I just discovered the PC Engine CD

[JBC]

Not literally just discovered. I knew the Turbo-Graphx 16 was a cool system, but it seemed like all of it's best games were cutesy platformers. It didn't occur to me that it's CD add on had so many amazing titles. Sega CD this is not, holy crap it has some amazing games.

SNES and Genesis quality graphics with smoother animation, less flickering, less slowdown, and CD quality audio. In the few games I've played tonight I've seen full screen scaling effects and lots of parallax scrolling. I thought this system was only good for Dracula X and Lords of Thunder... ? I somehow overlooked the 415 other titles.

So far I've tried out:

Buster Bros (loved this game since I was a kid)
Demon's World/Horror Story
Double Dragon II - The Revenge (lol what is up with that stage 1 tune?)
Summer Carnival '91 - Seirei Senshi Spriggan
Summer Carnival '92 - Alzadick
Summer Carnival '93 - Nexzr Special
Syd Mead's Terra Forming (Meh... was drawn in by the name drop)

On a side note, after 7 years of membership on this forum somehow I had no idea there were games other than Recca in Naxat's Summer Carnival series... or that it was a series at all for that matter. And also that Compile had anything to do with it. As a major fan of Super Aleste and Zanac Neo that blows my mind.

I've got a bunch of titles so far but I'd like to know what the Shmups forum's favorite PCE-CD games are. Point me in the right direction.

[CIT]

Here's what you should try in my opinion:

CD-Rom
Alzadick (part of Summer Carnival)
Exile I&II (were localized for US)
Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman 3
L-Dis
Rayxanber II (tough as nails)
Seirei Senshi Spriggan (one of Compile's best)
Valis III & IV (Better than the versions for other systems)
Ys Book I&II (localized for US)
Ys III (localized for US))

Super CD-Rom
Ai Choaniki
Akumajo Dracula X: Chi No Rondo
AnEarth Fantasy Stories (If you're OK with Japanese. It's the best RPG on the system.)
Blood Gear (Great game, but lots of text and Japanese only.)
CD Denjin (not as good as the HuCard)
Choaniki
Dead of the Brain (Japanese text)
Dungeon Explorer II (localized for US)
Fausette Amour (expensive game, but one of the better action platformers for the system)
Forgotten Worlds (great port)
Fray CD
Gain Ground SX (better presentation than the Mega Drive version)
Galaxy Fräulein Yuna 1&2 (great games but Japanese text)
Gate of Thunder
Gradius II: Gofer No Yabou
Image Fight II (PCE exclusive, awesome game)
Kaze Kiri
Legend of Xanadu I & II
Macross 2036
Magicoal
Metamor Jupiter
Nexzr (part of Summer Carnival, one of the best shooters for the system)
Pop'n Magic (very nice single screen platformer like Rodland)
Rayxanber III (crazy level of detail in the graphics and not as hard as the previous two)
Spriggan mk2
Star Parodier
Super Raiden (nice port, I play it for the awesome arranged soundtrack)
Sylphia (Compile)
Tokimeki Memorial (get a save state that will let you play the hidden game Force Gear, a Konami shoot 'em up.)
Valis (nice remake of the original game)
Winds of Thunder
Xak III: The Eternal Recurrence (English patch exists)
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (English patch exists)

Arcade CD-Rom
Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (most impressive graphics on the system
Strider Hiryuu (has an extra stage, worth checking out if you're a big Strider fan)

[xbl0x180]

You don't recommend Cotton for the Super CD?

[CIT]

It's a great game. I guess I didn't recommend it, cuz I was picking titles from my own collection, and I prefer the PS1 version of Cotton.

[shmuppyLove]

Alzadick

wut

But seriously -- as a young 'un, I madly MADLY lusted after the more "exotic" consoles like the Turbo CD and the AES. Pricing on them was well beyond what I could hope to afford at the time, so I made do with SNES and PS1.

Every time I read about the failed SNES CD add-on, I can only imagine what could have been ... as circuitface said, imagine your favourite SNES games but with speech, fully animated cutscenes and CD-quality music.

[louisg]

Check out the Avenger thread on Shmups Chat It's pretty decent and has a good gimmick. There's also a version of the Genesis Wonderboy game for this called The Dynastic Hero. The Genesis one was a really good game, and this version has a great soundtrack and sharper colors. I'm not sure if there's a downside since I'm not too far into it.

There are also quite a few decent arcade ports like Chiki Chiki Boys and Bonanza Bros. I hear good things about Double Dragon 2, but it seems a little sloppy to me (though that might just be because it's Double Dragon). I see you already found Pang And don't forget the Bonks! If you were turned off by Bonk 1, Bonk 2 and 3 are both much better. Especially 2. That's on the 4-in-1 disc alongside Gate of Thunder and Bomberman. Super Air Zonk is also worthy of consideration, as is Splash Lake if you liked Dig Dug 2.

