X68000 had the best Strider - Final Fight - Ghouls 'n Ghosts - Street Fighter 2 CE

[parallaxscroll]

This is just a quick little way of honoring the Sharp X68000.

Although only widely available in Japan, unlike the Amiga, PC-Engine/TurboGrafx, Mega-Drive/Genesis, Super Famicom/SNES, MegaCD/SegaCD and NEO-GEO.

For playing arcade games at home, X68000 was the king of 16-bit home gaming, this side of the NEO-GEO. The NEO-GEO was more powerful and it had even more accurate arcade games because the arcade and home versions of NEO-GEO were identical in hardware and software. X68000 hardware and software was not 100% identical to the many arcade games it had, but they were SO much closer than any other home platform. In the case of the games below, 98% to 99.9% identical. Unlike the NEO-GEO, the X68000 had far more software support. While SNK provided most of the games for the NEO-GEO with little 3rd party support, the X68000 had tremendous support for an elite high-end machine.

The X68000 was without question, superior to every other home computer platform of the time, as far raw power and the quality of its versions of popular arcade games. The IBM PC, MAC, Atari ST and even the Amiga machines could not compare. Maybe the only rival was the FM-Towns, but that was in a different class, FM-Towns was a 32-bit machine, and although FM-Towns was technically more powerful than the X68000, FM-Towns was rarely pushed as hard, the X68000 seems to have had far more quality software.

Maybe later I will do another thread on the Sega, Konami and other arcade games that came to X68000 (or maybe I'll include them in this thread later).

I just wanted to get this posted.

I am not reviewing the following Capcom games here , just showing off the box art/ covers/ posters with a quick note about each game.


X68000 Strider - The definitive home version of the time - Vastly superior to Mega-Drive/Genesis, Turbo Duo/Arcade Card CD and any possible mythical SuperGrafx version (if it existed). There's some slowdown and maybe even some flicker but otherwise the arcade game comes home and rivals the 43 meg arcade game, something that the very good yet comparatively weak 8 meg Sega version cannot do.

http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/x68k_gspos93.jpg
http://www.jcec.co.uk/X68photos/DSCF0008.jpg
http://www.jcec.co.uk/X68photos/DSCF0009.jpg


X68000 Final Fight - a nearly arcade-exact port. Only fewer thugs on-screen at once (4-5) compared to the arcade (7-8) but otherwise pixel-for-pixel.

Superior arcade experience every way to the SFC/SNES FF, SFC FF Guy, MegaCD/SegaCD FFCD and GBA FF One. Sure the MegaCD/SegaCD version had a better, much more animated intro sequence and better music, but the arcade version didn't have these things either. The X68000 FF was much more accurate to the arcade than the Sega version.

http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/x68k_spph26.jpg


Ghouls 'n Ghosts - The definitive arcade port. Vastly superior to Mega-Drive/Genesis and SuperGrafx renditions and even slightly more accurate than Saturn, PS1, PS2, Xbox versions. Unlike Strider and Final Fight which have minor issues, this one is absolutely flawless in every way.

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/9552/gngx68000frontpw8.jpg
http://www.illusionware.it/x68000/gng-x68-back.jpg
http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/x68k_gspos75.jpg

Street Fighter II Dash (Champion Edition). Very much equal to the arcade from what I can tell. Vastly, VASTLY superior to SNES SF2 World Warrior, SF2 Turbo, PC-Engine CE and Mega-Drive Genesis Special CE. A total masterpiece that was not rivaled until the Saturn and PS1 versions.

http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/x68k_gspos85.jpg
http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/x68k_spph25.jpg



Keep in mind that these X68000 games came out in Japan long before Capcom Classics Collection was out on PS2, Xbox and PSP. Before emulators like MAME, Callus and other CPS emus, and still years before the Capcom Generation series was released on Saturn & PS1.

[Gapporin]

What's that extra dongle for in the Street Fighter pics?

[parallaxscroll]

What's that extra dongle for in the Street Fighter pics?


Most likely for one of more SF-friendly control pads or arcade sticks

[j_factor]

How much more powerful is the X68000, really, compared to the Amiga and ST? I mean, its CPU is 2 MHz faster... and?

Also, I was struck by the fact that every game you mentioned is a CPS1 port.

