Emulation Vs. The Real McCoy

When I speak to others about collecting old consoles and games, I often get asked, "Why not use an emulator instead?"  Certainly, emulators with software both legal and not-so-legal is more convenient and easily accessible than scouring eBay, thrift stores and garage sales for 30-year old games.  But I still prefer it over downloading a bunch of files and hooking up a gamepad to my PC.   Hopefully you can understand why by the end of this post.

If you want to play a particular game right this very moment, you can't beat emulation.   Head over to whatever unsavory section of the internet you happen to frequent and get yourself the game(s) you have a hankering to enjoy.   Maybe a few minutes of setup; a few little tweaks here and an option or two there and you're playing, on your computer with either a keyboard or a control pad hooked into your USB port.  Or, if you're strictly legit, modern consoles like the Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 offer classics for download at a nominal price per game.

Conversely, cartridges, discs or other media for those games you used to play may not be so easily accessible - especially for the more rare titles.  But when it's yours, it's really yours.  You can hold it in your hand, feel it, smell it, or sleep with it if that's your sick desire.  Most importantly, you can sell it.  Indeed many a collector will buy a title for the potential profit rather than enjoyment.  But discounting profit for the purposes of this article, many video game enthusiasts such as myself feel that everything from the label on the front to the PCB in plastic is part of the experience and digital downloads is nothing more than "smoke and mirrors" disguised as classic gaming.

Not Iron Mike.

Let's move on and assume that once you get past the tangible aspect of this debate, at the end of the day you're pretty much playing the same game.  Right?  Not always.  Emulation, as far as it has advanced, is still not always perfect.  Making your computer pretend to be a completely different computer is not an easy feat, as simple as it looks when you see the final result on your monitor.  Glitches present themselves either due to a bad ROM dump or bugs in the emulation software.  Legal emulation for consoles (either through retail package game collections or digital downloads) fare better but may be altered for various reasons, often legal (e.g. Tecmo Bowl without the licensed players or having to play Punch-Out! with Mr. Dream instead of Mike Tyson).

Emulators, however, still have their place.   Emulations preserves gaming history that may otherwise be lost to time as hardware gets older and begins failing.  Many gamers do also appreciate the ability of emulators to save your progress with older games that were long on difficulty but still expected completion in one sitting.  Emulation is also helpful for the purposes of this blog for obtaining screenshots without having to rewire my consoles.  Finally, special mention must be given to MAME (the Multi Arcade Machine Emulator) for bringing home, almost quite literally, the arcade classics where collecting multiple arcade boards or cabinets would otherwise be impossible.  Of course, it plays best with real arcade controls in a cabinet - but that's a topic for another post.

However, at the end of the day, I'd rather be holding an original controller hooked up to real hardware to play  the old favorites.   But until I'm able to collect whatever "holy grail" I am looking for at any given moment, I'm happy to have emulation to fill the void in the meantime.

Continue reading ...

A Tale of Two Zappers

No Nintendo Entertainment System would be complete without its trusty light-gun, the "Zapper".  And while emulation marches on and the Wii is giving us perfect replicas of our 8-bit favorites for downloading, there's been very little success in replicating the functionality of this venerable light gun.  Go ahead.  Try playing Duck Hunt on one of those "Flash game" websites or something similar with your Wiimote.  It's not the same.  No loud click or disoriented screen flash.  It just you... pointing and clicking at something.  Maybe similar enough to satisfy some people. To me - no where near as fun.

The Zapper wasn't the first home light gun, but it was the first one that was iconic.  To this day, everyone still pictures two things where they hear Zapper:  that little futuristic pistol and the snickering dog from Duck Hunt.

The Zapper originally matched the color-scheme of the the NES Control Deck: a nice two-tone grey with orange trigger.  It never looked anything close to menacing but sometime along its lifespan, it had to play by the federal regulations placed on toy guns.  That's why those tardy to Nintendo's party got to sport the unattractive orange pistol.  It matched the control deck quite poorly - as in "not at all".  It was so bright, people can see you playing Gumshoe from six blocks away.  Ugly, ugly thing.

I thought I was being petty with this blinding weapon of mass pixel destruction.  But I was not alone.  I whipped out a copy of Bill Barker's Trick Shooting.  My girlfriend remarked that my orange monstrosity I was pointing at my TV was not "the real Zapper".  I was secretly proud.  I tried using the gray one, but it seems to be nonfunctional.  I put it on eBay without actually knowing it was broken.  Thank goodness it didn't sell.

