JamieO

@deepspace5d Thanks for your response after I mentioned in this WAYP about the Death By Disco trophy in PS4 Ratchet & Clank, especially when you advised that "if you start a third game as new game++, then your Death by Disco progress will reset, so get it done within two runs."

I have just booted my old Ratchet & Clank save from 2016, and it is part way through a second New Game Plus playthrough of Challenge Mode.

My original plan was to take my time and perhaps move on to a third playthrough later on, so your guidance is very much appreciated, because I need to focus on the Death By Disco trophy during my second run now.

I can't actually remember how much I used the Groovitron when I originally beat the game in 2016, so I'm just going to have every enemy I meet boogieing with the Groovibomb this time around, and I'll backtrack to find missed enemies on other planets if necessary.

Cheers again, you have actually saved me potentially wasting time on this trophy, particularly if I had kept to my original plan of having more than two runs.

Refused's third main studio release was a landmark album called The Shape of Punk to Come on Burning Heart and Epitaph Records, which had a big impact in 1998.

There is a 2003 list online, re-published by Discogs, where Kerrang! has The Shape Of Punk To Come in 13th place amongst The 50 Most Influential Albums of All Time – just above Operation Ivy's album, Energy, as a little tidbit for any punk fans.

Refused didn't record any more albums for 17 years, so there was a lot of expectation when Freedom released as their fourth studio album on Epitaph in 2015.

I don't think they could ever live up to this hype, but I still enjoyed Freedom as a hard and heavy rock record, so I put it in 10th place on the alternative rock side of my Best 2015 Punk and Alternative Rock Albums Push Square forum topic, although I wouldn't necessarily categorise Refused as a hardcore band with this album.

I'm really excited to read this news that Refused will be contributing original music for Cyberpunk 2077. I think that their riff heavy, driven sound will be a great fit for Cyberpunk, and it is cool that a band from Umeå in Sweden is working with Poland's CD Projekt Red, because the two countries are close enough to cross with a six hour ferry.

@quinnyboy58 It's cool that you’re experiencing a remaster of this classic PSone game, especially since you grew up on Nintendo, and you only got your first PlayStation console recently. It's also really nice to hear that your wife is playing the new version after loving the original when she was young. I mentioned this in the comments for my PSone Crash Team Racing review, because I have a lovely memory of my girlfriend buying me the original PlayStation game as one of her first main gifts to me when we met in 1999. As we discussed earlier, I've also enjoyed the inclusion of 2003 GCN/PS2 tracks from Crash Nitro Kart, for example the visuals in Out of Time and Barin Ruins look beautiful in Nitro-Fueled, and Electron Avenue's graphics are similar to a neon F-Zero track.

@Onion Thanks for reminding me about Vicarious Visions' work on the N.Sane Trilogy. I should have remembered that there was even a Eurogamer news article with the heading "Dev confirms the Crash Bandicoot remaster is harder than the original: No, you weren't imagining it." Good point, perhaps Activision are requesting that developers add an extra challenge in their PSone remasters.

@Ristar24 Team Sonic Racing is still on my radar, but I prioritised buying Nitro-Fueled, because I have so much nostalgia for the PSone original game. I've been a big fan of Sumo Digital's racing games since OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast on PS2. I remember going to an interesting developer talk with Sumo Digital at Play Expo Blackpool a few years ago, plus I loved Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on PS3, Vita and Wii U. I've already heard some Team Sonic Racing music, and you're right the tunes are brilliant.

@Porco and @AdamNovice – I played PSone Crash Team Racing for weeks for my recent review, and I felt like I was a skilled driver, who could beat the original eight racer GP Arcade four cups pretty much every time.

I've been playing the same four Local Arcade 'Cup Race' GP mode the last few hours on PS4 Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, and I find the medium setting is noticeably more ruthless than the hard setting in the original.

It's faster for a start, but the AI is so aggressive, I've taken loads more cheap shots in one night on PS4, compared to weeks of play on PSone. I'm actually more frustrated from the medium setting of the Local Arcade 'Cup Race' on PS4, considering that I rarely felt angry playing hard difficulty in the PSone game.

My idea of a remaster is that it should keep the original gameplay intact, but add fancy new graphics on top of the original mechanics and controls, so surely by changing the difficulty balance it is not as authentic a remaster.

I'm still having tons of fun, by the way, but I prefer the PSone game's Arcade cup's difficulty curve.

@Rash We're actually agreeing with each other on most of your points, although the only part I’ve disagreed with is where you queried that, “A game that has been improved, deserves lowers scores”, and where @Stocksy commented about “how a website can post a review for the original and give it a 9 and then give a better in every way game a 7”.

In over ten years of reviewing retro games, I’ve scored each title in relation to other games from a similar genre, but I always score them in comparison to games from the exact same era. Therefore, with a PSone game scoring 9/10, I will decide the score in direct comparison to other 32-bit games, but this doesn’t guarantee the same score for a remaster in a modern context, released twenty years later.

I didn't personally want more gameplay advancements, or new innovation in Nitro-Fueled. I wanted a straight-up, stunning looking remaster from when it was announced, especially considering that Nitro-Fueled was one of my most anticipated games of 2019. It has completely delivered for me, I’ve only just played over one hour, but you're spot on, it's spectacularly beautiful and fun.

Nitro-Fueled never had to compete for a purchase from me either, I pre-ordered it straight away. However, it does have modern competition for gamers' cash with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Switch owners, against Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on Xbox One through backwards compatibility, and against Team Sonic Racing on PS4 – which admittedly is a new karting game that I’ve not played, yet.

To be fair, you have great taste in kart racers, because Super Mario Kart is one of my favourite games in all my years of gaming. I reviewed the Wii U eShop release of Super Mario Kart on Nintendo Life. Cheers.

@quinnyboy58 I actually think that as a retro gamer I am the ideal target audience for Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, because from everything that I have read and seen about it, I find the love that Beenox has put into remastering this game charming, and Stephen acknowledges Beenox's reverence towards the original in his review.

I agree with you, Nitro-Fueled is a great alternative to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, especially to kart racing fans like myself who own both a PS4 and a Switch.

Just like you mentioned, I am also excited to check out the revamped look of the tracks from Vicarious Visions' 2003 PS2 game, Crash Nitro Kart. I've been playing PSone Crash Team Racing non-stop recently for my review, so the Nitro Kart tracks are going to be a real bonus for me in the remaster.

