Old Computer Appreciation Thread

AdamBeGood · 2 Nov 2020, 13:07

@Zering Oh I mentioned Aquales in a previous thread didn't I? That is worth a look. SIde scrolling Mech Game.

Buster is quite fun as well, a cute platformer (although the music goes quiet occasionally for me).

That is annoying on Neural Gear, I might keep it on the Pi just in case a future update fixes it. Good luck fixing your PC98!

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 13:10

@AdamBeGood I'm trying Aquales now. It's the same developpers as Geograph Seal and Jumping Flash. Looks cool.
The music cutting out I think has to do with the X68K which could only play so many sounds at one time. Some games like Chourensha disguise it much better than others.
Did you try R+R in the end?

AdamBeGood · 2 Nov 2020, 13:15

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@AdamBeGood I'm trying Aquales now. It's the same developpers as Geograph Seal and Jumping Flash. Looks cool.
The music cutting out I think has to do with the X68K which could only play so many sounds at one time. Some games like Chourensha disguise it much better than others.
Did you try R+R in the end?

Your sound theory could be it, that might make sense.

Only to see if the game worked... I need to play R+R and Chourensha.

I've heard good things about Etoile Princess also, just trying that now. I worry the Japanese content may be prohibitive, it's an Action RPG. Looks great though - massive sprites!

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 13:18

@AdamBeGood I'm kind of at a loss with Aquales. I'm stuck under a platform with nowhere to go. Are you supposed to be able to switch between weapons? I can only use the grappling hook. The game looks and sounds great though.
You may want to try Mad Stalker. It had versions on PC Engine and PS1 but I think the X68000 game is excellent, although the music does cut out often.
I'll try Etoile Princess now.

Edit : Etoile Princesse is great, the combat is fun. But it does seem fairly unfriendly to English players.

@Folly How did you get Castlevania 68K to work? I have no video and my controls won't respond.

AdamBeGood · 2 Nov 2020, 14:12

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@AdamBeGood I'm kind of at a loss with Aquales. I'm stuck under a platform with nowhere to go. Are you supposed to be able to switch between weapons? I can only use the grappling hook. The game looks and sounds great though.
You may want to try Mad Stalker. It had versions on PC Engine and PS1 but I think the X68000 game is excellent, although the music does cut out often.
I'll try Etoile Princess now.

Edit : Etoile Princesse is great, the combat is fun. But it does seem fairly unfriendly to English players.

@Folly How did you get Castlevania 68K to work? I have no video and my controls won't respond.

Castlevania worked fine for me - although I do get a Menu at the start, in which I have to select X68000 out of three options. I have the .dims in an M3U, and run the game through that, I don't know if that makes a difference?

Oh, and I'll have a look at Aquales.

Edit: I have Mad Stalker, I'll give it a go now.
Further Edit: I love it! Once I'd worked out some moves: Down Down + Button for Dragon Punch, Forward Forward + Button for Slide Attack, Hadouken + Button for Gun.

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 14:16

@AdamBeGood I figured it out in the end, I had to wait for a long musical cue to end.
Those three options are internal X68000 sound, MT32 and SC55.
That game is spectacular by the way, although unfortunately I've ran into a pretty bad glitch on the raft in stage 2 that forced me to reload.

Edit : I knew you'd enjoy Mad Stalker! And the best thing is the other versions of the game are different enough to warrant a playthrough.
Did you try Genocide?

AdamBeGood · 2 Nov 2020, 14:57

@Zering I'll look at the other Mad Stalkers then!

I've had a quick look at Genocide, but haven't played it through at all. It looks cool.

Folly · 2 Nov 2020, 15:14

@Zering @AdamBeGood

Have the PC-88 and PC-98 up and running.
PC-88 was a pain in the ass with the BIOS.
(searching, checking checksums, renaming)
(still missing FONT2.ROM and FONT3.ROM, but it works without)
Seems that the retropie docs are a bit outdated with the filenames.

You can have the same problem with th PC-98 if you don't find the good files though. But I was fortunate enough.

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 15:14

@AdamBeGood The sequel is excellent.

@Folly Excellent! What games did you try?

Folly · 2 Nov 2020, 15:17

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly Excellent! What games did you try?

On the PC-88 : 1942
On the PC-98 : Yume no Sei (13cm)

They were just a quick test.
Have to wait for the better ones. :)

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 15:19

@Folly The PC88 has this really strange game called Wibarm that is worth a look. Otherwise, Dragon Slayer 1 and 2 are fun!
On the PC98 I can't recommend Rude Breaker enough. Flame Zapper Kotsujin and Rusty are also very good.

Folly · 2 Nov 2020, 15:20

@Zering
Thanks, will try these.

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 15:23

@Folly Having said this, Dragon Slayer 2's definitive version can be found on the MSX1 (the MSX2 is inferior, weirdly), with a smashing score by Yuzo Koshiro!

Folly · 2 Nov 2020, 15:25

@Zering

wibarm asks for a data disk. how do i do that ?

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 15:26

@Folly if I recall, you need to go into subsystems and follow all the menus to load all the discs at once.

Folly · 2 Nov 2020, 15:26

@Zering

I just have one disk.

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 15:28

@Folly I'll look into it now.

Your rom is wrong. You should have a game disk and a user disk.

AdamBeGood · 2 Nov 2020, 15:32

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@AdamBeGood The sequel is excellent.

I'm playing the sequel now, I struggled not to take a shed load of hits in Genocide 1. It seemed rather attritional. I wouldn't rule out that I am playing it poorly though! Genocide 2 seems a lot better - lovely intro also. I've played the first couple of levels now.

Folly · 2 Nov 2020, 15:35

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly I'll look into it now.

Your rom is wrong. You should have a game disk and a user disk.

Found that subsystem in retroarch menu.
Just one back (z).
Will have to search then.

Zering · 2 Nov 2020, 15:38

@AdamBeGood Yeah I agree with you. The second one seems a lot more accessible, but both left me feeling as though I wasn't playing them right. However I really enjoy their presentation, the graphics and sound are astounding.

@Folly Let me know how you get on, I've booted up the PC88 for the first time yesterday since I've had the Pi 4 and it's acting up a bit haha

Edit : Wibarm won't boot on my end either. Weird. It worked fine before and I haven't changed anything.

Further edit : Sorted, it loads but there's a looooong wait. If your controller has a vibration function, the emulator uses the vibration to signal when it's accessing the disc drive. Neat.