CPS-2 Shmups

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:53 pm

Heh, I bought a "broken" CPS-2 A board off e-bay for 10 dollars. I hook up my X-Men CPS cartridge to it, and the thing works fine! That's what I call a deal!

So now I have a working blue CPS2 board, and I'd like some shmups for it. What are some of the best CPS2 shmups out there that didn't get home ports? What are some of the cheapest (including home ported ones)?

And finally, I'd imagine many shmups for the CPS2 only got Japanese releases. Does anybody know where I can get blue USA CPS2 games? Is there any adapter to let me use different regions on my board?

mannerbot · Post by **mannerbot** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:56 pm

Dimahoo and Progear.

dboeren · Post by **dboeren** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:59 pm

Congratulations, great deal!

I don't think there were that many CPS2 shmups released, but there are some good ones...

Off the top of my head:
Gigawing
Mars Matrix
Dimahoo
19XX
1944

Mars Matrix seems to be the cheapest of these, and quite good. 19XX is better than 1944 I think. There's a Gigawing CPS2 on eBay right now for $130, up to you if that's worth it or not.

I'm not sure about the blue board and whether that means you can't run certain games. All of my B boards (Mars Matrix and Dimahoo) are green.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:01 pm

Great CPS2-site, filled with info, a gamelist, screens etc. In other words, it might be useful

http://cps2shock.retrogames.com/

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:09 pm

Ah, that's a helpful site. Thanks.

I'm not sure about the blue board and whether that means you can't run certain games. All of my B boards (Mars Matrix and Dimahoo) are green.

I think the different regions have different color codes. Blue is USA, Green is Japan, and gray is Asia. The different regions have physically different connectors, so you can't plug a gray B board into a blue A board. I don't know if green and blue are compatible, though.

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:11 pm

blue and green are interchangeable. I can wholeheartedly recommend Dimahoo, it´s an outstanding masterpiece. Giga Wing and Mars Matrix are both on DC, availlable for cheap. 1944 is quite long, great graphics, but pretty unbalanced for a professional game. Progear is nice, but costs 2-3 times the price of other CPS2 games. 19xx looks good, but I haven´t played it myself, only seen the video, and there seem to be some cool secrets in there.

dboeren · Post by **dboeren** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:20 pm

I can't believe I forgot Progear! It is pretty expensive though.

The Dreamcast argument only applies if he owns a Dreamcast. Still, I guess even if he has to buy one he comes out about even after just one game

Dimahoo is a cool game, it had the polarity idea long before Ikaruga. You can swap between Fire and Ice weapons, which do extra damage to enemies of the opposite type and destroy the bullets of enemies of the matching type. Quite an over-the-top style announcer, brash and obnoxious.

It's WAY different from Garegga/Bakraid/Batrider, so check it out even if you don't like those games.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:29 pm

Oh yeah, I've got a Dreamcast and every shmup for it (besides Border Down). I've got just about every major video game system ever made (over 50 now) so if there's a cheaper home port, I probably either already have it or can get it if I want to.

Excellentcom, who I've had great dealings with before, sells a few CPS2 shmups. Here's their price list...

1944: $77
19XX: $128
Dimahoo: $95

Are these reasonable prices? They're located in Hong Kong, so they're probably Asian boards I can't use. But maybe they're Japanese. I'll send them an e-mail and find out.

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:47 pm

Blue Lander wrote:Oh yeah, I've got a Dreamcast and every shmup for it (besides Border Down). I've got just about every major video game system ever made (over 50 now) so if there's a cheaper home port, I probably either already have it or can get it if I want to.

Excellentcom, who I've had great dealings with before, sells a few CPS2 shmups. Here's their price list...

1944: $77
19XX: $128
Dimahoo: $95

Are these reasonable prices? They're located in Hong Kong, so they're probably Asian boards I can't use. But maybe they're Japanese. I'll send them an e-mail and find out.

Actually, chances are that they're using Japanese Green boards. Just ask what colour the B boards are.

Coinopexpress are based out of Hong Kong, and they predominantly sell all Japanese boards.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:58 pm

dboeren wrote:19XX is better than 1944 I think.

You think? I know.

Congrats on that deal...dang, don't know whether to vengefully come after you or BIG first, after that PS2 bundle he scored...

...er, just ignore that.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 8:34 pm

Thanks

This is almost as good as the time I bought a "broken" Neo Geo MVS for 8 bucks, and the only thing wrong with it was that dipswitches were left in pause mode. With the flip of a switch, it worked perfectly.

I guess it does even out the times where I bought broken stuff that actually turned out to be broken, though.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:01 pm

Dimahoo is an awesome game with a ton of replay value.