[Kid Fenris]

Maybe later I will do another thread on the Sega, Konami and other arcade games that came to X68000 (or maybe I'll include them in this thread later).


That'd be great, but I'd also really like to hear about original X68000 titles; the ones that weren't available in the arcade or on consoles. Everyone talks about the amazing ports for this thing, but it's far more rare to hear about X68000 exclusives.

[Xexyz]

I like the Shock box-esque packaging the games came in but yikes! I didn't know the games were written onto those old floppy disks...

Would have been nice if it was a cart based computer like the MSX.

[parallaxscroll]

How much more powerful is the X68000, really, compared to the Amiga and ST? I mean, its CPU is 2 MHz faster... and?

Also, I was struck by the fact that every game you mentioned is a CPS1 port.


You are completely forgetting that the most important aspect of X68000, and any of the 68000-based home or arcade machines, are the custom graphics & audio chips. That's what really makes the difference.

Example: Why do you think the 68000-based CPS1 is so much more powerful than the 68000-based Atari ST or Mac? CPU MHz difference? No. The main difference is in their custom graphics & audio chips.

The sprite and background layer handling, colors, other graphic features, sound capabilities, and all that stuff is dependant on the custom chips for the most part, not the 68000 CPU.


The MHz difference of the 68000 CPU is just a small part of the story in any of these systems.

The original Amiga had its famous 'Agnus' chip which contained the famous copper and blitter processors. Plus 'Denise' and 'Paula'.

One of the key custom chips of X68K's chipset is 'Cynthia'. This is I believe is the main graphic/sprite processor. 'Cynthia' works very differently than Amiga's chips , much more like the chips in CPS1 and other similar arcade boards.


The custom chipset in X68K is almost on par with the CPS1's custom chipset. X68K is certainly on par with Sega's standard System 16 board that powered Fantasy Zone, Alien Syndrome and Cotton (all ported to X68k). There's no doubt X68k could've handled Shinobi, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, ESWAT, etc too, even though those games never appeared. That said, X68K is not as powerful Sega's multi-CPU Super-Scaler boards, that powered Space Harrier, After Burner, Thunder Blade, Super Hang-On, etc. (X68K did recieve downgraded versions of those games) Of course, as I explained, X68K's custom chipset is significantly more powerful than the custom chips in Atari ST, Amiga and Genesis.

[parallaxscroll]

That'd be great, but I'd also really like to hear about original X68000 titles; the ones that weren't available in the arcade or on consoles. Everyone talks about the amazing ports for this thing, but it's far more rare to hear about X68000 exclusives.

You know, you're right. I should do something like that.

Nemesis '90, while not amazing, is pretty damn good, and it hasn't been brought over to any modern machines, like the once-exclusive X68K Castlevania was brought over to PS1.

[Borman]

Lagoon was quite cool on the x68000, made before the SNES verison and stuff
http://secretplace.freehostia.com/sharplagoon.php

[parallaxscroll]

A quick look at one specific part in Final Fight, across all major versions of the game, the wood railing leading to the basement in lv1.

SFC/SNES vs Arcade
http://finalfight.classicgaming.gamespy.com/FFsnesarcade4.PNG
the wood railing is totally missing in Nintendo's ver

GBA Final Fight One
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/screenshots/gba/ff/finalfightone_screen001.jpg
basicly same as SFC/SNES, not there, thus no Nintendo version has the railing.

MegaCD/SegaCD vs Arcade
http://finalfight.classicgaming.gamespy.com/FFsegacomparison5.PNG
wood railing is present in Sega FFCD, in reduced color. Yet also what many people didn't realize, it's reduced in *detail* too, not just less color. Look closely, the railing is much simpler.

X68000
http://www.imagepup.com/up/f18T_1207458127_FFX68k1.jpg
Now notice the X68K version has arcade level of color & detail.

Arcade vs X68000
http://nfggames.com/games/x68k_gallery/final4.png


This one example of reduced detail (as well as color) in the backgrounds is repeated everywhere in just about everything in the highly-thought-of MegaCD/SegaCD ver. The X68K has everything in pixel for pixel arcade-quality detail.

[gonzo90017]

Great thread. I would also love to see some more screenshots and games. I'm very interested in the Castlevania game.

[parallaxscroll]

Great thread. I would also love to see some more screenshots and games. I'm very interested in the Castlevania game.

