Watching you play Round 42 was awesome. Seeing the nostalgia on your face. I play a lot of my older Nintendo and playstation games like this. Great. I never had dos at home so I never even heard of this. Yet watching you play, and the gameplay, I'm definitely about to download this
8:59 Round 42 is James's Polybius. Look at the enjoyment, the happiness, the hypnotic gaze that James has while playing this; it's like he is 6 years old again. It's great to see a game bring such nostalgia to someone. I think everyone has their own Round 42, a game that holds so much nostalgia and happiness to them. For me it's probably Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64, that would take me back to my 6 year old self.
@@tschrky303 jazz Jackrabbit 1 had amazing songs as well. Ohh jj2 had a fun multiplayer also. I played it with my dad and siblings. Those were the times.
Remember how it was so ground breaking when John Carmack figured out how to do smooth scrolling on an EGA adapter w/ Commander Keen? This port 1. came out before that and 2. uses CGA graphics. And thus you see why the scrolling is garbage.
Holy shit. I was in that moment. I played this game. I had totally forgotten about it. I just got hit by a huge flood of memories. Thank you James and Mike.
It's very possible that the "glitching" at the end was their archaic version of copy protection. The loading screen did show that it was the "shareware version", so that could explain it.
Round 42 looks like a fun arcade game. I never knew it, so thanks James & Mike for showing it to us! As for Contra for DOS, guys, this is criminal. What an abomination! And I don't think I'd have that much of a problem with it if it weren't for how slow the game seems to run.
It's weird because I had TMNT and TMNT2: The Arcade Game for DOS back then, and they were practically identical to the NES games, but I also had one of the Mega Man DOS games (it might have been the same one that was in your Mega Man AVGN episode) which was total gar-bitch. PC ports were all over the place back then.
Konami in this case decided to make a version that would be available to a wider range of PC users. Originally the promo art for the PC version of the game looked better than the NES version but I'm guessing they did the math and realized that the PC market that can run that version was pretty small, so they made a low res CGA version of the game, even though EGA and even VGA graphics were in use in the PC market.
None of the music for any of these games was recorded, it's generated by signals sent straight from the CPU to a speaker on the board. The reason why the sound is so simple is because the CPU can't do sound at the same time as anything else, so it has to do it between scanlines.
If there's something I don't miss about DOS games it was the ones that used the internal PC speaker for sound effects. Still not as bad as dial-up internet's connection sounds!
Hey James, will you talk about your thoughts on the trailers for Godzilla: King of the Monsters one day? And your hopes for the future for the MonsterVerse? Not to mention MothraThon?
I"m only familiar with 90s DOS games like X-Com, Ultima 7, and System Shock, which were miles ahead of anything on any other computer or console at the time. This looks like a shitty IBM or Apple 2c game. Yikes.
When you guys were talking about meatballs it reminded me of that activision game Megamania in the last round (before it starts over with new colors and patterns). I called them meatballs lol
The "purple and blue" colors for CGA was on purpose - certain monitors, I believe, or connection types...something like that....could output the graphics in such a way, as to make it look like there were more colors on the screen...something closer to EGA. It's been a while since I've studied this, however, so that's why my memory's a little fuzzy.
Not sure if it matters, I never got to play it, but I noticed the version of the game you guys booted was a shareware version. Meaning, I think you beat it, but you only beat the demo. Doom had something similar, when you beat the demo, everything blacked out once you walked in a door at the end of a level and you only heard explosions, imps, soldiers, and screams lmao. Then after that, a mail order address.
The colors weren't a limitation of DOS, they were a limitation of the display. There were plenty of DOS games that had 256 colors. Doom was a DOS game. Duke Nukem 3D was a DOS game. The potential was there to make a Contra game that looked far better than the Nintendo, but clearly the effort/technology wasn't there to do it at that time. :)
Haha I was one of those PC kids growing up. While I did play the Snes and Genesis and Playstation at my friends/cousins, for me Jazz Jackrabbitc Commander Keen and Hocus Pocus were my side scrollers, One Must Fall 2097 was my fighting game, and Raptor and Tyrian were my top down shooters.
