Hopefully it won't take five or six years between showing a prototype and production as it was with the Saturn Pro controller.

If you're close to Louisville, Kentucky, a tournament is being held in person

The elusive book has been preserved so you don't have to pay an exhorbitant price to scalpers.

All four comics have been scanned and uploaded to archive.org! Check it out

Actually putting your hands on a controller and playing the game can be a challenge in and of itself. Here's a few options I've tried over the years and some impressions:

Controllers First thing to note about using controllers in this game is posture. I tend to grip the pad while bracing the controller on my knee so I can use the buttons claw-style. You gotta hold up to three specific buttons at a time, so elbows-on-desk or freestyle is no-go.

Standard Xbox One - this has been my go-to for casual emulation. I like that the d-pad is microswitched, and the buttons are membrane. The buttons are a bit small for playing with your right-hand claw style, but it gets the job done.

Hori Fighting Commander (non-Octa) - The PS4 variant has a slightly more comfortable dpad than the stiffer Xbox version. In either case, the pad and buttons are both membrane. Having large buttons is a plus, and there's generally enough room for everything. A membrane pad means it will wear out faster than switched pads, so longevity is an issue. In the meantime while it's in good condition, though, it's a darn good option.

Hori Fighting Commander Octa - This newer variant of the pad uses microswitched buttons and a redesigned pad. And I hate it. The buttons feel great, but switched buttons in Rage means you can accidentally press too early. The dpad has sharp corners and a slippery surface. That would be enough for me to turn it down, but the corners are legitimately awful. You can adjust their sensitivity in software, but it's either too much or not enough. Works great for retro gaming, but as a fightpad skip it.

8bitdo NeoGeo Wireless - while an interesting controller with four large pushbuttons, I had a hard time adapting to using a thumbstick. It's entirely possible, and depending on character, maybe preferable. It's not easy to recommend, though.

Sega-style pads - Take your pick. Retro-bit, 8-bitdo's M30, Retro Fighters, etc. As it happens, I grew up on six-button Sega pads and Primal Rage, so it's absolutely do-able. The teensy X,Y,Z buttons are not as ergonomic as it was when I was 12, so your mileage may vary.

PS-Style pads - It doesn't matter if they're membrane or microswiched 3rd party controllers, I have a hard time using the relatively stiffer Playstation d-pads to any degree of accuracy. If you're a diehard PS player, it may be a non-issue, but it certainly was for me.

Arcade Joystick When it comes to arcade sticks, there's a LOT of personal preference involved. How much resistance you want from the lever and buttons, long or short throw joystick, and even joystick gate. Broadly speaking, arcade sticks are the most comfortable way for me to play the game. After all, it was designed as an arcade game - make sense, right?

Hori (hayabusa lever / buttons) - Not a bad option for off-the-shelf sticks. They carry square gates, and have responsive low-profile buttons. As heavy-handed as I am, I'm slapping the deck like it owes me money, but I suspect most other people will be fine with it.

Japanese parts (Sanwa) - There's a bit of variance here, but by-and-large most commercial sticks use Sanwa parts, so if you're okay with that, the rest comes down to preference of enclosure. By default, Sanwa's are too light for me. They have only 0.9 lbs of resistance, so they are a feather touch, but that resistance is very even from side to side. You can grab a 2lb or 4lb spring for some light modding, and I recommend at least the 2lb spring. Similarly, there's not a lot of tactile feedback in their buttons. They have a little bit of mush in the press and feels really "hollow" to me. Still, it's the "standard" and most people expect that particular brand in their sticks.

American parts (Suzo / IL) - The reason I'm hitting the deck so hard on other types of sticks is because I am used to American parts. These are the firmest of the bunch. By default, Industrias Lorenzo's Eurostick has a spring like a doorstop. It's less precise, but has a quick return to center. Suzo Happ's Competition stick is not as firm, but still firmer than most. Their buttons in both cases also have a fair amount of resistance, but the press is soooooo satisfying. The unfortunate thing about American parts is their relative unpopularity among stick manufacturers. The only retailer to have something ready-to-go is AllFightSticks. Anything else is DIY.

Korean parts - I have much less experience with Korean and Korean-style parts, but I have tried the Seimitsu Nobi lever. It's short throw, and has a good, solid feel to it. The bullet top wore on my hand though, so I swapped it out for an aluminum bat topper. Much better. I find that my inputs are much faster, so double-taps like Vertigo's specials are a breeze. It may require some adjustment to your muscle memory if you find yourself doing those directional inputs, a smidge too fast.

Technically, Rage 1 was a six button fighter that only had four buttons. You got the 'heavies' by pushing the top two or bottom two buttons together.

Rage 2 has all six individual buttons, but if you choose, you can also push light + med together to get heavy. Further, if you prefer level-edge special moves (which is to say you hold buttons while you do stick motions; thus, "level" with the deck), you can do that, too.

If you want to find a Primal Rage machine near you, here's a handy link. This site doesn't have every arcade everywhere listed (my city included), but it's a decent place to start.

Last year, Combo Breaker held a tournament for the game that hasn't been done at this scale in a very long time, if ever.

The Rez version is great, and this remix is even better.

This gets into the realm of licensed music, but it's made for the game, so I count it 😉

pokes head out from behind a flood of posts

...is it....is it safe to come out now?

Anywho, Savaged Regime has been doing YM2612 arrangements for a whiles now, and has been tapped to do new Genesis games like this one and Astebros.

If you search "Godzilla NES remix" it's about impossible to find actual music and not creepypasta stuff.

I think this song benefits from having modern samples. Live instrument versions also generally sound good.

I need to actually finish this game. 😅

Apart from just a cool remix, it's a nice glitch demonstration / behind the scenes compilation.

Alternatively, a megamix of all this guy's MKII tracks are here. The channel is worth deep-diving, too. Lots of MK remixes.

It's early in the year 1994, and the 32-bit era is just taking off with the PSX around the corner. Other cd-based systems are already on the market.

Hypothetically, you as a customer are ready to upgrade, but have a sizable library of carts. Boom, 32X.

On paper, the 32X is an entry point into the next era that is both modular and backward compatible. The base unit gets you started, but also owning a Sega CD can unlock the full potential of the Genesis ecosystem with Sega CD 32X titles, and of course retain Sega CD compatibility.

A modern work like the Doom 32X Resurrection romhack gives a glimpse into a scenario where Sega fully committed to this premise. The way it works is the Genesis processor becomes a delegator, handing off tasks to the other processors found in the 32X and CD (if present). By all accounts, this handoff works much smoother than one might think.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting going all-in on 32X hardware would have changed anything for the better. Obviously, obviously they should have just been patient and devoted that much more resources toward the Saturn instead of panicking.

I just get where their heads were at - right? It made sense. Sorta.

In honor of Toriyama.

Too bad the game tried to push people toward a multiplayer that nobody wanted or liked to unlock single player content.

Dope orchestral soundtrack, though. Turns out blaring brass sounds good when you know what you're doing.

This roguelite Metroidvania surprised me with how well the randomized mechanics blended with exploration, and this track gives plenty of atmosphere to the third biome.