Super Metroid

[ekolis]

You just got into WoW *this year*?

[Derakon]

Originally Posted by Magnate

@Derakon: thanks for the write-up - I wasn't quite sure whether one has to install a SNES emulator to play it? Surely there has been a PC port at some point? Or is it lacking something compared with the original?

The only game I can think of that was originally written for the SNES and then ported to PC was Mega Man X. Remember that this is the early 90's we're talking about here; gaming on the PC was still a rather dodgy business. Plus, the Metroid series is a first-party series (that is, the company that makes the console also makes those games), so there's a strong incentive to keep the games exclusive, so that people have to buy their console if they want to play the game. I'm sure that plenty of people bought the Gameboy Advance solely because of the Metroid games on it, for example.

So in short, no, there's no PC port. However, emulators are readily available (I suggest SNES9x), and while owning a ROM without owning the corresponding cartridge is illegal, that doesn't stop many people. Alternately, if you own a Nintendo Wii, you can buy Super Metroid on its online store -- though that won't allow you to play any of the hacks of the game.

[Magnate]

Originally Posted by ekolis

You just got into WoW *this year*?

Yes. I successfully resisted it for seven years! Then a friend asked me for help installing it, and my will crumbled.

I'm quite glad I've missed all the seismic upheavals though, as each release seems to have changed the game almost beyond recognition. I'm already planning to stop playing when Mists of Pandaria is released, because of the massive dumbing-down of the talent points system (I really like it how it is now), and also because of the "moving achievements to the account level" idiocy (i.e. more D3-style dumbing down - again I really like how it is now).

I'm also enjoying not hitting a level cap. My main has just hit L70 (only about halfway through Outland - the levelling isn't sync'd very well with the content), and I'm glad I'll still be levelling until well into Northrend. (At this rate I'll probably hit 85 around the time I start the Cata content, but never mind - I may not even get there.)

Ho hum. Off to look up economical blacksmithing training.

[fizzix]

Derakon: There's a pretty active Super Metroid speed-running community which you may or may not be aware about (or already be part of!) I think they do giant competitions that everyone streams on Friday evenings, speedrunslive.com hosts them. I find that I enjoy watching video games more than playing them, especially when they're done competently.

Magnate: I played a lot of Civ I too, along with Civ II. I skipped Civ III but have recently started playing around with Civ IV again. The Civ games have always been some of my favorite because of the insanely high replay value. (angband is the same way)

T-Mick: I've watched people play La-Mulana and was seriously confused by what was going on...

[kingvictory2003]

Originally Posted by fizzix

Derakon: There's a pretty active Super Metroid speed-running community which you may or may not be aware about (or already be part of!)

I do dearly love killing time on occasion on tasvideos.org, and I think Derakon is definitely a well-respected member there...so definitely not new to him (I'm pretty sure!), and more power to him, everyone here, and TASers around the world!

Extremely noteworthy are the jaw-dropping and completely broken speedruns of ALL the castlevania TASes, especially super castlevania IV, which is one of my fondest memories of the SNES days, both for the gameplay and the music.

[Magnate]

Originally Posted by fizzix

Magnate: I played a lot of Civ I too, along with Civ II. I skipped Civ III but have recently started playing around with Civ IV again. The Civ games have always been some of my favorite because of the insanely high replay value. (angband is the same way)

You didn't like Civ V? They went to hexes at last!

[fizzix]

Originally Posted by Magnate

You didn't like Civ V? They went to hexes at last!

I...uh...don't have a computer that can handle Civ V.

[ekolis]

Aww, man! The Gods & Kings expansion brought back some much-missed mechanics from Civ4 (religion and espionage), though they work quite a bit differently now. Unfortunately mods still don't work in multiplayer (despite the mod list having a "works in multiplayer" field and the multiplayer game list having a "using mods" field)...

[pav]

Originally Posted by Magnate

until I discovered the mind-boggling depth of the Paradox games

Oh yes, I have sank totally unreasonable amounts of time into Europe Universalis 3, including expansions, back in the days. Good times that was.