For those waiting for MI, having a lot of time...

[onlyamonkey]

Let me introduce you to the universe of snes rpgs. It's an absolutely wonderful experience playing through some of these goodies. Snes= Super Nintendo and RPG= role playing game.

First, you'll need an emulator. An emulator is needed to run old snes games on your PC. You can find a good one here. < snip >
Just take the latest version and download it (it's a legit site, no worries).

Then you'll need some games. Usually people google "snes roms" but if you download from coolroms you'll be fine. So google coolroms. I can't vouch for the legitimacy of the site, but I use firewall and stuff and downloaded from there for quite some time and never had issues. < snip >

Ok. So here you have a huge archive of old snes games to your disposal. The best snes rpgs are:
Chronotrigger
Seiken Densetsu 3
Tales of Phantasia
Lufia 2
Super Mario RPG

...but there are dozens more.

Ok, so now you have a bunch of files. What to do next?
Unzip them all. Winzip is a free evalution tool so google and download it if you don't have it. Then unzip them (really easy and legit, I promise).

Then open up zsnes. Time to set things up. Get to configure->video and find the best screensize for you. Then go to configure->input and click on set keys to set your keyboard keys. I use asdf for abxy, er for lr and then the arrows and enter and space for moving and pause.

Then use game->load and find a game you want to play. You can save and load up previously saved games by going game->load/save and you can have different save states meaning you can save in the same game 10 times (which is handy for boss battles and such).

The § key is also very handy because it fast forwards letting you grind faster .

Well, there you have it. Have fun!

[goatman_74]

That's a great idea. I used to have a Sega Megadrive (Genesis), and have an emulator for it. There were some fantastic games from way back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It's scary to think that when I used to buy these games in the shops, they were £40. Much the same as today's PS3/360 titles. AND, they were about the size of a floppy disc memory wise, or even less. Streets of Rage 2 for example is 1mb to download. Worth doing though! Cool roms is a good site as you say. Thanks for posting!

[Bas]

Yeah.. downloading roms isn't exactly legal (depending on your country of residence bla bla bla). Same for using winzip without the intent to buy it after evaluation. 7-zip is a free alternative.

[Toothless Gibbon]

Highly illegal..

[Armand1880]

Isn't it legal as long as you own the original cartridge?

[serializer]

Originally Posted by Bas

Yeah.. downloading roms isn't exactly legal (depending on your country of residence bla bla bla). Same for using winzip without the intent to buy it after evaluation. 7-zip is a free alternative.

Shh now. We are talking here about data of historical interest! Let us not sully this academic discussion with talk of law. There are already far too many ZX Spectrum games now impossible to get hold of because of these cretinous creatures known as "lawyers". What's a little emulation between friends?

Whilst we're here, I highly recommend all the Zelda games, in particular the versions on SNES and Gameboy were both awesome. The early NES ones were apparently also brilliant but I found the gameplay a bit annoying to get very far into them.

You might also try the free version of WinRAR, it displays a nag screen every time you start it, but I find its features better than either 7Zip or WinZip. For Vista users there's no point in WinZip since it's built right into Explorer.

[Giant Tope]

Earthbound is a totally awesome rpg on the snes! What you do with this knowledge is absolutely none of my business!

[serializer]

Originally Posted by Toothless Gibbon

Highly illegal..

Let's just clarify the degrees of illegality we are talking about here. After all, law is not black and white; it features at the very least shades of grey and on occasion might be shot in Technicolor.

A "highly" illegal activity such as, for instance, smuggling a truckful of cocaine across the Mexican border will, I imagine, land you a hefty fine and a decade or two in jail.

Downloading a ROM of a SNES game from about twenty years ago, a game which undoubtedly is no longer supported by either Nintendo or the original developer, will result at worst in a mild ticking off from a policeman saying "tsk, don't let me catch you again, you cheeky young scamp!"

Please reserve the phrase "highly illegal" for murder, defraudment, members of parliament, and other acts of extreme depradation, lest our judgement be blinded by sensationalism.

[Toothless Gibbon]

Illegal.


Better?

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by serializer

Downloading a ROM of a SNES game from about twenty years ago, a game which undoubtedly is no longer supported by either Nintendo or the original developer, will result at worst in a mild ticking off from a policeman saying "tsk, don't let me catch you again, you cheeky young scamp!"

Um... Tales of Phantasia was ported to Gameboy Advance a couple years ago, Super Mario RPG is available on Wiiware and Chrono Trigger was recently ported to DS.

So 60% of your list is still highly supported by both Nintendo and the original developers.

[serializer]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

Um... Tales of Phantasia was ported to Gameboy Advance a couple years ago, Super Mario RPG is available on Wiiware and Chrono Trigger was recently ported to DS.

So 60% of your list is still highly supported by both Nintendo and the original developers.

Doesn't sound very ... convenient. I have to buy a brand new system to play a 20 year old game?

...And I think you might have me confused with the OP.

Why don't they just sell the ROMs for like 50p each for download, and link to one of the many free emulators?

Also, didn't it used to be the case that games automatically went into the Public Domain after 10 years? Or does my memory deceive me?

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by serializer

Doesn't sound very ... convenient. I have to buy a brand new system to play a 20 year old game?

It doesn't matter what system something is on or if you have the capability to play it, it's released and widely available for purchase, thereby making it still fully supported and it is in fact a crime to steal it.

Originally Posted by serializer

...And I think you might have me confused with the OP.

You're right, but my point still stands as you're referring to the games he listed

Originally Posted by serializer

Why don't they just sell the ROMs for like 50p each for download, and link to one of the many free emulators?

Probably because ROMs aren't exactly a copy-protected format.

Originally Posted by serializer

Also, didn't it used to be the case that games automatically went into the Public Domain after 10 years? Or does my memory deceive me?

I have never heard of that.

[Sir Pantalones]

They obviously don't, as Nintendo among others still gain money from selling them through Virtual Console.

[Bas]

Hey, I've downloaded ancient ROMs myself. That doesn't mean what I did is legal. And suggesting that people download them, while constantly mentioning what's 'legit' but failing to point out that the actual downloading itself isn't legit is kind of iffy.

Originally Posted by serializer

For Vista users there's no point in WinZip since it's built right into Explorer.

This has been the case since Windows XP.

[David E]

Sorry guys, we can't allow rom linking/discussion here.