If you get external speakers, be sure they are shielded or kept far away from your CRT TV to avoid damage! Games played: U.N. Squadron (0:05), Mega Man V (0:30), Jackal (0:48), Mischief Makers (1:10), Wario Land (1:30), Castlevania (2:40), Layer Section (5:18), Battle Garegga (5:25), Comix Zone (7:20), Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (9:38)
Happy 2025, gonna be 50 this year. As an ‘old gamer’ I’m proud to be part of the first generation gamers club. We got to experience gaming from its infant stage to where it’s evolved to today. I play either on emulation or physical. As long as it’s any game I enjoy I will play it in any form.
My suggestion, for all you old heads out there -- play the games with a kid! The most fun I've had playing retro games recently is experiencing them with my son and daughter. Their joy and their unique impressions of them has given me a new outlook on a lot of games. Not only do I now have new memories for games that were nostalgic for me, but I've picked up games that I never tried because they thought the games looked interesting. So yeah, if your old eyes cant help but see these old games in the same old way... get some new eyes on them! :)
I was playing SMB1 today with my 5 year old daughter. This was her first real experience playing a video game where she was in direct control of what was going on, and was completely thrilled by it. Not only do I still love that game, but it was easily ten times more fun coaching her and seeing her joy as she got better!
For me it seems small, but I got wireless controllers for my Genesis and Saturn, made it so much more relaxing to play since I can lean all the way back and play them on my big TV. Also for Saturn (and any console you want to put the effort in) exploring the import library is a whole new frontier of new experiences.
5:00 I just happen to be watching this while eating lunch, a delicious salad! Thanks for cheering me on with it. I lost the way over the last year but a stern look from my doctor put me back on to them. And I had forgotten how much I love them!
+1 for getting some external speakers. Going from small 5W speakers on the tv to much more powerful external bookshelf speakers makes a big difference. The problem with that though is most modern speakers are not shielded. You NEED to have shielded speakers or keep them far away from a CRT tv, otherwise you will damage it.
Yeah, and a good way to tell if you have a problem is that the image on your CRT will actually be distorted (the color on a section of your TV will be off, wavy lines etc.). I thought that older speakers were more likely to not be shielded than newer speakers though? That's what a quick Google search said at least. In any case, your comment led me to double check that my speakers are indeed shielded and they are.. at least, that's what the official website for them says. Might need to look into it further :)
@@RetroBirdGaming The only people who still use CRT's are retro gamers like us. Most companies stopped shielding them to save money since the majority use flat screens now. Never rely on Google. Ever since they implemented AI into their search results, the results have been mixed.
I love my wood grain Realistic Minimus 2's. I also, regardless of speaker, keep them at a distance from the tv. Not only to protect it, but also to make sure the stereo channels are wider apart to make things sound better to me.
Good point on old games that weren't part of your childhood. I was a Nintendo kid growing up, and part of my new year's resolution (256x224) is to try out some Genesis / Mega Drive games I missed. I'm about an hour into Phantasy Star IV.
For most of the world, any Nintendo console after Famicom is like that, SNES was only popular in Japan and USA and later ones failed even in Japanese market, so unless you're from America, chances are Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time is something you never seen outside of TH-cam. Gamecube for me is a thing that had botched Dreamcast ports and Resident Evil updates that are now on Steam anyway.
Amazing game and I hope that you make it to the end of it! It's not super hard to beat but just takes a lot of time. I've played through the game twice!
I remember liking Phantasy star 4 when I played it many years ago on my PSP as part of the Sega collection and played it all the way through. A lot of Sega classics that I never played as a kid but have played now thanks to emulators. If you have never played Shinobi 2 on game gear it's an awesome little game with amazing music. Finally had a chance to beat it this year after never beating it as a kid.
I went through PS3 not long ago but messed up my marriages and got annoyed with my party so quit near the end. But I say that because I tried PS4 and didn't get along with it. It seems less pacey.
Speakers are a game changer. I landed a big pair of floor speakers at salvation army when they were the half price color. My wife said they were stupid and too big to fit in the house when I put them in the cart. You should have seen how quickly she changed her mind when she realized that the ol Sega Genesis can shake the whole house now.
Goodwill and Salvation army are great places to find old massive speakers for cheap. They usually sound great and if they don't, you return them for store credit and pick out another pair.
You can always play Super Mario Brothers standing on your head or in an upside-down suspension chair. The blood-rush could add to the challenge, but you will need to take frequent breaks.
This requires emulation but retroachievements adds modern achievements to old games. I did things in games I played the heck out of that I normally wouldn’t do just for the achievement! Emulation also allows for the use of fancy filters. I played Ys V with a filter that made it look almost like Ys VI. It elevated the presentation for me considering I had been used to the remakes by then. Play the games on a new device! Self explanatory. I’m referring to say the Switch’s NES library or those unofficial emulator devices.
I loved Jackal. Rented it so many times as a kid. Never owned it. It feels like one of those NES games that everyone has forgotten about. Felt good to see it in this video.
I'll always remember how cool it was playing Cybernator on the SNES on my dad's HDTV with a soundbar that was pretty powerful - all the sound effects hit harder on that thing and it gets me pumped like a movie theater experience.
The first point is totally real. Last year from January 1st I made it my mission to beat as many games as I could throughout 2024. I went back and played through a ton of my backlog, mostly games from the 6th and 7th generation that I completely glanced over, but once the year was over I'd beaten 30 games. These ranged from short games (Virtua Cop 2) to long games (GTA 4) to REALLY long games (Red Dead 2), but in the end I had a blast and I plan on challenging myself to do this again this year. Trying to see how many games you can beat in a year incentivizes you to play more games to the end.
