega Drive

No one ever bought this, even after I lowered the price many times, so I assume it would be an interesting game. Most people only buy familiar games.

Shop link: here

And yes, it is an interesting game.
For me, who don't like scrolling shooters or generic platformers, I enjoyed it at first. It also has a real story mode unlike most MD games I've played so far. But boy, is it HARD. I made to the fourth stage but it gets crazy there.

The worst part of the difficulty is: randomness. Random enemies appear! I beat the second stage the first time I tried it. But three hours later, I die. If the game throws all the hard enemies at you, it will be very difficult. There are two continues and then game over so if I have trouble on stage 2 it feels like it would take a very long time to beat all 8 levels. I know there are 8 because the manual says so.

It can be a bit hard to understand gameplay too, especially in Japanese, but I did manage to figure that out!
On level 1, there will be a huge spaceship you have to blow up. You can use your clusterbomb and hit it 4 times or so, that will take it down quickly. To get bonus weapons, you should get a high score. On level 1 you can get a useful rocket and a tank will give you armor. The armor increases the life by four bars.

On stage 2, you should go to the right. There will be an escape ship there, and if you wait for a while your friends will jump into it first, and when you feel ready you can jump in too.

On stage 3, gamefaqs says you should destroy the enemy space ship but I didn't do that. After flying around for a couple of minutes, the door opens to your own spaceship. Then I wait until around 10 seconds left and get it.

I didn't make it too far into stage 4, and if you look at the end of my gameplay video you will see why.

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I think I should just have moved forward instead of going back.
In stage 2 I do sometimes stand still or move back. This is because you refill health automatically with time. Doesn't work on stage 4...

The game has eight stages, and the problem is that even after making it to stage four, I still have problems getting past stage 2 because of the randomness factor. As can be seen in the video I almost died already around 04:40. So I give up.

Some good reviews as usually on gamefaqs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/genesis/586520-target-earth/reviews. Reviewer Sandcrab says he beats it consistently so it must be possible. The other reviewers didn't make it past level 3.

Another opinion:

It's such a remarkably difficult game that it's hard to really enjoy it without turning on the invincibility code, which was added to the North American release. (Just hit Start on controller 2 during play.) -- http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/assaultsuits/assaultsuits.htm

Hmmm... I agree that it is hard to enjoy. Right now I feel like a sad failure.

Though I should say that a gamer who enjoys this kind of Contra-game probably wouldn't mind playing until he beat it. I'm sure it can be beaten consistently for someone who has the patience and time.  It isn't impossible and the game isn't unfair. It could be compared to Contra, possibly, but with more enemies coming at you. If you want to give your kid one game only and make sure he doesn't beat it in a day, this could be a good choice (maybe sadistical though). The invincibility cheat in the US version would also ensure you could beat it when you wanted to.

Well, it was a nice experience and nice to play a game that feels original. The controls are a bit stiff, but in a mecha game this is to be expected. As the gamefaqs reviewers said, the game isn't broken or bad, just frustratingly difficult. Funny thing is, the game has two modes that are even harder than the default Normal called Hard and Hyper.

Here is some further interesting reading:
* http://segascrutiny.blogspot.se/2011/01/what-is-this-crap-robocops-ugly-brother.html. (all Sega blogs are black apparently)
* http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/encyclopedia-bombastica-target-earth/2300-6714/

Rambo III and two platforming games on Sega Mega Drive

I have written about my annoyance with the Mega Drive controller, so I am happy when I recently got this HORI Mega Commander.

It has a real D-pad and doesn't wobble on the directions. The first game I played was Rambo III.

My problem with the Mega Drive is that  I don't like scrolling shooters, beat'em ups and generic platforming games. Unfortunately, there isn't that much else on the Mega Drive. Therefore, I don't really feel for the Mega Drive. That's just how it is. I still try to make videos of its games, but it is easier to make videos about games I enjoy.

Rambo III is a game in top-down perspective. It only has six stages, unlimited continues, and isn't really hard. I beat it in a few hours. I still had fun, but it felt leightweight.

Here is stage 5 and stage 6. The video is uncut, so I did beat stage 6 on the first try. _

First MD game beaten! Fun, but felt like it didn't have much depth. Many things could have been improved, but I don't feel one needs to be pointed out too much in such as short game. Even Famicom games have more depth.

Some reviewers criticise games like these saying "once you've beaten it, you won't be playing it again". I disagree with that. When I when a kid I played Kung Fu Master on my Game Boy a lot, and I played it again and again, trying to beat it without getting hit, or getting as high score as possible. It gave me a certain satisfaction, and it is the same reason I still pick up Super Mario Kart or Street Fighter II Turbo and try to beat it when I feel down.

