What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[vol.2]

I am saving lives on SEGA's Model 3:

hahahahahahahahaha

That's so great; the stupid Dalmatian is perfect and I love the dumb picture of the kid up in the corner. Definitely on my to play list. Also I like weird driving games in general so this rocks.

[Arino]

Amazing! The contrast between real-lives-at-stake medical drama and hyper-real arcade action world is primo. I love that they gave the passenger bus a DBZ boost bubble after it lands a sweet ramp off the St2 bridge

Reminds me a bit of Crisis City on the PS1 - that one has a similar '24/7 action' setting. Wish it was more common, shit's pure fun.

Amazing! The contrast between real-lives-at-stake medical drama and hyper-real arcade action world is primo. I love that they gave the passenger bus a DBZ boost bubble after it lands a sweet ramp off the St2 bridge

Reminds me a bit of Crisis City on the PS1 - that one has a similar '24/7 action' setting. Wish it was more common, shit's pure fun.

Also reminds me a bit of Crazy Taxi and the 18-Wheeler games from Sega. Crisis City and these games also reminded me of the craziness in the Dynamite Cop/Die Hard Arcade series.

Yeah, you just can't re-create the shit from that time. So many games have tried to be like Virtua Racing, OutRun, or other old games, but it never works out. Even SEGA themselves would not be able to copy their own style from that time, not even if they made a new game for one of their old hardware systems.

I am saving lives on SEGA's Model 3:

Definitely on my to play list.

Imagine having the dedicated cab of this at home

If you want to emulate it, this is the guide I followed: https://youtu.be/QnIZmEaBom4?si=f14jRDelb92DzaPz

I can make it to the final stage now, not sure if I will go for the 1CC.

I am saving lives on SEGA's Model 3:

https://youtu.be/4T2Bl-0vWFM?si=zrpM35tv1b2s6tw8

WEEOOWEEOOWEEOOWEEOO

As a Chicagoan I really appreciate the weird recreation of the city in this game, although I question the logic of picking up a kid from somewhere near Chinatown and taking him all the way up near Streeterville for treatment — Mercy Hospital is just a few blocks south of Cermak!

Haha decades ago in the area where I was born there was a case where an ambulance took the patient to a hospital - only to realise that hospital was closed down years prior to that day. True story

[Air Master Burst]

Yeah, you just can't re-create the shit from that time. So many games have tried to be like Virtua Racing, OutRun, or other old games, but it never works out. Even SEGA themselves would not be able to copy their own style from that time, not even if they made a new game for one of their old hardware systems.

I'd settle for proper ports of the rest of their 90s/y2k arcade output. Give me Wild Riders and Planet Harriers!

I'm sure if I'm patient they'll eventually add them to a Yakuza game, although it would be nice to just be able to play the damn things without the extra hassle.

[Sengoku Strider]

I am saving lives on SEGA's Model 3:

https://youtu.be/4T2Bl-0vWFM?si=zrpM35tv1b2s6tw8

WEEOOWEEOOWEEOOWEEOO

Lol what happened to that other ambulance at 2:12?

One day I will find the worldline where humankind didn't fail the Dreamcast.

[Sima Tuna]

Yeah, you just can't re-create the shit from that time. So many games have tried to be like Virtua Racing, OutRun, or other old games, but it never works out. Even SEGA themselves would not be able to copy their own style from that time, not even if they made a new game for one of their old hardware systems.

I'd settle for proper ports of the rest of their 90s/y2k arcade output. Give me Wild Riders and Planet Harriers!

I'm sure if I'm patient they'll eventually add them to a Yakuza game, although it would be nice to just be able to play the damn things without the extra hassle.

I agree that these games should be made more available. But I'm also not entirely sure Arino is right to say you can't recreate the golden formula. Sure, most indie devs can't, but there have been games out there in other genres that have recaptured the magic of their particular subgenres. Fight 'n' Rage, Bombrush Cyberfunk, Huntdown, Final Vendetta, Crimzon Clover/Gunvein... I think it's definitely possible for a game to come out in the Outrun vein and capture Outrun's sense of speed, adventure and pure fun. But for various reasons, I suspect most game devs nowadays don't have a firm grasp on exactly why arcade "runner" racers (not lap-based) like Outrun and Super-Hang On work so well.

