Odin Pro Review - an emulation powerhouse!

 

Well it’s finally in my hands - the Odin Pro, I’ve been excited for this device for a long time as I’d heard great things about the build quality and it’s performance, so does it live up to expectations? Let’s find out……

Build Quality and Ergonomics

The build quality of the Odin Pro is excellent, the whole machine feels really premium and high-end, from the touchscreen to the analogue sticks, face buttons to the shoulder buttons, everything is really responsive.  It is a very ergonomic and comfortable device to hold too thanks to two raised grips on the back of the machine so no complaints from this section!  I also really like the optional blue light around the analogue sticks and side panels, this can be turned off in the Android settings.

Screen

Another high point of the Odin Pro is the screen which is the sharpest, brightest and most colourful I’ve seen on any retro emulation handheld, the ATV Launcher I use (pictured above) and the games really do pop off the screen, very impressive indeed.

Performance

Now we come to the big, important section. how does it perform?  The answer is exceptionally well! The machine has three performance modes - Standard, Performance and High which can be changed quickly and easily via the notifications menu, High Performance mode is definitely recommended for anything above PS1 such as PS2, Dreamcast, Saturn, N64 and PSP although for PS1 and below you should be fine with Standard.  It’s reported that it plays around 50% of PS2 games well and around 75% of Gamecube games well and to date I’ve had zero issues with Dreamcast, Saturn, N64 or PSP, they all run perfectly although with some PSP games a little bit of tinkering is required regarding frameskip for example on the two God of War titles.  The surprise packet for me so far has been the performance of the AetherSX2 PS2 emulator which has surpassed my expectations! The best results are achieved by adding some underclocking in the Settings.  There’s only been one title so far I’ve added which I’ve not been able to play and everything else plays extremely well including titles such as Time Crisis 2 & 3, Gran Turismo 3 & 4 and God of War II, I seriously was not expecting this level of performance on PS2 and just proves what an absolute powerhouse of a machine this is! I did have an issue until yesterday getting the left analogue stick to work with some PS2 titles but thanks to advice from Reddit and Discord I’ve now fixed this.  

Gamecube plays great via the DolphinMMJR emulator although some overlocking is required in the Settings for best results on some titles, a high point for me on this emulator was being able to play F-Zero GX for the first time at full speed and with perfect audio!  I didn’t manage such impressive results though with Wii on the same emulator, most games were quite stuttery, slow or difficult to play due to the Wii’s controls although I did manage to get perfect performance and playability out of Mario Kart Wii (by far the best performing Wii game), Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom All-Stars.  I wasn’t expecting great things from Wii anyway so the fact that any Wii games are playable is a bonus!  

Dreamcast and Saturn titles perform perfectly straight away with no tinkering required and 720p resolution is possible, and these games have never looked better thanks to the Odin’s amazing screen!  

And lastly PSP, the Odin definitely gives the best performance I’ve yet seen playing pretty much every title perfectly right up to 3x resolution with little or no frameskip required in the Settings, although, as previously mentioned the two God of War titles do work best with a frameskip of 1 and 1 or 2x resolution but again, both games perform better on here than I’ve ever seen on any other device.  

As you’d expect any machine below and including PS1 performs flawlessly right out of the box in Standard performance mode with no tweaking required.

Overall the performance and power of this machine is incredible and unrivalled by any other retro emulation handheld in my collection, I am so impressed!

Final Verdict

This is without a doubt the jewel in the crown of my collection, it’s extremely comfortable to use, looks great with responsive controls and exceptional performance, it really is a quite incredible device!  TRJ RATING : 5/5

Best Season 1 Playdate games

 

Well 12 weeks have passed since I got my little Panic Playdate handheld (already reviewed on this blog), and I now have all 24 of the included games released in Season 1 and I’m pleased to report that there are far more excellent games than bad so thought I’d mention some of my personal favourites :

o360

This is a variant of the classic title Breakout and makes good use of the crank handle to control the bat which, unlike the original, moves in a circular fashion, a great and inventive take on a classic.

Snak

Another variant of a classic title, this time it’s Snake, in this title you must guide the snake around collecting apples, a simple game but great for passing away a few minutes.

Spellcorked!

In this game you gather ingredients to concoct spells in order to complete orders and ship them out, it also requires you to tilt the machine slightly in order to pour the blended potion into the bottles which is pretty neat.

Inventory Hero

Fast reflexes are the order of the day in this title, you must decide which items to keep and which to drop as your character moves along in order to defeat the enemies, a great looking and enjoyable game.

Hyper Meteor

The Playdate take on Asteroids, the difference here is you must ram your ship into the black parts of the asteroids in order to destroy them, a lot harder than it sounds and great fun!

OMaze

Use the crank to guide a ball through a series of circles to the exit, it start off easy but soon becomes a challenge as more controls and features are added.

