Retro Journal - The Latest in Retro Video Gaming News

My JOURNAL OF Retro VIDEO Gaming Activity

This page is a personal journal of retro games, homebrews, hardware and modifications that I’m currently active with and are holding my interest.

The purpose of this page is to give you a resource to explore what in retro gaming is worth spending your time on by being able to see reviews, photos, screenshots and other forms of updates. So if you are short of ideas for what to play or do with your retro consoles, come and visit this page!

Feel free to browse through this section and contact me with any comments, questions and suggestions about what you see here. I am always happy to hear from fellow retro gaming enthusiasts that share my interests and enthusiasm for the hobby. You can comment by clicking the “Contact Us” link in the horizontal menu at the top of the screen just below the website logo.

This section of the website has changed and evolved a fair bit, but now it has reach a stage where it’s stable. It may still change in future to include new sections or the current sections may change slightly. It will be updated regularly when I finish games and when I get new games for my collection.

Currently this page is split into various sections that give an overall picture of my gaming interests. To the right you can see a list of the last dozen games that I’ve finished. The games haven’t necessarily been fully completed but if it’s marked as finished than I have at least got to the end of the game. The games are listed in reverse chronological order – the last game I finished is listed first.

Below you will find a section listing the games that I’m looking forward to the most that haven’t been released yet. It includes homebrews, hacks, translations and official games. Each game is linked to either an article or a development project page, so click and explore. You can tell the type of gamer I am by studying the games on both these lists. I tend toward adventure, RPG, platform and games with story driven mechanics.

Games that I've Recently Finished

Finished Snatcher for the Mega CD (Sega CD). This game was an absolute delight to play! As a life-long fan of graphic adventures for a console game it really doesn't get much better than this. Engaging and thrilling storyline, excellent pixel art drawings and animation and the voice acting was top shelf. Very sci-fi and technical in the way the story is constructed which suits me perfectly. Hands down the best Mega CD game I've ver played. A+++ (full marks)!

|SCD| Snatcher (2nd Lieutenant)
|BS-X| BS Marvelous: Time Athletic Course 1 (AI Translate)
|SNES| Marvelous: Another Treasure Island (ENG)
|NEXT| Grelox Colony 7
|NES| Maniac Mansion (Bernard & Michael)
|SNES| Famicom Bunko: Hajimari no Mori (AI Translate)
|GBA| Mother 3 (ENG)
|BS-X| BS Treasure Conflix (ENG)
|SNES| Metal Slader Glory (ENG)
|PS2| Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 – Adventure by the Sea (ENG)
|PS3| Little Big Planet 2 (story mode)
|PS3| Sonic Adventure 2 (all char. stories)

Famicom Pocket Books: The Forest of Beginnings. Ending Screenshot 01

Famicom Pocket Books: The Forest of Beginnings. Ending Screenshot 02

Metal Slader Glory. Ending Screenshot 01

Marvekous: Another Treasure Island. Ending Screenshot 01

Above you can screenshots of games that I’ve finished recently and have captured the ending for.

My MOST ANTICIPATED UN-RELEASED GAMES

Cronela’s Mansion (NES/SNES) (Homebrew)
Former Dawn (NES) (Homebrew)
Boku no Natsuyasumi (PSX) (Translation)
Oracle of Secrets (SNES) (Zelda 3 Hack)
Urb X Warriors (NEXT) (Commercial)

Games I'm Currently Playing

Luft Gears (NGB) (Homebrew)
Aquanauts Holiday: Hidden Memories (PS3) (Import)
Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) (Licensed)
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC) (Licensed)
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere (GBC) (Translation)
SD Snatcher (MSX2) (Translation)
Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA) (Licensed)

Latest Games Added to my Collection

Farming Simulator 16-Bit Limited Edition (Sega Mega Drive)
Shockman (Super Nintendo) (PAL)
Super Tilt Bro. (Nintendo NES)
O (Big Box Edition) (Spectrum Next)
Luft Gears (Game Boy DMG)
Retro City Rampage DX (PlayStation 3)
Black & White (Spectrum Next)

