RoryDropkick
Member
Pretty pleased, my friend has been walking the booths at Classic Game Expo over in Vegas this weekend, and he's bought a few PCE games for me 
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PC Engine/TG Appreciation and Collecting Thread, Because who needs a 2nd controller?
- Thread starter gryz
- Start date
Azzurri
Member
Just screen retention, as I changed my monitr to an older one with not as high contrast.
Anyways, playing some Dragon Slayer and man it's tough, these older games are not forgiving. The game is old school dragon quest style battles, no fancy animation when fighting, you only see the enemy, which I'm not found off. Oh and the voice acting is so laughably bad, but the music is really good.
Anyways, playing some Dragon Slayer and man it's tough, these older games are not forgiving. The game is old school dragon quest style battles, no fancy animation when fighting, you only see the enemy, which I'm not found off. Oh and the voice acting is so laughably bad, but the music is really good.
What's these?
sixteen-bit
Member
IrishNinja
Member
so...is it really pretty but disappointing?
IrishNinja
Member
well, more than 3 people talked about it here, so it's now at least $150
A Black Falcon
Member
It's a fun game that is far too short and easy. I like the story, though! So yeah, the hero killed the demon... and dropped dead, so you're the kidnapped princess and have to escape from the castle on your own. As for gameplay, it's an isometric adventure game with occasional action. It's fun, it just needed to be longer and have more enemies to fight and stuff... I like it anyway though, even if it is way too short.
It's clearly an unfinished game which fell short of its true potential.
It's a shame really.
It's a shame really.
That's why I didn't say the name
Agent Unknown
Member
Jamix012: $50 is a great price for the 4 in 1 Gate of Thunder compilation and don't forget that the first Bomberman is a bonus unlockable game on the disc!
Wow, mind blown. Will have to watch this, wonder what they cut. I can understand keeping the PCE the same as a rectangular, flying TG-16 would have made for an oblong and awkward looking sprite. CDROM add on could have worked easily though.
Edit: Ok I found a longplay video and not seeing what they cut so far. That boss battle which takes place in a giant Bomberman maze is brilliant.
Wow, mind blown. Will have to watch this, wonder what they cut. I can understand keeping the PCE the same as a rectangular, flying TG-16 would have made for an oblong and awkward looking sprite.
CDROM add on could have worked easily though.Edit: Ok I found a longplay video and not seeing what they cut so far. That boss battle which takes place in a giant Bomberman maze is brilliant.
A Black Falcon
Member
Wow, mind blown. Will have to watch this, wonder what they cut. I can understand keeping the PCE the same as a rectangular, flying TG-16 would have made for an oblong and awkward looking sprite.
Edit: Ok I found a longplay video and not seeing what they cut so far. That boss battle which takes place in a giant Bomberman maze is brilliant.
I think the intro is entirely missing?
Not the best but definitely in the top ten IMHO.
Also am I the only one who didn't care much for Sapphire, the horrible sound effects made my ears bleed.
Not alone at all, I find it terribly overrated...
A Black Falcon
Member
Download 1 is way better than the second game! Sure, the second game has a crazier story, but the gameplay was changed for the worse, and almost all challenge was removed from the game -- the first game is moderately challenging, but the second is almost insultingly easy. And there are no options, either.
You know I've played both recently again...and you might just be right
Also, add Psychic Storm to that list...
Agent Unknown
Member
The PCE port of Gradius II is really tight, love it.
Ah, seems so. :/
I may be wrong about this, but I don't think the 3 button controller works that way. I've got one, and the third button is basically either Select, Run, or nothing at all. There's a little switch you can select its function with. Great in games that use Select for gameplay. The 6 button does function as a two button, but I don't think you can "assign" button 3 as something else. It's either a 6 or a 2.
Sidenote: I love my 3 button pad. I prefer it to the 2 button stock. It's a little longer, a little better rounded, and has nice little grip bits on the rear.
It's clearly an unfinished game which fell short of its true potential.
It's a shame really.
That's why I didn't say the name
Well, I'm guilty. I just bought a copy. I expect very little from it other than nice pixel art and an interesting premise. I find myself getting things like this often for artistic value; a lot of how I play games now is trying interesting things in my collection with other folks; showing people things they haven't seen. If the opening is interesting, that might be enough.
