Three I can think of would definitely be Ghosts 'n Goblins, Ikari Warriors, and Commando. Mostly because oddly enough the Atari ST and Amiga ports of those three are some of the best ports to those two computers (due to Elite being the developers). I'd go as far as to say the ports of Commando to Amiga/ST and GnG to Amiga were literally THE best before the PS1 and Saturn "Capcom Generation" series came out.
I would love to see you cover Sonic the Fighters. Considering the fact that there’s the original Arcade, the Sonic Gems Collection port on Gamecube, the HD port on Xbox 360/PS3, and then the port in Lost Judgment and Like a Dragon Gaiden. There are some interesting differences between all the versions and even extra features strung throughout. It’s definitely my most desired game to see covered by you.
Great Episode Joe! I especially liked the Rampage portion because I remember playing that on a lot with my sister back on the ol NES. I would love to see you cover the ports of STUNN RUNNER simply because as Unbelievable as it sounds, the LYNX version is the ONLY ONE that got it right!
Believe it or not there is some great amiga arcade ports Ghouls n ghosts Roland Shadow dancer Iqari warriors Pang Super hang on Just to name a few, if you have the time check them out maybe you could do good arcade ports to the amiga video 😮
I find it unsettling. It'd be better if he had to fight guys with pipes. Bit of trivia for you, Take on Me is a translation of the norwegian "tar på meg" (take on me when translated directly) but actually means "touch me" in Norwegian. A later hit by AH-HA as I'm sure you already know. Since moving here, I've been petitioning the government to change Take On Me to be their national anthem but I've heard nothing back sofar!
Funny thing about it, although I'm sure it's a coincidence in timing purely, was he changed that intro right after I was asking about that SNES ASCII pad and where it came from
"Rampage" for the Lynx uses the system's link cable to play with up to 4 players simultaneously. Having actually done this a few times, it may just be my favorite way to play the game. Having the ability to "hide" from other players by trying to avoid their screen adds some strategy to the play. Incidentally, it started as a different game but was licensed and converted into a "Rampage" port. Thanks for posting!
@@RappingNinja I got one, and a short while later they went down in price, so some of my friends got them too. I never got to play "Gauntlet 3," but the multiplayer in "Rampage," "Xenophobe," and "Xybots" was terrific! "Xybots" was like playing a multiplayer 3rd person cooperative shooter, in 1992 -- and portable!
8-Player Slime World was incredible. It was always a race to get the Mega Bomb, drop it in the cavern, and high tail it out of there before it vaporized everyone else…
@@drunkensailor112 Nope! Smack dab in the middle of nowhere, U.S.A. We still had an Electronics Boutique relatively close, though. Honestly, I think that when I got the port of "S.T.U.N. Runner" almost everyone with a GameBoy or Game Gear got envious, as that game looked absolutely incredible on the Lynx at the time.
I enjoyed the Alien Storm segment. I have a ton of nostalgia for the early pre-SNES Genesis years. The system didnt entirely have an identity beyond arcade ports and EA PC ports, but you could tell everyone involved was figuring out the system at the same time. The best games came after Sonic, of course, but those early years were a lot of fun.
There was a flaw with the Sega SG-3000 FM sound that meant if you played PSG sound at the same time it distorted. The Master System fixed it, but a lot of games wanted SG-3000 compatibility.
You were joking, but Amiga developers were often only handed some screenshots (I.e. photos) and a vague description of the gameplay as a starting point, as those were rather low budget and low priority ports.
Very true. Amiga getting a bad rep here because of that. Has Joe done computer-to-console ports before? I'm thinking "Monkey Island", "Populous", "Lemmings", "SimCity", "Syndicate", and so on.
That wasn't just the Amiga, all the British Micros had such issues. That is, when the publisher didn't instead just decide to get some high school student to do the "port", or alternatively, just pay some bedroom coder for an already existing game and quickly slap in some text linking it to the franchise. British Micros had it tough back in the day, which is why you find so many more UK fans of weird Euro-jank such as Zool and James Pond. They didn't know any better, and we should pity them, not judge them. We can also chuckle a bit too, politely, as long as it's not to their faces.
Hey Joe,glad that you're featuring some Amiga stuff. As I'm sure you know,most arcade ports to this system are absolute balls but it's a very capable 16 bit computer with some amazing original games.
I’d never seen the Amiga version - or the Atari ST version either, come to think of it - and I’m surprised the SMS version has better graphics for the characters themselves. They should’ve used that Parallel Port Adapter that added 2 more joystick ports that were used by Leatherneck and Gauntlet 2 on the ST and Amiga to support more players with joysticks…
Just to be that guy, Rampage on the Lynx supports 4 players via comlynx cable and 4 Lynx's. It's pretty good multiplayer, though hard to keep track of other players.
What a cool episode comparing the arcade ports. I never played the original Rampage, just Rampage World Tour on N64/PS1. Love the Mega Man 2/Greendog skit at the end.
