• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

PC Engine/TG Appreciation and Collecting Thread, Because who needs a 2nd controller?

Shining

Member
Shmups that must be played, we all know the soldier series and gates/lords but these are others to check out

Spriggan
Spriggan MkII <--------------this is one of THE best PCE shmups period
Magical Chase, sadly it costs a fortune
Image Fight I/II
Rayxanber II/III
Download(1 is ok but 2 is awesome)
Star Parodier, so cute
Cotton, again so cute
Alzadick/Nexzr
Air Zonk (not the CD version, yucky)

Those IMHO are the tops of the tops

lol please explain why you feel this way, both of you. I've been ignoring this one because of the dialogue but if it's a solid shooter i might pick it up.
 

Celine

Member
Trying to jumpstart this thread which is so fun to read for a classic 2D lover...

So, I love Blazing Lazers, Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier and Soldier Blade so much on Virtual Console (love Lords of Thunder too but I'm not as big on Gate of Thunder as I think I should, for whatever reason) that I'm now tempted to jump in. But first, a couple questions:

1-Are the aforementioned shooters the best available on the system? If not, what are the other must haves? On my short list I have Spriggan (love Compile). But are Nexzr, Aldynes, Sylphia, the Rayxanbers, 1941 and Sapphire must own too? I've been salivating for these games for a while, I must admit. Am I missing any great original shooters (no ports)?
I only own Sapphire and I can vouch for it.
It's a good shooter (but not the best on the system) and looks incredible for PCE.

To throw a few (less common) other names, try check:
AeroBlaster, Hana Taaka Daka!? (this one isn't cited often but it's good), Metamor Jupiter (not the best but it's weird...).

Oh and the music in Tatsujin (known as Truxton on other platforms) is amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RW9fwSl7hw
 

jdkluv

Member
My proud PC Engine CD collection.

9EYn50A.png


Ys IV speaks for itself, BUT EVERYBODY MUST TRY OUT THE LEGEND OF XANADU GAMES. Beautiful, beautiful games. LoX II is a masterpiece.
 
Silvergun fans should give Image Fight a try. They're not similar games, but Image Fight really influence Iuchi and you can tell by some of the bullet and missile patterns.

Of course, the Saturn version of Image fight is probably a better buy if you're looking for something closer to arcade accuracy, but the price it prohibitive.
 

Bar81

Member
lol please explain why you feel this way, both of you. I've been ignoring this one because of the dialogue but if it's a solid shooter i might pick it up.

It's just better to show you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TbPV3zkdtc

If you can not fall into a coma, you are a better man than I (and I haven't touched upon the crappy weapons, etc.).

The best way to describe it is Spriggan Mark II is to Spriggan what RayStorm is to Rayforce (an abomination which wipes its ass with everything that made the original a classic)
 

Dicer

Banned
lol please explain why you feel this way, both of you. I've been ignoring this one because of the dialogue but if it's a solid shooter i might pick it up.

Excellent soundtrack, great flow, awesome graphics, just a fun ride from start to finish.

I love the shield system as well, as you WILL get hit with shit.
 
Is emulation a feasible option for PC Engine? It turns out the PS1/Saturn port of the original Eiyuu Densetsu games is pretty bad and I'd like to play the disc based PC Engine versions of the games.

The difference in quality between what I've seen from the PC engine versions and the later ports (from what version, I have no idea) is pretty extreme. It would have been nice if companies had worked on PC Engine port collections back in the day ...

I'm a bit disappointed that Sony hasn't updated the games collection since 2011 (and I guess the fact that the Vita emulates the PSP to play them is a sign of the degree of their devotion to acquiring new titles for the archives).
 

Shoyz

Member
Does anybody with a TurboExpress/GT know if the screen is supposed to be sensitive to vertical tilting? That is, if I tilt it up at all the green quickly goes white, if I tilt it down at all it quickly goes black, I have to hold it still. Not sure if that's normal.

I bought an 'iffy' unit years ago, it doesn't boot up regularly with batteries (and presumably a regular power adapter), it only works with a modded power adapter the guy I bought it from sent it with, a 10V NES brick spliced with the Express's end. Without it the screen stays green, with it after about 10-15 seconds the screen 'warms up' and the white backlight and picture kicks in. It has the standard sound issues (low audio, buzzing with headphones) so I was thinking about trying to swap out the capacitors, but I was wondering if swapping out all of them might fix the other two issues in the same swoop (if the tilt thing is abnormal)?

Is soldering/replacing capacitors feasible for someone who's never done it before?
 
Is emulation a feasible option for PC Engine? It turns out the PS1/Saturn port of the original Eiyuu Densetsu games is pretty bad and I'd like to play the disc based PC Engine versions of the games.

The difference in quality between what I've seen from the PC engine versions and the later ports (from what version, I have no idea) is pretty extreme. It would have been nice if companies had worked on PC Engine port collections back in the day ...

I'm a bit disappointed that Sony hasn't updated the games collection since 2011 (and I guess the fact that the Vita emulates the PSP to play them is a sign of the degree of their devotion to acquiring new titles for the archives).
Ootake. Great emulator on PC. Supports just about everything TG16/PCE.

