What are you playing?

[noiseredux]

Here's a game I probably wouldn't have played had it not been 'free' on Switch Online. Stunt Race FX was somewhat hyped back in the day because of the FX chip a la Star Fox. And I mean, from a technical standpoint - yeah it's impressive. You've got a polygonal racer on SNES! And it's at least playable. But comparing the two games - Star Fox is absolutely amazing and Stunt Race FX is... merely playable.

For one thing, it seems like part of the way that pulled off this feat is by making the screen much smaller and throwing black borders around it. You remember that old trick they'd use for early CD-ROM games that had video clips, right? But for a SNES game it just looks weird.

The other thing is that the frame rate absolutely chugs. This is a racing game, and the sense of speed just isn't there. Likewise, the controls feel janky and I'm constantly either over-turning or under-turning. Compare this to another SNES racer like Mario Kart that had impeccable controls and it's easy to be disappointed.

It also feels like a rather slight game. There's only three cars to choose from at the start. Apparently you can unlock a fourth, but I'm not going to bother. Oh, and there's a big rig bonus mode that's pure torture.

I appreciate what Stunt Race FX pulled off in 1994. And as a piece of gaming history, I'm glad to have given a try. But I can't see myself coming back to this one anytime soon.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Started the Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story remake today after finishing the remake of Superstar Saga the other day (review pending :b).

First thing I notice, right off the bat, is that while this game really looks very very similar to the Superstar Saga remake, it runs noticeably worse. The framerate especially during battles (even in the tutorial one just jumping on Bowser) is definitely lower than Superstar Saga's remake. The other odd thing is that the Bros have far floatier jumps. They feel like they hang in the air wayyy longer than they did in Superstar Saga.

[isiolia]

The other thing is that the frame rate absolutely chugs. This is a racing game, and the sense of speed just isn't there. Likewise, the controls feel janky and I'm constantly either over-turning or under-turning. Compare this to another SNES racer like Mario Kart that had impeccable controls and it's easy to be disappointed.

That's the authentic Stunt Race FX experience all right.

[noiseredux]

It's hard to articulate just how big NBA Jam was back in the day. It was one of those 90's games that was an arcade staple. And EVERYONE had some version of it at home. The big thing was finding all of the hidden players in both the original and TE versions of the game. Even crazier was that this was a SPORTS game. And even non-sports fans seemed to enjoy it thanks to its crazy over-the-top arcade style gameplay.

Back then SNES was my preferred way to play NBA Jam. But I also had it in portable form. Truth be told, there were several games like this (Mortal Kombat II comes to mind) where I actually had it for SNES, but also Game Boy because I liked the ability of taking some version of the game with me between my mom and dad's houses.

These ports were serviceable at the time. But man, trying to play the GB port of NBA Jam is rough. I will say that it looks good for what it is. It's a pretty close approximation of the console game. But that being said, there's one thing that completely destroys this version: the controls.

Let me remind you that NBA Jam is a three-button game. You have shoot, pass, and turbo. But what's that? The Game Boy only has two face buttons? True. Which means the third function is set to the Start button. Uh oh. By default, this is turbo, and it's awful. There's no physically comfortable way to make this game work.

I tried for a while to play using my index finger on Start and my middle finger on the face buttons but this was super uncomfortable and honestly confusing. Eventually, I resorted to just not using turbo at all. Which completely ruins the game by the way. I mean turbo is pretty much how you "jam," right?

There might be a way to reassign the buttons. I think there is. I guess I could change passing to Start and just try to dominate the game without my teammate's help as much as I can. But I don't know. It definitely strips something from the flow of the game. It's too bad. This could be a solid portable title. And I guess it sufficed when I was a kid. But I just can't squeeze the same enjoyment out of it this way now.

[opa]

^Maybe an emulator would work out better? You could map to a three button controller. But if you're going through the trouble of that you might as well play a better version.

[noiseredux]

^Maybe an emulator would work out better? You could map to a three button controller. But if you're going through the trouble of that you might as well play a better version.

right. Part of my interest in playing these kinds of ports is to experience their limitations. I mean, I guess in theory I could pop this into my Retron 5 and remap the buttons that way. So it's not completely unplayable. But the above was my experience playing the legit cart on a legit Game Boy (Advance SP).

