buying first pcb

MattR · Post by **MattR** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:58 am

Hi guys,

I'm going to buy my first PCB shortly. I like both Cave and Raizing games but am not very good yet. I have not played anything new. Just PS2 ports and MAME of course. Not big on the cutesy games.

- Liked PS2 port of Mushihimesama and there are used PCBs floating around.
- Mushihimesama Futari videos look great. Can get a new kit easy.
- Espgaluda 2 got good reviews and the kit is reasonable price. Might be too cutesy.
- PS2 port of DDPDOJ a bit frustrating. Cool spaceships! Used PCB is cheap.
- Ketsui. Good reviews. Looks great. Too hard to find.

Cheers,
Matt

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:05 am

Depends on how much you want to spend really. My fave of the games you listed is definitely Mushihime-sama Futari. I've been playing that almost every week for nearly a year and I'm still addicted. The only shmup I've been more addicted to is Ikaruga.

MattR · Post by **MattR** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:17 am

I am happy to spend about $1000 USD.

I really liked Ikaruga too. - I played it on Dreamcast, but the whole Naomi thing looks too messy (risky!)

Cheers,
Matt

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:25 am

Love it. A guy comes here, puts a post about buying his first PCB and spends what most gamers would budget for 18 months. Thats the world of shmups

To be quite honest, you could get an ESP ra.de, Bakraid, Ibara and maybe one of those games above for $1000 if you bought bare PCB's. If you worried about what you would like/dislike, variety is going to quash any doubts as your bound to like something.

I would buy Futari if you insist on the one PCB purchase.

Radiant · Post by **Radiant** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:34 am

For 1000$ buy a Naomi GD setup with Ikaruga, Under Defeat, shiki 2, etc... you will get much more for your money as for 1 cave kit/pcb, and Naomi also has a lot of great and extrem cheap fighting and puzzle games......

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:36 am

Bleh. You can get almost all the Naomi games on the Dreamcast for a fraction of the price. Plus the guy already has Ikaruga.

And anyway, Futari is way better than anything on the Naomi (except Ikaruga of course).

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:37 am

I'm not sure I would spend $1000 on a Naomi set up. Its too much like buying $200 worth of DC gear. Thats just my opinion though.

Cracking games though.

MattR · Post by **MattR** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:54 am

This might sound stupid but my goal for next year is to 1CC a good shmup. So the PS2 and DC are being sold to pay for a decent PCB. Something that isn't emulated or ported, something new(ish). So far it seems like Futari is the go. I wish I could see these things in person rather than videos!

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:57 am

Futari is nice because Original Mode isn't too hard. I think most people can 1CC that if they put some time into it. If you're already pretty good at shmups, you could 1CC it in a couple days.

Maniac mode is harder and will take more time. I've only 1CC'd that a handful of times.

And then there's Ultra mode, which might take you a lifetime to 1CC.

overkill55 · Post by **overkill55** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:06 am

Hey there, If you are able to spend $1000 or so, I would suggest Ibara Kuro Black Label, as it is a very nice mix of the Cave and Raizing styles.

It may be worth checking out some gameplay videos of it

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:30 am

if you have the cash id say mushi futari aswell, awesome game and very accessible even to a shmup beginner.

if you dont want to spend as much tho and you already dig the PS2 port the first mushi is a great way to start a PCB collection, the PCB and PS2 release are worlds apart with the PCB on top

you say you like raizing aswell so definetly concider a Batrider PCB, they can be found for a mere ~$100 without much hassle, one of the best games ever made.

buying a naomi setup for a first PCB is terrible advice imo, expensive and can be quite complicated to get running for a beginner, also requires a high-res screen.
besides $1000 wont buy all those games mentioned, maybe one or two (plus the rig) depending on which you choose.

Radiant · Post by **Radiant** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 9:05 am

If you have the right cab (Naomi, AW, Blast....) Naomi is only plug and play, if not forget it

Naomi setups can be found very very cheap
compl. naomi GD 1 +io +shiki 2 ~500$
Ikaruga = ~150$
UD can be found for ~ 3-400$ (IIRC tops sold new kits +poster for ~450$, but i'm not sur if they still have some left)
but yes.... maybe naomi is not the best system to beginn, but it is a great system, and playing UD or Ikaruga on a high res cab is f**** amazing

no question, futari is a great game but i would wait some time, maybe the price comes down a bit because of the BL release

MattR · Post by **MattR** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:40 pm

My Astro City cabinet is has a 29" Nanao which is only 15/24khz and I don't think the power supply is suits Naomi either.

sven666 wrote:if you have the cash id say mushi futari aswell, awesome game and very accessible even to a shmup beginner.

If you dont want to spend as much tho and you already dig the PS2 port the first mushi is a great way to start a PCB collection, the PCB and PS2 release are worlds apart with the PCB on top

Mushihimesama is about half the cost of a new Futari kit so that is something to consider. After you play Futari is there much left to play in the first?

Cheers,
Matt

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:45 pm

MattR wrote:
Mushihimesama is about half the cost of a new Futari kit so that is something to consider. After you play Futari is there much left to play in the first?