Our Zappers may look awesome to nostalgia freaks and anyone hanging out around Hogan's Alley, but our toys looked like laughable pieces of nonsense compared to what our friends in Japan got to use:

They don't mess around.  If you're going up against some crazy shooter in Wild Gunman, you don't want to look like a fool with your silly outer space stun gun.  

Sadly, technology is not being kind to our favorite little light gun.  Good luck playing with modern LCD or Plasma displays; you're canine companion will die from excessive fits of giggling considering all the ducks you'll be missing.   Keep that in mind before you throw away your old tube television.   You don't want to play to shooting stages of Bayou Billy with a control pad, now do you?

Continue reading ...

Impossible Mission

Elvin Atombender - an evil genius - is on the loose.  He's sequester himself inside his high-tech stronghold and you, as an acrobatic secret agent, must find a way in.  It won't be easy.  Elvin locked himself in a lair that can only be accessed by finding and assembling puzzle pieces he's hidden in his furniture.  Further complicating the mission, Elvin's maniacal robots are ready to dispatch you if you walk anywhere near them.  And thus begins another six hours of fun with one of the Commodore 64's finest offerings: Impossible Mission.

Epyx box-art was always awesome.

When you start the game, you find yourself standing in an unassuming elevator shaft while being greeted by a sinister voice welcoming you to "stay awhile - STAY FOREVER".  It's time to get to work.  Heading to the first room, you catapult yourself over a hole where the lift would normally rest.  Just clearing it, you find yourself at the business end of a robot's laser.  Dust yourself off and try again, knowing that ten minutes has just been deducted from your time limit.  Too many deaths and Elvin wins.  Best be careful.

You, missing the toilet.

You finally exit the room, with a couple of puzzle pieces in your hand.  You open up your pocket computer and try to make sense of it.  You rotate it, flip it and recolor it - no use.  You need to keep searching.  Time to move onto another room.  You find yourself facing robots that are "jacked up to eleven" and will not let you move a single inch without frying you into sizzling bits of pixels.  Good thing you found a password to put the robots to sleep.  You walk over to a terminal, use the password and now you can search without fear of being zapped... for a short time anyway.

After searching all the rooms, you realize you have enough pieces to get the letters needed to open Elvin's door.  You rush right over and stop him.  Crisis averted.   That is until you restart the game and you suddenly realize the game re-arranged all the rooms, puzzle piece locations and robot behaviors.   You realize victory may not be so assured this time before sighing and heading into the first room again.

Enjoy this screen.  You won't see it very often.

Epyx's Impossible Mission was one of the games that turned the Commodore 64 from a "computer that can play games" to a "computer that can play phenomenal games".  It really pushed the limits of the simple computer with fluid sprite animation and voice synthesis (falling into holes is especially fun) that only serves to enhance the brilliant game play.  And while many C64 have aged poorly rather quickly, this is one of the few titles that still holds up today.

Impossible Mission was eventually ported to other computers and newer consoles such as the Sega Master System.  But in a successful attempt to make the title literal, Atari released a version for their 7800 that was unwinnable due to a bug that hid puzzle pieces behind computer terminals.   Doesn't matter, you should stick with the Commodore 64 version anyway. 

Continue reading ...

Wiz 'N' Liz

The Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive if you're reading this across the pond) has a library full of excellent games, many of which are "must-haves" for any owner of the console.  But you can only play so many action platformers, side-scrolling beat-em ups, adventurous outings and never-ending waves of sports games before you crave some variety.  Maybe you need to try something a little different, albeit fun and addicting.  Allow me to humbly suggest a game sadly overlooked by many a Genesis owner: Wiz 'N' Liz.

The game starts by explaining that all the "wabbits" (as the game calls them) have gone missing due to a magic spell gone awry.  Using either "Wiz" (a wizard) or "Liz" (a witch), your job is to enter each of eight different levels to collect these wabbits.   While you're gathering up these frisky bunnies, you'll be collecting the items they release.  First, they produce letters in a "spell" (some nonsensical word), all of which you must collect before they start releasing fruit.  Collecting enough will give you that fruit for mixing into a spell between levels.  From there the wabbits will move onto releasing stars (used for currency between levels - assuming you open the shop) and clock-icons (for replenishing your time between rounds).  Once you gather up all the wabbits, you jump in the door and start the next round.  Yes, I know it sounds complicated but, trust me, it all becomes routine before you know it.

