|
|
Post by megamixer on Sept 7, 2022 18:14:43 GMT
There have been loads of games over time that tried to do too much, or maybe pushed the limitations of the host computer/console too much. Which ones stand out for you and did it ruin the experience?
Ones that immediately spring to my mind:
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (3DS) - An early 3DS title and one that I felt the 3DS really struggling to deal with. First of all, the controls simply aren't there. Going from a dual-analogue set-up for the Mercs modes (and general RE4/5 style controls) on home consoles to trying to control it with the slider and less available buttons was a lesson in hand cramp. It released before the Circle Pad Pro bolt-on as well so there are no options for that. Worse is the fact that the whole thing just chugs when there's loads going on, and enemy pop-in is quite noticeable. Also jarring is the massively reduced animation quality versus the home console Mercs. On one hand, the game is sort of a technical achievement that it even works at all, but it's also just a crap, compromised version of a bonus game mode from vastly superior home console Resi games.
Capcom 2D fighting games (PS1) - There are a few that are decent and work well (the original Darkstalkers and Marvel Superheroes) but the later, more intensive Vs games just struggle so badly on the PS1. The console has half of the video RAM of the Saturn, and even THAT console needed a RAM expansion cartridge to run the likes of Marvel Superheroes Vs Street Fighter. Given all that, the fact that they actually work at all on the PS1 is pretty impressive, but they suffer with reduced animation frames, poorer sound quality, and one of them that I played even had the tag feature removed altogether. Even with all those compromises, the load times are terrible. Most crazy is that Capcom Vs SNK and Marvel vs Capcom were ported to the PS1 too and those were DREAMCAST games! Again, given the PS1's lack of power for running these, the fact that they are actually playable and look the part is commendable. But they are - again - badly compromised versus the Arcade/Dreamcast versions. The fact that these inferior PS1 ports are now stupidly expensive to buy is a bit ironic.
Shadow of the Collossus (PS2) - Don't need to say much about this. Epic, epic game on the PS2 but perhaps a gen too early as the framerates can really take a massive hit as the PS2 struggles to deal with the game.
|
|
|
|
Post by sephiroth81 on Sept 7, 2022 20:03:18 GMT
Half Life 2 appearing on the original Xbox was probably a bit ambitious. Just lacked the GPU and CPU cores to run that physics engine so isn't the best experience, but the best that could be expected from what was essentially an old slow pentium 3 with not much memory.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerr9000 on Sept 7, 2022 20:55:11 GMT
There have been loads of games over time that tried to do too much, or maybe pushed the limitations of the host computer/console too much. Which ones stand out for you and did it ruin the experience?
Ones that immediately spring to my mind:
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (3DS) - An early 3DS title and one that I felt the 3DS really struggling to deal with. First of all, the controls simply aren't there. Going from a dual-analogue set-up for the Mercs modes (and general RE4/5 style controls) on home consoles to trying to control it with the slider and less available buttons was a lesson in hand cramp. It released before the Circle Pad Pro bolt-on as well so there are no options for that. Worse is the fact that the whole thing just chugs when there's loads going on, and enemy pop-in is quite noticeable. Also jarring is the massively reduced animation quality versus the home console Mercs. On one hand, the game is sort of a technical achievement that it even works at all, but it's also just a crap, compromised version of a bonus game mode from vastly superior home console Resi games.
Capcom 2D fighting games (PS1) - There are a few that are decent and work well (the original Darkstalkers and Marvel Superheroes) but the later, more intensive Vs games just struggle so badly on the PS1. The console has half of the video RAM of the Saturn, and even THAT console needed a RAM expansion cartridge to run the likes of Marvel Superheroes Vs Street Fighter. Given all that, the fact that they actually work at all on the PS1 is pretty impressive, but they suffer with reduced animation frames, poorer sound quality, and one of them that I played even had the tag feature removed altogether. Even with all those compromises, the load times are terrible. Most crazy is that Capcom Vs SNK and Marvel vs Capcom were ported to the PS1 too and those were DREAMCAST games! Again, given the PS1's lack of power for running these, the fact that they are actually playable and look the part is commendable. But they are - again - badly compromised versus the Arcade/Dreamcast versions. The fact that these inferior PS1 ports are now stupidly expensive to buy is a bit ironic.