Kickstarter Pre-Ordered Retro Gaming Project Pledges

Spectrum Next KS3 (Accelerated Version)
Cronela’s Mansion (SNES PAL CIB Edition)
Urb X Warriors: The Lost City (Big Box Edition)
Vectrex Mini
Former Dawn (NES Bare Cartridge)

Homebrew Treasures: Games

Shockman Zero (Super Nintendo)
Farming Simulator 16-Bit Limited Edition (Sega Mega Drive)
Super Tilt Bro. (Nintendo NES)
O (Big Box Edition) (Spectrum Next)
Luft Gears (Game Boy DMG)
Retro City Rampage DX (PlayStation 3)
B*NQ (Atari 7800)

Homebrew Treasures: Hardware

ModRetro Chromatic 1st Edition Inferno (Nintendo Gameboy) [Aftermarket FPGA]
Krikkz FX PAKPRO (Super NES) [Flash Cartridge]
Krikkz N8 Everdrive (Nintendo NES)
Krikkz GB Everdrive X5 (Nintendo Gameboy) [Flash Cartridge]
Atari VOX+ Speech Synthesizer (Atari 7800) [Expansion Cartridge]

This is a unique and atmospheric Game Boy DMG homebrew game that I recently acquired stock to supply our webstore with. Of course I had to keep a copy for my personal collection because it's a really great game about exploring deep space in a ship that you command and crew as a solo captain. There is only you, your space ship and the cold and dark, infinite void of deep space. There is no-one to help you, if your ship breaks down then you are stranded in space, doomed to drift forever until you run out of breathable air - you are a goner. Each decision could be your last!

MIDI Gaming: PC's, DOS & Consoles

Recently I have dug out a 486 sporting an AMD DX4 100MHz CPU which I purchased from eBay several years ago. It wasn’t cheap but I would imagine that it’s even less cheap if I wanted to buy it now. As retro game collectors are well aware of the laws of supply and demand since supply of our treasured retro machines is only getting scarcer and demand is ever increasing as our hobby gains unwanted popularity from YouTube videos and social media. However there isn’t really anything we can do about that, so we have to deal with these ever inflating prices. So hold onto your gear folks because if you sell it and want it to buy it back later it’s going to cost you far more… I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.

Luckily I pretty much had everything I need for a killer 486 rig that’s even better than my first PC which shared the same CPU specifications. I had even kept my old CRT monitor from way back in the day, it wasn’t my very first monitor but it was definitely one of my first, it could even be my second. I also had an old “clicky” IBM keyboard that will fit the giant DIN port on the 486’s motherboard. I was examining the PC’s specs when I found out that it actually had a very nice sound card, one that was MIDI capable – an Awe 64! Surprisingly I somehow knew very little about MIDI but that was all about to change as I started researching and checking out YouTube video’s from channels like LGR.

I soon found out that I was able to give my 486 an extremely advanced sound upgrade, all I had to do was purchase an external sound modulator. You made have heard of a Roland Sound Canvas before if you come from the time when you had to select your sound hardware when installing a new game. I had seen these options many times: Roland Sound Canvas SC-55, MPU-401, Roland MT-32, etc… But I never paid it much mind, I always assumed that my Sound Blaster 16 was the best sound I could get from my games. Boy was I mistaken! I found a working SC-55 on eBay from Japan for just over $200 AUD shipped. I haven’t yet obtained the correct cable to plug it into my 486 but a local electronics store had a MIDI interface that had a USB connection so it would work on modern PC’s. Without delay I immediately set up the beasty black boom box on my Windows 10 PC and started playing games that are Sound Canvas compatible.

