![02. [FPGA 4K] Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 - All Treasures! - World 02: Mt. Teapot @WhiteKhakis](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HlaoPzOJV6c/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
No Commentary / 4k60 (x15 Integer Upscale) / Experienced Player
Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45ZPut_wX53gpziSb7z1vEe
This is being played on an "AnaloguePocket" FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
----
(Wario didn't have time to tell you all about his amazing adventure so he made this video instead. Maybe there'll be a description here later!)
----
Technical Notes:
------
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Watch in 4k if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! It's a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, it's a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 160 x 144 resolution, the native resolution of Game Boy, and then integer upscaled x15 times to 2400 x 2160 for a clean 4k display!
About the Analogue Pocket: It's a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in layman's terms (BY a layman): It's a "chip" dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another "chip". Basically, if you can reverse engineer a Game Boy exactly, you can pretty much program this "chip" to behave like a Game Boy exactly. Which is what this is.
I've turned off "Frame Blending" in the options because it overall softens the picture with the minimal benefit of making transparencies not flicker. I've also chosen not to use the really cool video mode which makes it look like a Game Boy Screen because that would mess up the lossless video I'm capturing. I can always add a filter later if I want to!
No Commentary / 4k60 (x15 Integer Upscale) / Experienced Player
Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45ZPut_wX53gpziSb7z1vEe
This is being played on an "AnaloguePocket" FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
----
(Wario didn't have time to tell you all about his amazing adventure so he made this video instead. Maybe there'll be a description here later!)
----
Technical Notes:
------
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Watch in 4k if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! It's a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, it's a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 160 x 144 resolution, the native resolution of Game Boy, and then integer upscaled x15 times to 2400 x 2160 for a clean 4k display!
About the Analogue Pocket: It's a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in layman's terms (BY a layman): It's a "chip" dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another "chip". Basically, if you can reverse engineer a Game Boy exactly, you can pretty much program this "chip" to behave like a Game Boy exactly. Which is what this is.
I've turned off "Frame Blending" in the options because it overall softens the picture with the minimal benefit of making transparencies not flicker. I've also chosen not to use the really cool video mode which makes it look like a Game Boy Screen because that would mess up the lossless video I'm capturing. I can always add a filter later if I want to!
![02. [FPGA 4K] Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 - All Treasures! - World 02: Mt. Teapot](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HlaoPzOJV6c/mqdefault.jpg "02. [FPGA 4K] Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 - All Treasures! - World 02: Mt. Teapot
No Commentary / 4k60 (x15 Integer Upscale) / Experienced Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45ZPut_wX53gpziSb7z1vEe
This is being played on an AnaloguePocket FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
(Wario didnt have time to tell you all about his amazing adventure so he made this video instead. Maybe therell be a description here later!)
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Watch in 4k if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 160 x 144 resolution, the native resolution of Game Boy, and then integer upscaled x15 times to 2400 x 2160 for a clean 4k display!
About the Analogue Pocket: Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a Game Boy exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a Game Boy exactly. Which is what this is.
Ive turned off Frame Blending in the options because it overall softens the picture with the minimal benefit of making transparencies not flicker. Ive also chosen not to use the really cool video mode which makes it look like a Game Boy Screen because that would mess up the lossless video Im capturing. I can always add a filter later if I want to!")
![EXTRA 01. [RGB QHD] Final Fight (SNES) - Punches Dont Hurt Katana](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IypcWehwVqw/mqdefault.jpg "EXTRA 01. [RGB QHD] Final Fight (SNES) - Punches Dont Hurt Katana
No Commentary / Practiced Run / 1440p60 (4:3 Integer Upscale) / Hard Mode
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47Hgk7pIVGILWf8Jaqhhxzt
The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
Those knees to the gut dont count - grapple attacks and throws hurt the guy, but panic-button attacks and regular punches dont! Way to make this guy a bigger pain than necessary!
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct.
I went for a 4:3 output with pixel perfect sharpness via integer upscales. The video is compressed losslessly so no definition is lost.
256 x 224 - internal SNES resolution (8:7)
256* 7 = 1792 / 4 = 448
224* 6 = 1344 / 3 = 448
1792 x 1334 = 4:3
So you can fit the nearest neigbor upscales in a 1440p frame and suffer no interpolation and have it in 4:3!
