A recreation of Tomb Raider 2 on Saturn, new firmware for Retro-Bit controllers and a line of model kits recreating robots from Saturn shooter Wolf Fang — they’re a few of the headlines that popped up in the community this past week. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Tomb Raider 2 on Saturn update
A video showing progress on a recreation of Tomb Raider 2 on the Saturn was uploaded to YouTube, giving a glimpse of what could have been — and what could be once something playable is eventually released.
RetroRaiderJohn is working on inserting levels, models and gameplay elements from Tomb Raider 2 into the officially released Tomb Raider 1’s code. He did something similar to recreate the 1998 PC expansion to Tomb Raider, Unfinished Business, last year.
“I present to you updated gameplay footage of the level ‘Bartoli’s Hideout’ (E3 1997 version) on the Sega Saturn, with some notable new features (among a few others) since my previous E3 video,” John said in the description of the video uploaded July 26. He last gave an update video on Tomb Raider 2 in April 2023 when he showed off all three E3 levels running on Saturn.
The new features showed off in the video include:
- TR2 enemy behavior.
- TR2 trap functionality.
- Braid functionality.
- Save-anywhere system.
- Improved swimming and free camera (TR2+).
- Fly cheat.
- TR2 health bar and UI.
John said in the video description that his approach would never allow for a complete recreation of Tomb Raider 2. When asked about that in the video’s comments, he replied:
“The biggest problem (and advantage) is that I’m building upon an existing game binary. While this is giving me a solid (and quite frankly, underrated) foundation for a game engine, it’s taking so much longer to familiarize myself with everything, plus I get less freedom to expand it with my own code.
TR2 also has some problematic new features. Dynamic lighting is likely too complex to be implemented, so that means no flares either. Lara’s new back weapons (harpoon and M16) are expected to be a major issue too. While none of these new features are always “necessary,” their absence is unfortunate. Another problem is lack of memory on Saturn, so the bigger levels are currently not possible without compromising their level data (a challenge I faced during my Unfinished Business port, but it’s even more limiting this time). I haven’t yet explored the feasibility of extending the memory with a RAM cart, however.
Either way, porting the full game is just not realistic. The end result will most definitely be a demo, but it’s impossible to say at this stage how many levels it will consist of (perhaps half at most). My current focus is set on implementing any relevant TR2 gameplay features that allow a selection of levels to be completed as intended. As long as the main gameplay for these levels stays intact, I’ll be very happy. I think this should be doable, but naturally it will take time.”
John promises more to come later this year, including wading functionality, wall climbing and breakable windows. Anyone who wants to support him financially can do so via his PayPal.
Retro-Bit updates wireless controller firmware
Retro-Bit released new firmware for its V2 wireless controllers Friday that adds a wired mode for charging and playing on modern systems.
The company said that the firmware enables its 2.4 GHz wireless controllers to play with “almost no lag” while in wired mode. Firmware for each of their controllers can be downloaded from their website.
As of late 2022, Retro-Bit’s 2.4 GHz wireless controllers began carrying V2 branding to differentiate them from previous versions now called V1. Among their V2 controllers are the Saturn Pro controller that released last December. That controller last got new firmware in January to fix input problems.
Wolf Fang model kits announced
Japanese hobby manufacturer PLUM debuted model kits for two of the playable robots in Data East shooter Wolf Fang at Wonder Festival 2024 last weekend.
PLUM showed off unpainted prototypes of TYPE01 Soryu and TYPE02 Tenrai at their booth and announced that preorders are open on the Soryu for 6,050 yen, or about US$41. The 5.3-inch-tall (135 mm) model is set for release in October and can be preordered from Amazon Japan and Rakuten. It’ll come with a smaller pilot figure as well.
Preorders on the TYPE02 Tenrai are set to open Thursday, the company said on social media after Wonder Festival ended, with a release targeting November.
Wolf Fang SS Kuuga 2001, a Data East shmup that was ported to Saturn in Japan in March 1997, features four playable robots. PLUM said they plan to release model kits for all four eventually — and not only that, but their parts can be mixed and matched to create 64 different combinations, mirroring what players can do in the video game.
Wolf Fang and its sequel Skull Fang are coming to modern platforms as a compilation in October, publisher City Connection announced last month.
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