John analyses Lobotomy Software's port of Quake. It shouldn't run on Sega Saturn, but somehow... it does.
John revisits a genuine Dreamcast classic - Yu Suzuki's stunning Shenmue. But what made it so special, and what's the best way to play the game today?
John takes a look at five different console ports of Duke Nukem 3D all ported by different studios. Does Duke hold up across all of them? Watch to find out.
In this episode of DF Retro, John tackles Unreal Tournament on consoles. As the very first set of console games powered by Unreal technology, Unreal Tournament for PlayStation and Dreamcast mark the beginning of an era.
John takes a look back at Half-Life, one of the most influential shooters in history. What impact did it have on the industry, how were the console ports, and what's the best way to enjoy it today? They're waiting for you, in the test chamber.
John takes on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. How did the game work on PlayStation and what went wrong with the Sega Saturn port? We seek the answer to this question and more within.
As a new Nintendo system draws closer to launch, John takes a moment to look back at some of the most impressive launch titles to grace each of Nintendo's consoles. From the original NES to the Nintendo 64 all the way up to the Wii, it's all here and captured on original hardware.
John returns to the world of Half-Life for a look at its sequel - Half-Life 2. We revisit Half-Life 2 across every major platform from its original PC release running on vintage hardware to the Japanese exclusive arcade game and, of course, the various console ports including the original Xbox version. We even take the time to check out a couple mods for good measure including the Cinematic Mod. So grab that crowbar and tune in for our biggest episode yet!
John takes a look back are the classic Rare shooters for Nintendo 64 - GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. These innovative classics helped shape an entire genre on consoles but do they stand the test of time? We take a look at each game's accomplishments and performance in 2016 in addition to removing Nintendo 64's default anti-aliasing for a sharper image.
John takes a look back one of the greatest PC games of all time - Deus Ex. Then we jump over and examine its port on PlayStation 2 - a port which should never have worked out but somehow manages to play very well. We finish it all up with some mod recommendations so be sure to stick around till the end.
John takes a trip to Ridge City for a weekend of racing action. We start with a look at PlayStation 2's first game which offers a wonderful blend of arcade racing, tight controls and a beautiful presentation. Then we move over to arguably the best racing game on the original PlayStation - Ridge Racer Type 4. We even take a quick look at the bonus disc included with the game for good measure.
John steps back into the Activision classic MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat. We explore how the game looks in its various forms on PC and determine the best way to play it today. We also take a look at the completely different arcade style version of the game released on consoles.
John returns to examine Shiny Entertainment's PC masterpiece. It's a PC game by console developers designed to push the limits of the platform circa 1997 and it does so with a look all its own. We take a look at the original software rendered versions alongside a couple different 3D accelerated versions before. Then we stack it all up against Neversoft's PlayStation 1 port of the game - one of the studio's first releases before striking gold with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Oh, and we discuss the best way to play MDK on a modern PC. All this and more is packed into this massive episode of DF Retro.
For this episode of DF Retro, the forecast is calling for blue, blue skies. That's right, it's Daytona USA! At the time of its release, Daytona USA was the single most technically impressive game ever made and we explore each of the major iterations of the game. Daytona also helped illustrate just how important frame-rate is and was during this time. So join us as we fire up the game on Saturn, Dreamcast, the PC, and even the PlayStation 3.
On this episode of DF Retro John pays a visit to Silent Hill for a look at this fan favorite. Silent Hill 2 remains one of the most revered experiences on the PlayStation 2 but it was also a technical masterpiece in its day. With impressive visual techniques and a disturbing art style, Silent Hill 2 still holds up even now. It was also ported to a number of different platforms and John explores each of these ports including the much maligned Silent Hill HD Collection.
This week John explores one of the most important developers in PC gaming history - Origin Systems. From Ultima to Wing Commander, Origin produced a wide variety throughout its existence but today we're going to focus on the Crusader series. Created by Tony Zurovec, Crusader is an advanced isometric shooter which delivered striking SVGA graphics in a time when most PC games were still 320x200. We also explore its semi-sequel, No Regret, along with the console iterations of the original game.
On this episode of DF Retro, John revisits Retro Studios classic installment in the Metroid series. Now in first person, Retro and Nintendo manage to perfectly translate the essence of the Super NES classic into full 3D. Metroid Prime delivers some of the richest visuals on the GameCube all at a rock solid 60 frames per second. We follow up with a quick look at the Wii version of the game and check out Metroid Prime running on the PC using Dolphin Ishiiruka.
John returns to Lara Croft's original adventure, comparing the Saturn and PS1 versions, along with the various PC editions - and what's the best way to revisit this classic on today's hardware?
John revisits Shenmue 2, checking out what made it special, how well it holds up today and the best way to play in the 21st century. Plus: all the Xbox vs Dreamcast graphics comparisons and performance tests you'll need.
To celebrate the arrival of The Last Guardian, Digital Foundry Retro revisits the Ueda Collection on PlayStation 2, starting with Ico.
John revisits Shadow of the Colossus, revealing early concept work, deep-diving into the brilliant technology, then moving on to the best way to play this PS2 classic today.
The NES Mega Man titles are classics - but the new mobile ports simply aren't good enough.
Starting with a look back at the history of Bungie, John takes a close look at Halo itself including the technology powering it and the smart design choices made during its production. We also take a look at real performance numbers in each of its single player and multiplayer modes. Then it's off to compare the original Xbox game against other released ports including those on PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
And now for something completely different! DF Retro tests out the hugely popular NES Classic Mini. Does the quality of the emulation and the choice of games hold up against for the most hardcore NES enthusiast? John has all the answers.
Rewind to 1994 and join John Linneman for an in-depth retrospective on the original Need for Speed, from its beginnings on 3DO all the way through to the PC, Saturn and PlayStation ports and special editions!
This week, John takes a closer look at the Analogue Nt Mini - the premium console designed to play NES games and more.
With the arrival of Blaster Master on Nintendo Switch, John looks back at the original game, how it worked, what made it special, and how its sequels stacked up. Also... Switch vs NES? Let's do it.
Catch up with John and Rich's retro discussion panel at last week's EGX Rezzed! Apologies for the video quality on this one, but hopefully the content is entertaining for you!
The classic MGS2 trailer from E3 2000, brought to YouTube for the first time at 60fps and sourced from the best version of the asset available.
John is back with the longest, most detailed Digital Foundry Retro yet - a deep dive analysis into one of Hideo Kojima's most accomplished, yet controversial titles.
John dives into id Software's 1997 classic Quake II. With its cutting edge technology, Quake II furthered id's domination of the PC. Against expectations, a pair of talented development studios managed to bring Quake II to console owners of that era. We're looking at each official port of Quake II while breaking down what makes each one so impressive.
This week, John takes a look at the seminal Dreamcast classic - Soul Calibur. With its roots in the arcade, Soul Calibur stands as one of the very first games to greatly exceed the original release. After all, back then, console makers were all about touting "Arcade Perfect" when it came to home ports but it was difficult to achieve unless you were SNK. Soul Calibur for Dreamcast completely blew the doors off expectations and this video places the two side by side for a proper comparison. In addition, we finish up with a look at Soul Calibur on Xbox 360 and iOS while also checking out some emulation options.
This week's SNES Mini reveal has John excited. Here's his breakdown of the key titles in the line-up, how they expanded on the SNES's core technology - plus thoughts on key titles that should have made the line-up.
John discusses Soul Reaver - the game, its history and its technology - with Ben Lincoln, in this initial DF Retro Podcast. Ben is the founder of thelostwords.net, which focuses on researching the Legacy of Kain series.
One of the greatest titles available on the original PlayStation, Soul Reaver's 3D 'Metroidvania' gameplay pushed the system to its limits. John presents the history behind the game, examines the core technology, analyses performance and checks out the PC and Dreamcast ports.
Part one of a two-part DF Retro special! John plays every single game available for Sega's mushroom-shaped disaster - the Sega 32X, or Mega Drive 32X. And not only that, but each title has platform comparisons where available, plus a full breakdown of which components run on the Mega Drive/Genesis and which parts are handled by the add-on. You won't want to miss this.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi's classic has finally arrived on PC, with brilliant VR support and excellent scalability across a range of gaming hardware. Here's the complete breakdown, along with DF Retro-style comparisons with the original Dreamcast and PS2 releases.