***More details potentially pending.***")
![BONUS 01. [FPGA 4K] Trampoline Terror! (Genesis) - Demos](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JL3x6l4FCJA/mqdefault.jpg "BONUS 01. [FPGA 4K] Trampoline Terror! (Genesis) - Demos
No Commentary / Practiced Run) / 4k60 (x9 Integer Upscale) / High Res Audio
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47IclgImr9bf4a3S2Lk73Q6
This is being played on an Analogue Mega Sg FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
You are the fearless gymnast known as the Trampoline Terror. You are not afraid of heights. You can run, jump and maneuver where ordinary men dare not go. The alien invaders only make you laugh. Ha!
- Manual Excerpt
So, if Im understanding the story, the Balos Empire has put a grid around the planet Ahas and you, the Trampoline Terror, are the only person who can destroy it because of conveniently placed explosive switches throughout it? Cool, cool.
The games a pretty straightforward maze-platform-puzzler of sorts, but if you hit switches in a row:
Yellow 1-4: More points
Blue 3: Invulnerability , 4: Early Level Completion
Red 3: Enemies Freeze, 4: All Enemies Destroyed
Green 3: Trampolines Repaired, 4: 1-Up
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Audio is high resolution compared to a Genesis system due to no processing constraints. Watch in 4k or 1440p if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 320 x 224 resolution, the native square pixel resolution of most NTSC Genesis games, and then integer upscaled x9 times to 2880 x 2016 with black borders added along the outside for a clean 4k display!
This results in a pixel perfect output that is slightly wider than what you might have seen on your old CRT TV set! However, the pixels are sharp this way AND the art was designed in this pixel perfect resolution before being squashed to 4:3 back in the day. In short: Pixels are sharp AND circles are circles and squares are squares.
Some games were a 256 x 224 resolution, originally. These will be uploaded in 1440p to fill the screen as much as possible and maintain a pixel perfect integer upscale. The native resolution is far too thin for what the game looked like on a CRT OR for the art, so the width is integer scaled a step higher to result in a 4:3 aspect ratio (256 x 7 for 1792 and 224 x 6 for 1344 = 1792 x 1344). These will look a little thinner than the 320 x 224 games Im uploading, but the art will be crisp AND be how it looked in the old days!
Some games switch between 320 x 224 resolution and 256 x 224 resolution (Sonic 2 special stage, Lion King Stampede level, etc.). I will generally upload levels containing large sections in 256 x 224 resolution as 1440p to maintain perfect integer upscales and preferred ratios. 320 x 224 does not change ratio between 4k or 1440p. You will know when the genesis is using 256 x 224 cause the screen will shrink a little in these videos!
About the Mega SG... Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a genesis exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a genesis exactly. Which is what this is.
Im playing in Zero Delay mode so the game is running marginally faster. 0.15%, to be exact. Thats less than 1/7th of a single percent. Ive also cropped out the colored border Genesis games tend to have.
The sound has been tweaked slightly per FirebrandXs recommendations, Ive enabled YM2612 High Quality Mode for uncompressed audio, and I have not engaged the ladder effect or lowpass filter. This will definitely sound different than a normal genesis because of the latter option. Its essentially listening closer to what the source sound would be like before the Genesis muffles it a bit.
I also want to mention dithering for just a moment here. In Genesis games youll often see lines of color alternating here and there, this is because on an old CRT tv the screen would be a bit blurry resulting in those colors bleeding together and becoming a mix of the two. This can also result in transparencies if used correctly. Unfortunately with a clean digital image this wont happen. The only way to enable these extra colors is to blur the digital image and this certainly would not be pixel perfect as is my goal. I like to think that we are now able to see how the artists tried to achieve their effect! You can always squint your eyes a bit if you want to try to replicate the blurriness!")
![02. [FPGA 4K] Rad Racer (NES) - Courses 5-8](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L1FPJxzB74k/mqdefault.jpg "02. [FPGA 4K] Rad Racer (NES) - Courses 5-8
No Commentary / 4k60 (4:3 Integer Upscale) / Digital Prime (FBX) Color Palette / Decent Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR44Lsym0AXzlkcixYzLe0jhU
This is being played on an AnaloguePocket FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
If youre a RAD enough dude, you should be able to handle the ridiculous speeds of this popular NES racer by Square! Yeah, you might have heard of their other decidedly less bodacious series, Final Fantasy. Pshaw! Thats for nerds! Rad Racer feeds my need for speed!