Does anybody with a TurboExpress/GT know if the screen is supposed to be sensitive to vertical tilting? That is, if I tilt it up at all the green quickly goes white, if I tilt it down at all it quickly goes black, I have to hold it still. Not sure if that's normal.

I bought an 'iffy' unit years ago, it doesn't boot up regularly with batteries (and presumably a regular power adapter), it only works with a modded power adapter the guy I bought it from sent it with, a 10V NES brick spliced with the Express's end. Without it the screen stays green, with it after about 10-15 seconds the screen 'warms up' and the white backlight and picture kicks in. It has the standard sound issues (low audio, buzzing with headphones) so I was thinking about trying to swap out the capacitors, but I was wondering if swapping out all of them might fix the other two issues in the same swoop (if the tilt thing is abnormal)?

Is soldering/replacing capacitors feasible for someone who's never done it before?
I would imagine it's very likely you have capacitor issues... and if you can't do the capacitor replacement yourself, I'm sure you can find someone at pcenginefx.com who can.
 

Shoyz

Member
Guess I should have given it more testing! I've never played it thinking the capacitors were a timebomb that would damage it. I opened it up and found that the original owner actually swapped a bunch of the capacitors, including the typical sound culprit (albeit very crude soldering job). Put it back together and let it test run for a while, and found that inexplicably enough, the volume seems to 'warm up' like the video and hits its stride after the system's been running for 5 or so minutes first. Starts off low, but gets pretty decent audio after a bit, though probably not as loud as it could be if it was fully working.

Splatterhouse might not be the best cart to test it with though, all I own yet. But if I'm lucky maybe after warming up this thing runs normally and the plug isn't an issue. Should probably pick up an Everdrive for it. :)
 

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
from that article "The only downside to this cable is that you can't use it with the expansion port cover in place" you can run the cable thru the slot that the power goes thru on the side...might have to make it a little bigger, but it should work.
I have a similar cable. It will unhook from the contacts if you so much as sneeze on it. Bending the cable and trying to get it through a tiny slot would be actually pretty difficult.
 

wondermega

Member
I just tried to fire up my cdrom unit (US) after about a year and a half of inactivity. Very disappointed to see that it is not spinning, just like the other one I have. Paid a good $100 for the unit (by itself) and definitely spent way less than 50 hrs of actual playtime with it. I know, first world problems, but it sucks.

If anyone knows of a place to get it repaired (particularly in socal) without paying through the nose, please pipe up- love the system and I'd really like to have a long-term hardware solution to enjoy TG16 CDgames but I am not prepared to keep chasing the past this way!
 
I just tried to fire up my cdrom unit (US) after about a year and a half of inactivity. Very disappointed to see that it is not spinning, just like the other one I have. Paid a good $100 for the unit (by itself) and definitely spent way less than 50 hrs of actual playtime with it. I know, first world problems, but it sucks.

If anyone knows of a place to get it repaired (particularly in socal) without paying through the nose, please pipe up- love the system and I'd really like to have a long-term hardware solution to enjoy TG16 CDgames but I am not prepared to keep chasing the past this way!
I don't know about stores, but there are people at http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums who can do that repair work. You'd have to mail the drive(s) to them, of course, but I got my Turbo CD drive repaired by someone there this year, and it went well. The cost will depend on what exactly is wrong with it, though, of course. Mine needed a new motherboard and laser (and worm gear of course), so it cost more than just a laser would have.
 

wondermega

Member
I don't know about stores, but there are people at http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums who can do that repair work. You'd have to mail the drive(s) to them, of course, but I got my Turbo CD drive repaired by someone there this year, and it went well. The cost will depend on what exactly is wrong with it, though, of course. Mine needed a new motherboard and laser (and worm gear of course), so it cost more than just a laser would have.
yeah, figured that would be the way to go, thanks abf!
 

antibolo

Banned
Hello all, just joined the PC Engine club, bought a doujindance PCE Duo-R. This is my first PCE/TG16 unit ever, having fun so far, looks great on my PVM. Slowly starting to build up my game collection now.

I love how it's a 16 bit system where the obligatory CD-ROM add-on was actually mostly used for traditional games, unlike the Sega CD which had like 3 good games and everything else was multimedia garbage.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
I've got absolutely no problem with the Sega CD multimedia games. Enjoyed most of them...and totally adore Night Trap. Heck, I even enjoyed The TG-16 Sherlock Holmes and the It Came From the Desert games. But, BUT, those two systems should not even be talked about in the same breath!

CD/SCD games are on a whole different level.
 
I discovered yesterday that Soldier Blade is pretty rare and expensive compared to Final Soldier and Super Star Soldier, too bad, I wanted to complete the trilogy :(
 

Yes Boss!

Member
I discovered yesterday that Soldier Blade is pretty rare and expensive compared to Final Soldier and Super Star Soldier, too bad, I wanted to complete the trilogy :(

It is not too terribad. If you are patient you can get it for $50-ish. In the meantime, if you have a PSP the Three-Pack Collection disc is out there.
 
It is not too terribad. If you are patient you can get it for $50-ish. In the meantime, if you have a PSP the Three-Pack Collection disc is out there.

