Currently Playing

Started on Capcom Fighting Collection for Switch. Very nice presentation with ability to switch between English/Japanese editions for all games, loads of settings to mess about with etc.

Disappointed with Hyper Street Fighter II though as I forgot it would be the arcade port, so the main root menu from the PS2 version with all the settings and ability to use the amazing "arrange" OST is obviously missing. BALLS. Will have to play that one on my PS2's HDD I guess.

Next, the first Darkstalkers. Main issue with this game is that the sequel - Nightwarriors/Vampire Hunter - just does everything better, has the same stages etc. There's really no need to play this over Nightwarriors. Damage output feels high, and the AI crazy strong on default settings. I've so never liked the behaviour of the super meter in the original Darkstalkers as you fill it, and then it starts automatically draining, forcing you to use a super before it depletes.

Nightwarriors though...this is where it's at! Really enjoying playing this again.

As with all my Switch fighting games, I'm using the 8bitdo M30 bluetooth pad which is just perfect for 2D fighters.

Having completed the campaign with Rodney Mullen back when it came out, I'm back on THPS 1+2 now that it's free on PSN. I wasn't all that into it first time around (on PSN, I'm a huge fan of the first three games on PS1/2) but now it's become my go to chill game when I can't be arsed playing anything else.

I've started the DLC for The Ascent also. It's so good that game. Easily my GOTY.

Back on Dreamcast Sega Rally 2 and the timer is just awful. I never did get the better of it.

Just recently downloaded the Portal Companion thingy for the Switch, so will be playing through this modern-classic again this weekend.

Also playing a bit of Kirby's Dream Buffet....because its Kirby, and it literally looks delicious.

This has been on my radar of interest for a while. Always wondered if it was any good since it doesn't seem to get mentioned either way.

Ended up testing my SD card modded Neogeo CD with the games that became annoying to play on it

Holy feck, the load times are not a problem anymore. KOF98, Last Blade 2 are now playable on it...........

Been replaying the Spyro The Dragon games on my Vita (The Reignited remasters were fantastic but I still prefer the original PS1 versions) for some quick-fire gameplay. I say "quick-fire" because I've 100%ed these so many times since they originally released that I can finish them in no time.

Already maxed out the first two and am now working through Year of the Dragon. Every time I replay these games, I realise how much I don't particularly enjoy this third game in the trilogy. It's still Insomniac, and it's still a great platformer but you constantly get the feeling that the charm is wearing off the third time around. NPC characters are grating, and the new types of challenges - such as the skateboarding - can be fiddly and pure irritating at times.

Also, certain music tracks are re-used between levels, most notably the speedways which all have the same music. This has always bugged me (since the music in the series has always been one of my favourite aspects) so I looked it up and found out that the soundtrack wasn't properly completed. There IS a version of the game with a "completed" OST with unique tracks for each Speedway and some of the other levels but that print run is exclusive to the US "Greatest Hits" re-release. You'd think it would be the same for the European "Platinum" re-release but it isn't - that version still has the original soundtrack with duplicated tracks throughout the game. The speculated reason being that there was no room on the disc due to the PAL version needing all the different languages for Europe so they had to stick with the game accessing the same tracks for multiple levels.

Makes me wonder if there were any other Euro/PAL games that suffered in the same way, losing options due to the multiple languages eating up CD space.