2nd December 2019, 10:20 PM
I think I only have like three actual Genesis controllers, plus one junky third party one with a four foot cord, or such. Oh well, I rarely need that many anyway.
As for the Genesis Classic, it looks like a nice unit, I just don't think I'd have much of a need for it... though as a way to get not-as-expensive copies of roms for some of those more expensive games if you don't have them and want those, sure, that makes sense.
So yeah, this update is going to be big. (I really should go back to more, smaller purchase posts, instead of ones this long...) First, I've got to cover everything I've gotten over the past week; I've been busy, lots of stuff is on sale around Thanksgiving after all. Gamestop had their first B1G1/B2G1 sales in QUITE some time, for example... and I got things, some thing s which would have been cheaper if I got them digitally (even considering the sale), but I bought physical copies of anyway because I like physical media when I have the choice. (Plus, money spent digitally is gone forever, while a physical product can be sold if you really dislike it. I don't usually do that, but still, having the option is good.)
And then second, there's a particularly expensive thing I bought earlier this year which I really need to finally admit to buying, and list the games I've gotten for it.
So let's start with recent digital purchases. I got all of these between the 25th and today.
PC - DD
--
Kuraburo Kai - $1.24
Journey of Haha - $1.00
The Vagrant - $1.59
Also, Valve is discontinuing the Steam Controller and marked it way down to clear out their remaining stock, so I ordered one. With shipping, the case, and the dongle-holding battery cover it totaled $21, but if I actually find it usable that's a reasonable price. It hasn't arrived yet but did ship, so my order at least went through; they have cancelled some as they took more orders in than they had remaining controllers. Well, I'll see how that turns out.
Nintendo Switch - DD (all of these listed prices are the sale prices, these games were all on sale.)
--
REKT! High Octane Stunts - $2 - This is a pretty mediocre attempt at something like a Rush game stunt arena. It's kind of neat to see, but ends up feeling bland.
Green Game: TimeSwaapper - $0.30
Red Game Without a Great Name - $0.30
Laser Kitty Pow Pow - free with Nintendo Gold points, would have been $0.30
Shalnor Legends: Sacred Lands - $1. This is a simple 2d Zelda-styled game. It's interesting enough to be worth a dollar.
Ding Dong XL - $0.25 - This is a very cool early '80s style game with a laser-light aesthetic and super simple but addictive gameplay. You hit a button or two to make circles move between the top and bottom of the screen. That's it... but objects moving across the screen will end your game if you hit one. The game seems extremely simple at first, but has some nice depth and risk-reward gameplay - you get an extra point if ou get really close to an object but don't quite hit it. There are also one or two circle modes. Very cool stuff, this game is good.
Xbox One DD (on sale)
--
The Disney Afternoon Collection - $5. I chose to get this on Xbox over Steam. I have three of these games already on NES of course, but the DuckTales and Rescue Rangers sequels are really expensive and this is not. It is unfortunate that this collection wasn't released on any Nintendo systems, I'd rather get it there, but oh well.
Nintendo 3DS - DD (all games on sale)
--
Super Strike Beach Volleyball - $2.50 - it's one of those "Family" series games.
3D After Burner II - $3. The Sega Super Scaler games look really cool in 3d!
3D Streets of Rage - $3. While side-scrollers like Sonic mostly look the same in 3d, Streets of Rage 2 looks pretty nice thanks to the isometric graphics, so I got this one too.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy - $12. Despite its popularity on the DS, I've actually never owned or played any of the games in this series, until now, because I've been very skeptical of how much I'd like the games. Well, all of the 3DS games are on sale, well all of the US-released ones (there are three more games in this franchise on the 3DS in Japan that Capcom did not localize, I didn't remember that until today...), and after thinking about it last time they were on sale but not getting any, this time I got the first one, the trilogy collection of the first three games. If they go on sale again and I actually play and like this maybe I'll get the other three later.
Vita DD (on sale)
--
MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death - $3
PS3 DD (on sale)
--
Elevator Action Deluxe - $5
Wii U - DD (on sale)
--
6180 the moon - $2. This is also on 3DS and PC, but I picked this version. It's a clever indie platformer.
Now, physical games I got in the past week.
Saturn
--
True Pinball - $15, complete. This game sells for well over this online, so it was a good price. The disc is scratched up like those other Saturn games, but thankfully works. This is a Digital Illusions pinball game, and I never cared too much for their style of pinball games (Epic Pinball is so much better than Pinball Dreams!), and that is still true unfortunately; I find this game probably the least fun of the three Saturn pinball games I have now. Still, it's okay and nice to have I guess.
Xbox One
--
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair - $15, new. I really love the first Yooka-Laylle game; it is one of the best 3d platformers this generation, the haters are very wrong! That said, this new second game is quite different, it's a 2.5d platformer in the Donkey Kong Country (or DKC Returns) vein. This game does look great too, but I do hope they make more games like the first one, it was exactly what I wanted and is amazing. Anyway, I got the first game on GOG, but decided on this for the second because it was the cheapest and it is nice to have it in a box. Also, as a 2.5d game it should run fine on consoles.
The rest of this section is that Gamestop sale stuff. The Friday to Sunday sale was buy 1 get 1 free on Wii, Wii U, DS, Vita, PS3, and X360 games, and buy 2 get 1 free on Switch, PS4, X1, and 3DS games. Yeah, the 3DS still rates in the "current consoles" bunch according to Gamestop, I guess. Good for it, I still love mine.
First, B1G1 games.
Wii
--
Dream Pinball 3D - complete, free in B1G1 (would be $3)
Ghostbusters: The Video Game - complete, free in B1G1 (would be $15)
Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity - complete, $5
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - $10, complete
Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai - $3, complete
The Simpsons Game - free in B1G1, would be $15
Xbox 360
--
Kinectimals: Now with Bears! - complete, free in B1G1 (would be $5)
Red Dead Redemption - Game of the Year Edition - $25, complete
Vita
--
Tales of Hearts R - $22.50, cart in generic case
Nintendo DS
--
n+ - card only, free in B1G1 (would be $5)
and the B2G1 games.
Xbox One
--
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - complete, free in B2G1 (would be $28). I doubt I can handle this game, but... I want to try anyway.
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet - free in B2G1 (would be $22.50) The anime was horrible, but this game sounds solid...
Okami HD - $18, complete - I have this on PS2, but it'd be nice to play with upgraded visuals.
Switch
--
Super Neptunia RPG - $40, complete. I probably shouldn't have gotten this give my general thoughts on this franchise, but... got it anyway. Well, this game is different from the past ones, it's a side-scrolling RPG, which is interesting. This is definitely cheaper digitally now, but then I'd be stuck with it forever like the ones in the franchise I have on Steam....
Nintendo 3DS
--
The Alliance Alive - complete, free in a B2G1 (would have been $20) - the sequel to The Legend of Legacy.
