S.C.G

Happy Birthday @Goafer and congrats on reaching your exercise goal. (if that's the term, Idk I just wanted to say, well done) - - - - - I've been doing a few exercises recently, just really small weights, trying to maintain what strength I have and build it up slightly. I manged to put on a bit of weight recently as well, which is a good thing as I was below 8St and I'm now just above it. (I used to be really underweight from the rubbish routine I used to have when I was in work, which was what lead to health issues. A year on and I'm still underweight but a lot better)

I'd definitely be interested to see what your new retro collection setup looks like. I'll take a picture of the Sega Shelf when I get around to tidying it up a bit. All my SNES game boxes and carts are put away at the moment, no real room for them and I don't even have that many. I still need to downsize some of my games a bit though... it's an ongoing process.

If you decide to do this, please let me know, I'd pay you for the game boxes, postage or however much you want for each, genuine Mega Drive boxes are getting trickier to come by. Also, I do get it... I've often thought to myself about how much space certain boxes for games take up, but there is something nice about picking a box up off the shelf to play a game. I bet all your Mega Drive collection looks amazing on a shelf though with all the different logos on the spines of the boxes and all that.

Day 5 - 3D Platformer. Price: GB £8.99, EU €9.99 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo EAD Released: 1997 System: N64 Super Mario 64 isn't just another game, it's one of the single most important games made within the past double decade, helping to not only create a brand new genre in the 3D Platformer, but it has also in moving gaming along in multiple directions. From the main hub of Peach's Castle at the very start, it's amazingly well designed. You make your way around this incredibly well crafted 3D world, opening doors with different numbers of stars on them, the more stars you obtain, the more of those doors you'll be able to unlock, and if you get enough stars to open the big door on that level of the castle, that's when you'll get to fight Bowser in progressively difficult boss battles. Before that though, earning most of the stars is something which is achieved through the game worlds, which are contained within magic paintings that Mario can jump into. You are then tasked with getting a specific star, but the beauty of the games design is that it allows you to collect most of the stars in any order you choose. The first area - Bob-omb Battlefield - is a masterfully created playground, which teaches you all of the vital mechanics of the game, such as running, jumping, holding onto ledges, plus much more besides. The design is so striking, should you choose to make your way straight to the top of the spiral mountain - a design which went on to influence another N64 platformer - then you'll see most of the level, yet even after you beat King Bob-omb - by picking him up and throwing him - the fun has only just begun, as you'll be able to fire Mario out of cannons, throw exploding bob-ombs at destructable objects, or even go for the challenge of obtaining one hundred coins. All of this plus much more besides is capable purely within the first game world, which goes some way to showing you just how much scope this platformer from 1997 still has. Though you can grab the stars in any order, you'll get small updates for reaching a certain amount of stars, letting you know it's possible to progress to the next part of the castle if you want to. If you're a completionist who doesn't like the idea of moving on too far before fully completing an area, then you can choose to go that route too; it's likely you will find yourself going between two or three different worlds before you activate the three different coloured caps, which grant Mario different powers. Perhaps the most famous of all, is the winged cap which allows the portly plumber to soar through the skies in certain environments, this is probably the most fun of them all, effectively selling the game on its strength alone, being that it's so proudly displayed on the box. You also have the Metal Cap, which makes Mario metallic in appearance, in addition to making him heavier allowing traversal along the seabeds of aquatic areas. And finally, the Vanish Cap which... wait, where did he go? Ah he's on the other side of the previously impassable wall! Each of these caps are time-limited however, which adds a nice bit of strategy to the proceedings. Clearly at the height of technical brilliance for its time, featuring fully realised three-dimensional characters set in environments, all built from the ground-up, it was unlike anything gamers had seen before, as it still very much represented Mario, albeit brought to life in a new way which has now become more than familiar to the audiences of today. In this modern era, it's surely testament to how amazing this title is that it still has its own unique identity, whereas the more recent Mario titles suffer from similarity at least in some ways, Super Mario 64 still appears to be tireless and timeless, in addition to coming across even clearer on the Wii U than it ever did in the Wii VC version, which now looks decidedly dated. Super Mario 64 features what is perhaps one of the most iconic soundtracks in videogame history, the legendary composer Koji Kondo makes his mark in this masterpiece, in the only way he knows how by creating some of the most marvelous melodies ever committed to cartridge. Incidentally, due to size restraints at the time, many of the tracks are recycled as they get used for multiple worlds, this is especially notable later on in the game where we have the same track used for both Tick Tock Clock, in addition to Rainbow Ride, not to mention the same track being used for the slide areas. Yet, it just goes to prove further testament to how well it works in all of these instances. Of course, let us not forget the voice of Mario himself; Charles Martinet who has provided those classic 'Whoop!' 'Wha!' and even 'Yahooo! Haha!' sound effects, which make the game come to life even more... Mama mia! this guy is a-good! Quite simply, if you have yet to experience this landmark title, then you are only doing yourself a huge disservice as you're missing out on one of the finest games in existence. While it may be true that it will take newer gamers who are not used to the N64 controls a while to acclimatise, in addition to the issue of limited draw distance on certain objects such as coins, making things a little more challengin; these are all quirks of the game which have made it so endearing to those of us who remember it the first time around. Eighteen years on, it's nothing short of impressive to see that Super Mario 64 is still every bit the classic title that it always has been, now with the ability to play it either solely on the gamepad, or on the big screen, with improved visuals, the option to remap controls, the addition of save states and Miiverse integration make it all the more enticing to play either for the first or perhaps sixty-fourth time. No better title could have been chosen to launch N64 games on the Wii U Virtual Console, here's hoping Nintendo's future account merging plans will now secure this titles future for many more generations to come. Verdict : Super Mario 64, shall remain a masterpiece forevermore. - - - - - Yep, this review was shamelessly copied and pasted from VC Weekly 338 although I did tweak it a bit, after cutting and pasting it, as @Jonnas has been so diligent in proofreading all major reviews and articles on N-Europe, in relatively recent times, this is something I want to continue with, as looking back at a lot of the reviews I posted a while back, they are certainly in need of some retroactive re-reading and correcting. This is something I'll try to address over time, for now though, I think that review above of Super Mario 64 is probably a bit easier to read now, in comparison to the version in the article (which I'll update in due course) it's still probably not perfect mind, but these thoughts still sum up how I feel about Super Mario 64, which is why it's my pick for todays topic of 3D Platformer.

