jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Did You Know There Were Two Versions of Donkey Kong Released on The Commodore 64?

When Cheerful Ghost Radio recently reviewed Donkey Kong I noted that the version I played the most was on the Commodore 64. What I didn't know was that there are two C64 versions of Donkey Kong and I had only played the first one. Nintendo licensed Donkey Kong out to a few different companies over time to bring the game to different computers and because of this two companies made entirely different Commodore versions. Ben Paddon of PortsCenter (a FilmJoy show of the Movies w Mikey fame) takes a peek at both versions and talks a fair amount about Donkey Kong's history along the way. Paddon and Ports Center are great and if you haven't watched one of his videos, now's the time to fix that problem.

Battle for Wesnoth Is Now On Steam!

If you have spent much time in Open Source gaming Battle for Wesnoth is a project you are familiar with. Battle for Wesnoth has been going strong since 2003 and the developers have released big sets of updates including large graphical overhauls, extra campaigns and features. As the game has evolved over the years it's been a pure cross platform game and playable on Windows, Mac and Linux long before Steam released a Linux client opening the floodgates to more cross platform games. Recently the Wesnoth project dropped on Steam which means that it's available, for free, on Steam to play right now.

Battle for Wesnoth is one of the most refined 2D turn based strategy games around and if you haven't tried it, I encourage you to give it a shot.

"The Battle for Wesnoth is an open source, turn-based strategy game with a high fantasy theme. From the plains of Weldyn to the forests of Wesmere, from the mines of Knalga to the soaring peaks of the Heart Mountains, take part in over a dozen adventures spanning centuries! Play as a young prince as he flees the encroaching forces of the Lich Lords to a new home across the sea... Delve into the blackest depths of the earth to craft a jewel of fire itself... Travel the continent in a daring quest to reclaim your rightful throne from a usurping queen... Step into the shoes of a young mage, his village beset by orcish invasion, as he seeks vengeance and immortality... Battle the undead hordes of a foul necromancer as he marches upon your capital... Lead a daring group of survivors across the blazing sands to a final confrontation with an unseen evil... The choice is up to you."

More on the Steam version and the 1.14 Horizons update below.

https://www.wesnoth.org/start/1.14/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/599390/Battle_for_Wesnoth/

Travis Admin wrote on 05/03/2018 at 05:38pm

Sweet now I can get incredibly frustrated by RNG on Steam too!

I jest, it’s a solid game. Back in the day it was this and Tuxracer if you were on Linux.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 05/04/2018 at 03:19am

Yeah and everything iD ported as well. It's cool to see the project keep going and that it's living on and hopefully this gives it a wider look.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 05/04/2018 at 03:20am

So, not sure if people knew, but Travis and I were admins on ye olde Ubuntu Forums. Travis, did you partake in any of the gaming events we had where people got together to play Wesnoth and Quake 3?

Travis Admin wrote on 05/04/2018 at 03:30am

I know I was in some Wesnoth events yeah. And I think a weird open source game in the quake 3 engine that had you playing as toys in someone's room? I can't remember it clearly but I remember playing with jdong.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 05/04/2018 at 03:34am

OpenArena if memory serves. But what you describe sounds like the Counter-Strike map Rats to me.

Travis Admin wrote on 05/04/2018 at 04:28pm

World of Padman is what I was thinking of:

https://worldofpadman.net/en/

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 05/07/2018 at 04:00am

Oh yeah, I remember that game. I don't think I played it, but I remember it being rather popular with the free shooter community.

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What Are The Worst Mario Games?

Cygnus Destroyer's latest video tackles the age old question of which Mario games are the worst. It's an interesting question and he doesn't directly answer it but he does rate a few poorly seen Mario games as innocent or guilty such as Mario is Missing, Mario's Time Machine, Hotel Mario and The Lost Levels. If you don't know much about some of the esoteric Mario games or just want to see Cygnus rip into some really strange Mario games you need to watch his review.

Something Else To Be Angry About? Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze Switch VS Wii U Comparison

DigitalFoundry create a lot of video that compare and rate the performance of video games. In the video shared above they look at Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze on Wii U to it's freshly released Switch port. It looks like Nintendo did a good job with the port because the Switch version docked is 1080p where the original Wii U version was capped to 720p. Both versions framerate was 60FPS which coupled with the incredible visuals of Tropical Freeze is one of the reasons why it's such a highly rated platformer.

One part of Nintendo re-releasing Tropical Freeze on the Switch I don't quite understand is why this is upsetting some gamers. According to certain online discussions it seems some fans are mad Nintendo is releasing this on the Switch as some fans would prefer a new game. If you own the original Tropical Freeze it's really easy to not buy this game as it involves.... not buying it. Making an entirely new game is really hard compared to having a team port a game you've already made being much easier. I imagine a new Donkey Kong game is in the works it's just a bit quicker to get this out and since the Switch is a huge success it's good that many people that missed this on the Wii U can have a chance to play it now.