Cut the Rope: Triple Treat - $6, cart in generic case
Rune Factory 4 - complete, $25 - Farming games are another kind of game I've long been very skeptical of my interest in, but thanks to this sale I finally convinced myself to try this one. It's part farming game and part action-RPG, and is very anime (in good and bad ways). It seems alright I guess.
And lastly, that very expensive system I bought earlier this year. Everything I've gotten for it is from ebay.
So, back in June, I got... an Atari Jaguar, with Jaguar CD. As is typical for that setup, it cost over $600, despite the proof that the CD part was working being somewhat flimsy. Well, of you check them on ebay, Jag CD systems sell for over $400, working or not; the things are notoriously failure-prone, so they are about as expensive broken as they are working. Why not just get a Jag? Well, I know that I'd always regret it if I got a Jaguar without the CD addon... so I took the gamble and got this. Well, the Jaguar works perfectly, but that CD system broke. It worked mostly fine for a few weeks, but why the end of a month (by late July or so) the laser was clearly dying; actually using it again seems to have killed the poor thing. I only got three Jag CD games, but I was using the VLM a fair amount - I may not be much of a music person, but that thing is pretty amazingly cool, the Jaguar CD one particularly. Well, finding new lasers for the Jag CD is easy as the laser assembly itself is a common part, but you need to solder the original ribbon cable on to the new laser assembly to use it as that is custom. So, I got the new laser and have left it sittig in the system un-connected ever since because of that soldering issue. It'll probably work once fixed and looks like very easy soldering (six points on nice big connections, no little wires or soldering to chips or anything), though, so I need to do like that thread of DJ's from recently said and actually learn to solder. Hopefully I'll do that soon...
Anyway, the system came with the Jaguar system, the (failing laser) CD addon, two controllers (one working fine and one with a d-pad that does not respond to some directions), the cart game Iron Soldier, the Myst demo disc cd for the Jag CD, the RFU, a composite AV cable, and two power supplies for both parts. I tried to fix that second controller and it seems quite possible (I got those directions to respond after some cleaning), but unfortunately one of the screws in it is stripped and won't come out, so I can't really take it apart to fully clean it properly. Oh well, at least the other controller works great. I find the Jaguar controller surprisingly comfortable; I'd heard a lot of bad things about it, as everyone has, but it's actually kind of nice, with good-feeling buttons and a fine d-pad and ergonomics. It should have had shoulder buttons, but works well, apart from the same problem that all of the early 3d consoles have, that lots of games would be far better with an analog controller but this thing only has a d-pad on it. And unfortunately, unlike the 3DO, Saturn, or PS1, the Jag never had any kind of analog controller released for it, so all games are sadly d-pad only. It is an issue in some games. Otherwise it's good though. As for the system, it looks nice enough, I kind of like the (very '90s) styling. The carts aare nice, with handles on them, and every cart has an EEPROM chip in it to save data. Yes, EEPROM, not battery. The Jaguar is the first console with exclusively flash memory based saving, which is a pretty awesome thing. These EEPROMs were mostly really tiny, saving only a few things, but are very welcome to have regardless. That every game saves makes this system feel next-gen (like N64/PS1/etc.) even when the games are last-gen computer ports. On the other hand, thanks to some serious hardware bugs and design flaws, the Jag has major problems making good 3d graphics; it's hamstrung versus its theoretical power because devs have to waste lots of power just making sure the screen displays correctly and such. Still, it is at least comparable to the 3DO, and when it's at it best it clearly beats that system, probably. 3DO visuals are MUCH more consistently decent than Jag graphics are, though.
Games I have:
the VLM, or Virtual Light Machine (CD) - built in to the Jaguar CD is a light synthesizer which plays animations along to music CDs. This was made by Jeff Minter, also of Tempest 2000 fame, and is incredibly cool. You can change between 81 different animations freely by hitting two-number combinations on the keypad; that makes this work a lot better than most console visualizers do, being able to switch freely is great. There is something about the low-resolution animations this thing reates that looks really cool, I like it more than Minter's later work on the Xbox 360 visualizer.
Iron Soldier - cart only, came with system in early June. This pretty good mech action game is slow-paced but has a good sense of style and good gameplay and controls. It's one of the better games on Jaguar.
Myst Demo (CD) - disc in paper case. This game was a packin with the Jag CD, so that's complete. It's a very tiny bit of Myst, showing that yes, this game runs just fine on the Jaguar. Playing this with a mouse is a lot better than a gamepad, though, and I've never been a Myst fan, so once I repair my Jag CD, despite the system's very small library, getting the full version of this one won't be high on my list.
Vid Grid (Jaguar CD) - $15, disc in paper case. I got this in later June. This game was a packin with the Jag CD, so that's complete. This puzzle game has you trying to put together a puzzle while watching a music video. Basically, figure out where all of the squares of the screen go before the video ends and you win. There are eight or nine rock music videos to wach. Obviously I don't much care for the music, but at least this isn't a sliding tile puzzle game - you can pick up and put down tiles anywhere. It gets hard later, as tiles can be mirrored too. I got through level one before stopping, and then my CD laser gave out. This game is okay for what it tries to do.
Cybermorph - cart only, got from ebay a few days after the above game, for $12.50. This very unpopular title was a launch game for the Jag, and it's ... good! Really, Cybermorph is a fun flight action game with solid controls, okay to good visuals (the short draw distance aside), and good design. Flat-shaded 3d grahics like this were very unpoular at the time, but have turned out to age really well, much more so than a lot of early textured 3d has.
Around this time I also got a Memory Track (memory card) cart for the Jaguar, used for Jaguar CD games to let them save. I got a new, unopened one for $50 and then opened it. The Jag CD does not have any storage onboard, for any CD titles to save the memory cart is required. Given how few JCD titles there are though, one will most certainly be the only one you'll ever need.
A couple of days later in late June, five games arrived I got all from the same seller.
Checkered Flag - $17, cart only. This very unpopular racing game has a lot of problems, and I'm not going to call it good; it isn't, the controls are kind of awful and the featureset is shamefully thin - this game doesn't even save your best times! Come on. Still, though, despite its serous problems I find this game fascinating. It's a Virtua Racing clone that is far worse than the game it copies thanks to its bizarre controls (the longer you hold the d-pad direction down, the more you turn. It's very hard to get used to.), very low framerate, and limited options, but there is something here I kind of like, under all the problems...
