Tag: snes game

Chrono Trigger surprisingly releases on Steam! But…

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I would be saying hooray! …But, this may not be the exact release you want. So, how could you release Chrono Trigger and mess it up? Well, maybe it has some annoying load times like the US PlayStation release?

Let’s not start with the negatives out right, but the good things the Steam version does.

  • It’s out on the PC, for everybody!
  • Extra dungeons from the DS port (arguably the best version right now)
  • Gamepad support
  • Autosaves
  • Other Steam goodies like trading cards, if you’re into that

So no, the load times aren’t an issue. But probably the main gripe everyone is going to have is this:

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I mean, look at it! This is not the Chrono Trigger I remember. Sure, the interface is not my favorite, in fact I could probably deal with the new menus and be fine. However, two other things stand out. The font is ugly. It straight up does not fit the feel of the game. It’s huge, plain and out of place. Like the font itself is too modern looking for its own good.

Second is the graphics filter. You can tell the graphics are smoothed out in the Steam release, which initially isn’t a turn off, but the more I played it, the more it felt like I was looking at a blurry painting. The Steam release has some different colors, objects and a few other noticeable changes. For comparison, here’s a screenshot of what it should look like on the Super Nintendo.

Chrono_Trigger_Gato_Fight_Intro[1]

At the very least, we got Chrono Trigger, again. Not exactly in the best form, but at least we got it. And I can’t not recommend this game to someone who hasn’t played it or doesn’t have another medium to play it on.

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Rayman SNES found after more than 20 years

DavidLeave a comment

The creator of Rayman, Michel Ancel, recently found the long-lost prototype ROM of the original Rayman. It was slated for release on the Super Nintendo, but never officially made it out of production.

 

Rayman was initially developed for the Atari ST by Ancel alone.[6] When Frédéric Houde joined the project, they intended to produce a SNES-CDversion[6] and the developers hired animators from a cartoon company that considerably improved the graphics;[citation needed] however, the Super NES CD-ROM Adapter was canceled and the SNES version was cancelled in favor of systems with CD support,[8] leaving this version of the game unfinished but playable.[9] The team felt that the Atari Jaguar was the first system that could handle the graphics they wanted and moved development to a Jaguar version,[6] and advertisements in late 1994 announced the game as a Jaguar exclusive.[10] Focus was later shifted to the PlayStation version due to the system’s greater power, ease to program for, and CD technology.[6] The Saturn version came later in the development.[citation needed] 32X and 3DO Interactive Multiplayer versions were also announced,[11] but never released. -Wikipedia

Earthbound has copy protection?

David1 Comment

When I first heard about it, I didn’t even know it was possible for a Super Nintendo game to do such things outside of region locking. Earthbound does multiple things to make sure you’re playing the game legitimately.

The first line of defense is not out of this world, it just makes sure you’re playing it in the correct region for your system.

Part two of the copy protection comes when the game checks for SRAM. Anything more than 8kb gets you trouble with this screen below.

Phew … two different and separate tiers of copy protection. That’s got to be enough! Wrong! If any of the above features are disabled, the game will eventually notice that the programming has been changed and increase the number enemy encounters in numerous areas! This is sure to make a playthrough harder and much more frustrating.

The little green sprouts and the dinosaur looking thing are the enemies

If that’s not enough to thwart potential pirates, the programming within Earthbound supposedly also checks multiple times while you’re playing, so parts one and two could possibly be implemented at any time. If the third zone of protection isn’t enough to scare you away, there is one last trick the game will pull.

After you finish the final battle, the game will freeze just before the ending. Upon resetting, you will find all your save games erased. The video below details the steps of Earthbound’s copy protection as well as the final tier in action.