Dabbling with the Deck (Grooving to the Oldies)

[Slink]

I don’t have much of an interest in committing tons of time to a single game or two, and never really have, outside of sports games or back when I was young and only had so many physical games to choose from for whatever console I had at the time. But thanks to the emulation scene these days and the wonderful Steam Deck, I’ve been having the most fun just dipping in and out of random old games. I really just like looking at old graphics, hearing the different music, and just generally taking in the vibe of games from different eras and systems. So I’ve been having a good time with my Deck and its screenshot function recently as I explore the oldies, both the familiar and newly experienced.

Almost every game has at least some redeeming quality to it, and I’m much more patient with horrible mechanics and cameras when I’m just dabbling among my essentially endless selection of archived games on my Steam Deck vs. being a kid with only 20 or so physical games for my PSX in 1999, and Tomorrow Never Dies is one of them. And even worse, knowing I wasted a rare holiday/bday gift request on said game. So with my newfound patience, lower stakes/lower threshold for gaming enjoyment, I’ve been just going through random games as the mood strikes, and figure I’d start a thread to document my exploration.

Speaking of Tomorrow Never Dies (1999, PSX)…I was recently reminded of this game while going through an old EGM. As a kid I wasted a gift request on this game 1) being a huge Bond fan and 2) having unrealistically high expectations for Bond games coming off my experiences playing Goldeneye on friends’ N64s. I had what fun I could with it. What else was I going to play back then, a new game that mostly sucked or an old fun game I’d already played for months/years? Tough decisions. I do remember it being very cinematic and fun in a goofy way, despite my disappointment. So I decided to play it again last night for fun-sies, and because old PSX graphics are my favorite to look at. It’s just as I remembered. Cinematic and kind of fun, but with horrible camera/controls. Which was a common issue in early 3D, pre-dual analog era, thus not surprising.

But hey! The first level, you get shooting action, tactical espionage and skiing with a marvelous escape animation true to the movie. I’m going to see how far I can get before the controls/camera drive me insane, and enjoy looking at these lovely PSX graphics in the meantime.

I’ll be posting more random musings from random games as I continue to dabble, and would love to hear and see what other old games folks are enjoying dabbling in at the moment.

[exodus]

I don’t have a steam deck myself and basically never emulate things but I do like reading about other people playing old games, so please do continue to report when you’ve got something going on there!

[rearnakedwindow]

I really like diving in and out of games and trying different things out. It’s probably most intuitive to do it with pick and play, arcadey genres (fighting, racing, shmups, stuff like that), but sometimes I find it fun to start a long form game like an RPG or something with 0 pressure on myself to play anything beyond the opening.

Anyway, I’ll throw out one specific rec for this thread. Silent Bomber on PS1. The prologue mission by itself is better than many full games I’ve completed. It’s probably worth playing the whole thing but I can’t confirm because that very first mission is all I’ve played! Give it a try sometime, if you like.

[milo]

I also kinda went emulator crazy when I got my Steam Deck. I’ve also never really been into emulation either… always preferred playing everything on its original hardware.

But I got too curious. It was mostly to see what I could emulate… I wanted to challenge the Deck and see not only what I could get running, but get running comfortably or even creatively.

For instance, one thing I was really excited about was getting Segasonic Arcade running and being able to use the trackpad as a trackball. It mostly works and is super duper fun on the Deck.

But then I just started downloading PS2 games because I really liked the way they look with filters on the Steam Deck. Nowadays I mostly play my PS2 games on the Steam Deck. There’s something about that era of games that really fits the portability of that system.

[Slink]

Thanks for the rec! You weren’t lying. To start, the intro title screen has very rad music. And jeez, what a wild intro haha. Go from being directed to burn down a village full of civilians to waking up on a space ship receiving ‘A New Hope’-like mission directives and being very eager to bomb another space ship. Of course things go awry and I had to bomb things on the space ship instead.

Very easy to pick up and play. Controls are simple and responsive. Great music and cutscenes. Although I’m always a fan of seeing the in-game graphics for cutscenes over CG, I always found it interesting how games chose when to use each type.

