Retro Gaming on the RG Slide

[Reset_Tears]

This thread will be where I talk about games I play through on the Anbernic RG Slide. It is a nifty little handheld for emulators, capable of handling most old-school systems. And as the name implies, it’s got a slide-up screen! Like the PSP Go, Xperia Play, and a bunch of old cellphones. I’ve enjoyed it a lot so far.

Game #1 - Alien vs. Predator

Arcade machine released in 1994. Developed and published by Capcom. [Video]

This game completely rules, full stop. In this beat-em-up (which is really half run-and-gun) you play as one of four characters, two of which are alien Predators and the other two are cyborg human soldiers. The city is overrun with Xenomorphs from the Alien movies, and you’ve got to hunt 'em all down. What stands out most for this game IMO is just how many enemies can flood the screen. Feels super impressive how you never seem to suffer any lag, no matter just how many bullets fly and enemies explode.

You have an attack button, jump button, and shoot button. You’ll be tempted to just shoot at first, but quickly realize you have an energy bar for it—deplete it too quickly and the weapon will overheat, requiring you to wait a while before you can use it again. So get close and personal with some melee attacks between those alien-shooting sprees!

Like most arcade games of this time, it doesn’t take too long to reach credits… But it’s also a real quarter-muncher, at least until you get the mad skillz. So it’s a good thing I’m emulating this, ha ha. Though I certainly would love to play through it on an actual arcade cabinet with a couple friends one day. Don’t think I’ve ever seen one out in the wild though…

Alien vs. Predator has sadly never been released on a home console. (There was a SNES game of the same name in 1993, but it’s completely different, developed by a company called Jorudan.) However, there is an official way you can play it… On the Capcom Home Arcade device! If you ever wanted a huge arcade stick shaped like the Capcom logo with 16 games installed on it, you’re in luck. It’s a good lineup of games, but with the exception of Alien vs. Predator, you can play them all in the “Capcom Arcade Stadium” game collections released for modern consoles.

Fun Fact: This was apparently intended to release alongside a movie (adapting a comic book series that started in 1989), but the script was rejected. An Alien vs. Predator movie would eventually release ten years later, but with an entirely different plot.

[Reset_Tears]

Game #2 - Donkey Kong 64

Nintendo 64 game released in 1999. Developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. [Video]

With everyone excited about Donkey Kong Bananza, and me without a Switch 2, I decided why not check out the great ape’s earlier 3D outing: the famous or infamous (depending on who you ask) Donkey Kong 64. Luckily you do not have to play the first 63 games to understand this one.

I have to give a little background here. I’m not a fan of Rare’s trilogy of Donkey Kong Country games on the Super Nintendo, nor did I enjoy Banjo-Kazooie—their game that made 3D platformer collect-a-thons the bread and butter of the Nintendo 64. But since I was able to see Donkey Kong 64 to the end (as in reaching the credits—absolutely not as in 100% completion), I guess I can say I like this a bit more than all those previous outings.

Positives:

• Five playable primates, each with their own moves and special abilities. Great for giving the game some variety in movement and combat.
• Big expansive levels, filled with tons and tons of things to collect. If you like to wander about looking for things, you’re in for the time of your life.
• Funny ending, I lawl’d.
• You can play the original Donkey Kong arcade game. Definitely would’ve been a nice perk in 1999!
• I like Chunky Kong. (He’s “one hell of a guy.”)

Negatives:

• Having to go to a specific barrel every time you want to switch characters. This game has plenty of backtracking even without it (and indeed, I ended up using a hack that allowed me to swap the Kongs whenever I wished). If you’re playing the game legit, I guess multiply all the game’s backtracking by five. Absolute madness, ha ha.
• Big expansive levels, filled with tons and tons of things to collect. If you don’t like to wander about looking for things… Well, you’re probably quitting the game after a level or two. =P
• There are a whole lot of mini-games, and most of them are pretty bad and/or bizarrely overly difficult. You can avoid a fair amount of them if you wish (assuming you’re not aiming for 100% completion), but some are mandatory—namely in the final level and boss.
• Diddy Kong’s awful jetpack!!!
• If you’re not playing that final level and boss with save states… Whoo boy, they sure expected a lot out of the kiddos for those final challenges, lol.

When it comes to this genre of gaming, I’m much more about the platforming challenges than the exploring. I’m not completely against collect-a-thons, but they’re a harder sell for me. So suffice to say this one didn’t win me over, but even with my negativity there was still some enjoyment to be had here, and I can see how this would be a really nostalgic game for a certain crowd. I feel like if it were to be re-released in some form though, it’d be much better received by modern audiences if it included that “Tag Anywhere” feature that modders have pulled off! Perhaps that would only be likely in a full-blown remake, which hey, doesn’t seem completely off the table at this point, yeah?

[Kirais]

I got into retro handhelds this year, loving them! I got RG34XX in January because I wanted to play older games and 34XX is a perfect GBA clone. Fast forward to now, I have already gotten 5 devices: RG40XXV, Retroid Pocket Classic, Retroid Pocket Flip 2 and Surface Duo. I am really excited for the new Ayn Thor announced last week. It’s so hard to resist buying another device .

[Reset_Tears]

They got you good, ha ha. Along with the RG Slide I have an Anbernic RG28XX. That’s one that’s actually pocketable, and works perfectly for simple 8-bit and 16-bit fare.

