PlayPal Genesis portable

Scott H wrote:
> It occurred to me after I posted this that some people might have
> played emulation more than the actual console, and gotten used to all
> of the flaws it exposes. "Blurry" is therefore going to need
> qualification based on which "platform" people prefer. I prefer the
> originals, which exhibit a developer/hardware imposed blur that helped
> the lower color counts appear higher. Emulation also screws with the
> timing of the original gameplay, either speeding it up, slowing it
> down, or otherwise breaking it slightly. If you only play on
> emulation, you don't notice this, you just judge the game itself based
> on the timing of the emulation. ( http://www.gamepilgrimage.com/Gensvsgenesis.htm
> )
>
> Most recently, I have played Sunset Riders on Genesis on my Mame box,
> and upon receiving the actual cart was quite pleased with the controls
> on the actual console using a Sega brand Genesis controller. Bullets
> are easier to track, the graphics are smoother all around, and jumping/
> sliding timing is easier to nail on the actual Genesis. If I had only
> played the game on emulation, I would have thought the difficulty
> level was much higher. With that said, I only used a hand full more
> continues in emulation than I did on the actual Genesis version, so it
> wasn't like the game was night and day different, but it was different.

I hear what you are saying, but you are crossing two different factors -
emulation accuracy and display quality.

Anyway, Genesis games weren't designed for the Nomad, either. I can't
think of a single game that was designed to take advantage of the Nomad
screen. You are dead correct about games being designed to run a NTSC
standard TV, but that wasn't really your point vis a vis the Nomad.
From where I'm sitting, any way you slice it the screen is blurry as hell.

As for sheer playability (display type independent), the obvious
preference is to run on native hardware like the Nomad. Playability can
be a bit different depending on the emulator, but it isn't something you
are going to notice unless it is tragically bad or you are very familiar
with a particular game (like your Sunset Riders example). Most emus
nowadays are dead-on, with the biggest issue being physical differences
like layouts and tactile response, which is admittedly important (It's
the reason I always buy first-party controllers).

For me, the blurry screen offsets whatever advantage running on native
hardware buys me.

As an aside, my favorite reason for using emus IMO are save states. Of
course, they can make an almost impossible game laughably easy, but they
can make *any* game friendly for on-the-go gameplay. Heck, they are the
only reason I ever finished After Burner on the SMS, which had been my
Moby Dick for the past 20 years... =)

Again - I'm glad you dig your Nomad. I just happen prefer the
alternatives out there. =)
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