Share your hidden gems and insider tips

Clyde

@thelostsoul Interesting, because that was one of my first thoughts to try sometime. I even looked for a handheld spinner but, alas, without any luck up until today. So, if you happen to know or stumble upon a handheld spinner, I'd very much like to hear about it. :)

By the way, does anyone remember the NeGcon for the PS1? Or even know where to get (a similar) one? In a way, this controller is a real hidden hardware gem.

Oh, and I just learned about the Jogcon from Wikipedia article. Didn't know that one. Also a nice handheld design for racing games.

mediamogul

@clyde said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

By the way, does anyone remember the NeGcon for the PS1?

The NeGcon controller can be emulated in lr-pcsx-rearmed with the left joystick and there are several configuration options to customize the behavior. Unfortunately there are no USB adapters that support the actual controller itself. However, mapping a steering wheel, spinner or other analog device as the left joystick should allow some pretty creative control schemes to the NeGcon games. The Nintendo labo steering wheel would be an interesting experiment.

Clyde

@mediamogul Very interesting, thanks. But I'm looking for the opposite: a way to steer non-PSX games with a handheld controller like the NeGcon.

It's very unfortunate that there're no NeGcon-to-USB adapters out there. :(

robertvb83

@clyde wow this would be so freaking super cool... I would love to use a NeGcon controller for other games too

standard PSX-controller-usb-adapters won't work here?

mediamogul

@robertvb83 said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

standard PSX-controller-usb-adapters won't work here?

Unfortunately not. The NeGcon's analog control scheme actually predates Sony's own and is a non-standard implementation. Also, by all accounts, a few of the buttons don't function either.

Clyde

@mediamogul *hates the universe that makes this possible* ;)

edit: I acquired two RaceRoom Driving Controllers some years ago, but they have a way too strong pull to their center position to provide a pleasant playing experience. :/ And they are too small for my adult hands.

VictimRLSH

I didn't save any dial encoders from my days operating arcades (89-93), BUT I do have two Happ Supersticks. :)

mediamogul

Here's one from the brilliant minds behind 'Little Sampson', entitled 'Cocoron'. I'm gonna spend some time with it over the weekend, but based on its pedigree and concept alone it's worth recommending. Here's a link to the English translation patch and below is the Game Dave video that turned me on to it.

Starcade2084

@mediamogul I played the heck out of Activision's "Frostbite" to where I got a proper high score and managed to take a usable picture off the tv. I never got around to sending the picture in thus never earning the one patch I could've (it was the only 2600 Activision game I had back then.) I wish there were repros of the patches or some enamel pins I could get to stick on my jacket.

Clyde

@starcade2084 Welcome to the club. I also never sent in my picture of H.E.R.O. 😳

mediamogul

@starcade2084 said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

I wish there were repros of the patches or some enamel pins I could get to stick on my jacket.

Same here. I'd be great if they released a pin set as part of some anniversary or something.

celly

I just started playing Zombie Shiko - Eigo Ryoku Sosei Jutsu - English of the Dead on my DSi and holy crap, this game is a lot of fun. Its basicly The House of the Dead 2 or the Typing of the Dead but instead of shooting or typing, you write the words out with the stylus on the touchscreen. The game is a Japan exclusive but navigating the menus is easy and once you get to playing, the words are English.

VictimRLSH

Bill's Tomato Game (Amiga, Megadrive/Genesis). This game is a take on the Lemmings theme were you have to prepare a path to travel safely along. You have a tomato on a springboard, and you fling it into the playfield where you have placed devices to help the tomato reach the goal without becoming tomato sauce. Fortunately, you get unlimited tomatoes to try and solve the level, but there is a timer. After each level you get a 4-character password so you don't have to start over each session (but I just use save state on Genesis version). Horribly addictive.

thelostsoul

@celly Unfortunately I don't use a DS emulator. It looks so fun to play, but thats something only gonna work with appropriate input devices.

@victimrlsh This is a true hidden gem and an interesting idea. I prefer the Mega Drive version, as have full gamepad support and less pain working with the Amiga emulator. The Mega Drive version is a prototype, but seems to be fully functional.

KN4THX

They aren't really hidden gems, but a lot of people didn't seem to own these two or play them when I did:

*NES - Jackal *- Reminds me of a vehicle Contra but way more fun to me than Contra, I love the vehicle combat.

NES - Crystalis - Kinda simple and plain but still fun. It's an RPG closer to Zelda than anything I believe.