I'm really amazed though that the early Working Designs games are still so inexpensive. Exile and Cosmic Fantasy 2 are actually pretty good games, and don't cost a small fortune. Plus, the WD Pedigree. If I was going to point to anything in my library right now as going up in price, it'd be those.
It's cheap and it's interesting so no problem in trying a new experience.
Are you running your Duo at an angle? You really shouldn't. That will cause friction that could damage the drive over time.
So this past weekend I went to Digital Press, and although it was a bit underwhelming, I did score 2 Turbo pickups that I've been wanting for a long while... Time Cruise complete in box, an awesome pinball game with a time-travel theme... and Tengai Makyo: Fuun Kabuki Den, a spinoff of the TM series. (Funny enough I also convinced my friend to pick up a copy of Tengai Makyo Zero at the Massapequa basement place earlier in the day).
I don't think Time Cruise gets its due since it's overlooked because of the Crush series.
Next up, gotta get copies of Neutopia 2, Xanadu 2 and the Tenshi no Uta series. And the original Legend of Heroes which apparently got a US release?? Really want to expand my Turbo collection.
I don't think Time Cruise gets its due since it's overlooked because of the Crush series.
Next up, gotta get copies of Neutopia 2, Xanadu 2 and the Tenshi no Uta series. And the original Legend of Heroes which apparently got a US release?? Really want to expand my Turbo collection.
Azzurri
Member
It's on a laptop stand, so yea. Good to know though.
Tenshi No Uta is one of my favorite RPGs from that era. Unfortunate we could never get it into English.
Yep. It did.
M'lard...
D.Lo
Member
?
There's only one. Japanese only. But it's one of the best action platformers ever made.
Oh you mean Rondo? Cool. Is it a metroidvania or did IGA only start doing that with SOTN?
D.Lo
Member
No, it's a multi-path level based action game, like Castlevania III.
Igarashi didn't 'start it' with SOTN either, though he later ran it into the ground. His first Metroidvania was the third one, the awful Harmony of Dissonance. SOTN was created by Toru Hagihara, and the second Metroidvania was Circle of the Moon, by another team, Konami Kobe.
foobarry81
Member
Well, depending on how you look at it/your definition of the genre, the Metroidvania genre has always sort of been there in the Castlevania series, except maybe for the very first game on Famicom/NES, which was pretty much a linear action game. Vampire Killer on MSX, which released a mere 2 months or so after the first game, however already had you searching the levels for keys in order to be able to progress. And there were merchants and items to manage.
So, the groundwork was lead from the very beginning and I feel like it sort of naturally expanded on that by allowing you to go back to previously visited areas in later entries. I don't feel like the genre was "invented" by someone, but I think it grew incrementally with every new entry in the series.
But you're completely right about Igarashi not "starting" it.
(see also: http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Metroidvania)
CartridgeBlower
Member
I'm a novice on this subject, but why does Igarashi get so much credit for the 'metroidvania' idea then? Seems strange everyone links his name to those games when he didn't create it, or the sequel?
IrishNinja
Member
because he produced Aria & Dawn of Sorrow, the best in the metroidvania series after SOTN
really, there's a CV community thread for more detailed talk though
really, there's a CV community thread for more detailed talk though
no idea why some of ya'll feel so compelled to shit on the dude's works but whatever
D.Lo
Member
Metroidvania came up as a term describing the CV games that directly clone Super Metroid, with keys masked as weapon upgrades, blue map and all. Which SOTN and the GBA/DS games certainly do.
As someone who has actually played through the MSX game, it's not even as sophisticated as Goonies 1 - a basic level based puzzle platformer. It's certainly no Metroid. Castlevania II is more like it, but it's obviously not a Metroid clone, just a non-linear action adventure.
EDIT: That link is someone's opinion, and I think it's silly to call anything except a Metroid-formula Castlevania game a 'Metroidvania' - Castlevania deserves no 'naming rights' on the Metroid formula just because there were a glut of Castlevania games released that followed it. Anything in that style is either 'Metroid-a-like' or simply a non-linear action adventure.
I guess he was a self-promoter who was in charge of Castlevania for a decade, but only ever cloned SOTN or created very poor 3D action games. He made a couple of good ones (Aria was good), but most of his games were not good.
Anyway, back on topic, Akumajou Dracula X is the best Castlevania game and the best PC Engine game IMO. It's just beautifully designed from every perspective. Nothing is wasted. I've played it through to 100% dozens of times.