The Nerd Reviews Earthbound

It's odd to get an Angry Video Game Nerd review of Earthbound but after watching it i'm glad he made this. It's not too far into the review where he does admit that this might be one of the best Super Nintendo games of all time. I also like that he critiques some of Earthbound's lesser features such as not being able to buy multiple items and the amount you are punished for dying. The death punishment can be circumvented with a SNES Classic save state but if you are playing it the way the original creators intended you can spend 30 minutes backtracking to bring your party back.

It's a great review of Earthbound but my only warning is that if you haven't played the game and plan on it at some point his review contains a lot of spoilers.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/26/2018 at 05:39pm

I wish I could get into this game, it sounds like such a fun trip. But, I just can't get past the beginning story. Maybe because it's set it modern time, but the "You're the chosen one" story just really fell flat to me.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/26/2018 at 06:12pm

But, after watching this video, I'm glad I got to see at least some of the trip!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/27/2018 at 02:50am

Adam. Your the chosen one... to PLAY EARTHBOUND!

Oh wait.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/27/2018 at 05:40am

Lol, I'm just going to have to force myself at some point.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/27/2018 at 01:56pm

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WarCraft III Gets A Horde of New Updates!

WarCraft III finally received the 1.29 update and it's got quite a few things in it worth coming back to if you haven't played it in a while. The biggest is that the game now finally supports 16x9 widescreen! WarCraft III was made in the ol' 4x3 era and even though the 16x9 world wasn't too far away the game was never updated to support different aspect ratios. They've handled this in a few ways by adding black pillars in the menu and then allowing the in game interface to properly scale to handle the resolution. It means the actual in game experience is now properly sized and avoids you having to run the entire game in 4x3! Blizzard has also expanded support to matches supporting 24 players as well as a host of new game balancing tweaks for the in game heroes.

I'm fairly certain these updates will come with a later re-release / remaster of WarCraft III and if StarCraft is a guide there will be a free version as well as a HD repurchase of the game. In the case of StarCraft I thought the free version, which is essentially a modern rebuild of the original was awesome enough and I didn't feel the need to pickup the HD edition. That said, in the case of WarCraft III i'll buy whatever version Blizzard releases because any kind of new 3D graphics for this game should be awesome.

All that said, I picked up the new 1.29 update and it installed and ran well so if you have wanted to dust off your copies of WarCraft III now would be a great time to do it with this fresh new version!

https://web.archive.org/web/20180411005159/https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet/topic/20762137149

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/24/2018 at 04:57am

I bought the Starcraft HD remaster and enjoyed it. I've never played Warcraft III, so I'm hoping it gets a remastered re-release.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/24/2018 at 12:41pm

You can't beat Blizzard's long term support for their games.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/25/2018 at 04:37pm

No you can't and they've released a couple follow on fix updates afterward! To me, WarCraft III is one of the best Blizzard games of all time and it's in that place of having good enough 3D graphics to still be good now and it's strategy elements with heroes is pretty unique.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/26/2018 at 03:16am

Yeah I love what they did with Starcraft Remastered, but seeing the improvements they made there only made me realize that War 3 really only needed modern resolutions. It still looks really good. The cartoonish style and the fact that the models aren't pixelated like they were in Starcraft help that along. I think Starcraft used 2D sprites?

Watching some videos of this 1.29 patch, you'd think it was already remastered in some ways. Definitely not in others: the menus are still 4:3, and the character images in the bottom... toolbar? Control center? Whatever you call that. Those images are obviously aging a bit.

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Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 & 2 Coming July 24th!

We've known for a bit that the Mega Man X collections were coming and now we have the release date, July 24th! If you have a Switch and want every classic Mega Man game the Legacy Collection is coming and now both X Collections as well! I still have yet to take up Mega Man X on the Super Nintendo classic but after I wear out Mega Man 2, i'll get over to it. That said, I have NO idea when that will be as I honestly enjoy just replaying Mega Man 2.

That said...

"The entire X series dashes onto Nintendo Switch! Mega Man X Legacy Collection contains side-scrolling classics Mega Man X, Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3, and Mega Man X4. Continue the adventure with Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2, which includes Mega Man X5, Mega Man X6, Mega Man X7, and Mega Man X8. Each collection also contains a plethora of rare game art, nostalgic trailers, merchandise galleries, and more. These collections also include the all-new X Challenge mode, which features a series of challenges in which X faces off against two deadly Maverick bosses at once!"

http://megaman.capcom.com/

DigitalFoundry Compares A Decade of Evolution Between Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 5

I picked up Far Cry 2 at the mid point in the PS3's lifespan. It was about $17 used at a game store and since I hadn't really played a Far Cry game yet, it seemed like a good time to give it a shot. I heard the open world gameplay was fun, but the game insisting that you had to deal with malaria was not. I completed the whole game on PS3 and didn't find the malaria aspects too frustrating. If you continue through the game at a good pace you got enough pills to keep things moving forward. I wonder what would have happened if you avoided the main story?