Sega was really working their system's "blast processing" power with this title.  Wiz and Liz both move blazingly fast and fluidly.  You can fly up, down and across platforms without any hiccups.  And that's a good thing because your time limit is strict (as a matter of fact, it's the game's only "enemy" besides the shoehorned-in boss battles).  Collecting those above-mentioned clock icons the wabbits release are the primary way to replenish your time - and even then it won't take effect until you get to the door.  If you're running low on time, one wabbit will release a special orb that'll give you an extra 30 seconds.   But you have to be nimble to catch it before it floats away.   Running out of time costs you a life.   You will learn soon enough to conserve every second by any means possible.

Spell "Woofy" and then you can start having some real fun!

Once you get back to you house between levels, you have the opportunity to mix the fruits you found for some extra game magic.  Some combinations will give you bonuses or open up shops.  Others may turn the wabbits into a different color or something equally fun but useless.  One combination even gives you an immediate "game over" screen, only for it to be replaced with a "just kidding" message shortly thereafter.   It's fun to mix and match the fruit to see what surprises come up in the game.  It's a nice little diversion before getting back to the frantic action of wabbit-collecting.

Reading the description and looking at the screenshots, you may be thinking that this is a silly, non-violent game is geared towards children.  While it's true the game's "Apprentice" level eases younger and non-experienced players into this surreal game, choosing the game's default difficulty level will test your gaming reflexes.  You'll have to make quick decisions constantly.   Should you stop and grab the bonus items or do you just mow down all the rabbits to conserve time?  Should you mix the fruit now or gather more and hope for a more lucrative combination?   It looks simple and repetitive, but you'll be figuring new ways to play better and get further each time you fire it up.

Get to mixing those fruit to change the game up.

If you find yourself face-to-face with a copy of Wiz 'N' Liz, I highly recommend you pick it up.  It's a nice change of pace from the usual Sega Genesis fare and will provide some quick, goofy - and challenging - fun.

Continue reading ...

Club Nintendo Reward - Super Mario Characters Figurine

After a day spent registering all my Wii games and taking dozens upon dozens of surveys, I had reached "Elite Status" on Club Nintendo and was awarded a handsome looking figurine featuring the Mushroom Kingdom's most famous residents. This past Friday, it finally came.

When I opened the cardboard shipping box, I was greeted with the familiar yellow "Question Mark" box that I always wanted to have it some shape or form.  I know it's a bit weird to be fixated on the box before even pulling out the contents therein, but it was really nicely done.   This is one box that's not getting thrown away.

I opened the mystery box to check out the figurine.  After carefully opening it, I pulled out the plastic protector and feasted my eyes on the spoils of my excessive survey-taking.

One thing I had noticed was that this was made from plastic and rubber, and not the porcelain or something equally breakable I originally envisioned.  Some people might have been disappointed by that, but not me.  I'm not big into anything breakable.    I like to know that if it falls, it won't shatter into a thousand pieces.

Overall, a nice reward.  Now I just have to get cracking on more surveys for next year's reward.

Continue reading ...

The "Oddball Two's" of the NES

Quickly, name one long-running video-game franchise that originated on the Nintendo Entertainment System.  Easy, right?  I bet you can name three.  Perhaps you said Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Castlevania.  Those are great examples.  Each one of those series spanned multiple consoles and had graphical and gameplay styles that defined their respective genres.  Maybe you're reminiscing about the games in each series, deciding which one is your favorite.  As you're doing that, maybe you're wondering to yourself, "why was the second entry in each of these series so very different when compared to the others?"  Yeah, why?

The "Oddball": Super Mario Bros. 2

Most gamers link the Nintendo Entertainment System with Super Mario Bros., the way diners link salt and pepper.  If you played on an NES, you probably played this game at least a few hundreds of dozen times.  The game was highly regarded and well-loved by players and critics alike.  So when Nintendo hinted at a sequel, anticipation and excitement was at a ridiculous high.

