Anyone dig the Famicom cartriges with sound expansion chips?

[Lord Contaminous]

Lately I've been after Konami's Famicom games that have VRC6 and VRC7 powered music, as well as Namco's 106 games.

That's why I love Lagrange Point so much. it's miraculous that Konami put that chip to make an average 8-bit game have 16-bit sound.

[maxlords]

Lately I've been after Konami's Famicom games that have VRC6 and VRC7 powered music, as well as Namco's 106 games.

That's why I love Lagrange Point so much. it's miraculous that Konami put that chip to make an average 8-bit game have 16-bit sound.

What famicom games have them? The only Konami Famicom game I have is Crisis Force.....

[Lord Contaminous]

VRC6
--------
Akumajo Densetsu (JP Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse)
Moryou Senki Madara
Esper Dream 2: A New Battle

VRC7
-------
Lagrange Point

[Dire 51]

I love how Akumajuo Densetsu's music sounds. It's so much better than Castlevania III's. :)

[Sotenga]

Dire, you're talking about the Famicom version of the original Castlevania, correct? It's better than CV3's music? I really gotta play this... oh, and isn't it ironic how Akumajo Dracula 2's music is worse than Castlevania 2's? We got the long end on the stick for once. Excellent. :D

Crisis Force and Yume Penguin Monogatari both have great sound. The thing that stands out the most to me is the heavy percussion. That's impressive to hear from an 8-bit system. X_x

[Dire 51]

No, Akumajuo Densetsu is CV3. Akumajuo Dracula is Castlevania (and the music sounds exactly the same in both versions). If you were to compare Akumajuo Densetsu to it's US counterpart, you'd see just how much better the music is.

Oh, and it is nice that we got better music in Simon's Quest then the Japanese did in Dracula II (no Akumajuo this time for some odd reason, the game is called Dracula II: Noroi no Fuuin).

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah, Dracula 2 is odd all the way around. The sound adds a significant amount to the file size of the ROM in the US version; the Japanese version is horrible. I'm of the opinion that CV2 was an unfinished cartridge game squeezed onto disk. It certainly was rushed.

[Lord Contaminous]

Jackal and Final Command: Red Fortress (the JP version of Jackal on Famicom Disk System) is another case in which the US wins too, just like with Castlevania 2.

In this case, bankswitching is the issue.

[ArnoldRimmer83]

Jackal and Final Command: Red Fortress (the JP version of Jackal on Famicom Disk System) is another case in which the US wins too, just like with Castlevania 2.

In this case, bankswitching is the issue.

Indeed. Not only are the levels bigger in the US version, but there are even some new enemies not in the original FDS version. (Like the pesky Red helicopter in the last level.) And the entire first level of the US version, (The beach) doesn't exist at all in the Japanese one.

[Ed Oscuro]

Personally, I think Final Command is worth picking up though, just for the box art :D

Another great old school title that badly needs an update :(

[Lord Contaminous]

Bump.

I just won DDS Megami Tensei II off Ebay with the Buy It Now option.

I just got a NSF for this, and I just learned it uses the Namco106 sound enhancement chip. I swear to god man, the game's music sounds like it's coming straight out of the Turbografx 16/PC Engine hardware! :O_O: The bass in some tracks has that deepness that Hucards produce.

Is there any way I can modify my American NES to play teh super-chiptunes instead of busting brain cells finding a Famicom A/V?

[Ed Oscuro]

Huh, so Megami Tensei 2 is before Shin Megami Tensei ('cuz that's a SFC title)?

Anyhow, I'm guessing a Famicom to NES converter (say the thing inside Gyromite which I'm always hearing about) should pass the test with flying colors.

I have to ask, though: Why not get a FC? A/V Famicom has, well, A/V cords, and while a Sharp Famicom Titler is out of most everybody's price range, a Sharp Twin Famicom has mono A/V which is also pretty nice.

[Li Wang]

I think the standard toaster NES is capable of playing the music fine. However, Fami>NES converter won't do you any good with a usual worn old toaster and this particular game since it's of the "tall" variety. But if you've bent the pins back up far enough so that you can get games to work without pushing them down it will work fine. I don't know if a toploader will play the music properly but I do know that one of the FDS sound channels is missing when you try to use that with a toploader. I was under the impression that the original Zelda music was poor because of that for awhile.

By the way, am I the only person not completely blown away by Akumajo Densetsu's music? That particular chip makes some songs sound better, but at the same time all the songs sound same-ish because of the sound of the chip.

[Ed Oscuro]

Huh, thanks for that info.

Yes, you're in exactly the same boat as me as goes the Legend of Demon Castle music. I used to really like it, but once I had the *.nsf "burned in" I started to realize that a lot of tracks don't fare as well in the expanded version. Some are much nicer (the name entry screen and other pieces of incidental music fare well, Mad Forest does pretty darn well) but the intro is not only "cleaner sounding" but really easier on the ears in the US version.