This should keep you busy for a while http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/menu.html

many scans of X68000 stuff. magazines, box art/screenshots.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

A quick look at one specific part in Final Fight, across all major versions of the game, the wood railing leading to the basement in lv1.

SFC/SNES vs Arcade
http://finalfight.classicgaming.gamespy.com/FFsnesarcade4.PNG
the wood railing is totally missing in Nintendo's ver

GBA Final Fight One
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/screenshots/gba/ff/finalfightone_screen001.jpg
basicly same as SFC/SNES, not there, thus no Nintendo version has the railing.

MegaCD/SegaCD vs Arcade
http://finalfight.classicgaming.gamespy.com/FFsegacomparison5.PNG
wood railing is present in Sega FFCD, in reduced color. Yet also what many people didn't realize, it's reduced in *detail* too, not just less color.


Arcade vs X68000
http://nfggames.com/games/x68k_gallery/final4.png
Yeah this screen is from the back end of above the basement just before the boss, but wood railing is the same and it's there on the front end too. Now notice the X68K version has the same level of color & detail.

This example of reduced detail (as well as color) in the backgrounds is repeated everywhere in the highly-thought-of Sega FFCD. X68K had everything pixel for pixel.

What few people realize is that the X6800 had some SERIOUS wood-grain rendering power!

In fact - I'm pretty sure that the slogan Sharp used for the system was "The X68000 will give you WOOD!"

AMIRIGHT??

[Jorpho]

I hear the X68k version of River City Ransom is supposed to be very nice as well - complete with branching paths.

By the way, are those twin Lucifers in the Ghouls 'n Ghosts screenshot up there in the other versions of the game?


I'm very interested in the Castlevania game.

Is it really supposed to be so different from PSX Castlevania Chronicles?

[parallaxscroll]

Is it really supposed to be so different from PSX Castlevania Chronicles?

I haven't played the PS1 version but from what I recall reading about it, it's just slightly remixed, maybe touched up a bit, but it's basicly the 16-bit X68000 version.

[parallaxscroll]

What few people realize is that the X6800 had some SERIOUS wood-grain rendering power!

In fact - I'm pretty sure that the slogan Sharp used for the system was "The X68000 will give you WOOD!"

AMIRIGHT??

YOU-R-RITE! ^__^ AWEZOME!

[Adol]

You know, you're right. I should do something like that.

Nemesis '90, while not amazing, is pretty damn good, and it hasn't been brought over to any modern machines, like the once-exclusive X68K Castlevania was brought over to PS1.

Nemesis'90 Kai is cool,but is not exclusive, in the sense that it is a Gradius 2 MSX remake.

[ccovell]

Could you explain what features the X68000 graphics chipset has? AFAIK, the CPS1 never had line drawing functions or blitter operations like the Amiga's had. The CPS was also exclusively tile-based, not bitmap like the Amiga. So exactly what is superior? (All I can imagine is the X68000's sprite-pushing capabilities).

On another note: Yikes!! Look at the prices of those games! $100 or more per game... :|

[GaijinPunch]

How many of those games are displayed in 240p? A huge flaw with the x68000 (and the Marty) is (from what I hear) that a large number of games run in 480i, instead of their native 240p (as found on their hardware, such as all the above CPS1 games). I find this horribly gay, since out of the box the monitors support 15/22/31khz, no?

[blue lander]

I've got maybe 10-15 X68000 games, and most of them default to 31khz. A few give you the option to do 15khz, but most don't as far as I can tell.

[Cryomancer]

That'd be great, but I'd also really like to hear about original X68000 titles; the ones that weren't available in the arcade or on consoles. Everyone talks about the amazing ports for this thing, but it's far more rare to hear about X68000 exclusives.

Agreed. What I've played around with in the emulator was neat, but some direction to good titles would be nice too.

[norkusa]

I downloaded a big torrent of X68000 disk images recently. Haven't played any yet but noticed a game in there called "Prostitute Maker". Can't be a bad system if it has titles like that in it's library.

[roushimsx]

I haven't played the PS1 version but from what I recall reading about it, it's just slightly remixed, maybe touched up a bit, but it's basicly the 16-bit X68000 version.