I second the *Thunder games and Nexzr. Those are terrific. But, no love for Valis III? I hear also that Hellfire is a good port, though I haven't played it yet. Forgotten Worlds *is* really good, but it's also just one-player IIRC.

Every time I read about the failed SNES CD add-on, I can only imagine what could have been ... as circuitface said, imagine your favourite SNES games but with speech, fully animated cutscenes and CD-quality music.

I do too, but I think what made the PCE CD so fantastic is that it was made before FMV was a big deal. It had no built-in support for it, so none of that garbage came out for that system. I can't help but think that the SNES CD would've just had loads of FMV games. After all, how do you convince someone to buy an expensive add-on? Show games that look dramatically different from what you could ever do on cart!

[JBC]

Hell yeah, thanks guys! I'll be checking a lot of these out over the next few weeks. I knew about the system's existence, having played Rondo and Lords/Winds of Thunder on a regular basis for the last 10 years. I just didn't realize there were so many other amazing titles for the system, probably due to me living in the United States. Apparently we only got 45 games total.

I see you already found Pang

Seriously one of my favorite games ever since I was a kid. They had a Buster Bros. cab in my local Pizza Hut (the same place I discovered Castlevania) and it seems like I spent every waking moment away from those arcades anticipating the next time my parents would bring me there. I used to take screenshots of the game out of VG&CE magazine and recreate them in magic marker on the side of cardboard boxes, it's part of what led me to become an artist. I really like Super Pang too, but have never devoted much time to the further sequels.

I'm really liking the PCE-CD version so far. It's pretty faithful to the arcade except the controls feel tighter and the music is really nice. I would have KILLED to have it when I was a kid.

[xbl0x180]

The one game I always wanted to play was Snatcher for the Super CD, but I don't understand Japanese.



Besides, I don't know if my TurboDuo still works. Last time I remember having problems with the composite cable connection (the one that went into the console)

[E. Randy Dupre]

MegaCD is the answer to your Snatcher woes.

[JBC]

Seems to be, I looked around for a PCE-CD translation but couldn't find one. There was one project talked about that never got off the ground. It was just a quick search though.

[Specineff]

Psychic Storm.

[Ed Oscuro]

Psychic Storm.

game is too easy (looking at the spine as I type, heh)

Spriggan's caravan mode wasn't too bad though, although the orb system makes things iffy.

[louisg]

Spriggan's caravan mode wasn't too bad though, although the orb system makes things iffy.

Spriggan was good until I discovered two unstoppable powerup combos. Kind of like how MUSHA was good before I figured out that there were options

The stage design in both games is pretty great though, even if the weapon balance is screwed.

[drauch]

The one game I always wanted to play was Snatcher for the Super CD, but I don't understand Japanese.



Besides, I don't know if my TurboDuo still works. Last time I remember having problems with the composite cable connection (the one that went into the console)

Yeah, definitely just play the SegaCD version. Mucho bettero.

[ShmupSamurai]

PC ENGINE/TURBO GRAPHIX 16:

Air Zonk(possibly my fave shmup for the system, a less comical take on the Bonk franshice w/ a big-ass Megaman influance in art design and sound, with fancy parallax to boot.)

W Ring("Double Ring"):The Ring Weapon(Interesting take on Gradius's 'infinte vertical panning' stages with some sick tunes)

The Legendary Axe(the PC-E's answer to Castlevania; You haven't lived until you've made a giant spider spontaniously combust with one full charged whack in the head by a near naked caveman's wimpy looking axe)

Shockman(Fun 2p Megaman clone that pokes fun at henshin hero chiches- I call the chick!)

Bonk III(2p headbashing never gets old, and...it's got CRAB BONK!!...Praise the head!)

Blazing Lazers(Compiles delivers with a great rush of a shmup...I especially dig the bio stage)

Cyber Cross(Single plane beat'em up like Altered Beast with a Henshin Hero that looks like a Sentai/Power Ranger wannabe, very nice 8bit sounding themes-looks and feels like a arcade game made in 1983)

[blackoak]

Good thread. Circuitface, I recommend getting an rgb modded pc engine if you have the chance. There's a seller on ebay who does them (doujindance, I think?) for fairly cheap. Of course, the shipping makes it expensive.

Don't want to derail thread, but, is the Horror Story port arcade perfect? I know that vertical shmups essentially suck on the MD and PCE because of the non-tate aspect ratio issues, but the hori 4:3 stuff should be perfect, right? I've been wondering the same thing about Ninja Spirit...