I dont like getting old, but I do like that I experienced the vast majority of the video game industry, personal computers and the internet, wild time to be alive
It was the Get On My Lawn hat and the dancing for me. Another phenomenal video dude!! I play these games on original carts, mini consoles, and those ported to the handhelds, and enjoy them each for their own special qualities, original controllers and the feel of the carts, the newer hd stuff with new controllers and save states, and then portable to carry with me for quick parenting breaks or breaks at work. Keep these videos coming my man!!
Speaking of the Timmy thing, a friend of mine called Dan told me about Motocross Maniacs (Game Boy game he had as a kid). I bought a copy from Ebay and it arrived yesterday with DAN scrawled on the back in marker. So, I send Dan the photo and it turns out it's his old copy! I bought him a Game Boy a few years ago, so I've bought another copy for me and he can have his old game back 🙂 I'm still amazed that this has happened.
I always wished they'd have made actual game versions of the mini consoles. I'd be all over those kinda game bundles if I could just play them on my actual consoles. Genesis/MD classics is still my go-to retro compilation, but I would want more!
I also agree and I would recommend to play old games in a CRT TV, actually the old games were designed to play on those TVs to begin with, unlike the PC games that was designed to play in a PC monitor or the modern games that was designed to play in a HDTV. Not only offer a good retro experience, but also it looks better, sounds better and also you will not suffer with problems like "lag input" or stuffs like that.
I put a Retroarch setup for Steam so I can play everything from a couch (Big Picture), the speakers on my 50 inch TV are kinda better than what I had first time I played these games (I had a color set, but for my relative in a village, the classic experience was a tiny round B&W CRT with no sound that needed a hit for image to stop melting).
Last night I bought three games I have never played before and they are new to me because when I was a kid I only owned Nintendo systems. I bought "Weaponlord, Shadow Blasters, and Stormlord, for my Sega Genesis which I bought a year ago and I am experiencing Sega Genesis for the first time being fifty-five years old because I was a Nintendo fanboy. Now I love all the systems. I only play physical :)
When getting speakers for a CRT TV make sure they're magnetically shielded. Most modern speakers aren't magnetically shielded and can cause damage when too close to a CRT.
I will be 40 this year so definitely not a young gamer. This past year I bought myself an anbernic and then upgraded to an odin2 mini for Christmas. That's a great way to make old games feel new, play them on the go.
Something that helped me a lot with this sensation of living a "new" experience was to mix emulation with the original controller (with an adapter or with an usb one) and playing it sending the image and sound to an CRT. The experience is almost the same at a sensorial level, but you can save the state like an adult with limited time, hahaha.
Seeing you pick up the SGB Commander was wild. I just got one of those recently myself! It definitely rounds out the Super Game Boy experience. Grab that and a Super Game Boy 2 and you're ready to rock some Donkey Kong 94! Talk about making old new again!
Thanks for another video! Another tip is, some times games are actually more fun on the harder settings. STAR FOX 2 is much more fun on the harder setting. I also love SoR2 on MANIC.
I use Retroscaler 2x for my retro game systems. It changed my PS1 720p on my 50" 4k TV and it has no lag! I used composite cables too! I can't wait to try it on my Atari 2600/7800 next!
Retro achievements isn't supported for all games, or in all emulators for that matter, but for the ones that are supported I find it kind of adds a little more purpose to revisiting the classics.
When I saw this video’s title, it made me think of Pokémon nuzlocke runs. In case you’re not familiar, it’s a way to play Pokémon games in a more difficult challenge where you are only allowed to catch the first Pokémon you find per route or zone, and any Pokémon that feint are considered “dead” and cannot be used anymore. Recreating a new game out of an old one essentially. And the challenge makes it fun especially if you know the game well. This also made me think of those Nintendo games where you play a gauntlet of classic Nintendo games that you have to complete quick challenges for; X amount of Tetrises in 2 minutes, etc.
I bought a CRT TV with an AUX input about 3 years ago. Hooked up my basic speakers to it and playing Donkey Kong Country that way was just as profound to me as your experience with Outrun! And such games like Mega Man 5 have same super cool sound trickery that really comes through with a proper set up
Very cool vid and I'm especially geeked to see better sound being mentioned. Upgrading the sound in my gameroom is definitely on the agenda, across most generations of gaming there's a ton of awesome music that elevates the experience.
I have been enjoying discovering little tricks and things that I never knew. Getting to play as super sonic in Sonic 2 finding the Honey Bee for unlimited continues in NES Adventure Island, or discovering all the warp zones in Super Mario Bros! New things are still within alot of the old games waiting to be discovered still.
Love the video RB! My favorite console to collect for right now is the Game Boy (DMG, GBC, GBA). Just last week, my 8 year old son and I picked up and played 1942 on the GBC for the first time! We both really like playing it. There are so many new experiences to be had in these older titles! Thanks again RB!
I remember getting my first stereo for Xmas and then hooking it up to my SNES. Firing up Super Metroid after hooking it up was an experience that I am unable to describe.
@@ribenasquash I had a 13" TV with only RF for inputs. I connected the AV multi out adapter and ran the two audio RCA cables direct to the stereo's inputs. The stereo served to amplify the audio outputs to the speakers.
@@ribenasquash It came with the console and it had 3 RCA connectors, 1 for composite video and the other two for left and right audio. You could also buy separately one that had a Super VHS output instead of the composite,
@@The2xWhiskey I see. What if you didn't have the composite connection on your tv? Did it have aerial output included as well? Because I remember that cheaper or older tv's just had the aerial/rf on the back. Maybe it's different in the US. Or you would buy crappy coax cable separately. Maybe all US tv is composite and audio left and right inputs.
Nice video. As always. On the subject of old games being new if you've never played them before, your videos abide by that same rule. If you miss a week, I just scroll back a few years until I see one I haven't seen before. Good as new.
+1 for the emphasis on proper sound for gaming. Seriously, people, hook up some decent speakers. It's incredibly easy to hook up to modern HDMI TV's and even an old CRT that has a headphone jack will do.
