Retro consoles worth checking out?

[Pookiablo]

Hey guys,

 

This isn't really Nintendo-specific so my apologies if it's in either the wrong board or just not right for forum in general.

 

As you all know by now, I'm big into my N64 collecting yada yada. But I was wondering what other retro machines people consider to be worth checking out. Any love for the Atari 2600? Maybe Sega Saturn? I dunno, but I thought that eventually I may spread my wings and look into collecting other retro games aside from N64.

 

So to kick-off discussion? What are people's thoughts on old Atari machines and the NES? I've only ever briefly played a NES a few times but if I'm after a retro fix, is it the way to go?

 

Also, I'd love to try an Atari 2600 (never even seen one in real life as far as I can remember). I might pick one of these up cheap sometime if I'm bored. Any games that are worth getting this machine for?

[Fierce_LiNk]

I would definitely recommend a NES. However, I'm unsure about how much you'd be paying for games. I got a sweet deal a few years back with a mate. He sold his NES, two controllers and about 4 games to me for 20 quid. I was happy to pay that.

 

A while back, I was interested in picking up a Saturn, but nothing ever came of it. For collecting purposes, you can't really go wrong. Although, I'm unsure about the price (again) and how the games have held up to the test of time. Being one of the first 3D consoles, I'm betting they'll look very rough around the edges. I really want one, though.

 

Depending how retro you want to go, I reckon you should go for a Commodore64.

 

 

Both the best and worst thing I have ever used in my life.

 

I have a horrific memory of trying to play Hong Kong Phooey on that thing. Loaded the game up, did all the prompts to get it running, and it crashed 99 times out of 100 before the game screen came up.

 

On the one time I did get it working, it crashed 30 seconds into the game.

 

FUUUUUUUUU!

[nekunando]

I actually bought a Sega Saturn with several games, such as Sega Rally, Daytona USA, Tomb Raider, Wipeout and Manx TT last year for a reasonable price.. but after only a couple of days I realised I had made a big mistake as it just did nothing for me at all

 

I sold it less than a week later

[Hero-of-Time]

I actually bought a Sega Saturn with several games, such as Sega Rally, Daytona USA, Tomb Raider, Wipeout and Manx TT last year for a reasonable price.. but after only a couple of days I realised I had made a big mistake as it just did nothing for me at all

 

I sold it less than a week later

 

The problem with the Saturn is that graphically it hasn't aged well at all. If you can look past the polygon mess then there are many gems on the system. I highly recommend....

 

NiGHTS

Panzer Dragoon

Panzer Dragoon Zwei

Shining: Holy Ark

Shining Force 3

Guardian Heroes

Sonic Jam

Sonic R

Virtua Cop

Virtua Cop 2

House of the Dead

Megaman X 3

Fighters Megamix

Virtua Fighter 2

Fighting Vipers

Clockwork Knight

Clockwork Knight 2

Manx TT

Sega Rally

Daytona USA

Die Hard Arcade

Saturn Bomberman

Burning Rangers

Dragon Force

 

I never got to play it but Panzer Dragoon Saga is supposed to be fantastic aswell.

[Retro_Link]

Depending how retro you want to go, I reckon you should go for a Commodore64.

Similarly, the Amiga 500 is where I started out...

 

(As mentioned a bit in the New Zealand Story thread) These consoles provide hardcore gaming at it's best!

[S.C.G]

I never got to play it but Panzer Dragoon Saga is supposed to be fantastic aswell.

 

Oh it is, well worth buying the system for... the thing is though you'd be buying the game for the system more like as it costs near enough £100 for a complete copy...

 

It's worth it but... you're better off trying to get it cheaper if you can, I was fortunate enough to pick it up for a paltry £4 from a second hand shop that didn't know what they were selling.

[nekunando]

The problem with the Saturn is that graphically it hasn't aged well at all. If you can look past the polygon mess then there are many gems on the system..

 

I quite enjoyed a couple of the games I had but when I looked to see what other games would interest me, there ended up being very little

 

Several of the games you mentioned would certainly have been nice to have, but the price of many of them forced me to believe that it just wasn't gonna be a worthwhile investment for me

[Hero-of-Time]

Several of the games you mentioned would certainly have been nice to have, but the price of many of them forced me to believe that it just wasn't gonna be a worthwhile investment for me

 

Yeah, that's another downside to getting a decent Saturn collection, you have to spend a fortune to get the better games and that's if you can even find them.

