Sol-Feace or Sol-Deace

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:35 pm

It's somewhat like the Valis games. Not super fantastic, but a solid action game with a bit of a "cult" factor adding flavor.

Also, the Japanese cover art is quite great.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:59 pm

Yeah, the status of both games as heroine-focused, anime-inspired, cutscene-laden, similarly controlled, lesser known 16-bit sidescrollers makes them very similar. However, El Viento controls a LOT better although it's easy to take an obscene amount of damage in a single moment since you get very little invincibility after taking a hit. It has an excellent old 1920's mood to it throughout and is just a really memorable experience in my mind.

If you've never played it or Wolf Team's early RPGs like Fhey Area, it's no wonder you don't like Wolf Team since its other games like Earnest Evans and Final Zone are pretty atrocious.

Arcatech · Post by **Arcatech** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 6:26 pm

I actually prefer the music in the cartridge version. It possibly has a lot to do with the fact that it's the one I've been playing, and there's no doubt that the CD version has higher quality music, but I think the synths used in the cartridge version give it a much jazzier, more stylish vibe.

I know exactly what you mean. Its the same issue I have with Radiant Silvergun, the lo-fi soundtrack sounds so much better because it sounds like it came off a chip as opposed to trying to mimik a real orchestra or something.

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 11:59 pm

I've never gotten to play many of the Mega CD games Wolf Team put out, but I do own Earnest Evans (the cart version too) and Anet Futatabi (let's hear it for Gens emulation). They weren't super-great games, but they were quirky enough to be fun to play through from time to time. Games like Sol-Feace (both versions), Granada, El-Viento and Arcus Odyssey are carts from them I still enjoy playing, and I even think Final Zone isn't that bad (interesting idea marred by wonky controls and low frame rates).

Those are the only games I've played from them though, so I can't say what their other US and Japanese titles were like.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 12:55 am

I don't really like El Viento or Evans... That said, the music in this Sol-Deace is worthy some attention. I'm going to find one cheap.

Still, the gameplay is quite flawed... I mean, what's the point to have a "double cannon" power-up if each time you lose a life the power pod magically reappears? They could have made the ship cannon armed by default.

CecilMcW00t · Post by **CecilMcW00t** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 10:32 pm

Wow, I didn't think anyone else preferred the cartridge soundtrack over the CD version. I thought I was psycho. It just has more "soul" to it. I remember I actually bought Sol-Deace after playing the Mega CD version JUST to hear the cart's soundtrack.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 10:50 pm

CecilMcW00t wrote:Wow, I didn't think anyone else preferred the cartridge soundtrack over the CD version. I thought I was psycho. It just has more "soul" to it. I remember I actually bought Sol-Deace after playing the Mega CD version JUST to hear the cart's soundtrack.

Still, check out the X68000 soundtrack, it's even better.

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 12:12 am

The only think I can thank WolfTeam for is porting Road Avenger and Cobra Command onto the Sega CD/Mega CD. OK, the video might be gainy and the frame rate is not the best, but WolfTeam were able to able to port the games onto the add-on. Both games are good, try them out some other time (this is from a FMV hater like MYSELF!).

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 2:40 am

zinger wrote:
CecilMcW00t wrote:Wow, I didn't think anyone else preferred the cartridge soundtrack over the CD version. I thought I was psycho. It just has more "soul" to it. I remember I actually bought Sol-Deace after playing the Mega CD version JUST to hear the cart's soundtrack.
Still, check out the X68000 soundtrack, it's even better.

Did the X68000 ever get a sound format like the Genesis, SNES, etc. did? I'd like to hear some of the music of Wolf Team's games (and others like Thunder Force II) as it sounded on the old X68000.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:55 am

The Coop wrote:Did the X68000 ever get a sound format like the Genesis, SNES, etc. did? I'd like to hear some of the music of Wolf Team's games (and others like Thunder Force II) as it sounded on the old X68000.

Yes, MDX, and most rips seem to sound decent. I use a plugin with foobar 2000, but there are stand-alone players aswell.

This site has a bunch of packs:
http://xperiment.rainemu.com/x68000.htm

Knight Arms OST comes highly recommended.

llabnip · Post by **llabnip** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:14 pm

Fighter17 wrote:The only think I can thank WolfTeam for is porting Road Avenger and Cobra Command onto the Sega CD/Mega CD. OK, the video might be gainy and the frame rate is not the best, but WolfTeam were able to able to port the games onto the add-on. Both games are good, try them out some other time (this is from a FMV hater like MYSELF!).

The Sega CD versions are good... the Sega Saturn versions are incredible. I love FMV type games - they are a guilty pleasure for me. Ninja Hayate, Time Gal, Road Blaster and Thunderstorm (aka Road Avenger and Cobra Command) are all really good on the Saturn. These games come in double-packs on the Saturn so you get 2 games for the price of 1 (and they are usually really cheap).

More on topic... I love Sol Feace and Deace. I tend to play Sole Feace (CD) more though it's only a marginal upgrade.