I absolutely LOVE Time Soldiers. I realize it's 99% nostalgia, but I love rotary knob games and it has, I guess... a vibe that I love. ALSO THAT SCREAM (as you noted)
I would have never remembered the name if not for this video. I thought it was made by Sega and I remembered Time something so I tried googling and kept coming up with Time Gal on Sega CD and Time Traveller that holographic arcade game also by Sega
I give this channel props. They have NEVER asked for subscription or likes. Been watching them for years, and this has always been the standard. Keep on making great videos Joe. Let the 300k people that really think you deserve their attention be your badge of honor.
This exactly. I'm so sick of hearing "Smash that like button and don't forget to subscribe and click the bell icon to turn on notifications blah blah blah." It's an insult to my intelligence, and it's woefully tacky. Just one more to add to the list of why Joe is an elite-level content creator.
Thanks Joe! This was fantastic as always! I was obsessed with the ATARI game ROADBLASTERS. A fun mix of racing and vehicular combat. It was ported to the LYNX, GENESIS and I think a few other systems. Might be worth including in a follow up to this video!
I actually got a copy of that Rampage for the 2600. It’s definitely an attempt to dumb down graphics and game to it’s most basic form well still resembling the original. It’s actually pretty cool on a technical level
It’s too bad Activision didn’t use their cart-based DPC sound chip that was used in 2600 Pitfall 2 on any other later 2600 - or 7800 - game they made. In retrospect, that was pretty odd of them…
Just the thing I needed to relax after a 9 1/2 hour shift, Can now just watch and have fun, so good. Probably the only retro gaming show i watch anymore is game sack. Love learning about these and i have been getting back into my old sega genesis days. Streets of rage 2 as skate on 4k is awesome to play!
Every little while I'm reminded of Alien Storm, which I saw footage of once on Larry Bundy Jr.'s channel and am always trying to figure out what game it is, only to learn and forget again a few months later XD
24:31 In Master System’s Vigilante, you can attack while jumping by pressing up (punch) or down (kick) right after leaving the ground. It’s harder, but it’s doable.
Everybody knows that's how you know do it. Even Google knows. They made a video years ago called "Google Maps 8-Bit for NES" where they tell you to do it.
Fantastic episode. I love Master System, so it was great to see it feature in every segment. Rampage on the MS is one of the best titles on the system.
@@dustytux I actually mentioned Road Rash in my original comment, but deleted it before posting. RR is an incredible port that retains the experience of the MD version.
@@petesmart1983 There's a lot of fantastic titles, which is why it's one of my favourite systems. Populous, Rescue Mission, Sonic Chaos, and R-Type are some of my other favourites. I think Rampage gets the most overall playtime now that I can use save states and just jump in for a couple of minutes at a time.
Shock troopers on Neo Geo perfected the overhead run and gun formula started on Ikari Warriors and Time Soldiers. Just holding down fire locks you in the direction you’re shooting.😊
This episode is for me. Arcade gaming is in my blood. My first NES games were Rad Racer and Mike Tyson Punch-Out! I wanted all the arcade ports. Double Dragon, Golden Axe, Heavy Barrel, Final Fight, Mortal Kombat-I hated using all my quarters. After they would announce an arcade port on my console, I’d get so excited! Next gen has always fascinated me.
Sick intro. Also, a Rampage arcade cabinet was at this store my mom frequented when i was really young. I remember it being quite the event when i would get a quarter for it.
Joe! Thanks for giving us so much Sack over the years! I always look forward to getting a faceful from you every 2 weeks! From another Denver Native, have a great one man!
I would love to see you cover Sonic the Fighters. Considering the fact that there’s the original Arcade, the Sonic Gems Collection port on Gamecube, the HD port on Xbox 360/PS3, and then the port in Lost Judgment and Like a Dragon Gaiden. There are some interesting differences between all the versions and even extra features strung throughout. It’s definitely my most desired game to see covered by you.
Alien Storm for the Genesis was my guilty pleasure back in the days. It was just like Golden Axe but sci-fi (my setting of choice, as opposed to fantasy). It was really fun to play with my best friend. The 3D shooting gallery stages were quite impressive, with the parallax, all the destruction and some convincingly animated scaling effects. By the time I bought it, it was priced down to $30, so I definitely felt like I got my money's worth with it.
The Sega Mark III FM Sound Unit can't mix both the PSG and FM audio at the same time, that's why almost every FM game avoided PSG audio. Most mods and the actual Japanese Master System do mix it, but alas, the precedent was set.
To answer your question at 8:30 the japanese title is ブレイゾン which would suggest it's supposed to be pronounced "Blazon" or possibly "blaze on" rather than "bla zeon"
That Blazeon game's mech design seem to be heavily inspired if not blatantly lifted from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack. I can see Sazabi, Jagd Doga, Alpha Azieru and straight up Nu Gundam with swapped color complete with its fin funnel floating around.
Every time I see gameplay of Vigilante, the main character reminds me of Gohan from Dragon Ball Z. It's the blue clothes with red belt and armbands that does it!
