retro gaming Archives - Intensive Gaming Diary

Some Problems With Corrupted Memory Card

Posted on April 10, 2026 by Viljami

I have had some problems with my Raspberry Pi 5 and its memory card. I have Recalbox installed on my Raspberry Pi. The problems started when I turned the power off from the button that this Raspberry Pi 5 has while it was running a game. This corrupted my memory card. Luckily it was quite easy to fix this problem once I got to understand what should I do to fix this matter.

So, the problem was that Raspberry Pi 5 wasn’t starting. The screen wasn’t detected and my television didn’t display anything. I had to search for some guidance which is nowadays easy. You just have to use a search engine that also preferably has a mode in which you can utilize some AI power. I first thought that I would try to run some commands directly from SSH connection. I tried to run this Linux command (“fsck”) but I couldn’t get it to work. I would have needed to unmount the memory card first and then I would’ve had to run that command.

I didn’t feel so confident trying to unmount the memory card. Luckily the filesystem that Recalbox uses is compatible with Windows. I found out that it would be possible to run a Windows command (“chkdsk”). The filesystem of a boot partition in my memory card was FAT32 and the other partition had a exFAT filesystem. I first only repaired the FAT32 partition. I obviously had removed the memory card and inserted it in my Windows PC. Now I inserted the card back to my Raspberry Pi. Of course it didn’t load. However there was a picture.

What I had to do was to also repair the larger partition of this memory card that had the exFAT filesystem. So, after I had repaired both of these partitions, the Recalbox system now started just as it did before the memory card became corrupted. So, the problem was eventually fixed.

The memory card of a Raspberry Pi is quite vulnerable and it can get corrupted easily if you switch the power off in a wrong way. You can also access your Recalbox system by opening a web browser on a computer that is connected to your apartments nertwork and going to address: “recalbox.local”. This enables you to for example restart and shut down your Recalbox system.

I recommend to use for storing your roms and bios files some other way than just a memory card. I have a 512GB USB stick that stores currenlty all my data that is used in Recalbox. This is just huge enough for some older game roms like PS1, Mega Drive and NES just to give you an idea. I have another device that I run some newer retro games, like GameCube and original Xbox, that has a bit more power and also more storage space. A Raspberry Pi 5 isn’t so powerful that you could run for example Xbox games on it. My other device doesn’t however run Xbox 360 or PS3 games. This would require a bit more power.

So, my usage of Raspberry Pi 5 continues. I have been waiting some more news also about Valve’s Steam Machine. It would be a considerable part of my setup in the future. It would provide some power for playing retro games with emulation. We just have to wait for the announcement of price and release date. I am also dreaming about purchasing a PS5 console to empower my gaming setup even more.

The problem has now been fixed. Recalbox for Raspberry Pi 5 uses these two types of filesystems that are very much compatible also with Windows along with the compatiblity with Linux systems. It was eventually easy to fix this issue. Everything now works with this device as it did already some time ago.

About Sega Dreamcast

Posted on December 12, 2024 by Viljami

Sega Dreamcast was released 1998 in Japan and 1999 in North America and Europe. Its game library consists of about 600 games. This is considerably lower than all games that were released to PS2, a console of the same era and console generation, that had several thousands of games in its game library.

Some other gaming consoles of this generation were Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2. So, Dreamcast was competing with these giants. This was an era in which we saw definitely more games released than we have in todays world of gaming. It has to said that the competition was tough. PS2 sold most consoles and had the most games in its library while Xbox and GameCube sold well but not as much as PS2. In 2001 Dreamcast was discontinued. It didn’t sell well.

Today Dreamcast is considered to be a definite gem as a retro gaming console. You can get the original console for about 200 euros. It is also possible to play it by emulating Dreamcast on a system like Recalbox that you can run on a Raspberry Pi 5 or PC. Raspberry Pi 5 has enough power to run Dreamcast emulation while some older Rasbperry Pi models might lack this power. We have to consider if this way of playing Dreamcast is actually legit or not. After all every Dreamcast game isn’t available.

