Low Spec, High Fun
hi there,
Just been reading through nick thorpe’s little article on Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge and couldn’t help but pick up the phrase, “Some people baulk at the idea of enjoying games on lesser platforms.” a real interesting talking point as i often get stick for this type of thing; often using the conversion rather than the original or playing a nes version of a Snes game.
anyway, thanks to the boy ‘thorpey’ for bringing it up and it may be an interesting article for future issues were you can look at conversions or ports offering much more than the original, for whatever; playability, skill of the programmer or any other reason. i’ll get the ball rolling with Bomb Jack on the ZX Spectrum being much more fun than the arcade original, a game i can say i’ve played lots of as i have a Bomb Jack arcade machine in my house.
Cheers lads, keep up the great work with the magazine. dave mcnally
you’re not the only reader we’ve heard from who felt this way, Dave. It could make for an interesting feature, although there’s a little overlap with Pushing the Limits when it comes to things like Bob Pape’s excellent spectrum version of R-type. as for nick, he’s enjoying Fatal Fury 2 on the PC engine rather than the neo-geo, mostly because he’s amazed at just how far the 8-bit hardware could be pushed.
Looking Backward
Just wondering what the retro gamer team’s views are on the Xbox one and Playstation 4’s backwards compatibility?
my views are that this increases the library of games for console formats via platforms like Xbox one and Playstation 4 games, as well as acts as a small stepping stone and goodwill gesture from microsoft and Sony to developers to encourage them to develop sequels for the Xbox one and Playstation 4 of popular franchises.
this also allows the newer generations of gamers to be able to enjoy or try games from a previous generation. this even allows the Xbox one/ps4 to upscale some games, bolstering the experience and enjoyment of classics from previous generations.
i currently am enjoying many new Xbox one and PS4 games and some of these games are upscaled. and with the first-gen Xbox games going to be compatible with Xbox one it just keeps getting better and better – not only for both Sony and microsoft, but for retro gamers who can enjoy classics on the newer generation of gaming systems. Gareth Willmer
right now, we prefer microsoft’s approach to backwards compatibility. although only a limited portion of the Xbox and Xbox 360’s libraries work on Xbox
one, those games that do tend to gain a boost from being on more capable hardware, usually a boost in resolution or framerate. not only that, but the system respects your past purchases.
sony’s system is enormously frustrating. Playstation 3 compatibility via Playstation now is via streaming only, and the selection of Playstation 2 games (which can now be downloaded as well as streamed via Playstation now) is quite limited. worse yet, there’s no way to play the extensive library of original Playstation games available on Playstation network on your Ps4. as if all that wasn’t enough, there’s no support for original discs so you’ve got to rebuy every game if you want it on your current hardware.
IT’S old, not classic
dear rg, i feel like anyone who is really excited about the Playstation Classic probably hasn’t played the Playstation much recently. the 3d games from that era haven’t exactly aged well. Wobbly, warping textures and character models that look like old cereal boxes glued together? no thanks. the games announced so far aren’t that great either. Tekken and Ridge Racer are fine, but Final Fantasy VII was overrated and nobody gives a toss about Jumping Flash! or Wild Arms.
it’s even more expensive than the Snes mini was supposed to be, and will probably triple in price once the scalpers get to it. i look at people rushing to preorder it online and i feel like i’m taking crazy pills.
Brian dinsmore
well, we’re glad you got that off your chest, Brian. we can understand the excitement though. It’s the most popular console to get the plug-and-play treatment so far, by some considerable distance, and we reckon the games actually hold up pretty well, too.