I love Time Soldiers. It was the first arcade cabinet I bought when I started getting a few as an adult years ago. I still play it regularly. There's a lot of nuance to the power-up system, especially in how the P icon gives you rapid fire. It not pnly does that, but also uses your power up meter as a life bar, which you can refill by grabbing another P or any weapon. The tricky part is that you can stack each of the 3 weapons up to 3 times to dramatically increase their power, which makes boss fight dramatically easier. However, getting hit in Power Up mode lowers your weapon meter imstead of losing a life. So, grabbing a new weapon can save your life, but could make you weaker if it isn't the same weapon you were using. It's a great risk-reward mechanic that can affect your routing quite a bit. It also has a random element, where the first stage is randomly chosen from the first 3, and when you clear them all, stages 4 and 5 are then shuffled as well. This makes managing your power ups amd learning what weapons appear frequently in each stage very rewarding, allowing you to stay powered up for pretty much the whole game if you're savvy enough with it. Also, in the Powered-up mode, your weapon bar gradually depletes not as you shoot, but as you move. This rewards you for mastering the rotary controls amd moving efficiently, which is cool. That final stage is nasty no matter how you slice it. There are versions on PSP and the SNK 40th Anniversary collection for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam as well. These are easy to write off as emulation, but in absence of rotary sticks, it's notable that they handle the controls differently. On PSP, you use the shoulder buttons to cycle through the 12 rotary positions one by one. It can feel very slow and clunky. SNK 40th treats it more like a twin stick shooter with some tweaks. Neither work as well as the rotary stick. There is a new rotary stick controller that only works on PC, although it has its issues, it's as close as there is available in absence of the real deal. The emulators on PSP and SNK 40th are not the same either, and actually screw up the randomization of the levels.
They sometimes get together like old times. Most notably they remade their first episode together, about the Sega Menacer v.s the S. N. E. S. Super Scope, for their 12th anniversary.
Ah, Amiga versions, my childhood. Usually ported very cheaply by three guys, with the music done by a friend who did electronic music as a hobby hence not caring about being authentic, he just wanted to put his own tunes out there, it's why you get things like the RoboCop music many of you know from the GB port of the 1988 Arcade. This also explains why a lot of games would be music *or* sound effects, as the composer was used to having all four channel to themselves. Better games would either use three and leave one for sound, or put higher pitched instruments on a shared channel as it's less obvious when they get supressed by SFX. Without sprite limits to contend with you could usually sling everything on screen (and look good in screenshots), but at the cost of performance. Crushing the viewport was common so you could save some power and didn't have to rescale the game for PAL and NTSC, but the games were often developed in PAL-land leaving the speed feeling a bit too fast and jerky in NTSC like Rampage here. Generally it could do okay on on 80s arcades if the budget was there (the port of Golden Axe is perfectly servicable), but these were games made to a price point of £15 and often lower, so you were unlikely to get parity with the consoles.
In the case of RoboCop, Jonathan Dunn was one of Ocean's in-house musicians, so that's not quite the case here. The title track is in both the GB and C64 versions of the game. The reason it's linked to the GB version is that's what the Ariston exec who came up with the idea of using it in an ad heard. The C64 version is better as the SID is a more capable synthesiser (and Dunn made great use of it) than the GB's PSG, but they're both great!
The Lynx had a lot of quality ports or arcade transitions. I think they were overlooked at the time of launch because the games were perceived as being old.
The Lynx launched in 1989. How exactly is Rampage or any Atari Games Corp licensed arcade game for it considered “old” at that time? Klax? Stun Runner? Tournament Cyberball? Roadblasters? Xybots? Hydra? Pit Fighter? APB? Hard Drivin’? Those were all instant classics and they were being released for the Lynx as quickly as they made it out to the Sega Genesis.
Grew up in a tiny place on a mountain in Serbia. A guy opened a little arcade, and had a few (absolutely counterfeit) cabinets: Airwolf, some helicopter game I never managed to find online, Rolling Thunder, Strikers 1942 and the greatest arcade multiplayer game ever - Time Soldiers 😂 The first game I beat on one token! Defined my damn childhood haha
The reason you don’t usually hear both the PSG & FM together is due to a technical issue with the original Japanese FM add-on. The register to enable both simultaneously wasn’t implemented correctly until the later JP Master System, meaning that all retail games set the soundtrack to FM only for compatibility. The only game which sets the register to use both is the fanmade hack of Sonic 1 on the SMS by Valley Bell.
The Rampage segmemt made me wanna see a miniature Joe dressed in a monkey suit, climbing a comically sized cabinet of games, punching out all the ones he despises. 😂
I don't know if you covered Bad Dudes on previous episodes but it's one of the rare times where it has the closest arcade to home port, and the arcade music rocks as well. Toki is also another excellent arcade conversion on the Amiga.
Great video man, as always. I love the funny bit at the end of each video. How 'bout a Mortal Kombat video with all of the ports to different consoles.
Its delightful to have these pop up duing a biut with insomnia Doesnt help it at all, but i think thats a compliment xD Always a banger, joe! You really are more Redif than anyone else. If not the Redifest, then certainly Redifer than the rest
I love the home conversion episodes. Always awesome to see which games made it and which fell flat. Vigilante also came to the Commodore 64 and it was so bad it was in my top 3 cassettes (ask your parents) I would only load up if I wanted to re-confirm it was as bad as I thought it was. It was arguably my most hated game on the system. Impressive!
