The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[Zoyous]

2 hours ago, GoldenWheels said:

Finally got around to taking a pic of some booties I picked up a while back.

Love the cover art for R-Type II and Altered Beast!

[Tanooki]

I think I'm probably blowing hot air, but I'm slightly considering offloading some of my pce based stuff as it has sat for so long outside of some one off use.  Might just be better off sticking to my everdrive+cg2 combo than the upgrade I went through which is a shame.  The discs just work better using a PC based emulator at this rate and I'm not certain I'd really miss them, much of those I would the MINI hd system has anyway.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

I think I'm probably blowing hot air, but I'm slightly considering offloading some of my pce based stuff as it has sat for so long outside of some one off use.  Might just be better off sticking to my everdrive+cg2 combo than the upgrade I went through which is a shame.  The discs just work better using a PC based emulator at this rate and I'm not certain I'd really miss them, much of those I would the MINI hd system has anyway.

Let us (or at least me) know if you do decide to, as I'm always interested in PC Engine stuff.

[CPUWIZ]

I haven't seen this thread before (memories), I spent years developing for the PCE.  Helped on Sherlock and some cart game, I don't recall, as well as writing Shape Shifter and Camp California.  I even have a Japanese copy of SS.  Should dig those up some time.

[CZroe]

I haven't seen this thread before (memories), I spent years developing for the PCE.  Helped on Sherlock and some cart game, I don't recall, as well as writing Shape Shifter and Camp California.  I even have a Japanese copy of SS.  Should dig those up some time. [emoji4]

I recall you telling us about Shape Shifter. Impressive parallax on NEC hardware!

[Tanooki]

9 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Let us (or at least me) know if you do decide to, as I'm always interested in PC Engine stuff.

Don't want to derail the conversation here, but if you (or anyone) has questions we can take it to private messages.  I'm just in this state of entire disuse, and it's like, keep it and see if I care again, let part of it go (like the games and duo, or some games and duo), or everything but my CG2 and everdrive, perhaps ALL and get the HD device.  I love what's there, but haven't the time and it's a shame given the limited hardware out there as it wasn't like super successful into insane sales figures like Nintendo and Sega did in the period.  I almost think I'd probably bother more had I a handheld GT(express) and my everdrive as it would be pick up and play fast and mobile.

[turboxray]

23 hours ago, CPUWIZ said:

I haven't seen this thread before (memories), I spent years developing for the PCE.  Helped on Sherlock and some cart game, I don't recall, as well as writing Shape Shifter and Camp California.  I even have a Japanese copy of SS.  Should dig those up some time.

I'd be interested in knowing what sort of toolsets you guys used at ICOM for pce dev. The internal RGB to YUV lookup table inside the VCE was dumped about a month ago. It's a 9bit RGB to 15bit YUV table/rom with some custom tweaking to get more usable colors than straight RGB. A number of games have been discovered using colors that are near 'invisible' in RGB to its neighbor colors, but strikingly noticeable on the PCE's Y, R-Y, B-Y output (CVBS). I took a look at ICOM games (developed outside of Japan) and didn't find any such colors being used (even the digitized pics used in beyond shadowgate and shapeshifter). I just assumed you guys used RGB modded systems for your development work (and art).

[Steven Pendleton]

Get

[Steven Pendleton]

After assembly with SSDS3.

 

With IFU and CD-ROM2

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[newtmonkey]

I dragged my Core Grafx out of storage mostly to test my RetroTINK, but had so much fun re-exploring the library that I've kept it hooked up since then and have been playing it almost daily.  Great library on this system, especially once you factor in all the Japanese games.

 

I'm beginning to think that the PC Engine, and not the Super Famicom, is the king of the RPGs.  There are so many on here, and they tend to be in a weird place that's in between the combat- and exploration-heavy Famicom RPGs and the story- and character-focused Super Famicom RPGs.  You've also got a pair of excellent PC RPG ports (Might & Magic I and III) that blow away every other console port of these games.