Concur, the price should not keep you from getting a copy.

My budget for it was $12 :p

I can still buy it next year as soon as I finish the Japanese school and find a normal job, until then the cap for retrogames is at $20.
I'd rather buy the PC Engine game rather than the PSP port. I'll keep that for Sapphire which is actually expensive!
 
My budget for it was $12 :p

I can still buy it next year as soon as I finish the Japanese school and find a normal job, until then the cap for retrogames is at $20.
I'd rather buy the PC Engine game rather than the PSP port. I'll keep that for Sapphire which is actually expensive!
Kinda terrified of getting Sapphire since the bootlegs are so convincing. Definitely considering the PSP one instead.
 

Bar81

Member
Kinda terrified of getting Sapphire since the bootlegs are so convincing. Definitely considering the PSP one instead.

Definitely know the feeling, but there are some good guides out there on how to spot the repros. On that one, I'm going through my guy who knows what to look for or otherwise I wouldn't bother.
 

Bar81

Member
My budget for it was $12 :p

I can still buy it next year as soon as I finish the Japanese school and find a normal job, until then the cap for retrogames is at $20.
I'd rather buy the PC Engine game rather than the PSP port. I'll keep that for Sapphire which is actually expensive!

btw, out of curiosity, how does one have a $12 budget for Soldier Blade and a $500+ budget for another game?
 

Yes Boss!

Member
My budget for it was $12 :p

I can still buy it next year as soon as I finish the Japanese school and find a normal job, until then the cap for retrogames is at $20.
I'd rather buy the PC Engine game rather than the PSP port. I'll keep that for Sapphire which is actually expensive!

Ah, ok.

I think even in the japan shops it goes for $30-ish. PCE games really have not been hit with the recent crazy price increases. yet.
 
btw, out of curiosity, how does one have a $12 budget for Soldier Blade and a $500+ budget for another game?

I don't, I didn't explain myself very well. I'll be getting the PSP version for Sapphire.
I will never spend more than €100 for a single game, no matter what. That is an absolute rule that must not be broken.

Ah, ok.

I think even in the japan shops it goes for $30-ish. PCE games really have not been hit with the recent crazy price increases. yet.

Hmm, I might bite if I found a copy for $30, afterall I paid $10 for Super Star Soldier and Final Soldier so that would make it an average of $13 per game.... :p *spin, spin*
 

Shining

Member
I discovered yesterday that Soldier Blade is pretty rare and expensive compared to Final Soldier and Super Star Soldier, too bad, I wanted to complete the trilogy :(

And you should, keep searching. I find Soldier Blade to be the best one in the series. I would even go so far to say it's one of the best shmups on the system!
 

Bar81

Member
I don't, I didn't explain myself very well. I'll be getting the PSP version for Sapphire.
I will never spend more than €100 for a single game, no matter what. That is an absolute rule that must not be broken.

Okay, makes sense now. I wish I could stick to that rule (I'd have a lot more money).
 

antibolo

Banned
I once considered buying a Neo Geo Cd, but then noticed that the game library is really lacking, it's missing most of the really good Neo Geo games, so I changed my mind.
 

Teknoman

Member
Which ones?

Well imo its got most of what you need if you can deal with decent load times. Lacks Metal Slug 3, Garou Mark of the Wolves, Spinmasters, Shock Troopers series, Blazing Star, and some other stuff i'm sure i'm forgetting.


It does have:
Metal Slug 1 and 2, Mutation Nation, Cyber Lip, Pulstar, King of the Monsters 2, Samurai Shodown 1 and 2, Robo Army, Top Hunter, Sengoku 1 and 2, Aero Fighters 1-3, Magician Lord, Ironclad, Nam 1975, Crossed Swords 1 and 2.

Not a bad selection, and some cool exclusive arranged music, but its not as full as cart based.
 

Dizzy-4U

Member
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=711841

It's sad that the first paragraph of my review there has been proven accurate, given the near-complete lack of replies...
I understand what you're saying mate but new toys are getting released this month. Your thread got buried in minutes because of all the traffic in other threads.

It totally sucks yeah, but what can you do? Try again when things calmed down a little?
 
No offense dude, but even in its heyday, no one in the west knew about the PCE. I'm not sure how that's ever going to change.

Isn't one reason why this thread exists to try to change that, though? I don't think it's completely impossible to turn that around... difficult, yes, but impossible? No.

I understand what you're saying mate but new toys are getting released this month. Your thread got buried in minutes because of all the traffic in other threads.

It totally sucks yeah, but what can you do? Try again when things calmed down a little?

You're probably right, that likely is part of it.
 

Bar81

Member
Isn't one reason why this thread exists to try to change that, though? I don't think it's completely impossible to turn that around... difficult, yes, but impossible? No.

I'm not saying it's not worth trying (I'm a HUGE fan myself and have even contributed to an Edge article on the PCE) but with the NES/FC, Genny/MD and SNES/SFC all occupying the same timeline, coupled with its disastrous US showing (and pathetic game output there) and practically nonexistent European one, I expect that it will remain firmly where it is in the public consciousness in the west.
 
Top Bottom