Best Shoot Em Ups on Turbografx & PC Engine

[Punch]

Yeah not all CD games have better soundtrack by default. One example is Lords of the Rising Sun, the overworld map screen's bgm is poorly made since it loops poorly and it makes the transition from any screen to the map more abrupt (specially considering most songs are slower paced in comparison to it).

The chiptunes from the PCE that beat CDROM digital audio are the reason that makes Arkhan insist in adding chiptune options in his cd-based games.

[Black Tiger]

I have both and I surprisingly play the hucard more.  Both are worth having.  I actually prefer the chiptunes.  I am crazy.

Why is that crazy? Nothing wrong with that. Just because it's on CD doesn't make it better. I'll give an example. Let me use Legendary Axe II...if it were a CD game, I'd probably still enjoy the Hu Card music more because it's so awesome. I don't know why that game sticks in my mind, but it really is that awesome. To me anyway. Just because it's chip tunes doesn't make it bad automatically...LOL

Most PCE games which have Hu and CD versions aren't the same except for music. Sidearms Special for example also adds some nice sampled sound effects to the main game, but also includes an entire separate remake with all new graphics and different gameplay.

Super Darius also adds some samples, but has a unique boss for each of the 26 stages, while Darius Plus has maybe half as many and the arcade has fewer still.

Super Raiden has some extra art and animation, plus 2 new stages.


R-Type is the best example of a CD version being pretty much a downgrade across the board compared to the TurboChip version. Daisenpu Custom and Bonk 3 CD are just overall inferior to the HuCard versions.

[grolt]

I have both and I surprisingly play the hucard more.  Both are worth having.  I actually prefer the chiptunes.  I am crazy.

Why is that crazy? Nothing wrong with that. Just because it's on CD doesn't make it better. I'll give an example. Let me use Legendary Axe II...if it were a CD game, I'd probably still enjoy the Hu Card music more because it's so awesome. I don't know why that game sticks in my mind, but it really is that awesome. To me anyway. Just because it's chip tunes doesn't make it bad automatically...LOL

Most PCE games which have Hu and CD versions aren't the same except for music. Sidearms Special for example also adds some nice sampled sound effects to the main game, but also includes an entire separate remake with all new graphics and different gameplay.

Super Darius also adds some samples, but has a unique boss for each of the 26 stages, while Darius Plus has maybe half as many and the arcade has fewer still.

Super Raiden has some extra art and animation, plus 2 new stages.


R-Type is the best example of a CD version being pretty much a downgrade across the board compared to the TurboChip version. Daisenpu Custom and Bonk 3 CD are just overall inferior to the HuCard versions.

What about Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf?  I saw the CD version on a YouTube clip and it looked just as terrible as the HuCard version other than some different tunes.  Does only the CD version have save compatibility?  Seems like such a terrible, outdated game to get two, nearly identical releases.

[esteban]

I have both and I surprisingly play the hucard more.  Both are worth having.  I actually prefer the chiptunes.  I am crazy.

Why is that crazy? Nothing wrong with that. Just because it's on CD doesn't make it better. I'll give an example. Let me use Legendary Axe II...if it were a CD game, I'd probably still enjoy the Hu Card music more because it's so awesome. I don't know why that game sticks in my mind, but it really is that awesome. To me anyway. Just because it's chip tunes doesn't make it bad automatically...LOL

Most PCE games which have Hu and CD versions aren't the same except for music. Sidearms Special for example also adds some nice sampled sound effects to the main game, but also includes an entire separate remake with all new graphics and different gameplay.

Super Darius also adds some samples, but has a unique boss for each of the 26 stages, while Darius Plus has maybe half as many and the arcade has fewer still.

Super Raiden has some extra art and animation, plus 2 new stages.


R-Type is the best example of a CD version being pretty much a downgrade across the board compared to the TurboChip version. Daisenpu Custom and Bonk 3 CD are just overall inferior to the HuCard versions.

What about Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf?  I saw the CD version on a YouTube clip and it looked just as terrible as the HuCard version other than some different tunes.  Does only the CD version have save compatibility?  Seems like such a terrible, outdated game to get two, nearly identical releases.

I don't have the CD Nicklaus, but I believe it has extra golf courses on it. That is worth it (I am one of the only people who enjoys ancient, decrepit,  slow golf games). 

[Black Tiger]

Yeah not all CD games have better soundtrack by default. One example is Lords of the Rising Sun, the overworld map screen's bgm is poorly made since it loops poorly and it makes the transition from any screen to the map more abrupt (specially considering most songs are slower paced in comparison to it).

The chiptunes from the PCE that beat CDROM digital audio are the reason that makes Arkhan insist in adding chiptune options in his cd-based games.

Lords of the Rising Sun isn't a good example of chip>CD music, since you're talking about a technical issue and there isn't a HuCard version. Plus that track is one of the many great features of the game and really motivates and makes it more exciting than other RTS games maps.

A much worse case of a technical issue affecting a crucial bgm is the battle music in Order of the Griffon. It cut's off after the first attack and fights can take a half hour. But this isn't an example of CD being better either, as again it's strictly a technical issue that is tge fault of the developer.


Another CD game with a similar upgrade as Sidearms Special is Populous the Promised Lands. You get the regular game and then an entire new and exclusive separate campaign with themes like Bomberman. It's the equivalent of a sequel.