 

Having said that, I've been playing Tengai Makyo ZIRIA over the past few days.  There's a lot to like about it, including excellent chiptune music, fun characters, great enemy artwork, fair but difficult battles, and solid voice acting.  Unfortunately, it's bad in some key areas: it's extremely linear (almost like playing an action game where you go from stage to stage) and everything pretty much looks the same all the time.  It's like they had all this space to fill, so they recorded a ton of voice and then copy-pasted the same town and castle 50 times over throughout the game.

 

I just got the second playable character (that's another downside... you spend the first, I dunno, 3-5 hours I guess with just a single character, so the level of tactics is akin to the first Dragon Quest; i.e. ZERO tactics).  I was hoping it would make the battles more interesting, but she has no magic ability so all she can do is fight or use items.

 

Having said that, it's charming enough to keep at it here and there.

[newtmonkey]

Sorry for the double post, had to run out suddenly and now it's too late to edit!

 

I also spent last night playing:

 

Valis II

This game is pretty terrible, which is a shame because Valis III and IV are quite good.

You basically run down a flat corridor whilst being interrupted every 3-4 seconds by the same 2 or 3 enemies per level, each of which always takes at least 3 or 4 hits to kill.  You do this for what seems like an hour then fight a boss that basically stands there shooting fireballs or what have you ever once in a while.  The game only begins to get interesting during Stage 4, where the level designers apparently remembered to add platforms and stuff to jump over.  Unfortunately, the game also becomes extremely frustrating at this point with Castlevania-like spike traps on conveyor belts, all while a seemingly endless number of enemies stream in from off-screen.  I know non-Japanese platformers of this era get a bad rap, but give me James Pond II, Shadow of the Beast, or hell even Jim Power over this garbage!

 

Gunhed

Simply awesome, I don't think I've ever had so much fun playing a shooter before this!

[DragonGrafx-16]

38 minutes ago, newtmonkey said:

Sorry for the double post, had to run out suddenly and now it's too late to edit!

 

I also spent last night playing:

 

Valis II

This game is pretty terrible, which is a shame because Valis III and IV are quite good.

You basically run down a flat corridor whilst being interrupted every 3-4 seconds by the same 2 or 3 enemies per level, each of which always takes at least 3 or 4 hits to kill.  You do this for what seems like an hour then fight a boss that basically stands there shooting fireballs or what have you ever once in a while.  The game only begins to get interesting during Stage 4, where the level designers apparently remembered to add platforms and stuff to jump over.  Unfortunately, the game also becomes extremely frustrating at this point with Castlevania-like spike traps on conveyor belts, all while a seemingly endless number of enemies stream in from off-screen.  I know non-Japanese platformers of this era get a bad rap, but give me James Pond II, Shadow of the Beast, or hell even Jim Power over this garbage!

 

Gunhed

Simply awesome, I don't think I've ever had so much fun playing a shooter before this!

So many good vertical shmups on PC Engine and Gunhed is one of them. Also, the Star Soldier series, Override, Terra Cresta II (though this one is really really expensive). Also good horizontal ones as well like PC Denjin: Punkic Cyborgs (Air Zonk), Coryoon: Child of Dragon (even more expensive than Terra Cresta II). Been playing a lot of Terra Cresta II lately, wish I could afford it but I'll probably get a repro of it. 

[Tanooki]

^^I'd kind of have to second that considering I own both of those.  Valis 3 is pretty solid but 2 is just passable at best, not great compared to 3.  It's hard to argue what's written as it just about sums it up nicely.  And as for Gunhed, no brainer, a total suggestion title for anyone who doesn't have shooters.  A game like that is what's motivating me maybe to just dump most my optical stuff and re-hook the CG2 back up since I own that one complete.

[turboxray]

On 8/16/2020 at 10:57 PM, newtmonkey said:

Sorry for the double post, had to run out suddenly and now it's too late to edit!

 

I also spent last night playing:

 

Valis II

This game is pretty terrible, which is a shame because Valis III and IV are quite good.

