shmups.system11.org

Just order it on .JP, unless you're saying it's sold out there as well. Haven't understood people's hesitation to just get it where it's available over these two months.

Diagonals are shit on the pad? Does anything else work plug and play? Didn't realise this is in stock in the UK already but don't fancy shelling out over and above the £100 entry fee just to play the damn thing.

Google has proven fucking hopeless and instead tells me quite how well the pads work with other devices but not what else actually works on the console and why.

Yeah, I always thought of the scanlines in Gunstar Heroes as being too dark and fugly. Since you questioned me on the issue I fired up my copy to have another look and ... you may be right! They're not quite as ugly as I recall, better than what they've achieved with the MD Mini or PCE Mini, so I'll retract that remark and instead say M2 have a rather inconsistent record when it comes to scanlines (the scanlines on their Cave ports look great, after all).

TransatlanticFoe: Not tried anything else on it. I heard some folks may have damaged their PCE Mini controller ports experimenting with different controllers way back in March, so I am apprehensive about experimenting! However, I did see a thread on Reddit implying that Retrobit's MD Mini controllers work on the PCE Mini (you have to hold up and start for 5 seconds to get the PCE Mini to recognise them or something to that effect). Might give that a shot.

The stock controller’s dpad IS stiff, but it does break in quickly. I had no issue with it after a few hours. That said, the 8BitDo pads are amazing and make the console a dream to play.

People seem to agree that the pads are stiff, but trouble with diagonals is more random. Mine flows into any direction seamlessly, it's just a little hard to push it there.

I haven't had any diagonal issues with my Mini's d-pad. Seems about on-par with the original's d-pad.

Update: Played for another hour. I'm pressing the d-pad harder now and the pad does seem to be loosening up and diagonals gradually becoming easier. May be a case of breaking it in as some suggest above.

And for those of you on the fence, I would say just buy the mini. I think this one's my favourite, and I loved the SNES Mini.

For shmup fans it's easily the most attractive Mini out there.

The latest issue of the USA-based Game Informer magazine dated June of 2020 has a two-page spread about the TurboGrafx-16 Mini. Very nice read/review on it indeed.

Out of the 111 different PC Engine STG titles released, 20 of them are at your disposal on the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16/Core Grafx Mini consoles.

Is there a way to play the hidden PCE Mini STG of Konami's "Force Gear" on the TG-16 Mini as well?

In the spring of 1994, TTI went ahead and sold the TurboGrafx-16 console bundled with two Turbo Chip games of Blazing Lazers and Air Zonk for a mere $49.99 USD brand new -- a very attractive price right there. The American video game retailer, Babbage's was selling 'em at that slick price back in the day.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

highlight Salamander, hit the Select Button twice of three times and press Run. Twice for Force Gear, three times for Twin Bee Returns. You'll hear a chime sound when pressing Select multiple times.

There are 57 PCE & TG-16 games within the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16/CoreGrafx Mini console and "three" hidden STG titles to boot up/enjoy at your leisure for a grand total of 60 PCE & TG-16 games to choose from, thanks to Konami Digital Entertainment Co. Ltd. (the first two hidden PCE STG titles would be Force Gear & Twin Bee as usual).

Hidden deeper within Konami's PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16/CoreGrafx Mini consoles is the 3rd PCE STG classic that goes by the name of Soldier Blade Special Caravan.

How does one gain access to it then?

Well, one would simply need access to an 8BitDo PCE, TG-16 or CG gamepad setup along with the obligatory Bluetooth USB dongle. Simply highlight the classic TG-16 STG title of Soldier Blade on the game selection screen and press the Sync button on the 8BitDo gamepad. Instead of booting up to the usual Soldier Blade STG title, Soldier Blade Special Caravan will appear in it's place. How cool is that? You can save Soldier Blade Special Caravan to memory and load it up upon rebooting the PCE/TG-16/CG Mini console from a "cold start" -- highest scores will be saved for both 2 minute & 5 minute caravan sessions indeed.

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Note: You can't access Soldier Blade Special Caravan with a "plain vanilla" flavored PCE/TG-16/CG Mini USB gamepad and will need a required 8BitDo gamepad to boot it up/gain access to it.
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If you highlight the classic PCE STG title of Salamander with an 8BitDo gamepad and press the Sync button, it'll boot up to a cool Salamander arcade pcb startup screen instead of the usual Konami logo screen setup.

If you highlight the classic PCE STG title of Gradius with an 8BitDo gamepad and press the Sync button, it'll boot up to a cool infamous Konami "Bubble Memory" variant version of Gradius complete with a "99" second countdown timer (along with a "Warming Up" message as well) + instead of the usual "Blue" colored Gradius main title screen, it's been replaced with a cool "Orange" colored variant Gradius main title screen in it's place. Simply hit button I or II to bypass/end the "99" second countdown timer if so desired.