Neo Nectaris is the same, as it contains the entire original.


The myth that CD games are nothing more than regular cart games with CD music and the occasional cinema was perpetuated by Nintendo fans during the 16 & 32-bit generations. Too many still argue this to this day.

[Punch]

I see BT, I was just trying to argue that not all CD games music are better than HuCards and vice-versa.

"CD games are nothing more than regular cart games with CD music and the occasional cinema."

In a way that's right, but only if you consider the "regular cart" as being a huge Neo-Geo style one with more than 4 gigabits of memory to do as you please. Except for maybe disc loading times it basically removes size restrictions for 16 bit console games entirely. But it's not like many people had the knowledge required to understand that back in the 90's.

[T2KFreeker]

Yeah...Nintendo Fanboys of that era really were annoying as all Hell. Sorry, but it's true. I* remember this one guy trying to argue that his Super NES Final Fight was so much better than our Sega CD version. He swore up and down that his version was superior because of sharper visuals and looked so much closer to the arcade version...we just saw envy in his eyes...


Back on topic...I remember the first time walking through Toy's "R" Us back in the day, seeing the Turbo Duo and getting to play the demo for Gate of Thunder! man, I was floored. It was so damn awesome. The graphics were just nice and that soundtrack was so appropriate for the time. I don't know what6 kind of speakers they had hooked up to that little Demo Kiosk, but ti was so throaty and based out, I just kept playing that level over and over again. I then walked over to the glass case to see the system and my heart sank when I saw the price of the system. I then walked across the store and saw the turbo CD system being clearanced out for $100.00 and was so mad because my Mom wouldn't take me to the store to buy one...just an all around bad day other than playing gate of thunder...LOL  I still love that game to this day. Awesome shooter and one of my all time favorite shooters...not just for the Turbo, but everywhere.

[Black Tiger]

The first time I saw Gate of Thunder in person I thought that it was a Neo Geo game. And not like, "what is, this like a Neo Geo game? Oh, it's a Turbo game". I had seen some screens in magazines and was as hardcore a game enthusiast as anyone. I was looking at a window display at a Radio Shack, that had 3 TVs, each one running a different console. Not only were Canadian Radio Shacks not connected to tge U.S. chain, but some brought in all kinds of game stuff from other sources. I saw a Genesis SNES and what looked like a Neo Geo demo and figured that this was one of the franchises that did what they want (this wasn't my hometown).

I remember what I thought and felt vividly, as it is tied to my realization that it was actually GoT the first tine I played it after I got a Duo and the memory was still fresh. I didn't pay GoT much attention, because I was interested in finding Turbo games that I couldn't buy at home and the AES was something I'd never get to play. I figured I'd try it out when/if it made it to the MVS back home. But I remember clearly that during my brief glimpses of the intro cinema and a couple stages, how it was obe of the nicest looking/most impressive Neo Geo games I'd seen, how the cinema character art had so many shades and some of that signature Beo Geo color that I wouldn't see on TG-16... and how impressive the only-in-arcades parallax was. I didn't stare too long, because it made me wish I could own a console and game like that.

[T2KFreeker]

The first time I saw Gate of Thunder in person I thought that it was a Neo Geo game. And not like, "what is, this like a Neo Geo game? Oh, it's a Turbo game". I had seen some screens in magazines and was as hardcore a game enthusiast as anyone. I was looking at a window display at a Radio Shack, that had 3 TVs, each one running a different console. Not only were Canadian Radio Shacks not connected to tge U.S. chain, but some brought in all kinds of game stuff from other sources. I saw a Genesis SNES and what looked like a Neo Geo demo and figured that this was one of the franchises that did what they want (this wasn't my hometown).

I remember what I thought and felt vividly, as it is tied to my realization that it was actually GoT the first tine I played it after I got a Duo and the memory was still fresh. I didn't pay GoT much attention, because I was interested in finding Turbo games that I couldn't buy at home and the AES was something I'd never get to play. I figured I'd try it out when/if it made it to the MVS back home. But I remember clearly that during my brief glimpses of the intro cinema and a couple stages, how it was obe of the nicest looking/most impressive Neo Geo games I'd seen, how the cinema character art had so many shades and some of that signature Beo Geo color that I wouldn't see on TG-16... and how impressive the only-in-arcades parallax was. I didn't stare too long, because it made me wish I could own a console and game like that.

That's almost funny...LOL. When I finally got a copy of Gate of Thunder, it wasn't until years later because i never did own the CD interface when I was younger and was way too poor to own the Turbo Duo. I can honestly say though that when I finally got my copy of Gate of Thunder, I was just as impressed with it then, as I was when I first saw it. This was also even after owning Lords of Thunder for the Sega CD. I like Lords of Thunder, but there really is something really awesome about Gate that makes me like it so much more. It's still one of the games I pull out and let people play that want to know what the big deal with the Turbografx is...and just that throaty, heavy metal, deep bass soundtrack makes a smile creep on most people's face. The game is a perfect example of how a shooter should be made. I look at the game now and see the imperfections here and there, but all in all, it's still one Hell of a ride. I sadly, have never beaten the game though. One day I will. I know I will. Funny as it is, it's one of my must own games that I actually own. I have most of them too, most notably missing Beyond Shadowgate though, sadly. That's a story for a whole new thread though as I no longer own it over stupid bungling on my part...