[opa]

Noise have you tried the port of blades of steel on gb? It does not play around.

[BoneSnapDeez]

noise,

You're bringing back memories......... A couple of years ago I played Gyromite juggling two controllers (no R.O.B. in this house). It was something.

Oh man..... isn't that a launch title?

[noiseredux]

Noise have you tried the port of blades of steel on gb? It does not play around.

I haven't. TBH, I can't recall if I ever played any version of Blades Of Steel.




I've never been a fan of Sonic & Knuckles. Which is kind of weird, because I am a fan of the other early 2D Sonic games. The first game was why I wanted a Genesis at all as a kid. And the second game was huge - I wore my Sonic Tuesday pre-order shirt proudly back then. And then there was Sonic CD which may actually be my favorite. I know I'm in the minority there. But man, EVERYONE seems to think that Sonic & Knuckles is like the best in the series. And I just can't seem to enjoy it.

But y'know, tastes change, so I decided to give it another try this past weekend. Now oddly, Sonic & Knuckles is not included on the Genesis collection on Switch. Luckily, it IS on the Sonic Mega Collection on Gamecube, so that's how I played it. I'll tell you this - I miss my Wavebird controller. That thing was amazing, but in a move of stupidity, I got rid of it a while back in a purge.

But that's neither here nor there. Sonic & Knuckles is... just not a game I'm into. If I play as Sonic then it just feels like ANOTHER Sonic game except I don't really care for the level design. I don't know. They feel too long and just don't flow well for me. And if I play as Knuckles - which I think is kind of the point, right? - then I have even less fun because I find him totally clunky to play with. I know people like his climbing ability and all, but I just feel like I never really get comfortable with how he moves or floats or whatever.

So I don't know. I got up to the third boss and saw a Game Over and just had no motivation to start again. I'm all set. I guess I'll never really care for this game.



I don't know why I never played Yoshi's Island back in the day. I mean, Super Mario World is probably my favorite 2D platformer of all time. Probably? No. It must be! But for some reason, the sequel didn't interest me in 1995. I must have moved on to more 'mature' games by then, and the crayon colors and baby Mario must have scared me off.

But I did finally play it sometime in the late 2000's when I picked up the GBA port of the game. I remember being pleasantly surprised. But for some reason I didn't stick with it all that long. And I really haven't thought about the game since.

Luckily, Yoshi's Island found its way back to me via the Switch Online service. My daughter is three months now, and she seems to really like watching bright and colorful visuals. So as an alternative to cartoons, I fired up Yoshi's Island and put her little chair next to mine in the game room.

Well, the bright colors really did seem to comfort her. And me? I had a lot of fun playing the game as well. Visually, the game holds up incredibly. I mean, I'd much rather look at graphics like this in 2019 than say Donkey Kong Country or Mortal Kombat.

It also plays well. Yoshi feels like Yoshi, and the levels are interesting. But with that said, I feel like the game would have benefited from NOT having the Super Mario World 2 title. It should have just been called Yoshi's Island and considered a spin-off, because this doesn't feel like SMW2. It feels like its own thing. And having that comparison in my head kind of hurts it.

Let's be real - we've never gotten a follow up that can compete with Super Mario World. I suppose the closest is that you could call the New Super Mario Bros games spiritual successors. And while I LIKE all of those games to varying degrees, none of them are as perfect as Super Mario World.

But I digress. This is a super fun game. Although one that I need to turn the volume down on. As a new dad, there's a certain level of unneeded stress that comes from hearing a baby crying in a game. C'mon.

I'm currently kicking around in the second world, and having a solid time. Certainly I'd consider this BETTER than any of the NSMB games anyway. And I'll definitely say that Nintendo has done a great job with the SNES games on Switch Online. I feel like even in their first initial batch of games they've out shined the NES offerings.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Our opinions intersect quite a bit here. I never cared for Sonic & Knuckles (or Sonic 3) myself. The levels feel huge and arbitrarily constructed, and both games have this unpleasant sort of "looseness" to the design and controls.

Yoshi's Island feels like the exact opposite in comparison. Super-tight and meticulously constructed. We've been playing it over here in the Bone house as well, as my daughter has her own SNES and copy of the game now.