John completes his playthrough of every single game available for Sega's mushroom-shaped disaster - the Sega 32X, or Mega Drive 32X. And not only that, but each title has platform comparisons where available, plus a full breakdown of which components run on the Mega Drive/Genesis and which parts are handled by the add-on. You won't want to miss this.
id software’s Doom played a key part in gaming’s transition from two to three dimensions, and its legacy of technical innovation continues to this day. On this episode of DF Retro, John explores its origins on the PC before comparing and contrasting this against every official console conversion. There's a lot of ground to cover so buckle up for the longest episode of DF Retro yet. Console footage captured using a combination of the Micomsoft Framemeister and the Open Source Scan Converter. All consoles were captured using RGB except 3DO and N64 which use s-video instead.
A brilliant 21-game package, but just how close does the SNES mini match original hardware? John Linneman presents the definitive breakdown of the Supes NES Classic mini!
Sonic Mania propelled the franchise back to greatness, but did you know that its creator - Christian Whitehead - began as a community developer? Turns out that the Sonic community has some amazing projects in development. John showcases some of the most interesting work.
DF Retro levels up with a full analysis of Donkey Kong Country and Killer Instinct, along with behind-the-scenes stories on the making of these key games from the developers that worked on them.
The 2018 season for DF Retro kicks off this year with a look at Exhumed or PowerSlave, as it was known in the US. Created by Lobotomy Software, this remarkable game combines the fast paced action of Doom with the exploration and power-up system of Metroid to create something wholly unique at the time. Powered by Lobotomy's in-house Slave Driver Engine, PowerSlave also pushes the Sega Saturn to its limits offering a level of performance rarely seen on the platform. A later PlayStation version of the game was also released along with a completely different game of the same name on PC. Curious what makes this game stand out even today? Join us on a journey through one of the best shooters of its era.
Not just an emulator, not just a hardware clone, but a genuine labour of love.
John takes a look at two genuine Sega Saturn classics - Panzer Dragoon and the phenomenal Panzer Dragoon Zwei. The technology, the ports, the art direction - these games are wonderful pieces of work worth celebrating today.
It is one of the most infamous console reveals of all-time and the arrival of the 'target render'. But how much of PS3's initial reveal was actually faked? And what was actually running in real-time and on what hardware? John, Rich and DF's new PC expert Alex Battaglia consider the evidence.
So what would happen if we got a brand new 2018 game built on the classic 3D Realms Build Engine? That's exactly what Ion Maiden is - and it's awesome.
The latest DF Retro concentrates on the often overlooked Sonic CD. Developed in parallel with Sonic 2, but by a very different Sonic Team...
Remember when you used to read about games in magazines rather than on websites? Our very own Rich Leadbetter was at the forefront of games magazines throughout the console era. Join John and Rich for this edit of their talk at Rezzed 2018, discussing how games magazines were made and how things have moved on in the move to the internet and YouTube!
John dives back into one of the best snowboarding games ever made - SSX 3. Thanks to the Xbox One backwards compatibility program, it's now possible to experience this classic game on modern hardware. What kind of improvements can you expect and how did it push the hardware of its day? Find out in the video!
Nintendo Switch is rightly lauded for its hybrid console concept - the idea of having a fully mobile console you can also use for living room play, with full multiplayer support. But whether through design or through sheer luck, Sega actually got there first with its Nomad, way back in 1995. John picks up the story.
Nintendo DS vs Sony PSP - when these two handhelds debuted at E3 2004, it looked like the most one-sided console war ever, but history would go on to tell a very different story. Join John and Rich for this look back over the reveal of two very different mobile devices, each of which would help define the template of handheld gaming - right up until today.
Bungie originally envisaged technologies for Halo 2 that turned out to be completely impossible for the team to deliver in the actual game. That original vision debuted in an extended gameplay demo created especially for E3 2003 - but was scrapped soon after. In this DF Retro Extra special, John revisits that demo, explains why it was impossible for OG Xbox hardware and compares it with the final game to see just what - if anything - of that work persisted into retail code.
DF Retro returns with a two-part showcase covering the history of water rendering in games, starting from the early 90s to and ending with the last-gen consoles! In this first part, we start with a look at 16-bit 2D raster tricks on Megadrive/Genesis, Super NES, NES and Game Boy before moving into the 3D era!
John is back for part two of in-depth look at water rendering in classic games, as we complete our look at the PS2, Xbox and GameCube eras and dip our toes into last-gen!
Fancy a little bonus DF Retro? Okami HD is heading to Switch - as good an excuse as any for John to check out all the major console versions, including the mysterious '4K' PlayStation 3 release! All of the ports have their plus points and you can see them all in action here.
A pioneering game from the early days of PC 3D acceleration, Probe Software's excellent Forsaken enjoyed an impressive PS1 port and a very different incarnation on Nintendo 64. And now the game is back, remastered for PC and Xbox One - with full Xbox One X support!
Join John, Rich and Alex for a lighthearted look at the original reveal for Xbox 360 way back at E3 2005. How does the presentation stand up today and how does it compare to the infamous Sony PS3 conference?
SAGE is the annual festival that shows talented developers sharing their visions for new platform games based on Sonic the Hedgehog - and SAGE 2018 served up some genuine classics, such as Sonic Z-Treme - based on the canned Saturn game - as well as the potentially brilliant Sonic Chaos 2018. DF's biggest Sonic fan - John Linneman - guides you through his favourite demos.
DF Retro returns with a visual tour through the history of Tetris. From 1984 to 2018, John examines nearly 30 versions of Tetris across multiple generations of consoles!
John Linneman returns with a brand new DF Retro, this time concentrating on one of the most fascinating 16-bit platformers of its era.
This could - and should - have been a lot better. DF Retro Hardware returns with a deep dive analysis into the PlayStation Classic, its games and the quality of its emulation stacked up against every way that matters when it comes to revisiting one of gaming history's most important consoles.
Join John Linneman for a look back to the PlayStation classic, Resident Evil 2 - including footage of the canned RE 1.5 running on OG PlayStation hardware, plus detailed analysis of every single version. Oh - and look out for a special, Platinum-level cameo!
PlayStation 3 was the first mainstream console with a digital AV output... or was it? Nintendo's GameCube featured digital output functionality that was never fully utilised - until the release of HDMI adapters based on the GCVideo project. In this DF Retro special, John talks with MyLifeInGaming's Marc Duddleson about the various solutions available, showcasing the Eon GCHD Mk2.
John, Alex and Rich sit down to discuss their very first gaming PCs, their early hardware upgrades and the games that inspired them to improve their gaming hardware!
DF Retro returns with a detailed look at one history's greatest shooters - Contra 3: The Alien Wars. John goes in-depth on how this classic SNES shooter works, what makes it brilliant and how the astonishing Game Boy port compares. Then it's on to the controversial Game Boy Advance conversion, including its bizarre method of borrowing content from Contra Hard Corps on Genesis/Mega Drive...
Join John, Alex and Rich for a DF Retro Extra, as the team re-examines the darkest hour for the PlayStation 3 - the legendary E3 2006 media briefing. Yes, it's the one with Riiiidge Racer, real-time weapons change, the giant enemy crab and of course MASSIVE DAMAGE.
What links Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure with the beginnings of Hollywood CG movies, a whole host of animated features and the original artists that helped to define the Disney method? That would Bill Kroyer, an animation veteran who learnt from the original masters at Disney, pioneered CG rendering in Tron and collaborated with Activision during the mid-90s on the fascinating Pitfall sequel. Check out this remarkable interview, carried out by our very own John Linneman.
DF Retro returns! It's just over ten years on from the release of Killzone 2 on the PlayStation 3. Join John Linneman for a look at the game's controversial beginnings, to its final, technologically astonishing result.
Is this the coolest, most impressive - and accurate - Mega Drive clone yet? Join John Linneman for a detailed breakdown of the new Analogue Mega Sg, including an overview of its features, and the most comprehensive battery of emulation tests.
Join John Linneman and talented coder Gabriel Morales discuss Sega's almost legendary 'Blast Processing', what it actually was, how it worked and why it never actually appeared in any Genesis/ Mega Drive games - nope, not even Sonic 2...
Bubsy's back...again! This time on DF Retro. Join John and special guest Audi, the one and only World Heavyweight Champion of Bubsy, as they step through the history of everyone's favorite mascot. What's the connection between Bubsy, Naughty Dog and Studio Bend? Is Bubsy really as bad as his reputation would suggest? Can you guess all the mascots featured in this video?
Sega's Dreamcast broke the mould by introducing 480p rendering to consoles, backing it with the legendary VGA box. Modern 480p options are available but none have the same pure digital quality as the brilliant DCHDMI. John Linneman tests out the mod and ranks it up against the analogue-to-digital alternatives.
A very special DF Retro as John Linneman takes a look at the phenomenal new Switch version of Virtua Racing, stacking it up against every console conversion and, of course, the arcade original.
