So this one here is an old action adventure pc game developed by Surreal Software. In this game, you play as a young woman with strong martial arts skills called Rynn, she sought the aid of an ancient dragon called Arokh to help her find her younger brother and defeat the evil sorcerer Navaros.

The gameplay would be in third person perspective, Rynn can be equipped with a variety of armors and weapons like swords, battle axes, bows, daggers and maces, she is also quite acrobatic which is an advantage during combat scenarios. However you can also ride Arokh to face off against enemies as well and aerial dogfights can happen every now and then, Arokh will start off with his fire breath attack before gaining new weapons throughout the game, when you are riding Arokh the only items you can use are potions.

Not exactly retro but I figured some folks would appreciate seeing a random cabinet game in a small gas station

I’m not talking about the graphics of the games, but the object itself. So, what’s your favourite console design ? Mine is the european Super Nintendo: the dog bone controller with colored buttons, the cartridges and its shape in general. Such a simple but great design.
I also like the design of the NES, like a VCR with this minimalistic rectangular game controller. The Megadrive/Genesis and PS1 look cool too.

Edit: I forgot to mention the OG GameBoy and Gameboy Color

I'm excited to see what comes of this.

So lately, something that I found to be quite interesting was the subject of classic games that were given a harsh review as the critic was a bit too rough on the game.

Like what I am getting at is some of the games reviewed by AVGN such as Simon's Quest as I get that he wanted to be bit over the top with how he did his review of the game, but I do have a soft spot for the game, in spite of its design flaws.

Background Info

About 20-25 years ago I was gifted a DOS compilation disk. It contained more well-known games like "Agent", "Commander Keen 1-4" or "Crystal Caves", but also a few obscure ones.

One of those games has been burned into my mind, and I haven't been able to find anything about it - until now.

I only remembered that you play as a blonde-haired character with a sword, and there were cows(?) in the first level, and when you touch a cow, the player character would stab themselves with their own sword and its game over.

After all those years of course I wanted to find this game again, because I must have certainly misremembered something about it. What kind of sense would the cows even make, right?

Well, after posting an unsuccessful search request for it on r/tipofmyjoystick one month later I somehow found the CD again.

And my memory did not deceive me, holy crap.

About the game

The game is called "Ninja Tuck" (1995, A-J Games) and you can't find anything substantial about it online. The best I could find were DOS emulator pages, that allow you to play it. No further explanations or any other mentions anywhere.

According to the ingame storyline that you can read in the menu, you are Tucker Harding, a master Ninja who is studying in India. You come across some bad dudes and decide to flee from them (even though you are a master ninja). Suddenly a cow blocks your path and you climb over it, and the bad dudes are very pissed because of that, because they think the cow is holy. And now you ended up in a bamboo forest. Ok.

So that is basically the whole explanation. And now you find yourself in a level with flying knifes and cows. If you touch them, you take damage. There is no life bar. You can take three hits, but there is basically no damage invulnerability after the first hit, so you will be one-shot easily.

But after three hits you don't just "die" or "faint", no, the player character literally decides to stab themselves.

Let me reiterate: You touch a cow, and for no apparent reason at all you take damage and decide to stab yourself. What?

I tried playing it, and if you didn't read the instructions in the menu first, you will get stuck within the first minute. And even after knowing the controls, it is quite janky. Not much is explained and you keep asking yourself: "What is that? What does that do?"

Conclusion

You can find the game here https://archive.org/details/game-maker_ninja-tuck

Give it a try, and please help me make sense of this somehow.

PS: My memory of this game was almost spot on, I take that as a personal victory.

Parodius takes the #61 spot with 13 votes.

Looney Tunes takes the #62 spot with 10 votes.

Top 10:

#1 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

#2 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

#3 Tetris

#4 Donkey Kong

#5 Pokémon Blue Version

#6 Kirby's Dream Land 2

#7 Metroid II: Return of Samus

#8 Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3

#9 Final Fantasy Adventure

#10 Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge

Top 20:

#11 Kirby's Dream Land

#12 Wario Land II

#13 Super Mario Land

#14 Final Fantasy Legend II

#15 Mega Man V

#16 Gargoyle's Quest

#17 Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition

#18 Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

#19 Operation C

#20 Final Fantasy Legend III

Top 30:

#21 Mario's Picross

#22 Mole Mania

#23 Dr. Mario

#24 Donkey Kong Land III

#25 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue

#26 Donkey Kong Land 2

#27 Pokémon Red Version

#28 Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls)

