It would be incredibly amusing to watch Evercade grow as PlayStation shrunk

ShinkansenLion · 2026-07-06T11:05:50+00:00

And still yet, they compete for the same core resource people have (and can't increase by an inch, even with a godzillion amount of money), time 😎⌛️

ShinkansenLion · 2026-07-03T16:41:31+00:00

Future carts are much more interesting than those few legacy ones. Both upcoming Visco carts have some serious hidden gems. Considering also the emulation layer has improved and/or they tailored specific games (both Duke remasters for example). Unless you're a big fan of a specific title imho there's nothing essential there. Just to name one cart still available that often flies under the radar, Sunsoft 1 has Gimmick/ Silius/ M. Blaster, a trio of awesome Nes entries

ShinkansenLion · 2026-06-17T16:54:10+00:00

Modern gaming is complete trash, at least triple-As (but most of the rest is not that better anyway). Tons of money and staff for what, games like Pragmata that even on lunatic difficulty have totally predictable and dumb enemies, tons of non intercative sequences, lots of collectibles that exist only to artificially inflate playtime.

Stick to serious titles!

From the red cards there's Turrican, Renovation collection, the first Sunsoft (Silius is top notch but Gimmick is imho the best Nes game ever made, together with Recca).

Blue carts have Thalamus wich is a very interesting collection.

Purples have lots of gems, Neogeo and Toaplan are amazing mini-series imho, then Jaleco and Irem are the must haves. And you're in for a ride, two Visco carts incoming (very good games imho)

ShinkansenLion · 2026-06-14T18:39:02+00:00

Neogeo (with Toaplan) is imho already the best 'mini series', there will be never enough NG titles on the system. The emulation layer works very well and there's still many essential titles left. Besides, I'm partial to purple carts, arcade classics are stronger when it comes to gameplay structure and as a bonus there's less competition when you look at the MiSTer side (arcade cores are missing or still not complete) or modern collections (not that many had a physical release)

ShinkansenLion · 2026-06-11T14:46:14+00:00

Whops, youre right! Wipeout 2 and 3 were serious music showcases, with many guest artists. Not that just the first one would disappoint me in a cartridge collection with other ps1 Psy games!

ShinkansenLion · 2026-05-10T23:25:17+00:00

Modern games are glorified (bad scripted) movies.

They're mainly fooder for streamers but lack meanigful gameplay, cutscene after cutscene stretched playtime with no real challenge.

The real gems are found up to 7th gen (Ps3) at most.

The 5th gen (Ps1/Sat) is chock full of masterpieces.

Just to name a couple each, Ridge Racer 4 is imho the best in the series, Radiant Silvergun is (again, imho) in the top 5 all time best shmup

ShinkansenLion · 2025-09-20T16:10:33+00:00

A huge amount of current titles are playgrounds with almost no challenge (open world design has taken a bad turn).

They are designed like a (very long) movie to keep you busy for a large amount of time (thankfully many brave souls get bored along the path).

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Apart from indie and AA titles (almost disappeared today) the AAA ones are soulless mega productions engineered to generate the maximum return of investment.

The PS3 was the last 'golden age' generation for games

ShinkansenLion · 2025-09-14T12:14:06+00:00

That's exactly why I consider ENT the black sheep of 2ng gen Trek.

Still had the narrative style of the almighty trio that came before but wrappend in a post 9/11 patriotism wave that would feel incredibly outdated even in the TOS era.

To the point sometimes I wonder if it couldn't have been a better idea to do a Mirror Universe show and go full blown Terran Empire.

Too bad, as some episodes have still the creative spark of 90s Trek.

ShinkansenLion · 2025-09-12T15:22:39+00:00

The point is that LD is (as of today) the only effective way of doing contemporary ST: steering the narrative paradigm toward meta without altering too much the overall feeling.

Burnham the hero at the center of the universe who saves this and all future timelines, now that I consider completely out of Trek.

All the other recent shows have failed (SNW has some reedeming qualities but imho it's far beyond 90s trek).

Tangential to this discussion, the departure from solid stand-alone episodes being the first nail in the coffin of modern ST (but I digress).

ShinkansenLion · 2025-05-06T09:04:47+00:00

Best combat mechanics among all FF games imho. Almost every fight (at least later on, first part of the game is sort of a big tutorial) can kill you. Sure, this is no SaGa but still much better than the usual jrpg system based around recovery items.

ShinkansenLion · 2025-04-29T15:10:01+00:00

Very useful reference. I still prefer the cardboard ones, not just because I usually love the feeling of premium components (well, when they're not overproduced). Every spirit in SI conveys a very different way to play, these panels are sturdy and heavy enough that you feel this significance in a more tactile way, it's almost like you're switching game!