The PS1 version has the original X68k version and a remixed mode with a few changed sprites and more forgiving difficulty. There's a nice little interview on there as well that's worth a watch or three. Awesome budget release that never got any traction back when it came out because the only people that knew it wasn't a new/original title were people that were either into overpriced niche japanese computers, emulation, and The Castlevania Dungeon (http://castlevania.classicgaming.gamespy.com/).

[parallaxscroll]

I hear the X68k version of River City Ransom is supposed to be very nice as well - complete with branching paths.


Cool, I haven't played it. something for me to check out.



By the way, are those twin Lucifers in the Ghouls 'n Ghosts screenshot up there in the other versions of the game?




Yes the twin Lucifers are in every major version (arc, md/gen, sgx, ) of Daimakaimura/Ghouls 'n Ghosts.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT7v2pRz46g here they are in this vid of the arcade ver @ 6:24

[parallaxscroll]

Could you explain what features the X68000 graphics chipset has? AFAIK, the CPS1 never had line drawing functions or blitter operations like the Amiga's had. The CPS was also exclusively tile-based, not bitmap like the Amiga. So exactly what is superior? (All I can imagine is the X68000's sprite-pushing capabilities).

On another note: Yikes!! Look at the prices of those games! $100 or more per game... :|


I cannot really explain the features of X68K graphics in any detail, I simply don't understand these technologies well enough to do so. All I know is what we already know vaguely enough, that X68K has much more in common with CPS-1 and Sega's System 16 (all are tile-based i believe) than stuff like Amiga.

This site (you may have seen this) has lots of technical info on X68K http://nfggames.com/games/x68k/ Though not as much information on how X68K works as I'd like.


I've also read that Capcom supposedly used the X68K to develop CPS-1 games on. That X68K was a CPS-1 (and even CPS-2) workstation. Now before I show you exactly what I read (below), I must say even with my limited understanding of things, I have a problem with this, because CPS-1 capabilities AFAIK go beyond X68K (much like CPS-1 goes beyond System 16) as far as some of the basics

background layers 2 vs 3
colors on screen 256 vs 2048
sprites/objects 128 vs 256

There are probaby many other differences between X68K and CPS-1. Not only that, there have to be many things I just don't understand about how graphics & programming in general work.

Now since X68K arrived shortly before CPS-1 perhaps Capcom used X68K as some sort of springboard in development. I really don't know.


Okay here is what I read regarding X68K used as CPS-1/2 development


http://forums.shoryuken.com/showpost.php?p=3102801&postcount=1606



Another reason the x68000 is important to SF fans is that it was the Development machine that Capcom used to program all the CPS1 and CPS2 games!! More info here: http://eab.abime.net/printthread.php?t=16778&page=2&pp=40

"X68k were just more than conversion or ports, it's the machines capcom developpers used to create the games we love....."

Crayfish.


http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=181255&postcount=26


the CPS 1 and 2 arcade PCB SDK was created on the X68000 for those who didn't know that. That's why the games are pixel perfect..... They just have to adapt the code a bit to remove the coin/dipswitches part and here we go.

The CPS1 / 2 were only "console stand-alone port of X680X0 machines"



http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=181264&postcount=28


As i said all the cps1 and 2 games were programmed on X68k.



http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=181270&postcount=30


Yep but i'm not the only one to know that and most of all Hiroaki Hondo one of the CPS2 engineers was doing his stuff on X68k.




"don't forget there are many X68k all around Japan" (copyright capcom 1987) so yes document yourself about CPS SDK you'll find it was running on X680X0

X68k were just more than conversion or ports, it's the machines capcom developpers used to create the games we love.....

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=210108&postcount=64


In fact i as have stated earlier, The X680X0 was the CPS2 workstation.

CPS1 and CPS2 are hardware board "console" derivated versions of the X680X0

CPS1 and CPS2 games were software created on X680x0.


I guess it could easily be that CPS-1 and CPS-2 are upgraded derivatives of X680X0 with the capcom boards having more background/sprite/color/etc capabilities... Why didn't I realize that? Maybe like how the SuperGrafx is an upgraded PC-Engine. That makes the most sense to me....

Although I posted alot of stuff, it's all based on what others know, so it's really tough for me to be "a source of info" because I am not. I just relay things I find, and give my own thoughts.

[rbudrick]

Wow, it'd be awesome to see some comparison shots of other games. Cool thread. I've always wanted an X68k system, but they are just too damn expensive and difficult to source.

