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SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis Classics |OT| A Virtual Console
- Thread starter Piccoro
- Start date
Damn. Any experience with the PS2 Mega Drive Collection? Been eyeing that one too (though it's the same one that came out on PSP so judging from your report I shouldn't get my hopes up...)
What you see is what you get.
I earned the platinum trophy through sheer willpower and perseverance with some of these titles and was unable to successfully find a multiplayer match to test that function.
Just preordered this. Can't wait for it to unlock. Streets of Rage 2 online will be the tits. Hope there are some unlockable games but i'm not holding my breath.
To be fair the PSP one lets you play at native res, though I forget if input lag was an issue. I do remember there being some sound weirdness (Sonic speed up shoes wouldn't increase the music's tempo) but I still liked it fine as a way to play portable MD. Picodrive via homebrew is probably a better option these days, though easier said than done on Vita.
Plus for some bonkers reason they took out Shadow Dancer from the PAL version D:
Goddamn I was hyped but this is worse than I thought. Slowdowns, frames lost, audio glitches, audio going out of sync. And all of this only on a half an hour run of Sonic 1.
First model PS4 here and I currently have zero desire to play more of this, even tho some games I could never beat and never got to try out.
Fix
Your
Shit
Sega
First model PS4 here and I currently have zero desire to play more of this, even tho some games I could never beat and never got to try out.
Fix
Your
Shit
Sega
The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable collection was way worse than people remember. It would hard crash a lot too.
Honestly I think this compilation is getting a worse rep than it deserves. I take proper emulation very seriously but I think this is a pretty serviceable collection from all I can see, especially when you consider features like rewind and online play. If the online is trash I will change my view on that, though. Hoping the removed games from this are not delisted from the Steam version too. I would especially love to play Ecco with rewind and mirror mode. Guess we will find out tomorrow for sure...
Hopefully next gen we stop getting Genesis collections and just get proper SEGA classics compilations with stuff from all eras. Keep a large amount of these games around but also throw in stuff that they ported in recent years too, like NiGHTS, The House of the Dead series, Jet Set Radio, hell maybe even Bayonetta or something too.
Honestly I think this compilation is getting a worse rep than it deserves. I take proper emulation very seriously but I think this is a pretty serviceable collection from all I can see, especially when you consider features like rewind and online play. If the online is trash I will change my view on that, though. Hoping the removed games from this are not delisted from the Steam version too. I would especially love to play Ecco with rewind and mirror mode. Guess we will find out tomorrow for sure...
Hopefully next gen we stop getting Genesis collections and just get proper SEGA classics compilations with stuff from all eras. Keep a large amount of these games around but also throw in stuff that they ported in recent years too, like NiGHTS, The House of the Dead series, Jet Set Radio, hell maybe even Bayonetta or something too.
Can't really go back to the Genesis Ecco after playing this.
http://web8.orcaserver.de/ecco/downloads/games/index.php
Yeah, I think the emulation in this collection is actually a step back from the emulation in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. Microsoft should expand its Back Compat program, and Sega should provide Microsoft with as much documentation on its past systems as possible to give Microsoft's Back Compat team a crack at this. XD
:(
Do we know what input lag is like on this new collection? I'll likely be able to stomach some sound issues if it's decent in that regard at least.
Will try on Xbox One X in a bit - going for Streets of Rage 2 for the audio first since I know what that game sounds like more than anything.
Xbox Live is dragging it's arse uploading but... well, let's just say Golden Axe II bugged out on me. Very badly. Like I'm not sure if this is an emulator glitch or the game's fault. I'm inclined to say it's the game but... yup sorta shit.
Also sound test'd Ravaged Village, to my ears it's rather accurate until the break at the end and the real issue comes up when multiple channels fight at once - this is the biggest problem with the sound, it seems to really struggle if all six channels try to blast at once, sound effects seem mostly okay but... not a good showing either way, however for video this collection is wonderful if you like widescreen since the filters get the games look gorgeous even when stretched, I'd recommend if your sound system either sucks/intentionally use bad audio hardware.
Also sound test'd Ravaged Village, to my ears it's rather accurate until the break at the end and the real issue comes up when multiple channels fight at once - this is the biggest problem with the sound, it seems to really struggle if all six channels try to blast at once, sound effects seem mostly okay but... not a good showing either way, however for video this collection is wonderful if you like widescreen since the filters get the games look gorgeous even when stretched, I'd recommend if your sound system either sucks/intentionally use bad audio hardware.
