PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

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RawlingGunnar
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PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by RawlingGunnar »

We all know that PC Engine games are just getting ludicrous in cost nowadays. There's stuff like Sapphire that's just ungodly expensive but maybe might not be especially worthy of its price tag. But then stuff like Gradius II can be had for like, 40-50 bucks.

So the real question for today is: What PC Engine shooting games are amazing but don't cost an arm, leg and vital organ? Go.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by Jeneki »

If Gradius II is cheap, how's the price on Salamander? I love both of those ports.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by RawlingGunnar »

Jeneki wrote:If Gradius II is cheap, how's the price on Salamander? I love both of those ports.
Not terrible as of late, from what I can gather. If you're not an idiot like me, you can save a ton of cash buying HuCard-only.
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Zombi 6
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by Zombi 6 »

Cyber core and ordyne IMO are great lil games and both go for round the £10(unboxed) to around £ 30-40 sealed or with case. I have a soft spot for these games so I wont be suprised if some one says they are garbage but I think they aren't half bad at all and as you asked won't break the bank
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by garrz32 »

R-Type hu card can still be had for a reasonable price, still see it on Ebay for £25-£35
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by OmegaFlareX »

Unless you absolutely MUST have CIB originals to line your shelf and/or stacks of HuCards to thumb through (I totally understand, I would collect PCE stuff if I could) there is no reason to spend what it costs to play originals on real hardware these days when the Turbo Everdrive and SSDS3 exist.

$300US for the latter is nothing compared to the total cost of the entire library.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by it290 »

The PCE has a ton of great shooters that can be had for cheap. Stuff like Air Zonk, Galaga '88, Gate of Thunder, Blazing Lazers, Super Star Soldier, Soldier Blade, and Metal Stoker are all relatively easily obtainable, or at least they were when I last checked...

(minutes later)

IMO Air Zonk is one of the most fun/creative games of the whole era. I just did an eBay listing and the prices are absolutely insane, with some people asking $150 for a card-only US copy, with Japanese prices being not much less outrageous. Has the PCE scene just gone completely nuts in the past few years? It's a pretty common title, and I don't think I paid more than $15 for the copy I bought 10 years ago or so.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by Austin »

OmegaFlareX wrote:Unless you absolutely MUST have CIB originals to line your shelf and/or stacks of HuCards to thumb through (I totally understand, I would collect PCE stuff if I could) there is no reason to spend what it costs to play originals on real hardware these days when the Turbo Everdrive and SSDS3 exist
Pretty much this. Even when sticking with just HuCard stuff, a Turbo Everdrive pays for itself almost immediately.

As far as answering the original question, I can't think of many "amazing" PCE shooters that are all that affordable these days. I guess the closest would be games like Gradius II, R-Type Complete and Super Raiden CDs that still seem to sit around $50.

There are other cheaper shooters on CD, maybe barely reaching "good" in some cases, but may be worth checking out for some people. I.e., Sidearms Special, Daisenpu Custom (Twin Hawk), Avenger, etc. Sub-$30, I believe?

There's still some affordable HuCard stgs of course, like Gradius (great port), Salamander, Dragon Spirit, Dragon Saber, etc.
it290 wrote:Has the PCE scene just gone completely nuts in the past few years?
Yep, PCE has blown up in recent years. It's nice to see interest in the platform, but those prices.. No thanks!
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by garrz32 »

it290 wrote:
Has the PCE scene just gone completely nuts in the past few years? It's a pretty common title, and I don't think I paid more than $15 for the copy I bought 10 years ago or so.

It's just not the PC engine scene , pretty much every system has shot through the roof in prices.

Look at Saturn games. the days of collecting on a budget are well past us.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by FRO »

Austin wrote:Pretty much this. Even when sticking with just HuCard stuff, a Turbo Everdrive pays for itself almost immediately.
I'll echo this. Not only does it open up the library for you, but it allows you to play out of region games. I have my TurboGrafx-16 hooked up right now, and I can play both Turbo and PCE games on it via the Everdrive. I have a PCE as well, so when I want to play the real thing, I can, but the convenience of the Turbo Everdrive cannot be understated, especially if you have limited space for either a collection, or for consoles, because you can keep one system hooked up, and have a large portion of the library at your fingertips.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by Sumez »

Pretty much all the Konami ones. Really really good ports, too.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by 2a03 »

buy everdrive
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by RawlingGunnar »

I actually already have an SSDS3, but I dunno. I feel real cheap just downloading a bunch of games. I made iso's of all my games and play the Hucards normally. The manuals and discs/hucards are something I've always loved. Such an early medium and it's all just so out of the ordinary I can't help but buy the original games.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by iplaymyshmups »

All the Namco shooters like Galaga 88, Dragon Spirit, etc are still reasonable
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by it290 »

garrz32 wrote:
it290 wrote:
Has the PCE scene just gone completely nuts in the past few years? It's a pretty common title, and I don't think I paid more than $15 for the copy I bought 10 years ago or so.

