Hot damn is Castlevania IV overrated

[thock2]

I noticed that even though Genesis doesnt have mode 7, the special effects in Bloodlines are really good and can come close to matching CV IV in that department. CV IV has the rotating room but the spinning tower in Bloodlines is kind of impressive and also the upside down mirror room in stge 6.

To be honest, Mode 7 was more of a gimmick than a useful feature.

[Kamahl]

The rotating room is awful and one of the worst examples of "mode-7" usage.
And we know now that the genesis can do mode-7 in software anyway (thanks fonzie), making it a null advantage.

[Orchid87]

And we know now that the genesis can do mode-7 in software anyway (thanks fonzie), making it a null advantage.

Is there ANY excuse why this wasn't used back in the Genesis heyday?

[Bastardcat]

The rotating room is awful and one of the worst examples of "mode-7" usage.
And we know now that the genesis can do mode-7 in software anyway (thanks fonzie), making it a null advantage.

Yes, they successfully "nullified an advantage", decades after the fact. Retroactively affecting all sales and review scores of said games.

Is there ANY excuse why this wasn't used back in the Genesis heyday?

Probably because a home brew tech demo, and a finished game are two entirely different animals.

[Kamahl]

Is there ANY excuse why this wasn't used back in the Genesis heyday?

Yup, no one figured out how to do it at the time.

Probably because a home brew tech demo, and a finished game are two entirely different animals.

Are you saying that Pier Solar isn't a finished game?

[j_factor]

Mode 7 was fine for games like F-Zero, although I wouldn't want too many flat racers like that. I never liked it when little tidbits of mode 7 were used in games for no real reason.

[Bastardcat]

Are you saying that Pier Solar isn't a finished game?

No, but like many homebrew projects, it didn't face the stringent restrictions that developers of the 80s and 90s faced.
For starters its on a 64Meg cartridge. As that wasn't a standard cartridge at the time, it is the equivalent of "extra hardware"/"special chips", something I hear decried all the time, when people talk about NES games.

[blobolonia]

I think Bram Stoker's Dracula had a little zoom-in effect when starting a level.

[Kamahl]

No, but like many homebrew projects, it didn't face the stringent restrictions that developers of the 80s and 90s faced.

Doesn't really apply to the developers of RedZone and stuff, they were all about the special effects. It's simply a case of no one figuring out how to do it. It's the kind of thing you figure out in the shower. It either happens or it doesn't.

For starters its on a 64Meg cartridge. As that wasn't a standard cartridge at the time, it is the equivalent of "extra hardware"/"special chips", something I hear decried all the time, when people talk about NES games.

The size of the cart doesn't contribute to the effect, if you remove a town or two and the cutscenes, plus some compression, you can fit it in a standard size cart. This is not like addon chips whose removal would completely change the game.

I think Bram Stoker's Dracula had a little zoom-in effect when starting a level.

The final boss in Super Fantasy Zone has a scaling effect when he dies:

EDIT: And yes, there's a scaling effect in the genesis version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Seems to use part of the trick used in Pier Solar (double sized pixels are much faster to draw than normal sized pixels)

[Bastardcat]

You know what? I'll just save us all some time here and take a big gulp of the blue Kool-aid.
Praise Sega! Herpaderpaderp! Nintendo am suck! Derpaderpidydo!

[j_factor]

No, but like many homebrew projects, it didn't face the stringent restrictions that developers of the 80s and 90s faced.
For starters its on a 64Meg cartridge. As that wasn't a standard cartridge at the time, it is the equivalent of "extra hardware"/"special chips", something I hear decried all the time, when people talk about NES games.

I don't hear that about NES games, only SNES games. NES usually gets a pass in my experience.

[awack]

Some BGs






Redone death



Serpent rondo serpent dracxx


Drac rondo(subtract 3 of the demon form drac)


SCIV drac(no orb)