Flipper Lifter

Good use of the crank is again made in this title which sees you moving penguins up and down a lift between floors, yes it is as bizarre as it sounds but it’s so much fun!

Pick Pack Pup

Match the symbols to pack orders and ship them out, the challenge here is matches don’t immediately disappear

Whitewater Wipeout

Very reminiscent of the surfing section of California Games use the crank to perform awesome surfing tricks, it takes a bit of practice and to begin with you’ll wipeout loads of times but with a few plays some stunning tricks are possible.

Crankin’s Time Travel Adventures

Crankin is running late for his date and you must use the crank to get him there as quickly as possible but the crank is also used to rewind in order to dodge flying obstacles.

Zipper

A game in which you must maneavoure your character past the enemies, it sounds easy but a large part of the game is predicting the path the enemies will take and working out where to move accordingly.

So those are my personal favourites, although there are many more top titles for the little device, here’s hoping for a Season 2…….

TRJ Newsdesk : awesome bonus content is coming for the Evercade EXP!

Some of you may have heard of or own, as I do, the Evercade retrogaming handheld, an excellent device which harks back to the days of collecting games on cartridge and proper full colour game manuals with each one. For those who aren’t aware of it, cartridges are available for the device each providing various retro games from different developers including Atari and Namco.

Well now in November comes the Evercade EXP, a new and improved version of the handheld offering a better screen, controls and a ‘Tate’ mode allowing supported games to be played vertically.  I’ve pre-ordered one so a review will be appearing when I’ve received it and given it a good test.

It had been known for sometime that Evercade were going to offer bonus content and yesterday (Fri 2nd Sep) they finally unveiled what it was - 18 classic Capcom games built-in! I’m super excited about this as for me Capcom have made some of the best titles in gaming history, the full list is below : 

1942 (Arcade)

1943 (Arcade)

1944 : The Loop Master (Arcade)

Bionic Commando (Arcade)

Captain Commando (Arcade)

Commando (Arcade)

Final Fight (Arcade)

Forgotten Worlds (Arcade)

Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Arcade)

Legendary Wings (Arcade)

MERCS (Arcade)

Street Fighter 2: Hyper Fighting (Arcade)

Strider (Arcade)

Vulgus (Arcade)

Mega Man (8-bit)

Mega Man 2 (8-bit)

Mega Man X (16-bit)

Breath of Fire (16-bit)

Personally I’m really pleased to see 1944 : The Loop Master and Legendary Wings included as these are two of my favourite arcade shoot-em-ups ever and will be playable as originally intended thanks the EXP’s vertical ‘Tate’ mode.

This should be a very impressive device which I’m very much looking forward to getting my hands on in November, it will also work with all existing Evercade cartridges which is great as I own a few already!

I have some very cool gaming trainers!

And now, as Monty Python used to say, for something completely different - videogame themed trainers! I own two pairs - a Super Mario themed pair made by Puma complete with a neat little NES controller tag and a Nintendo 64 themed pair made by Nike.  Both shoes look fantastic and are super comfortable, especially the Nike shoes with their trademark Air cushioning, you hardly even know you’re wearing them!

I got both my pairs from eBay but they may still be available elsewhere online and are well worth tracking down, I love both of mine!

Resident Evil : Revolutions (3DS) & Circle Pad Pro Review

I’ve never really been a huge fan of the Resident Evil games but I’d read numerous reviews that Resident Evil : Revelations on the 3DS was an excellent game so thought I’d check it out.  I was fortunate enough to also track it down bundled in with the Circle Pad Pro accessory which is supported by the game and other 3DS titles including The Legend of Zelda : Majora’s Mask and gives you a welcome and useful second analogue stick used in this game for looking around your immediate area and for aiming your gun when firing.

Firstly the game, the graphics for which look absolutely stunning and are beyond what I ever thought was possible on a little handheld like the 3DS, every level is so detailed and amazing, they’re a real joy to play.  The two lead characters look fantastic and the facial detail as with the graphics are beyond what you’d expect on the machine.  The game is thoroughly engrossing and am really enjoying it.

The Circle Pad Pro accessory is an excellent addition to the game with slightly different controls to playing it without but this is a good thing as aiming and firing is much easier with the accessory in place and the second analogue stick is invaluable in the game.

This is a terrific game that truly pushes the boundaries of the 3DS and is definitely best played with the Circle Pad Pro accessory.  TRJ RATING : 4.5/5

Why does the original 3DS look and feel more of a premium product than the 3DS XL?

