Konami Famicom V6 & V7 games

[dairugger]

after 1up's retronauts piece about the music composer of contra, and how it was musically superior to what we got in the US i was wondering if anyone had a list of the games that used these chips. and also, which games were released here with what changes.

[Rob2600]

...1up's retronauts piece about the music composer of contra...

Do you have the link?

[GarrettCRW]

The music is the same in both the US and Japanese versions of Contra. The improvements there are mostly graphical.

[Rob2600]

The music is the same in both the US and Japanese versions of Contra. The improvements there are mostly graphical.

True. As I recall, the background trees in the Japanese version of Contra are animated. In the U.S. version, they're static.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Not to mention the Japanese Contra has a STORY and intro!

[Graham Mitchell]

While I don't have a definitive list, there are some Konami Famicom games I know off the top of my head that had improved sound compared to the US releases due to proprietary sound chips. Gradius II and Akumoju Dracula III (am I spelling that right? It's Castlevania III) are two that you can play pretty easily. Another one which seems rather nebulous is an RPG called LaGrange Point. Somebody did recently translate the game, so if you google it you can probably find some info about it. From what I can tell of the cinematic intros, this game looks like a lost sci-fi masterpiece. But who knows, the game could totally blow. I didn't understand enough Japanese to get anywhere.

[dairugger]

wow, i didnt know there was a rpg made by konami during that time, ill have to look it up.

btw, heres the link to that retronauts article:

http://www.1up.com/1upblogs/3/1ups_retro_gaming_blog

sorry, heres the link to the article:

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=...UserId=5379721

but the other link will take you to the general retronauts page, good reading!

[rbudrick]

While I don't have a definitive list, there are some Konami Famicom games I know off the top of my head that had improved sound compared to the US releases due to proprietary sound chips. Gradius II and Akumoju Dracula III (am I spelling that right? It's Castlevania III) are two that you can play pretty easily. Another one which seems rather nebulous is an RPG called LaGrange Point. Somebody did recently translate the game, so if you google it you can probably find some info about it. From what I can tell of the cinematic intros, this game looks like a lost sci-fi masterpiece. But who knows, the game could totally blow. I didn't understand enough Japanese to get anywhere.

Gradius II did not have a US release. Those bastards. That really bugged me back in the day.

-Rob

[The 1 2 P]

True. As I recall, the background trees in the Japanese version of Contra are animated. In the U.S. version, they're static.

Not to mention the Japanese Contra has a STORY and intro!

Also the last level in the Japanese version has moving floors that pulse and vibrate as if they are alive.

[Graham Mitchell]

Gradius II did not have a US release. Those bastards. That really bugged me back in the day.

-Rob

Don't even get me started. I guess the whole reasoning behind it was that Nintendo refused to manufacture Konami's propietary graphics chip that enabled the game to scroll both horizontally and vertically at the same time. I guess multi-directional scrolling was a big deal still at that time.

But now that I think of it, I'm not sure if Gradius II had a special sound chip, specifically. Just something about the scrolling.

Anyways, it works on emulators now, and it's painfully hard. I adore the PC-Engine version myself. In fact, I think that's my favorite Gradius game.

[thom_m]

Don't even get me started. I guess the whole reasoning behind it was that Nintendo refused to manufacture Konami's propietary graphics chip that enabled the game to scroll both horizontally and vertically at the same time. I guess multi-directional scrolling was a big deal still at that time.

This is interesting, because my version of Gradius II was a bootleg cart, made by a brazilian eletronics company called CCE - a much smaller business, obviously. Could the folks at Nintendo be that cheap??

[Graham Mitchell]

This is interesting, because my version of Gradius II was a bootleg cart, made by a brazilian eletronics company called CCE - a much smaller business, obviously. Could the folks at Nintendo be that cheap??

that's how i understood it. i could be wrong about gradius 2, but i'm pretty sure that's the reason the u.s. got lesser versions of contra and castlevania 3.

maybe by the time the bootleggers got around to manufacturing those carts the chips got a lot cheaper. who knows.

[Ed Oscuro]

Bootleggers were making games in much lower quantities, and that could possibly have given them an edge in exhausting a smaller stock of chips locally produced, who knows?

Thanks for the article. I learn something new every day...and sometimes, something new about Contra.

[Gameguy]

From Wikipedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintend...al_differences

External sound chips. The Famicom had two cartridge pins that allowed cartridges to provide external sound enhancements. They were originally intended to facilitate the Famicom Disk System’s external sound chip. These pins were removed from the cartridge port of the NES, and relocated to the bottom expansion port. As a result, individual cartridges could not make use of this functionality, and many NES localizations suffered from technologically inferior sound compared to their equivalent Famicom versions. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is a notable example of this problem.

[NE146]

Also the last level in the Japanese version has moving floors that pulse and vibrate as if they are alive.

Not to mention the Japanese Contra has a STORY and intro!

True. As I recall, the background trees in the Japanese version of Contra are animated. In the U.S. version, they're static.

And don't forget... falling snow in the snow level

All I have as far as the real thing is the U.S. Contra cart. But when I get in the mood to play me some of it, I fire up and emulator and play the jap version. Ditto for Life Force / Salamander.

[Graham Mitchell]

And don't forget... falling snow in the snow level

All I have as far as the real thing is the U.S. Contra cart. But when I get in the mood to play me some of it, I fire up and emulator and play the jap version. Ditto for Life Force / Salamander.

Is Salamander different, too? Oh, man I gotta try that. I had no idea!

[The 1 2 P]

Is Salamander different, too?

Is four seperate endings different enough for you?

[Graham Mitchell]

Is four seperate endings different enough for you?

dude, i'm gonna poop my pants. why have i been blowing on that dusty life force cart for years?

[Graham Mitchell]

actually, now that i think of it, i have played salamander on the pc engine, and it is quite different from life force. is the famicom salamander similar to the pce version?

[The 1 2 P]

actually, now that i think of it, i have played salamander on the pc engine, and it is quite different from life force. is the famicom salamander similar to the pce version?

That I couldn't tell you because I've only played the Nes and Famicom versions.