Microsoft delivers once again with a brilliant Xbox One X enhanced back-compat release for Ninja Gaiden 2. John takes a look at the latest version of the game and stacks it up against every release of NG2 on consoles - one of the most fascinating multi-platform projects of the last decade.
In this episode, John explores the recently released Castlevania Anniversary Collection checking out each and every game included. What did each installment bring to the table and how do they hold up today? And how about the emulation quality? Watch to find out!
And now for something a little different - a Digital Foundry Retro Let's Play! In this video, John returns to play some of the controversial Castlevania 64. Is it really a series low point? Audi Sorlie guests.
DF Retro is back with a deep dive into one of the most technically impressive console games of its period - Turok Dinosaur Hunter's reputation may have diminished in the last 20 years, but in some respects it challenged and even exceeded the mighty Quake. John takes us back in time, along with a special mystery guest star...
For years we've been waiting for a proper sequel to 16-bit classics Contra 3: The Alien Wars and Contra: The Hard Corps - but Konami failed to deliver. So why not check out the next best thing, Blazing Chrome by JoyMasher successfully captures everything that made the originals so great, and it's available on virtually all modern platforms. Join John Linneman for a detailed analysis on how this game was made - and why you should buy it.
DF Direct goes retro! John Linneman sits down Sekai Games' boss - and game historian - Audi Sorlie to talk about the Famicom Disk System, a Japan-only 1986 release that aimed to make gaming cheaper... and better. It's a fascinating insight into a little-known area of Famicom gaming.
It's the late 1980s: the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom is the most popular console in the world and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are the latest TV/comic sensation - with a movie in the works! One of the best game developers of the era, Konami, has the console rights... but the end product doesn't quite live up to expectations... Join John Linneman and guest Audi Sorlie for a return visit to NES Turtlemania!
Of all the major retro consoles, N64 is the machine that causes the most problems when hooking up to a modern flat panel display - mostly because S-Video was the top-end output offered by the machine itself. So what's the best solution here? John talks HDMI adapters and mods with MyLifeInGaming's Marc Duddleston, with a focus on the brand new 'plug and play' EON Super 64 adaptor.
DF Retro x Modern? 3D Realms is back with a BRAND NEW first-person shooter based on the classic Duke Nukem 3D Build engine. Enhanced, upgraded, and with a modern gameplay design, does the fusion of retro and modern work? John Linneman says yes, delivering this detailed analysis.
The original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was a landmark release. Its sequel? Not so much. However, the new remaster fixes most of the original release's issues and is now on Switch, alongside PC and Xbox One. In this video, Turok fans John Linneman and Alex Battaglia discuss the game in its various incarnations - and John shows the game running on original 3DFX Voodoo Graphics hardware! Plus: just how bad was N64 performance back in the day? Spoilers: pretty poor...
It's not perfect - but it's very, very good nonetheless. M2's work on the Sega Genesis Mini (aka Mega Drive Mini) is pretty awesome, the hardware itself is beautiful and the game selection is astonishing. What's not to like? John Linneman has the DF Retro verdict right here.
Developer Grezzo had the unenviable task of remaking and modernising one of the greatest Game Boy games of all time. Have they succeeded? Yes! Some noticeable frame-rate drops are unfortunate, but don't detract too much from what is a magnificent achievement as good today as it was 26 years ago!
DF Retro's very own John Linneman teams up with Sekai Games' Audi Sorlie to revisit one of the Sega Genesis' finest games - the brilliant Rocket Knight Adventures from Konami. Essential retro viewing!
This is an interesting product! We went into this one expecting to spend most of our time replaying the Capcom classics but ended up discovering a whole lot more of interest in the arcade giant's exceptional CPS1/CPS2 line-up. Join John Linneman and Audi Sorlie for the definitive breakdown of the Capcom Home Arcade!
A fascinating but ultimately terrible video games machine, the Philips CDi nevertheless attracts the attention of retro game collectors - including John Linneman and Audi Sorlie, who take four games for a spin in this special Let's Play. And it all kicks off with Dark Castle, possibly the worst port of what is already one of the worst games ever made? But is it the actual worst? Well, let's talk about the equally atrocious Alien Gate at a later date...
Join John Linneman and Audi Sorlie for a look at Terror Onion's excellent Mega SD - an FPGA-based recreation of the Sega CD (aka Mega CD) allowing you to run the entire library of compact disc-based titles on original Mega Drive/Genesis hardware. It's a fascinating piece of kit, and DF Retro has a lot of opinions about it!
Released at the tail-end of 1996 during Nintendo 64's launch window, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire gained massive attention owing to some phenomenal graphics - but there was a PC version too that was arguably even prettier... if you had the right hardware. Join John Linneman for a retrospective on Shadows of the Empire on N64, along with detailed analysis of the PC version, running on contemporary hardware!
Join DF Retro for an extended look at three of the least appealing Christmas games ever made - one for PlayStation 1 and two on the reliably terrible Philips CDi. Join John Linneman as he subjects Audi Sorlie to a barrage of terrible festive gaming turkeys.
It's the only Christmas Let's Play that matters. John Linneman and Audi Sorlie travel back in time to 1996 to revisit Sonic Team's remarkable NiGHTS - or more specifically, its one-off Christmas variant!
Join John Linneman and Audi Sorlie for an end-of-year DF Retro Direct, where they share their best 'new' retro gaming finds of the year.
A Super NES/Super Famicom game thought lost forever has been miraculously recovered. Cooly Skunk may never have received a physical release on 16-bit, but it did get a PlayStation 1 revamp. It's the most fascinating example of a cross-gen game we've seen to date. Learn about the Super Famicom's satellite gaming download system, how it made recovering Cooly Skunk possible and - of course - how the completed but never released SNES game compared to the actual PS1 release.
Join John for a very special, extended episode of DF Retro. Midway's classic Mortal Kombat is under the microscope, with a look at its beginnings, its meteoric success in the arcades and the inevitable ports to console systems - and beyond.
One of the shining lights of its game library, Road Rash on 3DO was an impressive title for its day, with conversions following for PlayStation and Saturn. Here, you'll get to see the game being played on original 3DO hardware - with a twist. Picture quality from the 3DO out of the box isn't exactly impressive, but John's packing the Blackdog Technology 3DO RGB mod - so you'll get to see a key title looking pretty much as good as it's going to get!
John Linneman returns with one of his latest retro gaming finds - and it's a fascinating one for all of the wrong reasons. Behold the baffling, infuriating and downright strange movie tie-in - Batman Forever - sort of like Mortal Kombat meets Streets of Rage, but where the controls benefit from having two sets of hands and where you need the manual to figure out the various button combinations required to do the most basic things. It's a gameplay experience you won't want to miss.
Join John Linneman and Audi Sorlie as they break open a vintage 2000 sealed copy of Shiny Entertainment's Messiah. Lauded in its day for its groundbreaking tech, but not exactly renowned for classic gameplay, DF Retro revisits the game on period appropriate PC hardware.
In a DF Retro exclusive, John Linneman talks with Nightdive Studios about the process of bringing the classic, totally original Nintendo 64 rendition of Doom over to the current-gen platforms. In this video, you'll see what made the original release so fascinating, while Nightdive staff tell all on how the game was reverse-engineered and delivered on current-gen platforms. Oh - and is this the first 1440p Xbox One S game?
We've had a ton of requests to take a look at Blaze's Evercade - a cartridge-based retro handheld. It's certainly a fascinating device with a unique game delivery mechanism, and the emulation is strong. DF Retro's John Linneman gives the device a thorough road-test.
What made the original Final Fantasy 7 such an epic release for the original PlayStation way back in 1997? How well did the ports to other systems fare and how did Square seek to follow up on his stone-cold classic? Join Digital Foundry for a celebration of a groundbreaking game, culminating in its recent release as the Final Fantasy 7 Remake for PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro.
John Linneman loves Streets of Rage 4. In fact, we all do. It's a retro-themed game powered by modern technology that delivers a unique, brutally wonderful experience. In this special episode, we take a look at what makes this series so good - and how it's taken to the next level in Streets of Rage 4.
Bubsy the Bobcat - one of the 90s' most notorious platform mascots. But did you know that the game came to PC with a bespoke variant port created by ATI - now AMD? Getting this version to actually work today is almost impossible, but John Linneman and Audi Sorlie came up trumps. So here's what it looks like!
Join John Linneman, Rich Leadbetter and Alex Battaglia for a minute-by-minute commentary of the ORIGINAL PlayStation 4 reveal way back in 2013. How good was the presentation? What technologies were revealed - and which of them never made it to the system? And yeah... Killzone Shadow Fall still looks great today, right?