As someone who has the original 3DS and the 3DS XL in their collection I’ve wondered for sometime why the original, smaller 3DS looks and feels more of a premium, high-end product than the 3DS XL? With the 3DS XL coming out after the original 3DS you’d expect the XL to be the more premium product but not so, with it’s shiny metallic finish, superior stylus and general premium feel I have to say I do prefer the original 3DS.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the 3DS XL as well but with it’s plastic casing and inferior stylus it just doesn’t feel as much of a luxury product as the original machine.

I don’t know why this is the case, a 3DS XL with the same superior stylus and metallic finish as the original 3DS would have been great but instead Nintendo went down the more plastic route for the XL which I find strange.

Since acquiring the original 3DS I have to say I have found myself using that a lot more than the 3DS XL.

Both machines are still an excellent choice and additions to your collection whichever you choose.

Top Rank Tennis (GB) Review - the best tennis game on GameBoy!

 

There are a number of tennis games on the Nintendo GameBoy including Nintendo’s own effort but for a long time now Top Rank Tennis has absolutely been my favourite choice on the machine.

In the game you have a choice of playing Singles or Doubles and with each win you move further up the rankings, therefore meaning your matches become more challenging the further you progress.  Serving and hitting are easy to control and graphically the game looks great complete a digitised voice giving you the score after each point!

If you own a GameBoy and are a fan of tennis games this is definitely well worth a look! TRJ RATING : 4.5/5

Supaboy S Review - a cool device but not without it’s faults!

 

I’ve owned this machine for sometime having tracked down a second-hand unit on eBay with a few cartridges so thought it was high time to give my thoughts on it.

The SupaBoy S is basically a handheld, portable SNES using the original cartridges rather than emulation meaning all the games are going to look great.  The machine itself is pretty big but feels comfortable in the hand with good build quality and responsive controls.  A useful feature is a switch on the side of the machine to switch between PAL and NTSC cartridges, handy if you’ve an extensive library of both.

I don’t know if it’s just my machine or a general issue with the SupaBoy S but I did find that you really have to bang the cartridge quite hard into the machine for it to work and even then it’s a bit tempramental, a friend of mine tried Super Mario World on it and after barely two minutes the screen went black and wasn’t able to play any further without resetting.

As you can see from the photo above it is also possible to attach two original SNES controllers for greater flexibility.

Other than the cartridges being a bit problematic this is a good choice for playing SNES games on the go and is worth checking out if you can track one down!

A new retrogaming website is here and it’s brilliant!

 

From the people responsible for the excellent Nintendo Life, PushSquare and Pure XBox websites comes a new and equally excellent retrogaming site called Time Extension and after a few days of browsing am hugely impressed! It’s absolutely packed with content including some great countdowns of the best games on various platforms such as SNES and Megadrive and much more! 

It’s a daily must visit for anyone who’s into their retrogaming, a really superb site! Check it out at timeextension.com

Anbernic RG552 Review - a retrogaming powerhouse!

 

Anbernic are known for making some of the best retro emulation handhelds around and my favourite of them all is the RG552, this can be used with either Android (my preference) or Linux operating systems.

The first thing you notice about this machine is it’s BIG! It still feels good to hold and play however and feels substantial with a good weight to it.  As with most Anbernic machines it’s well put together with good quality face buttons, d-pad and analogue sticks.  By far the best thing about this handheld is the incredible screen, it’s really bright, sharp and vivid - your retro games will really pop!

Supported by the RG552 are all the usual systems you’d expect - SNES, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, PS1 to name but a few but my favourite feature about it is how well the higher end machines (Dreamcast, Saturn, PSP, N64) perform - with a couple of exceptions on the PSP emulator (I’m looking at you God of War) the games look and play perfectly and I’ve now built up a sizeable library of titles on these emulators.

The RG552 is currently my go-to handheld for anything PS1 and above (anything below that I usually play on smaller machines such as my Miyoo Mini) - it’s a total retrogaming powerhouse and will serve my needs very nicely, at least until my Odin Pro arrives which I have a feeling could take the crown, watch this space!

The Panic Playdate - a handheld you probably won’t have heard of with a unique feature!

 

Well I’m pretty sure this is a handheld not too many of you will know about - it’s called the PlayDate and it’s made by a company called Panic who are best known for the excellent adventure game Firewatch.

The machine is unusual in the fact that it employs a crank handle on the side of the machine which, for many games is the main method of control, think of it as Panic’s equivalent to an analogue stick!  It works brilliantly and docks magnetically in the side of the machine when not required.

The screen is good, although the only downside is it isn’t backlit so playing in poor light could be an issue but indoors under good light or outdoors it should be fine.