Oh my, those CGA graphics were something to behold, especially that color pallet. Thank goodness I had a Tandy with 16 color graphics, so at least some games looked good. For the record, I had a pc and did not have an NES, and I didn't get this on pc.
"People just think DOS games all suck." Man, DOS was incredible in the 90s thanks to companies like Apogee/id Software and Epic Mega Games and if computers were more prevalent in homes back then, they'd have been way more in direct competition with home consoles. People tend to forget that DOS games moved away from the old CGA graphics pretty early on in the 90s, and we had full coloured games with fantastic midi soundtracks even before CD-ROM became mainstream.
This must be really pushing the DOS. Look at that complex detail for the hardware it’s running or emulating. It’s crazy! Remember this was before a Windows cd era. So they wanted to run it as if it were a game for the time, not just because “oh it could have used something like wolfenstein 3d engine”. I could be wrong, they seemed to make this a timely release.
Round 42 reminds me a lot of Megamania for the 2600, with all the weird things to shoot and all. Looks really fun but man are those sounds something else! ;p
I remember playing Mortal Kombat 3 and then Trilogy in DOS, the Windows version of Trilogy ran really poorly. I think I was still playing Dos games until atleast 1998 because of its lower overheads compared to Windows.
Oh my god. Years ago I was dreaming that James will do something on DOS games. (Actually, as the AVGN). I thought too bad it will never happen. He does console stuff only, i thought. Well, now, years later (a decade perhaps) we finally have this! Not an AVGN video, but still... :)
Please take a look at "Hard Corp Uprising" on PS3/360/Steam?. It IS a modern, side-scrolling Contra game published by Konami and it is awesome. They took a Saturday morning anime direction but it is Contra. IGN has a review of it on UA-cam so check it out! There's an "Uprising" mode where accumulated points can be used in a store to upgrade weapons, lives, and even moves like a triple jump. So it feels like an evolution of the formula. There is an arcade mode that is essentially classic Contra rules. It's cheesy, beautiful, familiar but different. Must play for Contra fans. Highly recommended.
if you have a real 80's/90's pc you're playing this on, plug it into a tv through composite. sometimes those hideous colors blend in standard def and look closer to an nes game's color palate
in the intro there is a SD hybrid memory disk card going in to a floppy drive :D so improper :P BTW Round 42 is very cool game for 8088/8086 and CGA , the CGA mode is fantastic text mode with all 16 colors available , someone have to mod the game to run on EGA/VGA video cards :)
John Carmack helped DOS games "git good!" Basically, "id software" and "Apogee" showed what 286 processor and DOS capable off in 1991-93. Some other studios like "Bitmap Brothers" or "Titus" (Yeah, same "Titus" responsible for "Superman 64" made good games from time to time) also published good arcades in early 90's. Since 1994 some decent ports from 16-bit consoles' arrived (Disney's Aladdin, Jungle Book, The Lion King; Cool Spot, Earthworm Jim 1-2, Pitfall). But, yeah, most of the NES ports to DOS in 1988-91 were horrible!
Round 42 looks like it was one hell of a game for it's time. I can totally see why James loves it so much.
I've never played it, and am not a huge fan of arcade games, but seeing this in action...man, that game has so much personality.
oh totally, i suck at shmups but i feel like i could spend hours playing that one.
Gremlin: Mmm.. Glitches. You like them?
Watching you play Round 42 was awesome. Seeing the nostalgia on your face. I play a lot of my older Nintendo and playstation games like this. Great.
I never had dos at home so I never even heard of this. Yet watching you play, and the gameplay, I'm definitely about to download this
Round 42 looks pretty freaking awesome, especially for a DOS game! Great episode!
I really like the intro that you guys made. It's AWESOME!!!😀👌
8:59 Round 42 is James's Polybius. Look at the enjoyment, the happiness, the hypnotic gaze that James has while playing this; it's like he is 6 years old again. It's great to see a game bring such nostalgia to someone. I think everyone has their own Round 42, a game that holds so much nostalgia and happiness to them. For me it's probably Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64, that would take me back to my 6 year old self.
in the early 90s we used a VCR to record gameplay footage for NES and SNES games
James, I recommend "The 8-bit guy", he has a video where he explains in a very clear and simple way how CGA graphics work.
thejose970 8 bit guy is awesome
They play on Dos? Looking forward for James and mike to play Jazz jackrabbit soon.
