Retro gaming
Wow. The Game Boy Advance is a really neat machine. Although it has lower resolution (240*160 pixels), it’s much more powerful than the good old SNES.
I’m playing games on a GBA emulator called Visual Boy Advance. It really feels great to play games that look like they did on the SNES, only better. The GBA can do exactly the same stuff as the SNES, only more, faster and better. Especially Mode-7 effects look darn impressive.
Metroid Fusion was incredibly fun. It’s been eight years since the last game, Super Metroid for the SNES. I have very fond memories of that game. The first time I played it, it took me about 13 hours to complete the game. The second time it took three. Too bad I sold my SNES games and my SNES broke… Now I’m resorting to ZSNES for my SNES needs.
Anyway. Metroid Fusion feels exactly like Super Metroid. The same gameplay and style. The controls are slightly different since the GBA has fewer buttons than the SNES, but it’s just as easy to do stuff anyway — though the wall jumping is still hard to do. Samus also has a few new moves — she can climb ladders, and grab ledges when she jumps/falls and pull herself up.
And they even keep Ridley in the fridge… Gee, I wonder if you’re supposed to fight him later or something? Naaah.
Maybe I should buy myself a GBA one day? They’re not terribly expensive — 1200 SEK or so. Though the games are a wee bit on the expensive side, costing about 500 SEK each. So there will be much, uhm, “previewing” via emulator before I’d buy any game.
But no, first I want an iPod.
Other impressive games include Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, which is much better than the first Castlevania game for GBA, Circle of the Moon. Both games are essentially like Metroid in a Castlevania setting: platform games focused on exploration.
Harmony of Dissonance in particular makes great use of Mode-7 effects, with big-ass bosses made out of several sprites that are scaled and rotated with Mode-7 and has a primitive skeletal animation — as an example, see the above image. Too bad it isn’t a moving image, that big suit of armor is amazing. And that’s not even a boss… You actually encounter it about 30 seconds into the game!
If I buy a GBA, both Metroid Fusion and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance are given purchases. I love platform games.
January 5th, 2006 at 21:35
Have to agree with Castlevania: HD being a good game, beat it ages ago, thought the upsidedown castle was a very cool touch. Did you ever find Allucards Shield? I’m afriad the game was since stolen from me…been lookin for a rom of Castlevania: HD, found the emulator already, where did you get yours if you don’t mind telling?