Included with the machine in what Panic calls ‘Season 1’ are 24 games, these are released at the rate of 2 each week for 12 weeks starting with when you first register and activate the machine.  When two new games are available a light blinks on the top of the machine and there’s also a small notification on the screen.  Installing them is simply a question of accessing the Games menu and downloading and installing, a feature I like is you unwrap each game as if unwrapping a present which is quite fun!  Releasing the games like this is a great idea and gives you two little surprises to look forward to each Monday.  I’m so far three weeks in and out of the six games I’ve received at the time of writing it’s a mixture of great games with a few duds as well, the best two so far are a surfing game called Whitewater Wipeout and a ‘match 3 symbols’ type game called Pick Pack Pup.  From looking at the full list of 24 games it would appear that the best titles are yet to come so stay tuned to this blog for any updates as I unwrap them each week!

An active community is already also developing their own games for the system and these are available either for free or for a very small fee mostly on the itch.io website.  These games are sideloaded quickly and easily onto the system using Panic’s dedicated sideloading website.  So far I’ve installed some excellent titles including Asteroids and a version of Dr. Mario, the fact that such an active community exists for the PlayDate should hopefully ensure a healthy future.

To sum up this is a terrific little machine unlike anything I’ve seen or played before and I love it! OK there have been a couple of duds so far in the Season 1 games but am confident that the majority of the remaining titles will more than make up for it!  A brilliant, innovative and fun little handheld!

Winter Heat (Sega Saturn) Review

 

Ever since I owned a Sega Saturn years ago I’d been a fan of an Athletics themed sports game called Athlete Kings but completely unknown to me until recently (big thanks and shout out to Ollie for the heads up!) there was also a Winter Sports sequel entitled Winter Heat which I’ve just added to my RG552 handheld so thought I’d review it this week.

The game comprises 11 events : Speed Skiing, Ski Jumping, Downhill, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Slalom, Aerial, Bobsleigh, Speed Skating, Snowboard and Cross Country, these can either be played individually or in sequence. So far I’ve found the hardest to be Ski Jumping, Slalom and Aerial - more practice definitely needed! All the events are great fun to play and presented in the familiar Sega arcade style with some great incidental music.

As with Athlete Kings a short instructional video is played before each event explaining the controls and if applicable, the optimal angle, which is useful if you’ve never played the game before or as a reminder.

This is easily as good and as enjoyable as Athlete Kings and is one of the best sports games on the Saturn.  TRJ RATING : 4/5

My personal Top 50 all-time favourite games - Part 2

As promised here is the final part of my Top 50 all-time favourite games, as before these are my personal choices and in no particular order of preference…..

Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

Considered at time of release to be a total game changer in terms of it’s lush and detailed graphics this is still today one of the best games on the SNES, the stages are varied, look amazing and are huge fun to play, the Mine Cart Carnage level being a particular favourite of mine.

F-Zero (SNES)

Utilising Nintendo’s Mode 7 technology this futuristic racer boasts some really fast racing, great tracks, a highly recommended racing game.

Top Rank Tennis (Nintendo Gameboy)

Way better than Nintendo’s own tennis game on the GameBoy this boasts a ranking system which you can progress up as you play offering increased difficulty as you progress, great looking players, catchy music and there’s even a rather disembodied sounding digitised voice reading the score after each point! The best Gameboy tennis game by a long way.

Mario Tennis (Nintendo Gameboy Color)

Another excellent tennis game, this time on the Gameboy Color, offering great graphics, a large choice of characters to play as and fun gameplay and special moves, a really enjoyable tennis game and on the best on the GBC.

Comix Zone (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)

This game is highly unusual for being played out in the style of an interactive comic book, it looks fantastic with a terrific story, great graphics and is really engrossing and addictive, one of the best games on the GBA.

F-Zero Climax (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)

The final handheld F-Zero game to be released this offers improved graphics over the previous two GBA F-Zero games but keeps the same fast racing and great gameplay, I was and still am a huge fan of the F-Zero franchise and would dearly love to see a Switch game one day happen as there’s still a lot of life left in this series.

Kuru Kuru Kururin / Kururin Paradise (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)

On the face of it these two games don’t sound like the most exciting idea for a game ever - guide a rotating stick down a course in the fastest time possible without hitting the sides, however the opposite is true, these two games provide a real and addictive challenge and I’ve found them to be really quite touch but great fun with a high replay value.  The second game, Kururin Paradise was only ever released in Japan so is quite rare in the West but worth tracking down or playing on an emulation handheld.  One of the most innovative and original games on the GBA and I love it!

Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)

Believe it or not this game has passed me by until quite recently when I decided to give it a try on my emulation handhelds and I’m so glad I did.  Basically a sequel to the Gameboy classic, Donkey Kong this offers many levels of increasingly difficult puzzles to solve using the same Mario cartoony style graphics you’ve come to expect, a real gem of a game and one I wish I’d discovered years ago.