Courses and enemy vehicles featured in this video:
Player Vehicle - 328 Twin Turbo
Los Angeles Night Way - Lamborghini
Snow White Line - Lotus
Seaway in Typhoon - Porsche
Last Seaside Running - Testarossa
Im always holding the acceleration button AND the UP button for the turbo which kicks in at 90 km/h or higher! Yeah. Weve gone all Euro here, deal! I attenuate my speed with the brakes on turns or when otherwise needed, but I never let go of those other buttons!
The game manual told me of this tubular button combo thatll let me retry a course if I dont make it to the goal in time by holding A when pressing Start after a Game Over on the PRESS START screen. Dont worry, I edited out those crashes, but it still wipes out my score. Bummer!
Some dork told me to let you know that this game has some extra black space on the bottom of the screen, but who cares? Im too busy keeping my eyes on the road!
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Watch in 4k if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
I went for a 4:3 output with pixel perfect sharpness via integer upscales. 4:3 was selected because this was the aspect ratio people played the game in on the original console. The video is compressed losslessly so no definition is lost.
256 x 240 - internal NES resolution
256* 10 = 2560 / 4 = 640
240* 8 = 1920 / 3 = 640
2560 x 1920 = 4:3
So you can fit the nearest neighbor upscales in a 4k frame and suffer no interpolation and have it in 4:3!
Im using the Digital Prime (FBX) Color Palette developed by FirebrandX. The Nintendo Entertainment System does not have any way of letting you know what its colors should be EXACTLY by our current digital standards. It was all analog and cant be translated precisely. This hasnt stopped some people from trying though! The Digital Prime (FBX) Color Palette was developed to look very nice and accurate to how a modern day NES would appear!
About the Analogue Pocket: Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a NES exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a NES exactly. Which is what this is.
Im playing this using the OpenFPGA feature on the Analogue Pocket which allows developers to import/create cores (systems) to be used by the FPGA chip. The Spiritualized NES core is the one being played on and is widely considered to be a port of the core in Analogues NT Mini/Noir systems and made by the same developer.
Im using the Analogue Dock to play this on my TV and capture the footage.")
![BONUS 02. [QHD] XCOM: EW (PC) Abridged - Tutorial/Story Mission 02](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Le6D4lQfUtQ/mqdefault.jpg "BONUS 02. [QHD] XCOM: EW (PC) Abridged - Tutorial/Story Mission 02
No Commentary / Edited Dynamically* / Classic Difficulty / 1440p60
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR44G2wWcVD13Q891zTPTOjOk
THESE TUTORIAL VIDEOS ARE FROM A SEPERATE PLAYTHROUGH AND DO NOT CONTINUE INTO THE MAIN SET OF VIDEOS.
*Wait times, overplanning, and dead time is edited out to make viewing much more interesting! I do try to include moments of forethought so it makes some sense and isnt just constant shooting.
More tutorial mission stuffs! This one has less hand-holding but still contains nuggets of wisdom!
First Video Description Follows
Quick breakdown for you: XCOM is a long running series that set a definitive style of turn based battles using ranged weapons, various powers, and other equipment to repel the aliens menacing Earth!
Whew.
Anyway, this is the reboot which brought nice graphics and other doodads. The Enemy Within expansion pack is being used on the base game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It basically tightens up the mechanics and adds a couple new classes and the meld pickup to reward people for quickly moving through maps rather than biding their time.
Hopefully this abridged playthrough will be a refreshing way to view the series!")
![03. [4K] WarioWare Gold (3DS Capture) - Story Mode - Round 2 Games](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LlhAomDpn9s/mqdefault.jpg "03. [4K] WarioWare Gold (3DS Capture) - Story Mode - Round 2 Games
No Commentary / 4k60 (Integer Upscale) / Direct Capture
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR46ijTot9Uw3rHjTj5CfhTMw
This is being captured from an actual 3DS console with a built in capture card.
Its a-me, Wario~! Wahahaa! (I love this game.)
Technical Notes:
Ill keep it short for the time being: My 3DS has been modified to output sound and video to my computer and Im using OBS with various scenes to change the layout of the screens in the video. The screens are ALWAYS upscaled at a whole integer value using point/nearest neighbor so no interpolation/blurring is created there. So far, so good!")
![BONUS 04. [FPGA 4K] Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 - All Endings/Castles!](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lw8i5DbXVR8/mqdefault.jpg "BONUS 04. [FPGA 4K] Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 - All Endings/Castles!