Now that Far Cry 5 is out Digital Foundry has a new video comparing Far Cry 2 to the latest release and it's really interesting to note that not every gameplay element is included. I really enjoy the Far Cry games and completed Far Cry 3 last year and want to wrap up Blood Dragon next. It's fun playing through the series and not keeping current means that it's easy to do on a budget.

I Have A Good Feeling About This - New Solo Trailer Drops!

Lucasfilm released a new Solo: A Star Wars Story trailer yesterday to a warm reception. I’d say compared to the first Super Bowl trailer this one seems more like the kind of movie I expected. Still going to watch this opening day and it looks like all the hard work to fix the movie after the original directors left the project has paid off, with a great trailer.

I know many were hazy on watching this, I wonder if this trailer has changed you mind in any direction?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/09/2018 at 02:39pm

This trailer does make the movie look better than I expected, but I still think I won't see it in theaters out of principle. After this comes out, half of all Star Wars movies will be prequels. I'm tired of prequels. I don't need anymore origin stories for characters I'm already familiar with. So, I think the trailer did make me interested in seeing this movie at some point, but I don't want to spend (much) money on it (I might see it at small theater after it's been out for a while, or rent it from Redbox).

Also, (this isn't a nitpick, just something funny I heard) but Han's voice occasionally sounded like Bill Hader's voice in the SNL Californians sketches lol (https://youtu.be/V4347ZE0NQM for reference).

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/09/2018 at 04:13pm

I liked the trailer. I think at this point I have stopped comparing Alden Ehrenreich to Harrison Ford. I am ready to see this.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/09/2018 at 04:25pm

(I previously posted this, but I deleted it so I could re-word some stuff and add some more)

I don’t even think about the new stuff in the sense of prequel or sequel, really. And I don’t exactly think of this or Rogue One as prequels. Yes, they take place prior to the original trilogy, so they are absolutely prequels in that sense, but they tell the unnecessary parts of the core story. The episodic films are the story of the galaxy and, specifically, the Skywalkers and those around them. But just like all the books and games have done for years, these films just fill in info that is (hopefully) interesting and entertaining but isn’t essential or may not even inform the core series.

I look at it like the Tarkin novel, or Leia, Princess of Alderaan basically. Small one-offs that can take place anywhere and give you some more character building. For me, I'm not watching the anthology films for the story as much as I am the world-building and new lore to add to the complex tapestry that is Star Wars canon.

Now, I gotta say... if you'd asked me which anthology films I would have made, Solo would not have been on my list. It at least seems more interesting than a Boba Fett film. But I'm still very interested to watch this just to add some more depth, however small, to the universe.

But speaking of prequels I would honestly adore a few movies that take place IN the prequel era. Those films are not my favorites of the saga but from what I’ve seen and read, it’s probably my favorite time period and ripe with potential for great stories. A live action siege of Mandalore movie? Oh man. Don’t even get me started.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/09/2018 at 05:47pm

Travis wants a Jar Jar movie. :)

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/09/2018 at 05:58pm

Nice!

Travis Admin wrote on 04/09/2018 at 07:10pm

Hahahaha, no. No JarJar movies please.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/09/2018 at 11:36pm

> Now, I gotta say... if you'd asked me which anthology films I would have made, Solo would not have been on my list.

Adding some more: I think one of the chief reasons people seem more apathetic about this one is that Han already had his character arc. All the character growth has already happened. The Han in this film will grow from a young hotshot rogue into ... an older hotshot rogue?

That's why I'm less into this than I was Rogue One, and why I'm hoping for some great worldbuilding to replace the character building.

Or hell, just Baby Driver in A Galaxy Far Far Away. :)

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/10/2018 at 04:01pm

> The Han in this film will grow from a young hotshot rogue into ... an older hotshot rogue?

What if he isn't a young hotshot rogue?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/10/2018 at 05:35pm

I hope I didn't come across as super negative, I do hope it's a good movie and people enjoy it. I hope *I* enjoy it when I get around to seeing it lol.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/10/2018 at 05:40pm

Hopefully Will has the closest guess, and Han isn't a young hotshot rogue, and you can see what makes him what he becomes :)

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/10/2018 at 06:23pm

I think he is going to start out as an Imperial.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2018 at 02:17am

Couple points I wanted to hit.