Wario Ware : Twisted! (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)

Now quite rare and sought after by collectors this addition to the Wario Ware series is unique in offering a cartridge with a built-in gyroscope meaning all the mini games are played by tilting the GBA left or right which works brilliantly, is great fun and adds a real extra dimension to the game.  Of course, the same Wario humour and addictive mini games are still present.  Well worth tracking down.

Manx TT Superbike (Sega Saturn)

Another terrific arcade port on the Saturn this offers great looking and fast racing based around the Isle of Man TT, as previously mentioned the Saturn boasted some really excellent arcade ports and this is another cracker!

Mini Metro (iOS / Nintendo Switch)

I’ve not included too many iOS games in this list as am unsure if they can truly be considered retro but this is one I just had to include as it’s brilliant! The simple sounding idea is to build underground lines in a variety of cities around the world, at the end of each 24 hour period (shown by a clock in the top right corner) you’re given the option of adding additional locomotives and carriages which you must choose the best line to use on to avoid overcrowding at stations as once just one station becomes overcrowded it’s game over! A really calming zen game to play, also available on the Nintendo Switch.

Athlete Kings (Sega Saturn)

Also known as Decathlete in some countries this is a ‘Track and Field’ style game with a choice of characters and different events to take part in including the 100 meters and long jump.  The graphics are in the typical Sega arcade style and if you’re a fan of a good old ‘button basher’ this is a terrific choice.

Asteroids (Arcade)

An old game but an absolute classic still highly playable today, simply use your ship to fire at and destroy the asteroids, looks great and one of my very favourite arcade games ever, as a sidenote an excellent remastered and modern version is now available for the Switch.

Fire Emblem Fates : Birthright (Nintendo 3DS)

Best described as being a bit like a game of strategic battle chess this is one of the best handheld titles in the Fire Emblem franchise, great graphics, satisfying combat requiring a good level of strategy, truly a game you could lose many hours to.

Wipeout 2048 (Sony PS Vita)

I’ve long enjoyed all the Wipeout games but for me this is definitely my favourite, looks great on the Vita, brilliant tracks and music and, as with all Wipeout games is blisteringly quick! A great addition to any Vita collection.

Persona 5 : Dancing All Night (PS Vita)

I’ve been a fan of rhythm games for a long time and this is one of the best I’ve yet played although it’s quite hard to track down a copy of nowadays, fortunately I won a copy on eBay at a very decent price.  Great presentation, catchy Japanese tunes and a fantastic choice for anyone who, like me, loves their rhythm games!

Pokemon Ultra Sun / Moon (Nintendo 3DS)

I love all the handheld Pokemon games right back to the very oldest titles, and particularly like the titles on the 3DS, they’re all terrific games but for me Ultra Sun and Moon take the crown.  An engrossing title with great graphics and terrific Pokemon battles this is the best Pokemon title on the 3DS.

Racing Destruction Set (Atari 8-bit)

Now this is a real oldie! Like the previously mentioned International Karate in part 1 I’ve happy memories of playing this on my friend’s Atari 800XL way back in the late 1980s, it not only offers racing on pre-designed tracks but also included is a track editor allowing you to construct and race around your own personalised circuits, great fun!

Virtua Cop (Sega Saturn)

When I owned a Saturn I played this game using the included blue lightgun and it was another perfect arcade port and a brilliant experience to play, and, thanks to the wonders of emulation I’m now enjoying all over again on my Anbernic RG552 handheld courtesy of the Saturn emulator, minus the lightgun obviously but still very easy to play using the handheld controls.  Brilliant graphics, satisfying gameplay - one of the best arcade ports on the Saturn.  Virtua Cop 2 on the Dreamcast is also well worth checking out.

Elite Beat Agents (Nintendo DS)

Another excellent game with same great catchy tunes to play along in time to, all accompanied by some Blues Brothers-style characters on screen with some very questionable haircuts! A brilliant handheld rhythm game employing good use of stylus and is great fun!

Mario Bros. (Game & Watch)

One of only three Game and Watch multi-screen machines which opened out like a book, the other two being Lifeboat and Rainshower (both also well worth a look) but for me this is one of the best titles ever released in the G&W series.  Guide your characters on either side of the screen up and down the conveyor belts to catch the packages and load them onto the waiting truck at the top.  It’s easy to begin with but soon speeds and becomes a challenge especially if you select the harder Game B, a brilliant little machine.

Pokemon Pinball (Pokemon Mini)

I was fortunate enough many years ago to purchase the Pokemon Mini, a tiny cartridge based handheld released by Nintendo, only a handful of titles were ever released but this is my favourite, offering Score Attack and Time Attack modes, simply guide your Pokemon into the three slots on the table for either the highest score or the fastest time, a terrific little game to pass away a few minutes.  Pokemon Tetris is also well worth a look on the Pokemon Mini.

For your information I’ve already done a review of the Pokemon Mini elsewhere on this blog you might be interested, it’s a really cracking little machine and a brilliant device to have in my collection!

