Nearly three decades after MediEvil first arrived on the original PlayStation, Sir Daniel Fortesque has been brought back from the dead yet again! This time, though, it's thanks to BlackLabelHQ, a team of developers who have used static recompilation to bring the original 1998 game natively to modern PCs. Their project, MediEvilRecomp, includes widescreen support, improved controls, higher frame rates, modding tools and plenty of other improvements, all while preserving the original game's character and unique charm.

Something I found really interesting in this one is the team's firm position on AI-generated code. As they proudly state, "This Recomp was made by human hands, no AI is involved in writing this code!" They even have a policy rejecting AI-generated contributions. I've written an article looking at the history of MediEvil, the technical work behind its latest resurrection, and why projects like this are becoming such an important part of video game preservation.

Been wanting one of these since I first heard about them in 2006. I decided this year if I still wanted one by Christmas, I'd treat myself. And so I have. I actually ordered a DESR-5000, but seller said it was out of stock and offered me a newer fully working 7500. It didn't come with a remote, but they are throwing one in as an apology for the other console being out of stock. I am super excited to get it. I'll solder in a Matrix modchip, convert the XMB to English and use FreeMCB to play my games. I have JP region games too already. Once they are back in stock, I'll also order an ATA Express for it so I can retire it's original encrypted hard drive.

$195 CAD. After months of mulling it over. This game defined my PS1 era.

Back in 1996, NEON Software delivered something a little different from the usual run of platformers and fighting games. Tunnel B1 put you inside a high-tech hovercraft, racing through dark underground passages while dodging enemy fire, taking out helicopters and turrets, and trying to prevent a nuclear catastrophe.

Think fast-moving tunnel combat with a serious sci-fi atmosphere. You could upgrade your weapons, explore branching underground environments, and race against the clock to clear certain sections.

Published by Acclaim in North America and Ocean in Europe, it also made its way to Japan under the rather different title 3D Mission Shooting: Finalist.

Another interesting connection: the game's soundtrack was composed by Chris Hülsbeck, the legendary composer behind the Turrican series. If you grew up with European computer gaming, that name might ring a bell!

Here's an old magazine advertisement from the PSX Archive collection.

Who remembers Tunnel B1? Did you own it, or was this one of those games you spotted on a store shelf but never got around to buying?

Remember Mickey Mania? Traveller's Tales took Mickey through some of his most famous cartoons, and the results were pretty impressive. But there's an interesting piece of PlayStation history here, particularly for North American collectors.

A PlayStation version was originally planned for the US and Japan under Sony Imagesoft. When Kelly Flock took over, the company was moving away from its previous catalogue and the projects associated with it. Mickey Mania was among the titles that got dropped. So while North American PlayStation owners never got their own release, European gamers eventually received the game in March 1996 under the name Mickey's Wild Adventure.

And this wasn't simply a straight port of the earlier 16-bit versions. The PlayStation edition featured rebuilt graphics, 3D staircase sequences, and something particularly cool: an entirely new chase sequence in which Mickey has to escape Willie the Giant at the end of the Beanstalk level. That sequence wasn't in the Sega CD version!

It's one of those strange regional differences that makes collecting for the original PlayStation so interesting. An American release was planned, cancelled, and ultimately became a European release with additional content.

I came across this old advertisement while going through the PSX Archive collection.

North American collectors: did you ever import Mickey's Wild Adventure, or did you miss out on this one entirely?

The original PlayStation (SCPH-1000) was released only in Japan, December 1994. It wasn't until September 1995, that the US and UK models, (SCPH-1001 and SCPH-1002 respectively) were released. These models did not have the dedicated S-Video port, which was only a feature of the SCPH-1000.

How many of you imported one back in '94/early '95?, before the official launches in the rest of the world? And what was that first experience like, the transition from the Mega Drive and SNES, to the PS1? And how many of you still have a working SCPH-1000? I don't think there are many original working units left, as they had quite a few fatal design flaws.

Hey,

Just bought Blood Omen and noticed that it is actually scratched on the label-side, arouns SLES letters. Shining a flashlight from black side of the disc does not shine-through this scratch, it is also still silver-reflective.

The disc does not want to boot on my PSOne ("A read error has occurred, please reboot the system" shows up after playing intros) but on PS2 and PS3 it works, so maybe it's just my PSOne laser worn out. I played for about 1.5h fine, no audio cuts, no FMV issues.

Still, should I return the disc because it's just a matter of time or I did not play long enough it's probably busted anyway?

Thanks,

I've had a lot of free time lately so I've finally been able to get through the huge backlog I had on my shelf and now I'm looking for something new to add to the collection but the more I look the more I find myself surprised by the price of games.

Now obviously there's game I wanna play that are big hitters (Silent Hill for example) that are massively overpriced, but I don't feel like I can find like a "decent" CAD$20-30 game anymore? Why is all the shovelware now that price?

I have a list of stuff that I want for my collection that I had as a kid but obviously those can wait, I'm prioritizing new (to me) titles that I can enjoy.

Yes I know there's emulators and I can just download any game I want but that defeats the purpose for me. I enjoy the physical aspect of this console. I'm old and I want an actual physical disc on my shelf dammit!

Anyway that being said, are there any recommendations for games that are considered a reasonable price? As a kid I already played all the obvious series (serieses? seri?): Spyro, Tomb Raider, Driver, Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy.

My collection is available here: https://www.gameye.app/user/forceh91/library/ (wow I have a lot of racing titles somehow.)

I always loved how Capcom took characters from Street Fighter and Darkstalkers and dropped them into a puzzle game. Somehow, it just worked.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo was one of those games that looked simple enough, but once the gems started falling and the combos began chaining together, things got seriously competitive.

The oversized chibi characters, the ridiculous animations, the satisfying crashes when you broke a big pile of gems… it had so much personality.

And let's be honest, playing against a friend could get pretty intense. Nothing like watching someone else's screen fill up with garbage gems while you sat there pretending it was all part of the plan. 😂

Who spent hours playing this one? Were you actually good at it, or did you just enjoy causing chaos for your opponent?