Brainstorm Time: all requests answered :)
This took a bit more time than I wanted since I was focused on the current projects, but I have commented every single comment on Brainstorm Time, so take a look if you haven't already :D -- I took notes about all games commented and I made a compilation list of games mentioned on the posts (you can see at end of this post), with the amount of times it was mentioned + amount of times it received a like, so I can measure more or less which ones people are currently more interested in checking it out.
U.N. Squadron, A Link to the Past and R-Type 3, the most mentioned one, actually are in the disassembly process by me, started some months ago. It takes a lot of time to make a disassembly, but once it's done we can get the optimization patches for them though the next months.
Feel free to comment on the Brainstorm post or here, in case a missed a game or if you have some new project idea. I'm always hearing for suggestions! :)
Comments (5)
I was writing this to the earlier post, but it took so long time that I’ll write it here now. Here’s my humble opinion on prioritizing which SNES games should be improved. Idea being that if there is a way to play a better version of the same game in some form outside SNES, that would decrease the game’s priority for improvement here. Especially in these times of MiSTers, Flashcarts and ODEs that really help making rarer versions playable again to people. Ofcourse its important that the suggested game suffers slowdown to get the most benefits from improvement. Tier 1 - SNES exclusive games. This should be the highest priority. Games that can’t be played on any other platform. This is as it has been in the case of F-Zero, Super Castlevania 4, Axelay, Contra III etc. till this point which is awesome. My tier 1 suggestions for the future: - Retun of the Double Dragon. The performance is a total slow burn. - Secret of Mana. Lots of slowdown throughout the whole game especially in bosses and when there is lots of enemies and magic going on. - Demon’s Crest. Lots of slowdowns. Big bosses especially. - BioMetal. Lots of slowdown during lots of explosions and boss battles. - Final Fight 3. Frequent slowdowns in crowded scenes. Tier 2 - Arcade games that have the best/only conversion on SNES. This is why I’m not too excited about Parodius (best arcade ports can be played on Saturn/PS1 right now, Da! Gokujo, Oshaberi and Sexy) but UN Squadron & Magic Sword for example makes sense as they are closest to the arcade experience than any other version AFAIK. Some of my tier 2 suggestions: - Aero Fighters. Quite frequent slowdowns. - King of Dragons. Slowdown especially in 2-player mode during crowded scenes. - Magic Sword. Frequent slowdowns during crowded scenes. - UN Squadron. Seems to run quite stable except during some big boss battles and bomb effects. - Blazeon. Not too bad, slowdowns during explosions especially. I feel that more research is needed to find the right games. But we are getting there together. :-)
Great suggestions, thank you for pointing out them! Return of Double Dragon, Secret of Mana and UN Squadron are games particularly closer to get some progress, but all other mentions are on my long time roadmap
I'm going to go ahead and drop a comment for lag/slowdown reduction in Trials of Mana. That game is incredible but the lag really makes it too easy sometimes! Also maybe a mode to have the gameplay ongoing even when opening the ring menu, which I assume would also require performance improvements. I haven't played Secret of Mana, but my understanding is the lag/slowdown issues are not nearly as bad. It would be a whole new game if Trials of Mana had no slowdown, and I think the extra realism and challenge would really make that game shine.
Hi Vitor! Some suggestions, hope you find some of them interesting for future FastROM or SA-1 hacks: - Bio Metal (Japanese Version): SlowROM. A great and intense underrated shoot 'em up with a unique shield mechanic and lots of action on screen that causes lots of slowdown. In my opinion, the best version is the Japanese one because the music was completely changed for the USA and European release and didn't fit the game well. - Sparkster: Already FastROM. Awesome action platformer downgraded but two problems. The main critic is that it has so many moments of slowdown that last long and happen very often during the game, specially in the boss fights and shoot 'em up level. The other problem is the unfair and really difficult boss fight (robot duel) at the end of stage 7, but that was solved by a hack that make this fight easier and less anoying https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4869/. - Super E.D.F. Earth Defense Force: (Japanese Version): SlowROM (USA also uses SlowROM). It's a remake port of Earth Defense Force from the arcades. The game is similar to the original but it has some differences that enhance the game like new levels, new weapons and improved graphics, music and nice mode-7 effects. The game slows down a lot when too much stuff is going on, but it's not quite as bad as it was in Gradius III or Super R-Type. The Japanese version should be the one to do. It seems identical to the USA version and it's completely in English, but it has an easy difficulty option and can select more shields, giving extra possibilites for novice players not present in the USA version. It's not an easy game, so these extra options are a welcome extra. - Final Fight 3: Already FastROM. Great SNES exclusive beat 'em up plagued with lots of slowdowns, specially when playing in two player mode when ther are three enemies on screen. - Naxat Super Pinball: Jaki Crush (Japan): Already FastROM. The thrid game in the Devil's Crush series, it's a pretty good pinball game often criticised for being a lot slower than Devil's Crush on the TurboGrafx 16 or Sega Genesis. Already mentioned in past posts Return of Double Dragon (SlowROM) and Ranma 1/2: Chougi Ranbu Hen (Already FastROM). Thanks!!
Not gonna lie, Turtles in Time with 4-player support would be rad!