I like the new character designs and the moving fog from the intro. Besides that, though, the game with VRC6 chip isn't so much better that I'd say the chip was really worth it. Cavern levels are still pretty darn ugly, for example.

[Lord Contaminous]

Go download the NSF "Lagrange Point" (VRC7). It sounds 100x better than AkuDen. VRC7 produces AdLib-type sound heard on TG16 and Genesis.

But actually, I talked to Kurt Kalata (The creator of the popular "Castlevania Dungeon" website) one time, I met him in person at an anime convention, but been talking on AIM for a few years, he said he has the Akumajo Densetsu cartridge, and his Famicom converter didn't allow the VRC6 to make its move. But if I can recall, he said his FC>NES converter was made in Brazil.

You might possibly be right about the converter inside of cartridges. (Mine came out of a Stack Up). There's something fishy about that small black chip on it. If it really does work, my prediction (I dont know if that's true) but maybe if you were to put it in Game Genie, it might block the chip.

Li Wang, what did you mean the "tall" variety? Tall cartridges?

[Lord Contaminous]

Go download the NSF "Lagrange Point" (VRC7). It sounds 100x better than AkuDen. VRC7 produces AdLib-type sound heard on TG16 and Genesis.

But actually, I talked to Kurt Kalata (The creator of the popular "Castlevania Dungeon" website) one time, I met him in person at an anime convention, but been talking on AIM for a few years, he said he has the Akumajo Densetsu cartridge, and his Famicom converter didn't allow the VRC6 to make its move. But if I can recall, he said his FC>NES converter was made in Brazil.

You might possibly be right about the converter inside of cartridges. (Mine came out of a Stack Up). There's something fishy about that small black chip on it. If it really does work, my prediction (I dont know if that's true) but maybe if you were to put it in Game Genie, it might block the chip.

Li Wang, what did you mean the "tall" variety? Tall cartridges?

OOPS! Double Post. My connection kicked me off when the first msg was going through.

[MarioAllStar2600]

Do they talk on any of the sound chips? That would be even cooler.

[Lord Contaminous]

Not that I know of. But I do know one Sunsoft game from 1987 called "Mitokoumon". It doesn't have a special chip, but it's got tons of voice clips (even though they speak Japanese), and they're the clearest ever heard on 8-bit.

[Li Wang]

Yeah, it's one of those bigger carts like lots of Jaleco games or Konami ones with extra chips.

[Lord Contaminous]

I think this is considered tall right? Here's a pic of the DDS Megami Tensei II FC cartridge. My 110-in-1 Famicom multicart is tall like that. When I put it on the Stack Up/Gyromite FC converter, I can't get it in the toaster NES. So I have to use the Game Genie.

http://gamesmasterz.com/SF/FAM/124C.jpg

[MarioAllStar2600]

Yea that cart looks pretty tall for a Famicom game.

[Ed Oscuro]

Go download the NSF "Lagrange Point" (VRC7). It sounds 100x better than AkuDen. VRC7 produces AdLib-type sound heard on TG16 and Genesis.

Will do! :)


But actually, I talked to Kurt Kalata (The creator of the popular "Castlevania Dungeon" website) one time, I met him in person at an anime convention, but been talking on AIM for a few years, he said he has the Akumajo Densetsu cartridge, and his Famicom converter didn't allow the VRC6 to make its move. But if I can recall, he said his FC>NES converter was made in Brazil.

...I'll ask him.


You might possibly be right about the converter inside of cartridges. (Mine came out of a Stack Up). There's something fishy about that small black chip on it. If it really does work, my prediction (I dont know if that's true) but maybe if you were to put it in Game Genie, it might block the chip.

Dumb luck if I'm right. I've just heard people at this forum talking about those Gyromite carts (don't even have one myself :P)

That Megami Tensei 2 cart does look tall. Enough for perhaps just one more chip, but that's all you need.

[Scoots]

Ah! I had been wondering if a Game Genie could be used to play tall Famicom carts in a toaster NES with a converter. The only one I has is Famicom Jump, and since I don't speak Japanese, it is of little use to me. Good to know for the future though (I wasn't aware if this was the only oversized cart or not). I was actually thinking about modding one of my spare consoles so that the longer carts weren't an issue, but if the GG works, so much the better.

[Lord Contaminous]

Scoots, if you're on ebay, I recommend getting Famicom games from "The Gamesmasterz". As a matter of fact, I better get to the PO and finish off this transaction for Konami's "Dragon Scroll".

[Lord Contaminous]

I just got my copy of MegaTen 2 today. I tried the Stack Up Gyromite converter on my toaster NES, Namco106 didn't kick in. All I heard was the cursor and drumlines. I wonder what Li wang meant bending the pins...

BTW the intro in the game looks a little disturbing.

[Lord Contaminous]

I just wanna tell y'all, I just came to a happy ending. Yesterday, a Sachen Q-Boy Famicom clone came to my front porch, and now I can hear the tunezzzzz!