@@GregsGameRoom im pretty sure joes done stuff for those systems before but I could be wrong. He doesn’t seem to cover stuff from the 2nd gen of consoles so its refreshing to see it here
I get the impression that the mostly European developers working on Commodore computers just liked going crazy with the soundtracks more than anything else (some of them even went on to have real careers as composers), which is why you get so many cases of otherwise awful games having great music that may or may not be adapted from the original arcades, and the soundtracks took priority over the effects, so the music would hog all the sound channels and leave you with a choice between either music or effects but not both. People who grew up with those computers would just turn the game on so they could hear the music and not bother playing the games.
Some other arcade games that came home during the 16-bit era with varying degrees of decency would be games like Terminator 2, lethal enforcers, TMNT 2 which was known on the SNES as TMNT 4 Turtles in Time, Sunset Riders, pit fighter, Super Smash TV, UN Squadron. Most of these are actually really good conversions, equal or Superior to their arcade counterpart and with the exception of pit fighter, actually fun to play
@@bradallen8909 Bionic Commando and rygar for the NES were Superior to their arcade counterparts. They had more to offer, especially in terms of replayability, to their arcade counterparts. But if you want to get real fast and loose with it you can say they are all Superior to their arcade counterparts because you don't have to shove a quarter in the machine every time you want to play it
@@bradallen8909 I know earlier Arcade games are the focus here, but I would say most Arcade ports on the Dreamcast are superior, even many a generation earlier on the 32-Bit systems like Saturn. Especially for Dreamcast those Arcade games (specifically by SEGA) run on the same hardware anyway, so no compromises there, and the developers usually added quite a lot of extra content to make up for the expected higher (replay) value at home.
What are some arcade ports you'd like to see covered?
Three I can think of would definitely be Ghosts 'n Goblins, Ikari Warriors, and Commando. Mostly because oddly enough the Atari ST and Amiga ports of those three are some of the best ports to those two computers (due to Elite being the developers). I'd go as far as to say the ports of Commando to Amiga/ST and GnG to Amiga were literally THE best before the PS1 and Saturn "Capcom Generation" series came out.
AVP was a phenomenal arcade game. The snes game though.....
I would love to see you cover Sonic the Fighters. Considering the fact that there’s the original Arcade, the Sonic Gems Collection port on Gamecube, the HD port on Xbox 360/PS3, and then the port in Lost Judgment and Like a Dragon Gaiden.
There are some interesting differences between all the versions and even extra features strung throughout.
It’s definitely my most desired game to see covered by you.
Great Episode Joe! I especially liked the Rampage portion because I remember playing that on a lot with my sister back on the ol NES. I would love to see you cover the ports of STUNN RUNNER simply because as Unbelievable as it sounds, the LYNX version is the ONLY ONE that got it right!
Believe it or not there is some great amiga arcade ports
Ghouls n ghosts
Roland
Shadow dancer
Iqari warriors
Pang
Super hang on
Just to name a few, if you have the time check them out maybe you could do good arcade ports to the amiga video 😮
This new "Take On Joe" Intro is awesome 👍
"Joe me on"
I find it unsettling. It'd be better if he had to fight guys with pipes. Bit of trivia for you, Take on Me is a translation of the norwegian "tar på meg" (take on me when translated directly) but actually means "touch me" in Norwegian. A later hit by AH-HA as I'm sure you already know. Since moving here, I've been petitioning the government to change Take On Me to be their national anthem but I've heard nothing back sofar!
Funny thing about it, although I'm sure it's a coincidence in timing purely, was he changed that intro right after I was asking about that SNES ASCII pad and where it came from
@@vidsofyermom "Joe on me".
He'll be gone, in a day or two.
"Rampage" for the Lynx uses the system's link cable to play with up to 4 players simultaneously. Having actually done this a few times, it may just be my favorite way to play the game. Having the ability to "hide" from other players by trying to avoid their screen adds some strategy to the play.
Incidentally, it started as a different game but was licensed and converted into a "Rampage" port.
Thanks for posting!
You found four people in one location who all had an Atari Lynx????
@@RappingNinja I got one, and a short while later they went down in price, so some of my friends got them too.
I never got to play "Gauntlet 3," but the multiplayer in "Rampage," "Xenophobe," and "Xybots" was terrific! "Xybots" was like playing a multiplayer 3rd person cooperative shooter, in 1992 -- and portable!
8-Player Slime World was incredible. It was always a race to get the Mega Bomb, drop it in the cavern, and high tail it out of there before it vaporized everyone else…
@@RappingNinja maybe he is from the netherlands. The atari lynx sold well here. I knew several people in my town who had one.
@@drunkensailor112 Nope! Smack dab in the middle of nowhere, U.S.A.
We still had an Electronics Boutique relatively close, though.
Honestly, I think that when I got the port of "S.T.U.N. Runner" almost everyone with a GameBoy or Game Gear got envious, as that game looked absolutely incredible on the Lynx at the time.
Gamesack covering a Atari 2600 version of a game. In 10 years I've been watching this channel I believe this might be the first time.
I keep waiting for that 2600 episode…
Are you mad his game room is better than yourse@@ramrodbldm9876
@@GregsGameRoomwith the 2600+ and 7800+ now out, why hasn't he yet?
I enjoyed the Alien Storm segment. I have a ton of nostalgia for the early pre-SNES Genesis years. The system didnt entirely have an identity beyond arcade ports and EA PC ports, but you could tell everyone involved was figuring out the system at the same time.
