Be wary of clone consoles, they're notorious for not being compatible with every game, and even with ones they are there can be visual/audio issues. Original hardware is usually best if you can go for that, but if you want a clone make sure you read up on it before buying.

I'm very happy with the modded Mega Drive I got back from http://www.consolepassion.co.uk, so once I have some money saved up I'll be sending off a SNES for the same treatment They even do a mod that allows you to play notoriously tricky games like Super Mario RPG and Kirby's Dreamland 3, though be prepared to fork £45 for it. Personally though I think that's worth it in the long run.

Thanks for heads up. I've checked a lot about the Retro Duo, quite a few of the best PAL SNES games don't work. I already have a PAL SNES though so this doesn't bother me too much. I want the clone purely for NTSC and JP games, and very few NTSC don't work. I'm mainly after Final Fantasy II, III and Earthbound (and probably Soul Blazer) which all work so thats good enough for me.

Also thanks for the link, I see they replace batteries so that'll be handy for some games in the future.

No problem Nice to see fellow GRcaders still playing old consoles.

And yeah, I think it's getting to the point where save batteries in SNES games are going to start dying. If you have something like an old RPG it's probably worth getting the battery replaced since you don't want to lose your save several hours later. Something like Mario World where it doesn't take too long to beat though you can probably just keep playing and see what happens.

Yeah, definitely. Every game that I've bought so far, I'd instantly put them in to see if they had a save. Starwing doesn't really matter. I've done 96 goals in Super Mario World now so I don't mind too much for that. When I get Earthbound the plan is to play through it once then I'll probably just leave it alone after that, preserve it.

I'm working through Zelda III at the moment. Just done the fourth Dark World dungeon. I love how that one gives you the compass and big key really early, then you see the skull just up the corridor, get to the boss room and it's just a big:



Genius!

I say I've done it, I actually died on the boss - I'll have another crack on it later.

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Did the boss easy enough the second time. Then used the Titan's Mitt to get the final bottle and the magic cape.

Now I've got to do the ice dungeon and I can never do that crystal switch puzzle so I always go to the next dungeon just to get that block-making cane...

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I too could never do that puzzle but didn't realise I could just go to the next one, get the cane and do it that way

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So you've never finished the game?

Actually though, there was this one time where I was absolutely determined to do it properly - and I finally did it. Then the next playthrough, I'd totally forgotten how and resorted back to the cheat.

I remember when I discovered that cheat, I was so pleased with myself I sent it into a magazine - convinced they'd print it. But they didn't.

Do you think Nintendo deliberately made this an option in case the difficulty of the Ice Dungeon puzzle put off loads of people?

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Technically I have finished LttP it just wasn't all my own work. I got so frustrated with it that I left the dungeon, did some dicking about and then lent it to a friend. The friend picked up where I left off, made his way all the way to the finale on my save then called me to do it for him when it proved too tough for him.

I still haven't a clue how to do that puzzle properly. I can push a block down there it's just I can only move it once and then it refuses to move again

Goof Troop was another one I never finished because of this bastard puzzle -



It's the block one toward the end

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For the first time ever, I finished Illusion of Time. Always played it at a friends house when I was a kid, we could never do that damn first boss. Now I've seen the rest of the game. It was pretty good but I think it lacks the depth of Zelda. The story was decent although the dialogue could be a bit painful at times, very simple and basic, kind of a reminder how it was back then. Graphics are pretty decent, but some of the dungeons are extremely annoying because you don't maps, they can be hard to navigate. But yeah, it was a good game. Not sure what to play properly now, just been kinda messing around on Super Mario Allstars, switching between 1 and 3. Might do another platformer now, so Donkey Kong Country 2.

Currently playing my way through Clock Tower (read: dying a lot). How is it that a game 16 years old and on the SNES can be this scary?

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OK, so I've just successfully done the dungeon (the proper way) when I realised all you had to do was approach from the left when the crystals were blue - and there was a way of dropping into the left room from above. So I did that, but I was on the wrong side of the room to reach the big chest (the hole where you drop is right by the entrance so you have no choice but to drop into the right hand side of the room - meaning the big chest is inaccessible).

So I did the block push thingy, defeated the boss - but I haven't got the dungeon's treasure yet. Bizarre! Obviously I'm going to go straight back in and get it, but that's strange. I've forgotten what the treasure is - it's obviously not essential. There are only 2 slots left on my item menu, the 2 canes - one of which you get in the next dungeon and the other you get in the Mountain somewhere.

I think it's some kind of armour, if memory serves....

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If I remember correctly the last cane was in a cave near the Turtle Rock dungeon.

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Dayum I need to play that sometime, I forgot that was on the SNES. Is there an English patch for it?

Doesn't need one, the various SNES downloads are pretty much all the hacked translation versions so every bit of it is in Queen's English.

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I lost my temper on the boss in Turtle Rock and threw my controller at the SNES. I caved in the reset button and had to open it up and wedge a piece of plastic in (as the default connection is closed, ie reset). Before carrying on playing, I couldn't be arsed putting it back together again.





It's still like that in my room!

I knew that GameBit adaptor I bought on a whim on eBay would come in handy someday....

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Blocks only move once, so you need to push one of the left blocks from the floor above (i.e. so it lands next to the switch). That's the challenge with the orange Crystal Switch blocks.

So I completed it this morning - 24 games, 3 pieces of heart left...

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Aww dude, don't widescreen up the 4:3 native screen!

...well I mean you can if you want, but don't you find the stretchedness of it irritating?

Looked fine to me.

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I'm more impressed with how you've managed to keep two circuit boards in a state where they're still usable.

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