After Rambo III I tried some platforming games.

I gave Moonwalker another chance, and I do appreciate the coolness of a Michael Jackson game, but the gameplay is just lacking. When I was around 10-12, Michael Jackson was my idol, and I loved the cool commercial for the game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMiK42nqfPk). I probably would have loved the game. I never got to play it, but it still has a nostalgic feeling for me, even if I got tired of it soon this time.

I didn't know if there were any other songs than Moonwalker in it so I played a little longer and made this video.
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Then I played Doraemon (it probably has a subtitle, but I won't bother), a fun Doraemon game. I think the main disadvantage of Doraemon games is that the games were made for a younger audience, but it always amazes me with the dedication Westeners have for their Disney games while they disregard the Japanese manga games as "childish".

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At the end of stage 1 there is a mini game. I think you have to guess what move the owl is making. I did some trial and error and made it on my second try somehow.

This is incidentally the third Doraemon video I upload in a week. I uploaded Doraemon 3 for N64 and Doraemon 4 for SFC. Doraemon 4 was a decent platformer, but I didn't understand the N64 game. However, a customer once told me he beat the first and second Doraemon game on N64, so I think they are playable.

Well, that was some Mega Drive games. I have some more coming up, a 2-player game too I think.

Phelios and Curse on Mega Drive

My previous Mega Drive experience as blogged about wasn't succesful but I have many more games that I can try out. I have to give the Mega Drive the respect it probably deserves, it was popular after all. In Japan it never got more than a few percent market share (far behind Super Famicom and Pc Engine), but in the US it almost had 50% market share. Not sure about Europe.

Last week I made a second, serious attempt. I first plugged in my RGB cable, to get a decent picture, both for the playing experience and for the video quality. I started up Curse, a shooter that seemed decent and not too difficult.

The first problem soon appeared. My controller didn't work properly. I googled around and cleaning Mega Drive controllers seems to be one of the things every Mega Drive player needs to learn. Alright, I cleaned every single part of the controller and tried again. Now all the buttons worked well, but it still seemed like it had a will of its own. I tried a couple more controllers and cleaned them, with the same result. I have to conclude that Mega Drive controllers are more sensitive than other controllers I play with (Super Famicom, Famicom, Game Boy, and Saturn). Strangely, I seem to be the only one who has this problem. Could be that my hands have gotten so used to the other controllers.

The problem is that when I press up, the controllers often moves left-up. When I press down, it often moves left-down or right-down. Annoying, but hopefully I can get used to it and adjust.

As long as I don't have to move around much I could play Curse decently. If you get upgrades in Curse, the game seems easy. However, when you die and lose the upgrades, the game becomes impossible. I have read this being referred to as the Gradius-style.

However, in Gradius the level design is very well thought out. Every enemy and upgrade is there on purpose. It is like a harmonious symphony.

In Curse enemies and projectiles are simply thrown at you. Others may like it but to me the game feels uninspired. Below is a video I recorded with some gameplay from the first few stages. They are simple enough. My objective was to try and beat the game, but if you die on stage four like I did, you might as well reset.I tried a couple of times and made it a bit further each time before I died and practically had to restart.  I restarted at around 12:30, played all the way there again, and continued the recording.


The second game is Phelios. Another shooter game. I have tried it out before just to test it and I sort of knew what to expect. With this game, things went better. I also switched to a six button controller I found. It did work a little bit better but it still felt flimsy and the character didn't move the way I wanted it to at all times. Hopefully, I'll get used it.

It reminds me a little of Dragon Spirit, which i have played on the Pc Engine. I also played it on Famicom ( you can see my comparison video here ). I actually prefer Phelios to Dragon Spirit. In Dragon Spirit, you move slower and the stages are very long. In Phelios, the stages are short and not too hard.

But this is another game with limited continues. If you have followed my blog, you may know that I don't like games with limited continues. Games with limited continues often rely on cheap tricks to kill you the first times you play an area, and they become a test of your patience more than of your skill.
This is a video of my second attempt. I had learnt the early stages by now, but had particular problem when all the horses attacked from behind (around 15 minutes into the video).


I don't think it's a particularly sophisticated game. The enemies are often just there to be shot down like a firing range, and you almost always start with the Option and two Speed Upgrades. They could have just given you that without upgrades. The game itself isn't too bad however.  I wouldn't mind playing this more if I had to.

If you are a Mega Drive fan and you are thinking "what is wrong with this guy?", don't worry. I guess it will just take some time for me to get used to this console. I will try out more games soon. Have put aside Rambo III, Crack Down and Strider Hirou.