"I'm tired of prequels. I don't need anymore origin stories for characters I'm already familiar with."

Right. I get that. I'm at a point where what we've got so far (all the new star wars films) have been pretty good to great. I didn't want Rogue One but it's the first prequel I liked and now really like. In fact, I just rewatched it and it surprised me how fun it was watching it again. It's like nearly pure fan service and I love it for that. The cinematography is solid, it's got some grit to it and I really appreciate where it goes and the choices it makes. Not perfect and some parts are really obviously setup for later things, but it's a fun movie and I like it more than I don't.

Now if the Solo movie is that, then i'll be in. I don't need it to be earth shattering or even original. Fun enough is fine for me. Seems like it might be.

I think one reason why we're getting prequels is because the new trilogy isn't finished yet and they might want to wrap that up before new stuff comes out. My guess is that when they signed the Game of Thrones dudes and Rian Johnson for 6 more films all that will be POST Episode 9. In fact, my guess is most of Star Wars after that will be and we might get some other prequel films but the majority will be moving forward. Lucasfilm wants a new movie per year and it's easy to keep the whole STARCU (or whatever) in alignment with prequels and just one new story arc moving forward.

Just an idea, I'm sure i'm wrong.

I've heard what the new story IS in terms of his arc (not specifics just how his character will change) and it sounds interesting. Apparently Lucas and Laurence Kasdan were working on a Han Solo film prior to Lucasfilm being bought and one term of Kasdan helping with Episode VII is he could come back around to make Solo. Fun story and i'm glad it's coming out because it's been a fun movie to talk about and I hope it turns out well and if not, well, lots to talk about when Star Wars movies aren't great too.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/11/2018 at 03:22am

Well I dunno about prequels in general, but this film was made because of Kasdan. Solo wasn't a LucasFilm "lets shovel this out" kind of thing. One condition Kasdan had for writing The Force Awakens with JJ was that he'd get to pen a script for a Han Solo origin story.

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Square Is Brining Chrono Trigger On Steam Back To It's Original SNES Graphical Roots

When Chrono Trigger hit Steam it was widely panned by fans for two problems. Firstly the menus were mostly ported from the mobile version and PC players didn't seem to like that and the original pixel graphics were smoothed down and don't look great on high resolution displays. Square posted today that they've heard this feedback and will release an update to add a mode for fans to play Chrono Trigger with the original pixel art graphical style of the original SNES version.

"We’re aiming to release the first of these patches in the first half of April, and the biggest change is that it will include an option to switch between the current high-resolution graphics, and the original graphical style of CHRONO TRIGGER."

http://steamcommunity.com/games/613830/announcements/detail/1652133167148114465

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/04/2018 at 03:47am

Awesome!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/04/2018 at 03:50am

I'm glad Square is doing this. Steam games, because of sales and bundles, can have a long lifespan and if a game is supported and is what fans want it's reputation will mean more sales over it's life than just a flash in the pan fizzle which this game seemed to get because of it's poor reviews. Well, I can't speak to it's sales but the reviews were not very good for the fact that this game is a classic and considered by some to be the best game of all time.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/04/2018 at 05:30pm

I'm glad they're doing it, even though I haven't bought it yet. I added it to my wishlist before this announcement, thinking I'd see it for myself. It's nice to know that a company is actually doing something with fan feedback.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2018 at 02:32am

Looks like the new patch addresses many concerns and the latest Steam reviews seem to suggest people like them. Nice to see Chrono Tigger on PC getting some love.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/04/10/chrono-triggers-first-patch-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction/

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/11/2018 at 07:09am

Cool! Thanks for the link!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/03/2018 at 08:17pm

Chrono Trigger just received it's final major update. As you know, it was released and received some negative feedback, so the developers decided to give it a few updates. Now that all those major updates have been released, I think I'll continue playing. I'm only disappointed that they didn't add the ability to change the color of the text box, I don't like the gray, I want blue!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/03/2018 at 09:17pm

I think that was a fairly popular staple of Square RPG's to change the window style and color. Too bad it isn't included in the PC version.

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jdodson1

2755 Posts

Did You Know There Were Two Versions of Donkey Kong Released on The Commodore 64?

Battle for Wesnoth Is Now On Steam!

What Are The Worst Mario Games?

Something Else To Be Angry About? Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze Switch VS Wii U Comparison

The Nerd Reviews Earthbound

WarCraft III Gets A Horde of New Updates!

Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 & 2 Coming July 24th!

DigitalFoundry Compares A Decade of Evolution Between Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 5

I Have A Good Feeling About This - New Solo Trailer Drops!

Square Is Brining Chrono Trigger On Steam Back To It's Original SNES Graphical Roots