No Commentary / 4k60 (x15 Integer Upscale) / Experienced Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45ZPut_wX53gpziSb7z1vEe
Warios pretty good at making the most of a bad thing.
This is being played on an AnaloguePocket FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Watch in 4k if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 160 x 144 resolution, the native resolution of Game Boy, and then integer upscaled x15 times to 2400 x 2160 for a clean 4k display!
About the Analogue Pocket: Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a Game Boy exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a Game Boy exactly. Which is what this is.
Ive turned off Frame Blending in the options because it overall softens the picture with the minimal benefit of making transparencies not flicker. Ive also chosen not to use the really cool video mode which makes it look like a Game Boy Screen because that would mess up the lossless video Im capturing. I can always add a filter later if I want to!")
![02. [4K] Everspace: Encounters (PC) GYRO CONTROL - First Attempt!* - Sector 02](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NAB3AnO4s48/mqdefault.jpg "02. [4K] Everspace: Encounters (PC) GYRO CONTROL - First Attempt!* - Sector 02
No Commentary / 4k60 / Fairly New Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47QRIEp3uYFjDSbIKZSiAjM
*This is my first attempt after a clean reset of the game following a few practice runs calibrating gyro controls and the like. Its a pretty solid go, surprisingly! Better than some of my following runs.
You know what a space exploration/dogfighting game needs? It needs to be a rogue-like/lite! I would have never thought of something like this being a thing but here we are. And its beautiful. Looking, that is. I maxed out all the settings and this thing looks magnificent.
Also, Im using gyro controls to aim/steer (yaw and pitch). The game is kinda odd in that you normally would use your mouse to move the aiming reticule across the screen and the closer you get to the edges the more you turn, but instead I mapped that to gyro. Originally I was using the cockpit view but that didnt play so nicely with certain control elements so Ive taken us outside the ship. Its actually kinda cool out here and with the odd aiming system it works out.
As for how the game plays... youve got a limited time in each section to pick up as many resources as you can while fending off baddies before super dangerous reinforcements swoop in to clean you up! Resources in early runs arent as useful because you dont have the blueprints collected yet to build the neater things, but its still a good idea to get used to the process.
And the fights can get very heated very fast. One slip-up and youll be short on energy or health or swarmed to submission! Its not a very forgiving title in that respect. I mean, it IS a rogue-like. Your best bet is to try to incapacitate as many as possible before a real fight begins and to keep moving!
Good concept, pretty game, but~... way too grindy. After playing it for a bit I feel like itll take a bit too long to pick up the credits to upgrade a ship to an amount Ill enjoy let alone all the permanent upgrades you can pick up, too. And then the resource gathering in the game takes a while too, iunno. Its good, but needs some kind of tuning to keep the game moving at a brisker pace, I think. Id almost think that if you were allowed to just sense where everything is it wouldnt be too strong a benefit because of how you have to hurry yourself before reinforcements come in. Well, maybe things are better done in the sequel!")
![04b. [QHD] XCOM ABRIDGED! - Enemy Within (PC) - Base Management](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NXMV0S8jgA0/mqdefault.jpg "04b. [QHD] XCOM ABRIDGED! - Enemy Within (PC) - Base Management
No Commentary / Edited Dynamically* / Classic Difficulty / 1440p60
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR44G2wWcVD13Q891zTPTOjOk
*Wait times, overplanning, and dead time is edited out to make viewing much more interesting! I do try to include moments of forethought so it makes some sense and isnt just constant shooting.
Im discontinuing the Base Management Summary you may have seen in the last couple base videos. Not much happens here, anyway! The bit at the end is me trying to figure out where to reduce panic by doing a mission there and where Ill be sending my later satellite (to reduce panic).
First Base Video Description Follows:
After every mission comes a base segment where you use your oddly limited resources to build up your operations so you can take out those darn aliens! This first segment has a bunch of hand holding but you get a nice overview of the base. I try to edit down the waits on some parts but be warned I do read all the flavor texts and descriptions in these!
Once I have full control of the base my main objective (besides general upgrades) is to increase my satellite coverage of the world because it helps protect countries and grants me monetary bonuses. Its resource intensive though and also requires a large number of engineers per additional satellite for the necessary relay buildings. Also sending out a satellite at the end of the month is important because you can clear the panic of a region by doing so and not have them leave XCOM during the monthly report.