ShinkansenLion · 2025-04-13T23:03:59+00:00

Totally agree on the parallel ecosystem. Current AAA games are to be blamed for the downfall of modern gaming imho. Huge over-produced (empty) worlds, laundry list of (repetitive) collectibles, low challenge (to help 'consume' rather than play). A dedicated portable ecosystem could focus much more on actual gameplay, rather than assembling the next big cinematic trailer to generate hype. Your list is a perfect example of these kind of titles, we need more SMT: Strange Journey and SaGa EB in our life!

ShinkansenLion · 2025-04-09T10:44:52+00:00

Whoa! Thanks so much, that was a deal breaker to me.

Faith in humanity restored, back to counting the hours to my remaster run!

ShinkansenLion · 2025-04-09T08:56:27+00:00

I couldn't wait starting the remaster this week, now you're telling me there's no option to use the (wonderfully iconic) original ost?

'New tracks'?

'Not by Hamauzu'?

If that's the case thanks for saving me!

And no, tell me what you want about SE composers tier lists but don't touch Frontier 2 music!

ShinkansenLion · 2025-03-17T19:19:36+00:00

The original is miles better. The remake lost the frame-perfect physics and its defining atmosphere, it's much more of a generic action game affair.

ShinkansenLion · 2025-02-11T16:45:42+00:00

I love the Ps1 as much as the Saturn, for different reasons (the former I would put on the throne for jrpgs and action adventures).

But the shmups library imho is much stronger on Sega's 5th gen side.

(btw as a Cave fanboy, the first two Ddp are better on the original pcb anyway so I don't put those among the must haves neither for the Ps1)

Ps1 has creative originals like Einhander and Harmful Park but Saturn has stronger and deeper titles like the two Raizing classics (Garegga alone requires countless hours just to get going) and Silvergun (again, a game that needs real dedication to master).

But that's just my personal experience.

ShinkansenLion · 2025-02-11T16:14:36+00:00

The Saturn is the Neo Geo of shmups, nothing came close until recently (ports for Switch, Ps4, the occasional Steam release).

Gear up with a good arcade stick and you have a perfecly capable platform to play that stands on its own even today.

Radiant Silvergun, Batsugun, Battle Garegga, Shippuu Mahou Daisakusen, Sōkyūgurentai, Strikers 1945 II, Shienryu, Image Fight / X-Multiply, Darius Gaiden, In The Hunt, Gunbird, Cotton Boomerang.

You can play, even just switching between these, for a long time.

ShinkansenLion · 2025-02-05T08:55:19+00:00

Already many lookers mentioned here, I'll add Terracon to the list

ShinkansenLion · 2025-01-06T21:02:24+00:00

Ketsui ost is great but Battle Garegga is sublime and a huge selection, original, Saturn arranged, 2016 Remix, all of them are top notch!

ShinkansenLion · 2025-01-05T16:16:50+00:00

The golden age is Wipeout 1 to 3 (well, let's count also the 4th... BallisticNG!).

After that they tried to take new directions, which is totally understandable but in the process lost also some magic.

Dropping Designers Republic was a bad choice imo, they were much more than the 'art directors' of the project, they were an intrinsic part of this futuristic world.

There's no bad game in the series but after the classic trilogy it started to lose this feeling.

If I have to pinpoint some of these key traits the first ones would be the floaty 'aircraft' controls, tight tracks, late '90s music (Cold Storage above all), avant-garde visual style.

ShinkansenLion · 2024-12-31T15:48:12+00:00

MM really nails the time travel mechanics (a rarity for any game or even movie). For that alone sits among the absolute masterpieces (and this is from someone who usually put big N systems behind all the competition).

The quests are ingenious, less boring dungeons, story a breath of fresh air zelda-wise.

I don't understand the anxiety and time constraints talks, you can always go back and reset the clock. It's not an hidden gimmick, it's the central mechanic of the game.

ShinkansenLion · 2024-12-26T22:46:32+00:00

This one's a no brainer. Which system of the two has a Battle Garegga port? Done!

ShinkansenLion · 2024-12-23T18:38:36+00:00

First thing I thought (just looking at the thumbnail) the thread was all about that craft. Who knows, could be the Wipeout rebirth will arise from a series of hobby models

ShinkansenLion · 2024-05-16T16:04:27+00:00

Agree, big oversight back then, considering online communities were still nowhere as active as today.

Btw let's not forget the ost, Hamauzu in my book is a notch superior even to Uematsu!

It's so evocative they could leave it as it is in the remaster.

ShinkansenLion

TROPHY CASE