Destructoid Changelog - Happy New Year

Hey, it’s the last Destructoid Changelog for the 2024. Sort of. We still have the monthly special edition (that you can get in on by getting someone to sign up for the newsletter using the link below). This is the last vanilla edition. When you see this again, it will be 2025.

I was visiting my parents for the last three days. Won three out of four in Super Mario Party Jamboree, I will have you know. And true to the spirit of the game, all three of them were pure luck. The latter two were incredibly low-scoring when it came to accumulating stars, so I pulled ahead entirely based on bonus stars. Feel bad for my father. Guy can’t catch a break.

Speaking of the holidays, it was, unsurprisingly, a slow week. After the year we’ve had, I’m sure we could all use it. I’ve been taking the time to play some older games and titles I’ve missed out on. Hopefully, you’re enjoying a similarly lax time.

Thanks for sticking with us this year. As a reminder, if you get someone to sign up for the newsletter using the link below, you’ll start getting the monthly special edition on the last Monday of every month. For these, I interview a developer. This month, I talked to Puppet Combo’s Ben Cocuzza. Guy’s pretty much the godfather of indie horror games with titles like Babysitter Bloodbath and the more recent Stay Out of the House.

Shining Force II

I’ve had Shining Force II in my collection for a while, but wanted to save it until I finished Shining Force 1. Instead of that, I’m just kind of playing both concurrently.

A while back, I tried playing it and quickly found it wouldn’t hold a save. If you’re not much of a retro gamer, a lot of Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges (and NES, SNES, Game Boy, etc.) saved using a RAM chip that was kept active using a small battery (CR2032 in most console games). They weren’t really designed to be replaced because screw the future, but if you’re handy, you can still swap them out (or most retro game stores will do it for you). This requires de-soldering the old battery and soldering in a new one. Being handy, I did that but wasn’t able to get back around to the game.

This time, I made the mistake of not checking to make sure the cartridge was willing to save, played three or four hours, quit, and then discovered that, no, it didn’t save my progress. Very upsetting, I’m sure you can understand.

I checked my work, and I did a fine job replacing the battery. There was no reason it shouldn’t work. So, I decided to try a different test. I started the game, saved, and quit to menu to check if the data was stored. RAM dumps its data as soon as it loses power, and the battery is there to ensure it’s kept alive. If I didn’t power off the console, the RAM would have never lost power, and whether the battery was working or not, there should still be a save.

There wasn’t. My only option was to start a new game.

I went to bed thinking about what I should do. Shining Force II isn’t the most expensive game, but it ain’t cheap. I could just play it on an old collection or emulator and accept that I have an essentially dead cartridge on my shelf. Otherwise, I could try to find another cartridge with save-ability (say, a cheap sports game) and take the RAM chip to replace the one in my Shining Force II.

When I got up in the morning, I brought up a list of possible donor cartridges, and I noticed a game on there. Shadowrun. A bit of a favorite of mine, but it reminded me that I had this problem before, and it was with Shadowrun. More importantly, I figured out what the problem was at that time: it was the 32X.

If you’re not a retro game, I should also probably explain that the Sega 32X was an ill-fated add-on to the Genesis that was pushed by Sega of America. Extending the Genesis’ lifespan with new hardware wasn’t a bad idea, but since it was positioned against the company’s own Sega Saturn, it wound up being a massive failure. It didn’t sell, and there weren’t very many games released for it. So, if you hadn’t heard of it, that’s understandable.

Anyway, it plugs into the Genesis’ cartridge port, and I leave mine in at all times because it’s more elegant than stuffing it into a box. In theory, when you plug a Genesis game into it, it should just work as a passthrough and not interfere with its functions. In fact, when I looked up the issue, I didn’t really find it to be a well-discussed issue. I did find a few other people talking about similar issues, but it seems more people mentioned the problem with the Game Genie, which also should just be a simple passthrough in most cases. Regardless, they don’t seem to allow save-to-RAM.

Anyway, that’s beyond my expertise. I couldn’t tell you why it doesn’t work, I can only speculate. However, when I took out my 32X and tried saving again, this time it worked. Issue confirmed.

It goes to show that being a retro gamer these days requires some familiarity with the hardware. And some troubleshooting skills. And some patience. A decade ago, prices on retro games and consoles were much cheaper, so if something didn’t work, you could just replace it. Now, it’s better to have some soldering skills for when batteries die or your capacitors blow. I can understand why some people just stick to emulators, but I got hooked early, so I just got used to the smell of solder fumes.

Huh? Shining Force II? Yeah, I got back to where I left off and pressed in further. It’s a game that stands out since the Genesis/Mega Drive wasn’t really known for its RPGs. That’s probably a big reason why it didn’t do as well as the Super Famicom and PC-Engine in Japan. Shining Force II is a tactical (or strategy) RPG, and while it’s certainly not as deep as something like Fire Emblem or Tactics Ogre, it’s a great time all the same. I mean, I was willing to replay the first four hours a second time, so that’s a solid endorsement right there.

Elsewhere on Destructoid

Team Fortress 2’s final comic is finally out

I know next to nothing about Team Fortress 2. Multiplayer isn’t really my bag. But, as I said, it’s been slow. So, maybe it’s a good time to get into the comic based on it. Not me, but, like, it’s a good time for someone to get into it. I hear it’s really good. In fact, Tiago Manuel says as much in his write-up for the news. It’s at least nice to hear the comic’s getting a proper send-off. At least until Team Fortress 3 (maybe).

Zoey Handley’s Top 10 Picks of 2024

This was a hard year to just pick ten games, but I would hate to break from convention. I still break out in a cold sweat when I remember I didn’t put Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore on there. That’s a pretty good problem to have, though. I reviewed a tonne of games this year, and I have a lot of nice memories of my time with them. Hopefully, those will be the prevailing force against all the bad things that happened this year.

Reviews for review this week

None this week

Yeah, I’m not sure there’s anything coming even in the first week of January. After that, things will probably pick up again. So, I’ve been playing the Jalecolle re-releases City Connection has been doing. Here’s the rundown: Yokai Club – terrible. Saiyuuki World – I confused this release for Saiyuuki World 2, which is more like Mega Man. This one is more like Wonder Boy in Monster Land but not nearly as good. Pinball Quest – pretty fun. I found out it had a North American release, and it isn’t too expensive, so I was actually able to pick that up on cartridge.

We’ve got, what, hopefully, just three months until we get Pizza Pop or Magic John (which I’m just realizing sounds like an enchanted toilet). Wait, what the heck? Jalecolle Pizza Pop is out! I’d swear Saiyuuki World just came out a couple of weeks ago. I guess that’s my evening settled.