It's just not the PC engine scene , pretty much every system has shot through the roof in prices.

Look at Saturn games. the days of collecting on a budget are well past us.
Yeah, but the PCE stuff just seems insane to me. On the Saturn side you can get some of the more desirable Capcom fighters and stuff for not that much more than what they would have cost at launch. $120 for a HuCard of Legendary Axe 2 seems bonkers by comparison.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by professor ganson »

As I recall, the following were more on the affordable side and pretty much worth it:
Armed Formation F
Side Arms Special
Super Darius I & II
Xevious (w/ Fardraut mode)
Hellfire S
R-Type
Parodius
Space Invaders
Hana Taka
Fantasy Zone
Galaga 88
Salamander

I know there are others. If I get a chance, I'll try to think of some more.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by garrz32 »

it290 wrote:
Yeah, but the PCE stuff just seems insane to me. On the Saturn side you can get some of the more desirable Capcom fighters and stuff for not that much more than what they would have cost at launch. $120 for a HuCard of Legendary Axe 2 seems bonkers by comparison.

Yes, true,some games/genres are reasonable on all systems. I was stating more on the Shooters style of games for the Saturn. Sorry for the confusion 8)
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by OmegaFlareX »

professor ganson wrote:Armed Formation F
I'll second this one. Back when I had a modded Duo and legit games it was one of 3 JP HuCards in my library (along with Kyukyoku Tiger and Momotaro Katsugeki). It's the only port of the AC game (which I love, probably my favorite Nichibutsu AC game), it's stripped down a bit but it's not kusoge by any means, I don't think. Always wondered who "BIG DON" was.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by Jeneki »

I'd agree Armed Formation F is strangely addicting, and the PCE port is fun.

btw, The arcade version is now on modern consoles under the Arcade Archives line.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by RawlingGunnar »

All great suggestions! I think Darius II and Hanatakadaka might be ones to snag sooner rather than later, cost permitting. That and PCE Gradius II. That seems like a solid buy.

I have a few of these suggestions too, and I'll agree: Armed Formation F is definitely pretty good.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by kevenz »

wait for the PC Engine Mini that's coming up this winter I believe.

Sapphire is one of the included game .. also it's probably going to get hacked so you'll be able to have a complete pc engine shmups in a tiny box.

The only thing we don't know is the quality of emulation and the lags
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by RawlingGunnar »

kevenz wrote:wait for the PC Engine Mini that's coming up this winter I believe.

Sapphire is one of the included game .. also it's probably going to get hacked so you'll be able to have a complete pc engine shmups in a tiny box.

The only thing we don't know is the quality of emulation and the lags
Oh yes, I have the PC Engine and TG16 minis on preorder as it is. Been going after most of those minis now, only missing the C64 so far.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by nectarsis »

Besides those mentioned, while a bit easy, Star Parodia is reasonable cost wise and just damn fun.

...and who.the hell's paying $120 for Legendary Axe 2??
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by MintyTheCat »

If you simply wish to play the games or if you are not sure which games to purchase then get a flash cart device.
The prices these days are simply too high to realistically be 'fun' for most people. I see the money aspect as being something that puts too much pressure on the player to 'enjoy' a game.

However, very good Shmups on the PCE are:

GunHed
Winds of Thunder
Spriggan
Nexzr
Soldier-Blade

R-Type - a good port, I haven't played the CD version but the original PCE Card version that I own.
Gradius 1 and 2 - 2 is very good and a nice port.

I own all of these and some rarer and more expensive games but really, expensive does not mean that the game is fun to play - Sapphire is a good example here I feel.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by MintyTheCat »

kevenz wrote:wait for the PC Engine Mini that's coming up this winter I believe.

Sapphire is one of the included game .. also it's probably going to get hacked so you'll be able to have a complete pc engine shmups in a tiny box.

The only thing we don't know is the quality of emulation and the lags
I pre-ordered it too - I like the idea of being able to carry the machine with me when I'm travelling. Having HDMI support is a big help too.

