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**Beanovsky Durst** · 04-24-2010, 01:55 PM

I'll give it a watch on my spare time.
So far I've watched only Part 6, and I like the commentary style via notes, I really don't like voice-commented walkthroughs because sometimes people can be REALLY annoying, however this style is quite good since it's gives us insight on what you were thinking while playing, and the trivia thingy is also nice... Good work!
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Bringing Resident Evil 2 on N64 was an amazing effort on it's time, and it's really a smooth experience. Sure FMV were shitty, but it was acceptable considering the huge amount of extras that the game got.

**Hunk_4TH** · 04-24-2010, 02:05 PM

Awesome post! I own two copies of this for N64 and I also believe it's the best port of the game. Especially the extas. I loved Rebecca's report.

**Zombie_X** · 04-25-2010, 07:17 PM

I have a few copied of RE2 for the N64 and I agree is is a great port and the game does not suffer that much. Though I have not fully beaten it since I dislike the N64 controller a bit, but I recently picked up a Gamecube to N64 adapter, so back to RE2!

Oh and about RE1 for Saturn... I don't think it's bad at all and the models aren't that bad, just that there is no light engine in the game. So no shadows on characters and such. Otherwise it's a very very enjoyable game. It showed that the Saturn was capable of good 3D games and RE1 is an example.

I liked it so much I bought 4 copies (two USA and two JPN).

**Hunk_4TH** · 04-25-2010, 08:24 PM

Glad I'm not the only one who dislikes the N64 controller. It's a reason I don't have my N64 hooked up. And it has two of my favorite video games port RE2 and MK Trilogy.

Yeah, RE for Saturn is pretty damn good. It was my first RE game I played. I own the US copy and Jap copy.

One thing I dislike about the N64 version of RE2 is there doesn't seem to be a way to delete save files. One copy I have has everything unlocked already :/

**OKeijiDragon** · 04-25-2010, 08:54 PM

Well, I just got Part 7 done already. Part 8's commentary is in development as you read this.

But anyways...

Originally posted by Hunk_4TH View Post

Glad I'm not the only one who dislikes the N64 controller. It's a reason I don't have my N64 hooked up. And it has two of my favorite video games port RE2 and MK Trilogy.

:/

I actually enjoy the N64 controller for what it is. It's very accessible for some of the game made for it, including SM64, the Zelda series, Star Fox, GoldenEye (In particular, I love that game and how it controls) Pokemon Snap, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, etc. Yeah those are all Nintendo-published/related games but the point is that it's very fun and function to play with.

For this run, I mostly played using the directional pad on the N64 controller, which plays surprisingly well considering that most of the earlier RE titles had you control the characters using the D-Pad to rotate. I always found controlling RE1, RE2, RE3, and RE:CV with analog sticks to be disorienting and confusing. I can't imagine playing Zero and REmake with an analog stick without screwing up. At least to me, the D-Pad is the way to go!

(Hey, I just thought of new commentary for later parts!)

Originally posted by Hunk_4TH View Post

Yeah, RE for Saturn is pretty damn good. It was my first RE game I played. I own the US copy and Jap copy.

Is there a distinct difference between the two region versions of the Saturn port? I heard about the Japanese version having less censorship or something to that extent. When I get a copy of the game for Saturn, I'll make video run of it someday, hopefully.

Originally posted by Hunk_4TH View Post

One thing I dislike about the N64 version of RE2 is there doesn't seem to be a way to delete save files. One copy I have has everything unlocked already

My used-bought copy is exactly that when I first booted up the game. It had almost everything unlocked sans Hunk and Tufu modes. Good deal for $4.25, I guess. =P

**BrionIrons** · 04-26-2010, 08:44 AM

Originally posted by OKei View Post

So just last month, I got Resident Evil 2 - N64 version for dirt cheap on eBay for $4.25, and so far I feel that I've got my money's worth.

Recently, I thought that I might as well record myself playing through it and offer my commentary on ii just for the heck of it in the best possible quality presented, with the Expansion Pak and recorded through S-Video!

In this playthrough, I beat Claire A / Leon B scenario with both A ranking, no spray-cans, no saving, with a time of "03:03:30" & "03:43:57", respectfully. In this same run, I happened to unlock 4th Survivor. There is however, a chance that I'll redo the entire Leon B scenario again from the ground up.