That Ayn Thor looks snazzy! It’s nice to see dual screen handhelds are finally getting made again too.

[Reset_Tears]

Game #3 - Haunted Castle

Arcade machine released in 1987. Developed and published by Konami. [Video]

Also known as Demon Castle Dracula in Japan.

So most of you are probably aware of the NES game Castlevania. A revolutionary title for action platformers, and for horror in video games. It released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986 (for Japan), then for the NES in 1987 (for North America) and 1988 (for Europe). An arcade port titled VS Castlevania was released in 1987. Konami decided the MSX2 should get its own unique game (titled Vampire Killer) in 1986, and that there should be an all-new arcade game (titled Haunted Castle) in 1987. Nice and confusing, yeah? They sure cranked out the games in those days.

I’ll cut to the chase and say Haunted Castle is bad. Well, okay, the pixel art is nice—especially for some of the backgrounds. And the music’s good too… This is the Castlevania series after all. What kills this for me is the clunky controls (even by early Castlevania standards) and the ridiculously brutal difficulty (even by early Castlevania standards).

It doesn’t take much to kill Simon (and he’s easy to hit, being such a big sprite), and there are no health pickups to be found. And when you die four times… Game Over, start from the very beginning. That’s right, you can’t keep pumping in the quarters for this one to keep going. You’ve gotta have the skillz to reach Dracula and take him down (after crossing an insanely long crumbling bridge in the last level, lol). There’s tough, and then there’s arcade tough, and then there’s unfair-even-for-arcade tough. Haunted Castle fits in that third category in my opinion!

So I’d say you’re not missing much if you skip this one, but it’s worth checking out at least if you’re a fan of the series. I’m currently also playing the aforementioned Vampire Killer, another curious oddity for Castlevania. More on that later!

[Reset_Tears]

One thing I somehow forgot to mention… Haunted Castle got a remake last year! The Castlevania Dominus Collection includes ports of three Nintendo DS games (Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia), plus as a bonus: a full-blown reimagined version of Haunted Castle. Leave it to the fine folks at M2 to give us the first new (well, basically new) Castlevania game in a decade (Lords of Shadow 2 released in 2014). And leave it to the fine folks at M2 to turn Haunted Castle into a good game! Or so everyone says—it will probably be a while before I give it a playthrough myself.

[Reset_Tears]

Game #4 - Vampire Killer

MSX2 game released in 1986. Developed and published by Konami. [Video]

Also known as Demon Castle Dracula in Japan.

For those who don’t know, the MSX was a 1980s home computer in Japan that had a keyboard in it (as was the style at the time) as well as a cartridge slot for video games, much like the Nintendo Famicom (NES). An interesting era when the line between console gaming and PC gaming was quite blurry! The biggest game devs to support the MSX were Konami and Hudson Soft, and many of their games would get ports or new versions made for the Famicom (or the Japan-only Famicom Disk System).

Konami developed two different games for Castlevania (known as Demon Castle Dracula in Japan) at the same time—one for the Famicom, the other for the MSX2, both releasing in 1986. For Japan the first to release would be the Famicom game, but Europe would end up with the MSX release first (where it was localized as Vampire Killer). North America would only get the NES version, since the MSX2 was never released there.

So is Vampire Killer just a port of Castlevania? At first glance the two games sure look the same, and sound quite similar too. But Vampire Killer is definitely its own thing. For starters, the levels are not straightforward—each stage loops around, requiring you to find a key that unlocks the door to the next stage. That’s right, this is a proto-Metroidvania, even before Castlevania II. You collect lots of keys to open lots of treasure chests, which give you a wide variety of items, which are either passive buffs or new weapons… which either replace the whip or work as a sub-weapon. Weapons that replace the whip can be used as much as you want, but sub-weapons require hearts that you collect. But the hearts are also a currency which you use to buy items from hidden merchants!

Like Castlevania there are six levels with three stages each, and unfortunately in Vampire Killer you lose all your upgrades at the start of each level. (But not your hearts, thankfully.) You only get three lives, and there is no way to get more of them—and once you lose them all… you’ve gotta start the whole game over. Yup, this is a tough one, even by the series’ standards. Adding to the challenge is just how relentless the respawning of enemies is, and just how difficult it is for Simon to hit anything with his whip (you need to be extra precise in this one).

That said, this game is still definitely doable. You just need to learn through trial and error which candlesticks and blocks to whip (and which ones to not whip—there are hidden enemies, and a bad item or two). Once you know all the upgrades that are best to get for each level, the game becomes much more manageable. A solid challenge for anyone with lots of time to kill! If you want to speed things up, I strongly recommend a guide like this one. Learn the quirks of the game’s slightly funky gameplay, and learn what each item does and how to use them properly… and Dracula’s castle will be your oyster! Bosses are a (relative) breeze once you’ve got the right setup.

This was the first MSX game I ever played through, and I think it was well-worth it. If you’re a fan of the NES Castlevania, this will feel like an interesting fan-modded remix of the game, and feel like a “Castlevania 1.5” you could say. In the end I don’t think one is better than the other—Vampire Killer has some things that are better about it and other things that are worse. It’d be neat to see this largely forgotten entry get a remake one day, like Haunted Castle did?