Arcade Racing is already a dead genre, and now we want people in the modern gaming landscape to understand the gaming DNA of perhaps Sega's best ever video games? A tall ask. Outrun 2 is of the same generation as Jet Set Radio Future, and we only just recently got our Bombrush Cyberfunk to continue that little subgenre.

[Arino]

Yeah, you just can't re-create the shit from that time. So many games have tried to be like Virtua Racing, OutRun, or other old games, but it never works out. Even SEGA themselves would not be able to copy their own style from that time, not even if they made a new game for one of their old hardware systems.

I'd settle for proper ports of the rest of their 90s/y2k arcade output. Give me Wild Riders and Planet Harriers!

I'm sure if I'm patient they'll eventually add them to a Yakuza game, although it would be nice to just be able to play the damn things without the extra hassle.

I really wonder if they have planned a new SEGA Ages line up for the launch of the Switch 2. The line up of the discontinued SEGA Ages on Switch obviously featured great games but was very weak compared to what could have been and considering most of the games had already been released on Xbox 360, 3DS, etc. My personal highlights were Virtua Racing, OutRun, and Shinobi. However, all those games on the Switch are about 40 years old. Seriously, how long are we supposed to wait to get the 90s stuff and their later games?

Yeah, you just can't re-create the shit from that time. So many games have tried to be like Virtua Racing, OutRun, or other old games, but it never works out. Even SEGA themselves would not be able to copy their own style from that time, not even if they made a new game for one of their old hardware systems.

I'd settle for proper ports of the rest of their 90s/y2k arcade output. Give me Wild Riders and Planet Harriers!

I'm sure if I'm patient they'll eventually add them to a Yakuza game, although it would be nice to just be able to play the damn things without the extra hassle.

I agree that these games should be made more available. But I'm also not entirely sure Arino is right to say you can't recreate the golden formula. Sure, most indie devs can't, but there have been games out there in other genres that have recaptured the magic of their particular subgenres. Fight 'n' Rage, Bombrush Cyberfunk, Huntdown, Final Vendetta, Crimzon Clover/Gunvein... I think it's definitely possible for a game to come out in the Outrun vein and capture Outrun's sense of speed, adventure and pure fun. But for various reasons, I suspect most game devs nowadays don't have a firm grasp on exactly why arcade "runner" racers (not lap-based) like Outrun and Super-Hang On work so well.

Arcade Racing is already a dead genre, and now we want people in the modern gaming landscape to understand the gaming DNA of perhaps Sega's best ever video games? A tall ask. Outrun 2 is of the same generation as Jet Set Radio Future, and we only just recently got our Bombrush Cyberfunk to continue that little subgenre.

I didn't mean that all games were bad that came out after a certain year or anything like that. I just meant that all those attempts don't seem authentic when I see games like "Formula Retro Racing" or "Super Retro GP" (both games try to be like Virtua Racing) and that it doesn't really make sense in the first place to use modern, superior hardware to recreate the low polygon look that was a result of the hardware limitations back then. Same with the over the top action and stereo type scenarios at the time. Those games were influenced by movies from that era and had themes like the president's daughter was kidnapped, terrorists hijacking a ship and so on. Those settings together with the graphics from that time, with some craziness added only Japanese devs could come up with, all that seems so unique and charming from our point of view today, but back then it came naturally when people at that time just tried to make some cool action games for the arcade. Of course it was already hype back then, but we can only glorify that stuff the way we do now because we witnessed it first hand how things evolved (or devolved ) afterwards.