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https://steamcommunity.com/stats/34270/achievements
The achievements are up on Steam but not active yet.
The achievements are up on Steam but not active yet.
Playing online with a friend and the games slow down to a crawl, like unplayable in multiplayer. We played Mean Bean Machine and Crackdown so far and it was miserable. We're going to play some more games and I'll probably post more impressions, but so far those 2 ran absolutely awful online.
Edit: Tried Streets of Rage 2 real quick. Tons of micro freezes and a whole second of delay, jesus.
Edit 2: Used shareplay with SoR2 and it's basically like playing offline, that's crazy. Play with your friends through shareplay for it to not be awful.
Edit: Tried Streets of Rage 2 real quick. Tons of micro freezes and a whole second of delay, jesus.
Edit 2: Used shareplay with SoR2 and it's basically like playing offline, that's crazy. Play with your friends through shareplay for it to not be awful.
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Unless there's a region select on Steam, that. Some games allow you to select what regions rom you play, Streets of Rage series and Ristar for axample.
Shining Force I and especially II hold up extremely well and have not really been topped in the genre outside of presentation in my opinion.
Phantasy Star II is a classic but it has aged really poorly in many aspects to the point I have not been able to enjoy it much personally. IV is an all-time JRPG masterpiece around Chrono Trigger's quality but has some menu elements that are outdated. III was always extremely disappointing.
There is a rewind and fast forward feature, region select (which effectively adds new games if you count the differences between games like Streets of Rage 3 and Dynamite Headdy), various challenges across most if not all games, an optional mirror mode that reverses the gameplay image and online play.
Sonic 3K might possibly get delisted so be aware of that if you want it. No one knows if the games not part of that collection will be impacted or get any special features. I am personally concerned that that might consider removing the mods (boy would that cause some serious backlash...).
Beat Dural in virtua fighter 2. Framerate came to a halt in that round. Must have been 1 or 2 frames per second.
And holy cow but how have I never heard of Alien Soldier?! I adore Gunstar Heroes and I never knew Treasure made this a couple years later.
And holy cow but how have I never heard of Alien Soldier?! I adore Gunstar Heroes and I never knew Treasure made this a couple years later.
First clip is Golden Axe II messing up, not sure if it's the game or the emulation - second is a test of audio... not quite, and way worse in game really.
I will never understand why Sega likes to push this port so hard in their Genesis/ Mega Drive collections. It was released almost two years after the Saturn port and months before the Win9x PC port. The Genesis/ Mega Drive was pretty much done by 1996-1997. Virtua Fighter 2 was like, one of the last first party games released for the console.
Xbax. Had some reward credits that had me only $6 out of pocket. Will double dip tho.
It wasn't released in the US, it's probably the systems biggest hidden gem. It's more well known now, but back then nobody cared.
Stupid question from a trophy whore, but I heard some of these challenges are brutal? What are your thoughts? Are you able to save slate with them? Thanks
Is there a list with games you can change the region of it? I hear Streets of rage 3, Dynamite headdy, Ristar. Any more?
The challenges are a specific set of tasks. You select one, it loads up the game at a specific point with you having a specific task. For example, the Golden Axe challenge is to complete a duel battle with 1 bar of health against two enemies. The Sonic challenge is to complete Green Hills Act 2 in mirror mode in under a minute.
Most of them seem to last a minute or so. There's nothing like "beat the whole game" for anything, and not all games have challenges.
With challenges there's no save states and no rewind or fast forward.
The first challenge I tried was Beyond Oasis because it was the first in the list and it seemed difficult - beat some crab boss with only a dagger. I've never played Beyond Oasis so I can't comment on whether that's particularly tricky once you've played the game and understand what you're doing (I failed this challenge dismally).
The two I mentioned above (Sonic and Golden Axe) are much more doable. Sonic is probably a one-shot challenge, the Golden Axe one will be easy enough for anyone who's played the game a bit, and took me a few attempts. There's a Columns challenge to get 5,000 points from a slightly iffy position which I cleared in one shot despite having played Columns for maybe an hour in total in my life.
Some of the others (list here) do look significantly trickier than those. I suspect not many people are going to be getting all of them.
OP
OP
So I've played for a bit last night when the game unlocked at midnight.
Overall, the quality of the ports is much better than in the Sonic Genesis Collection (PS360). No input lag (in offline modes) and better sound in the games that I've tried.
There's also many cool emulator options, like removing the original slowdown when the games have too much stuff happening on screen. The quick save/quick load with the right analog stick is also neat.