Cheers,
Matt

definetly, two very different games gameplay wise, the original mushihimesamas scoring system (love it or hate it) is pretty much uniqe in the world of shmups, i for one will never tire (or master

) of it.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:12 pm

Get either Mushihime-sama Futari or Galuda 2. I would recommend Galuda 2, unless you know exactly what mode you want to play in the case of Futari. It's got great replay value, but might prevent you from delving into something else if you want to get really good scores in Original and Maniac. Galuda 2: 1 mode, challenging, and great replay value.

Ketsui is great, but it's one of those games you play for years, not weeks.

icycalm · Post by **icycalm** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:34 pm

What about Puchi-hime Pork? How much is that these days? You say you like both Raizing and Cave, so it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Gwyrgyn Blood · Post by **Gwyrgyn Blood** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:27 pm

MattR wrote: - Espgaluda 2 got good reviews and the kit is reasonable price. Might be too cutesy.

Galuda 2 isn't really cutesy, I'd say Mushihime is a little more cutesy overall.

Galuda 2: 1 mode, challenging, and great replay value.

Downsides to this is that the game is difficult and long, and if you aren't that great you'll have a really hard time with it. It's not really beginner friendly either. The scoring system isn't super anal, but it's complicated, and a lot of things have to come together to get decent points.

It is a really good game though, but if you aren't very good, you will have much pain and suffering with it.

Ayanami · Post by **Ayanami** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:42 pm

I highly recomend Ketsui if you are willing to spend the money.

Jonny · Post by **Jonny** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:45 pm

neorichieb1971 wrote:To be quite honest, you could get an ESP ra.de, Bakraid, Ibara and maybe one of those games above for $1000 if you bought bare PCB's. If you worried about what you would like/dislike, variety is going to quash any doubts as your bound to like something.

i think this is a good suggestion too and possibly worth looking into more. consider ESPGaluda1, Ibara, ESPra.de., batrider (for sure), donpachi or ddp as well. you can get a multitude of these games for a grand and all are awsome games. i don't think the galudas are "cutesy" really. they are definetly bitchin games though.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:43 pm

icycalm wrote:What about Puchi-hime Pork? How much is that these days? You say you like both Raizing and Cave, so it wouldn't be a bad idea.

close to $1000 nowadays.

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:43 pm

yojo! wrote:
icycalm wrote:What about Puchi-hime Pork? How much is that these days? You say you like both Raizing and Cave, so it wouldn't be a bad idea.
close to $1000 nowadays.

Not that cheap. It's $1280 at Excellent and 140,000 yen at Fujita.

Battlesmurf · Post by **Battlesmurf** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:31 pm

I see alot of people reccomend Ibara Black label......I for one can't reccomend it enough (I love the one I am keeping). I also can't reccomend the "buy several for the price of one"- you'll have alot to keep you busy in say- Batrider, DDP, DOJ, Espgaluda, Etc.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:40 pm

Battlesmurf wrote:I see alot of people reccomend Ibara Black label......I for one can't reccomend it enough (I love the one I am keeping). I also can't reccomend the "buy several for the price of one"- you'll have alot to keep you busy in say- Batrider, DDP, DOJ, Espgaluda, Etc.

But you would recommend spending $1000 on a game that you've never played or hardly seen a video of?

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:27 am

neorichieb1971 wrote: But you would recommend spending $1000 on a game that you've never played or hardly seen a video of?

Well, people here have spent $2500 on such games.

MattR · Post by **MattR** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:00 pm

Thanks to everyone for your input. I'm going to buy Mushihimesama. Price seems reasonable and leaves me some money to buy another game next year. Perhaps Futari or Ibara BL. Honestly, after watching videos and reading reviews it is hard to imagine not really liking any one of the games mentioned.

Cheers,
Matt

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:09 pm

MattR wrote:Thanks to everyone for your input. I'm going to buy Mushihimesama. Price seems reasonable and leaves me some money to buy another game next year. Perhaps Futari or Ibara BL. Honestly, after watching videos and reading reviews it is hard to imagine not really liking any one of the games mentioned.

Cheers,
Matt

great choice, i bet the first thing that will strike you when you fire the PCB up for the first time is what a beautiful game it really is, something you just dont see with the PS2 release.

heres a pic to get you going

MattR · Post by **MattR** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:19 pm

That is what really sold me. I actually thought it looked good on PS2. Having never seen the original I don't know any better. Really looking forward to it

Going to be a fun Christmas holiday as my house.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:09 pm

MattR wrote:That is what really sold me. I actually thought it looked good on PS2. Having never seen the original I don't know any better. Really looking forward to it Going to be a fun Christmas holiday as my house.

For MattR,

You will be smitten with just how good the analog RGB signal is coming from the arcade shmup PCB piped into such an arcade RGB monitor...there's no comparision! Super razor-sharp in them details + scanlines are included for that authentic look and feel. And by going with your choice of Sanwa or Seimitsu arcade joysticks and push buttons does make a tactile difference if you're playing casually or for competition...

Trust me, there's no turning back once you've tasted what the world of arcade PCB and Japanese arcade cabinets have to offer... ^_~

By picking up an Raizing/8ing's Armed Police Batrider PCB kit, there's so much shmup content to explore, it will take a while to check it all out + the original arcade paperworks included is a beauty to behold..... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:31 pm

MattR wrote:That is what really sold me. I actually thought it looked good on PS2. Having never seen the original I don't know any better. Really looking forward to it Going to be a fun Christmas holiday as my house.

Just in case you want to know more...

http://www.world-of-arcades.net/Cave/Mu ... mesama.htm

rtw