Sheesh, another quarter down. Where does the time go? This was also my first quarter gaming on an additional device, the Anbernic RG CubeXX. It won’t take over as my primary device, the Steam Deck OLED is just far more powerful. But the RG CubeXX certainly has its advantages and I’ve been having a great time with it on the go. You can check out my review for it if you’re interested in a secondary device for retro games. Well, it was a big quarter with another 28 games down, though a lot were shorter or older titles. What can I say? I keep getting drawn back into retro gaming. There’s a simplicity to retro games that just hits me right.
Anyway, time to get stuck into the quarter…
I’ve talked about it before, and here we go again: pairing a PlayStation 5 with various PC game libraries is a great way to have almost every gaming library at your disposal. With apps like Chiaki-ng and PXPlay, you can stream your PlayStation 5 from any location right on your Steam Deck. I did just that to bring another Premiership to the Geelong Cats in AFL 26 with my champion midfielder Peter Ian Staker leading the way. I also jumped into and recently reviewed Alan Wake Remastered. It’s a pretty moody, Stephen King-style action adventure. It’s got some issues running natively on the Steam Deck along with AMD chips in general. Streaming was the next best thing and it was totally worth it. If you’re into story-driven games, absolutely give it a go. You won’t be disappointed.
I’ve had a great few months with RG CubeXX in my pocket. I finally made my way through Super Mario Bros. 1-3 for the SNES and had a great time with all of them. Nice to tick them off the list, I started with the third game, went back to the first and then onto the second. Why did I play in that order? No idea. I don’t think the order really matters anyway. I also finished the original Sonic on the Mega Drive. It’s still my least favourite of them all, no spin-dash is rough. The CubeXX is also pretty great for Game Boy Advance games, so staying in the Sonic universe I finished the Sonic Advance trilogy and I wrote a retrospective post about it. I tell ya hwhat, it’s nowhere near as good as I hoped. Did you know you can play old DOS games on your retro handhelds? One of my favourite YouTubers, TechDweeb, has a sweet video on just that. Hocus Pocus is one such DOS game from 1994, we had the shareware version when I was a kid so finishing the full game in 2025 almost felt like closing a 30-year loop. It’s a lot of fun, but it does kinda drag on. And because I just can’t resist the Sega Mega Drive: I did yet another run through Skitchin’ which I don’t think will ever get old. I also finished X-Men 2: Clone Wars, I’m not sure I ever made the end level before but now it’s well and truly ticked off the list. Both absolutely earn their place in my Top 10.
The RG CubeXX surprised me with how well it runs PlayStation 1 and Dreamcast games. Nothing like a bit of Tekken 3 on the go, it’s still a banger. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is as good as ever on the Dreamcast, it’s the best version of the original: fight me. I finished it again with Bob Burnquist. Backflips are cool, what can I say? Look, I’ve said this before, I’m not a huge racing game guy. But there’s just something about Gran Turismo that keeps me coming back. I definitely didn’t finish it as a kid and it’s still pretty challenging as an adult. This time I stuck with it, gained all the licenses and finally finished it. I can’t say it wasn’t an uphill battle, the International A license is rough time with how precise you have to be. After the Gran Turismo grind, it was time for something more relaxing. I haven’t looked too closely at the Neo Geo as a system, but I might have to start. I’d heard of it before, but Neo Turf Masters has quickly become my favourite golf game of all-time. That’s right, move over Microsoft Golf 2.0. There’s a new champ in town! I uh, don’t play many golf games. I won my first playthrough and I’ve been chipping away at a second, although I’ve spent much more time in the rough this time around.
I haven’t limited my retro gaming to just the RG CubeXX, retro games make a lot of appearances on my Steam Deck. I said I wasn’t a racing game guy, and I’m not, but my bargain bin arcade racer of choice is Screamer for MS-DOS. I reviewed it recently after having the great idea to revisit it. It’s great, go play it. It’s barely $15 AUD if not on sale. Banjo-Kazooie is an iconic 3D platformer for the Nintendo 64 and it’s genuine fun. I reviewed it through the quarter and I think it takes the crown for best platformer on the system. I always felt Road Rash for the PC felt more advanced than its Mega Drive counterparts, unfortunately there are a multitude of issues with it on the Steam Deck, because uh, I don’t know why. The controls had issues no matter how I set them up. But the 3DO version, from what I read, is a close second to the PC so I played that instead. Road Rash on the 3DO feels almost the same and I had a absolute blast with it. Now, I don’t know how many attempts I’ve had, but Zombies for the Mega Drive is a beast I’ve always wanted to slay. 55 levels (including bonus levels) of chaotic, isometric undead nonsense. The levels do all start to blur together after a while. It’s amazing to this day even if I leaned heavily on save states, but I regret nothing.
Dabbling in arcade games isn’t something I’ve done a lot of. Yet. I was interested to see how arcade shooters play on the Steam Deck and after finishing Time Crisis for the first time, I think I’ll go back for more. It was again, just genuine fun. I need more of that hooked into my veins. Then I kinda went full circle and played through GTA: Vice City Stories, the only 3D GTA I’d never played. It definitely scratched that neon-soaked itch after finishing Vice City: Definitive Edition earlier this year, which I really enjoyed regardless of the vast, vast critical comments I’ve read. With my final foray into emulation for the quarter, I ripped through the story mode for WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 on the PlayStation 2. I’m mostly an older attitude era WWF/E fan, but I’ve seen this one highly recommended by the community. I ah, didn’t think it lived up to the hype. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun and the gameplay was solid, but the story… it just kinda stank.
Still in the general realm of retro games, I played through the remake of King’s Quest 3: To Heir is Human. It’s also Part 3 in my King’s Quest playthrough series and might be second only to King’s Quest 6 for best of the series. Seriously, the remake is that good. If you’re a King’s Quest fan, definitely look into the remake. Still on remakes, Meteor Mess is another banger. This is a 2.5D remake of Maniac Mansion and outside of the voice acting, I can’t really fault it. I reviewed it a few weeks back and had a great time creeping through the Edison Mansion again. It doesn’t beat out Maniac Mansion Deluxe as my favourite version but it’s still great. Telltale’s The Walking Dead game fast became one of my favourite story-driven games. I also reviewed it recently and really enjoyed watching the story unfold. You make choices in the game, which don’t particularly change the core story, but it makes you feel like you’re in control. Finally, The Precinct. It’s yet another another story-driven game, but it’s packaged in a police simulator. I followed it quite a bit before it released and heard some early reports of Steam Deck Performance issues. I took a punt and I’m happy to say it runs perfectly. There’s plenty of police-y stuff to do and it’s overall a solid experience.
Pretty huge quarter, I must say. Q4 feels like it’s going to be pretty light-on in comparison. I’ve just kicked off my first playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. That game is almost a full-time commitment on its own. I’ve also started my first playthrough of Chrono Trigger on my Anbernic RG CubeXX and I’m hoping that lives up to the hype. Both games are considered all-time greats, so I’m keen to make my way through them. It’s been a pretty wild year so far, skipping between a few decades of gaming history. But there’s definitely nothing wrong with a bit of a mix of old comforts and new discovery. Anyway, time to get cracking on Q4.
Dad with a Deck 
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