[Sengoku Strider]

I really wonder if they have planned a new SEGA Ages line up for the launch of the Switch 2. The line up of the discontinued SEGA Ages on Switch obviously featured great games but was very weak compared to what could have been and considering most of the games had already been released on Xbox 360, 3DS, etc. My personal highlights were Virtua Racing, OutRun, and Shinobi. However, all those games on the Switch are about 40 years old. Seriously, how long are we supposed to wait to get the 90s stuff and their later games?

I'd love to see it, but apparently they were unsatisfied with the sales of the AGES line, which is why they set M2 on the mini consoles instead. I guess they're happier with that and Switch Online as back-catalogue monetization efforts.

[Arino]

I really wonder if they have planned a new SEGA Ages line up for the launch of the Switch 2. The line up of the discontinued SEGA Ages on Switch obviously featured great games but was very weak compared to what could have been and considering most of the games had already been released on Xbox 360, 3DS, etc. My personal highlights were Virtua Racing, OutRun, and Shinobi. However, all those games on the Switch are about 40 years old. Seriously, how long are we supposed to wait to get the 90s stuff and their later games?

apparently they were unsatisfied with the sales of the AGES line

I know, but it's just ridiculous how they are gatekeeping their own games as if they were some holy artifacts capable of magic. That software was supposed to generate money in the first place so just give the people what they want. And no wonder they were unsatisfied with the sales, I mean how many times do they expect people to buy the same games over and over again? Look at that selection. Few "new" games, but half of the games have been released on like a dozen platforms and collections before. How many times are consumers supposed to buy Sonic and shit until SEGA decide to move on to something else they allow us to buy?
I was just hoping that they realize and would try again with other games on the Switch 2.

[Lander]

I hold out hope that one day I'll get to play a life sim where you can go and get a calm midmorning coffee while traffic casually piles up, jacknifes, and does flips in the background. That's a ground-level view I'd pay to see.

In a sense, I think most of the big software houses ended up gatekeeping their IP pool one way or another; Capcom with Resi, Sega with Sonic, Konami with health clubs. Nintendo does an alright job of remembering their old stuff, I guess, unless you're an F-Zero or Star Fox fan...

[Sumez]

I feel like Capcom releases every single RE game on every single new generation of platforms. In which way are they gatekeeping it?

[Lander]

Other way around - Resi (and SF) are prolific to the point where their other stuff tends to get sidelined. Occupational hazard of having a major breadwinner, I suppose.

[Sumez]

Ah, gotcha

[Sengoku Strider]

Other way around - Resi (and SF) are prolific to the point where their other stuff tends to get sidelined. Occupational hazard of having a major breadwinner, I suppose.

They did give us Capcom Arcade Stadium, the DMC games are all out there, the Mega Man & Mega Man X games have collections out, they re-upped the licenses for their Marvel stuff and gave us The Punisher, did the Beat 'em Up Collection, they've got titles on Switch Online and PS Plus Classics, gave approval for re-releases of SNK's old crossovers...they've got a massive back catalogue across practically every platform in history so there's always more, but they've got a ton of stuff available all told.

[Marc]

My wife got bored of hearing me whine about my lack of a CRT, and surprised me with a 22" Wharfedale for my birthday. I've been on an OG Xbox trip, particularly House of the Dead 3 and Silent Scope Complete. I've also hooked up the modded Wii with F-Zero AX and Mario Kart GP installed, and ended up going on another spree there - got Crazy Taxi, Wave Race, Rouge Leader, F-Zero GX and Extreme G 3 on the way, with Eternal Darkness lined up next.

Also picked up a Z-Fold 4, I'm due an upgrade from the S23 Ultra soon, wanted to try a foldable before then so it's essentially ended up a straight swap while I road test it for a few months. Partnered with the GameSir Galileo controller, it's pretty incredible for portable emulation.

[Air Master Burst]

Other way around - Resi (and SF) are prolific to the point where their other stuff tends to get sidelined. Occupational hazard of having a major breadwinner, I suppose.

I would really love a modern release of Cannon Spike, the Power Stones, and maybe Tech Romancer; but doesn't pretty much every other good Capcom arcade game without IP issues already have a modern port? Was the Heavy Metal game any good?