I understand that there exist a LOT of Resident Evil 2 playthroughs and videos, but at the same time there's not a lot of good quality videos of the N64 version. I'm adding commentary to this video run. Not the spoken kind of commentary (thank god for us all), but more like annotations that will consist of nerd trivia, jokes, personal reflection on certain parts, pointing out oddities, opinions, and more!

So far I've already gotten to Part 11 of my run, but the commentary up until Part 8 is completed.
Without further adieu, I'd like to present seven parts starting from Part 0 through Part 7!

Claire A:
Part 0 - Leon A Failure
Part 1 - Restart: Claire A - Robert Kendo
Part 2 - Claire A - Wounded Cop & Licker
Part 3 - Claire A - Brad & the Special Key
Part 4 - Claire A - Library + Outdoors
Part 5 - Claire A - Running for Herbs & Keys
Part 6 - Claire A - N64 Costume + Marvin Dies
Part 7 - Claire A - Chief Irons + Sherry Birkin

Part 8 is in development right now. I'll be putting up more Parts as I complete them.

Leon B:
Coming Soon!

Also, PEMNAS stands for "PLEASE EXCUSE MY NOOB ASS SKILLS". I invented the term myself.

--Now about the N64 version--

The Nintendo 64 version is known for, at the time, its technological breakthrough in inserting two 600+MB PlayStation CDs worth of (redundant) data in a 512Mbit/64MB cartridge. This port, done by Angel Studios, also features some additional exclusive content, including a new control scheme (dubbed "First Person Controls") an Item Randomizer, a Violence Adjuster, and Blood Color Adjuster. But of course, for the last two you would always want the maximum amount of violence and pure red blood in any horror game, right? Other features include new costumes made by Angel Studios, the developer that ported RE2 to N64 alongside Capcom, and the new, detailed EX Files.

The graphics actually look somewhat better than the PS version, there is very little clipping on the character models and they're smooth and feature no blocky-ness. Unlike the Saturn port of RE1, Capcom didn't bother to redo the character models to work with the console RE2 was ported to. Doing would have ruined the look of the characters, much like the butt-ugly models of RE1 SAT.

Anyone have a copy of this game? I think this is overall the best port of the game I've played yet. I wanted to get the GameCube port, but 1) It's overpriced a bit 2) It doesn't have the features that the N64 version has 3) The controls for that port kinda suck from what I read.

Anyways, I will be updating this thread whenever I get more videos done. Stay Tuned!

Did you know that Angel Studios is now Rockstar Games?I do miss playing the N64 version and GoldenEye 007.Best games ever.

**Enrico Marini** · 04-27-2010, 05:44 PM

Unlike the Saturn port of RE1, Capcom didn't bother to redo the character models to work with the console RE2 was ported to.

Fraid to say that they did. The RE2 N64 models are of a lower Poly count/Texture size vs the original PSX version. Its just Angel Studios just put more effort into lowering the texture sizes and model size whilst keeping as much quality as possible.

*note* the N64 textures were split up into many smaller images, claire's head is split because the n64 texture was split.

The N64 version was good for what they had to work with.

**OKeijiDragon** · 05-01-2010, 03:00 AM

So... I've been a bit behind on the run and the commentary, but I've finally finished Part 8. Yay. Part 12 w/o commentary is also uploaded.

Originally posted by Enrico Marini View Post

Fraid to say that they did. The RE2 N64 models are of a lower Poly count/Texture size vs the original PSX version. Its just Angel Studios just put more effort into lowering the texture sizes and model size whilst keeping as much quality as possible.

*note* the N64 textures were split up into many smaller images, Claire's head is split because the n64 texture was split.

The N64 version was good for what they had to work with.

Interesting. I haven't played the PS version since last summer, but I actually didn't see any noticeable differences in the models sans anti-aliasing.

Did Angel Studios offered any commentary about how they put two 600MB+ CD's full of redundant data into a N64 Game Pak, how they worked with Capcom, the EX files, etc? I'd love to know.

**Carnivol** · 05-01-2010, 10:09 AM

Don't think there's ever been any extensive in-depth talk on the subject. A lot of sources suggests that Angel Studios originally wanted to do Final Fantasy VII for SquareSoft, but Square supposedly rejected the idea as it'd reflect badly on them if a 3 disc game was fit on a tiny cartridge (in all honesty, FFVII would've probably been an equal challenge to RE2... if not even easier. The amount of duplicate data between each disc in FFVII is ridiculous.)