Oh yeah, I played that for days! Such a great game... I preferred it over Sonic!
The music in the sequel is top-notch ((d[-_-]b))
JJ2 is a great game and had a lot of fun with the level editor too
@@tschrky303 jazz Jackrabbit 1 had amazing songs as well. Ohh jj2 had a fun multiplayer also. I played it with my dad and siblings. Those were the times.
My mom was addicted to Jazz games back in the game. T'was fun.
We got a Round 42 Kill Screen coming up.
7:41 Mike pushing up his invisible glasses
Double Dragon 2 on dos was pretty awesome back in the day!
It was fuckin' terrible but I still loved it.
FurryLippedSquid Hahaha XD
Mike: "You like these graphics?" James: "Uh, no."
Remember how it was so ground breaking when John Carmack figured out how to do smooth scrolling on an EGA adapter w/ Commander Keen? This port 1. came out before that and 2. uses CGA graphics. And thus you see why the scrolling is garbage.
Really makes you appreciate how well designed the Nintendo actually was for the time, and how powerful it was.
Holy crap! I remember playing the hell out of “Round 42” back in the day. Never knew the name and totally forgot until I watched. Thanks!!
Holy shit. I was in that moment. I played this game. I had totally forgotten about it. I just got hit by a huge flood of memories. Thank you James and Mike.
It's very possible that the "glitching" at the end was their archaic version of copy protection. The loading screen did show that it was the "shareware version", so that could explain it.
At 9:16 it's essentially Robotron, right down to the explosions.
The 80s computer scene was mostly game clones. Good times.
The sound of you clicking the keyboard sounds like the fallout terminal
I had Round 42 as a kid!!!!! Omg!! I forgot about this game until now!!! Thank you guys so much !!!!
Round 42 looks like a fun arcade game. I never knew it, so thanks James & Mike for showing it to us! As for Contra for DOS, guys, this is criminal. What an abomination! And I don't think I'd have that much of a problem with it if it weren't for how slow the game seems to run.
It was great to see James enjoying Round 42 so much
You should play some Sierra games! I loved the Kings Quest and Space Quest series.
police quest and lesuire suit larry games too they were awesome games to play
I had so much fun playing all the kings quest and police quest games back in the day.
"This was the color of my childhood"
"watch, Lisa, you can actually see the precise moment his enthusiasm kicks in" 5:51
CGA lives on!!! (I started programming in CGA and honestly, I kinda miss it)
3:58 When target restocks the nutella shelf
It's weird because I had TMNT and TMNT2: The Arcade Game for DOS back then, and they were practically identical to the NES games, but I also had one of the Mega Man DOS games (it might have been the same one that was in your Mega Man AVGN episode) which was total gar-bitch. PC ports were all over the place back then.
Konami in this case decided to make a version that would be available to a wider range of PC users. Originally the promo art for the PC version of the game looked better than the NES version but I'm guessing they did the math and realized that the PC market that can run that version was pretty small, so they made a low res CGA version of the game, even though EGA and even VGA graphics were in use in the PC market.
Round 11 @9:17 you fight Dr. Zoidberg heads with only 2 mouth tendrils!
Those sounds really take me back. Reminds me of playing Commander Keen on computer.
You already played the Mega Man and Contra DOS games.
What is next? Turtles?
I actually own it on ms-dos. :-)
Oh god now, that game is broken. There's one section where they made the gap too wide.
@@The_Real_DCT They fixed the gap in the European version.
Castlevania
Schwarzer Ritter What about Castlevania on DOS?
0:15 ah yes, the dulcet tones of DOS gaming.
None of the music for any of these games was recorded, it's generated by signals sent straight from the CPU to a speaker on the board. The reason why the sound is so simple is because the CPU can't do sound at the same time as anything else, so it has to do it between scanlines.