Sound is definitely one of the most important issues with playing my old games on modern equipment. I really like the sound of old box-TVs since many of them had the pinch in style speaker outputs... PS . Please let these come back into style !!!
Make a retroachievements login will make even your most played games feel new. Some really creative ones like not grabbing a single coin in certain mario levels will really change how you play the game. Other ones like in contra have you not ducking or pushing left and beat the first level.
This is my top recommendation as well. Some of the behavior modification achievements truly do make familiar games feel new and add problem solving elements to otherwise straightforward titles.
Another great video from my favorite bird. ❤ Good sound gets underestimated a lot, imo. The problem is that you don't know what you're missing out on when you never listened to a good hifi setup that gives you goosebumps. That makes it very difficult for anyone to rectify the purchase of better audio equipment. Quick little story for ya, I always thought my sound setup was pretty decent until I met someone with audiophile quality speakers. Songs that I had heard a million times suddenly sounded completely different, with extra layers of music, a lot more details and most important an ultra broad sound stage. That was mind-blowing. I was immediately hooked, got myself a nice pair of speakers and a nice amp, sold my 5.1 system, and have been enjoying my stereo setup for 15 years now. Seriously, a good pair of speakers blow most 5.1 systems out of the water and they are even better at conveying directional sounds. I feel sad for people who only have their TV speakers. No one should have to game like that.
I was born in the 80’s and grew up in the 90’s. I started with the NES and SNES shortly after, but it was the N64 that I fell in love with games as I was old enough to understand them back then. I was born at the right time and got to experience those generations. I still go back and replay many games, and even play ones I haven’t played yet but I don’t play many games older than the NES, probably because the older systems doesn’t have nostalgia to me.
Similar to getting good at a game - pick just one game for a while and play it a lot. I feel like a common part of the 1990s gaming experience is only owning like one to five games and playing the heck out of them. It's easy to bounce off a game when you have so many at your fingertips - resist that urge. But also, don't resist it too much. Even in the 1990s some games were really only ever worth a 3 day rental from Blockbuster.
This was my thought too! Retranslations and quality of life upgrades are a great way to breathe new life into old games. And the bigger projects can feel like whole new games in their own right.
Some time ago I accidentally found the "Super Mario Land 1,2 and 3 (Warioland) Deluxe" rom hacks, and I love them very much! 😄 Looks like I need to dig deeper into what is available in the rom-hacking scene.
Totally agree with this: play games you haven't played yet. Never would've had a Shining Force obsession if I never played it for the first time last year.
Happy 2025! 🥳🎉 Bible truth, I am eating a “nanner” right now. That was not planned. It’s just serendipitous. I LOVE your channel, as I have told you several times before. I still have my mini consoles and play them on a fairly regular basis. There are some that I don’t own (yet), but am hoping to get them over this new year (Neo Geo Mini, I’m looking at YOU!). I haven’t modded any of my minis. Will I do it and save myself some money in library expansion? Who knows..? What I do know is that retro gaming might be getting even MORE important to me as the years stack up, pun intended *Quick thought, how cool would it be to find a way to get R.O.B. working on an NES Mini with a CRT TV?! Or a Super Scope on the SNES Mini??!?!)* . I wanna thank you for all of the years of hard work and your dedication to this channel. You always give me something to look forward to every Friday night. You really are one of the great ones and you make me smile. As long as you keep pumping out these wonderful videos, you’ll always have a dedicated fan in me. Thanks so much and may 2025 be a blessed year for you and your wife.
Here's another idea... Explore. No kidding. I've played Super Mario Bros hundreds of times. But it's been 30 years since I did something other than a 10-minute run via the Warp Zones skipping World 2, 3, & 5-7. Actually spending an afternoon playing those levels out would feel like something new & exciting. Try this in all those old games - play a different route or a different strategy than you're used to. Learn to glitch the shit out of Mega Man 2. Run the Alucard route instead of the Sypha route in Castlevania 3. Explore your games, you'd be surprised what some of them have to hide.
Totally agree on getting speakers/hedadset. I did not realize how much I was missing out on sound before buying my headset. Specially on retro games. Nice video!
I’ve been playing Nintendo World Champs lately and I’ve noticed how cleverly designed Mario 3 is. I usually play through levels slowly and the game is easy enough that way, but trying to play through them quickly is much harder and I started noticing that levels are designed to accommodate that approach as well. It’s like a whole new game!
Great video. I remember Getting into retro gaming for the first time in the mid 00s when I dug out my old Sega megadrive. When I made use of the headphone jack for the first time with a set of bass speakers it was a whole new experience 😊. The part about beating a game you never could before holds very true to me. First game I ever played was Alex kidd in miracle world on the master system model 2 in 1991. Beat it for the first time in 2016. 25 year's after I first played it. Very rewarding experience it was. And when the remake came out in 2021. It was like a 30th anniversary celebration for me personally. Because that's how long I'd have been gaming up to that point, The release of the game couldn't of been more perfectly timed, very full circle moment. 😊
I only just played Super C and Super Metroid as an adult and you know what? I loved them almost as much as any of my childhood favorites, proving once and for all that retro games aren't only good because we're wearing nostalgia colored glasses.
Regarding speakers, you'd be amazed what you'll find at a thrift store. I rock a nice pair of wood grain Realistic Minimus 2's (from the late 60s), with a mixer, so I get external volume.
Kicking things off in 2025 with a big one! :) And I even got a shoutout as I absolutely have all my minis hooked up for use at anytime, and they do get used. I'm even still adding to them as, for Christmas, I just got the400 apple mini by retrogames! Excellent thoughts here. Keep the good times rolling and Get On My Lawn!