-Rob

[parallaxscroll]

Wow, it'd be awesome to see some comparison shots of other games. Cool thread. I've always wanted an X68k system, but they are just too damn expensive and difficult to source.

-Rob



Okay here's one of my favorite comparisons, a part of level 2-1 in
Daimakaimura/Ghouls 'n Ghosts:

Arcade CPS1 - 1988 - 32 meg
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9718/arcadegng1as9.jpg

Mega Drive / Genesis - 1989 - 5 meg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/228/genesisghouls1ew6.jpg

PC-Engine 2 / Super Grafx - 1990 - 8 meg
http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/8154/supergrafxghoulsnghostsyl7.png

X68000 - 1994 - 32 meg

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7868/x68000gng1ey5.jpg

Notice X68000 is the only one here that has the detail & color of the arcade.

GBA Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts R (not in SNES SGnG) - the most similar spot http://www.imagepup.com/up/1j25_1207713243_SGnGrGBA.jpg


To be fair, it would certainly have been possible with more time, development/programming effort, larger ROM cart/card for closer translations to have been done for both MD/Gen and Super Grafx. The versions that were released on MD/Gen and SGX were both first-generation games in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Hypothetical, better-designed versions on MD/Gen and Super Grafx would still not match the Arcade & X68000 versions, but the gap could've been closed considerably if the effort had been made.

[Rob2600]

Okay here's one of my favorite comparisons, a part of level 2-1 in
Daimakaimura/Ghouls 'n Ghosts:

What about a comparison to the SNES version? I haven't played it in years. Are the levels similar?

[parallaxscroll]

What about a comparison to the SNES version? I haven't played it in years. Are the levels similar?



Not comparable, SNES has Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, a sequel, with totally different levels.

There is however, the GBA remix called Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts R that has a remade rock turtle village level (but no burning Camelot which is level 2-2 in Daimakaimura)) It might be somewhat comparable in places, but i'll have to find the right pic.

Here's one from IGN. It's not the same spot and I forget if the above scene in original was part of the GBA remixed turtle village level.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/superghoulsghosts_e3_16_640w.jpg


Edit: I got the GBA ROM and played the level until I found the spot that is most similar to the spot of the comparison I have of Daimakaimura in the above post.


Edit: What I should do now (but am too lazy ATM), now that I have the GBA ROM of SGnGR, is to find a good spot in rock turtle village that is directly comparable to GnG.

Going by the SNES-level graphics of the GBA game, I'd say SNES would've been capable of a very interesting version of Daimakaimura, had it been attempted, with almost arcade-level color, and just somewhat reduced detail, and better overall than MD/Gen or SGX.

Also, if you haven't seen it, you gotta see the boss fight of this level in
GBA Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts R: http://youtube.com/watch?v=73ZAwd8cDMA It's not in any other version.

[Damaramu]

Wasn't there a big fat thread within the last year or so with someone proclaiming the Super Grafx version of GnG was the best around?

Seem to remember something like that....

[GaijinPunch]

I've got maybe 10-15 X68000 games, and most of them default to 31khz. A few give you the option to do 15khz, but most don't as far as I can tell.

So for those of us that have spent money on a nice low res monitor, the system is a gigantic piece of shit, yeah? So unfortunate for the time, not really necessary now as most of it's arcade library is perfect in MAME. Digimarc AVGA for the win.

I would be interested to know of any X68000 emulation supports AVGA's 15khz modes though.

[parallaxscroll]

Wasn't there a big fat thread within the last year or so with someone proclaiming the Super Grafx version of GnG was the best around?

Seem to remember something like that....

I went through the archives and you're right, there was.


It was in the Ghosts 'N Goblins series tribute thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?p=934573#post934573), a guy called MegaDrive20XX was saying the Super Grafx version was the most arcade perfect, even when he knew of other far-superior versions. He didn't seem to really know what he was talking about.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showpost.php?p=935558&postcount=16




but many fans still say the Super GrafX 16 version is dead on perfect. (I agree)

Yet honestly, I'm still a fan of Capcom Generations Vol. 2 (Saturn/PSX) regardless of the missing sound effects and music in the intro...Just had the colors in the proper place.

Thinking about it however, Super Grafx 16 is the king when it comes to arcade perfection

So in order...