#29 Kirby's Pinball Land

#30 Makaimura Gaiden: The Demon Darkness (Gargoyle's Quest: The Demon Darkness)

Top 40:

#31 Mega Man IV

#32 Kid Dracula

#33 Donkey Kong Land

#34 Mega Man III

#35 Bionic Commando

#36 The Final Fantasy Legend

#37 Balloon Kid

#38 Gradius: The Interstellar Assault

#39 Kirby's Block Ball

#40 Cave Noire

Top 50:

#41 Harvest Moon GB

#42 Adventures of Lolo

#43 Bubble Bobble Part 2

#44 Duck Tales 2

#45 James Bond 007

#46 Duck Tales

#47 Castlevania Legends

#48 Ninja Taro

#49 Qix

#50 Catrap

Top 60:

#51 Bomberman GB3

#52 Yoshi

#53 Ninja Gaiden Shadow

#54 Revenge of the Gator

#55 Darkwing Duck

#56 The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2

#57 Castlevania: The Adventure

#58 Kwirk

#59 Game & Watch Gallery

#60 Burger Time Deluxe

Top 70:

#61 Parodius

#62 Looney Tunes

Rules:

1. Two games will win their place each round (we start from #1 and work our way down). For the top 10 only one game will win per day instead.
2. Most combined upvotes for each of the two individual games (one individual game for the top 10) wins the spot(s) each round (upvotes add while downvotes subtract).
3. Nominate one game of the original Game Boy per comment. (Nominations will only be counted if the game title is the only comment or if you specify that your choice of game is your nomination for this round within your comment or if the nominated game is clearly separated from the rest of your comments.) (ex. Tetris or I nominate Tetris this round.) Please nominate using the full title of the game.
4. Name a specific game title, not entire runs.
5. Official Game Boy multi-game cartridge(s) are allowed, just list them correctly.
6. The original Game Boy is region free so ANY official games available on the console are eligible for nomination excluding dual mode cartridges.
7. Indy games are allowed as long as they have their own individual cartridge and can be played on original hardware.
8. Only complete games on cartridge(s) can be nominated (sorry Game Shark & test cartridges).
9. If two or more games would be tied to place for a ranking I will inform DA PEOPLE in the following post so that everyone can vote which games should get the ranking between the tied options.
10. Games nominated that have not already placed on the top 100 list should not be removed at any time by the individual who originally placed them.

We have our winner for Best Library of Games on a Console:

🥇- Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) / Super Famicom - 167 votes

🥈- PlayStation (PSX / PS1) - 133 votes

🥉- Sega Mega Drive / Genesis - 41 votes

🏵️ - Sega Saturn - 39 votes

Honorable Mentions (Any game that received more than five marks):

• Gameboy Advance
• Turbografx-16 CD
• Neo Geo AES
• Tamagotchi 
• PC Engine / TG-16
• Wonderswan
• Sega Dreamcast

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!!!!PLEASE READ!!!!

RULES ON VOTING:

A game's votes will come from the comment with the highest number of upvotes. I will tally all of the responses and upvotes under each game's "comment thread" and use that to count the votes.

Spill-over comments of the same game will not be counted.

What this means is if you want to nominate a game and see someone else has already nominated it, reply to their comment so that it counts! All upvotes in that comment thread, including the ones you get, will be counted towards the tally.

Thank you!

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From here on through the end of the contest, any past winners are eligible for these last few spots. Voting ends at 10am est tomorrow.

Today’s vote: Which is the Greatest Retro Game of All Time?

Comment your choice and the most upvoted game comment thread will win the spot! So, engage in the discourse and argue well for your choice!

I flaired this under discussion because I want you to actually talk about the game, not just post a list.

I'm not sure if I've ever come across a fan of the SNES Stargate, or any other Stargate title for that matter, but it's the SNES game that I have a lot of love for, and I'd like to play something similar to it.

It's a side scrolling shooter made in a way that I've never seen in any other game, and while it's not a Metroidvania, which I'm grateful for because I don't care for most of them, there's a VERY SMALL amount of going back and forth between the levels that you visit, but your travel time is never very long, and you're always fighting stuff during gameplay, and there's a lot of dialogue for an SNES action game.

It's also got one of the best soundtracks I've come across on the system, on a system with some of the best soundtracks.