It's all pretty much the same class of hardware and it will be hacked. I think that the PCE's design is still decent and having a smaller version with current hardware means that we'll be able to play all sorts on it.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by Restart_Point »

A subject I have been researching myself recently. I bought these HuCard-only for about 10 UKP each recently:

R-Type I
R-Type II
Mr Heli

I also got

Barunba
Galaga 88

CIB for about £15 each. SFII CE goes for similar low price too. I'm saving up for a SD System 3 when it comes out again but it's still nice to have a few tactile, physical games and cases for the shelf, like it always used to be. You can still find bargain prices in auctions and bundles etc but it's a slow time-consuming process looking out for them.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by Sumez »

Hana Taka
Nexzr
Soldier Blade
Wow, this thread is doing a really bad job at recommending games that fits OP's request XD
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

Back in December of 1993 and into the 1st quarter of 1994, it was possibleto buy new TG-16 & TTI Hu-Card based games on the cheap. How cheap were they one might ask? With prices of a mere $14.99 to $19.99 USD for new TG-16 games like Cyber Core, Dead Moon, Raiden (a 6 megabit sized Hu-Card), Air Zonk and even TTI's Magical Chase could be bought for a mere $19.99 at your local Toys-R-Us joint back in the day. Of course, those days are long gone.

Heck, even the California based The Good Guys! electronics chain was selling their remaining TG-16 and Turbo Duo software (+ hardware) for mere pennies on the dollar at $5.00 per game (which included all CD-Rom2 & Super CD-Rom2 game titles including Lords of Thunder for a mere crisp fiver) back in January of 1994 (they had gotten word that TTI wasn't going to be selling anymore new gaming hardware & software -- namely the upcoming 32-bit powered NEC PC-FX console to the USA).

Towards the end of 1994, The Good Guys! were selling their remaining inventory of brand new boxed TTI Turbo Duo consoles for a mere $99.99 (a steal at that attractive price-point if you were to ask me).

What's cool about the TG-16 version of R-Type is, it contains the entire R-Type game from beginning to end on a single Hu-Card (something that it's original PC Engine counterpart of the same name can only be played as two separate Hu-Cards).

The Super CD-Rom2 STG of Winds of Thunder was released in the USA under the proper title of Lords of Thunder courtesy of TTI themselves back in 1993.

You might recall that the American video game chain, Babbage's, sold brand new TG-16 consoles that came with two Hu-Cards of Blazing Lazers and Air Zonk for a mere $69.99 back in mid-1994 -- that was a cool STG deal right there.

Nowadays, a simple Turbo Everdrive flash cart does wonders these days -- is the cheapest way to play the uber-rare TTI version of Magical Chase without breaking the bank these days.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by MJR »

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:Back in December of 1993 and into the 1st quarter of 1994, it was possibleto buy new TG-16 & TTI Hu-Card based games on the cheap. How cheap were they one might ask? With prices of a mere $14.99 to $19.99 USD for new TG-16 games like Cyber Core, Dead Moon, Raiden (a 6 megabit sized Hu-Card), Air Zonk and even TTI's Magical Chase could be bought for a mere $19.99 at your local Toys-R-Us joint back in the day. Of course, those days are long gone.

Heck, even the California based The Good Guys! electronics chain was selling their remaining TG-16 and Turbo Duo software (+ hardware) for mere pennies on the dollar at $5.00 per game (which included all CD-Rom2 & Super CD-Rom2 game titles including Lords of Thunder for a mere crisp fiver) back in January of 1994 (they had gotten word that TTI wasn't going to be selling anymore new gaming hardware & software -- namely the upcoming 32-bit powered NEC PC-FX console to the USA).

Towards the end of 1994, The Good Guys! were selling their remaining inventory of brand new boxed TTI Turbo Duo consoles for a mere $99.99 (a steal at that attractive price-point if you were to ask me).

What's cool about the TG-16 version of R-Type is, it contains the entire R-Type game from beginning to end on a single Hu-Card (something that it's original PC Engine counterpart of the same name can only be played as two separate Hu-Cards).

The Super CD-Rom2 STG of Winds of Thunder was released in the USA under the proper title of Lords of Thunder courtesy of TTI themselves back in 1993.

You might recall that the American video game chain, Babbage's, sold brand new TG-16 consoles that came with two Hu-Cards of Blazing Lazers and Air Zonk for a mere $69.99 back in mid-1994 -- that was a cool STG deal right there.

Nowadays, a simple Turbo Everdrive flash cart does wonders these days -- is the cheapest way to play the uber-rare TTI version of Magical Chase without breaking the bank these days.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

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Got a friend visiting Tokyo at the moment, I asked him if he can scout reasonably priced copy of Winds of thunder from Akihabara for me. Maybe even Dodonpachi PCB.. the ebay prices have gone insane.
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Re: PC Engine: Quality that doesn't cost your soul.

Post by RawlingGunnar »

MJR wrote: Got a friend visiting Tokyo at the moment, I asked him if he can scout reasonably priced copy of Winds of thunder from Akihabara for me. Maybe even Dodonpachi PCB.. the ebay prices have gone insane.
I need a guy on the inside to search for some of this stuff. I imagine it still isn't cheap, but it has to be better than the alternative, even with a finder's bonus attached.
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