That's great news about the Analogue NT Mini Noir as those are some really nice features. I'm a bit conflicted because, don't ask me why but I put down a pre-order for one back in February as I managed to get enough money together for it after selling some games. But the other day, after learning about the further delay, I actually put in an e-mail to cancel the pre-order. It's a nice machine, Analogue make some amazing products but it is very pricey, I know the machine would keep its value but still. I've been rethinking a lot of stuff recently and maybe keeping the pre-order wouldn't be the wisest move in terms of short-term finance, in the longer run though, it's a nice console. Also, I've just taken a look at that video, the game they used in in; Gimmick looks amazing, I don't suppose that would end up being the game they put on the actual system? If so, that could be something which would swing the decision a bit, that's a rare game and an outstanding one by the look of it. If it was on the system, more people would get to play it as well, though something like that could do with a re-release in digital form or otherwise.

No worries. I like your new signature.

Account Settings > Signature

Day 4 - Favourite villain/antagonist. Skull Kid from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Although technically, it should be Majora's Mask itself but just the combination of that michievous Skull Kid and the dark power of Majora's Mask, makes for a truly terrifying villain. Especially when you encounter him at the top of the Clock Tower at the last few moments on the Final Day, the moon looming ominously above you, then Skull Kid lets out that scream, bringing the final act seemingly to a close... it's impossible not to be affected in some way by that, in that moment. Those who have played the game before will know what I mean, if not though... then just watch the video above and you'll see what I'm talking about. But more to the point, if you haven't played The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask yet, then I'd very much recommend doing so. Oh and a bonus, let's not forget the quote from the Happy Mask Salesman... "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" Majora's Mask is memorable for many reasons, its main villain is easily the most memorable overall though.

ANALOG FRONTIERS - Part 2: Original Hardware / MY LIFE IN GAMING Absolutely essential viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in Retro Gaming. It contains tips for preserving the life of original hardware, modifications and so much more. Also, it's just really inspiring to see so many people actively preserving so many different aspects of videogames and wanting to impart decent knowledge to anyone interested.

Well, you're both more adventurous than me when it comes to weapons in this game, Dual Blades for life! I really should get back into this, I haven't played it in a little while since the expansion, I'd have tried to play the game online with you but you're on the Xbox version, right? I've only got the PS4 version. Having said that, I have been getting into Sea of Thieves recently and I remember you saying that you were getting into that a while back. Long-winded thread de-railment to say... Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a good day and if you do want to play some games on the Xbox One at some point, let me know, we could even get that game of Perfect Dark in. Back on-topic... Monster Hunter World is brilliant, probably one of the best games on the PS4 that I don't play as often as I probably should.