Club Drive - $33, complete. Club Drive is another infamous Jaguar racing game, but it's much better than Checkered Flag, I think. This game also has seriously limited options, you have five tracks, two modes (lap race or collect-the-stuff), and that's about it apart from a two player mode as there is no championship or anything and only ever zero or maybe one computer opponent (the collect-the-stuff mode has no opponent in single player and the other one maybe one car, or maybe it's also just a timetrial unless you're racing against another person), but the flat-shaded graphics look nice, I think the controls work fairly well (it does some interesting things - pressing diagonals does a sharper turn than just left or right, to try to make up for not having an analog stick), and the gameplay and handling style is somewhat reminiscent of my old favorite, San Francisco Rush. There's even an SF track here! I wouldn't be at all surprised if Rush's developers had this game in mind, at least a little bit, when making that one. I wish this game had more features, with AI cars to race against, a circuit mode, etc., but what's here is interesting. Oh -- and while the framerate is low, it is definitely higher than Checkered Flag's and that makes a big difference. Having fewer cars on screen perhaps helps. Also, this game does save your best times.
Tempest 2000 - $63, complete. And here it is, the main reason most people consider getting a Jaguar, one of my all-time favorite games, Tempest 2000. I have very much wanted this original version of T2K ever since I became a fan of the game back in the early '00s, instead of just some of the ports, and I'm really happy to finally have it. This game is amazing and is easily one of the best games of the generation, period. T2K is a strong candidate for making my 'best console games ever' top list. This Jaguar version does have some framerate isseus at times, but it's not a big deal and the gameplay is exceptional. The music is really impressive, too. Lots of Jag games have weak audio, but not this one!
Blue Lighting (CD) - disc in paper case. This game was a packin with the Jag CD, so that's complete. Blue Lighting is another often-derided Jaguar title. This is another knockoff of a popular Sega game done not nearly as well as Sega would, but in hthics case it's After Burner they take ideas from. This game is a sequel/remake to a Lynx game, but most everyone likes that game more. Well, I don't have a Lynx yet, but I found this game reasonably fun. It is very hard, though, and unforgiving - if you crash that's it, you lose that plane. You kind of need to restart if you mess up at all. There is saving, but still, it's a very hard game, from the few levels I played. Once I get a working system again I will play this game more, but from what I played I thought that it was flawed but on the edge of good.
Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands (CD) - $28, disc in paper case (no outer box; this had one, it wasn't a packin, just the other three I have are). Hover Strike first released on a cartridge, but I got this CD version because it's improved over the cardt - it has better graphics with lots of textures and farther draw distance, a better framerate, more levels, some little FMV sequences, improved music, improved controls with nice hover physics (you slide around like a hover-tank would) and maybe more. Based on this version, this is a pretty good game. This is a fun first-person tank action game I was quite enjoying, until my CD laser died. The game is pretty easy, but fun enough that I didn't mind all that much. The cart version sounds much less good though, but I haven't played it. (This game and Battlemorph are the two most often praised original-lineup Jag CD titles, I think. I'll get that one eventually, once I have a working system again.)
Kasumi Ninja - $34.50, complete. I got this game in mid July. This fighting game is known for being not very good, but I had no idea just HOW terrible it is! Seriously, Kasumi Ninja should be criticized more than it is, this game is really, really bad. Once you get used to it it gets silghtly better, but the problems here are far too deep to save. Here's what is probably the worst thing about it: the controls. So, in this Mortal Kombat-style fighting game, you ... can't hit buttons while in the air. No, in order to jump kick, you have to press jump plus attack while you were on the ground. Then, you will do a jump-kick. If you just press up-forward to jump, though, you'll just jump and cannot do anything in the air until you land. I had no idea this game was like this until I played it, but it's a horrible way to make a fighting game! It's not much fun beyond that, either. The other MK-style fighter on Jag i supposed to be a lot better, but it also costs a lot more so i don't have that one.
The next five games I got from the same seller in mid July.
Evolution: Dino Dudes - $25, complete. This game is a port of The Humans, a PC/amiga/SNES.etc game. It's like Lemmings, except that you control your little guys directly, and not a cursor. This is an okay, but slow and challenging, puzzle-platforming game. The graphics look the same as they do on computer. It has password save, but it does use that EEPROM chip for something - it'll save the last level password you got, so you can continue that way. That's nice at least.
I-War - $41, cart and box (no manual). I-War was high on my list of Jaguar games I wanted to buy after getting the console, because I remember thinking that this game looked cool from when I first saw it in EGM back in the mid '90s, and had to know if it actually is, despite reviews at the time being very hard on it. Well... yeah, it's good. I-War is another tank action game, except this one is much more of a maze exploration game - you explore levels, looking for collectables while killing turrets and such. It has flat-shaded 3d graphics, which the Jag does well, and has a good framerate and good techno music soundtrack. It saves your progress as expected and is definitely fun. It's simple -- you can only shoot stragiht and not strafe, so strategy is limited until you get the homing weapon powerup well into the game - but fun. I think this game deserves a better reputation than it's gotten.
Ruiner Pinball - $41, cart and box (no manual). This one's much less good; not one of my better purchases, for sure, from a gameplay standpoint (financially, this game sells for this much or more for sure.). The Jaguar has two pinball games, this and Pinball Fantasies. This game is not from Digital Illulsions, but plays a lot like that game, way too much like it. Like that game, it's zoomed way too far in, so every time you hit the ball the flippers vanish off screen. You kind of gert used to it with time, but the zoom, and constantly moving camera, are pretty awful. The two tables are of only average design as well. It's maybe okay once you get used ot it, but I'd much rather play a better game.
Val D'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding - $21, cart and box (no manual). This game is a heavily enhanced remake of Tommy Moe's Wnter Extreme for the SNES. The character sprite is similar, but the super high speeds and scaling-sprite mountain are very much not! Indeed, at first this game feels overhwelmingly hard, as you have tight time limits, narrow gates to go around or through, and lots of obstacles you can barely see before you crash into them as you barrel down the mountain at high speed. The Jaguar does scaling sprites quite well, something sadly few games show off, but this one does and it looks good. I wish you had a better sense of what's coming at you, but it is a good game despite that.
Zoop - cart and box (no manual), $33. This was another Jag game I very much wanted to have. Indeed, this is the definitive console version of Zoop! Why is that? Well, because it's the only one with high score saving. Zoop is a decently good mid '90s puzzle game, and it was released on many platforms, but all of the others don't save, not even the Playstation version. That this one saves your high scores is a big deal in a score-based puzzle game with nothing to play for other than points, I think. Zoop gets super hard quickly, which some people dislike as endless games of it are nearly impossible, but I find it pretty good while it lasts so I don't mind that. This is a good to great game, I think. It looks about the same as it does on any other format, but the clean look is nice and it plays well. And, again, score save.
Spacewar 2000 - $35, complete (in plastic case, not cardboard, but I think that's how it was sold). I got this game in late July. This is an unfinished homebrew game originally made in the early '00s. It's a space dogfighting game, you versus numerous enemy ships trying to shoot you down. As a beta it is very impressive, as the space combat is fun and graphics look nice... but it's extremely buggy and crashes constantly. Many features are missing, too. It's really too bad that the developer didn't finish it, what's here is good, but it's too broken to be anything above average overall. The somewhat newer homebrew game Battlesphere has a lot of the same ideas but is finished, but that game is insanely expensive now so I definitely don't have it, and won't anytime soon.