Wave Race : Blue Storm (Nintendo Gamecube)

I’ve already reviewed Wave Race 64 on the Nintendo 64 and featured it in this list and now we come to the Gamecube title, Blue Storm, offering the same brilliant jet ski racing as it’s N64 predecessor, this has some really terrific courses to race around and looks fantastic, one of the best racers on the Gamecube and a worthy follow up to Wave Race 64.

Russian Subway Dogs (PS Vita)

One of the final new titles to be released on the Vita and reviewed on this blog already, in this game you play a pack of hungry dogs roaming the Moscow subway barking at passengers as they alight from their train to scare them into dropping items of food for you to eat, it starts simple but the flow of passengers soon increases the game becomes quite challenging, with great graphics and music which fits the game perfectly this is a great final Vita title.

Crazy Taxi (Sega Dreamcast)

A classic arcade port which I’m sure will be familiar to many, drive around in your taxi picking up as many passengers in the allotted time and basically drive like a maniac! Looks great, is brilliant  fun and the dialogue and music completes what is a fabulous game!

So there you have it - my highly personal Top 50 favourite all-time games! No doubt you will have your own favourites not in this list which I’d love to hear about in the comments! Hope you’ve enjoyed this two-part list and found it interesting!

My personal Top 50 all-time favourite games - Part 1

Over the years I’ve owned many different computers, consoles and handhelds and played and discovered many great games, a lot of which I’m rediscovering now thanks to the wonders of emulation so thought I would do my Top 50 all-time favourite games.  I should stress that these are my own personal choices (you will no doubt have your own!) and they’re in no particular order so here we go……

Nights into Dreams (Sega Saturn)

I loved my Saturn and am thoroughly enjoying re-discovering many of the titles on my emulation handhelds, it was a great machine with some truly innovative and original games and excellent arcade ports, the first game in this list is a truly beautiful game, the landscapes look fantastic, the music is a perfect match for the game and it’s a lot of fun to play, I’ve done a full review of this game on this blog, I absolutely love this game, very highly recommended.

180 (ZX Spectrum)

I’ve played a few darts games over the years and this unquestionably is still my favourite, with a catchy musical score, fun graphics, humour (the dog cocking it’s leg against the bar) and easy to use aiming this is a winner.

Kirby’s Pinball Land (Nintendo Gameboy)

As with the above entry I’ve played a few pinball games over the years and this is still the one I keep coming back to, there’s lots to do including spelling out various words by hitting different parts of the table.  There are three different tables in all which can be reached with a well-timed use of the flipper, the music is excellent, great graphics and it all makes up for a really fun pinball experience.

Wario Ware Inc. (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)

This was the first Wario Ware game I ever played and was instantly hooked, simple but addictive mini-games which got progressively harder and faster, great Wario graphics and music, this is still one of the best in the franchise.

Stunt Race FX (SNES)

One of the few games to utilise Nintendo’s Super FX chip and it shows, this is a terrific cartoony racing game with a style all it’s own, there are different difficulty levels and tracks to race around and time bonuses can also be earned.  This is one of the best racing games on the SNES and in fact any console and it enormous fun!

Sega Rally Championship (Sega Saturn)

As I’ve already mentioned the Saturn was home to some excellent ports of Sega’s arcade titles, the first in this list is Sega Rally Championship a terrific port from the arcade, the tracks are well designed with just the right difficulty level and a good selection of cars to choose from too, I always preferred to race in the Toyota! 

Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64)

Another game already reviewed elsewhere on this blog, I LOVE this game, everything about it is brilliant from the stunning circuits and wave effects to the fantastic music and excellent controls, this is the best racer on the N64 and if you’ve not played it you’re missing out on something really awesome!

The Simpsons : Hit and Run (PS2 / Gamecube)

I’ve only recently discovered this game on my emulation handhelds and wish I’d known about earlier as it’s amazing, literally the whole of Springfield has been faithfully recreated in this game and also features the actual actor’s voices for the characters.  The game is basically a series of missions you must complete, the game is laced with the Simpsons humour, and as a huge Simpsons fan am having a blast playing it.

International Karate (Atari 8-bit)

I’ve fond memories of playing this on my friend’s Atari 800XL over the road many years ago and it still stands up today as a great fighting game, the graphics may look a bit dated by today’s standards but the gameplay is terrific and is still worth playing today on either an Atari 8-bit or I believe it was released on other platforms too.

Densha de Go series (Sony PSP)

When I owned a PSP and being a lifelong railway enthusiast I had to track down a copy of this game to enjoy and I duly did so courtesy of an eBay seller in Hong Kong.  Only released in Japan and massively popular the Densha de Go series of games are basically train driving games taking place on various lines in and around Tokyo, however the additional challenge is you have to time your braking into stations perfectly to stop at the marker as well remembering to dim your headlights and sound your horn for passing trains, I instantly loved this game and am now enjoying it again thanks to a recently released Densha de Go game on the Nintendo Switch.