I was unable to connect it to my LG Dolby Sound amplifier for the simple fact that I didn’t have a chord long enough to reach. As I’m in the middle of moving most of stuff including cables and other gaming stuff aren’t at my current residence. So instead I hooked it up to the little Logitech Dolby 5.1 PC speaker and subwoofer set and I was completely blown away by what true MIDI can do. Adventure game classics that I thought could no get any better such as Monkey Island 2) were now blasting some of the most incredible game music that I ever heard! And I heard these tunes A LOT in the past, just not the improved MIDI versions.

PC Games that Utilize MIDI:

Death Gate [DOS] (Adventure: Point & Click)
Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb [SCUMM] (Adventure: Point & Click)
Leather Godess of Phobos 2 [SCUMM] (Adventure: Point & Click)
The Legend of Kyrandia [SCUMM] (Adventure: Point & Click)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge [SCUMM] (Adventure: Point & Click)
Police Quest IV: Open Season [SCUMM] (Adventure: Point & Click)
Shannara [DOS] (Adventure: Point & Click)
Space Quest V: The Next Mutation [SCUMM] (Adventure: Point & Click)

Emulated Games that Utilize MIDI:

Illusion City [MSX turboR] (JRPG)

Social media Retro Gaming: Collecting, Achievements & Play

There are a number of websites out there that have features which can integrate our retro game playing and collecting world with our internet presence. I call this “social media retro game integration” for lack of a better term. I find it really useful to be able to note and track my retro game collection, my achievements in gaming and my video gaming behavior. There aren’t too many such websites around but I have found some which you can see by exploring the links and banners are shown below. Firstly there is psnprofiles.com which links your PSN account to a website that gathers that data and illustrates it in a social media friendly way. It displays your trophies, achievements and game play statistics which is shown in a neat little banner that can be stuck in forum signatures or placed in websites, just like I’ve done below.

PSN PlayStation Network - Profile Statistics (RGN Admin) PS3

Here are two different psnprofiles.com PSN achievement display banners showing my gameplay statistics and game trophies that I’ve acquired during my PS3 gaming career. Readers of RGN can feel free to add me to their friends list, drop me a line by sending a message and even join in on a game of Little Big Planet 2 using the Beacon Multiplayer Server. I also have played Red Dead Redemption multiplayer a few times before, I really enjoy playing co-operatively not so much death matches or versus mode. There’s not really that many other games that allow multiplayer since many PS3 servers have been shut down.

Retro Game Collection Log - The RGN Collection

Project A: SeaTropilis (Game Boy DMG)

The first project that RGI is working on is a story driven, turn based RPG that is based on the real world. It’s not based on fantasy or a swords and sorcery game which have oversaturated the RPG market. We have gone for something completely different and fresh, something that has not been done before. In this game your character is a recent Marine Biology graduate who get’s a job at an underwater research station in the Galapagos Islands.

Follow Leo Xeen’s journey as he starts working for Oceanagraphica Scientifica 40m beneath the waves. Leo get’s his own living quarters and must complete his field work assignments which take him to fascinating un-explored environments in search of rare samples required for research. Moray eels, barracudas, sharks, rogue divers and even pirates need to be confronted in battle for Leo to complete his work assignments.

A playable demo is currently available for download: prototype V0.019, on my itch.io webpage now completely free. Support indie game development by downloading this great game. Any feedback is greatly appreciated as I love to hear from my readers and fans.

SeaTropilis

by X-Avy

SeaTropilis is an exciting Game Boy prototype adventure with unique retro gameplay, designed for collectors and retro enthusiasts. Try the demo or purchase the full version!

Play / Buy

Video Game Spotlight: Snatcher (Sega CD)

Snatcher is a graphic adventure with light shooting sequences, first made in 1988 for the PC-8801 and MSX2 in Japan. It has since become a cult classic and has been ported over to many systems in English, most notably for the Sega CD which is a holy grail for retro game collectors due to how rare it is. The game didn't actually sell very well in the USA when it was released in late 1994 right at the end of the Sega CD's life. It wasn't appreciated by western audiences due to it's mature, adult content, cyberpunk setting, Japanese anime style and graphic adventure interface. Adventure games were basically a niche genre and never really gained appreciation until people talked about them on the internet many years later. So for a variety of reasons Snatcher for the Sega CD never really sold very well, with only 1 very small, limited print run barely any copies were sold. After people talked about the game on the internet it suddenly became popular and hence the demand and the price skyrocketed.