Continuing our look back at noted console reveals, Rich Leadbetter, John Linneman and Alex Battaglia tackle one of the biggest reveal disasters of all-time. Join the team as they return to May 2013 to revisit the unveiling of the Xbox One, the full debut of Kinect 2.0, the bizarre emphasis on watching TV, the baffling lack of game content and so much more.
The biggest DF Retro ever! In this massive documentary, John Linneman, Audi Sorlie and a range of special guests assess one of the Capcom's finest arcade achievements: the brilliant Final Fight. The origins of the game are discussed, the original coin-op is dissected and every single port and sequel comes under the microscope.
There have been bad E3 press conferences across history, but none are quite so weird, wacky, bizarre and outrageously poor as the Konami's E3 2010 media briefing. Join John Linneman and Audi Sorlie for a blow-by-blow look at one of the gaming's most notorious conferences.
Recently revealed as coming to Netflix in a new big budget series, Usagi Yojimbo has a rich, storied history across multiple media - and that includes games. In this DF Retro Play, Audi Sorlie plays through the vintage Commodore 64 game and explains the series to John Linneman.
After the incredible Castle of Illusion, Sega continued its Disney tie-ins with QuackShot Starring Donald Duck - another visually brilliant Mega Drive/Genesis title. In this DF Retro Play, John Linneman and Audi Sorlie convene to replay the game.
One of the greatest console libraries of all-time can now be enjoyed with the very best possible image (and sound!) quality, with a hardware modification that adds pristine HDMI output to original hardware PlayStation 1 consoles. Is this the best way to experience PS1 on a modern display? What features do you get and how do they compare to the existing options? John Linneman and Audi Sorlie share their thoughts.
Has hell frozen over? Sonic the Hedgehog is now playable - to a certain extent - on Super NES. Thanks to the development work of TiagoSC, a demo exists of Sonic 1 for SNES, built on original Sonic Team code adapted and optimised for SNES. Unlike today, pixel-for-pixel identical ports aren't possible - SNES was a very different machine to Mega Drive/Genesis - so there are necessary differences, which makes the port all the more fascinating.
Join John Linneman and Audi Sorlie for some DF Retro Let's Play action, as the pair tackle Sonic Robo Blast 2 - a fan-made 3D Sonic game powered by the Doom engine. It sounds like a mish-mash that shouldn't work, but the reality is that it's one of the best 3D Sonic games you can play.
Content sponsored by Nvidia. In this episode of DF Retro, John Linneman returns to the mid-90s and the arrival of the 3D accelerator boards that would revolutionise gaming as we know it. These days, we buy a new GPU, we play and play and it works, but things were very, very different back in the day...
Despite deploying lethal countermeasures and a state of the art security system, Audi Sorlie has invited himself back onto Digital Foundry and this time he's brought a couple of Pyramid games for your audio-visual entertainment - and yes, the Philips CD-i takes centrestage with Pyramid Adventures, with able backup provided via the more competent 3DO release, Pyramid Intruder.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 arrived this week on PC, Xbox One and PS4 and to put it quite simply, it's one of Activision's best releases this generation and one of the best remakes of all-time. But how did the series begin? What made it special? And how did THPS 1+2 originally run across a range of consoles back in the day? John Linneman and DF Retro have you covered.
Dark Forces was LucasArts' brilliant attempt in bringing the Star Wars universe into the Doom-style first-person shooter genre. The original PC version is a classic and has been covered many times - but the PlayStation 1 received a port and it's an intriguing conversion...
While it's been a fantastic year for new games, John Linneman and Audi Sorlie have been busy bolstering their retro game collections too. In this video, the duo compare notes on their 'new' retro purchases in 2020 - and show you exactly what vintage games they've enjoyed most.
Join John Linneman and Alex Battaglia for some fun, larks and detailed information on a fascinating N64 console port of the classic Hexen - played with some minor mods to improve the presentation!
Digital Foundry tells developer stories that might not otherwise have been told. In this special episode, John Linneman talks to Bitmap Bureau and Big Evil Corp about how they created the brand new Sega Mega Drive/Genesis titles Xeno Crisis and Tanglewood.
Join Alex Battaglia and John Linneman as they revisit a genuine PC classic - the Vin Diesel-powered Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. Developed by the brilliant Starbreeze Studios, this was a remarkable game on the original Xbox - with a fascinating PC port. Here, we're replaying it on period-appropriate PC hardware, featuring the Athlon X2 3800+ and Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT.
Having exhausted leads in tracking down even more awful Philips CD-i games, Audi Sorlie has turned his attention to the works of Phoenix Games - creators of some of the most terrible games on PlayStation 2. And of course, he made John Linneman play them for your viewing pleasure.
What is the MiSTer FPGA? Well, an FPGA is a special kind of processor that can be programmed to emulate other processors at the most fundamental level, meaning stunningly accurate retro emulation... provided that talented developers provide the necessary emulation cores. In this video, John shows off his MiSTer, some of his favourite games and his bespoke set-up.
A properly impressive technological milestone in its era, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory was renowned at the time for pushing the OG Xbox harder than many other games - so why was it so impressive, and how did the PC version compare? Alex and John team up to 'let's play' the game simultaneously on both systems.
This one was put together back in the summer - where Audi Sorlie visited John Linneman and together they played their way through a bunch of great retro titles. In this one, It's the NES/Famicom that takes centre-stage. Moon Crystal, Batman: Return of The Joker aka Dynamite Batman and Haradius ZERO are three games that really put the veteran Nintendo hardware through its paces - so let's get to it!
Genuine arcade royalty! Ghosts 'n Goblins is back, this time for Nintendo Switch with a stunning new direction in visuals, powered by Capcom's impressive RE Engine. John Linneman revisits the series' history and evaluates this new take on the classic gameplay.
Dinosaur Planet is the last Nintendo 64 game developed by Rare and thought lost - the original game having been revamped and repurposed as Star Fox Adventures for Nintendo GameCube. However, advanced development code for the game has recently been discovered, giving us a fascinating glimpse at the game that never was. In a DF Retro special, John Linneman examines the recovered code, stacks it up against Star Fox Adventures on GameCube, and brings us exclusive insight about the game from one of the people that made it!
Acclaim's Shadow Man was an impressive 1999 tech showcase for N64, with decent PC and Dreamcast versions and a poor PlayStation port - but the game truly shines via its recent remaster thanks to Nightdive Studios. In this DF Retro EX, John Linneman takes us through the game's origins, what made it special and how the various ports compared. Then we go deep - *really* deep - into the creation of the remaster, where modern rendering technique merge with the original game aesthetic to create something exceptionally impressive.
In our PC Time Capsule series, we revisit important PC games from time gone by on the hardware you would have played them on back in the day - for the most authentic experience. Performance analysis is carried out using the tools of today! In this episode, Alex and John revisit Far Cry 2 - a game that saw the debut of the Dunia Engine, and the transition of the franchise from Crytek to Ubisoft.
DF Retro strikes back with one of its most ambitious episodes ever! Join John Linneman for an hour's worth of background story, analysis and performance testing on a range of PC graphics hardware, plus the full breakdown on the console ports - and the legacy of what is one of the biggest releases in gaming... ever.
Our new discussion show centered around all things retro! John and Audi discuss their future plans for the retro content, the making of DF Retro: Quake and the RetroTink5X Pro, which seems to be one of the best gadgets ever made for retro gamers in the modern era.
DF Retro Play is back and better than ever! Celebrating the first Play episode since the Patreon relaunch, the DF best buds take on Power Blade for the Nintendo Entertainment System. More than just a long-play, this is a live running commentary on all the localization changes, related games and music history to this rather underrated NES classic.
Here's the very first DF Retro Q+A, exclusive to Patreon members! John and Audi take on over 30 questions for a two hour extravaganza of retro curiosities. Many thanks for your Patreon support.
The #bestbuds are back with another Retro Pickups! In this episode, John & Audi talk about 3 games each they picked up lately, talking about why they choose these specific games, and smelling good while doing it.
It's DF Retro's BIGGEST episode yet. John Linneman and Audi Sorlie revisit the launch of the Sony PlayStation from its origins in Japan to its eventual rollout across the globe - and in the process, assess every single launch title in all three territories, stacking them up against other versions on other systems. It's coverage without compromise. This is DF Retro.
Hello everyone! We are back with another Retro Corner. Today we take a look at some unofficial ports that are downright FASCINATING, and we highlight the fund campaign for the retro community's Roarke, a modder and repairman that was in a terrible accident recently and needs our help to get back on his feet. This and more in today's Retro Corner!
