I probably play "old" games as much as I do new ones. Last game I finished was Final Fantasy 4.

as long as it is consensual

very much so lol

Yeah i know, but as has already been said by others, its the version of the game. For Destruction Derby for example, I can crank the resolution and use filters on the BeetleHW PS1 Emulator to improve the look - the DOS version can't get anywhere near that.

As for load times - I find it varies per game, but its never terribly slow - the only emulator I have load times trouble with is the C64 emulator - anyone know a way of speeding it up? The emulator I use has a 'warp' button, but its still a bit of a wait..

Favourite emulator - FUSE - im currently working my way through some old ZX Spectrum games - my first computer love. Yes - I am THAT old...

Back when the PS3 was a current generation console, I continued to play some PS1 games, whether it be digital versions available on PS3 or on PS2 (thanks to its backwards compatibility).

I don't usually use emulators because I find them a hassle to use and legal gray area.

That said, it's been a long time to since I played a PS1 game. There are too many other games that distracted me in recent years.

I had a 60GB PS3 model on launch. Remember the first 2 years I was playing more PS2 games than PS3.

I've tried almost everywhere else, so might as well revive this to see if anyone here might know...

old folks only - zx spectrum game called 'The Birds and the Bees'

Used to love it back in the day and currently having a speccy revival via Fuse emulator - completed Myth, Quazatron, Manic Miner to name but a few..

But - I've been attempting to beat The Birds and The Bees for oooh about 40 years now!! I can't get past the level with the sodding honey bear - it always reaches my hive before i can return with enough to finish the level.

Does ANYONE out there know the trick to beating it? pleeeeeeeaaaasse :)

And no - all videos i have looked at finish before that level is reached....

Sorry, I have no idea... but you could do worse than ask at "World of Spectrum":
https://worldofspectrum.org/forums/categories/games

I used to play Morrowind and Deus Ex annually and always have them installed, but I've got such a backlog now I purposely don't do that so I play more stuff I either have never played or haven't played in decades.

For me it's Turrican 2 on the Amiga emulator.
And I'm always up for some Dark Forces.

And you would not believe how fun it is to play Burger Time with an Evercade on a big screen with 4 people yelling at you what to do.

I still play the odd Amiga game but rarely on the Hardware, just too much of a pain to set up. I always dip into a bit of Golden Sun on the GBA or Future Cop n PS1 mind, SKY CAPTAIN mode is never boring....even when it's unfair!

I've found that the Amiga actually got poor versions of some of the big RPGs from back in the day.
* The Amiga appears to not have gotten any of the first 5 Wizardry games.
* I tried Ultima 3 on the Amiga, and aside from Rangers getting the Druid's higher MP and faster MP regen (albeit with the INT and WIS stat's rolls flipped), the RNG does not feel random in this version; it got to the point where I'd take advantage of the RNG's behavior when deciding to use a spell on a chest.
* Bard's Tale 1 and 2 have a bug that causes Bards to get extra attacks, but not Fighters (it's supposed to be the other way around). From what I've read, Bard's Tale 3 appears to be similar to the DOS version in terms of bugginess, with issues like enemies never using breath attacks and never inflicting status ailments with their attacks.

Haven't played that particular game ever, so I can't give you any personal hints.
I also couldn't find any video(s) about this game (apart from maybe one with several speccy games, and its successor).
So, I don't know what exactly the game mechanics look like (collecting honey and returning it to the hive, obviously...but does delivering the honey set back the bear?)

But maybe the map and a hint from the game's manual can help you?

Hint:
"1) Boris can only carry a certain amount of nectar, so he must go back to the hive to unload it regularly.
2) Also the more nectar he is carrying, the slower he flies."

From looking at the map alone, I assume, the flowers with the "thorns" at their stems are the "honey-flowers" and the flowers with the smooth stems are the carnivores?
And the "honey-flowers" only open occasionally to let you "harvest" their pollen?

Well, besides the most obvious help (find a suitable middle ground between "collect enough honey to make the travel worthwile" and "don't collect so much honey, that your travel speed will hinder you to "outrun" the bear")...there's not much advice I can offer, sorry.

Trial and error...just like in the good old days. ;)

PS: if you're actually stuck at "the level with the sodding bear" and this is the first level you encounter him...better be prepared for four more, even more challenging, levels with the fuzzy guy.

Edit: typo

If it's of any consolation to you, then I never finished that game either. I remember playing it as a kid on the 48k+, it was hellishly difficult for me back then.

I have the FPGA speccy from kickstarter called Spectrum Next with case/keyboard designed by the original speccy designer Rick Dickinson, who sadly passed away shortly after finishing his work on the project. It is the ultimate speccy though, although admittedly I rarely boot it up. There is even an emulation of it though.

If I ever beat that game, I'll come back to brag to you about it for sure! ;)

Much appreciated ....

The flowers open and give you their pollen when you touch them. You don't have time to do two trips with the bear, so have to collect enough pollen on one trip to finish the level - I'm not 100% sure, but I think that's one flower less than maximum.

Problem is it makes you so slow you can't dodge the birds.... like I said, I've been trying for 40 years now, I'll keep searching for a way :)