The Retro Gaming Thread

[Spark Of Spirit]

How about a thread for old school systems and games? Different from nostalgia or favorite games, how about we talk about company wars, advertisements, video game shows (there were a few!), overlooked games and companies, new rereleases of classic games, and yeah I guess your favorite moments from the olden days. I figure this way we can avoid clutter in other threads, and keep the talk on old stuff centered in its own thread outside of series threads.

What would I consider retro? Well, the way most used to define retro systems were always systems from over two gens before the current one. So right now that would be everything up to the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox until next year when they will be made retro by the upcoming systems. PC games from the same eras would also be considered the same.

As I said in the other thread, I recently turned my focus in hobbies to one of my favorite things; retro gaming. I've started to turn one of my hobbies into a goal recently, in that I eventually want to find and collect old games that I love and enjoy into a personal collection of my own. Most of it will be centered between the NES and the N64 generations, but I will also be looking into portables as well.

So post about your favorite old school games, systems, or memories if you want, here.


To start off this thread on a theme close to home on this board; Did you know there's actually a pretty good game based on the Flintstones? Another game I eventually want to add to my collection, this game is sort of a mix between an old school platformer action game and a board game, and is actually a unique little game.

[Avaitor]

Oh damn, that looks cool. I need to find that now, haha.

[Foggle]

Not much knowledge of retro games here, aside from a ton of classic PC titles, since I never owned or even touched a console (aside from a 2600... once) until the N64. Oh, the days of downloading shareware on dial-up...

There are some really goddamn excellent computer games from the 90's, guys. I'll post about my favorites once I have a good bit of time to do so.

[Commode]

I'm pretty big on the old school games myself, and I have quite a few games for systems like the NES and SNES, although many of the games I have are games that I've had since I was a kid.  I do need to brush up on the Sega though, as I only have like a dozen Genesis games, a few Game Gear games, and that Dreamcast that I still haven't bought but have been meaning to for quite some time.

I'm especially a collector of the Game Boy line and it's games, and have hundreds of GB/GBC/GBA carts.  It just seems easier to collect these than NES or SNES carts, since there aren't very many rare games as compared to those two, and many used video game stores I've been to usually sell them for pretty decent prices(unlike certain SNES carts that can go for 30, 50, or even upwards of 100 dollars).  As far as the actual systems go, I have the original grey Game Boy, a Play It Loud! Red Game Boy, two Game Boy Pockets, a GBC, several Game Boy Advances, an SP, and a Micro.  I've always wanted to get one of those Japan-only Game Boy Lights off of Ebay, but I've never been able to come to terms with myself spending that much money on an old Game Boy.

[gunswordfist]

I'm recommending Sweet Home again. It's the precursor to Resident Evil, it has my favorite world in any RPG (well house, but yeah) since its so fun going through it trying to get past the traps and figure out the puzzles and its my absolute favorite 8-bit RPG. I also think the graphics aged perfectly. Please play this game. The fan translation is easy to find.

[Commode]

Hey Desen, you're a Mega Man nut, how do you like the GB Mega Man titles?  I picked up Mega Man 1 and 2 for the GB today, but 2 is the Japanese version(I also picked up a Japanese Tetris cart.  Nothing terribly special, but still cool).

I also got Wario Land 2 after seeing you praise it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Did you get the GBC (black cart) Wario Land 2 or the normal GB one? There isn't any difference other than colour, I'm just curious.

I'm pretty mixed on the GB Mega Man games. Most of them are either too hard or too easy, but the last one (V) is a wholly original game and is well worth seeking out. Of course, it's the rarest one.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Oh yeah, Outrun is on sale this week on XBLA, if you have it, for $5. The game's getting removed by the end of the year so this could be your last chance to try it out. Just thought I'd mention it.

[Commode]

I got the black cartridge of WL2.  I wonder if one version is more rare than the other.  Either way, I'll probably keep a loose eye out for the grey WL2 cart(kind of like Link's Awakening; I've got both the original grey GB cart and the black DX GBC cart).

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

Swap Meets are a gold mine for retro games. The last time I went, I found a couple of still-shrinkwrapped PSX games, and the new shining star of my collection, the japanese release of Rival Schools with the school life simulator.

I saw somebody selling Super Mario Land 2 and Metroid II multiple times, but they have them priced at 25 dollars and they refuse to budge on that price. Pisses me off because I'd love to have them in my collection. I also found a Cruisan' USA still MIB, bought it for 12 bucks and giving it to my brother since he loves that series.

The one I wish I didn't pass up was the japanese Mario Kart with the Rumble Pak bundle I saw at a pawn shop. I didn't bother asking for a price, I just assumed its the same game I could've bought at Toys R Us or GameStop at the time. I think I also saw Earthbound at another swap meet once, but passed on it  because it didn't hold my interest. Kinda wish I had it just to say I have it.

[Commode]

Found a copy of Looney Tunes B-Ball for the SNES(think NBA Jam, but with LT characters), so it's time to bust out my Super NES.  Loved this game in my younger years, but haven't played it in quite some time.  I also got my own physical copy of Super Metroid(I previously had the VC version, but I wanted to have the actual cart), and Minish Cap for the GBA.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Adventure Island is a cute little series. It's extremely simple (more than even Mario) and more often than not, you simply can't put the games down. It's such a shame Hudson is basically dead now, the series was seemingly having a small comeback with the Wii release.

[Commode]

You said we can post old commercials in this thread, right? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FnXlcpG0LQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLByG2JqLJ8

Because these two promoting Super Mario Kart* are amongst my absolute favorites, partly because they both show up during my (physical)copy of It's a Wonderful Tiny Toon Christmas Special(taped off of the Fox station in the Bay Area on it's original air date, December 6th 1992), and since I watch this tape nearly every year, I see these two commercials nearly every year as well.

There's also a Power Glove commercial in the broadcast(strange, wasn't 1992 a bit late for the Power Glove?), but I don't remember it as fondly to find it on YouTube.

*Note the use of Super Mario World music instead of SMK in the Domino's ad.

[Commode]

http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/16511/

hahahaha, oh lord, I had one of these stupid things, one of my grandparents sent it to us as a gift.  I used to play the Tetris clone and the race car game a lot, then Pokemon came out and killed my interest in it forever.  I wonder what ever happened to that thing?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Sega and Nintendo's 16-bit era commercials were the best. So exciting and fast paced. I'm not sure what happened to game commercials to make them less fun and more dumb, but I really do enjoy them more.

Also, Sonic CD is out tomorrow on XBLA for $5/400 points. It's an absolute steal.