I have solved this problem with buying this Dreamcast Collection for PC. I bought it a long time ago but it seems to be totally legal. This collection has four Dreamcast titles in it. While Sega quit manufacturing gaming consoles they still make video games for other systems. There are lots of good quality games still getting released by Sega. This tells something about their position as one of the most legendary game companies in the history of video games.

Sega’s history includes classic consoles like Mega Drive / Genesis, Master System and Saturn. However some of its products weren’t so successful. They did take a wrong direction with releasing 32X and Mega CD. They weren’t commercially successful which evidently lead to some financial problems that lead to discontinuation of Dreamcast.

What are some good games for Dreamcast? There are some role-playing-games like Skies of Arcadia and Grandia II, a boxing game, Ready 2 Rumble, many 2D fighting games, some 3D fighting games, like Virtua Fighter 3tb, Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure, Resident Evil – Code Veronica and many others. The game library is in its entirety a very solid and of good quality. I think that finding a bad game for Dreamcast is a difficult task to complete.

I do have some critic also about Dreamcast. The fact that the controller only has one analog stick makes playing first-person-shooters a bit clumsy. You have to map movement and aiming differently than you would with a better gamepad. Also when compared to some newer consoles Dreamcast lacks some power. But it has to be said that when considering it to be a retro console it handles its business very nicely.

It would be great to get something from Sega today that would be legit and also of good quality when it comes to retro gems like this one. There would definitely be many gamers that would like to buy a mini console, a remake or a completely new game from some of these classic titles. We have to see and wait for what the future holds for Sega fans.

What Made Tomb Raider So Appealling?

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Viljami

I wrote some time ago about Tomb Raider and how it’s 3D modeling made an impact to the whole industry. Now, we have seen Tomb Raider trilogy remake and I think it’s time to get back to this game once again. I actually got the remake collection and gave it some hours. The question here clearly seems to be that how and why was Tomb Raider so popular.

First of all I have to say that this game was a product of its era. 3d worlds were just beginning their story. The controls are clunky and not so good if we compare them to some more recent video games. There are many situations that you have to face when playing Tomb Raider today that just make the game seem a very old one.

The biggest problem seems to be how you control the main character Lara Croft. Jumping is hard and the camera is at times in a very bad angle. These 3D environments aren’t so impressive as they appeared to be back in 1990s. Tomb Raider was released in 1996. I have a copy for PC and PS1. The original game, that I happen to have in the form of the original CD, I think, can be updated so that the graphics will look even sharper.

What about the main character? Lara appears to be a female. This was still an exception back in 1996. Lara Croft was definitely one of the first female main characters. Of course these games are directed to these nerdy guys that are also into 3d and C++ programming. This was, back then, something for the real nerds.

You can feel the excitement as you play the original game. You get to interact with some very edgy and exciting environment. This can, of course, bring you many memories and make you feel the nostalgia. You start to think how could you yourself create a 3D game like this. And this game also gave programmers many ideas not to say anything about a mod that was available that made Lara seem to be totally naked in the game.

I really like Tomb Raider. Would I spend tens of hours playing it once again. Well, maybe not. Time has progressed heavily. Biggest flaw is the controlling of Lara. It just makes playing the game a pain. If you pick a good 3D game from an era of maybe even five years after 1996, say 2001, you can get something much more enjoyable. Why would you pick this one when there are many better games available.

How about the PS1 version that we have on this featured image right here? Well, it is the same game that was released for PC but with worse graphics. It is nice to handle Lara with Dual Shock controller. You can also pick a retro PC, one that has 486 processor, and play the game.

In conclusion, I don’t recommend going back to the world of Lara Croft. The game was something different. Take a note on the use of the word “was”. I know how inpiring this game was. Its impact was enormous. It broke the ice for something bigger and better. So, I suggest you get something some years newer for a new game that you would like to play.