PSX - Tetris Plus - Great game. It has a puzzle element where an explorer who looks like Bob The Builder is trying to reach the bottom floor. He tries to go down but if there isn't an opening he climbs your blocks if they aren't too high and there spikes at the top that will kill him. It's super fun to compete with a friend. We used to play this and Mario Kart 64 Battle mode once GoldenEye lost a bit of steam with us.

thelostsoul

@thedatacereal We actually played a Tetris Plus version for arcade at MAME ROW Tetris Plus 2. I can recommend it too, a really cool and quality game. Here and there I read about Jackal, never played it. Same goes to Crystalis, which got high praise at some point. Is this game made by SNK?

VictimRLSH

@thedatacereal If you like vehicle combat, have you ever played the Arcade game Silkworm?

thelostsoul

@victimrlsh I had Silkworm for Amiga and it had gorgeous explosion soundeffects! But I was playing it too bad to complete it. The Arcade version does not come even close to the music and explosion sounds of the Amiga version.

VictimRLSH

@thelostsoul I was not aware of that, I'll see if I have that image (or even the disk, cleaned out the Amiga store in Mill Creek when I lived in Seattle, games were going for $1 a pop, I might have it in my crate of stuff I never played). Speaking of glorious hidden gems, I spent most of my Amiga days playing MechForce (but I already started a MF thread).

thelostsoul

New Games

There is it again. I include games which don't fit strictly to this thread or aren't any quality must plays too. I also list games mentioned by others in this thread; Thank you for your suggestions here, they are welcome. After VictimRLSH's recommendation for the Tomato game, I started to dig another time into the dark side and looked randomly for new titles and tried them. That brought me to some arcade games, where I also started to pick randomly titles I never heard of. Ok then, no longer chat here, let's dive in; I am sure you guys are hot for the "new" titles. So, enjoy and have fun.

Mega Drive (5 Games):

lr-genesis-plus-gx (v1.7.4)

Bill's Tomato Game
A puzzle game where you have to put objects freely on the screen, to reach the end of level. This game came out for the Amiga first and the Mega Drive version is not complete, but there is a prototype available.
Dashin' Desperadoes
A platformer where you run and race against an opponen and obstaclest. Even the single player mode have a split screen, so you always can see where and what your opponent is doing.
Granada
A free moveable top down shoot'em up in a big maze like open environment. The object is to destroy generators marked on the map.
Granada
Isometric free moveable in all direction shoot'em up, but with linear level design. Looks and feels solid.
ResQ
Another unfinished prototype. In this game you fly a big and slow vehicle and jump down from it to find people who needs to be rescued. The gameplay is like a platformer run and gun type.

Arcade / Mame2003 (5 Games):

lr-mame2003 (v0.78)

Dangerous Seed
dangseed.zip
Japanese only vertical Shmup by Namco. Every time the player lose a life, he plays a different, stronger version of the ship. This should be the default in all shmups! This title is available for Mega Drive also, but didn't list it there.
Performan
perfrman.zip
It is hard to find any information about this game. It is something single screen maze like game. The character can dig under the ground like a mole, but enemies can follow him there too. Quite unique game element.
Spatter / Sanrin San-Chan
spatter.zip
Another maze like game, but a modern looking one with scrolling. It plays fast and fluid, thanks to his bike. Also the main protagonist have a bounce to wall move, which can help to avoid or kill enemies. No wonder, it's made by Sega. It also looks colorful and charming.
Sel Feena
selfeena.zip
A modern looking maze game. Goal is to kill all enemies with throwing those treasures at them.
Sen-Know
senknow.zip
A puzzle match block game from 1999! The blocks fall down like in tetris, but instead of blocks they are pipes. Doing a closed loop does remove them. One of the best ideas for a match block game!

Arcade / Mame2010 (4 Games):

lr-mame2010 (v0.139)

Naughty Boy
naughtyb.zip
A very old maze like game with scrolling. Goal is to destroy those flags on top of screen. You can imagine that a Google search with this title leads to wrong results. ;-) Some say it's a bad game, but I think it is interesting.
Puzzle De Bowling
pzlbow.zip
A variation and strongly inspired by Puzzle Bobble, no doubt. It works quite similar, but there is a twist. You can roll the ball to right or left at any position, without involving the corners.
Puzzle Break
pzlbreak.zip
This is a modern Arkanoid like game, with 2 player simultanously option. It looks quite nice and plays well with regular joystick. The special thing about this game is, the player can bounce the paddle's right or left side up, so the ball will fly in this direction. That allows for greater control.
Got-cha Mini Game Festival
gotcha.zip
A Wario Ware like mini game collection. I just briefly tested this out. It comes down mainly to 3 different colors to match whatever the game requires.

Arcade / FBA set (1 Game):

lr-fbalpha (v0.2.97.43)

Ryu Jin / Dragon God
ryujin.zip
This isn't any outstanding game, just another vertical shmup. I included it here, because it plays straight, looks and sounds stylish and nobody seems to know it.

Edit: Added 3 games.