The best games came after Sonic, of course, but those early years were a lot of fun.
There was a flaw with the Sega SG-3000 FM sound that meant if you played PSG sound at the same time it distorted. The Master System fixed it, but a lot of games wanted SG-3000 compatibility.
I like when i go to youtube to watch something for breakfast (it's morning in my time zone) and there is fresh new GameSack episode to play.
Same here!
You were joking, but Amiga developers were often only handed some screenshots (I.e. photos) and a vague description of the gameplay as a starting point, as those were rather low budget and low priority ports.
It was plagued by crap ports.
@@kuro68000 That gives me an idea! An Amiga edition of Piss-Poor Ports!
Very true. Amiga getting a bad rep here because of that. Has Joe done computer-to-console ports before? I'm thinking "Monkey Island", "Populous", "Lemmings", "SimCity", "Syndicate", and so on.
@@nearvanamanamiga is shitiest computer ever
That wasn't just the Amiga, all the British Micros had such issues. That is, when the publisher didn't instead just decide to get some high school student to do the "port", or alternatively, just pay some bedroom coder for an already existing game and quickly slap in some text linking it to the franchise.
British Micros had it tough back in the day, which is why you find so many more UK fans of weird Euro-jank such as Zool and James Pond. They didn't know any better, and we should pity them, not judge them. We can also chuckle a bit too, politely, as long as it's not to their faces.
That end sketch confirms it Joe loves Greendog so much it's in his DNA.
Not more than Truxton!
At the very least, his love of riffing on it.
Greendog is a certified classic. Needs a modern port and Remake
Hey Joe,glad that you're featuring some Amiga stuff. As I'm sure you know,most arcade ports to this system are absolute balls but it's a very capable 16 bit computer with some amazing original games.
I’d never seen the Amiga version - or the Atari ST version either, come to think of it - and I’m surprised the SMS version has better graphics for the characters themselves. They should’ve used that Parallel Port Adapter that added 2 more joystick ports that were used by Leatherneck and Gauntlet 2 on the ST and Amiga to support more players with joysticks…
Nothing like my morning coffee with a new episode of Game Sack before Church.Thanks Joe!
300K subs. Awesome! Congrats!
Just to be that guy, Rampage on the Lynx supports 4 players via comlynx cable and 4 Lynx's. It's pretty good multiplayer, though hard to keep track of other players.
Naw, I wanted to be that guy but then you just went ahead and were that guy before me :(
What a cool episode comparing the arcade ports. I never played the original Rampage, just Rampage World Tour on N64/PS1. Love the Mega Man 2/Greendog skit at the end.
I absolutely LOVE Time Soldiers. I realize it's 99% nostalgia, but I love rotary knob games and it has, I guess... a vibe that I love. ALSO THAT SCREAM (as you noted)
What do they say when they get back up? "You got it?"
@@jessragan6714 I think it's "KEEP GOING!"
I would have never remembered the name if not for this video. I thought it was made by Sega and I remembered Time something so I tried googling and kept coming up with Time Gal on Sega CD and Time Traveller that holographic arcade game also by Sega
TIME SOLDIER was so great in the time in arcade, that time travel thing, all the weapons & the 12 directions rotation stick !
EPIC'87 Game !!!
I give this channel props. They have NEVER asked for subscription or likes. Been watching them for years, and this has always been the standard. Keep on making great videos Joe. Let the 300k people that really think you deserve their attention be your badge of honor.
Neither does Classic Game Room or Sega Lord X
This exactly. I'm so sick of hearing "Smash that like button and don't forget to subscribe and click the bell icon to turn on notifications blah blah blah." It's an insult to my intelligence, and it's woefully tacky. Just one more to add to the list of why Joe is an elite-level content creator.
@@Write-Stuff yeah that's the younger UA-camrs doing that mostly
Usually when they don't do that crap it means you are actually watching a "show" as opposed to some farted out in an evening influencer ramble.
I loved the fun facts above the master system fm sounds in some of these games being unheard back in the day.
Although they also had a 2 player version of the Alien Storm cabinet, it was a 3-player game in the arcade.
Love the animated intro Joe.
Joe just got a new Amiga.
Well, new for him, that is.
Thanks Joe! This was fantastic as always! I was obsessed with the ATARI game ROADBLASTERS. A fun mix of racing and vehicular combat. It was ported to the LYNX, GENESIS and I think a few other systems. Might be worth including in a follow up to this video!
+1 for Roadblasters. Second only to S.T.U.N. Runner for my favorite faux 3D driving arcade port on the Lynx
Joe is always happy when playing Greendog
I actually got a copy of that Rampage for the 2600. It’s definitely an attempt to dumb down graphics and game to it’s most basic form well still resembling the original. It’s actually pretty cool on a technical level
It’s too bad Activision didn’t use their cart-based DPC sound chip that was used in 2600 Pitfall 2 on any other later 2600 - or 7800 - game they made. In retrospect, that was pretty odd of them…
Just the thing I needed to relax after a 9 1/2 hour shift, Can now just watch and have fun, so good. Probably the only retro gaming show i watch anymore is game sack. Love learning about these and i have been getting back into my old sega genesis days. Streets of rage 2 as skate on 4k is awesome to play!
