Truxton and Grindstormer Genny ports.

[Dylan1CC]

I have never played either game and love seeing how 16-bit arcade ports stack up so I figured I'd bid on the Genny revs. Are these the only home ports made? More importantly, obviously the screens are cropped but otherwise are they close to perfect?

[SuperGrafx]

I have never played either game and love seeing how 16-bit arcade ports stack up so I figured I'd bid on the Genny revs. Are these the only home ports made? More importantly, obviously the screens are cropped but otherwise are they close to perfect?

Truxton is far from perfect, just like the Genny conversion of Ghouls N Ghosts. The basic gameplay and patterns are intact, but graphically there's a bit missing.
Same goes for Grindstormer. Still great games either way, just don't expect 100% faithfulness to the arcade versions.

[it290]

Grindstormer is really not even close to the arcade game, but for a Genesis port, it's pretty sweet.

Truxton got a PCE port as well. There was some discussion about it quite recently, but I can't remember which thread it was.

[gameoverDude]

Truxton's normal difficulty is not a match for the arcade version's default. Bumping it up to Hard is the way to go.

[SAM]

Same goes for Grindstormer. Still great games either way, just don't expect 100% faithfulness to the arcade versions.

The Geny Grindstormer is quite good, but it's currently going price is a bit too high compired to the price of the PCB.

I recalled that I bought my V.V PCB for just $70 in an online auction last year.

[raiden]

Grindstormer (the western release cartridge) isn´t expensive, recently got it for less than €10. The jp. cartridge called V-Five is expensive, but no need to get it as both versions of the game are on both cartridges anyway.

[SAM]

Grindstormer (the western release cartridge) isn´t expensive, recently got it for less than €10. The jp. cartridge called V-Five is expensive, but no need to get it as both versions of the game are on both cartridges anyway.

Oh, I see.

I was only looking at the Japanese MD cart, since I own a MD myself.

[CIT]

Whether the Megadrive or the PC-Engine port of Truxton/Tatsujin is better will probably be an eternal issue of debate. PCE definitely wins in terms of graphics and arcade faithfulness, but the Megadrive edges out in sound, playability and value for money. All in all though, neither port is entirely satisfying compared with the arcade.

IMO, Grindstormer/VV on Megadrive is a pretty great port and an infinitely better game than Tatsujin, but as SAM pointed out the cost/benefit ratio is much higher with the PCB.

EDIT: I have a copy of Megadrive Tatsujin for sale btw.

[Dylan1CC]

Great, now I may have to buy PCE Tatsujin too.

Thanks for the info, guys.

[iatneH]

The ROMs for both Tatsujin/Truxton and GrindStormer/V-V are multi-region also.

I installed a region switch in my Genesis this weekend. When I flip it to Japanese mode, Truxton boots up as Tatsujin, GrindStormer boots as V-V (even though V-V was selectable in the US version without hacks)..

A couple of other games I tried also changed, Gaiares intro had Japanese text, stuff like that.

[SuperGrafx]

The ROMs for both Tatsujin/Truxton and GrindStormer/V-V are multi-region also.

I installed a region switch in my Genesis this weekend. When I flip it to Japanese mode, Truxton boots up as Tatsujin, GrindStormer boots as V-V (even though V-V was selectable in the US version without hacks)..

A couple of other games I tried also changed, Gaiares intro had Japanese text, stuff like that.

I think Ghouls N' Ghosts and Revenge of Shinobi work like that too. You could access the JPN region mode back in the day by doing those "cart swap while the system is on" tricks.

[SAM]

IMO, Grindstormer/VV on Megadrive is a pretty great port and an infinitely better game than Tatsujin, but as SAM pointed out the cost/benefit ratio is much higher with the PCB.

Well yes, at such a low price the PCB is perferrable. BUT PCB took a lot of spaces for storage, and more time to in setup before play.

I am running out of spaces , might need to sell some of my PCBs soon...

[BrianC]

The ROMs for both Tatsujin/Truxton and GrindStormer/V-V are multi-region also.

I installed a region switch in my Genesis this weekend. When I flip it to Japanese mode, Truxton boots up as Tatsujin, GrindStormer boots as V-V (even though V-V was selectable in the US version without hacks)..

A couple of other games I tried also changed, Gaiares intro had Japanese text, stuff like that.

Truxton also plays harder in Japanese mode. Normal in JP mode seems more like EN mode's hard and hard is harder than any mode in the EN mode version. Edit: Tried Truxton on my region switched Genny again. Normal mode in the JP Tatsujin version seems to have faster bullets and enemy lasers than hard in the EN Truxton mode.

As for other games with differences, Forgotten Worlds still keeps the same title, but the language changes to Japanese and the difficulty seems to be a bit harder. In many Technosoft games the company name is "Tecno Soft" in JP mode and "Technosoft" in EN mode. Oddly enough, despite lacking region protection, both US and JP versions of Elemental Master only contain one version of the game. The company name doesn't change for those when played in a different region. Herzog Zwei is in English for all versions no matter what the language is set at. It has the "Tecno Soft" to "Technosoft" change, if I remember correctly.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

I have both games for the Genesis. They are both decent shmups but you need to play them for what they are. Don't expect the games to be exactly like the arcade. They will scratch that 90's shmup itch, and for me that is what matters.

[JoshF]

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... t=tatsujin

[BrianC]

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... t=tatsujin

What was the point? The discussion didn't have info on how a Genesis set to the Japanese language or a JP MD with any region Truxton/Tatsujin cart plays a harder version where even normal is harder than the US hard mode. The PCE rev may still be the harder one, but it makes a huge difference.

[JoshF]

I thought someone said there was an older discussion and I found it so I posted it. I get confused with duel-threads.

[BrianC]

I thought someone said there was an older discussion and I found it so I posted it. I get confused with duel-threads.

oh ok. This discussion is also rather old too, though.

I think Ghouls N' Ghosts and Revenge of Shinobi work like that too. You could access the JPN region mode back in the day by doing those "cart swap while the system is on" tricks.

The interesting thing about Ghouls 'N Ghosts is that it's one of the few games that has a code to play the JP version that doesn't require a region switch or cheat device. I'm not sure if it works in reverse when the game is played in JP language mode, though. Edit: It works in reverse and will change Dai Makai-Mura to Ghouls 'N Ghosts when playing on a Genesis in JP mode.

Here's the code, which I got from GameFaqs:

Enter the Options menu. Choose ''26'' for the music and ''56'' for sound selections, then hold Down/Left + A + B + C + Start.

[Ceph]

You don't require a region switch for V-5/Grindstomer either. Just have a look at the options menu.

[BrianC]

You don't require a region switch for V-5/Grindstomer either. Just have a look at the options menu.

Yeah, I didn't mention it because it was already mentioned in the post I quoted, though it didn't mention that both the US Genesis Grindstormer and the JP V-Five for the Megadrive are exactly the same. It's still nice being able to start right on V-Five by setting the Genesis to the JP region, though.

I installed a region switch in my Genesis this weekend. When I flip it to Japanese mode, Truxton boots up as Tatsujin, GrindStormer boots as V-V (even though V-V was selectable in the US version without hacks)

[shinsage]

Bah, I thought Kosh came back..