My office/nerd room is a spare bedroom, and as much as I’d love a couch to game from, the room lacks the space and I don’t enjoyed sitting in a desk chair to play my CRT. At 32, I’m already getting too old to sit on the floor without my legs going numb lol. So last year I got a Yogibo beanbag chair and it’s been great. I’m not small and I think it still supports well and sits pretty high. I still feel a bit like a kid looking slightly up at my tv like I like. It’s easy to move around the room so it’s not always in the way. I got a nice pattern to match the vibe of the room. It definitely breathed new life into my retro setup and its enjoyment. Think of your butt to make the old games new!
I had enjoyed your channel's content, and you made me laugh a few times, but it was when I saw Layer Section and Battle Garegga that I truly knew we were brothers Rayforce/Gunlock/Layer Section for the Sega Saturn got me hooked on the world of arcade shooters around two years ago. I've been hungry for more ever since
All these were great suggestions! I personally get the actual controllers for systems I never owned, but have retro games on the Switch; and then I use the right adapters to play those games on the Switch (this is very much possible and I have done it). Also, try playing in handheld mode with some good reading glasses (don't over do it with the magnification just use what is recommended for your age range) and the games look like I'm using a new TV or monitor; especially in handheld mode. The Switch lite screen looks like a nice upgrade with reading glasses! (Yeah uses some with more magnification for different results, but don't over do it).
TMNT for Nintendo is one game I have not finished, and I still try. 🙂 There are a ton of games I've never played in the Genesis era. I grew up with the NES.
I've never sympathized so much for someone I've never known in life. You might want check your rearview mirror on a dark and stormy night; when Timmy is somewhere out there plotting his revenge.
It's funny at this point how EVERYONE seems to have Okami in the "I'll play it eventually" pile I was totally going to after seeing the sequel announced at The Game Awards 2024 and then I just... didn't lol
Still forever waiting on those Dreamcast component cables from HD Retrovision. Also, sound is a massive part of my set up. Both my HD and SD set ups each have 5.1 capable sound systems.
My most recent “new” set up is I bought a projector for the family for Christmas with that we have the Xbox series X hooked up to it. But I also hooked up my Dreamcast using VGA to HDMI conversion and it looks incredible! As for the sound output it’s hooked up to a massive Sony Bluetooth speaker and it amps up the experience to 11!
I think most people misunderstood why the mini consoles were popular. It was because they were so easily hacked and filled up with additional ROMs on the cheap. I have both the mini NES and SNES with their entire respective libraries complete.
Certainly a part of the equation. I'd be curious what percentage of people did that. It was something a lot of people did, but I've run across lots of other people who weren't even aware you could do that (or never bothered too).
Biggest thing for me is busting out the magazine articles! It helps put me in the time - reading pre-release previews of people being excited, reviews, fan letters, and especially using the maps and strategy guides.
I'm guilty of always playing the same old games on my various older systems. This is due to me having so little time, being the parent of 2 boys under 10 years old. So, because of this video, the next time I play a game on my snes or megadrive mini (still going strong with added games) I'm going to select something NEW. P.S. loving seeing U.N. squadron...one of my favourite SNES shooters!
If you get external speakers, be sure they are shielded or kept far away from your CRT TV to avoid damage! Games played: U.N. Squadron (0:05), Mega Man V (0:30), Jackal (0:48), Mischief Makers (1:10), Wario Land (1:30), Castlevania (2:40), Layer Section (5:18), Battle Garegga (5:25), Comix Zone (7:20), Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (9:38)
U.N. Squadron ❤❤❤
i could really go for some Jackal right about now
Gotta check out U.N. later
Is Battle Garegga shown in the video the Saturn release or the Arcade release?
There is some unmentioned bandicoot here.......
Happy 2025, gonna be 50 this year. As an ‘old gamer’ I’m proud to be part of the first generation gamers club. We got to experience gaming from its infant stage to where it’s evolved to today. I play either on emulation or physical. As long as it’s any game I enjoy I will play it in any form.
Well said! I'm 51 (turning 52 in July) and I agree wholeheartedly with everything that you stated.
hand get sore after a while anymore 😢
Glad that folks like yourself still have so much love for the hobby.
@@Tweaker420666 Same here and I'm 44. I tried to play Zelda Skyward Sword on Wii, and man, did my biceps hurt. I still got pretty far, though.
You got to live through the entire history of video games!
My suggestion, for all you old heads out there -- play the games with a kid! The most fun I've had playing retro games recently is experiencing them with my son and daughter. Their joy and their unique impressions of them has given me a new outlook on a lot of games. Not only do I now have new memories for games that were nostalgic for me, but I've picked up games that I never tried because they thought the games looked interesting.
So yeah, if your old eyes cant help but see these old games in the same old way... get some new eyes on them! :)
Really loving the "get on my lawn" energy of this comment :)
My coworker bought a Rock Band guitar for his Xbox 360 game on the console. He showed me a video of his son experiencing the game for the 1st time.
I've been playing mario Kart 64 (battle) with my girls. So much fun.
I can't wait for my kid to be old enough to hold a controller
Boom! Great comment!
Currently trying to knock my wife up for this very reason. Well, not literally CURRENTLY, but you catch my drift lol
thank you for the goofy skits - the nanner one made me smile because of it's sheer goofiness
I was playing SMB1 today with my 5 year old daughter. This was her first real experience playing a video game where she was in direct control of what was going on, and was completely thrilled by it. Not only do I still love that game, but it was easily ten times more fun coaching her and seeing her joy as she got better!
For me it seems small, but I got wireless controllers for my Genesis and Saturn, made it so much more relaxing to play since I can lean all the way back and play them on my big TV. Also for Saturn (and any console you want to put the effort in) exploring the import library is a whole new frontier of new experiences.
Happy New Nanner. Here's to another year of positive messages and great gaming suggestions.
I genuinely dont understand why you dont have have more subscribers, love the content!
I've been watching this channel so long, i can always tell when you get new items for your collection!
Very observant of you! Sometimes I just don't show things for a long time though :)
Completely agree with the audio! I’ve routed my old school Hi-Fi system to run with my retro setup and it does not disappoint!
