What retro console games are you replaying/playing for the first time that you missed out on?

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Currently working my way through replaying NFS Most Wanted Black Edition, upscaled to 4K with a few patches/tweaks, still looks pretty good The cheese of the dialogue never disappoints But the gameplay is still pretty fast paced, and plays at 60FPS

I will do NFS Underground 1 and maybe 2 next, always preferred 1, maybe because it was the first, and I liked the routes chosen despite it not being open world like 2 - 2 is obviously good because of that, so it's a no brainer, that's why I appreciate 1 a bit more.

Recently redid Resi CVX/3 Nemesis, Dino Crisis.

I'm really enjoying replaying these classics I've owned for years on modern TV's with modern wireless controllers and bluetooth earbuds with them upscaled/tweaked - I know the purists will kill me for that, but lets face it, if we could have had better graphics at the time/higher resolution, we certainly wouldn't of said no! It's no different to me than replaying older PC games at a higher resolution/graphics setting thanks to modern hardware when we didn't have the money/hardware/monitor resolution in the past to do it.
I also think when you're talking PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era, that doesn't really fall into the NES/SNES/Megadrive/Gameboy/Gamegear retro class where you want scan lines and 4:3 ratio etc... So I'm all for visual bumps in quality!

 

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NFS Underground was a beast! A joy to play back in the day and great soundtrack.

I always remember the games to have looked better than what they actually are!

Although now an answer to your question I still play counterstrike 1.6 regularly except now its in a browser and seemingly uses 0 GPU power - amazing where we were and where we are now!

Yeah! Great all rounder, it looked amazing on the PC, I remember playing it at 1600x1200 19" CRT, max settings on a 9600XT/2800XP

Have you seen the path tracing mod project for 1/2?

Haha 1.6 for life, mate!
Yeah, I remember seeing the browser version when it came out, awesome time to be alive

 

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Weirdly enough I reinstalled nfs underground again month or so back on my athlon XP / X800GT build and fell back in love with it

Also playing star Trek: elite force the FPS based off the quake 3 engine. Such a great game

I would love to buy it for the PC, then an external drive to install it, but I worry that it wouldn't work very well? I think I have seen success now that I say this, it's probably patchable?
Last time I looked the usual places were charging an unfair amount for it, so I just choose to stick to my own PS2 version and upscale/tweak it, the lesser of two evils I guess

Ah amazing! I always wanted to play that, it's pretty amusing, have you seen the hilarious LGR review of it?

 

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Playing Castlevania on the Switch 2. Namely the NES games. It is fun but I'm not very good!

Haha, at least you're honest Is it for nostalgia, or was it a fresh game to you?

Vanquish, i would have loved this game back in the xbox 360 days but never bought it for some reason.

Just had a quick look at that, that looks pretty hectic and fun! I see it got a PC release too Hmmm

 

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Fresh. I didn't have a console when I was younger.

Nice, I love that your first time experiencing it, and the console, is now. I love finding a retro gem and having that first experience.

 

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I have the Xbox 360 setup and I'm working my way through 007 Blood Stone.

That's the one that is supposed to be really good, but isn't based on real Bonds, right?

 

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Wow insane what a difference ray tracing makes - looks like a new game! But dips to 20fps even with a 5080! EEK!

I've played nearly 5 hours tonight on the PS2 version upscaled with some patches, such as 60FPS, remove blur, and some visual tweaks, yes no path tracing or ray tracing, but offt, 60FPS from a PS2 game with a pretty decent draw distance, of which you only notice minor things popping in, like bits of armco on barriers and the higher details of any cars in front, get playing it.
One day this modded PC version will be playable haha, if only they'd add FSR/DLSS/frame generation/reflex/anti lag support

 

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Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade with English translation patch on Emudeck. I simply cannot get enough of the Fire Emblem series and this type of game in general.

I love that you're using a translation patch, I did that with some of the Initial D games, there was a fan made patch, painstakingly going through each scene to translate the cutscenes/dialogue - it's awesome when the scene/fans do this!
The same games for fan made anime subs back in the 90's!

 

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Not a clue. There isn't a 007 movie called Blood Stone, if that's what you mean. The game so far is very good, great action scenes, great car chases. Overall, pretty impressed.

Yeah I think it is the one I'm thinking of, that's very highly rated despite being made up for the game

Does Forza Motorsport 4 count at retro now?

