What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Obiwanshinobi]

Also...

OutRun is surprisingly decent, it plays fairly well and has an alternate track layout that goes 123454321.

Not surprisingly to me anymore. Didn't interest me much way back when. But then I got to play Battle Gear 2&3 that are some of the best (as well as ugliest) arcade racers on PS2. As well as TrackMania Wii (not quite ugly, but very "plain Jane" for a car game), which is almost indepletably engrossing to me played utterly singleplayer. Taught me to tolerate very barebones presentation in my car games. If it's called OutRun and it's by Sega, it's gotten my attention.
I've felt lately that any new console, even relatively low-tech, that would guarantee 60 fps in majority of its titles, and also - offer mostly games like those budget remakes/follow-ups (not only by Sega, but stuff like Space Raiders too) would be a console just for me. Remember how PS2 Virtual On remake offered video modes up to 1080i? On PS2, no less. And it was HARDLY ugly a game. Just a small console with durable controllers and a library's worth of such games would be very welcome under my telly.

[AGermanArtist]

Which of those Ages 2500 games are worth a look? I just grabbed Outrun, Galaxy Force and Dynamite Deka.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Which of those Ages 2500 games are worth a look? I just grabbed Outrun, Galaxy Force and Dynamite Deka.

Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box. I've fond memories of Fantasy Zone and Monster World collections too. Although if was to PLAY these on SDTV nowadays, I'd most likely do so emulated on Wii.
Panzer Dragoon is NOT a remake, it is just a port.
Virtual On is pretty sweet if you can dig Virtual On.

[AGermanArtist]

Thanks! I'm going to run them in PCSX2. I didn't realise the Outrun one was so good.

[Obiwanshinobi]

There's NIGHTS into Dreams PS2 remake, IF not quite released under Sega Ages flag.

[vol.2]

I'm finally getting around to playing Outlaws (1997).


There was a moment in the mid 90s where people (including myself) were rediscovering the Spaghetti Western genre; the Leone films appeared on VHS and there were finally high quality CD remasters of the Dollars film soundtracks. I can only imagine that Outlaws was somehow part of all that, although I didn't pick it up back then (I did watch a bunch of the films, including the James Coburn stuff).

The game itself looks and sounds awesome. The Clint Bajakian soundtrack is flawless, and the whole weird 1990s parallel universe Spaghetti vibe is immaculate. The game generally controls pretty well for a Dark Engine game too, but there is one huge and terrible problem. The hit detection is atrocious. Too many times you will be standing directly in front of an enemy, pumping bullets into them and nothing happens. This is a problem to varying degrees in all aspects of the game engine; close up, far away, in a building, on the street, it doesn't matter because the engine just decides arbitrarily if you hit or not. To make matters even worse, there are moments (many moments) where you can and will be one-shot killed by a guy with a rifle that you absolutely cannot see for multiple reasons. Sometimes they will be around a corner or in a building that is not in any way visible to you, and sometimes they will be ahead of you in the dark and there's no possible way to know where to aim. The game does have an "oil lamp" mechanic, that is essentially a flashlight, but it's range is so limited that it doesn't help locate enemies; it only helps you find your way through dark mazes. This wouldn't be as much of an issue if you had a chance to get close to them and see them, but they can one shot kill you in the head from the veil of complete darkness and there's zero way to prevent it. The only way to get past those places is to just restart and hope your luck holds out. The enemy AI is erratic enough that you will generally get through with repeat tries, but it does not feel good or fun to play a game that way. You should be able to get through it on skill and learning the enemy's behavior or positions for future attempts. The only somewhat reliable way to make it through the levels is to go extremely slowly and pick off enemies from a distance while they are barely sticking themselves out. Even this isn't perfect, because the hit detection is so bad that you can sometimes waste a whole round of ammo on an enemy that is directly in your crosshairs to absolutely no effect. Ammo is a limited resource in Outlaws, and if this ever happens, you really need to reload a save, because you can run out of bullets and not be able to finish a level if you aren't careful.

I'm pushing through it. Having to restart a lot more frequently than I would like, but it's still engaging when it's not frustrating me.

Has anyone here played this game? What are your thoughts on it?

[BIL]

Which of those Ages 2500 games are worth a look? I just grabbed Outrun, Galaxy Force and Dynamite Deka.

The Space Harrier II Complete Collection - which was really just an excuse for M2 to do a proper SH1 port - was AGES 2500's watershed. Everything before it is 3D remakes, everything after is more AC/console ports, with the odd outliers like Dynamite Deka's PS2 arranged mode (basically reskins the S-TV game, plus adds some costumes from Makoto Uchida's previous works Altered Beast and Golden Axe), and the genuinely special Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa arcade port. (translates the previously console-original FZII to arcade hardware)

Galaxy Force II has a really rad widescreen mode, hence its moniker "Special Extend Edition." Treasure Box is worth a look imo, you can disable the sprite limit and slowdown on Alien Soldier. The MD cart has vanishingly little of either, but it's still a cool detail.

This is going back a bit, might be off on some details. TLDR: the pre-SH2 discs are what you wanna check out for remakes. The post-SH2 are generally very disciplined ports. Not all of them were by M2, IIRC. I don't think Deka's was, for example. Still great to have around though.