I had a good time going through the first mission and was intrigued plenty enough to play past that…however, I couldn’t beat the first boss. I gave it a good half hour’s worth of attempts and just couldn’t blow the thing up. Most annoying thing about it was how I could find a way to get its health down to about 25%, but couldn’t quite fully beat it before it beat me. So despite all the coolness in this game, my dabbling was cut short by the first boss. I could definitely see a younger me with a disc version of this game mastering it and making light work of this boss, but on to the next old game! Good times.

[Slink]

That’s awesome!

I love how almost everything looks on the Deck via emulation. It’s fun making old games look more modern/HD or old still, depending on the mood. I really love how smooth PS2, Gamecube and Dreamcast games can look on here, but am also having fun trying different filters & settings to get more authentic vibes.

Aesthetically speaking, I’d love to have original hardware. But my minimalism ultimately won out. And it’s very gratifying having a device chock full of gaming history. Feels like my own personal Video Game History Library.

[rearnakedwindow]

@Slink

really love how smooth PS2, Gamecube and Dreamcast games can look on here, but am also having fun trying different filters & settings to get more authentic vibes.

This kind of talk makes me want a Steam Deck more than any current-ish AAA release ever could (and that’s not even saying those newer games are bad!).

[Slink]

One of my favorite things about it is the ease of use of Emudeck and desktop mode. And it’s an excellent nice lil touch that it auto-downloads the cover art for you, so when I browse through the libraries I get to see the pretty arts instead of just lists of names. Makes it more fun, more nostalgic and just a more enticing experience. Kind of a similar feeling to looking through the Blockbuster aisles. A lot of the Saturn and Neo Geo games I’m choosing to play are based on the cover art and/or name alone, since I have no idea about a lot of those libraries.

Also, thanks to the battery, screen and storage capabilities, well you just got yourself a nice all around vast gaming experience device. I don’t plan on buying any games for the foreseeable future (other than Demonschool of course.)

[Tom]

Always recommend the deck for emulation as it really is a powerhouse for most consoles, and with the updates to emulators recently they’re just getting better and better. I’ve been dabbling with PCSX2 and with some tweaking managed to get it looking better than ever.

There’s always time for full releases on it, but then sometimes you just have to go retro - especially when it’s that easy =)

[milo]

Got Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 running on here just to see if I could and boy can you…

I haven’t played this game in nearly a decade and I forget how addictive it is… and being on the Steam Deck makes it so easy to sink into the couch for hours with it. Controls easier than I thought with a downloaded community layout for the game.

I used to be obsessed with this game as a kid and one thing I’m finding out in my adult life is that I’m actually good at it now. I could never figure out the business aspects when I was younger and would just use infinite money cheats and just build whatever.

But playing these days I’ve discovered this whole other business management layer and find myself micromanaging profit margins and monitoring guest feedback to see what needs to change. Like, holy cow, there’s a whole other game here beyond just building coasters I never thought to check existed.

[Slink]

Tremendous! I was also hooked on Roller Coaster Tycoon as a youngster , and your experience is/was the same as mine. So I wasn’t sure it’d age well, and also wasn’t sure how it’d control on the Deck. But alas, you’ve come bearing great news!

I was planning on playing some Stuntman this evening, but now RC2 has moved to top of the weekend queue.

[Slink]

Found a real diamond in the rough this evening. Where to start… I’ll try not to make this too long of a post given it’s an overlap of my two favorite hobbies/passions (mixed martial arts & videogames), specifically because it’s to do with Pride FC, the greatest fighting organization to ever exist. (I have to mention the caveat being the obvious shady side of course. The entire fight game is dirty, all promoters are scum, there have undoubtedly been too many fixed fights to count, and it hurts me to watch the fighters leave it on the mat for pennies far too often.) But relative to fight promotions…Pride put on the best shows and at least paid the fighters well for the era. The organization had a brief but spectacular run and a legendary roster of unique fighters from all over the world. It was the real life version of Bloodsport, and felt like a fighting game come to life in the middle of a WWF show, all in one. Add in some amazing announcers, intros and the best fighting crowds/fans of all time…ooo weee!