I've resigned myself to never getting C&D, and I'm sure they're saving AvP to juice some future 2D collection (I don't count the stupid home arcade release).

ETA: Capcom if you're reading this I will pay the full $60 or whatever for an arcade-perfect AvP release on Steam.

[Arino]

Other way around - Resi (and SF) are prolific to the point where their other stuff tends to get sidelined. Occupational hazard of having a major breadwinner, I suppose.

I would really love a modern release of Cannon Spike, the Power Stones, and maybe Tech Romancer; but doesn't pretty much every other good Capcom arcade game without IP issues already have a modern port? Was the Heavy Metal game any good?

I've resigned myself to never getting C&D, and I'm sure they're saving AvP to juice some future 2D collection (I don't count the stupid home arcade release).

ETA: Capcom if you're reading this I will pay the full $60 or whatever for an arcade-perfect AvP release on Steam.

Do you mean Heavy Metal Geomatrix?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Trying to 1CC the NES version of Snake Rattle 'n Roll. I broke down at one point ages ago and beat it through the use of savestates, couldn't remember why on revisiting it as it was hard but not entirely unmanageable. Then I made it to level 10, the second of the two ice levels, and got a very brutal reminder. The difficulty spike is possibly the worst in any game I've ever experienced; the last set of jumps you need to make up sloped ledges with no walls to stop you falling off if you overshoot is absolutely brutal. I can consistently make it there with 6 or 7 lives in stock only to get my ass utterly handed to me by the slipperiest, most demanding and silly platforming in any game ever, not helped by the perspective making it hard to judge distance from the edge.

If I want a good snake game I'll just go back to Snake Pass I guess. It's a shame too, the rest of the game really is fun and isn't that bad to learn to memo your way through. It's quite a bit easier than Battletoads, until the last two levels where suddenly some incredibly nasty jumps are required and it's way, way worse than any particular Battletoads level.

[Lander]

Isometric platforming... There was a swath of tie-ins on GBA that isometrified more technically-demanding series down to the hardware, inevitably with more death pits than was ethical. Star Wars Episode 1 chief among them for having you do it with tiny pre-rendered sprites, bleh!

Though I've an affection for that early Pac-Mania / Marble Madness / Snake Rattle 'n Roll style, where everything is very distinct and geometric - clean and easy to understand, evil ice physics aside!

...they've got a massive back catalogue across practically every platform in history so there's always more, but they've got a ton of stuff available all
told.

I would really love a modern release of Cannon Spike, the Power Stones, and maybe Tech Romancer; but doesn't pretty much every other good Capcom arcade game without IP issues already have a modern port?

Yeah, a solid slice of their back catalogue is out there, though it tends toward the really popular stuff. Some of their smaller works have a chance at getting included as the quirky bonus game in a larger fighting game collection, though little-big notables like the Clover games are largely left shelved.

Legally-distinct Darth Vader may return, when he's done WRing Garegga.

(Star Gladiator - Episode 1: Final Crusade, 1996)

I wonder if the latter is comparable to the Mega Man situation, where Inafune's departure left a "the mega man guy" shaped hole in the company for some time, and there's just nobody around who cares enough to try pushing Joe and Gene back into the spotlight.

[XoPachi]

There's this sort of Sonic 3D Blast type deal on Steam called DynaCat that's a fast paced isometric platformer. It's pretty promising if wonky.

[Steven]

Oh god it DOES look like Sonic 3D Blast but with the homing attack and boost. As one of probably 8 people in the world that actually like Sonic 3D Blast, I might as well at least try the demo.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

After banging my head repeatedly against one section of the game and struggling to do the jumps consistently, I broke down and tried savestates to see if I could puzzle out what was going on. It turns out there's an easy strat available where instead of trying to jump onto a platform then jump again and turn without falling off or overshooting the ledge with like a single digit frame window, you can just jump up, slide off, then deliberately fall further away to suicide. You respawn on the slope and while flashing you don't slide off, allowing you to make the remainder of the jumps. Decided to add commentary because I know if I replay this in the future I'm gonna totally forget this, and all the other walkthroughs I found somehow were doing this section effortlessly when it was literally the bane of my existence.