When it came out, everyone loved it.  But a lot changed from the venerable Super Mario Bros. [1] we've been playing all this time.  No princess to save?  No Bowser, Koopas or Goombas?  You have to pick vegetables and throw them at your enemies?   It didn't matter at the time as it was (and still is) a great game and an essential for any respectable NES library.  Looking back, though, it's hard not to notice that "2" veered off the path and then back onto it again with the release of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.   Why is Super Mario Bros. 2 such a "different" game?

Not SMB2.  Not Mario.

That's because it was a "different" game - in a literal sense of the word.  There was a proper sequel in Japan, that Nintendo of America did not like.  It was little more than an "expansion pack" of sorts, and a frustratingly difficult one at that.  Instead of making a completely new Super Mario Bros. sequel, they just set their eyes on a little Famicom Disk System game in Japan called Doki Doki Panic.   A few little changes to match the Mario-universe and viola!  You've got yourself a hit sequel.

The "Oddball": Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

Despite its challenging gameplay, most classic gamers remember playing and enjoying the original Castlevania for the NES.  Konami managed to make a game about classic movie monsters entertaining.  Many of the series' staples are still in place today: the whip, hearts replenishing the sub weapons, various meat products hidden in the castle walls.  But when it was time to make a sequel to the original, Konami decided to try something a little different.

Nintendo Power scares
your children.

Whereas the first game (and the third and "super" fourth) utilized a system of progressive self-contained levels one must complete to get to the end, Simon's Quest turned the formula into an adventure game with RPG elements where players must explore, gather items and talk to townspeople during a rotating day/night cycle.  Hearts were no longer ammo, but currency.  You had to purchase weapons and whip upgrades.  Furthermore, you had to kill about five hundred monsters to gather the experience points to fight tougher enemies.  What many games probably remember the most about Simon's Quest though, were the terribly obtuse puzzles you needed to solve in order to progress.  If you say you were able to summon the tornado to proceed to the next castle without consulting Nintendo Power for help, there's a good chance you are lying.

Despite the criticisms, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is still a solid game (especially now that we have an internet to guide us through it).   And it's interesting to note that while immediate sequels to Simon's Quest went back to the simpler gameplay of the original, later games in the series (such as the excellent Symphony of the Night) incorporated RPG elements back into them with greater success (and less "kneeling with crystals").

The "Oddball": Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

The Legend of Zelda, a highly-regarded game to this day, is remembered for it's successful blending of action, adventure, exploration and puzzle-solving.  Zelda II: The Adventure of Link upped the action, added a healthy dose of RPG "ability-upgrading" and, if we're going to nitpick, changed the naming convention used for 99% of all "Zelda" titles (i.e. the word "Legend" is not used; a roman numeral is).

Instead of the top-down view we grew accustomed to, we were given a side-view of the action.   While it lent itself nicely to deeper sword-play, it was still a jarring change for those looking for the more serene adventuring found in the first game.  And for the first and only time, Link was given multiple lives - a convention usually found only in action-oriented games.   Comparing it to the rest of Zelda series (even the later 3-D ones), it's hard to imagine this wasn't just some other game quickly reprogrammed with new sprites like in the case of Super Mario Bros. 2.

Hey there's Zelda.  I won!  Oh, wait.
This is where you start the game...

Still, Zelda II is a fine game.  Yes, it's slightly more challenging and requires slightly less thinking but this is by no means a bad entry.  And in case you haven't noticed the pattern in this post, the subsequent The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past returned the series to its top-down roots, which would be retained until the series successfully went 3-D in later years.

Overall, it's not hard to imagine what was going on with these "Oddball Two's".  Game companies were trying something different.  It's easy enough to point out inconsistencies with these titles and playfully mock them.  But maybe it's better than sequels that add nothing but minor changes, cosmetic improvements and, maybe, a new hat and call it a fresh experience while charging full price.

Continue reading ...

(Re)Starting the Collection

I have very few regrets in life. Selling the video games I had throughout my life is one of them. Admittedly, it's a trivial regret. Nonetheless, taking a nice collection and putting it up on eBay or selling it off to a local reseller is something I wish I hadn't done.

So what did I have and why did I sell it? Let us investigate chronologically by console age and see what I may have been thinking at the time.

COLECOVISION
The first system I owned and my introduction to video games in general, the Colecovision was a graphical dream-come-true when compared to its rivals (the Atari VCS and Intellivision). I had about a good 20-30 games for it (controller inserts intact) as well as Expansion Modules 1 (the VCS clone) and 2 (the steering wheel for TURBO).