Day 3 - Local Multiplayer Goldene... *taken* Perfect Dar... *taken* ... TimeSplitters 2 It has to be TimeSplitters 2 because nothing else comes close to taking the immense amount of enjoyment obtained from both Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. Indeed, the team at Free Radical took some of the best elements from those games, but then improved things significantly by offering such a unique and varied character roster, as because the main game is centered around time travel, this opens up a myriad of selectable characters ranging from a Spy, Gingerbread Man, Robot, Monkey... Robot Monkey and many more possibilities. Not only that, the selection of modes on offer was nothing short of impressive, going far beyond the standard Deathmatch options, adding in plenty of new twists on old favourites, entirely new modes and fully customisable rule sets in addition to a plethora of different weapons which were fun to use. Loads of different arenas to choose from and if you didn't like them that much, or preferred the maps of Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, you could attempt to recreate them with the map editor, which worked well, so long as you play-tested it a lot and were prepared for a few crashes. I know the PS2 version has online, and the Xbox version is probably technically superior but it was the GameCube version which my brothers and I played for many hours in local multiplayer. There really hasn't been another FPS which has topped it since either, at least not in the same way as recreating that classic feeling which is present in all of the main FPS' titles which were made by mostly the same team or variations of over the years. Let's hope that reboot/remake/new game from THQ Nordic comes to fruition, as TimeSplitters definitely deserves to come back, at least one last time.

Thanks for the games everyone, Min Min for the win win!

Out of interest, when did you send the game and how long did the person who had bought it wait to inform you that it was apparently lost? If it was a week or two, it probably did go missing, presumably they had already waited the alotted amount of days? Plenty of items have gone missing recently I'd wager, but a lot more have just got delayed, so if it was just a few days, there's always the chance it could have still turned up. It's hard to know without tracking though, and even then, things can go wrong even with tracking, so it's not a completely safe system and even if something does go missing when tracked, there's a who process you need to go through with whoever you posted it with, to even get a chance of a refund. As a general rule though, I'd go with... £5 - £10 or so, if it can go Large Letter, stick a stamp on it, £20 +, probably best to track it, £40, definitely track it, £50 - £100+ fully insured postage.

I've had something similar happen, sold a sealed game, put it in the post via Large Letter, it got there but... somehow the game got damaged in transit, as in... there was a hole which went through the seal of the game and into the plastic of the case, never had that happen before. The person ordered it because they wanted to keep it as a sealed game, so I just let them have a full refund and keep the game. Now if I send a game just in the post and it's in new condition, I'd tend to wrap it in thin card AND a bubble wrap envelope just in case, or if it's over a certain amount, just wrap it well and let it go as a small parcel, I've never really had anything go missing before or get damaged, that was the first and hopefully the last time. I have lost money on eBay before as well, but again, just the once and looking back, it was one of those deals which seemed too good to be true, lesson learned there. If it's a cheap game though, for £5 - £10 I'd probably still send that in the post, as the difference in price can be as much as double, but yeah, it is a bit annoying if it goes wrong.

Go on then, I'll be default. I'd best get the dlc bought and downloaded though. I don't think my brother is buying the dlc (he's only recently got into SSBU, so he's got plenty of content already) but I'm sure he'd probably like to join us again.

Day 2 - Opening Section of a Game. Metroid Prime If you've played it, then you'll know why, the above video seems to outline everything about it pretty well, but if you've not played it, it's something which should be experienced. I can still remember playing the opening section on a GameCube set up in a retail store, which led to me purchasing the game straight after. The rest is history, as I've loved the Metroid series ever since.

