Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Tag: mega drive

Donkey Kong Bonanza Brings Back Some Memories

Posted on by Viljami

Playing Donkey Kong Bonanza just a moment ago brought some memories to my mind. I think this game is the first good game for this new Nintendo gaming console Switch 2. It definitely showcases what the console has to offer. I really enjoy the graphics and the whole gameplay.

Its been over 30 years since I got to play my Sega Mega Drive for the first time. I think the year was 1993. I used to play my Mega Drive for a while before I made my way to school in the morning. I only had a short way to my school and I usually went there by bike. So, I had about thirty minutes to play Sonic The Hedgehog before meeting my pals at our school and starting my then a bit short day in school. Those were the days!

Sega Mega Drive was my first gaming console. Earlier I had already played some games on our family’s personal computer. The computer had MS-DOS as an operating system. I remember many cool titles that I played. Some of them were a bit shorter and some took many hours to complete. Playing Sega Mega Drive was actually something that you couldn’t directly compare to what our PC had to offer.

One huge factor was the way that games on Mega Drive were played. With this console you only had to insert the game cartridge and start to control the character with the controller included. You did have to adjust some settings. You could even take another controller and give it to a friend so you could play together. Mega Drive offered support for two controllers. There was some kind of an adapter of sort that you could plug in to expand the multiplayer capabilities. We of course didn’t have any way to play in any kind of a network back then.

Sonic The Hedgehog was released for Mega Drive in 1991. Mega Drive had been in the markets for several years. Now it was time to change the strategy. Nintendo and NES had already an icon or a mascot – Super Mario. Sonic quickly became the character that represented this console. We have seen similar strategies from the era of Sony PlayStation in the form of Crash Bandicoot. You can also think that Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Bananza now showcases Switch 2’s power in a similar way.

I really like Donkey Kong Bananza. I really like Switch 2. I have been playing some Switch 1 titles also. It is nice to have a backwards compatibility like this. Since I have bought Switch 2 I have bought some Switch 2 games but also some Swithc 1 titles. I am really waiting for Terminator 2D – No Fate to get released. The release day was actually just recently pushed to end of Octoberw while it was earlier set to be released already in September. There is also a new NBA2K game coming in the beginning of September. I am not sure about if I am going to invest in a new basketball game. It just seems that the game is modified only slightly. It takes a lot of time to complete a modern NBA2K game. I have bought NBA2K every year for at least five years in a row so it might be a good time to take a break in that matter.

There’s some games getting released for Switch 2 later this year. The next Metroid Prime game is getting released in this years December. We are also going to see Hades II also for Switch 2 in December. I already have Hades II for my current Windows PC. I am still looking for a good moment to buy also a new personal computer that would utilize the new Windows 11 operating system. You might have heard that Windows 10 is going to be somewhat unsupported in October. There is also an option to keep using Windows 10 by paying a small amount of money to keep the system supported. It is also possible to install Linux. I am thinking about this and I haven’t yet made my final decision about this issue. We will see how things are going to begin shaping in a moment. See you again soon!

The Direction of Sega

Posted on by Viljami

There has been a lot of discussion lately about Sega and the statement that they made about not looking so much back. It has also been said that Sega is not a retro game company. They are going to focus more on modern video games. This makes me think about all the classic titles of the past. There is also a question about what new games we are going to see and will Sega bring back their most classic intellectual property like for example Sonic, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and so on.

Nintendo was the first game company to release a mini console. This happened with the release of mini NES that was followed by mini SNES console. This happened in between 2016 and 2017. It is not needed to say that these consoles were very popular. Sega released a bit later a Mega Drive mini console. We have also seen a PlayStation console of this kind among with some Atari, Amiga and Commodore 64 consoles.

Game consumers have been waiting and hoping for something from Sega like a mini Dreamcast or mini Saturn. It has now been stated that this is not going to happen. It is stated that Sega has no interest in bringing new mini consoles that would include some retro games. Instead it was said that the company wants to identify as a modern game company. Fans have also hoped to see something related to Sega CD and/or Sega 32X. This makes me think that we are probably going to see some new game titles that are going to be released in the near future.

I actually have this Sega Mega Drive classic/mini console that I bought for a cheap price, as always, some years back. If I remember correctly it cost me 60 euros. That is a cheap price for a retro game console that comes with several tens of games installed. It is very easy to hook up to your television screen as it has an HDMI connectivity included. It came with two controllers and they were very nice and of a good quality. Sega also released a bit later a second Mega Drive mini console that included some more games including some Sega CD games. There were a total of 53 games included. The first mini console had 40 games included.

For me, personally and as a video game enthusiast, Sega has been very important since the beginning of my interest in video games. I did play some PC games and tried out NES but Mega Drive was the first actual video game console that I owned back in the beginning of 1990s. The system was not so expensive at that time and it had many great games. I also had some friends that had a Mega Drive also so we could swap some games. My favorite games were Sonic 1 and 2, Streets of Rage 2 and Golden Axe just to give you some idea. Later I continued in this path and got my second gaming console and that was PlayStation 1.

As we are waiting for some news about new video games that are going to be released by Sega we also have to think that there probably will never exist a mini console made out of some classic game consoles or games. We just have to accept that and start to look in to the future. Will it be a bright one? We have to wait some more and just see how things start to shape up. What will we see when it comes to the future of Sega? What will we see in the future of video gaming? With these thoughts deep in our minds, or something clever like that I am now ending this blog post. I also wish you a very merry Christmas!

Why Would You Buy a Loose Game?

Posted on by Viljami

Now why would you choose to buy a loose game instead of a complete-in-box or only boxed game that comes without a manual? With a loose game I of course mean a game that doesn’t have a case, manual or cover at all. Considering games that are delivered on disc this can also mean in some cases that the disc is damaged.

We can go through some of these reasons. First thing that comes to mind is that the loose game is way cheaper. How the game looks or its condition might not also be an obstacle if you just want to play the game. Its better to own a damaged but working copy than just downloading that game, right?

You can also buy a case for a game. This is however not so popular as an option. I have to mention this, without any direct links, there are places on-line that you can find good quality covers for games. So, if you have an access to a good quality printer you can even buy an empty case for the game and print your cover. Then you just have to cut the cover out of the paper with scissors. I have to mention that empty covers can be hard to find. You can also swap maybe a sports games case and use that with your loose game.

I do have some Mega Drive games as loose copies. It was some time ago that I also bought some empty cases for these games. Right now I have my gaming shelf almost full. There is no room for new Mega Drive games. I would have to remove a row of PC games and also do some other things to better display my collection. There is some work to do in this matter. Maybe in some blog post I could share you a picture of my gaming room or living room.

Also all my NES games are loose games. I don’t find these NES cases so appealing. I do collect and have some PC games that are displayed in so called big boxes. Loose PC games that come only with the plastic case are very lame. I do have some copies of loose games likee these but I don’t actually collect them. This can of course be a matter of taste.

Digital copies of games have many advantages. They don’t actually run out if they become popular like physical copies do and they don’t take any space in your home. PC games have already seen a change towards digital distribution. The biggest sellers of digital PC games must be Steam, GOG and Epic. I currently don’t have a disc drive in my default PC. I do have a secondary PC that still holds a DVD drive inside it.