If you highlight the classic PCE Arcade CD-Rom2 STG title of Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire with an 8BitDo gamepad and press the Sync button, the System Card Version 2.10 will be booted up instead of the usual Arcade Card Pro. You'll get an error message instead and can't play it period.

And lastly, if you highlight the classic TTI Turbo Duo STG title of Lords of Thunder (aka Winds of Thunder in Japan) with an 8BitDo gamepad and press the Sync button, you'll see that the Super System Card Version 3.0 has been replaced with the older TurboGrafx CD Card Version 2.10 and get an error message saying that you can't play this particular game.

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If you highlight the classic PCE Super CD-Rom2 title of Dracula X with an 8BitDo gamepad and press the Sync button, you load up a cool hidden mini platform side-scrolling game instead.

I discovered the above TG-16 Mini STG "Easter Egg" gems one day messing around with my TG-16 8BitDo gamepad and here are the end results. Enjoy!

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Wow, amazing stuff PCEFX! This mini has so many secrets and extras, and is easily my favorite of the lot.

all these can be accessed using the regular controller by holding down the SELECT button while pressing the RUN button. But it's nice of course for 8Bitdo to offer an alternative variant of access.

What games utilise the turbo buttons?

It seems that most (all?) of the shmups have autofire on by default. I haven't needed to use the turbo buttons.

Gradius 1 (although it does interfere with the laser), Space Harrier, Dragon Spirits, off the top of my head. I think Darius and Fantasy Zone also.

edit: Can confirm all the above utilise turbo, and also The Legend of Valkyrie and Galaga '88.

What AC adapters will work on the mini? I was gonna import a CoreGrafx and all my USB -> mains adapters are 5.0V/1.0A instead of 2 amps so I assume that won't work well

I use 5.0V 1.0A, and it works perfectly fine. Konami have stated that 5.0V 2.0A is preferred, although I've seen speculation elsewhere - I think on Reddit - that this might only be necessary if you're intending to run the multitap with 5 controllers.

So, how many more people have been able to try this out? I'm thinking of getting the Japanese version finally.

Do they come with an AC adapter? BM's post last page makes me wonder (and worry). Cheap if true!
It also looks as if the stock controller doesn't have the turbo switches, which seems ridiculous given the console! To that end I see that 8bitdo and Hori both offer controllers, and I wonder if anyone has experience with the hori PC Engine pad.

no PSU included.

The Hori Turbo controllers are 100% identical with the stock controller, since Hori manufacturers both (and the system as well). I think that the d-pad is too stiff on those. The 8bitdo feels better.

So did we just go straight to being scalped by ebaycunts in the UK with this then?

Amazon France still has the Coregrafx Mini available to order. Amazon UK is currently sold out.

Just out of curiosity, did they have Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire translated?

No. Nothing has been translated to English that wasn't previously released in English.

This is quite cheap! What a bunch of misers. I guess any universal ac adapter will do?

I've bit the bullet and have the PCE Mini and 8bitdo pad ordered, so I am looking forward to sharing a few impressions. It'll be nice to try Sapphire on my HD tv.

Congrats! It's such a gem. And yes, any USB adapter will work fine. I just use a cheap phone charger.

I've just been running mine off the usb port in my tv, which is what the manual recommends I think. Got a few usb chargers but didn't want to risk it, read about some bloke frying his.

Dammit... I wanted to know what the characters are saying.

If you finally beat Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire on the PCE/TG-16/Core Grafx Mini, you'll get a 50,000 point bonus for each life remaining & 20,000 point bonus for each remaining bomb added to your overall score.

Plus, if you failed to enter your high score initials on the high score screen input, the CPU will enter the initials of "CAP" as default initials. CAP stands for Computer Artist Production.

Also, you'll lose your current high scores and high score initials upon playing Sapphire on the real PC Engine Duo/Duo-R/Duo-RX hardware whereas on the Minis, you can save 'em for posterity. How cool is that?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

These finally went back-in-stock in my local amazon site and I managed to snag one. Pretty pleased overall, although the fact that the PCE mini version doesn't have turbo switches is pretty annoying. Frustrated that both the other regional variations come with that feature (even if it is a bit more expensive). Cracked open the controller, and it's even the same PCB - it has the connection pads for the turbo switch, it's just the switches themselves and the cut-outs for them in the controller shell which aren't included. I shorted the switch connectors and it does give the turbo functionality, so I guess someone sufficiently motivated could hack together a solution for it.



Yeah, I suspect licensing is the issue with Gates as well. From what I understand they farmed out the soundtrack to a studio formed by a member of 80s new-wave band Duran Duran, so I wonder if the rights to the music make it a challenge to re-issue?