A retro meeting yesterday

Yesterday I visited my friend and a very good costumer "stopXwhispering" who writes ambitiously at http://retro-video-gaming.com/. A much more popular blog than mine so your likely to know about it I suppose.
Meeting people isn't something I generally do much of but I couldn't miss this chance to see so many of my old games again. I was also always curious in the 2-player aspect of retro games which would be an excellent opportunity. I think around 25 people showed up in stopXwhispering's fine retro room with many consoles and TVs hooked up.

stopXwhispering is a very good collector because she collects to play games, and it is nice to see people enjoying our games. It is much harder to please the museum collectors who seem to collect items as dust collectors and prefer their manuals to be unread, etc. Not that I care why people buy games, of course, but I do care about making customers satisfied.

She had though out a competition of some games and the best total score would get a price. I think that on purpose they picked games that are not common PAL games people might have played before.

I didn't do to well myself. I ended up in the middle of the field. It was only thanks to a somewhat strong performace in the game Tetris (BPS), which I actually have played a little before.
In Tetris (BPS), you turn the block by pressing Down which takes a couple of minutes to get used to. Somehow I must have learnt the skill from all of my testing of the game. It may still be unfair for those who don't know that to get a high score in Tetris you have to get many four-rows or three-rows. I didn't know myself until recently actually. But I am not much of a gamer.


We also played Hector '87, also known as Starship Hector. The key to get a high score was probably be to watch others play to learn where the enemies are. A decent shoot'em up game, from the "middle" generation of 8-bit shooters in my opinion. I consider first generation shooters to be Xevious, Twinbee and Argus. With the middle shooters you have more enemies on the screen, better music, and just more intensity.

We also played Musha on the Mega Drive and Ninja Spirit on Pc Engine. It seemed that some people were a lot more experienced than others in playing these games, or maybe they were just better gamers. Anyways, I didn't last long. Ninja Spirit is an expensive and sought after game, I could have played it when I had it, but I never really saw the appeal... I can't think of any "run and kill" game that I have played for more than 5 minutes.

Then, a music quiz that didn't go to well for me either. I think one reason is because I wanted to do it alone and another reason that I never really got into NES as a kid. I don't know the hair color of Metroid or the names of bosses in Mega Man. Anyways, the quiz was well drafted, I think. God, in general I find quizes annoying, but a quiz while drinking beer at least makes for one fun. 

There was also a Halo moment I refused to take part in so I got disqualified.

In the semi final, the best people played Vs. Collection. I remember I had this fun and uncommon for sale at 25$ for at least six months (in great condition) before stopXwhispering bought it. I think many people don't have good taste in games since they passed out on this fun game.
It was fun for me to see it in action with 4 players.
They also played Super Bomberman. The bomberman games are always fun with 2-4 players (or more in some version!). But I think some of the later bomberman titles got confusing, and that the simpler bomberman the better it is.
I set up Bomberman '93 for pc engine to try out multiplayer and it proved popular. Games for 2 or more players are probably good to have for gamer meetings. It would also increase interaction between people that don't know each other. I read that was one major reason why Pong was so popular in bars in the early 70's.
I did find a person to play Salamander (Life Force) co-op with, but that game is too aggrevating for most first time players. I did make it to the first stage boss for the first time so I will call it a success. My co-op player was game over much earlier though.

In the final match, the two best players played Fatman on mega drive. I once tried to sell this game very cheap but no one ever wanted it. I auctioned it away in a lot last week. It is in the middle.


These 9 games sold for 161 SEK.

Fatman is obviously a crappy game but it was fun to watch and fun for the finalists to play, a "camp" game if there is one.
I sometimes compare the artistical side of games to movies. Some people like movies and are called movie buffs. These movie buffs like to think that they are watching some artistical creation that tells us some deep secret about life, when in reality they are watching some pretentious run of the mill production that lives in its own reality and tells us lies that are disconnected from reality (such as "follow your dreams", "the bad guy always get shot and dies" or "one day a prince will come and take you to live happily ever after").
Video games are no worse or better, from an artistical point of view. A game like fatman is like watching a camp movie, I think. I just happen to like video games better than movies.

I almost forgot to say it was a very nice evening, and thank you very much to hostess Stopxwhispering.

Mega Drive games look too good

I feel like an idiot (again) because I bought a bunch of Mega Drive games that I thought looked cool, without checking what they were. It turns out that they are pretty bad.


Super Hydlide  Mazin Saga Bahamut Senki

Fighting Masters

With some other games that aren't worth anyting, such as Street Fighter II and Eternal Champions... Calculating the loss now...