Maybe some of you can recommend good Genesis (better yet, Sega CD…) games for me to try out. I’m looking for fun platform games, but maybe ones that stand out for either having great graphics, memorable music, unusual gameplay, whatever. Recently I’ve been addicted to Puggsy CD, now I hope there’s another puzzle platformer out there that can top it :). I’ve tried ones like Ristar, Tinhead, Socket…can’t really get into any of them sadly.

Also has anyone tried the Retron 5? Is it worth the investment?

for Genesis try Vector Man 1 and 2 also if you want a great original contra type shooter you can’t go wrong w/ Gunstar Heroes. as far as Sega CD the only one that really stood out in my mind as being original is soul star but that’s closer to a shooter than a platformer. Back in the day Silpheed was cool too but when comparing it to even VB graphics I think you may be disapointed. it too is a shooter.

I never had a Genesis “back in the day”, so I don’t have a ton of experience, but a friend rented one that I’ve always wanted to put more time into: B.O.B.

I’m not sure if it’s a puzzle-platformer, per se, but it has some puzzle elements.

Rocket Knight Adventures is a pretty fun platformer, I picked it up when I got my Sega Nomad, it’s actually pretty fun.

I completely forgot about The Lost Vikings! Probably because I prefer the SNES version, and its sequel, which skipped the Genesis/MD and went to the Saturn, instead (so they could replace the beautiful pixel-art with hideous pre-rendered CGI and add okay-but-not-great voice acting).

Great guys, thanks! I’ll try all those games out. I actually got a PS2 Genesis collection with the Vectorman games and I’m looking forward to trying them.

I never had a Genesis either, I got a good deal on a JVC X’eye recently and was surprised by how fun these Sega games were :-p. Sometimes I’ll raid a local store for their $4 carts and try to find some forgotten game that’s actually really good. If I wasn’t bamboozled by Nintendo Power propaganda back in the 90s, I might have given all these games a shot earlier.

Also, Runnerpack-that’s funny about Lost Vikings, I was going to ask if it was a good one haha. It seems cool, but I read a review saying one thing about it (maybe challenge?) Was too much…

The only thing The Lost Vikings has too much of is fun! 😀

Okay, that was pretty cheesy… but trust me: if you like puzzle-platformers, it’s hard to do better than TLV (and especially its sequel). The challenge is definitely there in the later levels, but it has a very nice difficulty curve to get you there.

I hope your X’Eye came with a pad, though (or that you have some kind of 6-button pad). It’s pretty much necessary for the Genesis version (but even then, the controls aren’t nearly as intuitive as the SNES ones).

Actually, the controller is the main reason I never liked the Genesis (although the crappy video and sound didn’t help any :-P). I do own a Mk. III, but it’s not hooked up, and I have no games to speak of.

Well my first X’Eye came without anything, just a 5v power adapter (to quote Dana Carvey on SNL, “WROOONG!!”). So I tracked down a proper adapter and the turbo 6-button official controller. I have to say, Sega made a killer D-pad.

Did they make TLV on Sega CD? I’ll look up reviews of each version and get whichever seems better. Haven’t played my SNES in months, since my VB controller mod failed to work right heh. But I will definitely play it, I regret not buying it at my last game store trip. Wasn’t TLV the last game made for the SNES?

I actually found a better deal on a 2nd X’eye that was modded for S-video output via a newly installed CXA1645 chip (or whatever the better chip on Genesis boards was). I plan to open it up and give my first one the full treatment once I see exactly how they did the mod. If I have trouble, I’m gonna email this guy who I bother with my tech problems sometimes 😉

]
RunnerPack wrote:
The only thing The Lost Vikings has too much of is fun! 😀

Okay, that was pretty cheesy… but trust me: if you like puzzle-platformers, it’s hard to do better than TLV (and especially its sequel). The challenge is definitely there in the later levels, but it has a very nice difficulty curve to get you there.

I hope your X’Eye came with a pad, though (or that you have some kind of 6-button pad). It’s pretty much necessary for the Genesis version (but even then, the controls aren’t nearly as intuitive as the SNES ones).

Actually, the controller is the main reason I never liked the Genesis (although the crappy video and sound didn’t help any :-P). I do own a Mk. III, but it’s not hooked up, and I have no games to speak of.[/quote]

[RunnerPack]

HP Lovethrash wrote:
Well my first X’Eye came without anything, just a 5v power adapter (to quote Dana Carvey on SNL, “WROOONG!!”). So I tracked down a proper adapter and the turbo 6-button official controller. I have to say, Sega made a killer D-pad.

My experience is limited to the Genesis 3-button, the Game Gear, and the Dreamcast, plus a few minutes of “Nights” on the Saturn “3D Controller” in Toys’r’us many moons ago, but I’ve never truly enjoyed using a Sega controller. The d-pads are always stiff and imprecise. The buttons are mushy and poorly laid out. I just don’t care for the lot. The only things I like (about the Genesis ones, anyway) are the use of standard d-sub connectors, and their devotion to proper backward-compatibility.

Did they make TLV on Sega CD?