Hey, thanks for showing me your Sack 👍
Every little while I'm reminded of Alien Storm, which I saw footage of once on Larry Bundy Jr.'s channel and am always trying to figure out what game it is, only to learn and forget again a few months later XD
24:31 In Master System’s Vigilante, you can attack while jumping by pressing up (punch) or down (kick) right after leaving the ground. It’s harder, but it’s doable.
It's been years, and I still enjoy this show, Joe.
Amazing stuff, Joe does it yet again. A king amongst men. Thanks, Joe, for keeping this channel going as it is much appreciated.
SMS Rampage brings back great memories.
Loved the ending: I'm a blowing nes catridge believer and you can't change my mind.
Everybody knows that's how you know do it. Even Google knows. They made a video years ago called "Google Maps 8-Bit for NES" where they tell you to do it.
They just don't want you to know you can convert any game into the cult classic Greendog by doing it passionately enough.
its so weird seeing things in the game world jitter as the screen scrolls.
Fantastic episode. I love Master System, so it was great to see it feature in every segment.
Rampage on the MS is one of the best titles on the system.
| _Rampage on the MS is one of the best_
| _titles on the system_
Nope, there are better games like Road Rash
@@dustytux I actually mentioned Road Rash in my original comment, but deleted it before posting.
RR is an incredible port that retains the experience of the MD version.
Castle of illusion easily the best
@@petesmart1983 There's a lot of fantastic titles, which is why it's one of my favourite systems.
Populous, Rescue Mission, Sonic Chaos, and R-Type are some of my other favourites.
I think Rampage gets the most overall playtime now that I can use save states and just jump in for a couple of minutes at a time.
I want to try Activision’s Ghost Busters on the SMS. I’ve played it on the 2600 and the Atari 8-Bits but never on the SMS.
Shock troopers on Neo Geo perfected the overhead run and gun formula started on Ikari Warriors and Time Soldiers. Just holding down fire locks you in the direction you’re shooting.😊
I remember always wanting Vigilante from seeing the screenshot on the back of the Turbografx 16 console box.
This episode is for me. Arcade gaming is in my blood. My first NES games were Rad Racer and Mike Tyson Punch-Out! I wanted all the arcade ports. Double Dragon, Golden Axe, Heavy Barrel, Final Fight, Mortal Kombat-I hated using all my quarters. After they would announce an arcade port on my console, I’d get so excited! Next gen has always fascinated me.
Two things, 1.) That skit was short but I laughed pretty hard. 2.) I am so going to mod my NES to make that noise when it can’t read a cart.
Sick intro. Also, a Rampage arcade cabinet was at this store my mom frequented when i was really young. I remember it being quite the event when i would get a quarter for it.
Amazing video and amazing before and after pics of Madonna. Well done, Joe!
Few things make me happier on a Sunday morning than some Sack in my face.
Joe! Thanks for giving us so much Sack over the years! I always look forward to getting a faceful from you every 2 weeks! From another Denver Native, have a great one man!
I would love to see you cover Sonic the Fighters. Considering the fact that there’s the original Arcade, the Sonic Gems Collection port on Gamecube, the HD port on Xbox 360/PS3, and then the port in Lost Judgment and Like a Dragon Gaiden.
There are some interesting differences between all the versions and even extra features strung throughout.
It’s definitely my most desired game to see covered by you.
The amiga always struggled with arcade ports. It took good programmers to get the best out of it and they were usually working on original games
Alien Storm for the Genesis was my guilty pleasure back in the days. It was just like Golden Axe but sci-fi (my setting of choice, as opposed to fantasy). It was really fun to play with my best friend. The 3D shooting gallery stages were quite impressive, with the parallax, all the destruction and some convincingly animated scaling effects. By the time I bought it, it was priced down to $30, so I definitely felt like I got my money's worth with it.
Rampage World Tour was my jam at the ice rink arcade.
Joe's consistently delivering excellent quality videos on them retro games.
The Sega Mark III FM Sound Unit can't mix both the PSG and FM audio at the same time, that's why almost every FM game avoided PSG audio.
Most mods and the actual Japanese Master System do mix it, but alas, the precedent was set.
5:43 That moment made me chuckle. "that tank is so annoying" Boom.
To answer your question at 8:30 the japanese title is ブレイゾン which would suggest it's supposed to be pronounced "Blazon" or possibly "blaze on" rather than "bla zeon"
I remember a videogame magazine showing photos of the Lynx Rampage port. I ended up buying the Lynx at launch because of the 'Amazing Graphics!'
That Blazeon game's mech design seem to be heavily inspired if not blatantly lifted from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack. I can see Sazabi, Jagd Doga, Alpha Azieru and straight up Nu Gundam with swapped color complete with its fin funnel floating around.
Every time I see gameplay of Vigilante, the main character reminds me of Gohan from Dragon Ball Z. It's the blue clothes with red belt and armbands that does it!
Gohan wore purple, not blue though.