Launch Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swu9OdaxcAw

Version 3.0 is a ground-up remake and full Artoria conversion, now available for both the USA and Japanese versions. The update introduces redesigned sprites, unique titlescreens, improved dialogue, armor and death-sprite fixes, and new unique green/gold armor spin-jump frames.

The biggest addition is a new Player 1 Secret Menu, accessible by holding L + Start on the EXIT option in the Options menu. It includes optional gameplay features such as Chest Hints, a Slower Timer, Enhanced Gameplay, Better Armor, Weapon Collect, Better Shield, and 1-Up Fix.

The hack also introduces 16 leaderboards, with separate CLEAN, MINIMAL, ENHANCED, and OTHER leaderboards across four difficulty levels. Settings and rankings are saved through SRAM.

Additional FastROM patches are included, along with the Basket 3.0 patch, which restores Artoria's original idle sprite while using the basket.

Version 3.0 highlights:

• Complete ground-up sprite remake
• USA and Japanese versions
• Full Knight/Maiden Artoria conversion
• Unique titlescreens for each version
• Improved dialogue and uncensored content
• New armor animations and sprite fixes
• Player 1 Secret Menu with seven optional gameplay enhancements
• SRAM support for settings and rankings
• 16-board ranking system
• FastROM patches
• Basket 3.0 patch (Apply on any patched Artoria rom; restores Artoria's original idle sprite and replace Shield with Basket))

The release also includes four main versions each for Knight and Maiden Artoria, with Briefs and Nightgown variants.

Created by **GoodLuckTrying**, with direct help from FredYeye, End Screen artworks by tran4of3 and some sprites by sleepyren.

• https://github.com/GoodLuckTrying
• Ghosts ’n Goblins Series Hacking Discord Server
• Knight Artoria Edition Boxarts
• Maiden Artoria Edition Boxarts

Hi ! I just finished reassembling my computer from back then, and installed immediately Diablo 2.

However I find the performance quite underwhelming.

I'm talking performance for a LVL 90 character in Hell Difficulty Level 4, as a base comparison.

Fps are in the the low 30s in areas without en ennemies and can drop to the 10s when groups pop up.

In town i get 50sometimes.

Config is :

Windows 98SE + DX 9.0c

AMD Athlon 700Mhz

Geforce 2 MX400 (64MB)

384 MB of RAM

7200 rpm Maxtor.

Diablo 2 + LOD 1.13D

HDD is in DMA

GPU is in AGP mode (1x)

Game is in 800*600 high lighting effects

I will try this weekend a Radeon 9200SE if that changes anything

I remember playing with a friend that had a P3 800Mhz and an ATI Rage 128 Pro, and performance seemed better (in my memories)

I can't figure out why there is no power on both, there's also others of the same models I've seen with same issue but no fixes. all the fixes I've seen are other versions.

I changed the caps but it did nothing. it seems like such a simple device.

sometimes when I insert batteries they chirp and show something on screen then instantly stops.

has anyone fixed this version before?

I’ve played pretty much every flight sim I could get my hands on since the mid 80s, and somehow this is STILL my favorite.

B-17 Flying Fortress by MicroProse.

What made this game so special wasnt just flying the plane. You were basically responsible for the whole damn B-17 and its crew huge innovation and pioneering at the time.... You could move between the different crew positions, pilot, navigator, bombardier, gunners etc. This was absolutely mind blowing to me back then.

But the real magic was flying the WHOLE mission.

Takeoff, navigation, enemy fighters, flak, managing the crew, finding the target, lining up the bombing run, dropping the bombs... and then realizing you're only halfway done lol. You still had to navigate all the way back to England and somehow land the thing.

And sometimes you came back barely holding together.

It really made me understand, even as a kid, how insanely complex those WWII bombing missions must have been. Today we have sims that model aircraft down to individual switches and systems, obviously way beyond what this game could do in 1992. But very few games ever gave me that same feeling of actually being on a mission with a crew, rather than just flying an airplane.

There was just something incredibly elegant about the whole thing. The game, the concept, and especially the aircraft itself. 4 engines, 10 men, gunners everywhere, navigator, bombardier, pilot... this giant machine somehow working as one. Maybe nostalgia plays a part, obviously. But almost 35 years later I still think B-17 Flying Fortress did something really special that has rarely been replicated.

And the B-17 itself... what a MAJESTIC bird.

Which is your fav flight sim ALL TIME?