AFAIK, no. If anything, they would have released LV2 (specifically “Norse by Norsewest: The Vikings Return”) on SegaCD, since it was much larger for reasons I’ve mentioned, but they seem to have skipped straight to the Saturn for that one.

Another Blizzard game I would recommend based on the SNES version is “Blackthorne” (mechanics similar to the original “Prince of Persia” and “Oddworld” games, and great graphics), but it seems to be 32X-only in the Sega world.

I’ll look up reviews of each version and get whichever seems better. Haven’t played my SNES in months, since my VB controller mod failed to work right heh. But I will definitely play it, I regret not buying it at my last game store trip. Wasn’t TLV the last game made for the SNES?

The consensus online seems to be that it was 1998’s “Frogger” (in the U.S.).

I actually found a better deal on a 2nd X’eye that was modded for S-video output via a newly installed CXA1645 chip (or whatever the better chip on Genesis boards was). I plan to open it up and give my first one the full treatment once I see exactly how they did the mod.

The chips (or at least Chinese clones thereof) are only $3 shipped on eBay, and it seems like a pretty straightforward mod. Here’s some info about using one on a Genesis III that should help, if you can’t find anything x’eye-specific (I found reference to a detailed build thread on nfggames.com, but not the thread itself).

If I have trouble, I’m gonna email this guy who I bother with my tech problems sometimes 😉

I’m sure that guy isn’t bothered at all by your emails 😉

• This reply was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by RunnerPack.

RunnerPack wrote:

HP Lovethrash wrote:
Well my first X’Eye came without anything, just a 5v power adapter (to quote Dana Carvey on SNL, “WROOONG!!”). So I tracked down a proper adapter and the turbo 6-button official controller. I have to say, Sega made a killer D-pad.

My experience is limited to the Genesis 3-button, the Game Gear, and the Dreamcast, plus a few minutes of “Nights” on the Saturn “3D Controller” in Toys’r’us many moons ago, but I’ve never truly enjoyed using a Sega controller. The d-pads are always stiff and imprecise. The buttons are mushy and poorly laid out. I just don’t care for the lot. The only things I like (about the Genesis ones, anyway) are the use of standard d-sub connectors, and their devotion to proper backward-compatibility.

—The Dreamcast controllers looks bad, and feels odd to hold, but it plays smoothly. My Genesis 6 button has a great D-pad, I wonder if someone just broke it in really well? My Saturn (version 1?) controller has the softest feeling D-pad ever! You could blow on it and the pad would activate. Sometimes it’s annoying to have such a hair trigger feel, but it saves on thumb fatigue (or it would if I ever played Saturn haha).

Did they make TLV on Sega CD?

AFAIK, no. If anything, they would have released LV2 (specifically “Norse by Norsewest: The Vikings Return”) on SegaCD, since it was much larger for reasons I’ve mentioned, but they seem to have skipped straight to the Saturn for that one.

Another Blizzard game I would recommend based on the SNES version is “Blackthorne” (mechanics similar to the original “Prince of Persia” and “Oddworld” games, and great graphics), but it seems to be 32X-only in the Sega world.

—Ahh yes, I didn’t realize they made a sequel but the Saturn one does look really fun too. I just saw that Blackthorne game in my friend’s collection the other day, it looks fun but seems to be rather pricey…it may have to wait until I buy Fishbone first.

I’ll look up reviews of each version and get whichever seems better. Haven’t played my SNES in months, since my VB controller mod failed to work right heh. But I will definitely play it, I regret not buying it at my last game store trip. Wasn’t TLV the last game made for the SNES?

The consensus online seems to be that it was 1998’s “Frogger” (in the U.S.).

I actually found a better deal on a 2nd X’eye that was modded for S-video output via a newly installed CXA1645 chip (or whatever the better chip on Genesis boards was). I plan to open it up and give my first one the full treatment once I see exactly how they did the mod.

The chips (or at least Chinese clones thereof) are only $3 shipped on eBay, and it seems like a pretty straightforward mod. Here’s some info about using one on a Genesis III that should help, if you can’t find anything x’eye-specific (I found reference to a detailed build thread on nfggames.com, but not the thread itself).

—funny, I think I know what reference you’re talking about. I was annoyed when that person didn’t post a link -.- …either way, I think that GamesSX one is what I used. I think my problem is that the S video cable I repurposed from some old VGA to S adapter has only 3 wires inside- I multimeter’d all of them and see that 2 are for luma/chroma, and the last one goes to the grounding around the S video plug. However, it doesn’t seem that the bottom 2 pins (which I thought were Y/C grounds) have a wire inside the cable O_o. Maybe that explains it.