Enjoy the game, mate, I have Nitro Fueled sitting in my bag right now, and I can't wait until I first boot it up on my PS4 tonight.

@Rash and @Stocksy — I mentioned this in the Comments section for my Crash Team Racing PSone review, but it's worth repeating here that since I first started reviewing PSone games for Push Square in 2013 I have always scored each PSone title in the context of how they compare to other 32-bit and 64-bit games from the same era, which was the fifth generation of consoles.

Therefore, in comparison to Motor Toon Grand Prix 2, Speed Freaks, and Toy Story Racer on PSone – as well as other 32-bit games like Sonic R on the SEGA Saturn — I decided to score PSone Crash Team Racing as a 9/10 excellent game, which puts it alongside the best Nintendo 64 kart racers like Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing.

The way I see it, Stephen has reviewed Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled twenty years later in the context of the current eighth generation of consoles. Since then there have been big kart racing genre advancements with user track creation tools in ModNation Racers, the ability to transform into water boats and flying planes in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and rollercoaster-esque anti-gravity race courses in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled has to compete against much more innovative kart racers today.

Therefore, even if I am personally more than happy to purchase Nitro-Fueled, because I love its classic gameplay template, and I appreciate it as a remaster of a 1999 retro game, in the context of modern kart racing gameplay innovations a 7/10 for Nitro-Fueled makes complete sense to me.

I can't wait until I get to play Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled tonight, it's one of my most anticipated PS4 games of 2019, and reading Stephen's review has me even more hyped to play it.

As the review states, it plays just like the original, and it sticks closely to the PSone game's gameplay template. A job well done it is then, Beenox!

My favourite point in the review is when Stephen says, "What's immediately clear is that the developer has a lot of reverence for the source material, and rightly so", because I think that this is one of the most important things for any remaster.

I hope that gamers don’t expect Nitro-Fuelled to revolutionise the kart racing sub-genre for the modern day, though. I never wanted it to compete directly with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, or even with Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed – for example I love the skill-based power slide and jump hang-time boost mechanics, and I'll relish its challenge — so deep down Nitro-Fuelled has the heart of a 32-bit engine purring inside of it, which is spot-on to me.

A great review, @Quintumply, nice one.

I just want to elaborate on a point in my review, where I mentioned that, "race courses like Dragon Mines, Tiny Arena, and Cortex Castle seem heavily influenced by the Kalimari Desert, Wario Stadium, and Bowser's Castle tracks respectively in Mario Kart 64."

Crash Team Racing's Tiny Arena is extremely similar in design to Wario Stadium, and Cortex Castle's graphics are directly comparable to Mario Kart 64's Bowser's Castle. However, Dragon Mines doesn't look like Kalimari Desert in its visual style.

The main connection between Dragon Mines and Kalimari Desert is the railway track that runs throughout both courses — so you have to dodge the rails and avoid being run over by a mine cart (CTR), or by a train (MK64) — plus the Wild West, whistling, chug-chug-choo-choo train music is very similar between both game's tracks.

Incidentally, this comparison comes full circle, because the Wario's Gold Mine race course in Mario Kart Wii from 2008 reminds me quite a bit of Dragon Mines in Crash Team Racing, which came out nine years earlier.

@Dobbos Thanks for your suggestion of a Tomb Raider retro review, because feedback like this is always appreciated.

At the moment Push Square will be focussing on retro reviews that relate directly to new PS4 releases, so that our retro content is also linked to modern games for the readers. These reviews will predominantly be in regards to remakes, but they could possibly relate to new remasters too.

Therefore, if Square Enix were able to get together with a developer like Crystal Dynamics or Eidos Montréal to create a full remake of Core Design's very first Tomb Raider, then I would love to review the original 1996 game.

Another possibility, which I might pitch to Push Square, would be to review 20th anniversary PSone games, in the same way that Crash Team Racing will turn twenty in September 2019. This would open up the possibility for me to write a 20th anniversary PSone review of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, because the EU version of The Last Revelation will be twenty years old on the 19th November 2019.

No worries about double posting, too, I just clicked on double likes, one for each comment, instead.

@waluigifan1 Yep, Crash Team Racing is indeed better than the The Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing Adventure on the original PlayStation! A quality comment, mate, you made me chuckle.

@RogerRoger Great stuff, I had already checked out the Limited Run Games 'E3 2019 Showcase', because I recently received physical versions of the PS2 Jak games from them on PS4. I was buzzing from upcoming releases of interesting 2D pixel-art games like Blazing Chrome and Freedom Planet, but the Star Wars games were especially a great surprise. I already have Game Boy Star Wars with cartridge/box/instructions, but I'm tempted by The Empire Strikes Back on the Game Boy, plus like you mentioned, the physical versions of Bounty Hunter and Racer Revenge will be cool on PS4.

@RogerRoger Thank you kindly, I was actually hoping that a remake of Resident Evil 3 would be announced by Capcom at Microsoft's E3 Briefing 2019, because then I would have been able to write a PSone review of the third Resi game, and the context would have still been relevant to Push Square's readers. Another time, perhaps.

Also, and this is off topic, but based on your avatar did you hear the E3 news that Limited Run Games are re-releasing retro Star Wars games, starting with a physical PS4 version of the PS2 Classic, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, in nine days?

@Stocksy I score all of my PSone reviews by directly comparing the game to other PSone titles, and to other relevant games during the 32-bit and 64-bit era of the fifth generation of consoles. It wouldn't be fair if I based my score on comparing a twenty year old title to games with modern expectations. Then again if an issue retrospectively affects gameplay – like the camera and control in MediEvil, or the sluggishness of Battle Arena Toshinden – I will lower the score to highlight these issues. I still play lots of PSone games today, and I feel that just like with Ridge Racer Type 4, that Crash Team Racing is still an excellent game, which has aged well in the context of other racers in the PSone's library.

@Dange Cheers for your feedback, mate. We both posted similar thoughts regarding Crash Team Racing being a product of its time. I agree with your response, though.

@supergurr Thanks for the feedback about Push Square's retro content, mate.

@gingerfrog Spot on, you have very good reasons to have heaps of nostalgia about Crash Team Racing then, I think it's great when people share gaming experiences with their family. You're right, the last twenty years have flown by, but it's brilliant when an old game becomes so associated with happy memories that it transcends into full on nostalgia, so whenever you play it again the old memories come flooding back. Cheers for sharing this here.

