Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Tag: collection

Six More Switch 1 Games Now Added to The Collection!

Posted on by Viljami

While browsing the web I noticed some Switch 1 games. You must have already figured that Switch 2 is very much compatible with Switch 1 games. All of these games were on some sort of sale and I got them for a pretty neat price. Follow along as we go through every one of these games.

We can actually go just in the order that can be found in the featured image right here in this blog post. The first one of these Switch 1 games is Sega Mega Drive Classics. I have seen these collections all the time. I think the latest I have actually bought was the collection for PS3. I have seen these collections released for PS4, Xbox Series X and so on. What I do find interesting about them is that you can actually play them in the handheld mode and when you are travelling. Just wanted to play these classics on my Switch 2. I really enjoy Mega Drive games.

Pokemon Shining Pearl is a very new game for me. I don’t have, yet, so much experience in Pokemon video games. That’s excactly the reason for me to buy this game. I wanted something recent and also something that could get me introduced more to this franchise. I could have bought some earlier game in the series and I am not 100 percent sure about if this is a game that suits my interests after all.

The next game has its title in Finnish (“Nuuskamuikkunen”). The game is titled “Snufkin – Melody of Mooninvalley” in English. The translation has been made this way so that, obviously, smaller children could also enjoy playing this video game. Also Moomins are actually from Finland. They were created by Tove Jansson, but you can probably find some more information from your favorite search engine. I don’t know what to really expect from this game but I found it somewhat interesting. Also, it cost me just a bit under 30 euros. So, I just went and bought it.

Next up is Final Fantasy XII – The Zodiac Age, This game is very familiar to me. It is a very good role-playing-game that does seem to take forever to play through. I first experinced it on PS2 and later went on and bought it as a remaster for PS4. I wanted to give this game a try once more and to play it on my Switch 2. So, this one was now added to my collection of Switch 1 games.

Turok 3 – Shadow of Oblivion is a “Limited Run” release. This was the most expensive game in this group of Switch 1 games. Turok is a video game series that I have not studied a whole lot earlier. I do remember a friend of mine presenting how the first of these games looked on his PC back in the 1990s. It did look impressive in that particular environment and time. The game has everything to do with fighting dinosaurs. I do have  a Turok game also for Nintendo GameCube but I haven’t, yet, played it a whole lot.

The last game in this bunch is Chocobo GP. This game seemed to be a fun one. I definitely know what Chocobos are. I was introduced to them in Final Fantasy VII back in the 90s. Oh, I have so many memories. I am hoping to get to play this game also soon. Lets hope its a good one. I think this game had the cheapest price out of all these six Switch 1 games that I bought and just today picked from the post office.

That’s it! We went through every one these six Switch 1 games that I have just bought. It soon weekend again. Lets see if I get to play these games this weekend. I haven’t yet finished Donkey Kong Bananza, on my Switch 2, but I am working on it. I have played a bit over 15 hours of that game already. See you again, soon!

My Switch 2 Collection Is Already Starting to Grow

Posted on by Viljami

It has been two months since Nintendo released it newest video game console Switch 2. I have already a tiny collection of Switch 2 games. I have four games plus Mario Kart World that came bundeld with the console. I went for the bundle since it was more easily available although it cost some tens of euros more compared to the other option that didn’t include any games.

So, the games I have bought are Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster, Sonic X Shadow Generations, that were both available on the release of Switch two and Donkey Kong Bananza and Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 + 4. The latter was a “code-in-a-box” release. There was no other way to purchase the game. I am usually not into these codes. I like physical releases way more.

Donkey Kong Bananza is currently, in my opinion, the best game that you can have for Nintendo Switch 2. I have already played it for about ten hours. I am really enjoying it. Sometimes I feel like I am getting stuck in some way but when I take a break and return to playing this game the matter gets quickly solved and I keep on progressing. I haven’t got stuck badly at least not yet. I am hoping to finish this game some day soon. Donkey Kong Bananza is also a fully physical release. So, there are no huge downloads when you start to play the game.

What about the other games in my Switch 2 collection? I have to mention that I have been playing some Switch 1 games also. I played Burnout Paradise and Oddworld Abe’s Oddysee New and Tasty and also Dragon Quest III HD-2D. I have to add also Diablo III.

When it comes to THPS 3 + 4 I can tell you that the game is very good. I have spent five hours playing this game. It is cool to feel the nostalgia again and experience something from the past. There are very few matters that have been changed. The gameplay still feels nice. I just haven’t really got deeper with this game atleast not yet.

I only played Sonic X Shadow Generations for a little time. It was available when Switch 2 got released. If I wouldn’t have bought the bundle, Switch 2 with Mario Kart World, this would have propably been my first game for the system. Bravely Default is the only game I have for Switch 2 that I have not yet had time to play at all.

