Emulation — Page 2

Out Run GB: a valiant effort

Posted on 01/09/2025 Written by Xexyz

I previously wrote about Hero GP, a fun little Game Boy Colour game I bought which is pretty difficult given its speed. I have played it on occasion since, since it’s ideal for a very short play session (which can turn into a much longer one with just one more go). The maker of that game has wondered “what if OutRun came to the Game Boy Color?”, and despite his misspellings of both “Out Run” and “Colour”, it’s a valid question. Luckily, he has answered it.

Yes, there are limitations. No branching paths, limited roadside furniture, blocky cars. But it feels like Out Run, with undulating tracks and traffic getting in the way, and if you hit another car or a tree with enough force, the car somersaults in the classic advert for seat belt wearing.

It feels slower than Hero GP, which is probably a good thing given the tighter feel to the track space. The controls are very precise, other than the brake which seems to have too much of an effect. Hitting other cars slows you down a little too much, meaning that two hits is almost enough to mean you fail the first stage, whereas that’s not usually the case until the second stage at least – depending on DIP switch settings, of course. It’s a very accomplished bit of coding, and while it can’t be released commercially for obvious reasons, I hope that Sega keep it available as a curio – it’s free to play from the link above.

APB: twitchy siren

Posted on 04/08/2025 Written by Xexyz

Maybe it’s the conversion to the Xbox pad, but APB is incredibly difficult to control. In order to arrest someone you have to have your cursor over them and press the siren, because obviously criminals are only going to pay attention to a police car which is an exact distance away from them. The thing is that the cursor is not at a set distance from your car, but instead varies with the speed you’re going. In order to have enough of a gap between your car and the cursor to be able to arrest someone, you have to be going quite fast, certainly faster than the criminals you are chasing. For littering this isn’t so much of an issue, since you need to signal to them once. By the time you get to chasing down dopers, it’s much more difficult because you have to signal on them three times, meaning you are almost guaranteed to crash; too many crashes and you’re out.

I’ll have to see if there’s an original cabinet next time I go to somewhere like Arcade Club, because the concept of the game – a semi-open world, different criminals to find, extending time through fuel and doughnuts – is quite attractive. It’s just the controls which frustrate.

Mario’s Tennis: what a racquet

Posted on 30/07/2025 Written by Xexyz

I have only played on a Virtual Boy twice: once at a museum, and once at a UGVM meeting in honour of Owen. Both times were brief, uncomfortable, and underwhelming. I suspect there were some hardware adjustments which may have helped, but the screens were dim and blurry, and I had to sit at an awkward angle to use it. Nevertheless, the 3D nature of the console was very clever, and the games I played (3D Tetris and Golf, I believe) used that to good effect. I did once try Virtual Boy emulation on my computer, and it just seemed a bit pointless because of the fact it lacked the third dimension, meaning you are left with middling games in monochrome.

Having modified my 3DS, however, I now have access to a 3D screen which is perfect for trying out Virtual Boy games as they are supposed to be seen. The screen is, obviously, of a much higher quality as well, and there’s no restricted positioning. All good, yes?

Mostly. I started with Mario’s Tennis, having recently been playing the N64 game with Edward. It’s a pretty standard tennis game, but with a much lower viewpoint than normal. This would make it more difficult to place the ball, but of course the 3D is supposed to help with that. It sort of did, but it took some time to work out the best way to judge and also when to press the button. I lost my first match 6-0 to Toad, but by the second I was mostly keeping serve, and I narrowly lost to Peach after a very long game of alternating advantages and deuces. I won my third match, against Yoshi, quite comprehensively. Maybe I should move off the easy difficulty level.

Of course, I can’t really show the 3D nature of the games here

Things improved a lot when I investigated the options for the emulator and found that I am not constrained to the original red and black. You can set any colour you like, but there are two presets – red and grey – and the latter makes the games a lot easier to see and play.

I completely forgot about those options when I played other games.

Mario’s Tennis: what a racquet

Posted on 30/07/2025 Written by Xexyz

I completely forgot about those options when I played other games.

Hero GP: 6000 mph

Posted on 14/04/2025 Written by Xexyz

Hero GP is a brand new Game Boy Colo(u)r game, released via itch.io for download to play in any emulators but also able to be used on a GBC itself via a flashcart or on an Analogue Pocket. It is obviously inspired by Hang On, but the constraints of the GBC make the game more streamlined, with more immediate controls and with a simpler game structure. Within a few minutes of buying the game you’ll be at the end of the first track, possibly even doing well enough to unlock the second.

And possibly not. Despite the console’s limitations, this game is fast. This doesn’t show too much in terms of following the track – it’s a very standard 8-bit style single straightish road where the curves just simply nudge you along in the opposite direction a bit – but instead in terms of avoiding your opponents. As you ride along, you will see another rider appear ahead of you, and you’d better get out the way because you shoot past them in less than a second. There’s no speed indicated on the display, but if feels as if your opponents are going about 10 mph, and you’re going 1000.

This disparity in speeds does reveal the stark cheating of the AI, with you catching up to bikes near the end of the course who are going half your speed, and so should never have the lead that they are enjoying. Some of the frontrunners are, at least, going a bit faster than the gold-coloured mopeds who seem to be reversing, but none of them have anything like your speed.

There is one possible exception. I’ve played through 22 races, and never have managed better than a second place; I’ve never seen the rider in first. A single collision in a race seems to mean you’ll not win; luckily a second place is good enough to unlock the next stage.

The levels are all visually distinct, and through an emulator the saturation seems quite harsh – but I suspect this is an attempt to make the game look polished on actual hardware.

It’s a fun game, technically impressive, and the races are short enough to give it an addictive edge. I recommend it.