@roe Thanks right back at you, I'm glad that you enjoyed playing through the full game three years ago, because I always enjoy returning to Crash Team Racing too.

@m1rk091 Cool, I still have my original Crash Team Racing disc that my girlfriend bought for me, as well. The instructions manual was quite handy for this review in regards to details about the handling differences between characters, specific weapons' 'Juiced Up' characteristics, and a quirky little description of the story.

@hotukdeals This retro review honestly wasn't meant as clickbait, we've been reviewing PSone games on Push Square for years now, and our plan was to publish this review of the original Crash Team Racing as a precursor article to supplement the PS4 review later on.

I was careful to be clear in the heading that it was a retro review by stating, "Naughty Dog Created the Best Kart Racer on PSone."

Earlier this year, we actually planned to write a similar style review of PSone Resident Evil 2 to be published in January around about the time of the release of the PS4 remake, but it didn’t work out that time.

Timing retro reviews to coincide with relevant new releases is definitely something I would like to do again in the future, though.

Apologies to anyone thinking this was a review of the new game, but if anyone has any questions about Crash Team Racing on the PSone, please let me know. I consider Crash Team Racing to have a guaranteed spot in my personal top five PSone games, so I very much enjoyed replaying the game again for this review.

A couple of ideas for discussions are below:

-- When did you first play Crash Team Racing? I met my girlfriend in 1999, so we celebrate our twenty year anniversary together soon, and one of the earliest main gifts she ever bought for me was Crash Team Racing. I remember really enjoying the Blizzard Bluff and especially the Polar Pass tracks during Christmas of that year, which is why I hint at my nostalgia for the festive feel of the music and visuals in the icy race courses above.

-- What are your favourite race tracks? As well as Polar Pass, I have a lot of fun racing on Hot Air Skyway, and I like the graphics in Cortex Castle most of all, although Oxide Stadium is a really cool track, with a massive jump at the end of each lap, too.

I'm interested, as always, to read your thoughts in the comments section, and to see if anyone has recently booted up this classic PSone kart racer — like @DerMeister and @Ypmud mention above — in preparation for the release of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fuelled on PS4 later this week.

@Ralizah Not that this is a definitive answer, but I've just beaten Death on Stage 15 of the first NES Castlevania on the PS4 Anniversary Collection, and then I continued on to Stage 16, yet my game did not crash.

On my approach to Death I was very careful to crouch in a spot to avoid the many Medusa heads and take out the axe knights. During the Death boss battle I also tried to stress out the emulation by constantly pausing, or saving screenshots.

I find the boomerang-like Cross sub-weapon effective against Death, especially as he throws so many scythes on the screen. Still, I messed up my save, and I accidentally saved my game with only four bars of health before the fight, which Death can take out with a single hit.

I actually beat Death twice, but the first time one of his scythes hit me before I could collect the spherical red Magic Crystal to complete the stage. The second time I beat Death and I played on to Stage 16, although like you said there are lots of sprites around this boss fight, but it did not crash. It went smoothly for me, however it could still be crashing for other gamers.

Anyway, I may as well continue see if I can beat Dracula to complete Castlevania for 'The Cursed Simon Belmont' trophy now.

@hi_drnick and @Jimmy_G_Buckets Thanks to you both your kind words about my review.

@carlos82 Agreed, I have tons of nostalgia towards Castle of Illusion, plus Wonder Boy in Monster World will be quality, and Thunder Force III is a great pick. Super Fantasy Zone intrigues me too, because I associate the Fantasy Zone conversions with the Master System and PC Engine. Possibly best of all, like @playstation1995 mentions above, is the inclusion of Contra: Hard Corps – although I think that it will be the Probotector robots version when I get a UK Mega Drive Mini.

@Ralizah I'm playing the first NES Castlevania right now, because I’m determined to reach Death on Stage 15. I’m cheating really, as I keep repeatedly pressing 'Save' on the options menu steadily throughout the stages, and then whenever Simon gets killed, or even loses bits of health, I press 'Load' to boot up my previous state with better health, keeping my sub-weapon and ammo. I've just beaten the two Mummies bosses at the end of Stage 9. I always find the platforming across the blue cave's water in Stage 10 a bit awkward, but my cheap use of saves during this playthrough will ensure that I battle Death soon enough.

@Ralizah Yes, you're absolutely right, until now Castlevania: Bloodlines has never been re-released as either a digital game, or as a part of a collection. It has only ever been a Mega Drive and Genesis cartridge for Japanese, North American and PAL gamers — and as I bet you know, the PAL version's name was changed to Castlevania: The New Generation. Therefore, I think that it's especially exciting for retro gamers to finally have greater access to Bloodlines now that it has an official release on the Castlevania Anniversary Collection.

Like you mentioned, as part of my later research for this review I also read reports of the first Castlevania crashing during the Death boss battle. I can't confirm this though, I'm afraid. During my playtest for this review I reached Stage 13 of Castlevania – a little bit after the Frankenstein's monster boss battle. I haven’t personally had the first game crash, but I didn't reach the fight against Death, because it doesn't appear until Stage 15.

As a rule I try to complete all games for a review — for example this was possible with The Capcom Beat-‘Em-Up Bundle — but with the difficulty associated with this collection of games it was tough to finish all eight of them before submitting the review. I'm interested in learning about this, though, so I'll try to return to Castlevania from scratch this week to see if I can reach Death to test out the reports about this bug.

@shonenjump86 I think you'll really enjoy returning to Castlevania: Bloodlines, because it has aged beautifully. The visual designs of the stages are still very imaginative. I think people remember the lovely water reflections in stage 2's Atlantis Shrine setting in Greece, and I visited Pisa a few years ago, so I was buzzing from the graphics in stage 3's The Leaning Tower, where you scale the top above the clouds to face the giant red demonic bat boss. I don't remember seeing that creature when I steadily climbed nearly 300 steps to the top of the bell tower's stairs.

@Ristar24 Cheers right back at you! I have been a fan of playing portable games on a big screen TV for years now, going right back to the Super Game Boy. Since then I’ve loved the GameCube’s Game Boy Player, as well as hooking my PSP up to my TV, and of course the PSTV too. Having the two Game Boy games on the Castlevania Anniversary Collection really gives me high hopes for how mint the Game Boy Advance's Castlevania games would look on a future Konami bundle.

