too bad there weren't any SuperGrafx SCD or ACD games

[handygrafx]

Looking back on the PC-Engine games, both HuCard and the CD-ROM formats, it makes me wonder what developers could've done with the SuperGrafx as the 'engine' (no pun intended)  driving some of the Super CD-ROM and Arcade Card CD games.  Have you noticed that, in many ways, the SuperGrafx games that got released were pretty much surpassed by SCD and ACD games.    For example, Rayxanber III looks nicer overall than Aldynes.   

Was there even any  talk about SuperGrafx CD games?

 I guess it died too quickly for it to happen.  SCD came out around the time the last SGX game (1941) came out.

[Joe Redifer]

They should have built it into the Duo.  All HuCards would have remained MediocreGrafx (aka PC Engine) compatible while all Super CDs would have sported multiple background layers, double the sprites and a little extra RAM to boot. But I guess it would have been difficult/impossible to make those discs compatible with existing MediocreGrafx systems with a simple System Card update.

[Tatsujin]

as already many time discussed in here, joe is absolutely right and the only plausible reason of why they didn't improve the DUO with the glorious SGFX hardware is the fact, that it would have become to expensive. for NEC/Hudson as well for the enduser.
so instead of investing further money into the DUO, the already had their plans for the 32-Bit PC-FX in the forge, which, as we all know just too well, flopped unutterably due to years of delaying and loosing almost all of the board members and software developers.

sad story but even so true as our earth revolves the sun.

[awack]

The main advantage of the super grafx that would have been the most noticeable, were the dual background screens, this would have been great for large bosses, as for the double the on-screen sprites, i just played 1941 yesterday and noticed quite a bit of flicker, there were allot of sprites on the same line of course but i have seen more impressive stuff on cd. I am sure the extra system and video memory would have been great.  

When comparing to normal hucards, you have to remember that 3 out of the 5 Super Grafx games were 8 Megs, the vast majority of pc engine games were 2, 3 and 4 Megs, in fact, i find Magical Chase (a 4 Meg game), especially the 1st level in the US version, to be graphically more impressive than any of the super grafx games from a artistic and color stand point, but the game also has good parallax, animation and shadow effects.

As for cd games, yes, many of them far surpassed what was on the super grafx, compare Winds of Thunder to Aldynes, Rondo and Beyond Shadowgate to GnG and Grandzort or Sapphire to 1941.

[handygrafx]

joe, tatsujin and awack all bring up good points.


I agree SGX should've been built into the Duo.   By 1991-1992 the cost of the extra hardware that SGX had beyond PCE/TG16 should've been negligible.

There are plenty of HuCard games that surpassed the SGX games, and this was a bit frustrating being a former SGX owner.

Can you imagine if NEC had waited until 1990 or 1991 to bring out a more powerful 16-bit SGX that had the best qualities of the X68000, NeoGeo and Super Famicom, but using Hudson's smartly designed chipset?    Lord it could've been host to some beyond-amazing games.  Pound for pound the PCE was probably the best console of its generation.

[Joe Redifer]

Well they kind of tried to with the PC-FX, though at the time the industry was so mesmerized by having actual video in videogames that that seemed to take precedence.   

[ParanoiaDragon]

There may eventually be SGX cd games, we have a few ideas that have been tossed around.  Who knows when we'll get to them mind you.  Although, I seem to recall that atleast one programmer(maybe Chris?) is working on a bi-compatible cd game(a conversion of an arcade game) that will have more paralax, etc. when played on a SGX.