Perhaps Ill include summaries of upgrades and such that I make in future descriptions for people that truly want things abridged... otherwise I recommend skipping through the video if youre impatient.
First Video Description Follows
Quick breakdown for you: XCOM is a long running series that set a definitive style of turn based battles using ranged weapons, various powers, and other equipment to repel the aliens menacing Earth!
Whew.
Anyway, this is the reboot which brought nice graphics and other doodads. The Enemy Within expansion pack is being used on the base game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It basically tightens up the mechanics and adds a couple new classes and the meld pickup to reward people for quickly moving through maps rather than biding their time.
Hopefully this abridged playthrough will be a refreshing way to view the series!")
![04. [FPGA 4K] Trampoline Terror! (Genesis) - Area 4](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuKRZ_ryHv8/mqdefault.jpg "04. [FPGA 4K] Trampoline Terror! (Genesis) - Area 4
No Commentary / Practiced Run) / 4k60 (x9 Integer Upscale) / High Res Audio
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47IclgImr9bf4a3S2Lk73Q6
This is being played on an Analogue Mega Sg FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
You are the fearless gymnast known as the Trampoline Terror. You are not afraid of heights. You can run, jump and maneuver where ordinary men dare not go. The alien invaders only make you laugh. Ha!
- Manual Excerpt
So, if Im understanding the story, the Balos Empire has put a grid around the planet Ahas and you, the Trampoline Terror, are the only person who can destroy it because of conveniently placed explosive switches throughout it? Cool, cool.
The games a pretty straightforward maze-platform-puzzler of sorts, but if you hit switches in a row:
Yellow 1-4: More points
Blue 3: Invulnerability , 4: Early Level Completion
Red 3: Enemies Freeze, 4: All Enemies Destroyed
Green 3: Trampolines Repaired, 4: 1-Up
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Audio is high resolution compared to a Genesis system due to no processing constraints. Watch in 4k or 1440p if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 320 x 224 resolution, the native square pixel resolution of most NTSC Genesis games, and then integer upscaled x9 times to 2880 x 2016 with black borders added along the outside for a clean 4k display!
This results in a pixel perfect output that is slightly wider than what you might have seen on your old CRT TV set! However, the pixels are sharp this way AND the art was designed in this pixel perfect resolution before being squashed to 4:3 back in the day. In short: Pixels are sharp AND circles are circles and squares are squares.
Some games were a 256 x 224 resolution, originally. These will be uploaded in 1440p to fill the screen as much as possible and maintain a pixel perfect integer upscale. The native resolution is far too thin for what the game looked like on a CRT OR for the art, so the width is integer scaled a step higher to result in a 4:3 aspect ratio (256 x 7 for 1792 and 224 x 6 for 1344 = 1792 x 1344). These will look a little thinner than the 320 x 224 games Im uploading, but the art will be crisp AND be how it looked in the old days!
Some games switch between 320 x 224 resolution and 256 x 224 resolution (Sonic 2 special stage, Lion King Stampede level, etc.). I will generally upload levels containing large sections in 256 x 224 resolution as 1440p to maintain perfect integer upscales and preferred ratios. 320 x 224 does not change ratio between 4k or 1440p. You will know when the genesis is using 256 x 224 cause the screen will shrink a little in these videos!
About the Mega SG... Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a genesis exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a genesis exactly. Which is what this is.
Im playing in Zero Delay mode so the game is running marginally faster. 0.15%, to be exact. Thats less than 1/7th of a single percent. Ive also cropped out the colored border Genesis games tend to have.
The sound has been tweaked slightly per FirebrandXs recommendations, Ive enabled YM2612 High Quality Mode for uncompressed audio, and I have not engaged the ladder effect or lowpass filter. This will definitely sound different than a normal genesis because of the latter option. Its essentially listening closer to what the source sound would be like before the Genesis muffles it a bit.
I also want to mention dithering for just a moment here. In Genesis games youll often see lines of color alternating here and there, this is because on an old CRT tv the screen would be a bit blurry resulting in those colors bleeding together and becoming a mix of the two. This can also result in transparencies if used correctly. Unfortunately with a clean digital image this wont happen. The only way to enable these extra colors is to blur the digital image and this certainly would not be pixel perfect as is my goal. I like to think that we are now able to see how the artists tried to achieve their effect! You can always squint your eyes a bit if you want to try to replicate the blurriness!")