**** Edit: Hi again @Ristar24, I've just remembered that you and @Tasuki were talking about Castlevania Bloodlines when I wrote my Castlevania Requiem during Halloween feature in 2018. Reading both of your comments put Bloodlines into the back of my mind, and hyped me up to learn more about it from our chat last year. Nice one. ****

@carlos82 Kid Dracula localised as an NES game is such a pleasant surprise. It has large chunky, colourful sprites a bit similar to a game like Bonk's Adventure, and it's very quirky too. Kid Dracula meets Lady Liberty after avoiding Jason Voorhees lookalikes on top of a moving train, and she challenges him to a quiz, because she abhors violence! It's just brimming with fun.

@playstation1995 Yes, I'm definitely buying a UK Mega Drive Mini, I think its selection of games announced so far is really solid. Funnily enough, Castlevania Bloodlines was initially a major selling point for many people to buy it, although I think gamers are just as excited for Mega Man: The Wily Wars now that Bloodlines is on the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. I'd like it if the west got Super Shinobi just like Japan, though.

@playstation1995 Good call on the Genesis/ Mega Drive version of Rambo III, I remember when I was first saving for a Mega Drive that Rambo III was on my radar for a purchase, and it actually appeared in The Complete Guide to Consoles: Volume Two book from 1990 that I mention above. There's a Truxton review on page 23 of that magazine too, reviewed as its Japanese version, Tatsujin. I love Truxton!

@gdog989 Unfortunately, I'm not sure if M2 will update the display settings to make the 'Original' viewpoint for the consoles a better fit for the top and bottom of the screen. I guess it's possible, since they're providing updates like the Japanese versions. As a side note, obviously it's always preferable to have side borders, because these games look wrong to me when stretched to 16:9, but the 'Original' view's top and bottom borders were still a slight niggle of mine.

I'll check in on the comments here to see if anyone has any questions. Below are some of my thoughts as other discussion points:

- List of eight Castlevania Anniversary Collection games: Castlevania (1987, NES), Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1988, NES), Castlevania: The Adventure (1989, Game Boy), Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1990, NES), Kid Dracula (1990, Famicom), Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge (1991, Game Boy), Super Castlevania IV (1991, SNES) and Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994, Mega Drive).

- Omitted games and remakes that are a good fit for a classic Castlevania collection: Vampire Killer (1986, MSX2), Haunted Castle (1988, Arcade), Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993, PC Engine CD), Castlevania Chronicles (2001, PSone) and Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (2009 and 2010, WiiWare).

- A future update to include Japanese ROMs: The US PlayStation Blog stated on 15th May that, "we heard your calls and Konami will add Japanese title variants as a free update shortly after launch." The Japanese versions update isn't available, yet.

- The extra Bonus Book called 'The History of Castlevania: Book of the Crescent Moon' is brilliant: I'd like to buy this history book in print.

- Castlevania Anniversary Collection's PS4 display settings: The 'Original' display fills the top and the bottom of the screen for the two Game Boy games – including the option of a dot matrix, or colour filter – but the main console games have a smaller window, with a top and bottom letterbox border. To display the console games without this letterbox you can select the '4:3 Scanlines' viewpoint, but scanlines aren't everyone's cup of tea.

I look forward to reading your thoughts on this compilation.

Fair play, I've already thanked Sammy, because it's cool that my personal picks have been published on New Year's Day. Back in 2013 I included Red Dead Redemption as one of my choices for the PS3's Games of the Generation - Jamie's Five Favourites feature, so I’ve been looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2 for a long time.

I decided to wait to use money received from my Christmas gifts to buy RDR2, but my family very kindly surprised me with the game on Christmas Day. Therefore, I'm in a position that is a little bit similar to what @Nightcrawler71 mentions above, because I don't have much space on my PS4's hard drive, so I want to spend more time with God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man before deleting them to make space for RDR2. I'm sure that RDR2 will rank highly amongst my 2018 Game of the Year picks once I've actually played it.

Anyway, as is clear from Liam Croft's What to Expect from PlayStation in 2019 feature published on Push Square today, the future is looking great for gaming in 2019. I'm especially excited about Resident Evil 2 (25th Jan. 2019), Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (21st June 2019), and the possibility of a PS5 announcement, so I wish a Happy New Year to everyone at Push Square. All the best!

I explain about Ridge Racer Type 4's lastability in my review by detailing that, "You can unlock a total of 321 racing vehicles (including a hidden car that is a large Pac-Man on wheels), as well as an Extra Trial mode, and reverse tracks for Time Attack and Vs Battle multiplayer showdowns".

** Note that there is also a completely fantastic and quirky tune called Eat 'Em Up!, so that you can race along to a musical homage to Namco's original 1980 arcade Pac-Man. **

However, I should have described it more clearly as there are "reverse tracks for Time Attack, and there is extra replayabilty in the Vs Battle multiplayer showdowns".

The reverse courses are a welcome addition that are available in Time Attack, but you can't play the reverse racetracks in Vs Battle, as far as I’m aware.

I set-up my European PS3 to play my PAL PSone disc for this R4 review, and I played a lot of Vs Battle with my girlfriend — where she preferred the external car view, and I preferred the internal car viewpoint, because it has the rear-view mirror.

I'm conscientious about being accurate when discussing details in my retro reviews, so I wanted to be clearer here by explaining that my understanding is the reverse circuits are not available in R4’s split-screen multiplayer.

@hi_drnick Great question, but unfortunately I didn't own any special controllers for the original PlayStation. I was a student in the mid-to-late 1990s, so I didn't have any spare money, and the first PlayStation I had access to was a joint purchase in our student house. We did the same thing with the Nintendo 64, and we didn't even buy a GunCon for our PlayStation.

The best part about being a gamer and a student in the 1990s was that most of the people I knew owned a PlayStation in their student house, so there were lots of games to swap, lend and borrow. I ended up buying a SEGA Saturn for myself — which did include a Virtua Gun — and I got my very own PSone a few years later.

It's interesting that Namco advertise the twist controlled steering neGcon inside the EU case for PSone Ridge Racer Type 4, but only mention the Jogcon in the instruction manual.

It's cool that you got to try the Jogcon though, from the pictures I would guess that the Jogcon's steering dial is more practical for a racer than the neGcon's twist steering. Still, going only on photographs, I could be wrong.