I grew playing nes in black and white playing megaman in color is mind-blowing.
Once you're in your 80s or 90s and can't even remember what day of the week it is, these games will ALL be new to you. Every day.
Lol. Like a goldfish!
43 and everything is new to me
@@chace4804 I have nightmares about being stuck in a facility or institution and infantilized by matrons.
@iwanttocomplain I'll be dead long before that materializes hopefully.
I've recently been playing lots of Japanese exclusives from the 90s & 00s. New to me!
Old games from the 80s and 90s are the best!!! All of the mini consoles are elite! Wires don’t scare me! 😂 you hit the nail on the head!
5:00 I just happen to be watching this while eating lunch, a delicious salad! Thanks for cheering me on with it. I lost the way over the last year but a stern look from my doctor put me back on to them. And I had forgotten how much I love them!
Rock that salad my friend! Whoo!
Happy New yr Matty! Give Guffy a hug for me. Been waiting for this new video. Love that Retro Bird!❤
hello Retro Bird, can you make a video on your TH-cam channel about Audition Online, it's a popular dance video game please 🙏🙏🙏
+1 for getting some external speakers. Going from small 5W speakers on the tv to much more powerful external bookshelf speakers makes a big difference. The problem with that though is most modern speakers are not shielded. You NEED to have shielded speakers or keep them far away from a CRT tv, otherwise you will damage it.
Yeah, and a good way to tell if you have a problem is that the image on your CRT will actually be distorted (the color on a section of your TV will be off, wavy lines etc.). I thought that older speakers were more likely to not be shielded than newer speakers though? That's what a quick Google search said at least. In any case, your comment led me to double check that my speakers are indeed shielded and they are.. at least, that's what the official website for them says. Might need to look into it further :)
@@RetroBirdGaming The only people who still use CRT's are retro gamers like us. Most companies stopped shielding them to save money since the majority use flat screens now. Never rely on Google. Ever since they implemented AI into their search results, the results have been mixed.
I love my wood grain Realistic Minimus 2's.
I also, regardless of speaker, keep them at a distance from the tv. Not only to protect it, but also to make sure the stereo channels are wider apart to make things sound better to me.
@@Tall_Order Equilateral triangle gives pretty good results but having them farther apart can make them feel more spacious.
Yeah, definitely need to double check where the results are coming from with those AI search results. Good comments as always my friend!
Good point on old games that weren't part of your childhood. I was a Nintendo kid growing up, and part of my new year's resolution (256x224) is to try out some Genesis / Mega Drive games I missed.
I'm about an hour into Phantasy Star IV.
For most of the world, any Nintendo console after Famicom is like that, SNES was only popular in Japan and USA and later ones failed even in Japanese market, so unless you're from America, chances are Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time is something you never seen outside of TH-cam. Gamecube for me is a thing that had botched Dreamcast ports and Resident Evil updates that are now on Steam anyway.
Amazing game and I hope that you make it to the end of it! It's not super hard to beat but just takes a lot of time. I've played through the game twice!
The resolution joke got me. 😂
I remember liking Phantasy star 4 when I played it many years ago on my PSP as part of the Sega collection and played it all the way through. A lot of Sega classics that I never played as a kid but have played now thanks to emulators. If you have never played Shinobi 2 on game gear it's an awesome little game with amazing music. Finally had a chance to beat it this year after never beating it as a kid.
I went through PS3 not long ago but messed up my marriages and got annoyed with my party so quit near the end. But I say that because I tried PS4 and didn't get along with it. It seems less pacey.
Speakers are a game changer. I landed a big pair of floor speakers at salvation army when they were the half price color. My wife said they were stupid and too big to fit in the house when I put them in the cart. You should have seen how quickly she changed her mind when she realized that the ol Sega Genesis can shake the whole house now.
Goodwill and Salvation army are great places to find old massive speakers for cheap. They usually sound great and if they don't, you return them for store credit and pick out another pair.
@ mine are perfect. They were marked for $50 but they were the half price sticker color. Couldn't walk away from it.
@@roberttractortaylor Right on!
You can always play Super Mario Brothers standing on your head or in an upside-down suspension chair. The blood-rush could add to the challenge, but you will need to take frequent breaks.
Not gonna lie, the SNES mini opened the retro door for myself
What retro games are you into?
I was very fortunate as a kid that my dad put external speakers on our TV. Playing Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger in stereo was phenomenal.
This requires emulation but retroachievements adds modern achievements to old games. I did things in games I played the heck out of that I normally wouldn’t do just for the achievement!
Emulation also allows for the use of fancy filters. I played Ys V with a filter that made it look almost like Ys VI. It elevated the presentation for me considering I had been used to the remakes by then.
Play the games on a new device! Self explanatory. I’m referring to say the Switch’s NES library or those unofficial emulator devices.
I loved Jackal. Rented it so many times as a kid. Never owned it. It feels like one of those NES games that everyone has forgotten about. Felt good to see it in this video.
It's awesome and especially since you can play it co-op with a friend!
I'll always remember how cool it was playing Cybernator on the SNES on my dad's HDTV with a soundbar that was pretty powerful - all the sound effects hit harder on that thing and it gets me pumped like a movie theater experience.
Every retro game i never played before feels like DLC to my childhood consoles. Also you made me have a Banana after watching the video.
Hi. Forty year old newcomer here. Something simple as a soundbar, can make any game sound 100 times better. Peace!-)
The first point is totally real. Last year from January 1st I made it my mission to beat as many games as I could throughout 2024. I went back and played through a ton of my backlog, mostly games from the 6th and 7th generation that I completely glanced over, but once the year was over I'd beaten 30 games. These ranged from short games (Virtua Cop 2) to long games (GTA 4) to REALLY long games (Red Dead 2), but in the end I had a blast and I plan on challenging myself to do this again this year. Trying to see how many games you can beat in a year incentivizes you to play more games to the end.