Evidently the X’eye’s PCB is set up to do S-video, it just has empty pads that you need to solder the jack to. Then you cut a hole in the case for the plug to rest in (which is already scored, so you know exactly where to do it)

If I have trouble, I’m gonna email this guy who I bother with my tech problems sometimes 😉

I’m sure that guy isn’t bothered at all by your emails 😉

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive:
-Sonic the Hedgehog (any title)
-Vectorman 1&2
-Ren and Stimpy: Stimpy’s Invention
-X-Men 1&2
-Space Harrier II
-Afterburner II
-Altered Beast
-Comix Zone
-Castlevania: Bloodlines
-Shining (series)
-Phantasy Star (any title)
-Rocket Knight Adventures
-TMNT: Hyperstone Heist
-Splatterhouse 2&3
-Shinobi (any title)
-Columns
-Spider-Man (any title)
-Earthworm Jim 1&2
-Boogerman
-Streets of Rage (series)
-Eternal Champions
-Echo the Dolphin
-Mickey Mouse Castle/World of Illusions
-Quackshot Starring Donald Duck
-Taz-Mania

Sega CD:
-Sonic CD
-The Terminator
-Rise of The Dragon
-Snatcher
-NBA Jam
-Mortal Kombat
-Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-arm
-Lunar: Eternal Blue
-Dragon’s Lair
-Final Fight CD

As for the Retron 5, don’t waster your time on that or really any Reproduction console. They’re all cheaply made pieces of junk. Spend the extra money and buy the real deal.

As for the Retron 5, don’t waster your time on that or really any Reproduction console. They’re all cheaply made pieces of junk. Spend the extra money and buy the real deal.

While I agree in general with that statement, I think in the next few years, the state of Genesis emulation will be such that cycle-accurate (or near-cycle-accurate) FPGA implementations will be realized.

Re: the Retron5… well, from what I understand, it doesn’t actually READ the cartridge in real time, but compares the cart checksum to an internal database. That seems a bit dishonest to me- you are essentially paying for a form-factor without the ability to archive your (legal) ROM collection.

Retrode has a similar principle, but that has no delusions in being a 5-in-one hardware console.

In addition, most of the code that Hyperkin used for the emu cores was used illegaly: http://www.libretro.com/index.php/retroarch-license-violations/

cr1901 wrote:
Re: the Retron5… well, from what I understand, it doesn’t actually READ the cartridge in real time, but compares the cart checksum to an internal database.
…
Retrode has a similar principle, but that has no delusions in being a 5-in-one hardware console.

I’m fairly certain the Retrode actually reads the ROM and reads/writes the SRAM in the carts, presenting them as files in an emulated mass storage device. In fact, someone made an adapter for the Genesis slot to read/write VB carts.

Anyway, my two cents about the Retro5 (and its ilk) is that, you might as well keep your carts sealed/stored/displayed/whatever, and use emulation, which is a lot cheaper (essentially free). No matter what any license agreement or copyright law says, there’s nothing morally wrong with playing a game you own without using the actual cartridge it came in.

Emulators can even make your HD LED TV look like a crunchy, old NTSC (Never The Same Color ;-)) CRT, for that authentic nostalgia experience (except you don’t have to take the ROM file out and blow on it a few times ;-))

Part of what bothers me re: using emulation as a hardware replacement (i.e. Hardware with a CPU/OS kernel solely dedicated to console emulation) is that consumers WILL most probably stumble upon behavior that’s not consistent with the real hardware. That breaks the immersion and authenticity of the experience of the consoles being brought back from the dead.

The only emulator I’m aware of so far that can justifiably advertise itself as cycle-accurate is higan (the SNES portion specifically). In short, I wish there wasn’t a market for these types of products until more consoles are emulated to the cycle-accurate level.

cr1901 wrote:
Part of what bothers me re: using emulation as a hardware replacement (i.e. Hardware with a CPU/OS kernel solely dedicated to console emulation) is that consumers WILL most probably stumble upon behavior that’s not consistent with the real hardware. That breaks the immersion and authenticity of the experience of the consoles being brought back from the dead.

The only emulator I’m aware of so far that can justifiably advertise itself as cycle-accurate is higan (the SNES portion specifically). In short, I wish there wasn’t a market for these types of products until more consoles are emulated to the cycle-accurate level.

I guess it’s the pragmatist in me, but cycle-/pixel-/whatever-accuracy has never even been on my list when looking for an emulator. The way I see it, the point is to play games. If you can play the game that the original authors of the game envisioned, and do 99+% of the stuff they put in said game, that’s as accurate as it needs to be.

If you’re noticing that the colors are off by half a shade, or the background layer scrolls one pixel too far to the right in the 3rd level, are you actually having fun playing the game?

In some cases, the designers ran up against the limitations of the hardware (see: NES sprites-per-line limit). Thanks to emulation, some of those limitations can be lifted, and you can actually get closer to the game they envisioned, by being less accurate (and probably enjoy the game more, besides).

That’s not to say that perfect preservation isn’t a lofty goal, it’s just not all that important when it comes right down to it (especially if the information required to achieve that accuracy is available for reference by future generations).

I felt bad for my Saturn just sitting there, unplayed, so I splurged on a copy of Norse By Norsewest (the Lost Vikings sequel). It’s really good so far, definitely has some challenging levels and interesting graphics. I mentioned the game to my friends and we all thought the same thing, we remembered ads in GamePro or other magazines but none of us had ever played it before :). I’ll track down the first one soon…