I just encountered a few problems:
I haven't tried the Sonic games yet. Gonna go through the rest of the games tonight.
Overall, the quality of the ports is much better than in the Sonic Genesis Collection (PS360). No input lag (in offline modes) and better sound in the games that I've tried.
There's also many cool emulator options, like removing the original slowdown when the games have too much stuff happening on screen. The quick save/quick load with the right analog stick is also neat.
I just encountered a few problems:
- In Streets of Rage 1, the music was not exactly the same as the Mega Drive original. Some instruments sounded off.
- In Bare Knuckle 3, there were many weird sounds and voice glitches. Hope they can fix it with a patch.
- When playing online with a friend, the games had noticeable input lag. Also, in the online mode, the region change doesn't work, although the prompt for region change appears on screen.
This was disappointing, because I was looking forward to playing the Japanese version of Streets of Rage 3 online.
I haven't tried the Sonic games yet. Gonna go through the rest of the games tonight.
I can't really compare to the original stuff as I haven't played a Megadrive in over 20 years but this is good enough for me.
5 rounds of SoR and didn't notice anything weird, Sonic 1 did have a bit of slowdown though once in the first level. .
I also really like the hub.
5 rounds of SoR and didn't notice anything weird, Sonic 1 did have a bit of slowdown though once in the first level. .
I also really like the hub.
I suspect they do it just because they own the rights to the game fully so it's easy to just bung the rom in any emulated collection to boost the game count on the box. These collections are always essentially just all the games Sega has the full rights to on the platform. Porting an actually worthwhile version of VF2 takes more effort.
Visual filtering and the stretched image really makes some of these games appear modern - it's one of the good points of the collection for sure. Yeah it's a bit smeared depending on the game but when it works it's really cool.
The Streets of Rage ones are fairly tricky, but can be doable if you are decent at throws and kiting enemies. Same for Golden Axe, although I was stuck on GA2's challenge for an hour or two.
Beyond Oasis requires you to learn some of the secret moves with the dagger, such as the jumping slash, in order to do enough damage to break off the crab's claw and make the fight that much easier.
I'd say the list is harder than the PS360 version but still doable in a couple of days if you can make it past the challenges.
Edit: no save states, no rewinds for the challenges. You can use cheat codes in Vectorman 2 though.
Other than the ones you mentioned, here are the other games that you can change the region.
Alien Soldier
Beyond Oasis
Landstalker
Streets of Rage 2
Anyone try out the multiplayer yet? I just tried twice in Streets of Rage 2 and it was absolutely terrible. Horrible lag. Not sure if that's Sega's fault, the other person i'm playing with has bad internet, or both. Going to keep trying and hopefully I have better luck because if this is how it's going to be, then they shouldn't have even bothered.
The only rough trophies are the challenges. Stuff like "win 50 games of jun ken po in Alex Kidd" can be cheesed by rewinding and letting the win screen appear over and over (this also works with every other accumulative trophy).
Just got it on PS4, I have a few complaints but overall I think it's a fine enough package so far, especially for the price (50 games by M2 would probably cost over $100)
Main issues:
Really I hope they patch things, I assume the hitching is a Unity issue and Nearest Neighbour scaling isn't that hard to accomplish. With those fixed, it's a pretty solid collection for those who aren't enthusiast purists.
Phantasy Star IV and maybe Ristar are going to be the games I devote the most time to initially, so I should be able to report back on those.
Main issues:
- The pixel-scaling for full screen is slightly off. I didn't notice it till I tried out Landstalker, which looks real weird at times thanks to isometric scrolling across variable pixels. Also holy cow that game controls bizarrely.
- Every few minutes there's a weird audio hitch and it can be really distracting. Happens in the hub when I'm doing nothing, so I assume that wrapper is the main cause.
Really I hope they patch things, I assume the hitching is a Unity issue and Nearest Neighbour scaling isn't that hard to accomplish. With those fixed, it's a pretty solid collection for those who aren't enthusiast purists.
Phantasy Star IV and maybe Ristar are going to be the games I devote the most time to initially, so I should be able to report back on those.
OP
OP
Yes. All games that support two players can be played online. Including Altered Beast.
Thanks for the answers everyone.
Ah, okay. I think I have that on... the Xbox 360 somewhere. >.> Which is kinda gathering dust at the moment, but oh well...
I would gladly take M2 emulation a la carte over this (not like I need to own Comix Zone, Alien Storm, Vectorman, Virtua Fighter 2 etc). People were upset when it was revealed that the Switch would be missing out on this compilation but I think it got the much better outcome.