Anyway, the task of putting it all on an N64 cart isn't that absurdly amazing. The FMV framerate is bumped from 15 FPS to 12 FPS (iirc), duplicate FMVs are removed, the codec for speech (Factor 5's MP3/MusyX, iirc) is replacing the dreadful XA stream format of the PS1, some sort of improved compression routine is probably applied to the backgrounds (so they no longer rely on the use of a basic 1994 video compression routine), some textures are dumbed down ('cause the N64 unfortunately sucks at texturing anyway), etc...

With today's tech and software, you could probably achieve a much better result on the same amount of space.

No clue on the EX files, but I guess they were probably handled in coordination with someone involved with Resident Evil Ø.

**MeganGrass** · 05-01-2010, 11:27 AM

Did Angel Studios offered any commentary about how they put two 600MB+ CD's full of redundant data into a N64 Game Pak, how they worked with Capcom, the EX files, etc? I'd love to know.

... this is an interesting read

:

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http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3148/postmortem_angel_studios_.php

The amount of duplicate data between each disc in FFVII is ridiculous.

The same can be said for the PSX version of BH/RE 2.

RDT archives are, by far, the worst example, as they contain sound files (PSX-ADPCM), textures (PSX-TIM) and misc. data that's duplicated and stored in other RDT files. The only data in RDTs that isn't redundant, besides camera info, are scripts (for scenario events), but even then, the largest script i've found barely spilled-over 10Kb.

The background music scheme is almost as bad, but not quite -- PSX-ADPCM samples are duplicated and stored in various BGM files.

When it comes 'right down to it', the only issue would have been the videos (PSX-STR)... but, there are so many duplicates, I sincerely doubt it would have presented a real problem.

Although, reaching a deadline may have played a role (retail date), I firmly believe that the use of 2 discs for BH/RE 2 was absurd, and nothing more than a press stunt. CAPCOM could have easily fit the game onto a single disc and had tens, if not, hundreds of MBs to spare. Even BH1 and BH3 fall victim to the misuse of file containers (RDT, BGM, etc) -- a problem that wouldn't exist had the developers simply placed the data onto the disc in a global file structure.

Of all three games for the PSone (BH1, 2 and 3), BioHazard 3 is the [absolute] worst -- the ARD file continer scheme is downright hideous to conceptualize, and the game's ISO really shouldn't have surpassed 300-500Mb.

**doomed** · 05-01-2010, 11:34 AM

Originally posted by OKei View Post

Did Angel Studios offered any commentary about how they put two 600MB+ CD's full of redundant data into a N64 Game Pak, how they worked with Capcom, the EX files, etc? I'd love to know.

The videos were encoded at a very low resolution (I think it was 160x100), the audio was heavily compressed and resampled and all the duplicate data (audio, video, backgrounds, etc - which are many, basically the PSX version is like having the same game on 2 different CDs!) were stored only once.

I can remember that something similar - to an extend - has happened to other games as well.

Baldur's Gate was originally a 5-CD game, and it was later rereleased as a 3-CD game by using better compression.

The same with Planescape Torment that was a 4-CD game and later it was rereleased as a 2-CD game by using better compression and storing only once all the duplicate data.

The Longest Journey that was a 4-CD game was later rereleased as a 2-CD game by using better audio & video compression (different codec, no quality loss).

Looking back the PSX version sure is bloated (by today's standards).

**Guest** · 05-01-2010, 01:20 PM

Originally posted by MarkGrass View Post

I firmly believe that the use of 2 discs for BH/RE 2 was absurd, and nothing more than a press stunt.

That's a pretty expensive press stunt, then. ;)

**MeganGrass** · 05-01-2010, 02:11 PM

It's always nice to see you crawl out of your hole for a one-liner, Prime. Still trying to give it to people when they least expect it... some things, indeed, never change. ;)

That's a pretty expensive press stunt, then.

It's proven that all data combined will fit onto a single disc, and given the hype people used to give multi-disc games, it's not entirely out of the question.

Maybe I jumped the gun by saying "firmly believe", but the fact still reamins -- had the developers put duplicated files into folders, there would not have been the need for a second disc.

Expensive mistake, or intentional campaign? Either way, it's still absurd.

**Enrico Marini** · 05-01-2010, 05:31 PM

Maybe the RE engine wasn't very good at multiple fetch commands or it was just pure lazyness on the part of the coders, if you dump everything you need into the RDT it won't be missing anything.

To be fair a lot of progress was made between the PS1 and PS2 era, the games industry was still in early development during the PS1 era that they probably didn't have the cream of the crop when it came to programmers. Not like today where 3d Games Artist and Game Programmer are "viable" career paths.

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