@Futureshark The video you shared interests me, because it opens up a few more questions about the future possibilities of the PS Classic. I'm more of the type of gamer who buys a console, and doesn't really mess around with it. Ever since I moved from a 16-bit Amiga to a Mega Drive in 1990 I've always liked the convenience of a console to plug-in and play, without concerning myself too much about how everything is running in the background. I don't even own a USB keyboard, I'm afraid.

The reason this intrigues me is because I want to see if Sony takes any steps to improve the PS Classic in an official capacity for its retro PlayStation fans. I bought a Neo-Geo X handheld with a docking station a few years ago, and it was not very well received when it launched. To try to correct this error Tommo sold an extra Game-Card with more Neo-Games included on it. Alongside the Game-Card was a Rocket Cable that connected by USB for a firmware update, which improved aspect ratio preferences, audio quality, save options, and the responsiveness of the controls.

I’m just wondering if Sony could take similar action. For example an official update to the PS Classic could improve the emulator's settings for frame-rates, and screen resolutions. It could also add options like changing to display scanlines, rewinding gameplay when you die in a game, a music menu, extra historical information about each title, and perhaps even being able to turn on cheats for bonuses such as getting extra lives in a challenging game like Rayman.

I'm not as technically minded as gamers like the Digital Foundry crew, but if an official PS Classic USB firmware update is technically possible through the controller ports, then Sony could turn this all around to a positive to show that they listen to feedback from the gaming community.

@Ristar24 Thanks mate, I was wondering about this. Also, it's a shame if Ridge Racer Type 4 has been pulled from the EU PS Store for PS3 and PS Vita. Like I said, I couldn't find it to buy and download, but it could be hidden away. The store for both PS3 and Vita is not great to search and navigate nowadays, and shopping on PS3 could really do with a full PSone list. I think R4 may be available on the NA PS Store instead, but I haven't looked into this to confirm it.

@hi_drnick and @gingerfrog I was hoping someone would bring this up, because I've noticed more gamers are saying that one of their favourites in the series is Rage Racer (1996 in Japan and 1997 EU/ NA).

Rage Racer has an interesting career and credits system for updating or buying cars, and as you mention it has a darker tone, with more realistic graphics including a few more grey skies. However, I personally feel that Ridge Racer Type 4 had more impact as a PSone game, and I think R4 made technical leaps in the graphics, too.

Rage Racer was a great game, but I personally adore R4. Everything from R4's May to New Year's Eve 1999 story setting and lighter tone, like the four soap-opera team stories in the Real Racing Roots '99 Grand Prix. The fantastic R4 soundtrack is quintessential Ridge Racer too, plus R4 has a mixture of brighter courses for fans of colourful arcade racing, as well as darker, night-time visuals.

Likewise, R4 has nicer and more colourful presentation in general, with the striking yellow styling of its menus and story sequences. There are eight circuits in R4, but only four courses in Rage Racer, and Rage Racer is single-player only, but R4 has Vs Battle two-player split-screen multiplayer, too.

Don't get me wrong, Rage Racer is brilliant, and it's a very solid pick for anyone's favourite PSone Ridge Racer game.

I got my PlayStation Classic yesterday — on its Monday 3rd December 2018 EU release date — but only after submitting my Ridge Racer Type 4 review to Push Square. Last night I compared the image and performance directly between my PAL PS3 running R4 via disc and the PS Classic's NTSC version by pausing the game, and immediately flicking the TV channels between the two consoles.

To start with R4 on PS3 was brighter, with more vivid colours, but I don't know if that’s because PAL originates as a higher resolution standard. For some reason the PS Classic's NTSC image for R4 is very dark in my experience, so I had to turn up the brightness on my TV. In regards to performance, the PS Classic's framerate slightly judders now and then in a way that makes the gameplay seem not quite as smooth as when racing using my PSone PAL disc through my PS3. I noticed this more with graphically busy tracks like the aforementioned Heaven and Hell, and with faster cars.

I’m much better at the game when subtly steering into corners using a DualShock analogue stick, so I wasn't driving as well when confined to the D-pad on the PS Classic too. Perhaps I was just too used to playing it through the PS3 over the last few weeks. It's possible that the differences won't be as noticeable to other gamers, but they stood out to me, because I was directly comparing two versions on the fly.

I'm still enjoying the PS Classic, though, and R4 is fun and playable on the mini console. However, I wouldn't want people's only impressions of this game to be from some degree of faltering performance. Younger gamers may wrongly think that PSone games are less bright, slower in the case of PAL versions, or a bit more jittery than how they were first designed if they only experience the PS Classic's emulation.

It's still really good news that R4 is included on the PS Classic though, because I’ve searched for 'Ridge Racer Type 4' on the EU PS Store, and it's not available to buy for PS3 or PS Vita.

@get2SammyB Great stuff, Sammy! What is especially cool is that I've reviewed two of my favourite PSone games for Push Square now. Both Ridge Racer Type 4 and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night have a guaranteed spot whenever I think of my top 10 PSone list, and as you know I was able to cover SoTN as part of my Castlevania Requiem review. You guys spoil me at Push Square!
@KALofKRYPTON Sorry if my point wasn't clear, it could be as a result of my own personal edits. I mainly aimed to discuss how John Linneman had praised the 30fps performance of R4 on DF Retro in the past, but he was disappointed in the performance of the PS Classic version on Eurogamer. As long as it was relevant to explaining about R4's great graphics for a 1998/ 1999 game, I also wanted to give a shout-out to Linneman's excellent technical breakdowns, because I really enjoy his retro coverage.

@themcnoisy I made a note about how amazing The Ride is on the soundtrack, but my review was getting a bit lengthy, so I cut that bit out. The Ride is perfect for the Heaven and Hell course, because the tune shifts between a gruff opening guitar riff to a lighter, and really uplifting part later. I absolutely love building speed in the downhill section of Heaven and Hell while listening to The Ride. Amazing comment, thank you.

Anyhow, I look forward to reading people's thoughts about R4 in the comments section. I'm interested in hearing if the PlayStation Classic includes any of the readers' personal top 10 PSone games, and if R4 is one of their favourites too.

