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I tried a CRT shader for the first time in Retropie which adds scanlines. It makes Blazing Star on Final Burn Alpha look nice.

You may need to click each image to see the images in a larger scale to truly see the effect, since WordPress tends to shrink images to fit.

For scanlines/shaders, you’ve gotta go into RetroPie Setup. From there, Configuration/Tools -> Config Edit -> Config Basic libretro emulator options. Now here you can choose to apply the shader to ALL of the emulators (option 0) or do it for individual emulators. I’m using Final Burn Alpha, so I went to Configure additional options for fba. Option 3 is Video shader enable (3). Click that and enable “True.” Next is Video shader file (4). I chose crt/crt-hyllian.glslp . You can choose it with the glow (crt/crt-hyllian-glow.glslp) to add that aged CRT look. I think there are others that will mimic a curved monitor’s surface. Tinker around and see what you like.

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Pac-Man stuff found at the Can Do 100 yen store

A few weeks ago, a couple of students of mine alerted me to the 100 yen shop Can Do having plenty of neat Pac-Man crap in stock. On my lunch break, I had to go check it out for myself. I scored plenty of neat stuff! This photo is of my loot: clear stickers, zip storage bags, two sizes of masking tape, a keychain, stickers, a trading card, and a memo notepad. Score!

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My Atari Lynx crap

Here’s my Lynx crap. Behold the fancy carry case! I have the type 2 Lynx (the smaller one). I bought a set that came with the console, carry case, screen shield, and several games from an online store called Video Game Liquidators in 1997. Here’s my list of games:

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Chip’s Challenge
Gates of Zendocon
Gauntlet: The Third Encounter
Ishido: The Way of the Stones
Joust
Klax
Qix
Rampart
Roadblasters
Robo Squash
Rygar
Shanghai
S.T.U.N. Runner
Todd’s Adventure in Slime World
Xenophobe
Xybots
Zarlor Mercenary

I had hoped to visit Japan the summer of ’97 with the World Youth Visit Exchange Association (WYVEA), but the trip was cancelled. I had saved up enough money to go, but in the end I couldn’t go. (I went to Japan on my own the following year and made my own arrangements.) So, that summer I bought myself a Lynx and a decent VCR.

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Rockman explains why Russia had to secure the Donbass region of Ukraine

After waiting eight years for Ukraine to uphold the Minsk Agreements, after the stand-up comedian-turned-president Zelensky failed to keep his promise to end the genocide, Russia is now having to clean up the Nazi mess that the warmongering Neocons and Obamunists created in Ukraine. Putin is at war with both the Nazis and Biden’s money laundering scheme. Sometimes you cannot have peace unless you destroy the warmongers.

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Murtop, a clever neo-retro ’80s-style arcade game on Steam

I recently discovered a game publisher called Flynn’s Arcade (awesome name!). Basically, the game is a cross between Dig Dug and Bomberman. You play as a bunny rabbit that poops bombs. And no, I’m not being silly. the game actually says that you poop bombs by pressing the button!

The object of the game is to kill all of the enemies on screen before the timer runs out, and you get bonus points for eating the four carrots on each screen. Press the button to drop a bomb behind you. It’s not like Bomberman where you drop a bomb right where you are, but rather behind your bunny. The delay is very swift, so you must move quickly. You can also dislodge rocks to have them fall on the enemies. Points multiply when you kill more than one enemy.

The emulated CRT scanlines are great in this game. Sometimes these faux retro games go overboard with the scanlines, but they look nice in this game. The game is available for Steam OS, so it runs natively on Linux and Steam Deck. Last year, I discovered Annalynn. Murtop is another such fantastic neo-retro arcade game. Play it or else you suck!

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Assault Suit Leynos, a remake of the classic Megadrive game (called Target Earth on the Genesis) on Steam

Masaya’s “Assault Suit” series of side-scrolling mecha combat action games is fantastic. My first exposure to the series was Assault Suit Valken, aka “Cybernator” for North America, on the Super Nintendo. I played the crap out of that game, and then I later got Target: Earth for my Genesis. But Valken/Cybernator’s control was fantastic due to the extra buttons of the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo. Playing Target: Earth/Leynos with only 3 buttons, plus the inferior graphics, did not help me to enjoy the game much. I’ve played it again more recently on my Megadrive Mini, and it still just doesn’t play as well as it could, if only there were more buttons. I did, however, play Assault Suits Leynos 2 on the Saturn quite a lot and completed it.

So this is a remake of Leynos on Steam, and it is fantastic. It features Japanese voice acting for when the anime-style characters speak. For some dumb reason, the anime characters were removed for the North American Cybernator port, and I did a review of that game on my old Super Famicom page here. With extra shoulder buttons, this game plays very well. Of course it retains the 2D gameplay, but with updated graphics and beautiful lighting effects.

The game has mixed reviews on Steam, but I suspect that many are from people who are unfamiliar with the original game. I rather enjoyed it, and I waited for it to go on sale before nabbing it. Definitely give it a try if you are a fan of the series.

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My new Sega pillows from Shimamura

It’s been a while since I’ve found Sega merchandise at discount clothing store Shimamura. Several years ago, I bought two Sega jumper jackets: a black Dreamcast one and a gray one with Megadrive, Saturn, and Dreamcast prints. I also bought some Saturn pajamas (which I happen to be wearing tonight as I type this. At the time, Shimamura had plenty of great retro gaming stuff, like the Neo Geo hoodie shirt and some other stuff. I passed on getting a Sakura Taisen T-shirt, but got a Mega Man/Rock Man sweatshirt for my friend Brian.

This week, Sega pillows went on sale. The Japanese man I teach English with at my elementary school showed me the Shimamura ad in the newspaper on Wednesday. tonight I bought all six pillows! Here they are. The two Dreamcast ones are for my friend Lou, who will arrive in Japan this weekend. There is printed detail on the backs of these pillows as well. Very cool!