On an unrelated note, I finished (the Switch port of) moon: Remix RPG Adventure today, and that’s the kind of game that really communicates the benefits in variety from PS1’s lower barriers to game publishing and development, later repeated by Nintendo’s DS.
If you love video games, and love playing adventure-style games, definitely don’t sleep on moon.
Ive been out of the loop on xstation & PS1Digital news, but it looks like the PU-18 motherboard is the only one that can do both? Bummer, I have two PU-8’s.
The XStation can be installed in SCPH-100x, SCPH-5xxx and some SCPH-700x series consoles. Specifically, motherboard models that are supported are: - PU-7 - PU-8 - PU-18
https://castlemaniagames.com/collections/frontpage/products/xstation
PS1Digital can be installed on PU-18 and PIU-20 Motherboard models (All regions). These motherboards are found in SCPH-550x and SCPH-700x
PS1Digital
Interesting discovery about undoing deleted save files. I can’t say I’ve ever deleted something inadvertently though given the ‘are you sure’ prompt.
Wow. How could that not have been know until now? Surely someone had found it before…
A new (old) Yaroze title for PlayStation!
interview/history http://netyaroze-europe.com/Media/Magic-Castle
download https://archive.org/details/magic-castle-2020-23-dec
made it to Level 8 so far! not usually my cup of tea but i’m enjoying this. rogue-like gauntlet sort of thing.
2-player would be great, 4-player even better!
I’ve been itching to return to Rockman Dash/Mega Man Legends since clearing it for the first time last week…sign of a good game! If you clear it in under three hours you unlock Easy difficulty which makes for even speedier playthroughs.
I had a lot of fun replaying the game under timed conditions, which in itself is a great test of how memorable the level design is. But it also reminded me just how much better this game is compared to its rather boring sequel which I started last week.
Rockman Dash really excels in its world design. The game only takes place on a single island with one town, but the designers went to great effort at making it feel like a living place where all events feel like they are happening in the same interconnected game world. When you arrive you’re a stranger without a citizen card, by the time you leave at the end of the game you’re sad to see everyone go. Despite the small (by modern standards) environment it really does feel like you went on an adventure.
By contrast, the second game features many more locations, but each one is a one-and-done thing, and you don’t feel any connection to them at all other than them being backdrops for more events and dungeons to play through.
The second game stepping away from the interconnected world concept of the original game leads to something decidedly less ambitious and more safe, which is disappointing considering the original released three years before it, and a year before Ocarina of Time. While the first game remains highly unique today, it’s also very difficult not to draw unfavourable comparisons between its sequel and those N64 Zelda games.
Was anyone else a bit disappointed by the direction Capcom took with Megaman Legends 2?
That looks really good on a PSP screen.
It could look even better - the PSP port is a bit strange in that it even supports true widescreen, but the HUD and all menus get stretched. But even in 4:3 everything is ever so slightly upscaled from 240p to 272p.
Really speaks for the quality of the game’s visuals how good it still looks despite the upscaling.
Would be curious to see how the PS Archives version looks, since that should be a 1:1 map, but the Japanese PS Store only has the PSP ports.
I didn’t realize it was the PSP version!
PS1 games on PSP can run at native res with a 1:1 pixel map but a) screen is a bit small obviously and b) the aspect ratio is wrong, both for 256px wide mode (needs 8:7 fat pixels) and 320px wide mode (needs 10:11 skinny pixels).
At a glance I would guess the original ran at 320x224 and it’s upscaling to 272p as you say with the aspect being corrected. A bit fuzzy but worth it IMO for the correct aspect ratio. I had honestly assumed the PSP port would be better handled than that, for example the ports of Tales of Eternia or Breath of Fire 3 or Star Ocean 2 have really nicely set up UI elements that aren’t given the ugly stretch.
Thanks for the explanation, very helpful!
Looking at the game with a 1:1 map (not on PSP) the 3D visual output definitely looks too skinny, like you say it’s a shame they didn’t handle the 2D elements with more care.
Like BoF3 they decided to not use floating point precision, Z-buffering or texture filtering, which is nice since the graphics weren’t designed for those features.
I bought Lunar and Lunar 2 collector’s editions from eStarland and they finally arrived today to Finland. Problem is that they are sealed. 
I bought them as used complete and they have some wear on the boxes so presume they are used but if someone told me they are new I would most likely believe them. So asking if anyone has experience with eStarland and possibly know if they reseal special editions for storage purposes so nothing gets lost in the warehouse?
I am not familiar with them, but maybe we can help identify if they’re genuinely new or not if you post a photo of them.
I’m bad at pictures but there they are. There’s more wear on the first one but Eternal Blue looks almost pristine.
They’re used. I’m pretty sure it’s been said before that eStarland shrinkwraps all their stuff whether it’s boxed complete or not. That’s how it is held on the shelves of their store.
Thanks, actually happy about that as I want to play them but probably wouldn’t have the heart to open sealed copies.
That’s not a bad looking re-shrink job. But yea, too much baggage in the corners for it to be original. Also, these packages are such lookers. They really went above and beyond with these sets back in the day before it became a more common thing to do in the industry.
Yup, this is how they sell stuff. Everything in the store is shrink wrapped with their barcode on it and to even get the prices of it you take it to a scanner/just look it up on the website.
It can be annoying as a local who is trying to buy used games since the only reason I would even go to a store is so I can check the conditions of things in person but they have been more of an online seller every since they added the e to the start of their name I guess.
It looks like an Xstation that retains the optical drive functionality is coming soon.
I bought a game called Brightis last November just before the PS Store was delisting PS1 Archives titles from the web. It’s from Quintet, who are probably best known for the Gaia trilogy of RPGs on the Super Famicom.
Anyway, finally got round to playing it this week, did the first three dungeons. It’s pretty good so far! The dungeons are where it shines because they are literally pitch black when you enter them, and the game makes a big deal out of the ability to brighten them up with either your magic (you can send a ball of light into the distance) or possessing light crystals.
The combat is more nuanced that it first seems, since you can purchase skills with skill points gained from attacking enemies, then set up your acquired skills to create your own fighting style. It’s a bit like what God Hand would do half a decade later. And while dungeons are primarily combat-focused, there’s an incentive to not fight sloppily, since the amount of skill points you gain depends on how many attacks you can land without getting hit back in return.
The only issues I have is it’s a bit difficult to play without a DualShock because the collision detection is annoyingly exacting on certain enemies (mostly ones that can fly), and using the D-Pad locks you to one of eight directions instead of gradually moving you between them. And the draw distance is rather bad outdoors.
