Essential/Underated PC Engine Games

[MacNes]

I just got myself a PC Engine Duo RX and Dracula X this weekend and I must say I am pretty psyched about the coming days of playing that specific game. But out of everyones experience here, what are the essential games besides Castlevania I need to play. I never grew up with the PC engine so I am pretty excited to discover those hidden gems that never really made a big impact as well as the consoles flagship titles. I know there are a bunch of great shooters and I am aware of a couple (Blazing Lasers, R-Type), but other than that I'm left to explore a brand new library - pretty cool.

Let me know what games you guys think I need to play.

Thanks.

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

My suggestion to you is this:

Download the Magic Engine emmulator, and start downloading and playing ROMs on it to see what hucard games you like. Then buy what you find it to your liking.

As far as the CD games go, get Lords of Thunder if you like shooters for sure.
Syd Meads's Terraforming is also a good shooter, as is Cotton. Yeah actually Cotton is on of my favorites. Everyone likes Y's 1 and 2, but I don't really care for Zelda style games.

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

BTW, if your Dracula X is a bootleg CD-R, be prepared for heartache. CD-Rs are bad for the old TG/Duo lasers. My TG CD laser got screwed up this past week when I palyed my first CD-R on it for less than 1/2 an hour. No shit, be carefull.

[Richter Belmount]

splatterhouse
blazing lazers
gradius 2 import
ys 1 and 2 and ys 3
bonk
air zonk
r type
dragon slayer
cadash
neutopia

[bust3dstr8]

Here are a few from different genres.

Kunio Dodgeball
Bomberman 94
Parodius
Devil Crash
Jackie Chan
Gate of Thunder
Spriggan
Legendary Axe
Shubibinman 3
Double Dragon II
Nexzr
Bloody Wolf
Ninja Spirit
Star Parody
Buster Brothers



BTW, if your Dracula X is a bootleg CD-R, be prepared for heartache. CD-Rs are bad for the old TG/Duo lasers. My TG CD laser got screwed up this past week when I palyed my first CD-R on it for less than 1/2 an hour. No shit, be carefull.


Good!! That's karma coming back to bite ya in the ass; you bitch stain......Hahahaha :rocker:

[staxx]

Hucard
RType I
Rtype II
Super Star Soldier
Soldier Blade
After Burner II
Outrun
Parodius
Gradius
Salamander
Final Soldier
Motoroader 2
Bomberman
Bomberman 91, 92, 93
PC Genjin I, II, III
Space Harrier
Street Fighter 2
Image Fight
Darius Alpha
1943
Alien Crash
Devils Crush
Dungeon Explorer
Fantasy Zone
Terra Cresta 2
Dragon Spirits
Dragon Saber
Ninja Spirits
Mr Heli
Wonderboy in Monster World
Atomic Robo Kid
Sidearms
Splatterhouse
Military Madness
Galaga 88
Gunhed
Jackie Chan Action Kung Fu

CD
Spriggan
Spriggan MK2
Gates of Thunder
Lords of Thunder
YS
Gradius 2
RType Complete
Darius
Darius 2
Star Parodia
Fatal Fury 2
Fatal Fury Special
World Heroes
Art of Fighting
Dungeon Explorer 2
Cosmic Fantasy
Kaze Kiri
Asuka 120%
Advanced VG
Sapphire
Forgotten Worlds
Image Fight 2
Wonderboy 3
Rainbow Islands
Hellfire
Sidearms Special
Dragonballz
Strider

Just to name a few

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

Good!! That's karma coming back to bite ya in the ass; you bitch stain......Hahahaha :rocker:
:fist:

[Ed Oscuro]

:fist:
Yeah, seriously.

staxx: Thanks for that list - I hadn't seen Image Fight 2 before. Edit: Oh no, Malc trashes it. (http://shmups.classicgaming.gamespy.com/reviews/imagefight2/index.html) Guess that's another "emulate first" game :(

I wouldn't really be astonished at Space Harrier (decent port I suppose) or After Burner 2, though.

Sapphire = overrated, Kaze Kiri = overrated
Forgotten Worlds CD = terrible music, same for Daisenpuu Custom (Twin Hawk on CD, blargh), Hellfire S = so-so Toaplan horizontal shooter

Gunhed is pretty primitive IMO.

Soldier Blade looks sweet though, and has caravan (2-minute, 5-minute) modes. Same reason I want Terra Cresta - but since seeing Soldier Blade I want it more than TCII.

[DeputyMoniker]

We have to have a top 25 TG list floating around here somewhere. I can't find it though. Well, I don't have a TG-16, I would like to but I just haven't seen one in the wild for years. I have played some on my PSP, though, and I have to give a big thumbs up to Alien Crush and Splatterhouse. They're both very good. Y's is good too but the sound on my PSP was jacked up so I never got too far into it.

[MacNes]

First of all, thank you everybody for your recommendations.