[mcj metroid]

well you don't get more retro than the atari 2600. Has tons of great games and such a historic little wonder.

 

[Pookiablo]

Damn mcj, that advert is awesome. Bad but awesome!

 

Didn't the Saturn have that awesome Bomberman game with like 10 player or something? I'm quite a fan of polygonal graphics (I think Body Harvest on the N64 looks good for some reason) so it might be worthwhile. However, my retro-sense is tingling and telling me that it won't be cheap. Might have to wait til I'm rich.

 

Think I'll consider a NES and/or Atari 2600 in the near future though. I won't be as anal when it comes to boxes and manuals with those though, because I imagine complete games will cost a fortune for those systems. As long as I have my near-complete 64 collection one day, I'll be happy!

[Grazza]

If you get the Saturn, it's definitely the sprite-based games that are worth checking out. Hero of Time mentioned most of them, but an oft forgotten gem is Story of Thor 2 (Beyond Oasis 2).

 

I wouldn't bother with any retro consoles, personally, as I dislike having more physical items than I need.

[Patch]

The Atari 2600 was my second console. We had loads of games and we had a blast playing all of them. We even had the wooden version.

 

[ATTACH]3388[/ATTACH]

That's right, the whole thing was made from wood.

 

If you're worried about Saturn games standing the test of time, then you're not going to get much fun out of an Atari 2600!

 

If you did buy an Atari 2600, I would recommend these games off the top of my head. I still play them occasionally:

 

Joust

Incredibly simple, yet addictive game where the objective is to kill all the other jousters by bumping into them while you are higher than they are. That's it.

 

[ATTACH]3389[/ATTACH]

Joust. There are better screenshots than this one. :-(

 

Berzerk

At the time, a very nerve-shattering game where you can die just by touching the walls. Evil Otto still gives me nightmares...

 

[ATTACH]3390[/ATTACH]

Berzerk. He'll be coming soon. He'll be coming SOON. He'll be COMING SOON!

 

Combat

Varied takes on the 1-on-1 half-strategy, half action game. Great fun with two players.

 

[ATTACH]3391[/ATTACH]

Combat. "You move first", "No, you", "No you"...

 

Solaris

Possibly one of the most polished and accomplished games with an assortment of level types and a large quest.

 

[ATTACH]3392[/ATTACH]

Solaris. Do a Barrel Roll!

 

Yars' Revenge

Classic and simple. Very hard to say what makes this a classic, but I remember it fondly.

 

[ATTACH]3393[/ATTACH]

Yars' Revenge. It's really good. Honest

 

Battlezone

Another nerve-shatterer, this time with tanks. There is something about staring down the gun of a tank while quickly trying to aim your sights at it that never gets less pants-wetting, no matter how many times you play it.

 

[ATTACH]3394[/ATTACH]

Battlezone. Still used today in military training exercises.

[flameboy]

I'd say pick up an Amiga 500! So many lost gems out there! Failing that how about a megadrive? spectrum mayhaps...

[Ville]

I wouldn't bother with any retro consoles, personally, as I dislike having more physical items than I need.

 

Same here. Have gathered quite a few consoles and games, and even though they're great and connected to a lot of cool memories, they do take a lot of room...I've been intending to sell this stuff for some time now, but since it's located in my mom's house, which is 5½ hours away from here, still yet to actually do this...

 

However, some of the more recent games I've actually managed to sell after completing them...Works surprisingly well: you get both the game experience, but also some / all of your money back...

[Happenstance]

I need to try and get a Megadrive again, I really regret selling my original, had quite a good collection of games for it as well.

[Fierce_LiNk]

If you want to go further back than the NES, Pookey, then you could try this:

 

 

The videopac! Also known as the Philips g7000. I had one of these when I was a kid. I loved eet!

 

 

That western game in the middle, with the cowboy type dude. I had that. It was amaaazing. Can't remember its name though.

 

Hehe, pookey. A key of poo.

Edited September 6, 2010 by Fierce_LiNk

[Patch]

Cool. Gunfighter?

 

 

Outlaw for the Atari 2600 was very similar, and very good.

[Arnieboy]

Got to mention the SNES if your talking retro, so many good games!

And as mentioned the NES and the Megadrive are also great systems with great games.

