Iam currently debating on whether or not I should buy both TF Gold Packs for my Saturn library, and get rid of my Megadrive carts. I no longer play my Megadrive anymore, and will probably be selling off my collection real soon.
I'd like to know if there are any major differences between the Gold Packs and the Megadrive carts; graphic-wise, sound-wise and gameplay-wise. And are there any extras included in the packs?
I haven't been able to find any reviews at all on the Gold Packs, so any information on them would be greatly appreciated.
The Saturn controller has a superior d-pad to the genesis controller, so I prefer playing my gold packs. They have neat 3D intros, but the major difference as bulletmagnet said is the elimination of slowdown, especially in Thunder Force IV. Other than that though, they're practically identical. I'd say go for it.
IIRC the music in the Gold Packs are streamed not emulated. This could be a positive/negative depending on how you look at it (redbook soundtrack/music has to load again when it's finished.)
HeWhoGoverns wrote:The Saturn controller has a superior d-pad to the genesis controller
It depends on the controller. One of the 6-button Genesis controllers is very well designed and has a very nice d-pad. From what I heard, it uses a very similar design to the JP Saturn controllers.
JoshF wrote:IIRC the music in the Gold Packs are streamed not emulated. This could be a positive/negative depending on how you look at it (redbook soundtrack/music has to load again when it's finished.)
That's not a problem, though it is all little annoying to hear the music fade away and load up again while you're in the middle of the action.
Does anyone know if you can listen to the BGMs by popping the game discs in a regular CD player, like other Saturn games?
I really don't get why people who own the Gen/MD originals would want to buy this.
Considering both of them cost like $30-$40 and you can get the originals for bones, it just don't make sense.
shinsage wrote:I really don't get why people who own the Gen/MD originals would want to buy this.
Considering both of them cost like $30-$40 and you can get the originals for bones, it just don't make sense.
Well, in my case, I'm going to purchase these Gold Packs because I will be selling all my Megadrive/Genesis stuff real soon, just like stated in the first post. I need the money.
So I got Gold Pack 1 today. TF2 & TF3 seem to be identical to the Megadrive carts, despite the music being a little clearer, in my opinion. And the slowdown is non existent. So I'm happy.
TFGP1 has nothing over the original carts. The Genesis originals didn't have much in the way of slowdown or flicker, so there's no gain there. In fact, while the music is pretty much on the money, the sound effects are noticeably tinnier sounding. Otherwise, the only real difference is that the stars in the ending for TF3 sort of go into the distance a little, instead of straight across the screen.
TFGP2 shares the same sound problem, as the sound effects are rather tinny sounding. The music sounds right, but the effects don't. That's the only downside to this pack, as the rest of points are good ones (no slowdown or flicker in TF4, playing the TF3 ship in TF4, having Thunder Force Arcade on the disc... stuff like that).
So get TFGP2 without a doubt, as it has nice perks. But TFGP1? Skip it unless you're want the complete TF set for the Saturn.
The Coop wrote:
TFGP2 shares the same sound problem, as the sound effects are rather tinny sounding. The music sounds right, but the effects don't. That's the only downside to this pack, as the rest of points are good ones (no slowdown or flicker in TF4, playing the TF3 ship in TF4, having Thunder Force Arcadewithout the slowdown of the SNES Thunder Spirits on the disc... stuff like that).
The Coop wrote:TFGP1 has nothing over the original carts. The Genesis originals didn't have much in the way of slowdown or flicker, so there's no gain there. In fact, while the music is pretty much on the money, the sound effects are noticeably tinnier sounding. Otherwise, the only real difference is that the stars in the ending for TF3 sort of go into the distance a little, instead of straight across the screen.
Yeah? Well, I've owned the TF2 & TF3 carts for years, and Iam more than satisfied with Gold Pack 1. The sound effects aren't as high as they are in the carts, but that's no problem at all for me. The music sounds better than the carts, and the gameplay is perfection. That's all I care about. And as far as bonuses/extras go, nothing so far. But then again, I haven't beaten the games yet. So we'll see.
Love the cool intro though! And there is an extra arranged track in the soundtrack.
I need the money.