You basically run down a flat corridor whilst being interrupted every 3-4 seconds by the same 2 or 3 enemies per level, each of which always takes at least 3 or 4 hits to kill.  You do this for what seems like an hour then fight a boss that basically stands there shooting fireballs or what have you ever once in a while.  The game only begins to get interesting during Stage 4, where the level designers apparently remembered to add platforms and stuff to jump over.  Unfortunately, the game also becomes extremely frustrating at this point with Castlevania-like spike traps on conveyor belts, all while a seemingly endless number of enemies stream in from off-screen.  I know non-Japanese platformers of this era get a bad rap, but give me James Pond II, Shadow of the Beast, or hell even Jim Power over this garbage!

 

Gunhed

Simply awesome, I don't think I've ever had so much fun playing a shooter before this!

Oof! I'll take Valis 2 over those any day haha. I played it new when it first came out, so that probably changes things for me, but I had beaten the game many times. I love the sound track. My friends had played it as well. We never raved about it, but it was still a fun little game.

[Steven Pendleton]

Looks like the UperGrafx is in stock again:

 

http://www.upergrafx.com/order

On 8/17/2020 at 2:57 PM, newtmonkey said:

Sorry for the double post, had to run out suddenly and now it's too late to edit!

 

I also spent last night playing:

 

Valis II

This game is pretty terrible, which is a shame because Valis III and IV are quite good.

You basically run down a flat corridor whilst being interrupted every 3-4 seconds by the same 2 or 3 enemies per level, each of which always takes at least 3 or 4 hits to kill.  You do this for what seems like an hour then fight a boss that basically stands there shooting fireballs or what have you ever once in a while.  The game only begins to get interesting during Stage 4, where the level designers apparently remembered to add platforms and stuff to jump over.  Unfortunately, the game also becomes extremely frustrating at this point with Castlevania-like spike traps on conveyor belts, all while a seemingly endless number of enemies stream in from off-screen.  I know non-Japanese platformers of this era get a bad rap, but give me James Pond II, Shadow of the Beast, or hell even Jim Power over this garbage!

 

Gunhed

Simply awesome, I don't think I've ever had so much fun playing a shooter before this!

Yeah, Vails II is not great. It's still way better than Valis SD, though...

[playstays_shun]

Sorry for noob question but Splatterhouse, Bonk's Adventure on TGX16.

 

What else *must* I play for someone just diving into this system? 

[CZroe]

Sorry for noob question but Splatterhouse, Bonk's Adventure on TGX16.
 
What else *must* I play for someone just diving into this system? 

Multiplayer Bomberman of some kind.

Blazing Lazers/Gunhed


If you get the ability to play Super CD-ROM²:

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi No Rondo

Lords of Thunder/Winds of Thunder

[CZroe]

Get

Got mine last week too!



Would've installed it immediately but I want to make a video of it with the Doujindance RGB and region mod installation... and that's going to have to wait until I finish my UltraHDMI HW2 installation video.

Looks like I'm going to lose my turbo switches on one of these unless I can cleanly cut one of the overlays. The original cuts weren't perfectly round on the buttons but they were free bonuses for being an early-bird and they are still WAY more accurate than the one I printed on paper when I was trying to make my own overlay. I didn't even cut the buttons out since I got all the other measurements way off.

...actually, I wonder if I can throw my Hyperkin or Old Skoop PCBs in here. For people who ready have one and haven't fixed their turbo issues maybe it makes sense to sacrifice one of those.

[turboxray]

On 8/19/2020 at 10:21 AM, playstays_shun said:

Sorry for noob question but Splatterhouse, Bonk's Adventure on TGX16.

 

What else *must* I play for someone just diving into this system? 

That depends on your taste. UA/NA hucards?

 

I recommend R-Type, Ninja Spirit, Bloody Wolf, Neutopia, Legendary Axe, Military Madness, Blazing Lazers, Vigilante, JJ and Jeff if you want to capture/experience that early TG16 feel. Even Keith Courage is worth a play through and finishing at least once (the pack in game), if just for that nostalgia experience. I mean there's more than that for a recommended list, but those titles represent the early phase of the system - and the promise that it held as well as that distinct TG16 aesthetics. 

 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

On 8/20/2020 at 2:21 AM, playstays_shun said:

Sorry for noob question but Splatterhouse, Bonk's Adventure on TGX16.