I love Time Soldiers. It was the first arcade cabinet I bought when I started getting a few as an adult years ago. I still play it regularly. There's a lot of nuance to the power-up system, especially in how the P icon gives you rapid fire. It not pnly does that, but also uses your power up meter as a life bar, which you can refill by grabbing another P or any weapon. The tricky part is that you can stack each of the 3 weapons up to 3 times to dramatically increase their power, which makes boss fight dramatically easier. However, getting hit in Power Up mode lowers your weapon meter imstead of losing a life. So, grabbing a new weapon can save your life, but could make you weaker if it isn't the same weapon you were using. It's a great risk-reward mechanic that can affect your routing quite a bit.
It also has a random element, where the first stage is randomly chosen from the first 3, and when you clear them all, stages 4 and 5 are then shuffled as well. This makes managing your power ups amd learning what weapons appear frequently in each stage very rewarding, allowing you to stay powered up for pretty much the whole game if you're savvy enough with it. Also, in the Powered-up mode, your weapon bar gradually depletes not as you shoot, but as you move. This rewards you for mastering the rotary controls amd moving efficiently, which is cool. That final stage is nasty no matter how you slice it.
There are versions on PSP and the SNK 40th Anniversary collection for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam as well. These are easy to write off as emulation, but in absence of rotary sticks, it's notable that they handle the controls differently. On PSP, you use the shoulder buttons to cycle through the 12 rotary positions one by one. It can feel very slow and clunky. SNK 40th treats it more like a twin stick shooter with some tweaks. Neither work as well as the rotary stick. There is a new rotary stick controller that only works on PC, although it has its issues, it's as close as there is available in absence of the real deal. The emulators on PSP and SNK 40th are not the same either, and actually screw up the randomization of the levels.
Would love to have Dave to run in once. Or an update on him. Miss that guy.
They sometimes get together like old times. Most notably they remade their first episode together, about the Sega Menacer v.s the S. N. E. S. Super Scope, for their 12th anniversary.
It’s worth doing.
I'm surprised to say this but I genuinely don't miss him... Not hating at all, I'm just really happy with the way Game Sack has evolved, post-Dave.
@@Jesse__H Me neither, as I never watched Game Sack during the Dave years.
Ah, Amiga versions, my childhood. Usually ported very cheaply by three guys, with the music done by a friend who did electronic music as a hobby hence not caring about being authentic, he just wanted to put his own tunes out there, it's why you get things like the RoboCop music many of you know from the GB port of the 1988 Arcade. This also explains why a lot of games would be music *or* sound effects, as the composer was used to having all four channel to themselves. Better games would either use three and leave one for sound, or put higher pitched instruments on a shared channel as it's less obvious when they get supressed by SFX.
Without sprite limits to contend with you could usually sling everything on screen (and look good in screenshots), but at the cost of performance. Crushing the viewport was common so you could save some power and didn't have to rescale the game for PAL and NTSC, but the games were often developed in PAL-land leaving the speed feeling a bit too fast and jerky in NTSC like Rampage here.
Generally it could do okay on on 80s arcades if the budget was there (the port of Golden Axe is perfectly servicable), but these were games made to a price point of £15 and often lower, so you were unlikely to get parity with the consoles.
In the case of RoboCop, Jonathan Dunn was one of Ocean's in-house musicians, so that's not quite the case here. The title track is in both the GB and C64 versions of the game. The reason it's linked to the GB version is that's what the Ariston exec who came up with the idea of using it in an ad heard. The C64 version is better as the SID is a more capable synthesiser (and Dunn made great use of it) than the GB's PSG, but they're both great!
@@talideon Blast, knew I'd got that story muddled with another game. Also I now have that Ariston ad stuck in my head 😆
Damn, that Lynx port of Rampage just crushes the others visually. Holy shit.
The Lynx had a lot of quality ports or arcade transitions. I think they were overlooked at the time of launch because the games were perceived as being old.
The Lynx launched in 1989. How exactly is Rampage or any Atari Games Corp licensed arcade game for it considered “old” at that time? Klax? Stun Runner? Tournament Cyberball? Roadblasters? Xybots? Hydra? Pit Fighter? APB? Hard Drivin’? Those were all instant classics and they were being released for the Lynx as quickly as they made it out to the Sega Genesis.
Grew up in a tiny place on a mountain in Serbia. A guy opened a little arcade, and had a few (absolutely counterfeit) cabinets: Airwolf, some helicopter game I never managed to find online, Rolling Thunder, Strikers 1942 and the greatest arcade multiplayer game ever - Time Soldiers 😂 The first game I beat on one token! Defined my damn childhood haha
is it me? or is it that a new GameSack video pops up just when i need one?
If "every time you need it" is Saturday night, I guess so!
The turbo feature on the turbo grafx controllers made Vigilante so much better!
The reason you don’t usually hear both the PSG & FM together is due to a technical issue with the original Japanese FM add-on. The register to enable both simultaneously wasn’t implemented correctly until the later JP Master System, meaning that all retail games set the soundtrack to FM only for compatibility. The only game which sets the register to use both is the fanmade hack of Sonic 1 on the SMS by Valley Bell.
The Rampage segmemt made me wanna see a miniature Joe dressed in a monkey suit, climbing a comically sized cabinet of games, punching out all the ones he despises. 😂
The ultimate game - a game that plays itself! What it's all about? Beating the game! Awesome show, Joe!
