Mario Sports games on Gamecube are great fun!

Recently in the course of searching for games to add to my SteamDeck I’ve discovered four Mario themed sports games on the Nintendo Gamecube which I have to say I’ve never played before and never played when I briefly owned a Gamecube, the four titles are :

Mario Power Tennis

Mario Superstar Baseball

Mario Smash Football

Mario Golf : Toadstool Tour

These have turned out to be a great discovery and a fun addition to my SteamDeck, all four are highly polished titles with the Mario cartoony style you’ve come to know and love and all play perfectly, my two favourites I think would have to be Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Power Tennis but all are highly enjoyable and if you still own a Gamecube or any emulation device capable of playing Gamecube these are well worth seeking out.

Hyper MegaTech Super Pocket Capcom Edition Review

For some time now I’ve owned the excellent Evercade EXP handheld with an extensive selection of cartridges to play on it, however now there is a new and different machine available which will also play them, it’s from a new division of Blaze (the makers of Evercade) called Hyper MegaTech and it’s called the Super Pocket.  Unlike the EXP this is a vertical handheld and comes in two editions - a Capcom Edition (with classic Capcom games built-in) and a Taito Edition (with classic Taito games built-in), being a long-time fan of Capcom I went for this version so here are my thoughts on it.

Whereas the EXP offers the full Evercade experience such as detailed info about each game and a TATE mode allowing supported games to be played vertically the Super Pocket machines offer a simpler, cut-down experience (no TATE mode or detailed game info although this is available in the cartridge manuals) but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the unit boots up quickly and all the cartridges I’ve tried on it work great as do the built-in Capcom titles.

The build quality of the machine is outstanding and feels great to hold with a nice weight to it, the screen is bright and vivid (maybe slightly less so than the EXP) with a very user friendly interface, another nice touch is a dummy yellow cartridge in the cartridge slot which can be inserted when not playing a game to protect the cartridge slot from dust, etc. - a great idea.

Control wise the d-pad, face buttons, Start and Select and back shoulder buttons are all nice and responsive so no complaints here either.

For the price (around £50) the Super Pocket is great value for money and offers a more affordable and pocketable introduction to the world of Evercade before making the leap to the EXP, a really top quality little machine and highly recommended.

Sega Model 2 and Model 3 games are now on Steam Deck and they’re amazing!

The latest update to EmuDeck on SteamDeck has brought support for the Sega Model 2 and Model 3 arcade machines.  I added a few games yesterday (around 10 for each) and I have to say they are absolutely amazing!  Apart from a couple of exceptions they all work perfectly which really surprised me, I never thought I’d be playing the actual arcade version of Sega Rally on a handheld!  They all also have that trademark Sega look, slickness and polish to them and the speed of them is breathtaking, so fast!  There’s a pretty varied selection, racing games (a water-ski racer, a skiing slalom racer and a jet-ski racer are three standout titles), a couple of lightgun games, sports games and beat-em-ups are all available.

I found the roms through the always useful Internet Archive and Retro Game Corps has done an excellent video on YouTube detailing the changes with the latest EmuDeck update including how to install the emulators and add the games.

If you own a SteamDeck these games are absolutely essential!

Apologies…….

Firstly today my apologies for the lack of posts since last June, once again everyday life has got in the way leaving me with little time to think of and work on any new posts, it is my definite intention to do more posts though this coming year so stay tuned!

GameBoy and Virtual Boy Anthology Review

 

The publisher GeeksLine has been responsible for some of the best retrogaming books of recent times with their series of anthologies on a variety of systems including PC Engine, SNES and GameCube.  I have owned the excellent SNES Anthology for some time, their latest title focuses on the GameBoy and VirtualBoy (a standard GameBoy only anthology is also available) so let’s take a look.

Weighing in a hefty 544 pages this is a proper read, and it doesn’t disappoint, as well as the usual section listing every single GameBoy and VirtualBoy title ever released in great detail there are articles about the history of both systems, unreleased titles, accessories and a section showing all the stunning box art for both machines.  They even provide a pair of 3D glasses so the screenshots of the VirtualBoy games can be viewed properly which is pretty cool!

The whole book feels really premium and fans of the GameBoy and VirtualBoy will absolutely love it, now can we have a GameBoy Advance Anthology next please GeeksLine?

Available from https://www.geeksline-publishing.com/

TRJ RATING : 10/10

RetroGamer Presents : The Handheld Gaming Collection Review

 

The monthly magazine, RetroGamer has, for a long time been a title I always look forward to receiving in the post each month.  They’ve also done a series of ‘bookzines’ on a variety of retrogaming subjects, a recent title being ‘The Handheld Gaming Collection’ which is an outstanding and highly recommended read for any gaming handheld fans.

It starts with a section entitled ‘Clash of the Handhelds’ where a section is dedicated to each device, there is some information about each device, an essential game for that system and a rating out of 10 for Battery Life, Ergonomics, Support, Tech, Impact and Screen.  This section really gets the publication off to a great start.

The rest of the title is a series of fascinating articles about all the leading systems including GameBoy, PSP and GameBoy Color to name but a few, there are also some Top 25 countdowns as well, some Hidden Gems articles and some system retrospectives.

It really is an outstanding publication and one you’ll find yourself dipping into time and time again, an essential title.

Available to purchase from https://www.magazinesdirect.com/the-handheld-gaming-collection

TRJ RATING : 10/10

I absolutely LOVE the Steam Deck!

 

For a while now I’ve owned a Steam Deck and I have to say I absolutely love it so thought I’d details the reasons why.  The only thing I would say is that if you’re a newcomer to retrogaming emulation this is not the system for you as it is not an easy device to set up, I had to use two pieces of Windows software on my laptop to do so - Warpinator, which pairs with the corresponding app on the Deck and allows roms to be sent wirelessly and Linux File System for Windows where the ‘Share’ folder on the SD card is recognised as a normal Windows folder allowing for roms to be dragged and dropped in the usual way.

Anyway on with the reasons why this is now my number one emulation device :

- Despite its size the Steam Deck is actually really comfortable to use for long periods, even more so if you add either Satisfye’s excellent StylthGrip or the equally good grip from Skull and Co.  Also it’s not as heavy a device as you might expect either.

- It can be a dual boot system meaning Steam games can remain on the internal storage and retrogaming roms can be stored and accessed separately via the SD card.

- The superb Batocera custom firmware is also available for the Steam Deck which is installed to the SD card and can be booted into separately from SteamOS on the internal storage, it is a highly usable and enjoyable experience with a number of themes available including the gorgeous Artflix theme (pictured below), I just love the carousel of system logos on the home screen and the way the box art is displayed on the game lists, brilliant!

- The emulation performance is flawless right up to and including PS2 and the larger screen means the games look absolutely amazing!

- The build quality of the Deck is outstanding, the trackpads are responsive and the shoulder buttons, d-pad and analogue sticks are perfect!

- Overlays are automatically supplied on Batocera for most systems which means no wasted space on the screen and adds to the experience, these can though be turned off in the Settings.

- It is by far the best device for playing all 60 Game & Watch roms through Mame, again the bigger screen and the responsive controls make for a fantastic experience!

- It truly is a one-stop emulation system for everything, it’s just brilliant!

- Even though setting it up is a challenge it is highly rewarding and satisfying to see your hard work there in front of you and looking so great!

So there you have it, my personal reasons why I absolutely LOVE the Steam Deck, emulation really doesn’t get much better than this! A truly game changing device!