Retro Games, Snatcher MSX2 & Policenauts

I finally finished MXS2 Snatcher two weeks ago, checking off another game in my classic Kojima retro games playthroughs. I had been trying to play the MSX2 version for a while, but due to my setup limitations, the translation patch would always breakdown mid-game causing large dumps of garbled text. With my new set up I wanted to see if this same issue would come back, and I am happy to say I have fixed all the problems retaining to my MSX emulations.

I now only have the PC-88, PS1, Saturn and PC Engine CD games to play through. One of the most significant variations you’ll find between these games would be the musical arrangements between each system. I own the vinyl record release of Snatcher, but hands down, the original PC-88 has the best sound despite the PCE CD arrangement having that CD sound quality. Check out a few differences here:

The translation I was playing was a bit broken (funny at times, but still broken); however, if you want to see a better-translated game version of MSX Snatcher, I recommend watching Awesomebrand’s video of his playthrough of Snatcher to get a feel of how this game played out on the system.

But hey- enough Snatcher for a few weeks. It’s only natural after playing a lot of Snatcher that one would dive right into Kojima’s other Sci-Fi visual novel action game Policenauts.

Policenauts

Policenauts has always eluded me due to my at-home setup and because it never got a proper English localization. It was released in Japan in 1994 for the PC-9821 after four years of development and conceived when Kojima worked on Snatcher. It had a high-quality production and was influenced by Buddy-style cop dramas, particularly Lethal Weapon. A Policenauts localization was planned for the Sega Saturn but was scrapped due to technical limitations. Policenauts was released only for the PC-9821, 3DO, Playstation and Sega Saturn in Japan, but there is a fan translation for both the PS1 and Sega Saturn if you are interested.

I would play the PC-9821 version, but there doesn’t seem to be a translation yet. Moreover, I have also found that emulating this game is a bit of a challenge in itself, but Macaw45 recently played through it on his stream using the updated patches in MAME for the sound/mouth events to work. A few audio issues and crashes did seem to break the game in some areas. Hopefully, in time, many of these issues will get cleaned up so people can enjoy how this game.

I’m playing through the PS1 version, which has many differences from the original PC-9821 version and added animated cutscenes. It has a different look and feels, and some would argue it’s a little uglier than the original. As for me, I love playing fan-translated games to see what they were like before and to be a part of it.

Playing Policenauts has been a two-year desire for me, but yet again, my at-home setup was holding me back. I wanted to play thru the game way back in February after I finished SD Snatcher, but I couldn’t get the disks to work. As I have switched to windows set up, I got help from my buddy Fantasic_Plannet and was able to get things moving forward.

I plan to write a full review/feature about Policenauts in an upcoming article after I finish the game, so tune in Sunday morning when I dive back into the game and see if I can finish it!

Zine Updates

This issue features a story by the fantastic fighter game enthusiast Giby. He was at Combo Breaker this summer and helped to cover the event and also document his adventures. He got to meet up with many great players and people and checked out a lot of awesome games. I also started featuring a new segment where I dive into the unboxing of older games, so check out the images from that. I also have some great art by Dasyati and yours truly. It’s a good issue despite the lateness of the printing

Dank Art

Missed the Dank Art? Check it out here! I’m always sketching and working on art from the games streamed by people I follow on twitch. As always, I enjoy people who play retro, classic and obscure PC games, and I try to promote everyone I follow. Check out the streams: LordBBH, Aquas, Zallard1, Retrograde Tom, Macaw45, Omnigamer, Duke Donuts, Tondagossa, Goati, SQPat, Chuboh and CapnClever.