MLB 9 Innings (iOS / Android)

There are many baseball games around and this, along with MLB The Show is my favourite, with all the real ballparks, teams, players and uniforms this is just like the real thing, the only letdown is the slightly limited and repetitive commentary but other than that, if you’re a baseball fan this is a great choice.

Pac-Man (Arcade)

One of the most famous and iconic games of all-time this is an absolute classic, it’s seen a number of incarnations over the years but for me, nothing beats the arcade original, a simple but addictive game, eat the dots and destroy the monsters, a true giant of a game and deserving of a place in this list.

Donkey Kong (Game and Watch)

I’m a huge fan of the Game & Watch series (see my previous blog post of the amazing recreations of all 60 titles on Mame) and even though DK was one of the first double screen Game and Watch units to be released it’s still the best one in my opinion, and was the first time we saw the Nintendo d-pad which went on to be featured in many different Nintendo machines and controllers.  The object of the game is the same as the original arcade version - jump over the barrels and advance to the top of the screen to rescue the princess from the clutches of Donkey Kong, an excellent addition to the G&W series.

Donkey Kong Jr. (Game and Watch)

A single screen Game and Watch machine this time, I particularly like this one for it’s graphics, gameplay and the general look and feel of the machine, the objective is similar to the above (minus the barrels) but this time you must dodge birds and swing across to free Donkey Kong from his cage.  One of the best single screen titles in the G&W series.

Fighting Vipers / Fighters Megamix (Sega Saturn)

Another two excellent arcade ports Fighting Vipers was the first to be released followed by Fighters Megamix, both have some great looking characters to fight as, terrific graphics and are both some the best fighting games to have graced the Saturn,

1944 : The Loop Master (Arcade)

I do enjoy a good scrolling shoot-em-up and this is one I play regularly courtesy of the Mame emulator, it’s a great looking, fast and fun shooter and well worth a look.

Gauntlet (Arcade)

I’ve fond memories of playing the ZX Spectrum version of this game years ago but the arcade version is the best (playable through the Mame emulator), the digitised speech in the game adds to the experience with many levels to explore and ghosts to slay, addictive fun.

Space Invaders (Arcade)

Like Pac-Man another incredibly iconic game, sure everyone has heard of this game, a true classic which has stood the test of time and will continue to be a highly playable classic for years to come.

Frogger (Arcade)

The object in this game is to guide your frog across two busy roads to the lily pads on the other side, sounds simple but dodging the oncoming traffic and timing your landings on the lily pads make this a real challenge.  A highly original and fun title.

Virtua Racing Deluxe (Sega 32X)

At the time it wasn’t thought possible that a game with such advanced graphics could be ported over to a home console but Sega managed it on the 32X and they did a terrific job, this is a brilliant game, good selection of tracks and looks great.

NBA Jam (SNES)

Released on a number of different machines this is a massively over-the-top basketball game featuring real NBA teams and players at the time.  In NBA Jam you can pull off frankly ridiculous and gravity-defying dunks and shots, the commentator’s quotes are instantly memorable - ‘he’s on fire!’, ‘he’s heating up!’.  OK, it’s not a truly realistic basketball game but man it isn’t half fun!

Virtua Tennis 4 (PS Vita)

I enjoy all the Virtua Tennis games but the most recent addition to the series on the PS Vita is the best, great graphics, a comprehensive selection of players and courts, a satisfying selection of shots, this is a top choice if you’re looking for a realistic handheld tennis game.

Tetris (Nintendo Gameboy)

No list of favourite games would be complete without Tetris on the Gameboy, massively addictive with one of the best musical scores in any game (even released as a single and performed on Top of the Pops!), a simple idea, rotate the blocks to fit and clear a line and achieve as high a score as possible before reaching the top of the screen and it’s Game Over! A truly iconic and defining game of the time.

Game & Watch Gallery Advance (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)

A number of Game and Watch Gallery games were released across the Gameboy machines but this is the game which features the largest number of G&W titles, most of them are playable either in the original classic mode or in the modern mode with updated graphics.  A few titles are included from the start with several more unlockable once enough stars are earned in the game, a convenient and portable way of playing the G&W series.

Aladdin (SNES)

For me the SNES version of Aladdin was always better than the different MegaDrive version, catchy music, laced with humour throughout and with highly realistic graphics this is a quality game still worth discovering today.

Well there you have it, the first 25 in the list, hope you found my choices interesting, any comments, disagreements or thoughts welcome and stay tuned for part 2 coming soon!