If there's something I don't miss about DOS games it was the ones that used the internal PC speaker for sound effects. Still not as bad as dial-up internet's connection sounds!
12:25 it's the Figmen of Imagination!
Hey James, will you talk about your thoughts on the trailers for Godzilla: King of the Monsters one day? And your hopes for the future for the MonsterVerse? Not to mention MothraThon?
My friend's dad developed Round 42. What an awesome game!
Hey guys, you should play POSTAL 2! It's really a funny game, it won't disappoint you.
Love your videos. Greetings from Mexico!
The sound effects on Round 42 reminds me of Scorched Earth.
This one had me in nostalgia mode all the way down to the table spin and bubsy in the background!
Ah, DOS. Theres serious gaming history to be played on you.
But I rather not.
I"m only familiar with 90s DOS games like X-Com, Ultima 7, and System Shock, which were miles ahead of anything on any other computer or console at the time. This looks like a shitty IBM or Apple 2c game. Yikes.
DOS was great. They picked the worst of the worst.
Honestly impressed that they even attempted pulling off Contra on DOS! I thought it was gonna be waaaay worse.
James and Mike don't understand the concept of the CGA screen.
I'm sure they do but it sucks
galbaum33 Me neither...😌
When you guys were talking about meatballs it reminded me of that activision game Megamania in the last round (before it starts over with new colors and patterns). I called them meatballs lol
Round 42 had some kick ass sound effects but the daddy, for me is still llamatron or pretty much anything by Jeff minter, including polybius btw.
The "purple and blue" colors for CGA was on purpose - certain monitors, I believe, or connection types...something like that....could output the graphics in such a way, as to make it look like there were more colors on the screen...something closer to EGA. It's been a while since I've studied this, however, so that's why my memory's a little fuzzy.
When you think the optimization is bad enough, Mike picks up spread and the framerate literally goes negative value.
Not sure if it matters, I never got to play it, but I noticed the version of the game you guys booted was a shareware version. Meaning, I think you beat it, but you only beat the demo. Doom had something similar, when you beat the demo, everything blacked out once you walked in a door at the end of a level and you only heard explosions, imps, soldiers, and screams lmao. Then after that, a mail order address.
I absolutely loved the look of nostalgia on James face... Brb playing Super Metroid on SNES
Round 42 sounds like the dentist office. Up and down whirring sound that makes me think of tooth pain. Still, looks like a blast.
Mike , show him the DOS version of Bionic Commando and Mega Man ... hehehehehe
The colors weren't a limitation of DOS, they were a limitation of the display. There were plenty of DOS games that had 256 colors. Doom was a DOS game. Duke Nukem 3D was a DOS game. The potential was there to make a Contra game that looked far better than the Nintendo, but clearly the effort/technology wasn't there to do it at that time. :)
Haha I was one of those PC kids growing up. While I did play the Snes and Genesis and Playstation at my friends/cousins, for me Jazz Jackrabbitc Commander Keen and Hocus Pocus were my side scrollers, One Must Fall 2097 was my fighting game, and Raptor and Tyrian were my top down shooters.
Oh my, those CGA graphics were something to behold, especially that color pallet. Thank goodness I had a Tandy with 16 color graphics, so at least some games looked good. For the record, I had a pc and did not have an NES, and I didn't get this on pc.
I jaw dropped at the end...my mouth is still open...damn!!!
louder! I can still hear james and mike
14:08 Is pure heartbreak...
Wow, I never knew Contra was released for DOS! Thanks for this video. The game looks awful, though :D
round 42 had really cool sound!
I'm digging the DOS action. I just built a retro machine for DOS gaming.
Back before PC gaming was the master race.
still better than Atari.
You wouldn't know about the Game Glitch Gremlin? What a magical wtf ending! I love you guys!
Okay, why is James racting to the DOS Contra theme so funny? Oh maybe it's the increasing zoom with each note! Also his blurry expression.
"People just think DOS games all suck."
