RetroDuo v2.0 Review

I’m back with another update. This time I want to talk about the RetroDuo v2.0 hybrid NES + SNES combo.

As I mentioned earlier, the RetroDuo is a third party console that plays NES and SNES games. In addition, it also plays PAL SNES games and Japanese Super Famicom games.

The package includes:

– 1 RetroDuo unit

– 2 SNES-like game controllers

– A/V and S-Video cables

– Instructions

Note: The S-Video cables are not compatible with NES games

The console itself is small and sleek with high gloss. There are three color variants currently available: White and Blue (as pictured above), Black and Red, and Red and Yellow.

As far as games are concerned, I tested out a few of my SNES games on the console and they worked perfectly with no audio issues. I don’t have any Super Famicom games at the moment, but based on other reviews, most if not all Super Famicom games work on the RetroDuo. There are two slots on the machine (one for SNES games and one for NES games) with a switch that enables you to jump from NES to SNES games. All of the games I tested worked without me having to blow on them beforehand. A minor issue would be that there is no eject button, so you have to pull out the games fairly hard to get them out.

As you can see from the picture, the controller looks like an official SNES controller except for the colors. However, the D-Pad isn’t very good and the buttons are more “clicky”. Like the console, the controller is also glossy, which may irritate some people. The RetroDuo is compatible with most SNES accessories, so I would recommend using your own official SNES controllers if you have them.

My only real complaint, which can range from negligible to major is the audio of the console. From the two NES games I’ve tested (Super Mario Bros. and Mike Tyson’s Punchout!!!), the audio isn’t nearly as good as it should be. Out of the many SNES games I’ve played using the RetroDuo, only one game (Mega Man X) has had an audio issue.

Overall, I would highly recommend the RetroDuo v2.0 console. As a retro gamer myself, I can appreciate the sleek look of the product as well as its functionality. It also helps that I don’t have to use RF cables anymore like I used to with my regular NES and SNES. If you’re an audio junkie, you may want to look for a better machine, as the RetroDuo does have some audio issues at times, especially for NES games.

If you wish to buy it, you can do so here

Well, that’s all for now. Later.

Sony Struggles to Find an Identity

You know the drill, I apologize for not updating the blog, promise more updates, etc etc. Hopefully it’ll be true this time!

Anyway, I want to talk about something only tangentially related to old games; new games! I received Killzone 2 in the mail yesterday, and like a few other PS3 titles before it, I felt like I got burned by PR and marketing hype. Basically, I want to talk about a few games that I’ve played recently and how they relate to games. So, let’s do it.

LittleBigPlanet – Developed by Media Molecule

When I first heard about LittleBigPlanet shortly after its GDC debut, I was pretty excited for the game’s release. As you would expect from a guy who runs a [half-baked] blog dedicated to old games, I love platformers. The idea of creating and sharing levels with other platforming fans seemed too good to be true. Not to mention the fact that the graphics looked amazing. But, as we’ve all learned, graphics aren’t everything. Let’s fast-forward to the game’s release. I arrived home from my local GameStop with a brand new copy of LittleBigPlanet in my hands, ready to play. I put the game into my PS3 (I don’t remember if there was a mandatory game install, but it’s irrelevant either way), and the game instantly dragged me into its in-game tutorial rather than booting into a main menu like most games. If not a little pretentious, it suited the game. As I traversed through the tutorial, my excitement for the game waned and waned. For starters, the controls are nothing short of dreadful. Remember the precise controls of 1985’s classic game Super Mario Bros. (that’s over 23 years ago for those keeping score) and 1987’s Mega Man? Well, forget progress, because LittleBigPlanet boasts frustrating, floaty controls. I don’t think Media Molecule realized how important controls are to a platformer. If I was seven years old when this game came out, I probably would have felt bad for begging my dad for buying me the game because of its failed gameplay mechanics.

Anyway, let’s move on to the game’s most compelling feature (conceptually), the ability to share levels with other people online. Not only are there not enough people making levels, but 98% of the levels are utter crap. If nothing else, this game has taught us that game designers are paid for a reason, and that good level design is crucial for a quality platformer. Even if you wanted to filter out the bad levels, well, you can’t. There isn’t a good solution for fishing out the “good” levels from the bad ones.

Finally, I want to talk about the game’s DLC (downloadable content for the uninformed). Every Thursday, there is usual one or two free costumes available for download for Sackboy, the game’s main “protagonist” (well, more so an empty avatar). That’s nice, but then we encounter the dark side of the game’s DLC. Remember what I said about level sharing being one of the game’s most interesting features? Well, how would you feel if I told you that all of the levels in a game about sharing aren’t…free? That’s right, there are levels that you have to pay for. As a fan of the Metal Gear series, I was sad to learn that Sony was selling a Metal Gear themed level, MGS themed costumes and stickers. There are other examples of content being sold on the PSN store such as Street Fighter costumes as well. Sony sure knows how to thank its customers for supporting its “experimental” game.

I think I’ve talked enough about LBP, so let’s move on to the second and final game for this blog post.

Killzone 2 – Developed by Guerrilla Games

I don’t feel like I need to get into much detail about Killzone 2’s 2005 E3 trailer, so let’s skip ahead to the game itself. In case you don’t know, Killzone 2 is a first-person shooter with legions and legions of Sony hype, often referred to as the “Halo-killer” by its fans. As I stated previously in this blog post, I received the game in the mail two days ago. I put the game into my PS3 expecting a safe first-person shooter. What did I get? A very safe first-person shooter. I’ll be honest, I only played roughly 40 minutes of the game. I didn’t feel compelled to play the game beyond that point. What can I say? The story is safe. The atmosphere is safe. The characters are very safe. Everything about the single player is safe.

The controls feel like a mixture of Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3…they don’t hold up nearly as much as those two games. For the default controls, R1 shoots, R2 throws grenades, pressing the left stick runs, pressing the right stick aims, and so on. I found myself performing the wrong command constantly due to my experiences with other shooters (I’m not knocking KZ2 for this reason. Remember I only played for 40 minutes). I don’t have a problem with different controls for a first-person shooter that offers something new like a grappling hook or something of that nature, but KZ2 does NOTHING new as far as controls go, so why mix them up? You can change the controls to other pre-set control sets, but it would be better if I could set individual macros, as I did not find a control set that I preferred over the others. The biggest issue I had with the controls in KZ2 was the cover system. Due to the fact that you take cover in the first-person view, it’s harder to actually tell whether or not you’re under cover or not. It should also be noted that you can still be shot at while under cover in many cases. I haven’t had a problem like this in other FPS games. I know Gears of War 2 is a third-person shooter, but damn, the controls in that game are amazing. If only KZ2 had controls that were that fluid.

The story is, as I said earlier, average. It’s about a bunch of bros (they’re not bald though!) who go to Helghan, a foreign planet  and try to defeat the Helghast. I was playing on the normal difficulty, and the AI was bad. At times I found myself unknowingly standing next to a Helghast soldier and realizing it after 10 seconds. How was I supposed to know they were there? They weren’t even shooting at me! I’m sure they fixed that issue in the harder modes but the AI was still disappointing. I don’t want to talk about the game for much longer, as I still need to play more of it, but as I expected, the game does nothing new for the saturated FPS genre. However, unlike LBP, I find KZ2 to be servicable if nothing else. I just wish they tried to implement the game’s gorgeous graphics into something fresh. I also wish the art style was a bit more distinct. Art should always take precedence over graphical fidelity. I would still recommend Call of Duty 4 over Killzone 2. With that being said though, I haven’t tried the game’s multiplayer mode.

Well, that’s all for now. Uh, see ya whenever I see ya.