It's small, easy to configure and does everything I need. It doesn't have number buttons, but I don't use those. I'm pretty sure most universal remotes should still work with these older TVs though.
It makes the service mode far more accessible, in the past I had to keep looking it up on my phone each time!
R79 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 25, 2025 5:43 pmGradius Gaiden of course was exclusive to the system for many years (not sure if still is).
It's on the PSP Gradius Collection (which was even released in the west).
davyK wrote: ↑Fri Aug 29, 2025 10:10 pm
One feature the Saturn ports has that the M2 collection doesn't (at least as far as I can see) is a slowdown toggle. You can disable it on the Saturn ports - but I've no idea how well that actually works.
It works very well! I mean, it makes the games more difficult, for sure. One could always bump the difficulty setting back a notch or two to compensate.
It's small, easy to configure and does everything I need. It doesn't have number buttons, but I don't use those. I'm pretty sure most universal remotes should still work with these older TVs though.
It makes the service mode far more accessible, in the past I had to keep looking it up on my phone each time!
Great, thanks! Seems to have too few buttons, but I'd rather try this than something untested for Sony CRTs.
davyK wrote: ↑Fri Aug 29, 2025 10:10 pm
One feature the Saturn ports has that the M2 collection doesn't (at least as far as I can see) is a slowdown toggle. You can disable it on the Saturn ports - but I've no idea how well that actually works.
Yes exactly. I was surprised they didn't include this feature in the latest collection.
davyK wrote: ↑Fri Aug 29, 2025 10:10 pm
One feature the Saturn ports has that the M2 collection doesn't (at least as far as I can see) is a slowdown toggle. You can disable it on the Saturn ports - but I've no idea how well that actually works.
Yes exactly. I was surprised they didn't include this feature in the latest collection.
I believe the reason is same why they dont save scores locally - M2 seem to be very keen on accuracy
davyK wrote: ↑Fri Aug 29, 2025 10:10 pm
One feature the Saturn ports has that the M2 collection doesn't (at least as far as I can see) is a slowdown toggle. You can disable it on the Saturn ports - but I've no idea how well that actually works.
Yes exactly. I was surprised they didn't include this feature in the latest collection.
I believe the reason is same why they dont save scores locally - M2 seem to be very keen on accuracy
They have fixed some of the sprite flicker though. The stage 3 boss in Salamander can even cause the score panel to disappear on the PCB.
Even though I'm sure no-one will miss it, I was kind of surprised that there isn't an option to restore it, given M2's devotion to accuracy.
They could still have built that into the game if they wanted to, but they didn't. Just like all the other emulated games didn't when they came out.
I always found it a bit weird that it's considered bad form to have "save anywhere" on a new game, but if it's of a certain age (ie. now ported running in an emulator) it's suddenly *expected* and really bad when it's not there.
How about a compromise and have a decent training mode in *both*, with extra options like stage/area select, rank adjustment etc., which is also the only place where saving or rewinding works?
I remember when Shin Megami Tensei IV released everybody complained that its save everywhere ability was bad and actively ruining the game because saving should be limited to save points. Then when Shin Megami Tensei V (not Vengeance) came out everybody complained that you had to go to a save thing to save instead of being able to save everywhere/anywhere. Lol the duality of man indeed.
The training features on this collection kind of suck, sadly. I've only tried them for G1 and G2, but unless there is something that I am missing, either you can practice with no options or max options, what determines whether you have options or not is your starting weapon (???) instead of having a significantly more logical OPTIONS 0/4 selector thing, and you can't choose how many item pickup things you have. If I want to use the training mode to practice with only two options and my weapon as normal shot with the option to immediately take laser without having to pick up any items, I can't. That's how it should be, but it isn't. I mean I guess it's better than Battle Garegga, which has literally nothing despite maybe being the game that would benefit from it the most, but it's still kind of disappointing.
I wish M2 would look more closely at the training options in CAVE games and basically copy those exactly; even PS2 Daioujou, which is like 20 years old or whatever, has an insanely detailed training mode that is far better than most or possibly all of M2's, except for maybe, and interestingly, PS4/Switch Daioujou's, which I've never used because Black Label doesn't have a training mode for some arbitrary reason. Does M2 Ketsui have a training mode? I honestly have no idea. Anyway, PS2 Daioujou, X360 Saidaioujou, and I think PC Daifukkatsu (can't remember but I think it's the same) have excellent training modes.
Steven wrote: ↑Thu Sep 04, 2025 7:24 am
Then when Shin Megami Tensei V (not Vengeance) came out everybody complained that you had to go to a save thing to save instead of being able to save everywhere/anywhere.
I didn't complain about that!
The problem is, people who complain are always more vocal than people who are satisfied. Only designing and balancing games around complaints is a sure-fire way to end up with terrible products.
blog - scores - collection Don't worry about it. You can travel from the Milky Way to Andromeda and back 1500 times before the sun explodes.
Well, almost everyone lol. I didn't mind because you can teleport to a save thing literally any time you're not in battle after you get the item, which is very early in the game. Then of course Vengeance added a save anywhere function anyway and now everybody's happy. When I did my last playthrough of Vengeance I kept track (very roughly) of how often I saved and I estimated that on average I saved about once every three to five minutes, which is completely insane, especially considering the game is 40~50 hours long. Yeah, I saved A LOT.
Coincidentally, I've been talking about game balance with Uemura-san recently, and he's made me realize that satisfying everyone is 100% completely impossible anyway, and trying to do that is a massive waste of time. Best thing to do is to satisfy yourself. Maybe it's because I tend to view games as products for mass consumption, so I often consider them in terms of like financial stuff and making sure they sell well and all of that, but I don't typically consider the perspectives of the developers that much, especially when it feels like so many modern games are just copy/paste the code and assets from the previous game that sold a trillion copies and call it good because companies are not willing to take financial risks by deviating from what's established. This is an exaggeration of course, but I think you get the idea.