Man, DOS was incredible in the 90s thanks to companies like Apogee/id Software and Epic Mega Games and if computers were more prevalent in homes back then, they'd have been way more in direct competition with home consoles. People tend to forget that DOS games moved away from the old CGA graphics pretty early on in the 90s, and we had full coloured games with fantastic midi soundtracks even before CD-ROM became mainstream.
Someone needs to record a full playthrough of Round 42. I wanna see the last level.
Nostalgic. Dang I'm old.
Well, you beat the game. At least, you got as far as you possibly could before it fucked out!
Used to play Round 42 A LOT on my stepdad's PC.. simple but it just works.
This must be really pushing the DOS. Look at that complex detail for the hardware it’s running or emulating. It’s crazy! Remember this was before a Windows cd era. So they wanted to run it as if it were a game for the time, not just because “oh it could have used something like wolfenstein 3d engine”. I could be wrong, they seemed to make this a timely release.
This looks like it has all of the responsiveness of a Tiger Electric game.
Its so strange to see James get the hang at a retro game so quickly
The ending reminds me of Retro Replay.
Round 42 reminds me a lot of Megamania for the 2600, with all the weird things to shoot and all. Looks really fun but man are those sounds something else! ;p
I remember playing Mortal Kombat 3 and then Trilogy in DOS, the Windows version of Trilogy ran really poorly. I think I was still playing Dos games until atleast 1998 because of its lower overheads compared to Windows.
Lol you can see the difference between Nastalgia with James and mike playing round 42
Nice Epic Pinball music at the beginning
Now I see why James said Round 42 is the shit. Looks awesome!
Superb f...ing video produktion.
Great work guys!💪
would you guys ever do a review on a retropie?
Are there only cga graphics available? And no adlib sound option?
I like the mini map. James looks so happy playing Round 42. Happy Video Game Nerd?
Actually looks cooler than what I thought it was going to.
round 42 is like retro geometry wars
The sound effects remind me of the Cheetahmen music.
Reminds me of 'Demon Attack' for Atari 2600
Oh my god.
Years ago I was dreaming that James will do something on DOS games. (Actually, as the AVGN).
I thought too bad it will never happen. He does console stuff only, i thought.
Well, now, years later (a decade perhaps) we finally have this!
Not an AVGN video, but still... :)
I never encountered Round 42 before, and I played A LOT of DOS games... It looks nice.
Please take a look at "Hard Corp Uprising" on PS3/360/Steam?. It IS a modern, side-scrolling Contra game published by Konami and it is awesome. They took a Saturday morning anime direction but it is Contra. IGN has a review of it on UA-cam so check it out! There's an "Uprising" mode where accumulated points can be used in a store to upgrade weapons, lives, and even moves like a triple jump. So it feels like an evolution of the formula. There is an arcade mode that is essentially classic Contra rules. It's cheesy, beautiful, familiar but different. Must play for Contra fans. Highly recommended.
love classic ms dos games
Round 42 sounds like a cat in pain.
Soundblaster bib bloop noises
if you have a real 80's/90's pc you're playing this on, plug it into a tv through composite. sometimes those hideous colors blend in standard def and look closer to an nes game's color palate
in the intro there is a SD hybrid memory disk card going in to a floppy drive :D so improper :P
BTW Round 42 is very cool game for 8088/8086 and CGA , the CGA mode is fantastic text mode with all 16 colors available , someone have to mod the game to run on EGA/VGA video cards :)
10:52 "NinETehEn"
Cute Contra! It's just cute, how limited this is. Love these DOS games.
Funny game for DOS: Alley cat, prince of persia (with pc speaker)
James' face when the game crashes XD
Vintage bullet hell game. Love it
These guys never age
John Carmack helped DOS games "git good!" Basically, "id software" and "Apogee" showed what 286 processor and DOS capable off in 1991-93. Some other studios like "Bitmap Brothers" or "Titus" (Yeah, same "Titus" responsible for "Superman 64" made good games from time to time) also published good arcades in early 90's. Since 1994 some decent ports from 16-bit consoles' arrived (Disney's Aladdin, Jungle Book, The Lion King; Cool Spot, Earthworm Jim 1-2, Pitfall).
But, yeah, most of the NES ports to DOS in 1988-91 were horrible!