@Verm Thanks for sharing your knowledge about the PC version, I always enjoy learning new things about retro games, and I had no idea Battle Arena Toshinden was converted to PC. The last time I used a personal computer for playing games was on the Commodore Amiga 500 in early 1990, but I sold it to buy a Mega Drive.

I should learn more about retro gaming on a PC, because I'm completely clueless, but I've heard that you can buy retro games from stores like Steam and Good Old Games (GOG).

Your comment intrigued me, I remember that SEGA ported Saturn titles like Panzer Dragoon to PC in the late 1990s, but I don't know if many third-party PSone games arrived on PC. I noticed from your YouTube link that Battle Arena Toshinden on PC was developed by Digital Dialect and not Tamsoft, plus it was published by Playmates. This means that over time and across different regions Battle Arena Toshinden has been published by Takara in Japan, then by SCE in Europe and NA on PSone, as well as by SEGA for Battle Arena Toshinden Remix, and lastly by Playmates on PC. It makes me wonder which company holds the publishing rights for Battle Arena Toshinden today.

I don't know if Steam or GOG sell games like Battle Arena Toshinden to download for PC gamers to play in 2018, but I imagine retro gamers could buy the original PC disc from eBay and retro shops, if it's not too hard to run an older game.

Since the PSone original is not on the EU PS Store, the PS Classic is a welcome way for gamers to play Battle Arena Toshinden again. It's great when I learn new things about retro games on the comments for my reviews, cheers!

@KingdomHeartsFan I absolutely love being able to review PSone games for Push Square, and comments like this make it even more worthwhile.

@Deljo You'll probably find that Battle Arena Toshinden is still fun for a quick play-through on your PS Classic over Christmas. I'm sure that anyone who developed skills from playing it at launch will be able blast through Normal difficulty and beat Gaia in less than 25 minutes. Take into account that when I review a game I’m careful to follow Push Square's scoring policy, and I compare it to other games in that specific genre on the same console. Therefore, it's harder for a launch game to stand the test of time against titles from later in the generation — especially during the 32-bit era as games were evolving quickly and exploring the possibilities of 3D graphics — plus when you factor in so many revered classics in a large library. Hopefully, if you rekindle how you felt about the original PlayStation's launch, with a bit of nostalgia you'll still find plenty of charm in the visuals and especially the music, so it'll recall good memories of gaming in 1995.

@Verm I didn't even realise it was ported to PC, I wonder if that means PC gamers can still download and play it, because I think it's a shame that PSone Battle Arena Toshinden is not available for PS3 and PS Vita on the EU PS Store. I played the Platinum PSone PAL disc, boxed with instructions for this review. The instruction booklet was actually quite handy for character profiles, fighting strategies and a basic story overview. I also enjoyed watching the Battle Arena Toshinden anime to get a feeling for the larger story, too.

Below are a few additional discussion points about my review:
-- Cheat codes: I actually used cheat codes in PSone Battle Arena Toshinden to play as Gaia and Sho Shinjo for this review.

-- Tamsoft: I don't know much about the Japanese developer Tamsoft, except that they make Senran Kagura games like PS4 Senran Kagura Estival Versus. Incidentally, Battle Arena Toshinden was published by Takara in Japan, but by SCEE in Europe.

-- The 5/10 score and difference between gamers praising Battle Arena Toshinden in early 1995, compared to people's perception of the game today: I definitely don’t want to stomp on anyone's nostalgia for this game with the average score. I've covered how magazines like EDGE Issue 18 rated it highly as an 8/10 in March 1995. EDGE explained that the textures, graphical tricks and details in the backdrops were a step above Virtua Fighter on Saturn. I love the catchy music in this game, too.

-- The 50Hz PAL version of Battle Arena Toshinden on PlayStation Classic: I played a PAL PSone disc in 50Hz, which should be a comparable experience to when I get the PS Classic on Monday. I remember first importing NTSC consoles in the early 1990s to avoid what magazines of the day described as a 17.5% drop in speed. This will affect the feel of a fighting game, especially in a slower paced title like Battle Arena Toshinden.

I also love punk and alternative rock, so I included a reference to The Wonder Years 2011 song 'Came Out Swinging' in the last line of my conclusion.
I’m working on my next PSone review, but I'll drop by here to read your comments. I'll also return to this comments section next week when the PS Classic has released, just in case anyone has extra thoughts once they own Sony's plug-and-play console.

@get2sammyb Thanks for another kind comment about my reviews, and cheers to you for again for the meticulous detail you put into your PlayStation Classic review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and while I understand the mini console's shortcomings, your analysis still leaves me enthusiastic about jumping between the 20 PSone games like a retro gaming jukebox on Monday.

@Deljo There is a very logical reason why I'm playing certain PSone games right now, even though they'll be included with my PlayStation Classic on 3rd December.

Perhaps it was a bit less fun that I mentioned two specific titles here, because as @get2sammyb says, "Technically I'm not allowed to explain why or how, but you can probably figure it out".

In any case, there are plenty of other PSone games that are true classics that I'm waiting for nine days to play on my mini console.

Over the next week or so it'll be clear that my thought process is focused on Push Square regarding my retro choices for this edition of WAYP. Hopefully I'll be redeemed soon enough to show that I didn't necessarily have backward thinking at all.

@Gremio108 I bought the OutRun 2 cover of gamesTM Issue 100. I absolutely love that game, it would be really ace if SEGA released any of the different versions of OutRun 2 on PS4, but a remaster with the same engine, with overhauled, yet colourful graphics would be especially exciting.

I think that the pixel-art of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike showing Ken fighting Chun-Li made for a striking cover as a bonus magazine for you too, although great choice, the Okami art is stunning for Issue 100's cover. I looked them both up.

Years ago, I remember taking photographs of my first 100 issues of gamesTM spread over the floor, and I made a montage of them all for Twitpic. Unfortunately, Twitpic doesn't really exist anymore, so I can't find that picture on the Internet. D'oh!

@Gremio108 I hear you, like I mentioned I don't know how much time gamesTM's team would have been given to prepare the final issue, so as you say it's possible that the news hit them by surprise.

If the closure of the magazine was out of the blue, then the news seems even sadder to me, because I imagine it would be a hugely sinking feeling for the editors, writers and all the staff. The team may well have preferred to have prepared the final issue as a celebration of their own magazine history, but there simply wasn't time. I'm purely speculating, though.