Hahaha that end sketch! 😅 Equal parts silly and brilliant, love it. Oh and the episode was great as well.
I love these arcade to console episodes.
Joe has not thought of Madonna in decades. He googled her for this video and cried in horror when he saw her new face.
I played so much Rampage on the C64 before I even knew it was an arcade!
idea for an episode; x-men or comic book themed video games
That is an X-cellent idea. There are so many to explore. Lots of platformers, and beatemups
I'm not a X-men fan nor conosseiur (I mean, just the average knowledge) but I think that's a nice idea.
"All X-men games ever made for consoles"
I don't know if you covered Bad Dudes on previous episodes but it's one of the rare times where it has the closest arcade to home port, and the arcade music rocks as well. Toki is also another excellent arcade conversion on the Amiga.
The Amiga should have been able to do better since it has similar hardware to the Genesis.
Great video man, as always. I love the funny bit at the end of each video. How 'bout a Mortal Kombat video with all of the ports to different consoles.
God dayum dude. The production quality still amazes me. IDK what to say after watching you for over 10 years except great fucking job as always.
Its delightful to have these pop up duing a biut with insomnia
Doesnt help it at all, but i think thats a compliment xD
Always a banger, joe! You really are more Redif than anyone else. If not the Redifest, then certainly Redifer than the rest
SEGA gave most of the ports to USGold for the home computers.
Probably 1% is good.
Man, I knew how to pick losers: Amstrad CPC464; Game Gear; Amiga 1200. The Amstrad was particularly notorious for botching arcade ports.
Ending man, it's tradition at this point.
i think that "hey come on" sound was used when putting a quarter in the machine sound
I'd like to see a video of all the Genesis arcade ports. You're awesome Joe
I used to love playing rampage on the gameboy colour. Played it on so many car rides I finished it.
All the other versions I've never touched though 😅
Every other Sunday morning cardio I got this to listen to.🤟🏻💯
It's interesting to see how the developers made the best of what they had hardware wise on these consoles
I love the home conversion episodes. Always awesome to see which games made it and which fell flat.
Vigilante also came to the Commodore 64 and it was so bad it was in my top 3 cassettes (ask your parents) I would only load up if I wanted to re-confirm it was as bad as I thought it was. It was arguably my most hated game on the system. Impressive!
Great list of ports. Thanks for sharing.
We’re so lucky to have these ever two weeks
You have to praise Atari to try different things, even between ports
Rampage was one of my favorite NES games growing up.
this video encapsulates why i sold my Amiga as soon as i saw a Megadrive. 95% of Amiga arcade ports suck.
its Saturday night and time for a new GameSack!!
I thought there were new episodes every week but I now see weeks without an episode.
I love your topics on retro video games.❤
LOL the Atari 2600 of Rampage looks like a mutant E.T. 😂😂I enjoyed the N64 versions of Rampage the most. It was 3 player.
Rampage, Wonder Boy, Choplifter and Renegade got better versions on the Sega Master System
Wow you actually covered an atari 2600 version of a game. Cool.
And 7800! And Lynx!
@@GregsGameRoom im pretty sure joes done stuff for those systems before but I could be wrong.
He doesn’t seem to cover stuff from the 2nd gen of consoles so its refreshing to see it here
I knew the TurboGrafx-16 would make an appearance! Still bummed it got removed from the new intro, though.
I get the impression that the mostly European developers working on Commodore computers just liked going crazy with the soundtracks more than anything else (some of them even went on to have real careers as composers), which is why you get so many cases of otherwise awful games having great music that may or may not be adapted from the original arcades, and the soundtracks took priority over the effects, so the music would hog all the sound channels and leave you with a choice between either music or effects but not both. People who grew up with those computers would just turn the game on so they could hear the music and not bother playing the games.
Glad to see Game Sack covering the Amiga. There’s hope Game Sack will one day cover the Spectrum.
Or the Commodore 64
There's no sack like Gamesack
Some other arcade games that came home during the 16-bit era with varying degrees of decency would be games like Terminator 2, lethal enforcers, TMNT 2 which was known on the SNES as TMNT 4 Turtles in Time, Sunset Riders, pit fighter, Super Smash TV, UN Squadron. Most of these are actually really good conversions, equal or Superior to their arcade counterpart and with the exception of pit fighter, actually fun to play
Name one conversion that was “superior” to the arcade game.
@@bradallen8909 Bionic Commando and rygar for the NES were Superior to their arcade counterparts. They had more to offer, especially in terms of replayability, to their arcade counterparts. But if you want to get real fast and loose with it you can say they are all Superior to their arcade counterparts because you don't have to shove a quarter in the machine every time you want to play it
@@bradallen8909 I know earlier Arcade games are the focus here, but I would say most Arcade ports on the Dreamcast are superior, even many a generation earlier on the 32-Bit systems like Saturn. Especially for Dreamcast those Arcade games (specifically by SEGA) run on the same hardware anyway, so no compromises there, and the developers usually added quite a lot of extra content to make up for the expected higher (replay) value at home.
Girl: "OH? big"
Ice cream cohen: "I'm a BIG"
You talked about Rampage for 7 minutes that’s pretty impressive