Anyways, here's a 1cc of Snake Rattle 'n Roll (NES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5sD3gvLb1Y

Star Wars Episode 1 chief among them for having you do it with tiny pre-rendered sprites, bleh!

The droids really do seem to love kicking you there! O_o

That's one thing I disliked about the GBA, it seemed to have an absurd number of games relative to the platform that made use of pre-rendered sprites instead of pixel artwork.

Though I've an affection for that early Pac-Mania / Marble Madness / Snake Rattle 'n Roll style, where everything is very distinct and geometric - clean and easy to understand, evil ice physics aside!

Same, I rather like the perspective, but level design can't be made too cruel because the perspective is already challenging!

[NYN]

Catching up over the last year with the Prince of Persia games after the SoT trilogy (PoP: Drifter&Princess is a mixed pouch, missed the Epilogue after store closure; Forgotten Sands 360 fun enough while a formulaic insertion) arrived at The Forgotten Sands for Wii. With the same title, I was expecting a reduced port, and stand corrected for being a very own game. Yes, it's control specific to shake and point for combat and has few QTE, though I don't mind. Clearly some creativity was happening, giving the feel of an honest successor to the Sands. Combat is neat, platforming has specifics that none of the other have, and the exploration to find secrets and bonus is gratifying. It possess teeth in difficulty, having no rewind or "Quality-of-Life" (at least not at the point where I played so far), only "lives" or retries which are limited. A challenge stands to complete the game in only one life, which I'm motivated to answer, after clearing once. Being from 2010, I can recognize this as a full fun video game, something I cannot with 90 of 100 current titles.

I once thought about creating a very own topic for platforming princes and paupers alike (and thought of a swanky title...), however became doubtful it could bring players willing to share to it, exception being Ghegs and Sumez. Is appreciation for PoP more of a European thing? Is it the imagined nearer thematic proximity? I cannot say. Tell me.

After some troubled experience with video r-p-g (my major objection: I as a player don't grow with progression, only avatar stats), I decided some way back that I would not take it anymore. Hence I missed out on Final Fantasy XII, with no regrets. Coming the round-about way over the highest appreciation for Vagrant Story, as an insane rule-breaker of anything revered in r-p-g scripture, too, catching up with other Matsuno titles: Ogre: Black Queen and Tactics O, it's fun to notice all the magic connections. Anyway, playing original FFXII, not Zodiac Age, for the unmistakable Yoshida/ Sakimoto/ Matsuno flavour. True, it's in service of FF, yet there's a faint hints of VS in feel, and I'll take that rather than any carrot-stick sequel or remaster of VS without their participation. So far, I didn't have to roll my eyes at genre convention game-wise.

[Air Master Burst]

Yeah, a solid slice of their back catalogue is out there, though it tends toward the really popular stuff. Some of their smaller works have a chance at getting included as the quirky bonus game in a larger fighting game collection, though little-big notables like the Clover games are largely left shelved.

I was only talking about their arcade output! There are plenty of Capcom console releases I would kill for modern ports of; especially P.N. 03, God Hand, and Dragon Quarter. And that's just what instantly comes to mind from that one generation!

however became doubtful it could bring players willing to share to it, exception being Ghegs and Sumez. Is appreciation for PoP more of a European thing? Is it the imagined nearer thematic proximity? I cannot say. Tell me.

I enjoyed the classic Prince of Persia on DOS as a kid (3D was trash), and Sands of Time was fun! They lost me with the increased combat focus of the sequels, though. The parkour was always the good part, since The Prince sucks at character action. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the Jak and Daxter style gritty soft reboot, but I wasn't really playing these things for the story anyway.

Isometric platforming... There was a swath of tie-ins on GBA that isometrified more technically-demanding series down to the hardware, inevitably with more death pits than was ethical.

