Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

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matmico399
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Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby matmico399 » May 17th, 2016, 7:42 pm

I didn't start retro gaming until about about two years ago. Ever since I played Adventure back on the 2600 in the early 80's I knew video games were a true passionate hobby for me.

Back in the day I didn't have much money as a young father to spend on multiples consoles (I became a dad for the first time in the middle of the PS1 era). So I'd go with one and that would be it! The Genesis, PS1 and PS2 were my consoles for years as a young adult through getting older.

However in the last few years I've had a little more disposable income. And henceforth I have started collecting more classic systems and games. It has been very enjoyable as a hobby.

My question to you all is what systems have been the best and worst you had high hopes for when retro collecting?

My biggest disappointment would have to be The Sega Saturn. A very few selection of good games that are affordable. Most of the ones that are reasonable are usually pretty bad. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part I think it speaks the truth. Plus the system is woefully under powered to comparable systems of it's day. Everything just plays so much better on the PS1 and the N64 imo. Ironically enough the console that has just amazed me was it's successor. The Sega Dreamcast! Wow this system rocks! SO many good games, the graphics are far ahead of the PS2 and even Gamecube. The VMU card was an excellent idea (to a degree). The systems overall capabilities to me are astounding for that gen. Plus so many excellent exclusives. This is a system to collect for. Not nearly as expensive as Saturn games but they don't come cheap anymore either.

If you are starting to retro, I highly suggest the Dreamcast as a place to start.

Your thoughts?

Herschie
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby Herschie » May 17th, 2016, 9:55 pm

Good topic. I can't really think of a console that I was overwhelmingly disappointed with, but one that I never expected much from but ended up enjoying a lot was the DS. It was a fun handheld with some really good games, and I really liked the backwards compatibility with the GBA. But I never expected it to be much for some reason.

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Atariboy
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby Atariboy » May 18th, 2016, 4:54 am

I'd of liked the backwards compatibility of the DS a lot more had there been an option to remap the buttons to the Y & B buttons. I just couldn't play many games like the Super Mario Advance ports on a DS using A & B on Nintendo's 4 button layout.

But the DS was a pleasant surprise for me as well. That and the Wii are my two most surprisingly good consoles and leave me keeping an open mind these days with whatever they're cooking up on the hardware front. Heck, at one point I had zero intentions of ever buying either and now have 100 Wii games in my collection and a few more on my want list.

I can't think of anything too disappointing to me. There are of course bits that I passionately dislike with many systems like the awful analog nub of the PSP, but I either like systems or I love them and never have hated one. Some plug and plays though have sure managed to be awful like the Intellivision releases from 10 years ago or so with poorly programmed imitations on a NOAC.

Hard to imagine anyone finding any redeeming qualities out of that mess.

Sut
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby Sut » May 18th, 2016, 9:59 am

Contrary to Matmico I enjoy collecting for the Saturn. I like arcade style games so the Saturn satisfies me on this account with Sega Rally, Panzer Dragoon, Street Fighter Alpha etc. But what is really fun with the Saturn is the Japanese market. There is some excellent 2D stuff which the Europeans and Americans never got. While Japanese games are hardly cheap they are more affordable than the US/European counterparts.
Also I enjoy the 32x stuff, but that thing is damned expensive to collect for ! Thankfully some games are region free so I can get the cheaper American versions eg Kolibri £250 PAL usual asking price, US £70 and it's multi region so US version it is (although I prefer the European 32x box art, I don't like it enough to pay way more). The only pricey titles that aren't region free are Chaotix and Motherbase which thankfully I have had as Xmas presents for last couple of years.

Disappointments:
Got an SG-1000 Mark 2 from Japan, couldn't get it to run on a UK TV so I had to sell it, fortunately I'm now the owner of the Mark 3 which will work on a UK TV via Scart although the colours are darker than they should be, but it will do for me.
Otherwise it' the Action Max. I picked it up from a car boot sale for £2. I played it for 5 minutes, read up about the games library and put it on eBay the next day. Only positive thing I can say about that console was I made £8 profit on it.

matmico399
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby matmico399 » May 18th, 2016, 4:33 pm

Don't get me wrong folks I don't dislike the Saturn and I'm glad I added it to my collection. I have a very small collection for it though. It's just that games affordable to me that are high quality are somewhat rare. I'd luv to have Panzer Dragoon Saga. But at $500 plus that's just not reasonable for me for a single title. I Do like my Saturn. But the Dreamcast has not disappointed on any level. Most games are not cheap but reasonable. Plus the quality of the console and games astounds me.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby VideoGameCritic » May 18th, 2016, 8:55 pm

Most disappointing:
Vita - did Sony think rehashed console titles would suffice?
Xbox One - will make your life difficult if you try to take it offline
Jaguar CD - pretty much worthless

Surprisingly good:
Bally Astrocade - fun, arcade-style graphics.
Turbo Duo - Once I started tapping into the Japanese library it opened a whole new world.
Vectrex - Still a marvel in 2016

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scotland
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby scotland » May 19th, 2016, 7:28 pm

Surprisingly Good: The Sega CD

In its day, it was expensive, connected to the low quality Full Motion Video trend, and is sometimes considered Sega's first step on the way down. As a retro console, its a different story. They are not rare or in demand, the early CD player is pretty sturdy, and being attached to a Genesis means the Genesis controller and the Genesis library is on tap. The Sega CD library has a lot of fun games to explore, and even rehashed Genesis game like Ecco are nice with the soundtrack.

Herschie
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby Herschie » May 20th, 2016, 1:29 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:Most disappointing:
Vita - did Sony think rehashed console titles would suffice?
Xbox One - will make your life difficult if you try to take it offline
Vectrex - Still a marvel in 2016


I was so close to saying Vita. It's not quite powerful for most of the games. They run slow, choppy, and poorly. Especially Madden.

Speaking of Madden, the 360 was pretty much my Madden machine, so yeah. A little disappointed. It was a clunky thing too.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby VideoGameCritic » May 20th, 2016, 5:06 pm

scotland,
Actually I remember feeling disappointed with the Sega CD back in the day (my friend Keith brought it over to my house one day). The video quality was poor even back then and the games felt like novelties.

Today however the system is a lot more interesting because it has a lot of overlooked games and interesting variations on Genesis classics. Also, the full motion video games incorporates slices of 90's culture (fashion, music, tech) which is a lot of fun to look back on.
VGC

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scotland
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Re: Your most disappointing/surprisingly good console?

Postby scotland » May 20th, 2016, 9:49 pm

I am exploring the Sega CD library over time, but yes, as a retro console its better than its 4th generation reputation.

To a lesser degree, I feel the N64 might deserve a better reputations as a retro console than it did during its generation too.

The cartridges that were maligned at the time are made to last and that has value years later. The library may be much smaller than the Playstation, but its got some seriously fun games. Its still a enjoyable couch co-op console. Instead of being constantly compared to the Playstation, it can stand on its own merits about collecting for it or not.

Okay, the controller is still an issue and I have broken those analog sticks on occasion. Entire genres seem to be thin in its library. The RAM expansion needed for Majoras Mask is not a very console thing to do. Yet I find I play N64 games more than original Playstation games.


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