 

But if you want to look more recently, why not try a Sega Dreamcast? I recently got one and there's some really good games on it, plus it's stupidly cheap to collect for, (there's several copies of Jet Set Radio on ebay, sealed, for a fiver).

[Pookiablo]

Hehe, pookey. A key of poo.

 

You are lucky. Your useful images have saved you from an untimely death! An untimely death by pookey (they're a bit shitty to try and open doors)

[nekunando]

But if you want to look more recently, why not try a Sega Dreamcast? I recently got one and there's some really good games on it, plus it's stupidly cheap to collect for, (there's several copies of Jet Set Radio on ebay, sealed, for a fiver).

 

I got a Dreamcast a couple of years ago and as it stands I've basically got every game for it I could ever want It's a great console and, like you say, there are plenty of bargains to be had

 

I got Jet Set Radio and Virtua Tennis sealed for £5 as well as new controllers for the same price Definitely worth looking into

[Yars Revenge]

A Personal favourite of mine is the Atari 2600,it is interesting with it variations of the console itself 4-switch,6-switch,wood finish ,all black (darth vader) and variety of cartridge labels for each game (space invaders and Centipede carts spring to mind),the pc engine is worth a look if you fancy a challenge lol

[Llama Juice]

If you want games that have some actual depth to them the SNES comes to mind.

 

I'm a "retro collector" aka I have just heaps of all sorts of old stuff.... and even though my primary focus in collecting is the NES, the SNES has just been getting a lot more love lately from me. Games like Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid... all fantastic games that really should only be played on original hardware. (All games that I've actually played through on my SNES within the last week XD)

 

That being said, I'm a platform junkie... I <3 my platformers.

 

There are a handful of underappreciated games on the SNES too like The Adventures of Kid Kleets!

 

Kid Kleets was neat because the only way to hurt people in the game is by using your soccer ball... you can't jump on people's heads becasue that'll hurt YOU haha. This takes a little bit of getting used to and you WILL die a LOT in the first stages... but eventually you'll get very comfortable with your ball and it makes the game a very interesting and very fun experience. The controls for the most part are just spot on too. There's a lot of platformer games that don't quite feel precise or polished enough... but this one hits it perfectly. The only down side to this game is that it's rather short... taking only a few hours to beat if you're dedicated to the cause :P

 

Uniracers was a really cute and interesting racing/platformer/stunt...game thing that I had a BLAST with back in the day, sadly my cartridge doesn't work anymore

 

 

Think of Sonic + Tony Hawk + good racing.... then add in a vial of WIN and you have Uniracers. (Apparently the PAL version is called Unirally or something like that) The game has awesome multiplayer as well, and really is where the game shines. The single player is fun in itself, but as always racing games are more fun with friends.

 

A lot of people say that gaming really hit it's stride at the SNES, and it seemed like that's where developers were able to do all sorts of things that they'd been WANTING to do for the past X years but didn't really have the power to do it. As much as I love the NES, I have to say if you're going back to find one good console worth checking out, it's gotta be the Super Nintendo.

[nekunando]

Llama, you say you love platformers.. have you ever tried Kid Klown in Crazy Chase or Mickey Mania on the SNES?

 

 

 

The latter is certainly the better of the two games but I have a soft spot for both I remember borrowing them both off a friend at primary school and that encouraged me to buy them myself in recent years

 

I also grew up with Tom & Jerry, also on the SNES, and I still have it I played through it there quite recently and it certainly wasn't as difficult as I remember it being when I was wee

 

 

My brother got Unirally in Scotland a few years ago but I haven't really sat down to play it properly. You may just have inspired me to do that at some point in the near future

Edited November 9, 2010 by nekunando

[enchantress]

A friend of mine had the Atari many years ago and another the SNES. We got many hours of entertainment out of both systems, but my personal favourite is the N64. Unfortunately both of my N64 consoles and all of my game cartridges (not to mention two Gamecubes) were damaged by my younger siblings and as yet I've been unable to replace them. It's very sad :/

[Llama Juice]

^That's one of the saddest things I've ever read. Poor poor games.

 

@/ nando / I haven't played any of those :P I'll definitely be trying to pick them up.

 

I'm also looking for Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3... as I haven't really played either of them that much... and DKC Returns is coming out soon and so I'm all sorts of hyped up about it haha. (11 days for US release! haha)