The game itself is an absolute masterpiece by Konami. The story is set in a fictional future in a sci-fi, cyberpunk setting with an apocalyptic backstory. It's the mid 21st century in a Neo Kobe an area between Japan and the mainland that has been completely filled in and populated with a futuristic city. It's very imaginative and the sound, dialogue and art really draw you into the fantasy world in the video game. The quality of the execution of the story is so high that when you first play it, you feel like you are sitting down and about to watch a movie. This is not that far from reality as the game basically plays likes an interactive movie where you control the main character. However the way the story plays out varies to a degree based on the player's decisions making it less linear than the average graphic adventure. At the very end of the game the player is given a rank that is based on how much you affected the story line towards a positive outcome. This serves in giving the game some replay value.

In the game's story a massive world wide calamity has occurred involving a man-made virus that wiped out 80% of the world's population (foreshadow of COVID?) known as Lucifer-Alpha. After civilization recovered a mysterious new menace to humanity appeared known as snatcher's which are advanced android's that blend into society, assassinating influential members of society and taking over their role. In this way they plan to take over the highest positions of power and effectively take over the world. The player is Gillian Seed a newly recruited JUNKER, an agent for an organization that is dedicated to dealing with the snatcher plague. You start the game in your first day at the job and immediately have to deal with the snatchers. The game's story is a wild ride where your character uncovers his identity and the truth behind the snatcher's and the world events that lead to it. This is one of the very best graphic adventure's I've ever played. If you can try play this game with the "Justifier" light gun that came with Lethal Enforcer's for the Sega CD.
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Retro Game News YouTube Video: Snatcher Complete Ending (Sega CD Version) (No Commentary)

Hardware Spotlight: Logitech Driving Force GT

The Logitech Driving Force GT steering wheel was released for the PlayStation 3 in late 2007 and was designed specifically with Gran Turismo 5 in mind. Manufactured by Logitech, a long-established name in PC and gaming peripherals, the Driving Force GT was positioned as a premium wheel without the premium price tag. While modern racing wheels for PS4, PS5, and PC are widely available today, PS3-compatible options are far more limited. Newer Logitech wheels such as the G29 offer additional features, but at a much higher cost and without guaranteed PS3 support. By comparison, the Driving Force GT delivers an excellent balance of affordability and functionality, offering 900 degrees of steering rotation, force feedback, a built-in sequential shifter, and dual foot pedals.

In practical use, the Driving Force GT works exceptionally well with Gran Turismo 5, as expected, but it also performs strongly across other racing and driving titles on the PS3. One standout example is Daytona USA, still available via the PlayStation Network, where the wheel transforms the experience into something very close to the original arcade game. The combination of force feedback, the manual shifter, and the PS3’s HD visuals and surround sound support (when available) creates a surprisingly immersive setup, especially when compared to playing with a standard controller. While it doesn’t replace a full arcade cabinet, it comes close enough to make racing games far more engaging and enjoyable.

Another major advantage of the Driving Force GT is its USB 2.0 connection, which allows it to be used on PC as well. This makes it compatible with a wide range of modern PC racing games and, with some configuration, suitable for use with emulation software to enjoy driving titles from older systems such as the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Sega Dreamcast. Button mapping may be required depending on the software, and force feedback support can vary when emulating older platforms, but once configured the wheel remains reliable and versatile. For racing and retro enthusiasts alike, the Logitech Driving Force GT continues to be a solid, practical option that still holds up well years after its original release.
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Buy / Availability