Day 1 - Earliest Video Game Memory. Burnin' Rubber Price: N/A (Pack-in title) Developer: Ocean Released: 1990 System: Amstrad 6128+ It was Christmas 1990, that was when I had my first real experience of a videogame on our brand new Amstrad 6128+ computer. The machine itself had Basic loaded onto a cartridge, in addition to having a disc drive which was how you would play and program most games. Though there was another piece of built-in software on that EEPROM cartridge, a lesser-known racing games by the name of Burnin' Rubber, developed by Ocean Software, who were a pretty big company back then. (incidentally, Ocean were bought out by Infogrames Entertainment SA in 1998, who then went on to become Atari SA in 2009, before having to file for bankruptcy in 2013) The best way to describe this title, is that it's a bit like Outrun but with less scenery, crossed with Top Gear as you are taking part in a race and you just see how far you can get. There is only one piece of music in the entire game, the title screen theme which is actually pretty memorable, but once you get into the main game, it's all engines revving through the gears, tyres screeching and the all too familiar sound of your car hitting a barrier, crashing and flipping multiple times. You'll likely only get a little way in on your first try before the time runs out, but the more you play it, the further on you'll get and you'll notice the palette change slightly as you get through more laps of the course. There are also tunnel sections to drive through, which do break up the gameplay a bit but in practice, it just means that you have to be even more careful not to crash into the sides, or get battered by the rival racers. Get ready, for the race of your life... or at least a rather charming racing game, with some nice presentation for its time. I'm probably making it sound more exciting than it actually is, you can see what the game is like from the image above, in motion it holds a steady enough framerate but for its time, it really was there just to showcase what the Amstrad 6128+ could do, as it was a very capable machine. These days, if you can find a way to play it on a modern PC, then it's worth a go, or even if you happen to own either an Amstrad PC which can play it, or the GX4000 which will play just the cartridge, as there are ways to hook these machines up with a modern scart cable; but even then, don't go expecting much more than a nice crisp image of what is quite a basic racing game. Personally, I can only remember good things about it, this is a game which my brothers and I would play a fair amount, never really getting that far into the game until weeks or months later, inbetween playing other games from the disc which were programmed on the machine from lines of code printed in books and magazines, in addition to some other officially licensed software. Burnin' Rubber was always there though, on the machine and it really made for a fantastic first impression, in addition to being the first proper videogame I've ever had the pleasure of playing. Verdict: Burnin' Rubber is a brilliant example of an early racing game, which really took advantage of the power the Amstrad 6128+ offered at the time.

Remembering... Perfect Dark Today marks the twentieth anniversary of Perfect Dark being released on the Nintendo 64 in Europe, on June 30th, 2000 Rare released what is one of its most ambitious, original and most fondly remembered titles in the history of the company. It's a game which I can recall looking forward to, purchasing the game on release and it's still a game which is well worth playing today. Check inside for N-Europe's celebratory article of a truly great N64 game and a title with a lasting legacy. OK, technically yesterday... but I started writing this the day before and I definitely started uploading the article on the day in the afternoon, so it still counts. Thanks again to @RedShell for supplying the perfect graphics and to @Jonnas for the much appreciated proofread. (both of which were done at short notice, so I'm extra grateful that this all came together) I'm not too sure what kind of feature it ended up being in the end, but hopefully it will prove to be an enjoyable read and if not then... I want to play some Perfect Dark now...

I messaged Adam a couple of weeks ago, around the time of his birthday, though I haven't had a reply yet as I don't think he has been on at all since the end of April. @Julius was asking after him as well, as we exchanged PM's and I explained that I haven't heard anything, I really do hope he's OK though. If you're reading this Adam, you can see that we're worried about you, even though I know that you have been away from the forum for a while before and if you're going through stuff, maybe you just didn't want to be on the forum for whatever reason, which is fine, we respect that and what with how this year is going generally, we definitely understand. Now watch @Hero-of-Time come back tomorrow, from playing a marathon session of every game in his possession, with a huge updated in the 2020 Gaming Diary thread saying 'I've finished them ALL!' Or at least that's what I'd like to think... Wishing you all the best Hero, whatever you're up to and if you ever need us, we're here.

I think that's similar to the point I was at in the game originally on the Wii when I stopped playing it for a decade. You're probably at around the halfway point, or just past it... Yep, @Glen-i confirmed!

Thanks for the games @Glen-i @RedShell @BowserBasher and @L.J.G. (Yes, I'm mentioning you, even though you're not an active forum member) Those were some great matches I thought, I was surprised seeing my brother play better than I ever have with Dragon Quest's Hero. Whatever happened at the end of Red's Bayonetta stage was... unprecedented and amusing. Next week should be interesting.

Thanks, I've let him know. He should be joining in a couple of matches, hopefully.

We might have a new challenger approaching this evening. (assuming that's cool?) My brother has been talking about us playing Smash online for a while now, so I mentioned that we're usually playing Smash from 9PM. If he needs the password, is is still the same as Monster Hunter? He might not have all characters unlocked yet, but I made sure that he has the first set of DLC characters when I finally set him up with his Switch last year.

Ha, that reminds me of a certain boss battle at the end of Metroid: Other M... except I guess that one at least made a bit more sense, or was more plausible chronologically but it was still one of those "what the heck?!" moments, I thought it made for an interesting boss battle though.

I'm still very much interested in getting this, to me, it looks like the game which I wanted Sekiro to be, except this has the potential to be better. After watching that short video clip a few times over, while reading the interview with the developer on the article, the gameplay mechanics seem very promising. Everything about this game, from the setting, general theme, visuals and sound design just seems like it resonates with me, and I have enjoyed Sucker Punch games a lot. Ghost of Tsushima might well be a day one purchase.