You never fail to crack me up XD haha love your vids!
I dont like getting old, but I do like that I experienced the vast majority of the video game industry, personal computers and the internet, wild time to be alive
It was the Get On My Lawn hat and the dancing for me. Another phenomenal video dude!! I play these games on original carts, mini consoles, and those ported to the handhelds, and enjoy them each for their own special qualities, original controllers and the feel of the carts, the newer hd stuff with new controllers and save states, and then portable to carry with me for quick parenting breaks or breaks at work. Keep these videos coming my man!!
Speaking of the Timmy thing, a friend of mine called Dan told me about Motocross Maniacs (Game Boy game he had as a kid). I bought a copy from Ebay and it arrived yesterday with DAN scrawled on the back in marker. So, I send Dan the photo and it turns out it's his old copy! I bought him a Game Boy a few years ago, so I've bought another copy for me and he can have his old game back 🙂 I'm still amazed that this has happened.
Love your channel!!! always funny and never greedy by overwhelming ads! Keep up the nostalgic memories!
I always wished they'd have made actual game versions of the mini consoles. I'd be all over those kinda game bundles if I could just play them on my actual consoles. Genesis/MD classics is still my go-to retro compilation, but I would want more!
I also agree and I would recommend to play old games in a CRT TV, actually the old games were designed to play on those TVs to begin with, unlike the PC games that was designed to play in a PC monitor or the modern games that was designed to play in a HDTV.
Not only offer a good retro experience, but also it looks better, sounds better and also you will not suffer with problems like "lag input" or stuffs like that.
You sure made Mischief Makers look beautiful on whatever setup you have.
Thank you. I love that game!
I love that game. I still have my physical copy of it.
I put a Retroarch setup for Steam so I can play everything from a couch (Big Picture), the speakers on my 50 inch TV are kinda better than what I had first time I played these games (I had a color set, but for my relative in a village, the classic experience was a tiny round B&W CRT with no sound that needed a hit for image to stop melting).
love this attitude. feels pretty rare these days for folks to not be gatekeeping.. just have fun however you want
Last night I bought three games I have never played before and they are new to me because when I was a kid I only owned Nintendo systems. I bought "Weaponlord, Shadow Blasters, and Stormlord, for my Sega Genesis which I bought a year ago and I am experiencing Sega Genesis for the first time being fifty-five years old because I was a Nintendo fanboy. Now I love all the systems. I only play physical :)
When getting speakers for a CRT TV make sure they're magnetically shielded. Most modern speakers aren't magnetically shielded and can cause damage when too close to a CRT.
I will be 40 this year so definitely not a young gamer. This past year I bought myself an anbernic and then upgraded to an odin2 mini for Christmas. That's a great way to make old games feel new, play them on the go.
Something that helped me a lot with this sensation of living a "new" experience was to mix emulation with the original controller (with an adapter or with an usb one) and playing it sending the image and sound to an CRT. The experience is almost the same at a sensorial level, but you can save the state like an adult with limited time, hahaha.
Seeing you pick up the SGB Commander was wild. I just got one of those recently myself! It definitely rounds out the Super Game Boy experience. Grab that and a Super Game Boy 2 and you're ready to rock some Donkey Kong 94! Talk about making old new again!
Any excuse to rock some Donkey Kong!
Thanks for another video! Another tip is, some times games are actually more fun on the harder settings. STAR FOX 2 is much more fun on the harder setting. I also love SoR2 on MANIC.
I use Retroscaler 2x for my retro game systems. It changed my PS1 720p on my 50" 4k TV and it has no lag! I used composite cables too! I can't wait to try it on my Atari 2600/7800 next!
Great tip - thanks!
Try enabling Retro Achievements, they're a great way to spice up older games with more modern elements.
Share a game you love with someone who has never played it. Watching along can be like vicariously playing for the first time.
Retro achievements isn't supported for all games, or in all emulators for that matter, but for the ones that are supported I find it kind of adds a little more purpose to revisiting the classics.
When I saw this video’s title, it made me think of Pokémon nuzlocke runs. In case you’re not familiar, it’s a way to play Pokémon games in a more difficult challenge where you are only allowed to catch the first Pokémon you find per route or zone, and any Pokémon that feint are considered “dead” and cannot be used anymore. Recreating a new game out of an old one essentially. And the challenge makes it fun especially if you know the game well. This also made me think of those Nintendo games where you play a gauntlet of classic Nintendo games that you have to complete quick challenges for; X amount of Tetrises in 2 minutes, etc.
I bought a CRT TV with an AUX input about 3 years ago. Hooked up my basic speakers to it and playing Donkey Kong Country that way was just as profound to me as your experience with Outrun! And such games like Mega Man 5 have same super cool sound trickery that really comes through with a proper set up
Very cool vid and I'm especially geeked to see better sound being mentioned. Upgrading the sound in my gameroom is definitely on the agenda, across most generations of gaming there's a ton of awesome music that elevates the experience.
It really does!
I have been enjoying discovering little tricks and things that I never knew. Getting to play as super sonic in Sonic 2 finding the Honey Bee for unlimited continues in NES Adventure Island, or discovering all the warp zones in Super Mario Bros! New things are still within alot of the old games waiting to be discovered still.
Love the video RB! My favorite console to collect for right now is the Game Boy (DMG, GBC, GBA). Just last week, my 8 year old son and I picked up and played 1942 on the GBC for the first time! We both really like playing it. There are so many new experiences to be had in these older titles!
Thanks again RB!
Nice vid! I was actually playing Mischief Makers this morning :)
I remember getting my first stereo for Xmas and then hooking it up to my SNES. Firing up Super Metroid after hooking it up was an experience that I am unable to describe.
I'm curious. How do you connect speakers to an SNES?
@@ribenasquash I had a 13" TV with only RF for inputs. I connected the AV multi out adapter and ran the two audio RCA cables direct to the stereo's inputs. The stereo served to amplify the audio outputs to the speakers.