I have been stuck on that for the last week getting to the end of the overall campaign. Now on season 10 and just hit level 50!

I know you can go further and quite frankly I probably will as it's still SUCH a great game and the crowning gem in the series for me

Haha, I'll allow it

Have you played everything or nothing? Not based off a film but does have Brosnan as bond in it along with Willem Dafoe, Heidi Klum and Mya (edit- just watched the intro again and it's a all star cast for voice actors!!!).

Here ya go ...may as well share the intro

3rd person action game and it's well put together. Proper theme tune done by Mya too which is pretty decent

It's currently about £4-5 on eBay and £2 on CEX for the PS2 or Xbox version, cube is a bit more

I must have missed that one! Sounds good.
When I heard Brosnan and third person, I immediately remembered that terrible TMD on PS1

 

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Haha cheers, strange to think FM4 is 2 consoles and 4 games old now!

Yeah it's mich better than TND on the PS1....It has a frame rate for starters

You're welcome
Yeah it's crazy! For me retro in my head is still Gameboy/GameGear/NES/MasterSystem/SNES/Megadrive etc... But I know it's not just them anymore But I still feel dirty classing a PS1/2 as retro, yet it is haha!

Haha, TMD was good in places, but felt like some dodgy fanmade game/mod, it's hilarious if you go back and play it now

 

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Haha! I hadn't seen that!

You can look back and seen the comedic side of these games which is good too

Agreed on the pricing of the older big pc games now, are going up at quite the rate ATM. CEX is a good place to check as sometimes the pc versions of games are written off as irrelevant Vs the console copies and are cheaper

This thread has given me the gentle reminder I need to get the new shed up and bikes etc out of my workshop to start on several retro builds I have been meaning to start! ....so many other games I want to play on the right hardware

Sorry I missed this reply, haha, yeah LGR is great - he does an Oblivion review where he starts off referencing the Star Wars game due to both having Patrick Stuart in
Skip to 2 minutes if this doesn't link you straight to that part, this is hilarious, you'll appreciate this

Yeah it's crazy the pricing, yep, CEX FTW where needed, I just buy keys elsewhere these days and risk playing them on day one if it's something I really want, I've never liked waiting for patches and it ruins the lead up to waiting years for that game you really want, so Russian Roulette it is

The shed plans sound awesome mate, get on that!

 

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Not sure if you would call it retro but I've been playing Diablo 2 Resurrected and it is really good fun. Looks a bit janky on modern TVs but it is fine.

If you're enjoying it, then the graphics dont matter I replay things like Red Alert, Dungeon Keeper 2, and Warcraft 2, and they look dated, but the gameplay is still spot on

 

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Star Ocean Second Story R on the Switch.
I remember the magazine adverts for the PlayStation 1 version at the time it originally came out, but I didn't have a PlayStation back then.
This one is more remake than remaster by Square Enix, so it feels a lot like how I imagined it would have, rather than a straight port which might feel quite basic. Anyway, it's a good game.

Nice! The Devine Force, character has a massive sword and looks a bit like Cloud from FFVII? How's that allowed or did Star Ocean do this first?
Either way, it looks decent after a quick look
I love it when a remake gives you that placebo/improvement, thus preserving it for even longer with even better graphics and game engine
I was lucky enough to play Silent Hill 2 for the first time with the remake, what a first impression/playthrough - I know, the stutters/UE5 problems, but I wasn't going to that take away a beautiful presentation/homage to the original.
I'm looking forward to playing the SH1 remake next year; again it'll be my first time playing it, as I was always more of a Resi guy, and just never played more than a few minutes of both 1/2 - I did complete Homecoming, regarded as the worst one but I liked it for what it was

 

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I've been trying some SNES games since I never had one as a kid. Honestly - I'm struggling haha. Because I didn't play them as a kid I have no nostalgia at all, and they're so frustrating it's unreal lol.

I have no idea whatsoever how people managed to get anywhere on Super Metroid. Some of the paths forward are so cryptic I had to use a guide to progress! Also - I'm terrible at them. So bad.

Haha, my mate feels like this whenever I mention replaying the original Resi'. He cant stand tank controls, and the idea of going back to replay them, gives him PTSD
Metroid is awesome, I loved Prime - never finished it, or Fusion on the GBA, but both were great, as you say, very frustrating though, mind!