Yeah not really a huge fan of Home Alone either if i’m honest. It’s got a certain charm to it but there’s not much to sink your teeth into
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Christmas NiGHTS is actually quite fun and satisfying. Took a while to get it running, beetle Saturn wasn’t coping well on my retroid pocket device - now using yaba sanshiro core for RetroArch which works perfectly.
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I started watching a video by St1ka about Christmas games; many of them so far are different versions of Home Alone
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I was having trouble with Beetle Saturn as well. I have to get back to trying to get this to work.
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The performance is horrendous. Yaba sanshiro is definitely the way to go, no performance problems so far for me at least. Just make sure you have the appropriate bios files in your retro arch system folder directory.
If you Google “retro arch bios pack” there’s a GitHub repository that has a complete archive of bios files for discontinued systems. I think the retro arch folder contains everything you need. Been a while since I did all this though so I might be wrong. Regardless, the bios file you need for Yaba sanshiro is “saturn_bios”.
I keep the GitHub folder stored on my SD card permanently so I can copy and paste bios files into the required folder whenever I encounter a core or emulator that won’t work.
Apologies for rambling, you probably already know all this, I just know how tricky it can be to setup/find these things sometimes so hopefully this info might help someone out there:)
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I have everything set up but what happens is that the game doesn’t boot. It appears to start the Saturn bios and I see the CD player controls but no game. This is despite the fact that the game iso is in the correct folder.
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Two things are making me super happy while playing Animal Crossing. The first being all the twinkling Christmas lights on the trees in the town. The second is that Filbert moved into my town! I can’t believe my favourite character already moved in. It’s a Christmas miracle, lol.
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Just noting that I’ve started playing Nights into Dreams for this. It’s a game I’ve loved for years now, and often revisit around Christmastime due to its connection via Christmas Nights. Since I’m playing on my laptop this time, I’m using the Steam version – so I’ll need to play through the base game first to unlock the Christmas content. Shouldn’t be hard though, since it’s a short game.
If anyone is struggling with the base game, I’ll see if I can give good tips. (The bosses sometimes still give me grief, even after all the playthroughs I’ve done of this game.) My main advice is to check the “how to play” section in the options menu, as the original game’s from an era where you didn’t get a tutorial level to start things out with. First, have the child walk to the starting point (like a gazebo) in order to turn into Nights. Your goal now is to collect 20 blue orbs, fly into the weird jellyfish looking thing, and then fly back to the starting spot – which you’ll do four times (as each stage has four acts/parts to it). You fly along a set track which loops around, so you’re controlling Nights’s flight on a 2D plane. Making a loop around a bunch of orbs will give you all the orbs in one go. And pressing the action button will give Nights a speed boost, though its supply is limited (watch the bar at the bottom left). Your goal is to get a C-rank on each level, in order to unlock the final level and boss. The game takes some practice to get used to, but is a lot of fun to shoot for better times once you get the hang of it.
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Finished my playthrough of Nights into Dreams. What a wonderful game! I’ve said it before here on Grouvee, but this really is one of the very few games that I feel truly manages to embody a childlike sense of wonder. I love all the lively, vibrant, wonderland-ian dream worlds you fly through. I love the strange controls, and how good it feels to loop about everything once you get the hang of things. It’s like riding a bike – awkward at first, but once you “get it” you can zip about smoothly… It’s really satisfying. I also love the characters. Nights of course is delightful, but the kids are cute too, and the bosses are imaginative (and the final boss imposing!). I love how the game manages to tell a nice, simple story without any dialogue. And I really love all the music. This might be where Nights into Dreams shines brightest, actually. Every stage has such a lovely or catchy tune (save for the final boss, which is super intense), and I most of all love the ending credits song. It’s so sweet, especially when it’s the kids who sing it.
In the nights, dream delight
I want to see you standing there
In the nights, dream delight
I found someone who really cares
In the nights, dream delight
I want to see you smile again
In the nights, dream delight
You are the one I’ve waited for.
Just warms my Grinch heart, every time I hear it. And speaking of Grinch…
Time for Christmas!