GBA Jet Set Radio is actually pretty good! I think it uses the same engine Tony Hawk did. I'd recommend Scurge: Hive, too, but that might be it for isometric platforming on GBA.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Jedi Survivor - Series X

Via Gamepass and boy I am glad I didn't buy this (originally because the retail disc didn't have a playable build on it). It's horrible, I gave it a chance to see if it or the story got better but nope. But I've started so I'll finish. I loved the first one, what went wrong?!

I think in trying to avoid the Metroid-style "whoops all your abilities are gone" they built the game in a very unfriendly way. You don't get new traversal skills until later in the game so early on it's a lot of wall-running and jumping but with very iffy collision detection. In huge open areas where it's hard to tell if you're on the right path (there is only one path) or not. And if you can't progress is it because you're not on the right path and lack a skill, or you haven't seen the object you're meant to interact with to progress. It does this a lot - stuff is out of the natural line of vision or the texture hasn't loaded in so you can't tell it's climbable.

Combat is not any better, with no way to cancel out of attacks which have hilariously flamboyant animations and no i-frames. It throws mobs at you in confined spaces so the camera goes nuts, even two strong enemies can be a struggle. And pray to RNGsus that if you get knocked down, two guys don't just chain specials until you die (happened to me a few times). Bosses generally fare better until the final boss' last phase where he moves like lightning, chains unblockables, has regular attacks that smash your stamina bar and is impossible to hit. It's doable but you just have to get lucky on the attacks he does. I didn't die often (because there are plenty of health restores and checkpoints) but when I did it was because of the camera getting stuck or guys hitting me with specials from off screen.

I was hoping the story would carry me through but it starts bad and just gets silly. You're running with a new crew for reasons that will gradually and thinly be explained, though they all die instantly

Spoiler

except for one guy, who turns out to be the actual final boss - yep, the new guy in the cast who doesn't die as soon as he appears is actually evil shock horror

Get the band back together stuff, sudden discovery then starts the main story - which seems just hacked together from a few ideas and eventually ends with everyone stood around and gradually walking away. The actual main antagonist appears out of nowhere and has hilariously awful motivations for straight up murdering innocent people

Spoiler

and he's a Jedi suddenly! Why didn't any of the Jedi masters you hang with sense it? Is a throwaway line of dialogue that is never revisited

and when you finally beat him he almost kills you in a cutscene

Spoiler

but lol his gun is broken so you shoot him, I laughed out loud at this

As if the main quests aren't padded out enough, there are side missions and collectibles and stuff.... none of which have anything to do with anything. They might beef you up a bit or they might give you a new beard. Completely pointless, given how bad the game is by the time you unlock a few of them... I just ran towards the exit of the main story.

[Sima Tuna]

Catching up over the last year with the Prince of Persia games after the SoT trilogy (PoP: Drifter&Princess is a mixed pouch, missed the Epilogue after store closure; Forgotten Sands 360 fun enough while a formulaic insertion) arrived at The Forgotten Sands for Wii. With the same title, I was expecting a reduced port, and stand corrected for being a very own game. Yes, it's control specific to shake and point for combat and has few QTE, though I don't mind. Clearly some creativity was happening, giving the feel of an honest successor to the Sands. Combat is neat, platforming has specifics that none of the other have, and the exploration to find secrets and bonus is gratifying. It possess teeth in difficulty, having no rewind or "Quality-of-Life" (at least not at the point where I played so far), only "lives" or retries which are limited. A challenge stands to complete the game in only one life, which I'm motivated to answer, after clearing once. Being from 2010, I can recognize this as a full fun video game, something I cannot with 90 of 100 current titles.

I once thought about creating a very own topic for platforming princes and paupers alike (and thought of a swanky title...), however became doubtful it could bring players willing to share to it, exception being Ghegs and Sumez. Is appreciation for PoP more of a European thing? Is it the imagined nearer thematic proximity? I cannot say. Tell me.