1. Super Grafx 16
2. Capcom Generations Vol. 2
3. Genesis/Megadrive

[Buyatari]

It is also the only version where you give a giant demon king a handjob!

Whats up with that top picture on the left side?

http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/x68k_gspos75.jpg

[parallaxscroll]

It is also the only version where you give a giant demon king a handjob!

Whats up with that top picture on the left side?



LMAO!

[blue lander]

So for those of us that have spent money on a nice low res monitor, the system is a gigantic piece of shit, yeah? So unfortunate for the time, not really necessary now as most of it's arcade library is perfect in MAME. Digimarc AVGA for the win.

As somebody who spent a lot of money on the X68k, I hate to say it but you're right. There's a handful of good "Exclusive" titles like Nemesis 90 or Geograph Seal, but most of the library is just nearly arcade perfect ports of games we can just MAME these days.

If I can give one piece of advice to potential X68000 customers, it's this: Do NOT buy the original grey version X68000 unless it comes with 2 megs of RAM! It costs a lot less than a newer model, but it's virtually impossible to find the memory upgrade to bring it to 2 megs, and most of the interesting games for the system require it.

[DarthKur]

What's that extra dongle for in the Street Fighter pics?


It's an adapter to use a SNES controller.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'd agree with Blue Lander and GaijinPunch, but to this day I still haven't used an actual X68K system, so I should stay quiet for now.

Bloodreign asked about getting that Daimakaimura manual scanned, any other manuals people are dying to see?

[GaijinPunch]

It's worth saying that the Marty has the same fault, which is a shame as it has some good games too. I don't think the Marty even outputs S-Video come to think of it.

[Ed Oscuro]

At least some models do. There also are all-in-one FM Towns models like the UX-20 that probably have much better video on account of the built-in display. It's pretty arbitrary and useless to split the system into "console" and "computer" lines, as Fujitsu no doubt found out.

[Bloodreign]

I'd agree with Blue Lander and GaijinPunch, but to this day I still haven't used an actual X68K system, so I should stay quiet for now.

Bloodreign asked about getting that Daimakaimura manual scanned, any other manuals people are dying to see?

Strider! Other than that that's pretty much all for me manual wise.

[blue lander]

It's worth saying that the Marty has the same fault, which is a shame as it has some good games too. I don't think the Marty even outputs S-Video come to think of it.

I think my Marty has s-video outputs along with Composite. I don't use it that much to be often, to be honest. I've got only got around 10 games for it and they're all pretty good (except for Image Fight, which is virtually unplayable), but most are arcade ports that I can play easier on other consoles.

[blue lander]

It's an adapter to use a SNES controller.

If it's the same one my Street Fighter II has, it's an adapter to let you use Capcom's arcade joystick. It's the same one that works with the home version of the CPS-1. It also lets you use a Genesis joypad.

[NFG]

As somebody who spent a lot of money on the X68k, I hate to say it but you're right. There's a handful of good "Exclusive" titles like Nemesis 90 or Geograph Seal, but most of the library is just nearly arcade perfect ports of games we can just MAME these days.
True, but that's what makes it so great. The handful of original games aren't outstanding, but many times these X68 ports are the definitive versions. CyberCore is better than the PC Engine version, for example, Nemesis '90 is far better than the execrable MSX version, and Thunder Force 2 has <gasp!> recognizable human voices. Granada too is better than the MegaDrive version, with plenty of cut scenes, as seen in the MD manual but not the game itself. It's a piece of history, innit? The early stages of 16 bit gaming is very well represented on the X68000.


If I can give one piece of advice to potential X68000 customers, it's this: Do NOT buy the original grey version X68000 unless it comes with 2 megs of RAM! It costs a lot less than a newer model, but it's virtually impossible to find the memory upgrade to bring it to 2 megs, and most of the interesting games for the system require it.
LOTS of X68k systems have only one meg. In fact, if you check out my page (http://nfggames.com/games/x68k/) (linked a few times already, thanks guys!) you'll find no fewer than SEVEN units with only one meg. RAM boards are dead easy to find, and I can't unload the damned things for more than $25. And, once you get one, you have to navigate the SWITCH.X program to tell the system there's more RAM available, it's not automatic. (My XVI has 14MB, yay!)