And the two most recent Jag games I've gotten have been recent homebrew titles I got new direct from AtariAge. I got games for other systems along with these, which I will list at the bottom of this post.
Jeff Minter Classics - I ordered this in September, but it arrived a month later; AtariAge takes quite some time. This cart was $70 new, complete in box and with a mini-poser. This cart includes three games: Llamatron 2112, Revenge of the Mutant Camels, and Gridrunner, all ported over from the Atari ST, like a whole lot of Jaguar homebrew. I don't want most of those ST/Amiga-to-Jaguar homebrew ports, but this one was a must-have for me because Llamatron 2112 an old favorite of mine; the game is truly exceptional, and has been my favorite Robotron-style game since I first played it in the early/mid '90s. I'm happy to finally own the game on a cart, and with some proceeds going to Minter. AtariAge publishes some legit, licensed games and some unlicened repros or remakes of other publishers' games without their okay (basically, they apublish new homebrew titles for classic systems, and new ports of popular classic arcade games or old cancelled games for those same systems), but this one is legit. As for the port, it's a flawless version of the ST game only held back by the controls -- sadly there is no keypad optioon for aiming ,so the only way to play in the twin-stick style that you want to is awkwardly by holding two controllers. It works, but is not ideal.
At this same time I also got a reproduction 6-button Jaguar controller from AtariAge, new. These are very siilar to Atari's original 6 button controllers, except they cost a whole lot less and are almost as good. The d-pad had a few issues, but I fixed that so now it's great. I';m not sure if I like it more than the first controller though; it has more buttons, as it has shoulder buttons (copying 4 and 6 on the keypad) and XYZ buttons (copying 789 on the on the keypad), but only a few games are specifically programmed for them. Other games benefit for sure, depending on what they put on those five keys, but the controller is also a little bit smaller than the regular Jag pad, and while most would probably prefer this size, I might like the larger size better. Still, it's fantastic to have and means I have two good controllers.
And last and most recently, also from AtariAge:
Rebooteroids - $70, new from AtariAge, complete in box. I got this a week or two ago; ordered like three weeks before that, but well, AtariAGe. This game is an Asteroids-style game from a couple of years ago. This is a true new game, not some old computer port to Jag like most Jag homebrew is these days, and it's good (there is a certain other Jag homebrew dev who makes terrible games, I have avoided those so far.). It's not GREAT, but it is good. This game has a nice visual style and good, classic Asteroids-style gameplay, but with a level-based structure, an ending when you finish all the stages, and some resulting actual progression. Visually the system can do far more than this I am sure, as it's closer to the computer ports than the games which look the best on Jaguar, but it looks nice enough and plays well. This game was out of print for quite a while, so when they finally made some more copies I made sure to get one. It's kind of borderline about if it's worth this kind of money on a gameplay front, but it's fun enough so... sure.
Overall, the Jaguar is a highly interesting system with utterly fascinating games, both good and bad. Jaguar games often feel very low budget, like they were made by only a few people with way too little time and money, because often that is exactly how it was. That's not always good, but the Jag's style of game is an interesting one and some of the games I really do like, not only the exceptional classic Tempest 2000 but also games like I-War, Iron Soldier, and Zoop. Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands and the CD visualizer are also really good, though that CD drive is so expensive and unreliable that sane people would never buy one. Heh.
So far though, my moist played Jag games are Llamatron 2112 in Jeff Minter Classics, and Tempest 2000. And when I had that working CD drive for a month, the VLM is what i used it for the most by far. Well, I always knew that the Jeff Minter stuff was a big part of why I needed to wn a Jaguar someday.. and despite the expensse I don't regret it, it's really interesting and sometimes good. I get why people bash this system and it deserves some of it, but I like some things about it for sure regardless.
And last, those other AtariAge homebrew titles I got along with the Jag games above.
The batch of games I got in early October (ordered a month earlier) was:
Jeff Minter Classics (Jaguar) - $70, complete in box
Jaguar 6 button controller reproduction - $60, new
Halo 2600 (Atari 2600) - cart and manual, no box - $30. This one was a must-have once I got stuff from AtariAge. It's a solidly fun top-down action game. The game is really quite easy once you get used to it and badly needed difficulty options, but otherwise is a fun title which looks nice and plays well.
Sheep it Up! (Atari 2600) - cart and manual, no box, free - AtariAge had a summer sale where everythingwas discounted a bit and you could get one of two 2600 games free with your purchase, and I chose this one. It's a very simple vertical platformer, try to keep jumping up as far as you can betwen tiny little platforms. It's solid stuff, but you get only one life per game and it gets very hard really quick so it gets frustrating fast.
Ratcatcher (Atari 5200) - $45, complete with box. I like the 5200, so I had to get some 5200 stuff. I chose to not get the "reproduction" cancelled classic game and Atari 8-bit computer ports, because those are very much legally grey at best, and stuck to some original homebrews and one canceleled game actually finished by the original programmer. This one is the one fully original 5200 homebrew game I have. There aren't many, the system doesn't have that big of a fanbase. The game is a solid single-screen platform-action game.
Tempest (Atari 5200) - $35, cart and manual (no box available). This is that finished game from Atari itself. Tempest was in development for 5200 back in '84, but was cancelled incomplete. Well, decades later the original programmer helped finish the game in the '00s for release from AtariAge. It's a good port for the hardware, and plays well, particularly with the traqckball which it supports. Getting used to Tempest on a trackball takes some time but I do think it's the better way to play this game. Obviously this game has nothing on T2K, but it is a fun one to play once in a while and I'm glad to have it. I wish they had a box available, but oh well.
Xari Arena (Atari 5200) - $45, complete with box. Xari Arena is another cancelled Atari original title not released back in '84. It's a weird hybrid of Pong and Breakout, and is pretty unique. The box the fans made for it's nice as well. I'm not sure if Atari actually licenses any of AtariAge's stuff, but they certainly don't care so I was okay with getting an Atari game. This is also another game with trackball support, which is part of why I got it. The 5200 trackball is a fantastic controller!
Then in mid November (ordered late October), I got two games:
Rebooteroids - $70 (Jaguar) - complete. As above.
Castle Crisis (Atari 5200) - $40, complete. This one is a homebrew remake of Warlords for the Atari 5200. It supports both controller and trackball. It looks pretty much just like the original arcade game, but has some new features and modes so it's not just a knockoff port. This is a good version of one of the best games of the early '80s. With a four-port 5200, you can even play it with four players. The 2600 version with two sets of paddles would be a much easier choice there, but for anyone who actualy has four working 5200 controllers (I do not...) that'd be a cool thing to do.