Arcatech · Post by **Arcatech** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:10 pm

The Sega CD versions are good... the Sega Saturn versions are incredible. I love FMV type games - they are a guilty pleasure for me. Ninja Hayate, Time Gal, Road Blaster and Thunderstorm (aka Road Avenger and Cobra Command) are all really good on the Saturn. These games come in double-packs on the Saturn so you get 2 games for the price of 1 (and they are usually really cheap).

Is Japanese required for the Saturn imports? ie are the menus all fubared and japanese language tracks playing with no subtitles?

llabnip · Post by **llabnip** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:42 pm

AFXisatwin wrote:
The Sega CD versions are good... the Sega Saturn versions are incredible. I love FMV type games - they are a guilty pleasure for me. Ninja Hayate, Time Gal, Road Blaster and Thunderstorm (aka Road Avenger and Cobra Command) are all really good on the Saturn. These games come in double-packs on the Saturn so you get 2 games for the price of 1 (and they are usually really cheap).
Is Japanese required for the Saturn imports? ie are the menus all fubared and japanese language tracks playing with no subtitles?

No Japanese is required. The menus are mostly in English. Time Gal has an English option which is needed since there are some in-game menu choices as part of the gameplay. I think Ninja Hayate (which is on the same compilation) might as well... but Road Blaster and Thunderstorm don't have an option and there are no points where you need language to make your way through the game (i.e. there are no in-game menu choices that will be a problem for a player). These are simple Dragon's Lair type FMV games so if you've played that, you'll know how much of a hinderance language would be (i.e. very little). Of the four games, my favoraite is Road Blaster (aka Road Avenger) which is just too cool.

Sorry for the OT. Feel free to return to Sol-D/Feace talk and/or cull out the last couple of posts to the OT forum

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:07 am

But don't the PS versions have higher quality video due to the SS versions' poor compression?

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:50 am

zinger wrote:
The Coop wrote:Did the X68000 ever get a sound format like the Genesis, SNES, etc. did? I'd like to hear some of the music of Wolf Team's games (and others like Thunder Force II) as it sounded on the old X68000.
Yes, MDX, and most rips seem to sound decent. I use a plugin with foobar 2000, but there are stand-alone players aswell.

This site has a bunch of packs:
http://xperiment.rainemu.com/x68000.htm

Knight Arms OST comes highly recommended.

Coolness. Thanks for the link. I'm rather impressed at how games like Midnight Resistance and Verytex have virtually identical sounding music between the X68000 and Genesis versions. This makes me even more interested in hearing Sol-Feace's tunes (and Wolf Team's other games like Granada and whatnot).

But I have to ask, are there any other sites like that? I ask because not only are there a lot of games missing from their list, but I've had absolutely no success in finding other places that host MDX music files thus far this evening.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:02 am

The Coop wrote:Coolness. Thanks for the link. I'm rather impressed at how games like Midnight Resistance and Verytex have virtually identical sounding music between the X68000 and Genesis versions. This makes me even more interested in hearing Sol-Feace's tunes (and Wolf Team's other games like Granada and whatnot).

But I have to ask, are there any other sites like that? I ask because not only are there a lot of games missing from their list, but I've had absolutely no success in finding other places that host MDX music files thus far this evening.

I don't think Midnight Resistance or Verytex were ever released for the X68000, those are most likely Mega Drive soundtracks converted to MDX. You'll notice that there are arcade exclusive titles in the list too.

I have Granada, Sol Feace and a bunch of other soundtracks that aren't in the list, can't remember where I got these though. I can put together a zip for you if you PM me your e-mail address.

benj · Post by **benj** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:02 am

This site should have what you are looking for.

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 1:06 am

Thanks for the link benj, and thanks for the files zinger.

PFG 9000 · Post by **PFG 9000** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:29 am

I've had my eye on the lone copy of Sol-Feace at a local shop, and today I finally picked it up ($2.99!). I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I don't have a Sega CD. Hopefully it will emulate reasonably well.

I did listen to the soundtrack, as it's in Redbook. It's certainly grown on me since the last time...I still prefer the Deace version though.

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:40 am

PFG 9000 wrote:I've had my eye on the lone copy of Sol-Feace at a local shop, and today I finally picked it up ($2.99!). I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I don't have a Sega CD. Hopefully it will emulate reasonably well.

I did listen to the soundtrack, as it's in Redbook. It's certainly grown on me since the last time...I still prefer the Deace version though.

The emu Gens will run it just fine. Make sure you've gotten the aspi drivers installed if you're on XP, and gotten the needed "file" so Gens can boot the Sega CD. Once that's done, you'll be good to go.

Kega Fusion works well also.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:00 pm

ccovell wrote:So this begs the question, then. What is a "Sol Feace?" Or a "Deace" for that matter?

Sol-Deace is the name of your ship. It comes from the surname of the scientist that created it, Edwin Deace. (from the manual

)