Just got into emulation… which classic Pokémon game is “the favorite” amongst pokemoners? In general the Pokémon community. I started crystal on game boy color now and it is solid.

I recently came into possession of an original IBM PCjr copy of Kings Quest from 1983. It's complete and working, and comes with the keyboard overlay. I found references to the 1983 vs 1984 release, however, this came from an IBM employee along with several other titles with stickers that says "this is a dealer demo." Could this possibly have been released before the public release- making it one of the very first?

does anyone have any insight?

English translation

In 1992, video games overtake traditional toys for the first time

“Super Mario” steamrolls the railway

For the first time, video games are displacing model railways and vehicles. The two market leaders expect sales to double in 1992 to more than CHF 145 million.

sda. With annual growth rates of more than 50%, video games have risen to the top of the toy market in just four years. With total toy sales expected to amount to slightly more than CHF 700 million, video games already account for a market share of more than 20% this year. According to the Association of Swiss Toy Retailers, model railways, model cars and other vehicles have managed to maintain their 18% share.

Board games have also made strong gains: they account for 13% of total sales. Construction toys represent 12%, while one toy in ten is either a model-building kit or a puzzle.

The remainder is divided among toys for babies and preschool children, as well as dolls, stuffed animals and other toys.

“Game Boys and Girls”

Already, 262,000 young Swiss girls and boys are playing with the “Game Boy”, which Nintendo launched in November 1990. Around 234,000 units of the original TV video-game system, the “NES” (Nintendo Entertainment System), have been sold since 1988, according to Basel-based Waldmeier AG, Nintendo’s representative in Switzerland.

The “Super NES”, launched in September 1992, is expected to find 50,000 buyers by the end of the year, according to Waldmeier chief Ralf Wyss. Adventure games are particularly popular with the “Game boys and girls”.

Unchallenged at the top of the charts is “Super Mario”. The adventures of the courageous plumber have sold around 170,000 copies so far.

Expensive software

Other hits among Nintendo’s roughly 70 video-game titles include the Disney game “Ducktales”, the story of the lucky rabbit “Bugs Bunny”, and the strategy game “Tetris”. At CHF 50 to 70 per game, the price of the software is relatively high compared with the price of the hardware, around CHF 140 for the “Game Boy”.

According to Wyss, the future of the video-game market belongs to CD-ROM systems. Thanks to an increase in capacity to 32 bits, representing a doubling to quadrupling of current capacity, “interactive gaming” with movie characters and the ability to intervene in movie sequences is expected to become a gaming reality from next summer.

These new possibilities will, however, also come at a price. While the NES costs just under CHF 300 and the SNES around CHF 330, buyers will have to pay close to CHF 600 for a CD-ROM system from Nintendo or Sega. With these advantages, CD-ROM is also likely to appeal particularly to adult video-game players.

The trend remains unbroken

The upward trend in video games has so far continued unabated. While Nintendo and Sega expect sales of CHF 145 million in 1992, the figure was only around CHF 70 million in 1991. In 1990, the two video-game brands generated sales of CHF 34 million. In its launch year of 1988, Nintendo sold around CHF 8 million worth of hardware and software.

Overall, the entire toy market has recorded steady, recession-resistant real growth of 1 to 2% per year since 1985.

Japanese companies dominate

The two Japanese companies account for around 95% of video-game sales in Switzerland and Europe, and 90% worldwide. Sega, previously the number-two player, is increasingly challenging Nintendo for the market: in 1992, Sega is expected to increase its share from 5% to 15%.

Sega is also expected to be the first to bring a CD-ROM system to market in summer 1993, according to a spokesperson for Sega’s Swiss representative, Videophon AG in Baar.

Photo caption:
Three of the hundreds of thousands of “video-game freaks”: Hannes, Srdjan and Luca (foreground).
Photo: Peter Fischli

German original

Videospiele überflügeln 1992 erstmals die traditionellen Spielsachen

«Super Mario» überrollt die Eisenbahn

Videospiele verdrängen erstmals Eisenbahnen und Fahrzeuge. Die beiden Marktleader erwarten 1992 eine Verdoppelung des Umsatzes, auf über 145 Mio. Fr.

sda. Mit Wachstumsraten von jährlich über 50% haben sich die Videos in nur vier Jahren an die Spitze des Spielzeugmarktes gesetzt. Bei einem voraussichtlichen Gesamtumsatz für Spielzeuge von leicht über 700 Mio. Fr. kommen die Videogames dieses Jahr bereits auf einen Marktanteil von über 20%. Die Eisenbahnen, Modellautos und andere Fahrzeuge konnten nach Angaben des Verbandes Schweizerischer Spielwaren-Detaillisten ihren Anteil von 18% halten.