This console lasted a long time in my collection. I only sold it because I needed the closet space and figured that emulation (both console and MAME for the superior arcade versions of Colecovision's ports) would have me covered.

COMMODORE 64
This one survived! I've been meaning to sell it but shipping would be a pain with its heavy, fragile disk drive and monitor. Glad I still have it around.

NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
This one hurts. By the time the system left the public consciousness in favor of the new 16-bit behemoths, I had approximately fifty boxed games (not all "complete-in-box" - i.e. manuals, inserts, but at least the box).

One evening, I finished playing THE ADVENTURES OF BAYOU BILLY, a game so difficult it literally blew up my Nintendo. Okay, not really. There was some sort of electrical surge and the power supply was fried shortly after I turned everything off. I figured this was a sign that it was time to move on to newer, sexier systems and sold my collection to various buyers for a few bucks each.

If only I could have waiting for eBay to be invented, would have gotten more money for my offerings.

SEGA GENESIS/SEGA CD
I had the Model 1 Genesis, with the "High Definition Graphics" writing on top (considered superior over later Model 1 revisions) and the Model 1 Sega CD with the mechanical drawer. Kept games in their case (which was easier since these plastic clamshells cases were made for keeping the cartridges safe). Not an extensive collection by any means, I sold it for some quick spending money.

I did manage to hang onto a promo music-video collection for the Sega CD that was actually signed by one of the bands featured on it (Too Much Joy).

SUPER NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
Nothing spectacular here (my collection, that is), I had a decent collection of games (saved some boxes too) that was sold around the same time as the Genesis/Sega CD combination.

It's worth noting that it was around the time of the SNES and Sega Genesis (and CD) that I had been getting sloppy with my games (e.g. throwing them in drawers, broken cases, etc.) I wasn't a collector back then, just a guy who liked video games. So in hindsight, it probably deserved a better home as I was a neglectful owner back then.

SONY PLAYSTATION
Still have it and most of the games I bought (a few were sold during its lifecycle). Was going to sell it at one point until I realized that playing these games on a PS2 was good unless you wanted to fire up one of the many incompatible titles.

NINTENDO 64
Sold the console with the Expansion Pak, four controllers and a handful of games to a friend for some quick beer money. He sold it back to me with additional games years later. It's like a faithful dog that you drop off in the park and finds its way home again.

DREAMCAST
Sold this a couple of years back with some great games, four controllers and a couple of VMU's. Again, thinking emulation had me covered (and the recently launched Gametap), I figured someone would appreciate it more. But every now and again I want to fire up Crazy Taxi and I curse the day I introduced Sega's little dream machine to the cold, grabbing hands on eBay.

SONY PLAYSTATION 2
Still have it, will not sell it. Just too many great titles for it that I still thoroughly enjoy.

NINTENDO GAMECUBE
Sold the console itself and one controller but kept the bulk of the games and controllers for it (including a couple of Zelda collections) for play on the Wii. I may pick another Gamecube up just for convenience if I find it on the cheap.

XBOX
Okay, this one is weird. I bought it, enjoyed it. Then I put a mod-chip in it to play emulators and homebrew. Realized it wasn't as great as I had anticipated (good - but not "great"), I removed the mod and reformatted the hard drive. Figuring I didn't play it much and I could just play my games on the Xbox 360 (that I still haven't gotten around to buying), I sold the console with a couple of games I didn't care for.

I'll definitely pick another one up soon. They're pretty inexpensive and I still have choice games for it (including MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 2 and PANZER DRAGOON ORTA).

My current collection as of 11/12/10.

And that brings us to today. I've been bitten by the game collecting bug and I no longer put games up on eBay unless they are duplicates or I can get something better in return. Not only that, I'm looking to right the "wrongs" of my past. So far, I bought a used NES with a few boxed games. My friend who sold me back the N64 I sold him, also threw in a later revision of the Model-1 Genesis that suits my fine (for now). I'm scouring yard sales, thrift stores and online to get back what I once had with the side money I get from selling old (non-gaming) junk on eBay or various computer jobs. I'm in no position to drop an entire paycheck on a hefty collection, but an occasional ten dollars here and twenty dollars there has done me well so far.

But now the real question: Why am I doing this? Why not just use an emulator? Why not focus on the latest consoles? I'll leave those topics for future posts.

Continue reading ...