Good call about the content of Issue 100, too. All of my older magazines are stored away, but this conversation is making me want to dig out the 100th issue. I've been having my own little celebration of gamesTM this weekend.

My most recent read has just been the '100 Hottest New Games' cover feature in Issue 163. It's the July-August 2015 issue, and I always enjoy reflecting on how amazed I was at the triple-hitter news about Final Fantasy VII Remake, Shenmue III, and The Last Guardian.

Reading the E3 2015 issue of gamesTM has also led me to recall Push Square's Soapbox: Was E3 2015 Just a Dream? feature.

I guess the positive thing is that the older magazines are still there to refer to our good memories. I also really enjoy it when both gamesTM and Retro Gamer's articles are released in compilation books and annuals, so fingers crossed that we still get more gamesTM content in the form of a 'best of' bookazine in the future.

@Gremio108 Agreed, I'm really sad to see gamesTM end, too.

As well as the retro articles I've mentioned in this WAYP above, I've enjoyed reading gamesTM Issue 206's Cyberpunk 2077 feature where they talk to Patrick Mills, the Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red. I also really liked the huge ten-page cover feature on Rage 2, where they speak to the team at id Software and Avalanche Studios. The colourful cover and page layout looks great — presumably its design was by gamesTM's Art Director staff of either Andy Salter or Warren Brown.

This got me thinking about all of gamesTM's interviews and studio visits in the past. The only thing I wish about the final issue is that I hoped that gamesTM could have included more of an archive of their own past articles. The first issue of gamesTM was December 2002, so I would have liked retrospective pieces about the magazine’s history in the final issue – for example they could have compiled all of the games that scored a 10/10, a top 100 games list of the last 16 years based on their own reviews, or a collection of their best features with developer quotes etc.

I don't know how much notice a magazine has to prepare for the final issue, but I think it would have been cool if they could have organised a round table where all of their previous editors discussed their experiences at the magazine.

I own every issue and I’ve enjoyed reading gamesTM for 16 years. The way I see it is that gamesTM has been celebrating video games since 2002, so I wish the very last issue could have dedicated more space to honouring the magazine's own contribution to gaming.

@b1ackjack_ps and @SegaBlueSky — Nice shout-outs to the animation by you both above, fair play. I mentioned Netflix's animated Castlevania TV series in my Castlevania Requiem Halloween Soapbox when I linked to Nintendo Life's season 2 review, where they discuss how the second season improves on the first season's four episodes.

I have no idea if Netflix release box sets of their TV shows in the UK, but I read on Forbes that VIZ Media plans to release the Castlevania TV series on Blu-ray and DVD this December.

I also found an interesting Destructoid interview where Sam Deats, Creative Director at Powerhouse Animation Studios, mentioned that Symphony of the Night is his favourite game in the Castlevania series, and he explained that the awesome art work by Ayami Kojima was a reference point for the TV series. Note that my understanding is that Symphony of the Night is when she first started providing her vivid art and striking character designs for the gaming industry.

The link to Destructoid’s 'Interview with the vampire' article is below:
https://www.destructoid.com/10-years-of-purgatory-wasn-t-enough-to-keep-netflix-s-castlevania-down-447906.phtml

@carlos82 I'm glad you’re singing the praises of Rondo of Blood, I hope people play it first in the correct chronological order. I agree there's a certain fun purity to tackling a challenging, conventional Castlevania game by remembering enemy positions, finding the best sub-weapons, and learning boss patterns a stage at a time. Richter Belmont is a cool looking character sprite too, plus you actually fight monsters using a whip from the outset.

@waluigifan1 I agree, this generation has been full of treats for retro gamers. There has been such a high standard to the remasters available too, and some of the eighth generation's remakes have been stunning. You've just reminded me that I need to set aside some time to play The Disney Afternoon Collection when I get the chance, as well.

@Tasuki Man, you're such a gent, I don't really know how to respond to such a kind comment, except to say thank you for the positive responses and extra retro know-how, plus interesting discussion points, you bring to the comments sections of these retro articles.

I want to share a couple of my recent Symphony of the Night trophies that made me completely buzz. The first was called Chock Full, because I knew that Alucard would pose when you pressed up on the D-pad, but I had no idea he could catch peanuts in his mouth.

The second completely stunned me. It’s a Trophy called A Bird’s Life and I’ve been stuck on it for ages. The Trophy details tell you to head to the telescope, which is easy to find at the bottom of the Outer Wall. The trouble is looking through the telescope wasn’t helping me. The extra Trophy information gives a helpful hint to view the ‘circle of life underneath’ the telescope, and once I leaned what it referred to my jaw dropped at the tiny, incidental details that are hidden in this game.

Konami's original development team must have been a bunch of artistic geniuses, this literally puts the eggs into an egg Easter egg that I never would have found by myself. The Trophy objectives in Castlevania Requiem are awesome!

@waluigifan1 I really like your point about how the release of Castlevania Requiem on PS4 will make Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night accessible for newcomers to play for the first time – the lucky things!

I e-mailed @get2sammyb recently about how much I'm grateful to be able to share knowledge and learn new things about old games through Push Square's retro articles. In that sense I cover a lot of specific details and tidbits in my reviews, which are targeted at core gamers, but hopefully provide the essential information for newcomers too.

It's worth considering that the PS4 will be five years old this month, so it will be the first console for plenty of youngsters who never owned a PS3 or a PS Vita.

I love how pixel-art, indie games bridge the gap between modern releases and original retro games. There could be a modern gamer who loved Axiom Verge (2015), Dead Cells (2018), or Owlboy (2018 release on PS4), so the graphical style and Metroidvania gameplay of Symphony of the Night directly compares to their presentation and structure. I really think that the sprites, animation and backgrounds are so beautifully detailed in Symphony of the Night that it holds its own when compared to the best looking modern pixel-art games, especially considering it was released in 1997.

Similarly, I appreciate that plug-and-play mini consoles like the PSone Classic are fantastic at introducing new people to old games.

This all links to @Tasuki's point above, about how the recent release of the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle, Castlevania Requiem, and SEGA Mega Drive Classics compilations make old games accessible for gamers today on PS4. It's pretty cool that all three of those bundles were released in 2018, which is a good sign for the future.

@Onion The thing is, the way the Trophies set out targets and clues in Castlevania Requiem meant that I sincerely believe they add value by encouraging you to more thoroughly search for secrets in both games — but especially in Symphony of the Night.