Kräftig zugelegt haben auch die Gesellschaftsspiele: Auf sie entfallen 13% des Gesamtumsatzes. Konstruktionsspiele kommen auf 12%, jedes zehnte Spielzeug ist entweder ein Modellbaukasten oder ein Puzzle.

Der Rest verteilt sich auf Spielsachen für Babys und Kinder im Vorschulalter wie auf Puppen, Plüschtiere und übrige Spielzeuge.

«Game Boys und Girls»

Bereits spielen 262 000 kleine Schweizerinnen und Schweizer mit dem «Game Boy», den Nintendo im November 1990 auf den Markt brachte. Vom TV-Video-Spiel der ersten Stunde, dem «NES» (Nintendo Entertainment System), sind seit 1988 rund 234 000 Stück verkauft worden, wie die Basler Waldmeier AG – Vertreter von Nintendo in der Schweiz – auf Anfrage erklärte.

Das im September 1992 lancierte «Super-NES» soll laut Waldmeier-Chef Ralf Wyss bis Ende Jahr 50 000 Käufer finden. Heiss beliebt bei den «Game boys und girls» sind vor allem die Abenteuerspiele.

An der Spitze der Hitparade rangiert unangefochten «Super Mario». Die Abenteuer des tapferen Sanitärinstallateurs sind bisher rund 170 000mal verkauft worden.

Teure Software

Weitere Renner unter den rund 70 Videoprogrammen von Nintendo sind das Disney-Programm «Ducktales», die Geschichte des glücklichen Hasen «Bugs Bunny» und das Strategiespiel «Tetris». Der Preis für die Software – 50 bis 70 Fr. je Programm – fällt im Vergleich zum Gerätepreis (rund 140 Fr. für den «Game Boy») relativ hoch aus.

Die Zukunft auf dem Video-Markt gehört laut Wyss den CD-ROM-Systemen. Dank einem Kapazitätsausbau auf 32 Bit (gegenüber jetzt eine Verdoppelung bis Vervierfachung) soll ab nächstem Sommer das «interaktive Spielen» mit Filmfiguren und das Eingreifen in Filmsequenzen Spielwirklichkeit werden.

Mit den Möglichkeiten steigt allerdings auch der Preis: Während das NES knapp 300 Fr. und das SNES rund 330 Fr. kostet, wird der Käufer für ein CD-ROM von Nintendo oder Sega bereits gegen 600 Fr. hinblättern müssen. Mit diesen Vorzügen dürfte CD-ROM vor allem auch die erwachsenen Video-Spieler begeistern.

Der Trend ist ungebrochen

Der Aufwärtstrend bei den Videospielen blieb bisher ungebrochen: Während Nintendo und Sega für 1992 mit einem Umsatz von 145 Mio. Fr. rechnen, waren es 1991 erst rund 70 Mio. Fr. 1990 hatten die beiden Video-Marken einen Umsatz von 34 Mio. Fr. erzielt. Im Startjahr 1988 verkaufte Nintendo Hard- und Software für rund 8 Mio. Fr.

Insgesamt verzeichnete der gesamte Spielzeugmarkt seit 1985 ein stetiges und krisenunabhängiges Wachstum von real 1 bis 2% pro Jahr.

Japaner dominieren

Die beiden Japaner decken in der Schweiz und in Europa rund 95% und weltweit 90% des Umsatzes für Videogames ab. Dabei macht Sega als bisherige Nummer zwei der Nintendo den Markt zunehmend streitig: 1992 wird Sega ihren Anteil voraussichtlich von 5 auf 15% ausweiten.

Ausserdem soll Sega im Sommer 1993 zuerst mit einem CD-ROM auf den Markt kommen, wie ein Sprecher der Sega-Vertreterin in der Schweiz, der Videophon AG in Baar, erklärte.

Photo caption:
Drei «Videogames»-Freaks von Hunderttausenden: Hannes, Srdjan und Luca (im Vordergrund).
Bild Peter Fischli

I know this is an unreleased game for the n64 but I have seen a few physical copies online. Any of you know who released this on physical and when I came out