@@The2xWhiskey Oh I see. Did the apapter come with the console or did you have to buy it?
@@ribenasquash It came with the console and it had 3 RCA connectors, 1 for composite video and the other two for left and right audio. You could also buy separately one that had a Super VHS output instead of the composite,
@@The2xWhiskey I see.
What if you didn't have the composite connection on your tv?
Did it have aerial output included as well?
Because I remember that cheaper or older tv's just had the aerial/rf on the back.
Maybe it's different in the US. Or you would buy crappy coax cable separately. Maybe all US tv is composite and audio left and right inputs.
I just finished snatcher on the sega cd and it was amazing, i wish it was longer
I love that game so much.
Nice video. As always. On the subject of old games being new if you've never played them before, your videos abide by that same rule. If you miss a week, I just scroll back a few years until I see one I haven't seen before. Good as new.
The last piece of advice is a very important one, aim to Master the game, sadly is the most difficult to do these days.
+1 for the emphasis on proper sound for gaming. Seriously, people, hook up some decent speakers. It's incredibly easy to hook up to modern HDMI TV's and even an old CRT that has a headphone jack will do.
Sound is definitely one of the most important issues with playing my old games on modern equipment. I really like the sound of old box-TVs since many of them had the pinch in style speaker outputs...
PS . Please let these come back into style !!!
Finally getting past the level or boss that you could never beat is one of the best ways to make an old game new again.
Make a retroachievements login will make even your most played games feel new. Some really creative ones like not grabbing a single coin in certain mario levels will really change how you play the game. Other ones like in contra have you not ducking or pushing left and beat the first level.
This is my top recommendation as well. Some of the behavior modification achievements truly do make familiar games feel new and add problem solving elements to otherwise straightforward titles.
Never heard of this and making one now. Thank you!! :)
Some great points here! Enjoyed seeing so much Jackal played on the NES as well. One of my faves!
Another great video from my favorite bird. ❤
Good sound gets underestimated a lot, imo. The problem is that you don't know what you're missing out on when you never listened to a good hifi setup that gives you goosebumps. That makes it very difficult for anyone to rectify the purchase of better audio equipment.
Quick little story for ya, I always thought my sound setup was pretty decent until I met someone with audiophile quality speakers. Songs that I had heard a million times suddenly sounded completely different, with extra layers of music, a lot more details and most important an ultra broad sound stage. That was mind-blowing. I was immediately hooked, got myself a nice pair of speakers and a nice amp, sold my 5.1 system, and have been enjoying my stereo setup for 15 years now.
Seriously, a good pair of speakers blow most 5.1 systems out of the water and they are even better at conveying directional sounds.
I feel sad for people who only have their TV speakers. No one should have to game like that.
I was born in the 80’s and grew up in the 90’s. I started with the NES and SNES shortly after, but it was the N64 that I fell in love with games as I was old enough to understand them back then. I was born at the right time and got to experience those generations. I still go back and replay many games, and even play ones I haven’t played yet but I don’t play many games older than the NES, probably because the older systems doesn’t have nostalgia to me.
Similar to getting good at a game - pick just one game for a while and play it a lot. I feel like a common part of the 1990s gaming experience is only owning like one to five games and playing the heck out of them. It's easy to bounce off a game when you have so many at your fingertips - resist that urge. But also, don't resist it too much. Even in the 1990s some games were really only ever worth a 3 day rental from Blockbuster.
I just staying playing Okami for the first time right before watching this video
Have you done a video on ROM hacks of older games that make them feel fresh again? There's some really creative stuff out there!
This was my thought too! Retranslations and quality of life upgrades are a great way to breathe new life into old games. And the bigger projects can feel like whole new games in their own right.
You know what you need? Hacks that put Mario in every game.
Now that's fun.
🤔 Especially those Chinese bootlegs 😂
I have not, but that's a really fun suggestion!
@@RetroBirdGamingNES Labyrinth (the Jennifer Connelly movie) was released in Japan. There is an English translation.
Wicked soundtrack!
*BACKLOG!*
Some time ago I accidentally found the "Super Mario Land 1,2 and 3 (Warioland) Deluxe" rom hacks, and I love them very much! 😄 Looks like I need to dig deeper into what is available in the rom-hacking scene.
Totally agree with this: play games you haven't played yet. Never would've had a Shining Force obsession if I never played it for the first time last year.
Some of my favorite series are ones I discovered as an adult.
Now, I'm imagining Retro Bird cheering on Mathew Carlson as he digs into a new can of sardines.
Happy 2025! 🥳🎉
Bible truth, I am eating a “nanner” right now. That was not planned. It’s just serendipitous.
I LOVE your channel, as I have told you several times before. I still have my mini consoles and play them on a fairly regular basis. There are some that I don’t own (yet), but am hoping to get them over this new year (Neo Geo Mini, I’m looking at YOU!). I haven’t modded any of my minis. Will I do it and save myself some money in library expansion? Who knows..?
What I do know is that retro gaming might be getting even MORE important to me as the years stack up, pun intended *Quick thought, how cool would it be to find a way to get R.O.B. working on an NES Mini with a CRT TV?! Or a Super Scope on the SNES Mini??!?!)* .
I wanna thank you for all of the years of hard work and your dedication to this channel. You always give me something to look forward to every Friday night. You really are one of the great ones and you make me smile. As long as you keep pumping out these wonderful videos, you’ll always have a dedicated fan in me.
Thanks so much and may 2025 be a blessed year for you and your wife.
Here's another idea... Explore. No kidding. I've played Super Mario Bros hundreds of times. But it's been 30 years since I did something other than a 10-minute run via the Warp Zones skipping World 2, 3, & 5-7. Actually spending an afternoon playing those levels out would feel like something new & exciting. Try this in all those old games - play a different route or a different strategy than you're used to. Learn to glitch the shit out of Mega Man 2. Run the Alucard route instead of the Sypha route in Castlevania 3. Explore your games, you'd be surprised what some of them have to hide.
