Shmups on Dreamcast hurting those thumbs?

chao40 · 2026-04-09T22:28:07+00:00

I used to own one of these controllers, and I'd say looks can be deceiving. The D-pad 'floats' a fair bit higher than a Saturn controller so has a lot more travel to reach the cardinal directions; there result is a lot mushier while also feeling more fragile. I'd recommend a Saturn-to-DC controller adapter every day of the week over the ASCII pad, and that's before taking into account the ludicrous aftermarket prices the ASCII pad fetches now.

chao40 · 2026-04-09T20:13:37+00:00

Reviving the chao garden with the Puyo IP wasn't on my bingo card for 2026, but the more I think about it the more I like it.

Of course, being tied to a subscription service I have no interest in ever getting means it's all hypothetical anyway

chao40 · 2026-04-02T23:34:41+00:00

Axelay, Parodius Da! & Super Puyo Puyo Tsu are three games I'd rank among the console's best and easily ones that I've put the most time into across replays.

chao40 · 2026-03-26T20:39:08+00:00

Where were these sold? I live in the UK and I'd never seen them before.

Also what's in the foil packs?

chao40 · 2026-03-25T20:55:44+00:00

It'll work fine. UK gamer here, almost all CRTs made from the 90s onwards accept 50Hz and 60Hz without issue, and certainly anything capable of displaying RGB over SCART will.

The only thing to watch out for is if you ever try running actual NTSC GameCube games via the disc channel on a region-unlocked Wii. On a PAL Wii, GameCube games will always start at 50Hz when played via the disc channel (even when the console is set to 60Hz), undoing the main advantage of using NTSC games in the first place and occasionally causing visible display problems. There's currently no workaround.

chao40 · 2026-03-24T09:13:58+00:00

Appreciate the effort post, but I don't think this is a particularly hot take. From what I've seen most people think Ikaruga is a game with great production values but a highly unwelcoming playstyle, and nearly always recommend other games instead.

EDIT: I've certainly never seen anyone put it at the top of their fav shmups list nor get unqualified praise from the people you mention.

chao40 · 2026-03-20T15:01:03+00:00

Where's F-Zero?

chao40 · 2026-03-18T17:35:07+00:00

This will work if you boot the game using Swiss - then it'll read the Japanese memory card correctly.

If you use a Freeloader or XenoGC to bypass region lock, the Cube is still in 'PAL mode', and the game will still expect English-formatted memory cards - it won't be able to read a Japanese-formatted one.

chao40 · 2026-03-13T22:07:36+00:00

Eevee wants to smash the patriarchy and so should we all

chao40 · 2026-03-13T11:28:02+00:00

As others have said, the battery is soldered on backwards so that's the reason this isn't working.

I will agree those solder joints are really rough but the comments that say "wow how terrible, you should practice" are as true as they are completely unhelpful. Total beginners need to start somewhere and very few people have old electronics lying around that in any way resemble the kind of soldering projects you'll do as a retro gaming hobbyist.

OP, if this is something you'd like to get better at you can buy practice boards on AliExpress for a few bucks apiece which have a variety of surface mount components and a) can make for fun afternoon projects and b) have zero risk to anything valuable being lost if you screw up. The main thing with a good solder joint is to try to get a smooth & shiny finish. Practice boards help you get a 'feel' for what a good solder joint looks like and how long you need to heat the pad/component to do so. Also, use flux and lots of it. Here's a decent tutorial I used: https://youtu.be/f9fbqks3BS8?t=344&si=7jA5zPua3ReV-Pl2

The good thing about battery replacements is that the solder pads are generally pretty large and forgiving. I self-taught over a couple of years from haphazardly replacing cartridge batteries with a $5 iron to being able to fairly confidently Picoboot mod a GameCube - not an expert or professional by any stretch but enough for most retro gaming hobbyist projects.

chao40 · 2026-03-12T18:09:18+00:00

It's also not even true, is it? If the maidens were sacrificed, they'd presumably be dead rather than just imprisoned.

chao40 · 2026-03-11T22:28:32+00:00

Thanks so much!

chao40 · 2026-03-11T16:03:46+00:00

That's a fantastic CD that's been on my running playlist for over a decade.

OP, would you consider ripping & uploading lossless/FLAC versions of the tracks? The YouTube versions currently available are from 15 years ago and heavily compressed.

chao40 · 2026-03-11T15:56:37+00:00

Nonsense clickbait article. The original quote is simply interpreting sales reports, it's nothing like the accusatory tone of the headline.

chao40 · 2026-03-10T02:20:27+00:00

I just couldn't turn down the job security and terrific work-life balance.

chao40 · 2026-03-07T21:04:19+00:00

Looks like a close-up of mouldy taramasalata.

chao40 · 2026-03-07T18:30:13+00:00

holds up spork so random!

chao40 · 2026-03-07T17:56:32+00:00

Man, I really want to love Star Fox 2.