Shadow of the Collossus (PS2) - Don't need to say much about this. Epic, epic game on the PS2 but perhaps a gen too early as the framerates can really take a massive hit as the PS2 struggles to deal with the game.
I played the heck out of Mercenaries on the 3DS , it really really grabbed me, but then I played toons of the same mode in Resi 5 I think it just appeals to something in me, I never even thought of it as a dissapointment. |
|
|
|
Post by megamixer on Sept 7, 2022 22:25:23 GMT
There have been loads of games over time that tried to do too much, or maybe pushed the limitations of the host computer/console too much. Which ones stand out for you and did it ruin the experience?
Ones that immediately spring to my mind:
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (3DS) - An early 3DS title and one that I felt the 3DS really struggling to deal with. First of all, the controls simply aren't there. Going from a dual-analogue set-up for the Mercs modes (and general RE4/5 style controls) on home consoles to trying to control it with the slider and less available buttons was a lesson in hand cramp. It released before the Circle Pad Pro bolt-on as well so there are no options for that. Worse is the fact that the whole thing just chugs when there's loads going on, and enemy pop-in is quite noticeable. Also jarring is the massively reduced animation quality versus the home console Mercs. On one hand, the game is sort of a technical achievement that it even works at all, but it's also just a crap, compromised version of a bonus game mode from vastly superior home console Resi games.
Capcom 2D fighting games (PS1) - There are a few that are decent and work well (the original Darkstalkers and Marvel Superheroes) but the later, more intensive Vs games just struggle so badly on the PS1. The console has half of the video RAM of the Saturn, and even THAT console needed a RAM expansion cartridge to run the likes of Marvel Superheroes Vs Street Fighter. Given all that, the fact that they actually work at all on the PS1 is pretty impressive, but they suffer with reduced animation frames, poorer sound quality, and one of them that I played even had the tag feature removed altogether. Even with all those compromises, the load times are terrible. Most crazy is that Capcom Vs SNK and Marvel vs Capcom were ported to the PS1 too and those were DREAMCAST games! Again, given the PS1's lack of power for running these, the fact that they are actually playable and look the part is commendable. But they are - again - badly compromised versus the Arcade/Dreamcast versions. The fact that these inferior PS1 ports are now stupidly expensive to buy is a bit ironic.
Shadow of the Collossus (PS2) - Don't need to say much about this. Epic, epic game on the PS2 but perhaps a gen too early as the framerates can really take a massive hit as the PS2 struggles to deal with the game.
I played the heck out of Mercenaries on the 3DS , it really really grabbed me, but then I played toons of the same mode in Resi 5 I think it just appeals to something in me, I never even thought of it as a dissapointment. Yeah I loved the Mercs in RE4 and 5 and played a LOT if them. I gave the 3DS one a decent chance but, as I say, I found the controls a chore and the pop up of enemies in the distance was annoying. Also, I believe you can't delete save data so a used copy is pretty pants if you actually want to unlock stuff yourself. |
|
|
|
Post by mattb on Sept 7, 2022 23:08:49 GMT
I don't think Mercenaries was too ambitious for the 3DS. You've just got to look at what they were able to pull off with Revelations on the same hardware only a short while afterwards.
I'd just see it as a bit of a cash grab early in the machine's life cycle, ported over without too much thought as to how it could be made to work well.