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:48 pm

Excellentcom, who I've had great dealings with before, sells a few CPS2 shmups. Here's their price list...
1944: $77
19XX: $128
Dimahoo: $95
Are these reasonable prices?

yep, I´d say average. 1944 is unusually cheap, but not as desirable, so that is probably reflected in price. What you need to remember when buying CPS2 from overseas is shipping costs, that can get pretty expensive. If the Excellentcom boards happen to be grey: Coinopexpress has them for similar prices, and an A+B board combo costs almost the same as a single B board.
btw. a Dreamcast with Giga Wing AND Mars Matrix is still way cheaper than just one of them as CPS2. It also takes up less space. I bought Giga Wing for CPS2, but it isn´t exactly a reasonable thing to do.

Rastan78 · Post by **Rastan78** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:14 pm

I got Dimahoo from excellentcom. It was the green JPN board (the one I requested) with A+B combined for the price of $95. I received the board in a matter of ony a few days and got excellent service. The only downer was the cost of shipping a massive CPS2 board from Hong Kong to California.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:05 pm

Dimahoo seems like a good deal for a good game. The only problem is that my arcade cab has a horizontal monitor and I can't rotate it. I do have a little tate-able RGB monitor I can use it with, but I'd rather get something I can play on a hori monitor. Looks like that limits me to 1944, Mars Matrix, and Progear.

Is there anything really wrong with 1944? or is it just not as good as 19xx? Would I just be wasting my money if I bought it?

raiden wrote: What you need to remember when buying CPS2 from overseas is shipping costs, that can get pretty expensive. If the Excellentcom boards happen to be grey: Coinopexpress has them for similar prices, and an A+B board combo costs almost the same as a single B board.
btw. a Dreamcast with Giga Wing AND Mars Matrix is still way cheaper than just one of them as CPS2. It also takes up less space. I bought Giga Wing for CPS2, but it isn´t exactly a reasonable thing to do.

Coinopexpress ships from HK too, right? Plus they have a 200 dollar minimum.

tehkao · Post by **tehkao** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:54 pm

I have a 19XX board that I would be willing to part with for a fair price....

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 1:07 am

Hmm, I think I'll take you up on that once I have some more money. Unless you'd be willing to trade for a Neo Geo MVS and a game or two?

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 4:27 am

I can't believe nobody mentioned Eco Fighter. Awesome old school horiz shmup

Frogacuda · Post by **Frogacuda** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 4:44 pm

I don't like the arcade version of Mars Matrix. I find it near impossible to play well with its one-button control scheme.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 4:58 pm

I can't believe nobody mentioned Eco Fighter.

I can

Just go with Progear. Expensive, but it's excellent. Mars Matrix wouldn't be a bad purchase, but the dc version is better.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:09 pm

So the CPS-2 version of Mars Matrix is actually worse? Well, screw that.

Eco Fighter looks interesting, but it doesn't seem to have much of a fan base. I haven't seen it for sale anywhere, I wonder what it costs.

Just go with Progear. Expensive, but it's excellent.

Yeah, better to buy one good expensive game than a bunch of mediocre cheap ones.

black mariah · Post by **black mariah** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 9:25 pm

Blue Lander wrote:So the CPS-2 version of Mars Matrix is actually worse? Well, screw that.

Not worse, just not as featureful. It's that way with most arcade translations nowdays.

BIG · Post by **BIG** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 9:43 pm

My favs:

Pro-Gear
19XX
Mars Matrix
Dimahoo
Giga Wing

BIG-

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:17 am

Not worse, just not as featureful.

I disagree...DC version has better music, which I'd take over the better graphics from the arcade. The big thing though is the control which sucks in the arcade since you can only use the one button for everything.

The features are actually worthwhile too...sound test, arrange mode (whole nother game basically), photo gallery with some good shit. Stage selects, replays. Everything you could possibly ask for in a home conversion...

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:22 am

Yeah, better to buy one good expensive game than a bunch of mediocre cheap ones.

except Dimahoo isn´t mediocre at all. But between Progear, 1944 and Eco Fighters, Progear obviously wins.

black mariah · Post by **black mariah** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:19 am

Neon wrote:
Not worse, just not as featureful.
I disagree...DC version has better music, which I'd take over the better graphics from the arcade. The big thing though is the control which sucks in the arcade since you can only use the one button for everything.

The features are actually worthwhile too...sound test, arrange mode (whole nother game basically), photo gallery with some good shit. Stage selects, replays. Everything you could possibly ask for in a home conversion...

Agreed. That's probably the best example of the correct way to translate an arcade game to home. So much extra shit it's scary. But gameplay-wise the arcade is just as good.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:29 am

Do any of the CPS-2 shmups require the extra 3 buttons, or do they all work with the 3 standard JAMMA ones?

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:29 am

nah, I'd still find it half as good thanks to the one-button scheme...makes it more frustrating for me to control (especially the shotgun) or perhaps i'm to lazy to grow accustomed to it. Either way, DC version is great.

tehkao · Post by **tehkao** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:17 am

Dimahoo is fricking incredible.

NTSC-J · Post by **NTSC-J** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:20 am

Could someone provide a link to excellentcom?