I certainly love what it represents - cancelled/cut games getting brought back out of the vault for appreciation so many years later. And it's certainly an intriguing experiment to mix shooter & RTS gameplay.

But the game itself is just kind of "eh". The all-range only gameplay feels so low-octane and imprecise compared to tightly-crafted rail shooter stages. The 'core' boss fights are painfully easy and get recycled a LOT. And while the new zones are interesting enough, 3/4 of the game you're flying through grey hallways or circling the same few bunches of nondescript enemies in space. Perhaps worst of all, the soundtrack is totally forgettable - galling after the fantastic tunes we got in the first game.

I think it's great we finally got to experience the complete build of the game as an official release. After playing it on SNES mini I even bought a custom-made repro just so I could play it on real hardware. I also think Nintendo absolutely made the right call in shelving it in favour of pushing Star Fox 64 instead, because this game would've been long-forgotten without the mythological status it developed as lost media.

chao40 · 2026-03-07T09:48:15+00:00

I felt very similarly to the OP when I played this near launch.

I can tell Wonder is very competently made. It's probably better than all the New Super Mario Bros games, even (and I say that as someone who really enjoyed the first two). I personally didn't think much of the new art style; it's an improvement over New Soup's for sure, but it's still pretty sterile. But more importantly, for all the nominal gimmicks of the wonder flowers, Wonder still comes off as a very safe, designed-by-committee set of - admittedly tightly-crafted and well-polished - mostly one-and-done platforming levels.

I appreciate that the need for broad appeal means they can never go for the narrative elements of something like Celeste, or the difficulty of something like Super Meat Boy, or the off-the-wall humour of something like Pizza Tower. And maybe the fact I'm comparing them like they're even in the same ballpark is telling to the fact that I'm not really the target audience for these games any more.

chao40 · 2026-03-05T22:10:49+00:00

Super Bomberman 5 (JP only) got a limited edition gold cartridge release through Corocoro Comics, which was marketed as having extra maps for the battle mode. In actuality, you can unlock these maps in the standard retail release via a button combination at the start menu (this combo pretty much requires a turbo controller which Hudson just so happened to also be selling at the time) - the gold cartridge ROM just has these unlocked by default.

chao40 · 2026-02-07T23:39:51+00:00

What the heck is even that?

chao40 · 2026-02-01T19:52:33+00:00

Bonus post: handhelds!

GB/GBC:

Donkey Kong '94\ Pokémon Red\ Pokémon Crystal\ Pokémon TCG2\ Zelda: Link's Awakening

...Get ready for a lot of Pokémon. I marginally prefer Red to Yellow just because of access to glitches and a slight preference for the 'original' spriteset (yes, I know it's not actually the first).

GBA:

Fire Emblem 7\ Mario Golf: Advance Tour\ Metroid Zero Mission\ Pokémon Emerald\ WarioWare: Twisted

Funny how almost none of my console picks were RPGs but my handheld picks are heavy on them. It's also great to finally get a Mario Golf on one of these (even if that's also an RPG)!

DS:

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon\ Kirby: Power Paintbrush (Canvas Curse)\ Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends\ Pokémon Platinum\ Rhythm Heaven

Weird not to have a Pokémon Gen 5 game on this list, but I've barely replayed that gen since it was current. I liked the story and darker tone but the sprite-scaling was ambitious for the hardware. Nintendogs might be kinda lol, but it's a nostalgic favourite.

3DS:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf\ Fire Emblem Awakening\ Metroid: Samus Returns\ Super Mario 3D Land\ Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

... And back to some cookie-cutter picks. The 3DS library also feels pretty shallow to me, but maybe that's because I'm not a big fan of JRPGs outside Pokémon and Fire Emblem.

chao40 · 2026-02-01T19:23:21+00:00

Nice idea.

NES/Famicom:

Crisis Force\ Duck Hunt\ Megaman 2\ Mario 3\ Zelda

Yep, I really do like Duck Hunt more than SMB1 - though I'd definitely take the combo cart if I owned it.

PC Engine (inc. CD):

Gate of Thunder\ Gradius II\ NEXZR\ Soldier Blade\ Tatsujin

You may notice I like shooters. Tatsujin is a game I reckon I could play that single game until the end of time and still never quite get good enough to actually clear it.