I don't believe for a second that there was ever a half-eatin 'nanner in any trash can in your home lol.
Certainly didn't come from me :)
Totally agree on getting speakers/hedadset. I did not realize how much I was missing out on sound before buying my headset. Specially on retro games. Nice video!
I’ve been playing Nintendo World Champs lately and I’ve noticed how cleverly designed Mario 3 is. I usually play through levels slowly and the game is easy enough that way, but trying to play through them quickly is much harder and I started noticing that levels are designed to accommodate that approach as well. It’s like a whole new game!
Excited to see UN Squadron being played, got myself a copy after watching the Area 88 anime.
Great video. I remember Getting into retro gaming for the first time in the mid 00s when I dug out my old Sega megadrive. When I made use of the headphone jack for the first time with a set of bass speakers it was a whole new experience 😊. The part about beating a game you never could before holds very true to me. First game I ever played was Alex kidd in miracle world on the master system model 2 in 1991. Beat it for the first time in 2016. 25 year's after I first played it. Very rewarding experience it was. And when the remake came out in 2021. It was like a 30th anniversary celebration for me personally. Because that's how long I'd have been gaming up to that point, The release of the game couldn't of been more perfectly timed, very full circle moment. 😊
I only just played Super C and Super Metroid as an adult and you know what? I loved them almost as much as any of my childhood favorites, proving once and for all that retro games aren't only good because we're wearing nostalgia colored glasses.
Regarding speakers, you'd be amazed what you'll find at a thrift store. I rock a nice pair of wood grain Realistic Minimus 2's (from the late 60s), with a mixer, so I get external volume.
Kicking things off in 2025 with a big one! :) And I even got a shoutout as I absolutely have all my minis hooked up for use at anytime, and they do get used. I'm even still adding to them as, for Christmas, I just got the400 apple mini by retrogames! Excellent thoughts here. Keep the good times rolling and Get On My Lawn!
My office/nerd room is a spare bedroom, and as much as I’d love a couch to game from, the room lacks the space and I don’t enjoyed sitting in a desk chair to play my CRT. At 32, I’m already getting too old to sit on the floor without my legs going numb lol. So last year I got a Yogibo beanbag chair and it’s been great. I’m not small and I think it still supports well and sits pretty high. I still feel a bit like a kid looking slightly up at my tv like I like. It’s easy to move around the room so it’s not always in the way. I got a nice pattern to match the vibe of the room. It definitely breathed new life into my retro setup and its enjoyment. Think of your butt to make the old games new!
I had enjoyed your channel's content, and you made me laugh a few times, but it was when I saw Layer Section and Battle Garegga that I truly knew we were brothers
Rayforce/Gunlock/Layer Section for the Sega Saturn got me hooked on the world of arcade shooters around two years ago. I've been hungry for more ever since
Right on my friend!
The sock joke, my god lol
"Maybe finally play Okami"
oof.. that felt personal
I enjoy going back and replaying all my PS1 and PS2 games. They feel like new again! 🎮
Right on!
I love your idea of upgrading the sound with huge speakers. That would make a huge difference when I play retro games.
Love the mini consoles, I bring mine into class once in awhile and play with students during special days.
All these were great suggestions! I personally get the actual controllers for systems I never owned, but have retro games on the Switch; and then I use the right adapters to play those games on the Switch (this is very much possible and I have done it). Also, try playing in handheld mode with some good reading glasses (don't over do it with the magnification just use what is recommended for your age range) and the games look like I'm using a new TV or monitor; especially in handheld mode. The Switch lite screen looks like a nice upgrade with reading glasses! (Yeah uses some with more magnification for different results, but don't over do it).
TMNT for Nintendo is one game I have not finished, and I still try. 🙂 There are a ton of games I've never played in the Genesis era. I grew up with the NES.
I've never sympathized so much for someone I've never known in life. You might want check your rearview mirror on a dark and stormy night; when Timmy is somewhere out there plotting his revenge.
It's funny at this point how EVERYONE seems to have Okami in the "I'll play it eventually" pile
I was totally going to after seeing the sequel announced at The Game Awards 2024 and then I just... didn't lol
hahaha I LOL-ed when it was referenced in the video
I actually just bought Okami!! It was 6$ on the psn store! It’s what I’ll be playing next!!
I hope you enjoy it!
Still forever waiting on those Dreamcast component cables from HD Retrovision. Also, sound is a massive part of my set up. Both my HD and SD set ups each have 5.1 capable sound systems.
My most recent “new” set up is I bought a projector for the family for Christmas with that we have the Xbox series X hooked up to it. But I also hooked up my Dreamcast using VGA to HDMI conversion and it looks incredible! As for the sound output it’s hooked up to a massive Sony Bluetooth speaker and it amps up the experience to 11!
I think most people misunderstood why the mini consoles were popular. It was because they were so easily hacked and filled up with additional ROMs on the cheap. I have both the mini NES and SNES with their entire respective libraries complete.
Certainly a part of the equation. I'd be curious what percentage of people did that. It was something a lot of people did, but I've run across lots of other people who weren't even aware you could do that (or never bothered too).
Dude I love your videos
Biggest thing for me is busting out the magazine articles! It helps put me in the time - reading pre-release previews of people being excited, reviews, fan letters, and especially using the maps and strategy guides.
I'm guilty of always playing the same old games on my various older systems. This is due to me having so little time, being the parent of 2 boys under 10 years old.
So, because of this video, the next time I play a game on my snes or megadrive mini (still going strong with added games) I'm going to select something NEW.
P.S. loving seeing U.N. squadron...one of my favourite SNES shooters!
Retro gamers 'accidentally' showing off their Trinitron in the b-roll to make everyone jealous 😄 Edifier speakers are good bang for the buck.