We tilt and flip the tables with this edition of DF Retro Play, as John takes on Flipnic! This is no ordinary game of pinball, this Sony developed video pinball game goes beyond the confines of traditional tables to deliver something extravagant, uplifting and engaging. An overlooked experience of one of Sony's greatest consoles!
The bestbuds of retro are back to discuss their latest retro pickups and ultimately answer the question why their wives handle all financial responsibilities at home. This time around, John & Audi went on a 32bit kick, but there are also *hidden gems* for other systems in the mix. A total of 12 games!
We're revisiting old E3 press conferences again - and this one is of particular historical significance. It's Nintendo's final media briefing at E3 and it's showcasing the Wii U with all of its strengths and weaknesses. John Linneman, Audi Sorlie and Rich Leadbetter dissect this one.
Journey back with us to 1992 and the release of Super Star Wars on Super NES - and the beginning of a renaissance in spin-off media from the classic trilogy. John Linneman and Audi Sorlie assess all three Super Star Wars trilogy titles, their ports, prototypes - and even the series' predecessor on the original NES.
Another month, another round of pickups from the retro bestbuds! This time, we check out some excellent Sega Saturn games, hawt BABES and Audi gets a holy grail.
DF Retro Play is back, and the best buds of retro sit down with the brand new N64 Digital from PixelFX to test out some nifty futuristic racing action on the Nintendo 64! And surprisingly, the games hold up quite well despite the reputation of the console. We also check out WipEout 64, the entirely exclusive WipEout experience for the Nintendo console, a much requested game from the DF Retro: PlayStation Launch episode.
The game that introduced us to Mode 7 on its launch for Super Famicom and SNES, F-Zero enjoyed a long and distinguished history across three generations of Nintendo home consoles - plus some excellent GameBoy Advance support. But with F-Zero GX, it was also a series that bowed out at its absolute peak. John Linneman and Audi Sorlie assesses the history of the series and the technology that delivered some outstanding futuristic racing.
A new Dead Space is in development? But do you know what? The original is still a brilliant game and holds up very well indeed today. John Linneman, Alex Battaglia and Audi Sorlie revisit the game, playing it on Xbox 360 and a period appropriate gaming PC with an Intel Q6600 quad-core processor paired with the classic Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT.
Friends, supporters, diplomats of retro, we are back with a long overdue 2 hour long Q&A! We answered every single question you sent us, and they were so good we had to bring in some help from My Life in Gaming! Enjoy, dear supporters, and remember you make this all possible!
The quality of the Switch port of Sonic Colors Ultimate has been a hot topic of discussion, but what of the quality of the remaster overall? John Linneman runs the rule over every console version of the game - and takes a look at the original Wii release to remind us *why* this Sonic title is definitely deserving of the remastering treatment.
Join John Linneman for this comprehensive look at Ridge Racer's second decade from the highs of RR6 on Xbox 360 and RR7 on PS3, the brilliance of Ridge Racers and its sequel on PSP and then on to the sad decline of an iconic franchise.
John Linneman and Audi Sorlie talk with Sumo Digital Academy and industry legends, discussing the brand new Zool Redimensioned. Dr Jake Habgood, Sumo Digital Academy intern Emma Rogers and Gremlin Graphics/Zool creator Ian Stewart discuss the origins and resurgence of the intergalactic ninja.
John Linneman and Audi Sorlie are back with an expanded multicam pickups! The boys have been together working in Germany for a few weeks, and in the midst of all the madness, they had time to pick up a few games as well!
Finally, the very first edition of Magazine Memories is here! In this show, we revisit the classic gaming magazines from the 80's, 90's and even early 2000's to see what the latest news, rumors and gossip was at that time. This time around, John and Audi take a look at issue 122 of Electronic Gaming Monthly. Yes, it is the 9.9.99 issue where the editorial, as well as the readers seem quite... middling on the Dreamcast? Find out why as we read along!
A surprise 'drop' at last week's Nintendo Direct, Actraiser Renaissance aims to re-imagine and enhance a stone-cold SNES classic... but the results are mixed to say the least. John Linneman and Audi Sorlie compare notes and take a look at the game across platforms. Note: we've now confirmed conclusively that this is developed on Unity.
The boys are back in town, and they're having themselves a Disney afternoon. This time around, John and Audi go for some co-op action in Capcom's excellent Magical Quest 3, the Japan only follow up to their Mickey Mouse platformer series. This game was later released on Game Boy Advance, but as you'll see, this Super Famicom original is among the finest game on the Super Nintendo hardware.
Namco struck gold with the brilliant Splatterhouse - an arcade game that tapped into the horror movie genre that was so popular back in the 1980s. In this DF Retro episode, John Linneman and guests revisit the entire series - from its brilliant arcade roots, through its many console ports and its eventual - and unfortunate - demise in the PS3/Xbox 360 era.
With the upcoming arrival of Halo Infinite and its campaign's many callbacks to the original Combat Evolved, John and Audi decided to revisit the original game, as played on classic Xbox hardware. Both single-player campaign and co-op put through their paces!
The Analogue Pocket aims to bring us the definitive handheld experience for classic gaming, combining FPGA-based emulation with a simply sensational, state-of-the-art LCD display. The pedigree of Analogue is beyond doubt, but does the Pocket and its dock truly deliver the final word in handheld retro gaming?
Designed to play alongside The Matrix Reloaded with a parallel storyline and exclusive filmed content, Enter The Matrix was also something akin to a modern multi-platform release, with Shiny Entertainment delivering PS2, OG Xbox, GameCube and PC ports. And it's pretty clear that while the console versions were pretty good, something went horribly, horribly wrong with the PC version...
Rejoice! Retro Corner is back for another installment kicking of 2022 in proper style! In this episode, John Linneman and Audi Sorlie discuss various news from the retro community over the last few months, including the exciting updates for the MiSTer project, OpenLara bringing Tomb Raider to 3DO, Castlevania whipped up on the Amiga and so much more!
Content sponsored by Nvidia. In this DF Retro special, we revisit the original GPU - the Nvidia GeForce 256. First released in 1999 in an age of phenomenal progress in the graphics space, the GeForce 256 was promoted as the first 'Graphics Processing Unit' - or GPU. In addition to state-of-the-art performance, GeForce 256 also brought about new features such as hardware transform and lighting and full DirectX 7 support. John Linneman shares his perspective on the hardware and also talks to Phil Scott - now Nvidia's Director of EMEA developer relations, but back in 1999, a developer working on the exciting new range of PC graphics accelerators.
90 minutes, 30 questions, GO! Audi and John are back with another Retro Q&A, answering all of you retro supporters' most burning questions. And we run the whole gamut here, Atari Jaguar, CRT, Yoda impressions, PC Engine and even a little romance. All this and so much more in this feature length episode of Retro Q&A
A precursor to Uncharted? Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb on the original Xbox takes on Tomb Raider-style gaming, but transports the formula back to the character that inspired it all in the first place. It's an excellent title by a highly talented development team - as you shall discover as John and Audi play through the game on original hardware.
Lobotomy Software's amazing Powerslave (or Exhumed as it's also known) is easily one of the greatest first-person shooters of the Sega Saturn/Sony PlayStation era. Nightdive Studios returns to the game to deliver the definitive remaster. The remastering work is typically brilliant - and the game still shines today.
The Retro bestbuds™ are back with another Patreon exclusive installment of DF Retro Pickups! This time, suspiciously sporting the same haircuts they had 3 months back, John and Audi highlight some of their more eccentric collection pickups, diving closer into the madness of their personal taste in collecting
Following on from the release of Gran Turismo 7 for PlayStation 5, John Linneman goes back in time to the original PlayStation era, revisiting the origins of Polyphony Digital, the debut of the first Gran Turismo on PS1, the evolution of the game and its technology onto PS2 - plus how industry rivals scrambled to compete with The Real Driving Simulator.
The Retro Best Buds are back in town, and this time around they are going all the way back to March 2002, issue #4 of the Official Xbox Magazine demo disc! Demo discs were an excellent way getting small samples of games you might have otherwise missed, perhaps something lost in today's gaming scene? Jump on back with us as we take a look at a small offering of the vast world of Xbox OG yo!
The Retro Brüders are back with DER ULTIMAT RETRO SPIEL PICK UP SHOW! This time around, the best buds goes over some interesting aftermarket games across several systems, John picks up a sought after Atari Jaguar collectible, and Audi picks up what might be the worst game he's gotten yet, which is saying something. All this and more in this episode of DF Retro Pickups!