Anyway, to save time and space, the game Pride FC (2003, PS2) perfectly encapsulates my many fond memories of watching the promotion in just about every way it could and to a surprisingly loving level of detail! And it didn’t hit me until playing the game tonight how much the organization really was like a real life fighting game, given the grand style of the promotion, diverse styles/backgrounds/personalities of the fighters, etc.

Luckily it controls very well and simply, with just the right amount of attack diversity available for use (strikes and wrestling/grappling). Lastly, as I was thinking of how it reminds me of those old N64 WCW and WWF games in regard to the graphics, more-arcade-than-sim play style, pace and simplicity; I noticed the THQ on the mat and remembered they made some very rad wrestling games back when I played them on PSX/N64, so that made sense.

As with all things Pride FC, the UFC should take some pointers and learn some class. This game is way more fun, tight and responsive to play than the modern “next gen” games they’re putting out right now. Just the right amount of game modes to keep a pre-online fighting game interesting too (single match, training, create a fighter/career, Grand Prix, and Survival, where you get one health bar and see how many matches in a row you can win).

And it’s awesome to look at, mostly for nostalgia here I think. Definitely biased. So I probably took too many screenshots for this one, but I couldn’t help myself. It was a trip down memory lane in virtual version that I got to play, so I had the most fun with this one. Also tried out native and upscaled/widescreen settings and it definitely upscales nicely.

(Native)

(Upscaled to 16:9, 720p)

*Bonus content: Great documentary on the story of Pride FC, just in case anyone wants to learn more.
PRIDE NEVER DIE!

- YouTube

[rearnakedwindow]

I relate a lot to this post. MMA is the only sport I’ve ever really loved, but a lot of the people involved with it are scumbags (especially UFC president, Dana White), the culture surrounding it is often trash, etc. And yet there is so much good in the sport itself and in many of the athletes: honor, respect, athleticism, creativity, diversity, tradition.

Anyway, that’s a topic for another time. This Pride game looks cool! Love the screenshots!
I’ve never played this one, but I’ve played as some of these fighters in Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 and UFC Undisputed 3’s Pride mode (both great games). Branching into similar-ish games, have you played Garouden Breakblow Twist or Fist? I know it’s a big favorite of Brandon’s. It’s a PS2 fighting game with a big MMA emphasis. It’s over the top but I like that it gives lots of in-depth options for striking and grappling which makes it feel almost like a wrestling/MMA game. It’s a blast if you like these kinds of games.

[Slink]

Nice! Even with its increasing popularity, it’s still rare to run into another MMA fan. Sadly, it’s more sterile and corporate than ever, as with many formerly cooler things these days. So I don’t follow as closely as I used to. I still train nogi jiu jitsu though and try to keep up with the bigger fights, as well as the blooming BJJ scene. Craig Jones is a real gem.

Thanks again for more game recs! I haven’t played any of those, so will definitely give em a go. For some reason I could never get into 3D fighters the way I did 2D ones. I think I got spoiled by the pace of 2D fighters, so playing the competitive 3D ones always felt a little too slow for me. So I definitely prefer to play these less (technically) serious fighting games if I do wander into said territory.

[exodus]

The garouden series (might as well just play fist or twist, the second one) is ridiculous and fast and furious. It’s more fun if you play with friends of course but I think you’ll find what you’re looking for if you’re into a more frantic fighting experience.

[Slink]

Haven’t been dabblin’ as much lately, as I’ve been consistently playing San Andreas. But I bought the new Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection yesterday because I can’t not buy a game with MvC2 on it. (Plus I got tired of fussing with Fightcade and would rather play MvC2 online this way.)

Anyway, included in the collection is The Punisher (Arcade, 1993), and I’d never played it, so I loaded it up out of curiosity and ended up playing that last night instead of San Andreas or MvC2.

The Punisher rocks! This game is just simple fun. Not much to it other than that. I love the cartoony visuals being paired with extreme violence and well animated blood. Not to mention the tremendously generically corny dialogue and story. If you had to encapsulate my love for 80s/90s corny action movies into an arcade game, it would be The Punisher for sure.