 

What else *must* I play for someone just diving into this system? 

You absolutely must get Rondo. Also 1941 Counter Attack if you have a SuperGrafx. Also Salamander, Legendary Axe, and its sequel. Splatterhouse is a decent arcade port if you like that sort of game. There is also Gradius II and maybe a few more that I'm forgetting.

On 8/20/2020 at 3:12 AM, CZroe said:

Got mine last week too!



Would've installed it immediately but I want to make a video of it with the Doujindance RGB and region mod installation... and that's going to have to wait until I finish my UltraHDMI HW2 installation video.

Looks like I'm going to lose my turbo switches on one of these unless I can cleanly cut one of the overlays. The original cuts weren't perfectly round on the buttons but they were free bonuses for being an early-bird and they are still WAY more accurate than the one I printed on paper when I was trying to make my own overlay. I didn't even cut the buttons out since I got all the other measurements way off.

...actually, I wonder if I can throw my Hyperkin or Old Skoop PCBs in here. For people who ready have one and haven't fixed their turbo issues maybe it makes sense to sacrifice one of those.

I thought about putting my PC Engine mini's controller in the clear controller thingy since that doesn't have turbo switches. But yeah, the button cuts were not perfect. They are close enough for me, though, and it's not like I'm going to use a non-turbo controller when I have turbo controllers.

[DragonGrafx-16]

2 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

You absolutely must get Rondo. Also 1941 Counter Attack if you have a SuperGrafx. Also Salamander, Legendary Axe, and its sequel. Splatterhouse is a decent arcade port if you like that sort of game. There is also Gradius II and maybe a few more that I'm forgetting.

I thought about putting my PC Engine mini's controller in the clear controller thingy since that doesn't have turbo switches. But yeah, the button cuts were not perfect. They are close enough for me, though, and it's not like I'm going to use a non-turbo controller when I have turbo controllers.

Currently I only use turbo for one game, Dragon Spirit as it does not have autofire. Kind of funny that so many games don't even need the turbo switches. lol

[Steven Pendleton]

16 minutes ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

Currently I only use turbo for one game, Dragon Spirit as it does not have autofire. Kind of funny that so many games don't even need the turbo switches. lol

Pretty sure my copy has autofire, but it's extremely slow, so I use the turbo just to get a speed boost. I'll check later, though, just to be sure! But yeah, most PC Engine games that I have seen either don't need turbo or already have turbo programmed into the game. There are those that don't already have turbo programmed, like the various versions of Darius, Fantasy Zone, and I think crappy Battle Ace on the SuperGrafx, but most of the ones that I've seen don't really need the controller's turbo function at all. I get the feeling that it's mostly the earlier games that don't have it, which is interesting since the original controller lacks turbo completely.

Edited August 24, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[DragonGrafx-16]

22 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Pretty sure my copy has autofire, but it's extremely slow, so I use the turbo just to get a speed boost. I'll check later, though, just to be sure! But yeah, most PC Engine games that I have seen either don't need turbo or already have turbo programmed into the game. There are those that don't already have turbo programmed, like the various versions of Darius, Fantasy Zone, and I think crappy Battle Ace on the SuperGrafx, but most of the ones that I've seen don't really need the controller's turbo function at all. I get the feeling that it's mostly the earlier games that don't have it, which is interesting since the original controller lacks turbo completely.

That could be it... it's so slow it might as well not be on.

[Tanooki]

I can't remember, but I think I mentioned backing out of some/all of this stuff.  A couple days ago I boxed up part of my PCE collection and have started to sell it off.  Going minimalist, just lack the time and will to burn funds, so it's back to the core grafx, cards and everdrive for now, and they yet may go next.  I think I'd probably more enjoy the Core Grafx MINI at this rate as the variety I'd care about is mostly there anyway.

[Steven Pendleton]

23 hours ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

That could be it... it's so slow it might as well not be on.

Yeah, I didn't get a chance to check it yet. Should be able to do that today, I think, once I get a little free time later tonight. Might as well actually play it for a while, too, since it's a great game.