From the infamous target render, through early production to release and onto the birth of a new racing franchise, John Linneman revisits the Motorstorm Saga, from the three main series entries to the various off-shoots across four different PlayStation machines. Plus: see how emulation today makes Motorstorm even better.
A polarising game on PlayStation 3 - and a title that never escaped the limitations of the hardware - until the arrival of accurate PS3 emulation. John Linneman revisits the original Metal Gear Solid 4, exploring its origins way back in 2005 through to the arrival of the final game, before seeing how the game looks today via emulation, running at 4K at (close to!) 60fps, courtesy of the remarkable RPCS3.
Known for its extreme gore and near-constant death screams back at launch in 2000, Soldier of Fortune finally receives the Digital Foundry retro time capsule treatment, with Alex Battaglia breaking out his Pentium 3 650MHz/GeForce 2 MX system and stacking it up against the truly awful Dreamcast conversion and the surprisingly impressive PS2 port!
Pocky and Rocky's original Japanese release on SNES was 30 years ago, but the three key figures in its development are still making games - and this year, they've gone way beyond a typical remake to create Pocky and Rocky Reshrined for Switch and PS4. The 2D action game remains just as fun to play in 2022, with its classic elements lovingly recreated for modern systems and expanded into a longer, deeper game as John Linneman discovers.
Nintendo Switch Sports sees the Mario Makers attempt to rekindle the old Wii Sports magic for the latest generation - but does it pay off? John Linneman revisits the entire 'Sports' saga and puts the new game into context, while delivering all of the DF info you need about the new game. Also: can a game so reliant on motion controls work on the Switch Lite? Find out in this video.
On this special overseas episode of Pick-Ups, Audi visits Marc 'Try4ce' Duddleson from My Life in Gaming for an extended look at the many games they procured during the trip. So many games, so much time (nearly three hours) - come hang out on the couch as they sort through this madness. Plus, special guest - Sandy the dog.
The RetroBuds are back with a brand new DF Retro Play! Months ago, we took a look at N64 futuristic racers. This time, we take a look at a selection of N64 FPS games, a genre that served the 64 bit machine quite well, but not all first person shooters are created equal... From Turok to South Park, this is truly a wild ride in quality and ambition and a facinating look at the N64's strengths and weaknesses.
Journey back to 2003 and the misbegotten arrival of the PC port of Turok Evolution. Can the power of the Turok series mitigate the awful shortcomings of the PC version for franchise fan Alex Battaglia? Just for fun, see John and Alex compare the PC and OG Xbox experiences in one of the most stark comparisons of the era.
In an era defined by sub-HD resolutions and 'challenging' performance, the concept of PlayStation 3 delivering on its promised 1080p 'dream' seems almost ridiculous. And it's true that only a tiny proportion of the library rendered at full HD. And yet, in this DF Retro Special, 85 games are tested - and a majority of them target 60fps! John Linneman is on top form here, presenting the lengthiest DF Retro yet!
Like Streets of Rage 4 before it, TMNT Shredder's Revenge works wonders in modernising the 2D arcade brawling concept, delivering a stunning sequel to the classic Konami arcade machine. John Linneman returns to the new game's roots, describing what made it so special, while zeroing in on how this new game is such a success. And of course, multiple console versions are covered, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Yes, another quarterly installment of our Retro Q&A, which seems to always grow in length each time we sit down to record them. This time we field over 30 questions from the patreon community, ranging from Japanese Mega Drive favorites, Analogue Pocket thoughts and how we are enjoying retro gaming on OLED. There's over 90 minutes of nonstop Q&A here so settle in and enjoy.
On paper, this should have been the definitive collection of the classic Genesis/Mega Drive Sonic games. Built on Christian Whitehead's Retro Engine, the technological underpinnings are there - but a whole host of technical problems and a general lack of polish contribute to a release that promises so much but falls at the last hurdle.
Randy Linden is a bonafide industry legend and trailblazer in the arts of video game development. From his early starts calling programmers on the phone at age 11, join us as we sit down to catalog Randy's entire career as he time and time again proved the impossible possible, from his incredible work porting Dragon's Lair to the Amiga, shocking the world by creating a fully functional version of Doom for Super Nintendo, and developing the controversial and highly influential Bleem! PlayStation emulator. This is one of the greatest stories you'll ever hear in video games, so buckle and up and enjoy this comprehensive career deep dive!
Hailing from the tail-end of 2005, True Crime: New York City is an exceptionally impressive console game... on PlayStation 2 and OG Xbox at least. The situation is somewhat less impressive on GameCube and the PC version we're revisiting here, playing on a period-appropriate PC featuring a Core 2 Duo E6600 and Radeon X800 XT. So just how many visual features are missing on PC... and why?
John Linneman and Coury Carlson from My Life In Gaming team up to discuss 25 years of Klonoa, from the game's origins before and up to the original PS1 debut, along with all of the sequels and off-shoots, culminating in the 2022 remasters for modern machines. What makes this series so special and why should you check it out? Across over two hours of lovingly crafted video content, you'll discover everything you need to know about this iconic Namco series.
Yes Patrons, it has been a while since we last talked pickups but we are finally back and settled in so why not kick it all off with an extended near-one hour session of pickups! John and Audi spent the summer stateside, meeting up for work and a bit of shopping on the side, and apparently picked up collectively over 100 games?! Find out what is the cream of the crop and just how they remain financially sane in this special Retro Pickups!
Remember Geo-Mod? Created by Volition for Red Faction, Geo-Mod essentially delivered dynamic, destructible enviroments. The system evolved considerably over time, but in this video we're going back to its very beginnings around the turn of the century. Alex plays the PC version, using a Pentium 4 2.8GHz with 512MB of SDRAM, paired with a GeForce 4 Ti 4200. Meanwhile, representing the consoles, we have John Linneman playing the game on PlayStation 2.
The RetroBuds strikes back with yet another installment of DF Retro Play, and this time it's all about 3D! The boys take on a set of Super Nintendo 3D games, though these games do so without the assistance of helper chips such as the SuperFX. The result? Well it is certainly a mixed bag, but along the way there's certainly plenty of innovation, experimentation and even some modern day ROM hacks that really showcases what the Super Nintendo could do even, with its rather limited CPU.
n another close collaboration with My Life in Gaming, DF Retro presents Final Fantasy 13 - the full story. John Linneman and Marc Duddleson revisit the origins of this fascinating and controversial game, explore Final Fantasy 13 in depth, compare its various versions and then move on to the sequels - Final Fantasy 13-2 and Lightning Returns. And on top of that, John and Marc also assess the legacy of the game and its impact on future Final Fantasy instalments.
The Bodacious RetroBros are back with another pickups. Summer is over and winter is looming, so the boys snuggled up and found their warmest pickups for the season. John sought out some friendly disc based games to keep his festive spirit up, while Audi clearly plumbed the depths of hell to find whatever weirdness he manages to put on display.
How far we've come! Path tracing is the ultimate form of ray tracing and somehow, in just a few years, we've gone from a path-traced Quake 2 to a path-traced Cyberpunk 2077! How is this possible? In this Tech Focus video, Alex explains the combination of hardware improvements since the launch of RTX 20 Series, working in combination with radically more advanced software and the rise of AI-generated pixels - everything coming together to push in-game visuals further than they ever have before.
In the latest PC Time Capsule episode, we return to 2011 and the arrival of Battlefield 3, powered by the incredible Frostbite engine. DICE pushed technology to the next level with a forward-looking engine that came into its own in the PS4/Xbox One generation - but it all began here with an outstanding PC version flanked by two surprisingly impressive console ports. Alex, John and Rich join forces for this one!
The creators of Blazing Chrome return with Vengeful Guardian Moonrider - a brilliant modern retro pixel art game that brings the magic of the precision action game to modern hardware. John Linneman explains what makes this game great and goes behind the scenes with the developers to show how the game was made.
John and Audi (fresh from a rainy day outside) are back with a mammoth 93 minute Q+A session, exclusive to our Retro Patreon tier! From converting CRT sets to collecting Japanese N64 games, there's a bit of everything found within these answers as the retro buds try their best to answer the latest barrage of supporter questions.
A game for the ages, the DF team return to Half-Life 2 to appraise the original PC version running on classic PC hardware and the 'impossible port' that is the OG Xbox rendition of the game. Rounding off the line-up, we have the much-maligned PlayStation 3 'Orange Box' version... is it really as bad as legend says?
Far Cry 3 is a brilliant game - so brilliant, in fact, that it's still fun to play even in the face of some of the worst levels of performance we saw from a triple-A title in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 generation. Alex, John and Rich fire up their copies of the game, revisiting what made it great, how the technology pushed new limits - and just how poor frame-rates and screen-tearing were on the consoles.