They're not only about Trophies pinging just because you beat Normal mode, so you get an Easy mode Trophy too. They're not especially easy to achieve either, but they provide enough hints to focus you in pushing forward through Symphony of the Night's map.

I have not used walkthroughs with either of these two games in the past, so I was intrigued as to how to 'Test the Ferryman's patience' in Rondo of Blood, and I knew that I'd get a reward for paying attention when I got the chance to 'Visit the confessional in the Royal Chapel'.

The Trophies are based around you becoming more proficient at the game, for example in learning to cast spells, equip varied clothing, and selling items etc. It turns out that the Trophies gave me extra incentive to explore this game more thoroughly, so they are a selling point, because they actually link to the core exploration theme of the Metroidvania sub-genre.

I'll remember Castlevania Requiem as a great example of how a list of Trophies can enhance gameplay in a retro game. It says a lot that the hints and clues from the Trophies on how you approach and tackle different tasks — plus the targets they set for me — actually improved my enjoyment of two games I had already played lots before. I learnt new details about two classic games from these Trophies.

We've actually provided our own clue to a Trophy based around lethargy in one of the images included in this review. Whoever it was at Konami who set-out the objectives for the Trophies is clearly a big fan of Symphony of the Night.

@Ristar24 Good point, and thanks for sharing it. I actually made a note when I booted the PAL PSone Classic version on my PSTV that it was running more slowly in 50Hz. I found the speed difference jarring, too.

I meant to mention that the version of Symphony of the Night with Castlevania Requiem is the preferred, faster speed at 60Hz in this review. It's an important difference, I'm pleased you brought it up.

I actually have pages and pages of notes about both Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, there is so much to discuss and learn about these games.

@playstation1995 Cheers for asking about my favourite PSone game, mate.

I love the PSone's library, and I'm especially a fan of arcade based genres, such as blue-sky or fast drift racing in games like the various Ridge Racer and the WipEout titles-- note that I have fond memories of the first WipEout (1995). Special mention must also go to Crash Team Racing (1999).

I also have an affinity for side-scrolling, 2D and 2.5D retro games - so take into account that I love the likes of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (1997/1998), and Mickey's Wild Adventure (1995), plus even stuff like the hack-and-slash game Disney's Hercules from 1997 is fun. One of my real personal favourites is actually Strider 2 (2000).

Therefore, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is unsurprisingly my number one game out of the PSone's vast catalogue.

It's actually a shame that Konami just didn't take the time to include an option to change between the original PSone and PSP versions of the SoTN script and voice acting in Castlevania Requiem. Konami dropped the ball, because people would be talking about the multitude of good points regarding SoTN, but the majority of the conversation is about gamers missing the original voices and dialogue now. I wonder if Konami will update the menu options to counter this in the future.

As a side-note — and as a response to @Fath above — Konami should have just fully ported the PSP's Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles to PS4, too.

@Tasuki I actually appreciate that there are different versions of the script between the PSone and PSP versions of Symphony of the Night, because it fleshes out how I view the events in the story. Similarly, the PSP's Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles remake expands the story in Rondo of Blood too, and tells it using cut-scenes with the 2.5D engine.

As we've discussed before, it's the brilliant gameplay, and fun progression through well-designed stage and map layouts that is ultimately more important.

However, I still like that there is more than one version of both SoTN's dialogue and the voice acting. I can go back to the PSone Classic version anytime, anyway.

Thanks again for your kind words about my reviews and articles, mate, it's much appreciated.

@NintendoFan4Lyf I set up my PlayStation TV, and I had a play around with the PSone Classic version of Castlevania: Symphony or the Night, but it seemed a bit more jittery in the opening section with Alucard entering the castle than I remembered. Perhaps the PSTV was doing background tasks, as I know it had a System Update when I started it up.

I used to play the PSone Classic on PS3 and I still boot it up on my Vita. The PSone Classic version is cheaper than Castlevania Requiem at £7.99, if gamers just want Symphony of The Night and not Rondo of Blood.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is also only £7.99 and it's another game I play on my PS Vita, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is PSTV compatible, too. I had wrongly presumed the PSP version didn't work on PSTV.

I hope you enjoy Castlevania: Rondo of Blood when you get the chance. Its traditional, stage-based gameplay adds a nice balance to the bundle, and a contrast to the Metrodivania-style in SoTN, so I hope more gamers check it out.

Hi everyone, as always you're all welcome to send me any questions about Castlevania Requiem on PS4 — or queries referring to specifics regarding either Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1993), or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSone, 1997). I enjoy reading your general thoughts on the Castlevania series, too.

My many thanks to Push Square for assigning me such enjoyable retro reviews as the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle and Castlevania Requiem.

Sending big cheers to @get2sammyb for his comment above, as well.

@Tasuki I am completely with you, the Mega Drive is one of my favourite retro consoles too. Back in 1989 I had a Commodore Amiga 16-bit computer, gaming had been a hobby all my life, and I regularly read a UK multiformat magazine called Computer and Video Games (CVG or C&VG). There was console section inside CVG called Mean Machines, which convinced me to save up for an import PC Engine. However, by the time I had enough money stashed away, it made sense to buy the more powerful Mega Drive.

Subsequently, the 16-bit console era of owning a Mega Drive and later a SNES changed gaming from a hobby for me, into a bit of an obsession.

Nice one for sharing the tidbit about Konami having a sequel planned after Castlevania: Bloodlines on SEGA's 32X. I think it is cool that the idea wasn't discarded, so they were able to continue the 20th century timeline setting in the story for Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. It is ace when retro gamers pass on knowledge and specific details about old games to each other. Great stuff!

@Ristar24 Mate, I'm also a fan of PS3, PS Vita, and my PlayStation TV for playing PSone games, especially the portability of retro PlayStation on the Vita lately.

My SEGA Saturn console and collection was actually stolen eighteen years ago. It was only a PAL Saturn without a mod — and it's a bit of a long story — but I lost games like the Japanese Dungeons & Dragons Collection and a PAL version of Guardian Heroes, as well as peripherals like the blue Virtua Gun that came with Virtua Cop 2, and the 4MB RAM Cartridge (perhaps it was an Action Replay, I forget).

I managed to keep a few issues of the brilliant SEGA Saturn Magazine, though. I remember that magazine had excellent coverage of the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.

Cheers again for your comments here.