Save data for 3DS games is stored on the SD card by the way, so a used cartridge won't carry it over to a new machine.
|
|
|
|
Post by sephiroth81 on Sept 8, 2022 7:59:43 GMT
I've yet to try either Mercenaries or Revelations on the 3DS, but I suspect they may both find some improvements in framerates now if you run them on modded New 3DS hardware with all 4 CPUs running at full clockspeed. Maybe even to the point where its actually playable! Won't improve the quality of textures or resolution, or maybe even draw distance....but it will help chugging framerates and load times.
|
|
|
|
Post by megamixer on Sept 8, 2022 8:44:52 GMT
I don't think Mercenaries was too ambitious for the 3DS. You've just got to look at what they were able to pull off with Revelations on the same hardware only a short while afterwards. I'd just see it as a bit of a cash grab early in the machine's life cycle, ported over without too much thought as to how it could be made to work well. Save data for 3DS games is stored on the SD card by the way, so a used cartridge won't carry it over to a new machine. No, it's different for Mercs 3D. The data for the cartridge cannot be reset: www.theverge.com/2011/06/28/capcom-resident-evil-mercenaries-3d-save-file-drmIt even states it in the manual. Apparently, Monkey Ball 3D is the same |
|
|
|
Post by RetroBob on Sept 8, 2022 9:18:20 GMT
Half Life 2 appearing on the original Xbox was probably a bit ambitious. Just lacked the GPU and CPU cores to run that physics engine so isn't the best experience, but the best that could be expected from what was essentially an old slow pentium 3 with not much memory. Fair play to them for getting it on there. I don't think I played it on the OG XBox, certainly the Xbox 360 version on Orange Box though that had fairly regular pauses during gameplay for loading. Did it have similar for PCs at the time? Perhaps lower spec ones? |
|
|
|
Post by kerr9000 on Sept 8, 2022 12:35:38 GMT
Yeah Mercs is a weird one with the save data, figured that out by having it a few times second hand... I did try reading online at one point to see if there was a hold this press that way to delete the save like somethings have but never came across anything.
|
|
|
|
Post by mattb on Sept 8, 2022 13:30:35 GMT
Oops, that's right. The save data is usually on the card. You can tell that I've been using a hacked 3DS for a while.
There are homebrew utilities to reset and back up save files though, so maybe use one of those. I'm pretty sure they'd still work even if the game itself doesn't support it.
|
|
|
|
Post by megamixer on Sept 8, 2022 13:38:16 GMT
For some reason, I thought Half Life 2 was also on the PS2 - and I was about to ask how that version ran - but then remembered it was just the first one. Completely forgot that the Xbox received HL2.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerr9000 on Sept 8, 2022 14:51:22 GMT
Oops, that's right. The save data is usually on the card. You can tell that I've been using a hacked 3DS for a while. There are homebrew utilities to reset and back up save files though, so maybe use one of those. I'm pretty sure they'd still work even if the game itself doesn't support it. That's a very good point, I hadn't thought of that using the software in my hacked 2DS to see if you can blank Mercs off. |
|
|
|
Post by blucey on Sept 8, 2022 19:29:23 GMT
I've got a soft spot for games that just don't give a damn and totally go for it.
Examples are Earth Defence Force 2017, which was like kicking the 360 in the nuts, and Mercenaries (not the Resi Evil one) on the PS2. It was an open world shooter where you could stack up c4 and bombs and blow up any structure. Throw in an air strike and your PS2 would basically die. I loved it.
Less good were the 3D games on the Speccy like Driller, Dark Side and Castle Master. All gash.
|
|
|
|
Post by megamixer on Sept 8, 2022 19:36:37 GMT
I've got a soft spot for games that just don't give a damn and totally go for it. Examples are Earth Defence Force 2017, which was like kicking the 360 in the nuts, and Mercenaries (not the Resi Evil one) on the PS2. It was an open world shooter where you could stack up c4 and bombs and blow up any structure. Throw in an air strike and your PS2 would basically die. I loved it. Less good were the 3D games on the Speccy like Driller, Dark Side and Castle Master. All gash. I remember playing the original EDF on PS2 (Global Defence Force) and there was a LOT of slowdown when the explosions and spawning bugs piled up. |
|
Hiro
Atari 2600
Posts: 11
|
Post by Hiro on Sept 8, 2022 22:57:13 GMT
Driver 2 is the first that comes to mind. Not a bad game at all (much unlike Driv3r), but I remember a lot of slowdowns and things suddenly appearing from nowhere, it was really a stretch to publish it on the aging PS1 hardware.
|
|
Its just some interesting potential opportunities for AI and automation to help and free humans in the future, rather than enslave us. We need General Zod to implement it.