Very few games fail to support the low-res 15kHz mode. Even if they boot into VGA (31kHz) you can easily navigate the menus to select the 15kHz mode. Your fancy monitor is not by any means useless. The only game that comes to mind as 31kHz-only is Atomic Robo Kid. Calling it a 'piece of shit' because of your shoddy choice of monitors seems a bit small. ;)

ALL X68 monitors supported at least 15 and 31kHz, so it hardly seems fair to be upset at games that take advantage of these modes. Again, shoulda bought a better monitor.


How many of those games are displayed in 240p? A huge flaw with the x68000 (and the Marty) is (from what I hear) that a large number of games run in 480i, instead of their native 240p (as found on their hardware, such as all the above CPS1 games). I find this horribly gay, since out of the box the monitors support 15/22/31khz, no?

NONE of them run in 480i (also known as interlaced mode, boo to this new-fangled i/p crap!) as far as I know. It's 15kHz or 31kHz, always non-interlaced. Same, in fact, with the FM-Towns. Yes, the Marty plays them interlaced, but that's because it was designed for a TV, not a monitor. In the 90s TVs didn't do 31kHz.

Yes, the Marty has S-video. In fact, composite and S-video are the best you'll get from this system.

And, if I may blow my own sizable horn (http://nfggames.com/grafx/petty.jpg) for just a moment.. =D

[blue lander]

LOTS of X68k systems have only one meg. In fact, if you check out my page (http://nfggames.com/games/x68k/) (linked a few times already, thanks guys!) you'll find no fewer than SEVEN units with only one meg. RAM boards are dead easy to find, and I can't unload the damned things for more than $25. And, once you get one, you have to navigate the SWITCH.X program to tell the system there's more RAM available, it's not automatic. (My XVI has 14MB, yay!)

We already had this conversation on your own message board. The original gray X68000 needs a very specific RAM board that plugs into a proprietary slot to upgrade it to two megabytes and beyond, the cz-6be1. You don't have it in stock, and I've scoured YJ for years looking for one without any luck. You can add as much RAM as you want to it, but without that special board no 2mb+ games will work. I believe the same holds true for other early model X68000's, except that they need the CZ-6be1a which is a little easier to find.

[DarthKur]

And, if I may blow my own sizable horn (http://nfggames.com/grafx/petty.jpg) for just a moment.. =D


Holy hell. You certainly can spare one of those for me right? :p
Seriously, I really want to get an X68000 but at the ridiculous prices they sell for on ebay put them out of my economic reach. What can one be had for there in Japan? Ideally I would want the monitor as well. I know this would make the shipping costs astronomical but worth it to me. Please let me know. The X68K is high on my want/need list.

[Void]

Nice informative article with very nice pictures, thank you.

I stopped in and read this article about a month ago when I first discovered that Xport had made a X68000 emulator for the xbox1. After seeing your comparison shots I quickly tracked down a few excellent x68000 torrents on UG and began testing. Of course emulation isn't 100% so some games don't work but 90+% do so it's been a feast of eyecandy looking at these masterpieces while I'm playing them.

It's been a LONG time since I've stopped and marveled at the quailty of a texture! I mean really, is a texture that big a deal? Yep! It sure is! OMG, this system does the finest textures I've ever seen in a video game. Better than the Arcade imo. And not just one or two games are that good. Every single game I've sat and played is absolutely beautiful. Mind you I'm not playing the japanese dating sims and other stuff I don't understand. Mostly Shoot em ups and fighters with the occasional Puzzle game which they had alot of but some of them have like mini soft porn pics of manga chicks! Which is all good but not so great when your kids love puzzle games. So I haven't added those to the collection.

What really makes me happy is that recently someone figured out how to make shortcuts to the games so that we can play them from the media center without having to load the emulator. So now my xbox is a x68000! =))

Thanks for making this thread, it's one of the best out there regarding the x68000 and where it ranks! AT THE TOP!

[parallaxscroll]

And, if I may blow my own sizable horn (http://nfggames.com/grafx/petty.jpg) for just a moment.. =D


Whoa, I'm beyond envious! That's an awesome pyramid of X68000s!

[acem77]

wow very nice to see such good ports!

[Arasoi]

Just bumping this old thread to let everyone know about a nice original X68000 software called Scorpius:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2mHl9na0VA

It's an interesting horizontal shoot em up with some pretty unique power ups. The ship looks like the old star trek enterprise too.