John Linneman teams up with My Life In Gaming's Marc Duddleson to re-examine Microsoft's attempt at a console mascot character - Blinx! Both the original game and its sequel get the Let's Play treatment in this one.
John Linneman tests out the new versions of Goldeneye 007 that arrived recently on Xbox Series X/S and Switch in the latest episode of DF Retro EX. Are any of these emulated re-releases worth picking up, and how do they stand up to the legendary Nintendo 64 original in terms of visuals, controls and sound?
The recent release of GoldenEye 007 for Xbox consoles and Nintendo Switch was certainly an event, but it's not the first time that GoldenEye returned to consoles. Way back in 2010, Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners got the chance to play GoldenEye 007 Reloaded, with Daniel Craig replacing Pierce Brosnan and 'some guy' standing in for Sean Bean. John Linneman and Marc Duddleston revisit the game on Wii and PS3 for your viewing pleasure.
The Legend of Doom is a total conversion of id Software's classic Doom, created by DeTwelve, looking to recreate the original NES classic in its entirety within the Doom engine. So just how close does it get and what's changed in the transition from NES 2D to PC 3D? John Linneman and Marc 'Try4ce' Duddleson team up to play the two side-by-side.
Join John Linneman along with Marc and Coury from My Life in Gaming to review some of the MLiG team's never-seen-before 60fps footage taken from the showfloor at E3 2002!
It's Resident Evil 4 weekend on Digital Foundry! You've seen how good the remake is, we've extolled the virtues of the brilliant GameCube original, but what on Earth went wrong with the PC port? And what's the deal with the contentious PS2 port? Alex Battaglia and John Linneman have the story.
MegaMan X on Super NES is a much-beloved platform game that still holds up well today, but did you know that the Sony PSP actually hosted a full 2.5D remake? In this edition of DF Retro Play, John Linneman and Marc 'Try4ce' Duddelson revisit the game and stack them up side-by-side and head-to-head!
Haven't heard of Gunbuster, or Operation Gunbuster? We're not surprised. It's an arcade shooter from 1992 released mere months after Wolfenstein 3D re-architected the first-person shooter on PC. The thing is... there's a lot of commonality here in terms of presentation, movement and control with the key difference coming down to technology. Gunbuster's entire presentation is based on sprites, a dead-end technology for the FPS revolution to come but in 1992? It was the Wild West and anything was possible.
Crowds in games used to be a big focus on prior generation consoles, culminating in - and ending with - Assassin's Creed Unity. However, back in the PS2 era, developers really went for it and with Ikusagi, also known as Demon Chaos in the UK, we saw an engine that could deliver up to 65,000 enemies on-screen at 60fps. So what does that look like? John has the story.
Nightdive Studios produces some of its most ambitious work yet as it finally delivers its long-awaited remake of the classic immersive sim, System Shock. In this DF Retro EX episode, John goes into depth on what made the original game such a classic, how the remake modernises the game and how well it performs.
Audi Sorlie is back, joining John Linneman for the first of two Nintendo Game Boy specials. Each of them picks their top three titles for the classic Nintendo handheld, with the other actually playing them! In this first instalment, John's picks are the focus with Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge, MegaMan 5 and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening in the frame as his top three games of the entire Game Boy generation.
A stone-cold PC classic with legendary performance challenges is revisited on period-appropriate hardware - very powerful hardware, actually - with Alex at the controls. Meanwhile, John is forced to re-appraise his opinion of the PlayStation 2 port from 'pretty lousy' to merely 'not that great'.
Electronic Arts' Road Rash was a major title for its initial push onto the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis consoles, with the series migrating to CD-based hardware and 'next-gen' consoles including the 3DO, Saturn and PlayStation, taking in some intriguing handhelds ports along the way. Join John Linneman for this extended look into the franchise from its origins through to its eventual decline and extinction.
Notorious in so many ways, it's high time DF Retro revisited Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 - a 3D series entry that disappoints in so many different ways, while also highlighting the stark difference between early Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports. John Linneman and Marc 'Try4ce' Duddleson get to grips with both versions, playing them head to head in real-time.
The id software classic is masterfully updated for the modern era thanks to the brilliant Nightdive Studios - with an assist from Machine Games, who've brought a brand new mission to the game. John Linneman revisits the history of Quake 2, compares every version of the new release and stacks up the various enhancements. Available to buy at a very low price, available on Game Pass, or as a free upgrade on PC, this is a simply phenomenal new version of a truly legendary game.
Max Payne may well be getting a full-on remake, but here's where it all began, way back in 2003. Join Alex Battaglia - playing on period appropriate PC hardware - along with John Linneman on PS2 to see why this game was such a big deal, and how troublesome it was to bring to consoles.
John and Audi are back with another Q&A session, armed with questions delivered by our beautiful Retro tier supporters! This time around, they answer queries about which 3DO games impress them the most, whether new CRT technology could ever exist, what their favourite Wii games are... and much more.
Audi Sorlie is back and joining John Linneman once again for the second of two Nintendo Game Boy specials. Each of them picks their top three titles for the classic Nintendo handheld, with the other actually playing them! In this instalment, Audi's picks take John into uncharted waters at a stormy 30FPS or lower with Astérix, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Back from the Sewers and Balloon Kid.
Sega Model 3 emulation never officially happened... until now. In a DF Retro special, John Linneman examines the first ever Model 3 emulator, found within Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased his name. Daytona USA 2 and Fighting Vipers 2 emulation is examined, with AM2's classic racer stacked up against the OG arcade version and Supermodel PC emulation. Meanwhile, Fighting Vipers 2 on Dreamcast takes on Like a Dragon's Model 3 emulation. The port is renowned for its accuracy, but does it deserve the accolades?
John and Audi are back with a special one today. This time around, the retro best buds sit down to co-op some of the lesser known and frankly shoddy remakes from the PS3 and Xbox 360 era. See the delisted adventures of TMNT Reshelled, the relatively unknown and shocking Double Dragon 2: Wander of the Dragons, the rather interesting HD version of the first Double Dragon and finally, Earthworm Jim HD. Four games played in a torturous hour of entertainment... let's do this!
After barely escaping with their sanity after replaying Sonic 2006 on PS3 and Xbox 360, John Linneman and Marc 'Try4ce' Duddleson are back for more punishment, this time examining Sonic Boom - a game which through a bizarre series of events ended up running CryEngine on Nintendo Wii U. And let's just say that it doesn't go too well.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We're publishing this Retro Play on Christmas Day and why not, bearing in mind that Batman Arkham Origins takes place on Christmas Eve, moving into Christmas Day! John Linneman and Marc 'Try4ce' Duddleson take the controls of the Wii U and PC (with full PhysX) versions, plus there's a little Xbox 360 too.
Nightdive Studios is BACK with another excellent remaster, finally completing the Turok trilogy! In this Retro x Modern Let's Play, the Switch and maxed PC renditions of Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion go head-to-head with the original game running on Nintendo 64 via a custom HDMI mod for the best quality. John, Alex and My Life In Gaming's Coury Carlson take you through the game across the three different hardware platforms.
TAA - or Temporal Anti-Aliasing - has become the de facto standard form of anti-aliasing in video games today. It's a potent form of improving image quality and delivering effects similar to super-sampling while using a tiny fraction of your GPU's power. However, it's not without its issues and challenges and many users actively despise it. How have we got to where we are, why aren't other forms of AA used and where does it fare best? Alex Battaglia has this video for you.
The Retro PC Time Capsule is back - this time taking us all the way back to 2003, the year of the Radeon 9800 Pro... and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne! In this video, Alex plays the Remedy classic on period appropriate PC hardware, while John attempts to keep up on the PlayStation 2 rendition of the game. The PC's inordinately more powerful, so can the console keep up?
Nightdive Studios returns with yet another classic remaster of superlative quality. Join John Linneman for a deep dive into what made Dark Forces such an important release back in 1995 and how it improved on the epoch-making Doom. From there, it's onto the work of Nightdive itself in meticulously remastering the game for all modern systems.
In a new Retro PC Time Capsule video, John and Alex go back to cross-gen gaming, 2006-style, with Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Join us for a look back at a time where Xbox 360 out-performed mainstream PCs by a long chalk, resulting in some games receiving almost completely different versions of the 'same game'... and not even Ageia PhysX support can help PC on this one! Meanwhile, it's a sorry state of affairs once we get to look at the PS2 version of the game...