So yeah, I got four 5200 games over the past few months. I'm glad to finally get a few more games for that console, I still really like it despite all of its issues!
As for the Genesis Classic, it looks like a nice unit, I just don't think I'd have much of a need for it... though as a way to get not-as-expensive copies of roms for some of those more expensive games if you don't have them and want those, sure, that makes sense.
So yeah, this update is going to be big. (I really should go back to more, smaller purchase posts, instead of ones this long...) First, I've got to cover everything I've gotten over the past week; I've been busy, lots of stuff is on sale around Thanksgiving after all. Gamestop had their first B1G1/B2G1 sales in QUITE some time, for example... and I got things, some thing s which would have been cheaper if I got them digitally (even considering the sale), but I bought physical copies of anyway because I like physical media when I have the choice. (Plus, money spent digitally is gone forever, while a physical product can be sold if you really dislike it. I don't usually do that, but still, having the option is good.)
And then second, there's a particularly expensive thing I bought earlier this year which I really need to finally admit to buying, and list the games I've gotten for it.
So let's start with recent digital purchases. I got all of these between the 25th and today.
PC - DD
--
Kuraburo Kai - $1.24
Journey of Haha - $1.00
The Vagrant - $1.59
Also, Valve is discontinuing the Steam Controller and marked it way down to clear out their remaining stock, so I ordered one. With shipping, the case, and the dongle-holding battery cover it totaled $21, but if I actually find it usable that's a reasonable price. It hasn't arrived yet but did ship, so my order at least went through; they have cancelled some as they took more orders in than they had remaining controllers. Well, I'll see how that turns out.
Nintendo Switch - DD (all of these listed prices are the sale prices, these games were all on sale.)
--
REKT! High Octane Stunts - $2 - This is a pretty mediocre attempt at something like a Rush game stunt arena. It's kind of neat to see, but ends up feeling bland.
Green Game: TimeSwaapper - $0.30
Red Game Without a Great Name - $0.30
Laser Kitty Pow Pow - free with Nintendo Gold points, would have been $0.30
Shalnor Legends: Sacred Lands - $1. This is a simple 2d Zelda-styled game. It's interesting enough to be worth a dollar.
Ding Dong XL - $0.25 - This is a very cool early '80s style game with a laser-light aesthetic and super simple but addictive gameplay. You hit a button or two to make circles move between the top and bottom of the screen. That's it... but objects moving across the screen will end your game if you hit one. The game seems extremely simple at first, but has some nice depth and risk-reward gameplay - you get an extra point if ou get really close to an object but don't quite hit it. There are also one or two circle modes. Very cool stuff, this game is good.
Xbox One DD (on sale)
--
The Disney Afternoon Collection - $5. I chose to get this on Xbox over Steam. I have three of these games already on NES of course, but the DuckTales and Rescue Rangers sequels are really expensive and this is not. It is unfortunate that this collection wasn't released on any Nintendo systems, I'd rather get it there, but oh well.
Nintendo 3DS - DD (all games on sale)
--
Super Strike Beach Volleyball - $2.50 - it's one of those "Family" series games.
3D After Burner II - $3. The Sega Super Scaler games look really cool in 3d!
3D Streets of Rage - $3. While side-scrollers like Sonic mostly look the same in 3d, Streets of Rage 2 looks pretty nice thanks to the isometric graphics, so I got this one too.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy - $12. Despite its popularity on the DS, I've actually never owned or played any of the games in this series, until now, because I've been very skeptical of how much I'd like the games. Well, all of the 3DS games are on sale, well all of the US-released ones (there are three more games in this franchise on the 3DS in Japan that Capcom did not localize, I didn't remember that until today...), and after thinking about it last time they were on sale but not getting any, this time I got the first one, the trilogy collection of the first three games. If they go on sale again and I actually play and like this maybe I'll get the other three later.
Vita DD (on sale)
--
MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death - $3
PS3 DD (on sale)
--
Elevator Action Deluxe - $5
Wii U - DD (on sale)
--
6180 the moon - $2. This is also on 3DS and PC, but I picked this version. It's a clever indie platformer.
Now, physical games I got in the past week.
Saturn
--
True Pinball - $15, complete. This game sells for well over this online, so it was a good price. The disc is scratched up like those other Saturn games, but thankfully works. This is a Digital Illusions pinball game, and I never cared too much for their style of pinball games (Epic Pinball is so much better than Pinball Dreams!), and that is still true unfortunately; I find this game probably the least fun of the three Saturn pinball games I have now. Still, it's okay and nice to have I guess.
Xbox One
--
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair - $15, new. I really love the first Yooka-Laylle game; it is one of the best 3d platformers this generation, the haters are very wrong! That said, this new second game is quite different, it's a 2.5d platformer in the Donkey Kong Country (or DKC Returns) vein. This game does look great too, but I do hope they make more games like the first one, it was exactly what I wanted and is amazing. Anyway, I got the first game on GOG, but decided on this for the second because it was the cheapest and it is nice to have it in a box. Also, as a 2.5d game it should run fine on consoles.
The rest of this section is that Gamestop sale stuff. The Friday to Sunday sale was buy 1 get 1 free on Wii, Wii U, DS, Vita, PS3, and X360 games, and buy 2 get 1 free on Switch, PS4, X1, and 3DS games. Yeah, the 3DS still rates in the "current consoles" bunch according to Gamestop, I guess. Good for it, I still love mine.
First, B1G1 games.
Wii
--
Dream Pinball 3D - complete, free in B1G1 (would be $3)
Ghostbusters: The Video Game - complete, free in B1G1 (would be $15)
Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity - complete, $5
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - $10, complete
Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai - $3, complete
The Simpsons Game - free in B1G1, would be $15
Xbox 360
--
Kinectimals: Now with Bears! - complete, free in B1G1 (would be $5)
Red Dead Redemption - Game of the Year Edition - $25, complete
Vita
--
Tales of Hearts R - $22.50, cart in generic case
Nintendo DS
--
n+ - card only, free in B1G1 (would be $5)
and the B2G1 games.
Xbox One
--
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - complete, free in B2G1 (would be $28). I doubt I can handle this game, but... I want to try anyway.
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet - free in B2G1 (would be $22.50) The anime was horrible, but this game sounds solid...
Okami HD - $18, complete - I have this on PS2, but it'd be nice to play with upgraded visuals.
Switch
--
Super Neptunia RPG - $40, complete. I probably shouldn't have gotten this give my general thoughts on this franchise, but... got it anyway. Well, this game is different from the past ones, it's a side-scrolling RPG, which is interesting. This is definitely cheaper digitally now, but then I'd be stuck with it forever like the ones in the franchise I have on Steam....
Nintendo 3DS
--
The Alliance Alive - complete, free in a B2G1 (would have been $20) - the sequel to The Legend of Legacy.