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Awesome, I played a bit of christmas but the controls were indeed… awkward, hoping I get the hang of it though soon. I’ve never played the game before so I don’t have the same sense of nostalgia for it but it’s touching to see someone have so much appreciation for the franchise.
First time I played I had no idea what the clock thing was chasing me. I’ve found I can just cheese my way up cliffs etc and get away from it and get back to the… Whatever it is that makes me fly. As you can probably tell I have no idea what’s going on but I’m enjoying the ride
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When the level starts, have your character (be it Elliot or Clarice) walk over to the gazebo (the starting point where Nights is waiting for you). There should be an arrow pointing you toward it, but normally it’s just a short walk from where you start. You can freely explore the level as the children, but as you noted there’s a risk of being woken up by the flying egg clock thing.
As Nights, you fly through the 3D level on a 2D plane. Collect 20 blue orbs (either by flying through them, or looping around them), and deliver them to the jellyfish-looking thing (which will then explode). Then fly back to the starting point gazebo to move on to the next section (do all that three more times, and then battle the boss).
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I’ve gotten into Animal Crossing this past week and it’s been nice to dive back into it. It’s funny how easy it is to forget about all the missing QOL things that have since been introduced in subsequent Animal Crossings, since it’s such a slow paced game anyway.
Also, I wish the animals in New Horizons were as rude as the ones in the original game. The dialogue is much more entertaining.
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I’ve never played the first Animal Crossing, but my suggestion was for there to be a setting of how rude you want your Animals
The highest setting being “Nightmare”, of course
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I love the original but I’ve spent a lot of time playing this version and missing QoL aspects of ACNH. I also miss the fact that the residents are not as friendly. My partner read some of the dialogue and said she’s not sure she’d want to a play a game in which all the characters are constantly mean to her.
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I think that’s fair to prefer the more welcoming vibe of the newer games. I just like how Cranky and Snooty villagers had room to open up to you over time and become friends through the effort you put into it. Cranky villagers in New Horizons just feel like goofy dads, which is fun in its own way, but different.
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That was my thought too [despite not playing the earlier ones]; that you sort of have to work to befriend them
The “Cranky” guys in ACNH were kinda just guys with deep voices, in my experience
I’ve always had a Snooty wolf so far…Whitney in New Leaf and Vivian in ACNH
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The new U Can Beat Video Games [video walkthrough channel] is up and it’s Home Alone ! [NES]
I watched it, even though I don’t have that one. Maybe it will help someone
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I never did post any thoughts on Christmas Nights itself, so I’ll do that now.
It’s a delightful little present! For those that don’t know, this was basically a free demo for Nights into Dreams that Sega released during the holiday season of 1996. The disc could be obtained in a variety of ways – via magazines, stores, mail-in offers, Blockbuster (as a free rental), or packed in with a Saturn console itself. It’s an interesting little oddity that acted as a sort of a Christmas-themed DLC before DLC was a thing (but could be played standalone). It’s only one level long, but it’s packed with thematic fun and a ton of hidden content to unlock.
Bonus challenge modes, time attack, a bunch of artwork, sound test, karaoke of the main theme, pics of Nights merch, the ability to play as Reala (Nights’s rival) if the system clock is set to April Fool’s Day, and perhaps best of all… a mode to run around the level as none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Arguably the first instance of the blue blur playable in three dimensions, as the Sonic World hub in the Sonic Jam compilation wouldn’t release until the following year (along with Sonic R). This bonus sadly did not make it into the Steam release for Nights for whatever reason.
At any rate, Christmas Nights isn’t that big of a game (again, basically just a demo), but that makes it easy to pick up and play through every Christmas Eve. That’s what I did when I had a Saturn!
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I got wrapped up in year end I forgot to post a question about which games people wanted to play for December? I was leaning toward NHL94 and DKC3 since the latter didn’t make it into our holiday grouping. Do people have thoughts on either of those games, or have games they’d like to suggest?
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Since we’re already about a week in, probably simplest to just say those are the games for January! Maybe make a poll for February’s games around the 22nd or so.
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