A Black Falcon
Member
I agree, SotN was clearly something different from any previous Castlevania game, and the formula was Metroid.
Yeah, this is definitely the main reason. He promoted himself as the guy in charge of Castlevania, he chose what was in canon and what wasn't, etc.
His two 3d games were awful, but the five 2d Metroidvanias are perfectly good games. I quite liked Portrait of Ruin... sure, it probably helped that it was the first Metroidvania game I got, but still. I definitely like the classic Castlevania games more than the Metroidvanias, but Iga's 2d games were fine. Derivative, but fine.
Super Castlevania IV is slightly better, but Rondo of Blood is my second favorite Castlevania game. The worst thing about it, really, is that it's the only truly great AAA platformer on the TG16/CD; the next-best stuff, probably the Bonk games, isn't on that level, and otherwise the platform is pretty lacking in platformers compared to the SNES or Genesis.
foobarry81
Member
Are you assuming I haven't played through the MSX game?
I'm just saying Metroidvania is a very loosely used term. Which is probably also why isamu used it the way he did.
If you want to interpret it in a more purist way, like you seem to do, that's perfectly fine though. But keep in mind that that is your opinion too (unless you have a link for me with the inventor of the word 'metroidvania' explaining it), just as the piece on my link is "someone's opinion".
D.Lo
Member
CV4 is pretty awesome, but it's no-where near as focused and stylish as ADX. It's a rough beauty, very uneven.
RE-platformers, depends on definition of platformer. There's Parasol Stars, Son Son II, Jackie Chan, Adventure Island, New Zealand Story, and most of the Ninja (eg Gaiden, Spirit) games are as much platformers as Castlevania.
Everything is someone's opinion
I was there pretty early though, Castlevania Dungeon forum, I think it was an external link from a geocities site to start with. The first term was the very ugly 'Castletroid', but pretty soon Metroidvania was the way to describe SOTN.
1up was the site that really started to popularise the term meaning any action adventure in my experience.
IrishNinja
Member
Rondo > Bloodlines > SC IV >>>>>> Dracula X
there, now we can move on
there, now we can move on
D.Lo
Member
Oh damn. Why you so expensive, Spriggan?
Bar81
Member
If you're talking about the first, pony up - it's a great ride. If you're talking about the second, it's one of Compile's worst efforts, you're not missing anything.
A Black Falcon
Member
I know there are some people who dislike SCIV, but they are wrong.
It's a fantastic game and the best Castlevania game..It doesn't matter if you count those games as platformers or not, the TG16+CD has only a small fraction the number of platformers that the SNES/Satellaview or Genesis/SCD/32X do.
For instance, Sega alone released as many platformers on the Genesis in the single year of 1994 as Hudson did on the TG16 and TCD combined through the system's entire life. Nintendo released only a fraction the number of platformers as Sega that generation, but third parties more than made up for that.
Go look up the genre on GameFAQs if you doubt it. Of course real numbers are well below the total they list -- that includes each region's title as a "different" game most of the time -- but still... counting that, they list, for platformers, 31 for the TG16, 18 for TCD (a few also on TG16), 228 for SNES, 202 for Genesis, 27 for SCD (many also on Genesis/SNES of course), and 5 for 32X (some also on Genesis/SNES). I could go through those lists and remove all the multiple listings -- like, reduce TG16 by 3 to cover that they have the PC Genjin and Bonk games both on the list -- but it's not necessary, I think the fact that the SNES and Genesis have more than four times more titles on their lists should do more than enough to show how massive the gulf is between platforms in number of platformers. This is probably the worst thing about the Turbografx, in my opinion; I love platformers!
Stop shitting on MKII, it's a great game, I really don't get the hate...
If anyone's interested, this went up recently:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CASTLEVANIA...0510?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item1e91f6348e
That is an INCREDIBLE price for a copy with a spine card with shipping. I don't see any photos of the flip side of the disc, but it certainly seems legitimate.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CASTLEVANIA...0510?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item1e91f6348e
That is an INCREDIBLE price for a copy with a spine card with shipping. I don't see any photos of the flip side of the disc, but it certainly seems legitimate.
MikeHattsu
Member
Who here bought it then? ;P
foobarry81
Member
Found this is in the description:
"- The obi / spine card is a high-quality, glossy reproduction piece.
(Everything else is original.)"
I guess that explains the price.