A tiny number of original releases don't run properly or at all on some 2600 Juniors or 7800s, due to a reliance on quirks that were changed in later versions of the graphics chip. Probably not a major issue for classic collecting, but if you're interested in modern homebrew, it could be worth considering.

Yeah, Zero Tolerance is amazing from a technical standpoint, and a solid gaming experience as it goes, but I personally felt it dragged on for too long without enough variation. Then again I felt about the same regarding the original Doom and Doom 2, so it's probably more my tastes than the game itself.

So many great games. Some of my favourites (mostly action RPGs, exclusives marked *):

• Landstalker*
• The Story of Thor*
• Wonderboy in Monster World (* virtually an exclusive)
• Soleil*
• Flashback
• The Immortal
• Quackshot*
• Light Crusader*
• Arcus Odyssey
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2* (the other main games are good too, but this is my favourite)
• Desert Strike and Jungle Strike (I don't remember playing Urban Strike, but it got excellent reviews)
• The Lost Vikings
• Sword of Vermillion*

This is another good point. I'd try turning off Fast Startup first, and if that alone doesn't clear the issue, try this (leaving Fast Startup off).

Alas, that's already the name of a game engine.

If you're not going to jailbreak a New 3DS (probably my choice if I was focusing on DS and 3DS games, because those real dual screens make a difference), then why not just get a controller to use with the smartphone you probably already have in your pocket? Even a mid-range smartphone will match or beat most inexpensive handhelds for retro game emulation.

Why not? I think it's just an interesting side project fo the dev. This is a port of the original version for modern home computers, so it's not like they're limiting their audience.

But I would suggest that while it should be possible to make a good adaptation for 3rd generation systems (NES etc.), you're not going to be able to make a substantially similar product until you reach at least the 5th generation (PlayStation etc.), and perhaps not even then. The blurry parallax backgrounds, high number of particles, and level of detail make it necessary.

"Windows has inconsistency with icons and design in some areas."

I prefer Linux, but what? Oh, hello pot! Have you met my friend kettle?

Outside the major cities, at least, video arcades in Japan are still hanging on in 2025 with a mix of games. There are a lot of pseudo-gambling token games (think prize tickets), crane-style prize games, and simple, highly physical games (big buttons and levers, controller and body tracking) aimed at the 5-to-10-year-old segment.

In terms of things we'd recognize as "real" games, almost everything is groups of locally networked terminals with some kind of physical gimmick that doesn't translate well to a home experience. There are still some racing games, music games, and the like, with uncommon controllers and layouts, but the most common format right now is probably a flat table with an embedded screen that has some way of scanning and tracking collectible trading cards. The cards aren't just scanned in once for use and then put aside, but actually moved around the table as tokens within the game. Obviously there are "Magic" style games, but also RPGs (both turn-based and action), MOBAs, real-time strategy, and more. Horse racing games are also popular, but to be clear, the players don't "ride" the horses; they raise, trade, manage, and "bet" on them, and watch simulated races.

And these days almost everything uses player profiles saved to IC cards, ranked across the country and sometimes even the world.

Occasionally you'll see four or six of the old sit-down "city" style cabinets (like the ones pictured in the article) in a corner, running 1-on-1 fighting games, but those are mainly found in the specifically "retro" arcades.

I have a stack of Logitec F310 controllers, and I've never had them fail to work on any system (Windows, Linux, Android). They're not "pro gamer" or anything, fairly basic, but they've always responded smoothly for me even after many years of use. They're inexpensive, wired, and have an "XBox - DInput" switch on the back (at least mine do; that feature may have been removed by now).

The F310 (what I use) is wired and has no rumble feedback.

The F510 is wired and has rumble feedback, but I've never used one.

The F710 is wireless 2.4GHz (not Bluetooth) and has rumble feedback. I have two of these, and in my experience neither of them connects reliably, even under Windows with the official software installed.

I loved my MDs and Hi-MDs, but they had so many frills. All the frills. That was part of why I loved them!

The PlayStation 1 had a copy protection system that measured physical properties of the disc which couldn't be replicated by normal CD writers. There were a few ways to get around this, but to be able to put a burned CD into your console and boot directly from it into the game (as usual) required the installation of a fairly complex mod chip. A lot of people alternatively used the "swap trick", which is how I used to play my imported original games.

The DreamCast's copy protection was heavily reliant on using dual-layer GD-ROM discs rather than regular CDs, even though they look the same to the naked eye. There were other checks in place as well, but simply using GD-ROMs was pretty effective in and of itself.

Unfortunately, Sega also added support for a thing called "MIL-CD" to the DreamCast. MIL-CD was intended to allow regular music CDs to include interactive multimedia components when played on the console. However, MIL-CD was supported for otherwise completely standard CDs, including burned CDs, and had no copy protection, because Sega wanted to make it as easy as possible for other companies to make MIL-CDs, so the format could spread and hopefully become popular. Someone found a way to "break out" of the MIL-CD system and take over the console to run arbitrary code like a regular, officially released game, and that was the end of DreamCast's copy protection. People couldn't just copy an original game disc 1:1 and have it work; some work had to be done on the game to put it on a burned CD and still have it run (sometimes quite a lot of work, actually), but no console modification was needed. Anyone with a DreamCast relased before Sega patched this issue (which seems to be most of them) can simply burn a CD and play it on their console, provided they can get a cracked copy of the game.