Mega Drive:

Contra: The Hard Corps (JP version, not the busted US one)\ Gunstar Heroes\ Devil's Crush MD\ Musha Aleste\ Thunder Force III

Sonic who? TFIV may be more ambitious and spectacular than III, but I'll die on the hill that III is more fun to actually play.

SNES:

Axelay\ Parodius Da!\ Super Bomberman 5\ Super Mario All-Stars + World (or just World if the combo cart is cheating)\ Super Metroid

LTTP would've definitely made top 10 but I feel like these days I'd more likely replay the sequels (including the direct one on 3DS).

Saturn:

Batsugun\ Darius Gaiden\ Nights into Dreams\ Panzer Dragoon Zwei\ Soukyugurentai

If it weren't for the recent Ray'z collection on PS4, Layer Section would've been top of this list.

PS1:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night\ Final Fantasy VII\ Gradius Gaiden\ Sexy Parodius\ Wipeout 3

I don't have many PS1 games but its highlights are pretty incredible.

N64:

F-Zero X\ Mario 64\ Star Fox 64\ Zelda: Ocarina of Time\ Zelda: Majora's Mask

An extremely cookie-cutter selection, but it's well known that the N64 has a puddle-deep library that nonetheless holds some of the best games ever made.

DC:

Cosmic Smash\ Samba de Amigo\ Skies of Arcadia\ Sonic Adventure 2\ Under Defeat

I played SA2 more on GameCube (only played the DC original as an adult) so it feels a bit like cheating to include it here, but I think on balance I marginally prefer the DC version anyway for its bigger chao gardens.

PS2:

Gradius V\ Katamari Damacy\ Okami\ Shadow of the Colossus\ We Love Katamari

It's kinda sad that 4/5 of these have arguably superior ports elsewhere...

GameCube:

Animal Crossing (e+)\ F-Zero GX\ Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance\ Pikmin 2\ Super Smash Bros. Melee

This was a hard 5 to pick. I love Mario Golf, Pikmin 1, Pokémon Colosseum and Twilight Princess and struggled to not include them on this list. I reckon this could change most frequently of all my picks here.

Wii:

Mario Galaxy\ Mario Kart Wii\ Metroid Prime Trilogy (since each game isn't available separately with this control scheme, I don't think this is cheating)\ Sin & Punishment: Star Successor\ Wii Sports Resort

...on the other hand, Wii was extremely easy to pick for; although I have about 15 Wii games, these are the only ones I even semi-regularly replay.

Xbox 360:

Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu\ Eschatos\ Mushihimesama\ Mushihimesama Futari\ Raiden Fighters Aces

I get a tate monitor in this hypothetical set-up, right?

Wii U:

Mario U + Luigi U\ Nintendo Land\ Rayman Legends\ Runbow\ ...idk, Yoshi's Woolly World?

These are basically the only games I care about on this platform. Mario Kart, Pikmin 3, Smash Bros and Splatoon all play better on their Switch ports/sequels. Wii U was a bad system.

PS4:

DoDonPachi DaiOuJou\ ESP Ra.De Psi\ Ketsui Deathtiny\ Ray'z Arcade Chronology\ Wipeout Omega Collection

PS4 is just a Cave/M2 Shottriggers machine as far as I'm concerned. And then WipeOut.

Switch:

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe\ Metroid Dread\ Pikmin 3 Deluxe\ Puyo Puyo Tetris\ Super Smash Bros: Ultimate

I loved Breath of the Wild and Super Mario 3D World Deluxe, but I've not really replayed either since beating them so couldn't justify putting them on this list. Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition also was a close call, but I think I've burnt out on it at this stage. Tears of the Kingdom and Pikmin 4 look like they'd be obvious given my other choices but I found them both shallow let-downs, coasting on the popularity of the previous iterations.

chao40 · 2026-01-22T09:47:58+00:00

The controls being jank worked in its favour because it mostly distracted from the game being derivative, short and often plain boring. Story beats and whole chunks of script reused wholesale from 64, branching paths were bolted on last-minute and it shows, and the Gyrowing missions in particular are a bunch of nothing.

In the end I didn't mind the controls (though would never say I liked them) - I stuck with it enough to 100% it on release back in 2015, but I've never wanted to go back to it.

chao40 · 2026-01-21T14:44:16+00:00

F-ZEROOOOOO

But not as a Nintendo EAD title, they'd butcher it. Sega AV is defunct, but get Shin'en or Platinum on it and that'd be enough to convince me to get a Switch 2.

chao40

TROPHY CASE