It pains me to say it but yeah, the PS1 version is better. Still, at least Saturn fans can laugh loudly at the versions of Darius Gaiden, Sokyugurentai and Thunder Force V on the PlayStation.
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MarkMSX did a great job with this video going through all the ports, I really hope M2 tackle it one day.
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Oh yeah, that video. It’s illustrative, but I didn’t like how he was all like “this is is the definitive comparison between all ports of DDP, I only use original hardware for this video”, but didn’t use the original arcade version for the comparison and used MAME instead. He also used a PS2 for PS1 playback, problem being that PS1 accuracy depends on the PS2 model being used which he didn’t disclose I believe. He did go into more important details like differences that affect gameplay and scoring between the 32 bit ports and the arcade versions.
Perhaps I’m being snobbish, but I don’t see the point in doing those kind of videos if you’re not going to use the real thing as the gold standard, specially for a game as popular as DDP.
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I don’t mind emulation being used as a point of comparison when many people with experience of the PCB say it’s very good, but agree it shouldn’t be used or considered as a real hardware substitute as he does in this video.
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To be fair, if you had an arcade PCB, you wouldn’t even bother looking for that video. As someone that doesn’t own a copy of DDP, I think comparing with the emulated arcade version is perfect, as it shows my particular options.
I don’t really agree with the PS2 usage, though.
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For those in here that are emulating arcade games for their shmup needs, the same guy that made that comparison video above has been working on a projecy called ShmupArch and it’s a custom configured version of RetroArch with the goal of the lowest input lag for shmups.
He’s done tests on his youtube channel claiming 1 frame of lag, faster than some PCBs.
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He uses Final Burn Alpha to get run ahead working, you are better off using the latest MAME with the low latency option over that. Coupled with a variable refresh monitor and you will be damn close to the latency of real hardware without resorting to using run ahead or any other hacks.
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What makes you say that runahead is a hack?
It’s a hack because the source of latency that run ahead targets is part of the games logic. It’s very clever and when set up properly is visually indistinguishable from the game running without it but you are still mucking around with how the game runs.
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True, but if you’re emulating the game on something like MAME, and the game has a baked-in input of 1 frame, then you add 1 frame from MAME, you’re running a total of 2 frames of latency (higher than real hardware).
If you use runahead, and remove the baked in latency, you’re back to what would be a normal input lag for the game (1 frame), even if it achieves it by removing the baked-in lag, not the lag from the emulation.
The end result is (usually) the proper input lag, equal to real hardware. Granted, if the real hardware has baked in latency of more than one frame, you can achieve lower.
Anyway, I don’t think it’s a hack, it’s just an arguably better way to play. The system11 community is okay with using it in their high score competitons, that’s enough reason for me to call it legitimate.
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Just because it’s a hack doesn’t mean it’s not a legitimate way to play the games, nor do I have a problem with anyone using it. I very nearly typed out a paragraph saying I can fully understand people using it to compensate for all the other sources of latency you mentioned.
Before I bought a MiSTer I used it for all 8 and 16 bit console emulation and thought it was absolutely brilliant, I have spent a lot of time on various forums explaining to people why it is so good and not the button activated frame skip that many people still think it is. But when MAME can get within a frame of real hardware whilst being more accurate and offering a far wider range of games to play over FBA then I personally have no need to use Marks’s config files for Retroarch.
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Yeah that makes sense… I spent some time getting it all set up this morning. It seems like it would be the better option for me, for the games that it runs accurately that is. The trouble is, that now I’ve got another front end alongside MAME and Retroarch to mess with, and I don’t think at the ripe old age of 40 I would ever notice an additional frame of input lag lol…
I’ll play around with it a bit more and see if it’s worth sticking with.
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Played Darius Gaiden and Darius Plus PCE on the Switch Cozmic collection last night. I hadn’t fired up the collection since at least Jan/Feb and totally forgot about the March update which added Darius Plus PCE, Super Nova and Genny/English version of Sagaia so it was a very pleasant surprise when those got loaded into the game. Also great having all the main menus in English now and the additional training and scoring modes. I gotta say, Darius Plus feels like a really solid port of the game so far despite the obvious compromises. I had been thinking about picking up the Hucard for years so am glad to finally play it in a convenient way (especially with the collection running it in Supergrafx enhanced mode by default).
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I’ve been really impressed with the Darius Twin emulation. Felt nearly identical to what I was playing on hardware, as well as on the MiSTer.
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Did yours arrive? I got mine today. It seems to be a separate SKU from the original Japanese release, but the leaderboards still show my scores from that version even though my local score in this SKU is set to 0 for everything. So the leaderboards are combined across the international and Japanese version which is good.
Let me know how the Switch version compares with PS4 in your testing!
Yes, my PS4 collection finally did arrive a little over a month ago. Despite the lengthy delays in shipping out products, and sometimes stuff being in shipping purgatory, once it does, Strictly Limited certainly makes a quality package with fun extras.
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For tonight’s Sunday Night Shmup I’m back to the Cozmic Collection and enjoying the ambient bass soundtrack and classic, moody sci-fi atmosphere of Darius (old version).
Edit:
Managed to get 835,220 after beating Electric Fan in Zone C, got wrecked pretty quick afterwards in Zone E. My highest score so far on the original game:
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Still playing Deathsmiles and Ketsui. Actually broke my DS record by like 15 million. Not super play worth it or anything, but I’m mastering the game and I’m having a blast. Once I 1CC a full level 3 run I’ll tackle the EX level.
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Love going back to Deathsmiles. They did a superb job with the universe in that game, even if I’m rusty I still have fun just enjoying the atmosphere.
Finally got round to trying the DLC for Sisters Royale, I wish I bought it sooner. Oz/Ode is a big nod to Fumiko from Shikigami no Shiro, and her story wraps up the narrative in a fun way. Her summon ability requires you to stand still for a while to pull it off, which changes how you approach every level too.
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