They just don’t make them like they used to. Digital televisions have rendered so many of the videogames designed in the days where CRTs ruled the earth virtually unplayable due to display lag. Games that were already difficult thanks to tight reaction time windows can become rage inducing experiences when button presses don’t reflect what’s happening onscreen. A game that would fall into the aforementioned category is Mike Tyson’s Punchout for the NES. However, NES homebrew developer [nesdoug] created a patch for the 31 year old classic that seeks to give players playing on modern displays a fighting chance.
The lag fix patch for Mike Tyson’s Punchout seeks to alleviate some of the display lag inherent in digital displays by adjusting the gameplay speed. Some of the early stages aren’t altered very much, but the later fights incur more significant slowdown to compensate for modern display lag. It’s evident that [nesdoug] is a longtime fan of the game as he also uploaded a remix patch that mixes up the stages and color palettes.
The patch itself comes in the form of an IPS file. To apply the lag fix patch you’ll need an IPS patching tool, like Lunar IPS, along with your own personal backup ROM of Mike Tyson’s Punchout. A checksum value is provided on the lag fix patch download site to ensure you have a usable ROM file. Do note that the ROM file is overwritten in the process of applying the patch, so make sure to put the original file in a safe place. After patching is complete the fun can be had using your favorite NES emulator, or using a flashcart if you’re seeking to play on original hardware.
If you’re looking to dump your own NES cartridges without the plug and play convenience of devices like the Retrode, there is a tutorial in the video below the break:
Also don’t forget to check out this Punchout boxing dummy controller project featured on Hackaday.
“lag patch” aka ez mode hacks..
Is the size of patch 2 bites?
I got 4.6 kb reported in Windows 10. I have not checked the CRC32, MD5, or SHA-1.
Oh, right! Forgive me for being a little slow on the draw there!
Ehmmm… isn’t this a problem for all games played. And isn’t that the reason why (some) TV’s have a “gaming mode”.
Somehow this appears to me as a solution to a problem that is very specific for the TV that is used… though I could be wrong…
Playing old games on new display systems has many more problems, aspect ratio, colors, size (every thing looks much bigger and therefore worse (more pixelated) then it did in the past). So the best way to solve this problem is by using a proper CRT monitor or TV. They still exist today, perhaps not new but certainly very cheap.
Now (as in currently) the main public don’t like them because they are “old”… in a few more years everybody will be paying tot-dollar for an (now) ordinary CRT… just because it plays so much more “real”.
Don’t believe me.. just try playing duck hunt or wild gunman
There’s life in the old tube yet?
I wonder how hard would it be to make a CRT that works from 240p up to 4k…
RetroArch is dealing with that.
https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=latency
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/04/better-than-reali
ty-new-emulation-tech-lags-less-than-original-consoles/
nes games did not have much piracy value other than dumping or copying the rom to blank cartridge.
recording video was not a copyright problem even today so protecting the video stream is kind of pointless.
the music on old games at least dream world pogie was so chiptunes it was barely worth pirating.
today’s games the music is so good and in fact even sometimes using real songs is so good it is very worth ripping and pirating so protecting the music is a big deal.
not much to the video part is worth protecting unless there are some cut scenes however with consoles doubling ad dvd and bluray players protecting the outputs is very important.
I have saved a 4:3 CRT TV for playing old NES games (Duck Hunt), and watching 80’s Star Trek :)
Yeah punch-out isn’t made unplayable due to lag if you are any good. You don’t react in punch-out, rather you memorize patterns and counter them when cued. Even Mike Tyson lets you know ahead of time when he’s going to punch. Even ignoring that, most modern tv’s play punch-out just fine with minimal lag. It’s only an issue if you have a super old lcd tv without a “game mode”. Long story short, “lag” is the 2018 equivalent of the “this controller is broken” excuse from back in the day.
Disagree with you @ “this controller is broken” excuse. The experience is lessened due to latency people spend a lot of money to get a lagless experience on their modern TV me I just keep a CRT around to play old games if I feel to.