Cut the Rope: Triple Treat - $6, cart in generic case
Rune Factory 4 - complete, $25 - Farming games are another kind of game I've long been very skeptical of my interest in, but thanks to this sale I finally convinced myself to try this one. It's part farming game and part action-RPG, and is very anime (in good and bad ways). It seems alright I guess.
And lastly, that very expensive system I bought earlier this year. Everything I've gotten for it is from ebay.
So, back in June, I got... an Atari Jaguar, with Jaguar CD. As is typical for that setup, it cost over $600, despite the proof that the CD part was working being somewhat flimsy. Well, of you check them on ebay, Jag CD systems sell for over $400, working or not; the things are notoriously failure-prone, so they are about as expensive broken as they are working. Why not just get a Jag? Well, I know that I'd always regret it if I got a Jaguar without the CD addon... so I took the gamble and got this. Well, the Jaguar works perfectly, but that CD system broke. It worked mostly fine for a few weeks, but why the end of a month (by late July or so) the laser was clearly dying; actually using it again seems to have killed the poor thing. I only got three Jag CD games, but I was using the VLM a fair amount - I may not be much of a music person, but that thing is pretty amazingly cool, the Jaguar CD one particularly. Well, finding new lasers for the Jag CD is easy as the laser assembly itself is a common part, but you need to solder the original ribbon cable on to the new laser assembly to use it as that is custom. So, I got the new laser and have left it sittig in the system un-connected ever since because of that soldering issue. It'll probably work once fixed and looks like very easy soldering (six points on nice big connections, no little wires or soldering to chips or anything), though, so I need to do like that thread of DJ's from recently said and actually learn to solder. Hopefully I'll do that soon...
Anyway, the system came with the Jaguar system, the (failing laser) CD addon, two controllers (one working fine and one with a d-pad that does not respond to some directions), the cart game Iron Soldier, the Myst demo disc cd for the Jag CD, the RFU, a composite AV cable, and two power supplies for both parts. I tried to fix that second controller and it seems quite possible (I got those directions to respond after some cleaning), but unfortunately one of the screws in it is stripped and won't come out, so I can't really take it apart to fully clean it properly. Oh well, at least the other controller works great. I find the Jaguar controller surprisingly comfortable; I'd heard a lot of bad things about it, as everyone has, but it's actually kind of nice, with good-feeling buttons and a fine d-pad and ergonomics. It should have had shoulder buttons, but works well, apart from the same problem that all of the early 3d consoles have, that lots of games would be far better with an analog controller but this thing only has a d-pad on it. And unfortunately, unlike the 3DO, Saturn, or PS1, the Jag never had any kind of analog controller released for it, so all games are sadly d-pad only. It is an issue in some games. Otherwise it's good though. As for the system, it looks nice enough, I kind of like the (very '90s) styling. The carts aare nice, with handles on them, and every cart has an EEPROM chip in it to save data. Yes, EEPROM, not battery. The Jaguar is the first console with exclusively flash memory based saving, which is a pretty awesome thing. These EEPROMs were mostly really tiny, saving only a few things, but are very welcome to have regardless. That every game saves makes this system feel next-gen (like N64/PS1/etc.) even when the games are last-gen computer ports. On the other hand, thanks to some serious hardware bugs and design flaws, the Jag has major problems making good 3d graphics; it's hamstrung versus its theoretical power because devs have to waste lots of power just making sure the screen displays correctly and such. Still, it is at least comparable to the 3DO, and when it's at it best it clearly beats that system, probably. 3DO visuals are MUCH more consistently decent than Jag graphics are, though.
Games I have:
the VLM, or Virtual Light Machine (CD) - built in to the Jaguar CD is a light synthesizer which plays animations along to music CDs. This was made by Jeff Minter, also of Tempest 2000 fame, and is incredibly cool. You can change between 81 different animations freely by hitting two-number combinations on the keypad; that makes this work a lot better than most console visualizers do, being able to switch freely is great. There is something about the low-resolution animations this thing reates that looks really cool, I like it more than Minter's later work on the Xbox 360 visualizer.
Iron Soldier - cart only, came with system in early June. This pretty good mech action game is slow-paced but has a good sense of style and good gameplay and controls. It's one of the better games on Jaguar.
Myst Demo (CD) - disc in paper case. This game was a packin with the Jag CD, so that's complete. It's a very tiny bit of Myst, showing that yes, this game runs just fine on the Jaguar. Playing this with a mouse is a lot better than a gamepad, though, and I've never been a Myst fan, so once I repair my Jag CD, despite the system's very small library, getting the full version of this one won't be high on my list.
Vid Grid (Jaguar CD) - $15, disc in paper case. I got this in later June. This game was a packin with the Jag CD, so that's complete. This puzzle game has you trying to put together a puzzle while watching a music video. Basically, figure out where all of the squares of the screen go before the video ends and you win. There are eight or nine rock music videos to wach. Obviously I don't much care for the music, but at least this isn't a sliding tile puzzle game - you can pick up and put down tiles anywhere. It gets hard later, as tiles can be mirrored too. I got through level one before stopping, and then my CD laser gave out. This game is okay for what it tries to do.
Cybermorph - cart only, got from ebay a few days after the above game, for $12.50. This very unpopular title was a launch game for the Jag, and it's ... good! Really, Cybermorph is a fun flight action game with solid controls, okay to good visuals (the short draw distance aside), and good design. Flat-shaded 3d grahics like this were very unpoular at the time, but have turned out to age really well, much more so than a lot of early textured 3d has.
Around this time I also got a Memory Track (memory card) cart for the Jaguar, used for Jaguar CD games to let them save. I got a new, unopened one for $50 and then opened it. The Jag CD does not have any storage onboard, for any CD titles to save the memory cart is required. Given how few JCD titles there are though, one will most certainly be the only one you'll ever need.
A couple of days later in late June, five games arrived I got all from the same seller.
Checkered Flag - $17, cart only. This very unpopular racing game has a lot of problems, and I'm not going to call it good; it isn't, the controls are kind of awful and the featureset is shamefully thin - this game doesn't even save your best times! Come on. Still, though, despite its serous problems I find this game fascinating. It's a Virtua Racing clone that is far worse than the game it copies thanks to its bizarre controls (the longer you hold the d-pad direction down, the more you turn. It's very hard to get used to.), very low framerate, and limited options, but there is something here I kind of like, under all the problems...