My choice of retro handhelds for travelling

Well Summer is here and we’re therefore getting into that time when people think about travelling and going away so thought I’d post my choices of handhelds to take on the go……

Powkiddy X18s - I’ve always been a total sucker for a clamshell handheld so this is an obvious choice, the build quality could be better and the layout of analogue sticks and buttons could be better but it makes up for this with it’s superb performance, the X18s can easily cope with anything up to and including PSP, Dreamcast, N64 and Saturn and can play some Gamecube and PS2 but not all.  For example I’ve recently managed to get The Simpsons : Hit and Run and The Simpsons : Road Rage running pretty much perfectly through the AetherSX2 PS2 emulator which was a real surprise!  A total powerhouse of a handheld.

Nintendo DSi XL - Yes it’s another clamshell machine but it’s a cracker! With an excellent library of games and a great screen it’s a winner, above pictured is my own Super Mario 25th Anniversary machine which I love, I’ve also set it up with a flash cart which I’ve loaded with all the best DS games.  A great handheld from Nintendo.

Nintendo 3DS - Possibly my joint favourite Nintendo handheld ever (along with the GameBoy Advance SP), the 3DS had some of best games to ever have featured on a portable machine such as Metroid : Samus Returns and Pokemon : Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon to name but a few.  Pictured is my own Pikachu 3DS which is a treasured part of my collection.

Sony Playstation Vita - Bascially a handheld PS1 the Vita looks and feels great with some cracking games such as Unchartered : Golden Abyss and Wipeout 2048 and many more this is a machine that has stood the test of time and is still a worthy machine today, a great travelling companion.

Anbernic RG351M - the first retro emulation handheld I picked up and still one of my favourites, it looks and feels great, has a decent weight to it thanks to it’s metal shell, it plays everything perfectly up to and including PS1 and some N64, PSP and Dreamcast is also possible.  This is a highly pocketable little machine which also has come excellent custom firmware available, my personal favourite being ArkOS.

Miyoo Mini - and lastly we come to the most portable and pocketable handheld of them all, the Miyoo Mini (already reviewed on this blog), looks and feels fantastic with a great screen (especially on the new version) and excellent performance, I love this machine!

So there you have it - my personal choice of retro handhelds for travelling all of which are guaranteed to make the longest journey fly by!

The Miyoo Mini has two excellent custom firmwares - so here’s a comparison!

I’ve already reviewed the superb mini handheld the Miyoo Mini elsewhere on this blog but for those of you undecided as to whether to get one or already have one I wanted to mention that there are now two custom firmwares (alternative software for the machine) available, OnionOS and MiniUI, both of which are excellent and much better than the software supplied with machine.  Both are really easy to install so thought I’d do a quick comparison of them.

OnionOS - this is the ultimate custom firmware for the Miyoo Mini, although newcomers may find it a little overwhelming.  It supports pretty much all machines up to and including PS1.  It has a very attractive interface and comes packed with features.  Firstly various Retroarch cores are available through the Expert menu allowing for plenty of tinkering for those who enjoy doing so, a favourite feature of mine is the optional Onion Launcher, this means that when you switch the machine on after playing a game it will automatically resume that game from the point you left off, and by pressing the menu key you can also view and launch any of the most recent 10 games you’ve played from the point you last quit, a really great feature.  OnionOS has lots of different themes to choose from as well which can be changed quickly and simply.

This is far and away my favourite custom firmware for the Miyoo Mini and comes highly recommended!

MiniUI - this is a new custom firmware which has recently launched, it has gone for the simple straightforward approach which should make it more accessible for newcomers.  It has a basic interface, it doesn’t however support as many systems as OnionOS but does still offer all the classic core systems such as SNES, Megadrive, GB, GBC, GBA and PS1 so name but a few.  Despite it’s simple interface and not supporting as many systems I’m pretty impressed by MiniUI and is definitely worth trying.

So there you have it a comparison of the two custom firmwares, which one you try is your choice but you won’t be disappointed with either and, as I previously mentioned both are way better than firmware supplied with the machine.

Believe it or not the UK once had two WEEKLY computing magazines and I miss ‘em!

I’ve mentioned elsewhere on this blog about how much I’d love for there to be a weekly gaming magazine in the UK as with Famitsu in Japan, well what you may now know is that for a few years in the 80s and 90s the UK actually had two!  The first was Popular Computing Weekly which ran from 1982-1990 and the other was New Computer Express survived from 1988-1991, these didn’t actually just focus on gaming but computing in general.  They were both a must-read back in the day and I have to say I do miss them.  

I do think with the resurgence of gaming magazines with such publications as Switch Player, Ninty Fresh, Sega Powered and Sega Mania all now available by post that the time is right for if not a weekly but a fortnightly gaming magazine, well I can but hope!