BTW, if your Dracula X is a bootleg CD-R, be prepared for heartache. CD-Rs are bad for the old TG/Duo lasers. My TG CD laser got screwed up this past week when I palyed my first CD-R on it for less than 1/2 an hour. No shit, be carefull.


Secondly, I haven't had any problems from my disc; I bought it from a retro import gaming store so I feel pretty safe - there reputable. But I really want to know more about the above issue. I've heard if you burn discs at a slower speed and with quality media, you shouldn't have a problem with the laser malfunctioning.

Trust me, I'm a purist, but I'm also a college student; and collecting can take its toll on my wallet, especially with the PC Engine. So I wouldn't hesitate if I could try out a great game.

If anyone knows how I can avoid jacking up my Duo that would be great. Or maybe I should take the hard road and enjoy the hunt. What do you think?

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

http://www.caloptic.com/cgi-bin/quikstore.cgi?product=DCDR80&detail=yes

These cd-r's are supposed to be the best you can use as far as copying TG/PCEngine games. I was told by a very reputable TG collector that they don't stress the laser. If you really want to play the cd-r games that you couldn't afford the really copies of, just use the Magic Engine to play them. Keep them out of your Duo:smash:

[Tron 2.0]

I'll go ahead and recomend one title most have been listed all ready.

Zipang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXOmNovsOKI

Btw if you have any more questions MacNes ;)
http://www.pcenginefx.com

[Ed Oscuro]

I was told by a very reputable TG collector that they don't stress the laser.
Of course, by "the laser" you can mean the whole assembly. The actual laser part should always shine the same intensity light...if it doesn't there's a problem (and you wouldn't know anyway until it died or blew up, heh).

The motor part of the system is what will be stressed due to repeated read attempts when the CD-R isn't up to par.

[NE146]

As far as the CD games go, get Lords of Thunder if you like shooters for sure.

I've always liked Gates of Thunder better.. but yes, Lords is good

[Nodtveidt]

I've always liked Gate of Thunder better.. but yes, Lords is good
Corrected. :D

By the way, skip Magic Engine and try Mednafen instead. Magic Engine may look pretty but it suffers from quite a host of emulation problems and technical shortcuts. Maybe when David Michael releases a fixed-up version of Magic Engine as promised, it'll be a better emulator to use, but for now, Mednafen is the best one there is.

[xaer0knight]

a very unrated game to me is Sommer Assault by Atlus. Just read this from the box(?):

'An evil sorceress is out to cause havoc and it is up to you to stop her. Players must take control of a slinky-like character armed with a gun turret in order to defeat her. Race through twelve side-scrolling mazes in this new and unique action game for the Turbo Grafx-16."

quick review: "Hey, wow, something original! Sommer Assault is definitely on my top 10 list for bizarre concepts for a game, but the execution is wonderful! It's a lot of fun. The graphics are crisp and the gameplay is just way out there! Worth taking a look..." - http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/final_word/duo/sommer_assault.html

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

Corrected. :D

By the way, skip Magic Engine and try Mednafen instead. Magic Engine may look pretty but it suffers from quite a host of emulation problems and technical shortcuts. Maybe when David Michael releases a fixed-up version of Magic Engine as promised, it'll be a better emulator to use, but for now, Mednafen is the best one there is.

Thanks for the tip, I will give that emulator a try.

[NE146]

Corrected. :D

Yes.. thx :p


but for now, Mednafen is the best one there is.
Agreed.. but on that note I'd say Mednafen-x for the xbox is one better. You can't beat slapping that thing on an xbox and just plugging it into any tv around the house, laying back and playing console-style with a pad. I like to think I'm familiar with most popular Turbografx games, and I have yet to notice anything odd playing my favorite titles on that emulator.. it's great :)

[jb143]

Am I the only one here that likes the Bonk's Adventure games? Those and the Neutopia games are my favorites.

[NE146]

Am I the only one here that likes the Bonk's Adventure games? Those and the Neutopia games are my favorites.

I love Bonk.. although it's been many many years since I've played and finished them. And, I've never played Bonk 3... so I actually recently been thinking of playing through at least 1 & 2 again, and then playing Bonk 3 for the first time ever. I'm looking forward to it :)

[ubersaurus]

Nexzr is a sweet shooter for Duo. And oddly, the Summer Carnival version(with extra Caravan modes) is far, far cheaper than the release without them.

There's also a quality port of Gradius 2 for the Duo. My friend Chris, a big fan of Turbo stuff, has held for years that the Ys games for the machine are the absolute best ones in the series, and among the best RPGs he ever played...so they may be worth your while.

[Richter Belmount]

Nexzr is a sweet shooter for Duo. And oddly, the Summer Carnival version(with extra Caravan modes) is far, far cheaper than the release without them.

There's also a quality port of Gradius 2 for the Duo. My friend Chris, a big fan of Turbo stuff, has held for years that the Ys games for the machine are the absolute best ones in the series, and among the best RPGs he ever played...so they may be worth your while.

what he said

[turbokon]

Good!! That's karma coming back to bite ya in the ass; you bitch stain......Hahahaha :rocker:
That's uncalled for.