I played the classic Tomb Raider recently on the remaster collection, and I loved it. I would definitely be interested in hearing more about a cinematic platforming genre thread. Despite the label of "cinematic platformer," these games are still firmly in gameplay-forward territory. So I can get onboard. I enjoyed Sands of Time years ago, but I really need to track down copies of Warrior Within and Two Thrones.

I've been taking a break from Tomb Raider, but TR2 and TR3 are still waiting for me. I had to get a break from it because as good as the levels are, they are mentally draining.

[vol.2]

Trying to 1CC the NES version of Snake Rattle 'n Roll.

JHC that was annoying. I checked it out today based on your post and I'm honestly finding it pretty much impossible to get past the second stage jumps, I keep timing out. I made it up past the first waterfall once, but I fell down and I never made it back to the top again. I figured out that (at least as far as I can tell), you can't make a jump up to a higher square from more than one square away unless you have two squares of momentum. That spot in the waterfall you have to keep your momentum going from the first jump and then leap frog across the damn water to the other side. I got that jump finally, but then the single squares on the waterfall itself got me over and over and over and over.

I'm wondering if I have too much lag maybe on my Xbox 360 controller for the emulation. Maybe I should figure out a way to test it. I mean, I'm not a super amazing platformer, but I don't suck that bad; it seems like something is off.

[velo]

And no wonder they were unsatisfied with the sales, I mean how many times do they expect people to buy the same games over and over again? Look at that selection. Few "new" games, but half of the games have been released on like a dozen platforms and collections before. How many times are consumers supposed to buy Sonic and shit until SEGA decide to move on to something else they allow us to buy?

I'd bet that Sonic 1+2 were the top-selling Sega Ages games, with familiar faces like Space Harrier and Outrun trailing behind, and the "new" games like Herzog Zwei and Ichidant-R bringing up the distant rear. If they'd done more familiar "boring" games like Altered Beast and Golden Axe, maybe it would've lasted longer.

Sega have made some noise about their retro plans and it consists of remakes and reboots and sequels. I don't think anything like Sega Ages is coming any time soon, or even something like Capcom Arcade Stadium. They're not touching their old 2D games. The Saturn/Dreamcast era will be handled like the House of the Dead remake, not ports of the original versions.

[Air Master Burst]

The Saturn/Dreamcast era will be handled like the House of the Dead remake, not ports of the original versions.

This is extra fucking stupid since they're already doing the work of porting them for the Yakuza arcades. Just give me a solo release already! It's bad enough I have to buy the new Yakuza just to get a proper Spikeout port, but also making me literally walk to the arcade to play it like it's still the 90s seems like an unnecessary extra middle finger.

[azmenthe]

Lately I've been playing Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance on PS5.. When it originally came out (just as SMT V), I had it on switch but the poor performance and low framerate totally ruined the experience for me.. I remember the first map is this desert and all the sand was sparkling with some visual effect and all I could think is (How about no sparkling and just run the game at 30 fps )

Luckily the PS5 version of the re-release runs at a smooth 60fps and I've been having so much fun... Shmup-wise I've been going back to Konami stg's.. the gradius series and xexex

[Sumez]

I once thought about creating a very own topic for platforming princes and paupers alike (and thought of a swanky title...), however became doubtful it could bring players willing to share to it, exception being Ghegs and Sumez. Is appreciation for PoP more of a European thing? Is it the imagined nearer thematic proximity? I cannot say. Tell me.

I could totally see that being possible. The original Prince of Persia was definitely incredibly popular around here, and lots of people my age or older have a lot of nostalgia for it.
But I assumed it's more of a "non arcade player" thing, in spite of my brain being very much wired to arcade action. PoP does a ton of things that would normally be considered a big no-go in most skill-based, Japanese arcade style action games this side of Fantasy Zone.
You do need to tap into a different mindset to appreciate it, but once you do I don't think it's really that far from arcade design, given its speedrun focus. It's entirely centered around replaying it multiple times in order to learn the game and optimize your performance to get a better clear.