Them boys are back in town! Yes, the first DF Retro Q+A of the year is here and it is a two hour doozy. The best buds of retro reflect on their work on Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, answer definitely what is the best version of Aladdin between SNES and Mega Drive, tackle your most pressing CRT and upscaler issues and of course, travel back in time for some Ninja Turtle pies. Yes, it's all here, exclusively on Patreon!
Sponsored by THQ Nordic. Outcast first launched in 1999 delivering state-of-the-art voxel-driven visuals in what was then a novel open-world design - but its sequel never landed... until now. In this special video, John Linneman tells the story of the original game, its technology and off-shoot projects before concentrating on Outcast: A New Beginning, which finally realises the original developer's vision for a full Outcast sequel.
Legendary at its heights through the 1980s and 1990s, Sunsoft carved out a reputation for incredible quality across the 8-bit and 16-bit eras before gradually fading away. However, the publisher is beginning its comeback and in this incredible DF Retro special, John Linneman catalogues the history of Sunsoft, from its origins through its stratospherically successful period and then onto its quieter years through to the beginnings of its resurgence. With unprecedented access to Sunsoft HQ in Japan - including a look at unreleased games - this is the definitive look at a unique publisher.
X gonna give to ya here today at Digital Foundry. We are going back to the early days of Microsoft's console efforts, taking a look at a selection of great titles that were, for its time, exclusively experienced on their flagship console. These were the days when players would find some of the greatest development talent from around the world focused on showcasing this incredible piece of hardware, so settle in for a nostalgia trip back to the early 2000s and rediscover a happier time in the Xbox's history.
Following up on the origins stylings of the new Gears of War: E-Day, Alex Battaglia and John Linneman go all the way back to the first Gears of War game, discussing what make it special and stacking up the iconic Xbox 360 release against the quite different PC version that came after. In theory, Alex's superior hardware should see PC blow the 360 away, but... there are issues.
An adventure classic first launched in 1997, Cyan's Riven was built around pre-rendered imagery and full motion video, expertly utilising the CD-ROM format. And now, in 2024, Riven has returned, with Cyan's original vision fully realised in Unreal Engine 5 with beautiful real-time 3D. John revisits the classic and concentrates on what made it original and distinct, before checking out the remake in all of its glory on high-end PC, PC VR and the intriguing Meta Quest port.
In a brand-new PC Retro Time Capsule, we return to 2007 to check out the infamous Windows Vista-only version of Halo 2, stacked up against the original Xbox version of the game. In this special episode, Alex is joined by the excellent F4mi to share their impressions on the title and indeed the OG Xbox in general!
What if we told you that OG Xbox played host to an open world racing game that rendered at native 720p? That's just one of the technical feats delivered by the Wreckless/Double STEAL series of games. John Linneman is joined by Andrew Elmore for a look back at both games, including the bizarre PS2 and GameCube ports of the first game, before moving on to the technological masterpiece that is the Japan-only Double Steal: The Second Clash.
This has been one of the ambitious DF Retro projects we've ever undertaken. What if Digital Foundry - with all of the modern tools at its disposal - could have covered the mid-90s Sega Saturn vs Sony PlayStation cross-platform releases? We have a general idea of how the systems compared, but does the modern DF methodology make the case or bust the myths? It took time for our digital-based workflow to adapt to the analogue days of yesteryear - particularly on Saturn where no HDMI mods exist - but here we are, and we think you're going to enjoy it. John Linneman kicks off proceedings with a look at the fifth generation consoles' line-up of driving games.
Shadow of the Ninja has its origins on the NES, a Natsume-developed game that first launched way back in 1990. And now, Tengo Project, following on from Wild Arms Reloaded and Rocky + Pocky Reshrined, re-imagines the original game for modern systems. What if polygon 3D never happened and developers continued to refine 2D pixel art? With this complete revamp of Shadow of the Ninja, we now have some idea of how that would have looked - and it's a simply fantastic game.
Original games, original peripherals for all major retro consoles... on a single all-in-one retro unit? The Polymega aims to be the one-stop-shop for everything you need to run retro games on a modern flat panel display. But can it bear up to DF-level scrutiny when it comes to features and accuracy? John puts the unit through his paces, joined in this video by My Life In Gaming's Coury Carlson.
Straight out of nowhere, the original Doom Trilogy has been ported to the current generation consoles. Controversy surrounds the first two games - and to be clear, they do need a lot of work - but Doom 3? It's gold.
Having the full arcade experience at home is an enticing idea – and today we go hands-on with a Capcom-licensed take on the concept. The Home Arcade sports solid hardware, and packs in 16 classic CPS1 and 2 titles from its 2D golden age. Tom and John discuss early experiences with it, plus the controversy surrounding its emulation on reveal.
Ray tracing promises to deliver a massive increase to the fidelity of gaming graphics. But what is it? How does it work? And to what extent can the techniques be used when you *don't* have a Titan V graphics card? Note that we had to use second generation video here - unfortunately the developers and Nvidia couldn't supply higher quality assets.
What is anti-aliasing? Is it just about smoothing off the jaggies or is there more to it? Join Alex as we isolate what the problems of aliasing are, and what solutions developers have to address them.
Can Alex possibly convince the most hardcore haters that motion blur is actually a really good thing? Here's where we find out.
The best part of PC gaming is the way users can customise their experience, usually via their choice of hardware. But there's a software angle too - and not just via modding, but through the use of injectors like Reshade that allow you to 'remix' visuals on the fly. Alex shows you what Reshade is, what it can do and what the performance hit is.
Dynamic Resolution Scaling (DRS) started out life smoothing performance on console titles by lowering rendering resolution on the fly. But the technique is coming to more and more PC titles too. How does it work, what are the gains and how best to let the user configure it? Alex takes a look.
V-Sync is one of the most important - and controversial - options in PC gaming, but what does it do, how does it work and should you use it? Join Alex for a new Tech Focus.
Nvidia's Turing architecture pushes rendering into new territory with a number of brand new features - including variable rate shading, an attempt to lessen GPU load based on human perception of aspects such as motion and luminance. Alex has the full story plus analysis of the tech in action in Wolfenstein: The New Colossus.
One of the defining highlights of the Xbox One/PS4 console generation has been the move to much more realistic volumetric lighting. From Red Dead Redemption 2's beautiful skyboxes to other increasingly commonplace voxel-based solutions, games are looking more realistic than ever. But what actually is volumetric lighting and what sets it apart from the god rays of yesteryear? Alex explains all.
In honour of Eurogamer - our partner website - reaching its 20th anniversary, we decided to celebrate its birthday by revisiting some of the most classic and interesting games of 1999, running them on a vintage retro PC with Coppermine Pentium, plus Voodoo 2 and Riva TNT2 Pro graphics cards!
Tech Focus returns with a closer look at Radeon Image Sharpening - a feature for Navi and Polaris graphics cards and an open source component of AMD's new FidelityFX. What's it best used for? What are its limits? Everything you need to know is right here.
DF Retro takes over DF Direct this week with a deep dive into the music of the legendary Chris Huelsbeck... courtesy of a conversation with Chris himself! Learn all about his music for Rainbow Arts, Factor 5 and more on C64, Amiga, consoles and beyond. Check out Chris's Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/chris_huelsbeck
We're going to be hearing a LOT about variable rate shading as we transition into the next generation console era. But what is it? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Is it really a game-changer in terms of more efficient graphics rendering? Alex Battaglia assesses the technology based on two games we've seen using it so far... and talks about how it could be used in future.
Continuing our developer-focused series made by possible by support from Barclays, Digital Foundry returns to the brilliant Moon Studios, to talk to co-founder and lead engineer Gennadiy Korol. Topics covered include the challenges in delivering Ori and the Will of the Wisps to the next generation Xbox Series X and Series S consoles in the incredibly challenging environment brought about by Covid-19.
John and Audi sit down with Modern Vintage Gamer, famous YouTuber and emulation coder, who recently worked on the re-release of the famous Shantae for Game Boy Color, making use of his Carbon Engine - an all-new multisystem emulator tailored for the modern consoles.
Welcome to a brand new Tech Focus! In this video, delivered with early access to DF Supporter Program backers, Alex goes into depth of Global Illumination - or GI. What is it, how does it work, what are the implementations with rasterisation and ray tracing?
In this DF Developer interview, we sit down with Limited Run Games' Joe Modzeleski. Joe has been the architect of the Carbon Engine, allowing retro games to run flawlessly on modern hardware, and has a long history with speedrunning tech. In this interview we go over his career thus far, Carbon Engine plans, thoughts on the evolution of speedrunning and just how he and Audi would go about making a new Bubsy game.