[BIL]

Ninja Spirit (HuCard only) is far from arcade perfect, but it's still a very decent rendition of the coin-op's gameplay. It has both a PCE mode with hitpoints and an arcade mode with the usual one-hit deaths, which can be nearly as hard as the coin-op. The biggest casualty is probably the soundtrack, which is a weedy echo of the pounding, sinister arcade OST.

If there's one MD port of a TATE coinop I recommend it's Same! Same! Same! aka Fire Shark. Toaplan formatted and rebalanced it for yoko pretty nicely. Obviously not arcade perfect but still quality 16-bit shooting (put it on Hard immediately, though). Awesome boxart (JP) too. That's one grizzled Mifune-lookin' motherfucker.

[Obiwanshinobi]

One MD port of a vert where the graphics got buthered (and I mean BUTCHERED), but the sound is still mighty impressive and the controls (if the MAME vs Kega Fusion comparison is anything to judge by) got actually tihghtened up a bit is Task Force Harrier. Unfortunately the graphics are such a big part of the equation that I'd have a hard time recommending the console port to anybody but a person interested in remarkable Mega Drive soundtracks. Unlike Chelnov, where both versions are quite essential.

[JBC]

Don't want to derail thread, but, is the Horror Story port arcade perfect?

You are correct, the aspect ratio isn't a problem at all. I wouldn't call Horror Story on PCE-CD 'arcade perfect' as much as I would call it a faithful reproduction. It definitely stays true to the arcade original but seems to be rebuilt from the ground up. If you were to play the two back to back you would spot some immediate differences in the platform and enemy patterns, plus the obvious new sprites. I'm used to playing the Demon's World version myself, where you start off in the Western themed town, but switched over just to make the comparison. It's also nice that they kept the songs from the arcade, but remade them to take advantage of the system's CD audio. I haven't played far into it yet but from what I can tell it's a bit harder and of pretty nice quality.

[xbl0x180]

I still have a Ranma 1/2 game for the Super CD. It's crappy, but still somewhat fun after almost 20 years

[Specineff]

Is that the one that features all the characters singing in the end? (I think the song is called "Akane No inosuke")

[xbl0x180]

No. I don't think this is the one, but I haven't played it in a few years. This one has a few rounds with The Gambler at the end and it took forever to beat that since he has a poker face in some rounds

[Bloodreign]

All them recommendations, and not one for Super Darius, or Super Raiden, for shame.

Some folks might not like the first Darius because of it's drab backgrounds, this one takes the 3 screen down to just 1, keeps the original arcade tunes, and feels like it never lets up.

Super Raiden got a remixed soundtrack, but is supposed to have a couple more stages than the arcade version.

Rainbow Islands, original arcade tunes, best port of Rainbow Islands of it's time (unless one counts the Extra version on the FM Towns). Colors are nice, and the sprites are big and chunky, just like the arcade. Also comes with an extra bit to the ending complete with J-Pop song called Fly Away (songs not bad at all either).

Edit: Looks like CIT mentioned Super Raiden, good call.

[shmuppyLove]

Wow, I remember the hardware being a bit complicated, but reading through the Wikipedia article makes my brain hurt:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pc_engine#Variations

I like how the section starts, "Several variations on the TurboGrafx were released throughout the 1990s."

Moar like several DOZEN, AMIRITE?

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Some folks might not like the first Darius because of it's drab backgrounds, this one takes the 3 screen down to just 1, keeps the original arcade tunes, and feels like it never lets up.

You know what's funny? in spite of all the copypasta you'd expect from an old school arcade game, the original Darius actually has the least amount of duplicate levels. Though the PCE-CD version has all the bosses that were originally planned, the levels don't quite work as well as they did on the 3 screens.

[CIT]

Wow, I remember the hardware being a bit complicated, but reading through the Wikipedia article makes my brain hurt:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pc_engine#Variations

I like how the section starts, "Several variations on the TurboGrafx were released throughout the 1990s."

Moar like several DOZEN, AMIRITE?

It's really not that complicated. Just remember that with a Duo, Duo-R or Duo-RX and the Arcade Card Duo you will be able to play 98% of the library. You'll only need extra hardware for SuperGrafx and Super-LD games.

[xbl0x180]

And make sure to get a Japanese Duo because, while the CD and Super CD games are region-free, the Hu-Cards need a converter (including the Arcade Card)

[cj iwakura]

I still have a Ranma 1/2 game for the Super CD. It's crappy, but still somewhat fun after almost 20 years

I see MaSaYa. Is it a Langrisser like!?
(Yeah right.)

[louisg]

If we're going to start listing off good Hu-Card games too, this will never end! That system has an incredible library.

But yeah-- get a Duo-R if you want to be able to play most stuff. TBQH *most* of the good games are on cards, but you'll miss out on a few really exceptional ones by not having a CD drive.

[xbl0x180]

It's a fighting game. There was another Ranma 1/2 game I used to play, which was a beat-'em-up