[turbokon]

:fist:

Can we all just get along? That little icon thingy is funny though.

[fcw3]

Coryoon

http://shmups.classicgaming.gamespy.com/reviews/coryoon/index.html

[lkermel]

I've tried to share the passion I have with the tinny PC Engine and have reviewed nearly 300 games on my website at vgden.com (http://www.vgden.com). I have faaaar too many personal favorites to list them here...

[Ackman]

I kinda liked Legendary Axe 2 7/10 decent

and even though it was kinda crappy in parts that JJ and PJ something almost as good as a wonderboy game but it is still not quite up there, 6/10

I didn't think double dragon 2 was that great, all that effort to get it and meh 7/10 I suppose......

[nat]

I just got myself a PC Engine Duo RX and Dracula X this weekend and I must say I am pretty psyched about the coming days


Hey, just noticed you're in Seattle also. Whereabouts?

I see quite a few great titles have already been suggested, let me throw the following at you as well:

Shape Shifter (CD, platform/action RPG)
Bubble Bobble III: Parasol Stars (cart)
Dead Moon (cart, horizontal shooter)
Liquid Kids (cart, great port of the Taito platformer)
Flash Hiders (CD, fighter w/ RPG elements, awesome game)



Also the following if you like RPGs, and can handle a little Japanese:

The Legend of Xanadu (CD) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLUlrpQ09U
The Legend of Xanadu II (CD)
Anearth Fantasy Stories (CD)

[LazingBlazers]

Download 2

If you like horizontal shooters, rock music, and blasting Hitler fetuses... get the aforementioned game! Laughs. Seriously, it's really fun; one of my all time favorites.


Another really good emulator is Ootake. Check it out here:

http://www.ouma.jp/ootake/

If you have image files, make sure to get a System Card & some program like Daemon Tools. It really is a slick emulator then.


If you use OS X, since your name is MacNes, check out TGEmu. I used it back in the OS X 10.3 days and it was pretty good. No CD support though. Since I don't use Macs anymore, I don't know if there's a better emulator for Turbo stuff now, but here's a link:

http://www.bannister.org/software/tgemu.htm


Oh yeah, check out Download 2 vids here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TuIAmdSgd4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvXcu16a8Kk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCdiAt5Fn00


And don't feel bad about using CD-R copies of games. This stuff is old and sometimes really hard to find. Do you know how long it took me to find a copy of the US version of Dynastic Hero?

[smork]

you can choose your favourite games from torrentmatrix.com.
You can able to signup by visitng the following page
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Torrentmatrix.com is currently running a unique promotion for new users. It is upgrading new users to VIP members ($10 value) for free of charge. The Promotion is valid only hose who have registered. To sign up in go to (http://torrentmatrix.com/account-signup.php).

How about taking a short walk of a long pier, spammer?

Is there a promotion for that? A coupon?

[Lord Contaminous]

My first post in God knows how long...

Anyway here's some PC Engine playthrough vids I made recently

City Hunter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGOAs1rQRmc

Final Soldier (1-Life)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM18AQ31G0k

Metal Stoker: Neo Hardboiled Shooting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6t1Vwsqi3s

[Ed Oscuro]

http://2dgaming.bplaced.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=277

[Kid Fenris]

Spriggan

This. It's an excellent, well-balanced shooter and one of the few genuine A-list titles in the PC Engine library.

[StealthLurker]

My suggestion to you is this:

Download the Magic Engine emmulator, and start downloading and playing ROMs on it to see what hucard games you like. Then buy what you find it to your liking.


Best advice period. Thread closed. Everyone's tastes are a bit different and some collectors tend to over hype certain titles imho (especially obscure ones that they've "discovered"). You yourself are the best judge of the games you'll enjoy.

The emulators can also play disc games via actual disc or just mounted on your pc via something like Alcohol. Just need to track down the isos... I believe you can also buy DVDs with isos for some games from people that do MAME DVD sets.

.

[digitalpress]

We have to have a top 25 TG list floating around here somewhere. I can't find it though.

Here ya go.
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1487

I have a lot of opinions regarding PC Engine-specific titles, I hope to revisit this thread to share a few of 'em. In the meantime note that I think Ed Oscuro is on crack for thinking Gunhed his "primitive". This (Blazing Lazers in the US) is to date one of my favorite shooters of all time. Calling it primitive is like calling Galaga primitive. It doesn't make any sense - it's simply timeless.

More to follow.

[RadiantSvgun]

Here are a few from different genres.

Kunio Dodgeball
Bomberman 94
Parodius
Devil Crash
Jackie Chan
Gate of Thunder
Spriggan
Legendary Axe
Shubibinman 3
Double Dragon II
Nexzr
Bloody Wolf
Ninja Spirit
Star Parody
Buster Brothers


:rocker:

That pretty much covers it.

I'd add Ninja Action Kaze Kiri and Valis IV on there. Spriggan may be the best shooter on the system period. Well CD part anyway.