Club Drive - $33, complete. Club Drive is another infamous Jaguar racing game, but it's much better than Checkered Flag, I think. This game also has seriously limited options, you have five tracks, two modes (lap race or collect-the-stuff), and that's about it apart from a two player mode as there is no championship or anything and only ever zero or maybe one computer opponent (the collect-the-stuff mode has no opponent in single player and the other one maybe one car, or maybe it's also just a timetrial unless you're racing against another person), but the flat-shaded graphics look nice, I think the controls work fairly well (it does some interesting things - pressing diagonals does a sharper turn than just left or right, to try to make up for not having an analog stick), and the gameplay and handling style is somewhat reminiscent of my old favorite, San Francisco Rush. There's even an SF track here! I wouldn't be at all surprised if Rush's developers had this game in mind, at least a little bit, when making that one. I wish this game had more features, with AI cars to race against, a circuit mode, etc., but what's here is interesting. Oh -- and while the framerate is low, it is definitely higher than Checkered Flag's and that makes a big difference. Having fewer cars on screen perhaps helps. Also, this game does save your best times.
Tempest 2000 - $63, complete. And here it is, the main reason most people consider getting a Jaguar, one of my all-time favorite games, Tempest 2000. I have very much wanted this original version of T2K ever since I became a fan of the game back in the early '00s, instead of just some of the ports, and I'm really happy to finally have it. This game is amazing and is easily one of the best games of the generation, period. T2K is a strong candidate for making my 'best console games ever' top list. This Jaguar version does have some framerate isseus at times, but it's not a big deal and the gameplay is exceptional. The music is really impressive, too. Lots of Jag games have weak audio, but not this one!
Blue Lighting (CD) - disc in paper case. This game was a packin with the Jag CD, so that's complete. Blue Lighting is another often-derided Jaguar title. This is another knockoff of a popular Sega game done not nearly as well as Sega would, but in hthics case it's After Burner they take ideas from. This game is a sequel/remake to a Lynx game, but most everyone likes that game more. Well, I don't have a Lynx yet, but I found this game reasonably fun. It is very hard, though, and unforgiving - if you crash that's it, you lose that plane. You kind of need to restart if you mess up at all. There is saving, but still, it's a very hard game, from the few levels I played. Once I get a working system again I will play this game more, but from what I played I thought that it was flawed but on the edge of good.
Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands (CD) - $28, disc in paper case (no outer box; this had one, it wasn't a packin, just the other three I have are). Hover Strike first released on a cartridge, but I got this CD version because it's improved over the cardt - it has better graphics with lots of textures and farther draw distance, a better framerate, more levels, some little FMV sequences, improved music, improved controls with nice hover physics (you slide around like a hover-tank would) and maybe more. Based on this version, this is a pretty good game. This is a fun first-person tank action game I was quite enjoying, until my CD laser died. The game is pretty easy, but fun enough that I didn't mind all that much. The cart version sounds much less good though, but I haven't played it. (This game and Battlemorph are the two most often praised original-lineup Jag CD titles, I think. I'll get that one eventually, once I have a working system again.)
Kasumi Ninja - $34.50, complete. I got this game in mid July. This fighting game is known for being not very good, but I had no idea just HOW terrible it is! Seriously, Kasumi Ninja should be criticized more than it is, this game is really, really bad. Once you get used to it it gets silghtly better, but the problems here are far too deep to save. Here's what is probably the worst thing about it: the controls. So, in this Mortal Kombat-style fighting game, you ... can't hit buttons while in the air. No, in order to jump kick, you have to press jump plus attack while you were on the ground. Then, you will do a jump-kick. If you just press up-forward to jump, though, you'll just jump and cannot do anything in the air until you land. I had no idea this game was like this until I played it, but it's a horrible way to make a fighting game! It's not much fun beyond that, either. The other MK-style fighter on Jag i supposed to be a lot better, but it also costs a lot more so i don't have that one.
The next five games I got from the same seller in mid July.
Evolution: Dino Dudes - $25, complete. This game is a port of The Humans, a PC/amiga/SNES.etc game. It's like Lemmings, except that you control your little guys directly, and not a cursor. This is an okay, but slow and challenging, puzzle-platforming game. The graphics look the same as they do on computer. It has password save, but it does use that EEPROM chip for something - it'll save the last level password you got, so you can continue that way. That's nice at least.
I-War - $41, cart and box (no manual). I-War was high on my list of Jaguar games I wanted to buy after getting the console, because I remember thinking that this game looked cool from when I first saw it in EGM back in the mid '90s, and had to know if it actually is, despite reviews at the time being very hard on it. Well... yeah, it's good. I-War is another tank action game, except this one is much more of a maze exploration game - you explore levels, looking for collectables while killing turrets and such. It has flat-shaded 3d graphics, which the Jag does well, and has a good framerate and good techno music soundtrack. It saves your progress as expected and is definitely fun. It's simple -- you can only shoot stragiht and not strafe, so strategy is limited until you get the homing weapon powerup well into the game - but fun. I think this game deserves a better reputation than it's gotten.
Ruiner Pinball - $41, cart and box (no manual). This one's much less good; not one of my better purchases, for sure, from a gameplay standpoint (financially, this game sells for this much or more for sure.). The Jaguar has two pinball games, this and Pinball Fantasies. This game is not from Digital Illulsions, but plays a lot like that game, way too much like it. Like that game, it's zoomed way too far in, so every time you hit the ball the flippers vanish off screen. You kind of gert used to it with time, but the zoom, and constantly moving camera, are pretty awful. The two tables are of only average design as well. It's maybe okay once you get used ot it, but I'd much rather play a better game.
Val D'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding - $21, cart and box (no manual). This game is a heavily enhanced remake of Tommy Moe's Wnter Extreme for the SNES. The character sprite is similar, but the super high speeds and scaling-sprite mountain are very much not! Indeed, at first this game feels overhwelmingly hard, as you have tight time limits, narrow gates to go around or through, and lots of obstacles you can barely see before you crash into them as you barrel down the mountain at high speed. The Jaguar does scaling sprites quite well, something sadly few games show off, but this one does and it looks good. I wish you had a better sense of what's coming at you, but it is a good game despite that.
Zoop - cart and box (no manual), $33. This was another Jag game I very much wanted to have. Indeed, this is the definitive console version of Zoop! Why is that? Well, because it's the only one with high score saving. Zoop is a decently good mid '90s puzzle game, and it was released on many platforms, but all of the others don't save, not even the Playstation version. That this one saves your high scores is a big deal in a score-based puzzle game with nothing to play for other than points, I think. Zoop gets super hard quickly, which some people dislike as endless games of it are nearly impossible, but I find it pretty good while it lasts so I don't mind that. This is a good to great game, I think. It looks about the same as it does on any other format, but the clean look is nice and it plays well. And, again, score save.
Spacewar 2000 - $35, complete (in plastic case, not cardboard, but I think that's how it was sold). I got this game in late July. This is an unfinished homebrew game originally made in the early '00s. It's a space dogfighting game, you versus numerous enemy ships trying to shoot you down. As a beta it is very impressive, as the space combat is fun and graphics look nice... but it's extremely buggy and crashes constantly. Many features are missing, too. It's really too bad that the developer didn't finish it, what's here is good, but it's too broken to be anything above average overall. The somewhat newer homebrew game Battlesphere has a lot of the same ideas but is finished, but that game is insanely expensive now so I definitely don't have it, and won't anytime soon.