As Switch 2 was getting released we were introduced something like “game key cards”. This means that when you buy a game you get a key card. It alloes you to install the software of the game. You do need the key card to play the game. We can propably have a debate on if this is sensible in any way or not. I don’t have actually anything to say about this. Atleast every game that I have bought seems to be currently working and I can play them.

We have seen many good games already getting released for Nintendo Switch 2. Some good games are still getting released very soon. There are some games, that I am waiting to get released for Nintendo Switch 1 that do actually work also on Switch 2. I am especially waiting to see Hades II, Metroid Prime 4, Terminator 2D No Fate and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Splintered Fate. There might also be some oter good games coming that I didn’t mention here. Oh yeah, I think Final Fantasy Tactics could be interesting, also.

Switch 2 is currently my favorite gaming system that I own. I have divided my attention lately mainly to my Switch 2, Xbox Series X and Raspberry Pi 5 with a Recalbox OS installed. I play many retro games on my Raspberry Pi 5. I haven’t played so much on my PS4, PS3 or Mega Drive Mini or my Retro Trio console that supports SNES, NES and Mega Drive cartridges and of course every controller that I have for these systems. So, I do have all my consoles connected to my 4K 55 inch television. I already took a peek at some 8K televisions on a random web shop. They cost a huge sum of money, like 2000 euros or something like that. There are also not so many devices available that could output a 8K picture. But it might be that I have to get a new TV in maybe two to three years. We will have to wait and see.

Some of The Limitations of 16-bit Era

Posted on by Viljami

I have recently stumbled on to two great games that were first published for the 16-bit game console era. The first game I am going to mention here is Turtles – The Hyperstone Heist. It was originally released for Sega Mega Drive in 1992. You can also play it from the collection of Turtles games that was just released a while ago. I am talking about The Cowabunga Collection. You can pick it up for 40 euros from Xbox Store if you want to.

The other game that made me think about the topic we are going to go through here is Super Castlevania IV. It was released for SNES in the 90s. There were three Castlevania games released for NES before this fourth game was released. This is a good video game that has action and also some mediium level puzzles that the player has to solve. The Hyperstone Heist is basically a “beat-em-up” in just the way that you could imagine a Mega Drive fighting game to look, feel and sound like. Actually we can say that it reminds a lot of Streets of Rage games.

These two games do offer a challenge for a gamer. They are both great games. It just seems to me that these games have some sort of limitations. They are over 30 year old games after all. What are these limitations? That seems to be the reason for me to write something like this. Lets go over some points that I am right now thinking about.

Back in 1990s you didn’t have a way to save your game. So, as a starting point the games were designed to be played in a one session. In Super Castlevania IV there is a password option. Before anyone even had an idea of some sort of a memory card, that were later commonly used in gaming consoles, passwords were a way for a player to continue playing the game even after you had powered off your console. The issue was that lasting memory was expensive. The consoles did have sort of memory but it wasn’t for means to save a game.

Some limitations could be circled with clever game design and programming. Game designers had to know the console they were developing the game for very well. I don’t have a clear idea of what programming language was actually used but I am guessing the code that was used was sort of C and/or pure assembly code. You shouldn’t underestimate the talent that game developers back then had.

Why is the era called “The 16-bit Era”? What this basically means is that everything from background graphics to sound effects would have had to be in 16-bit format for the processor to be able to handle them. This was a huge step from using only 8-bits. Some 8-bit consoles include Sega Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System. 16-bit consoles include at least Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. What this also means is that graphics were more detailed and sounds and background music also. Later there were even 32-bit and 64-bit consoles released but they did belong to other and newer console generations.

The music that had to be compressed is today called “Chip Tune”. This music genre has its roots in as deep as Commodore 64. You can enjoy many music tracks of this genre online. You can try your luck and trying to find something interesting. If you’re interested just make a search with this genre as a search term.

You know back in 1990s we didn’t have 3D modeling in our video and computer games. Instead there were animations that were created using sprite sheets. They were basically some 2D images that were sort of rotated to create a feel of constant graphical flow. We could have a character in our game that had a way to display which way it was currently running. This is one significant limitation. Although you can’t really compare these two ways to create graphical output since they can create very different kinds of results.

You had way less going on while you were playing. Do you know these modern action RPGs? They handle and use a way more data than game consoles did in the 90s. This is one limitation. The last limitation that I am going to mention here is the quality, or maybe the lack of it, when it comes to controllers and game pads. If you are playing on an original system this can be a serious limitation.

There are many ways to play these games of 16-bit era. You can get your hands on an original and physical copy of the game and the console. You can download an emulator, a game file (actually not so “legit”) and connect a USB game pad to your PC. You can also get a collection, like Cowabunga one, for your modern gaming console be it Series S/X, PS4/PS5 or Switch,