And the two most recent Jag games I've gotten have been recent homebrew titles I got new direct from AtariAge. I got games for other systems along with these, which I will list at the bottom of this post.
Jeff Minter Classics - I ordered this in September, but it arrived a month later; AtariAge takes quite some time. This cart was $70 new, complete in box and with a mini-poser. This cart includes three games: Llamatron 2112, Revenge of the Mutant Camels, and Gridrunner, all ported over from the Atari ST, like a whole lot of Jaguar homebrew. I don't want most of those ST/Amiga-to-Jaguar homebrew ports, but this one was a must-have for me because Llamatron 2112 an old favorite of mine; the game is truly exceptional, and has been my favorite Robotron-style game since I first played it in the early/mid '90s. I'm happy to finally own the game on a cart, and with some proceeds going to Minter. AtariAge publishes some legit, licensed games and some unlicened repros or remakes of other publishers' games without their okay (basically, they apublish new homebrew titles for classic systems, and new ports of popular classic arcade games or old cancelled games for those same systems), but this one is legit. As for the port, it's a flawless version of the ST game only held back by the controls -- sadly there is no keypad optioon for aiming ,so the only way to play in the twin-stick style that you want to is awkwardly by holding two controllers. It works, but is not ideal.
At this same time I also got a reproduction 6-button Jaguar controller from AtariAge, new. These are very siilar to Atari's original 6 button controllers, except they cost a whole lot less and are almost as good. The d-pad had a few issues, but I fixed that so now it's great. I';m not sure if I like it more than the first controller though; it has more buttons, as it has shoulder buttons (copying 4 and 6 on the keypad) and XYZ buttons (copying 789 on the on the keypad), but only a few games are specifically programmed for them. Other games benefit for sure, depending on what they put on those five keys, but the controller is also a little bit smaller than the regular Jag pad, and while most would probably prefer this size, I might like the larger size better. Still, it's fantastic to have and means I have two good controllers.
And last and most recently, also from AtariAge:
Rebooteroids - $70, new from AtariAge, complete in box. I got this a week or two ago; ordered like three weeks before that, but well, AtariAGe. This game is an Asteroids-style game from a couple of years ago. This is a true new game, not some old computer port to Jag like most Jag homebrew is these days, and it's good (there is a certain other Jag homebrew dev who makes terrible games, I have avoided those so far.). It's not GREAT, but it is good. This game has a nice visual style and good, classic Asteroids-style gameplay, but with a level-based structure, an ending when you finish all the stages, and some resulting actual progression. Visually the system can do far more than this I am sure, as it's closer to the computer ports than the games which look the best on Jaguar, but it looks nice enough and plays well. This game was out of print for quite a while, so when they finally made some more copies I made sure to get one. It's kind of borderline about if it's worth this kind of money on a gameplay front, but it's fun enough so... sure.
Overall, the Jaguar is a highly interesting system with utterly fascinating games, both good and bad. Jaguar games often feel very low budget, like they were made by only a few people with way too little time and money, because often that is exactly how it was. That's not always good, but the Jag's style of game is an interesting one and some of the games I really do like, not only the exceptional classic Tempest 2000 but also games like I-War, Iron Soldier, and Zoop. Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands and the CD visualizer are also really good, though that CD drive is so expensive and unreliable that sane people would never buy one. Heh.
So far though, my moist played Jag games are Llamatron 2112 in Jeff Minter Classics, and Tempest 2000. And when I had that working CD drive for a month, the VLM is what i used it for the most by far. Well, I always knew that the Jeff Minter stuff was a big part of why I needed to wn a Jaguar someday.. and despite the expensse I don't regret it, it's really interesting and sometimes good. I get why people bash this system and it deserves some of it, but I like some things about it for sure regardless.
And last, those other AtariAge homebrew titles I got along with the Jag games above.
The batch of games I got in early October (ordered a month earlier) was:
Jeff Minter Classics (Jaguar) - $70, complete in box
Jaguar 6 button controller reproduction - $60, new
Halo 2600 (Atari 2600) - cart and manual, no box - $30. This one was a must-have once I got stuff from AtariAge. It's a solidly fun top-down action game. The game is really quite easy once you get used to it and badly needed difficulty options, but otherwise is a fun title which looks nice and plays well.
Sheep it Up! (Atari 2600) - cart and manual, no box, free - AtariAge had a summer sale where everythingwas discounted a bit and you could get one of two 2600 games free with your purchase, and I chose this one. It's a very simple vertical platformer, try to keep jumping up as far as you can betwen tiny little platforms. It's solid stuff, but you get only one life per game and it gets very hard really quick so it gets frustrating fast.
Ratcatcher (Atari 5200) - $45, complete with box. I like the 5200, so I had to get some 5200 stuff. I chose to not get the "reproduction" cancelled classic game and Atari 8-bit computer ports, because those are very much legally grey at best, and stuck to some original homebrews and one canceleled game actually finished by the original programmer. This one is the one fully original 5200 homebrew game I have. There aren't many, the system doesn't have that big of a fanbase. The game is a solid single-screen platform-action game.
Tempest (Atari 5200) - $35, cart and manual (no box available). This is that finished game from Atari itself. Tempest was in development for 5200 back in '84, but was cancelled incomplete. Well, decades later the original programmer helped finish the game in the '00s for release from AtariAge. It's a good port for the hardware, and plays well, particularly with the traqckball which it supports. Getting used to Tempest on a trackball takes some time but I do think it's the better way to play this game. Obviously this game has nothing on T2K, but it is a fun one to play once in a while and I'm glad to have it. I wish they had a box available, but oh well.
Xari Arena (Atari 5200) - $45, complete with box. Xari Arena is another cancelled Atari original title not released back in '84. It's a weird hybrid of Pong and Breakout, and is pretty unique. The box the fans made for it's nice as well. I'm not sure if Atari actually licenses any of AtariAge's stuff, but they certainly don't care so I was okay with getting an Atari game. This is also another game with trackball support, which is part of why I got it. The 5200 trackball is a fantastic controller!
Then in mid November (ordered late October), I got two games:
Rebooteroids - $70 (Jaguar) - complete. As above.
Castle Crisis (Atari 5200) - $40, complete. This one is a homebrew remake of Warlords for the Atari 5200. It supports both controller and trackball. It looks pretty much just like the original arcade game, but has some new features and modes so it's not just a knockoff port. This is a good version of one of the best games of the early '80s. With a four-port 5200, you can even play it with four players. The 2600 version with two sets of paddles would be a much easier choice there, but for anyone who actualy has four working 5200 controllers (I do not...) that'd be a cool thing to do.
So yeah, I got four 5200 games over the past few months. I'm glad to finally get a few more games for that console, I still really like it despite all of its issues!