Turbo Duo: too many pack-in games?

[Monster Bonce]

Funny thing is, there was a small Anime buzz in parts of Europe at the time. Akira got a cinematic release and two VHS releases (one double video in Japanese with subtitles and one awful dubbed version with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles voice actor). The British SNES magazine Super Play was very into RPGs and general Japanese stuff. And France, of course, has never treated comic books and animations as the pond scum of entertainment/arts. But when the SNES really took off a lot of that stuff died away. If I'm honest, the main reason I keep coming back to the PCE is to play Japanese stuff that didn't get a fair hearing in Europe, particularly RPGs.

[SuperDeadite]

Just for the record it should be noted that shitty Robotech is NOT actually anime.  Some crappy company took 3 totally unrelated shows:  Macross, Mospedia, and Southern Cross and combined them.  The story itself was completely rewritten by the localization company, Robotech was basically just a cheap way to save money by "borrowing" animation.

As for anime itself, it has certainly gone downhill, most likely because most anime is now just pumped out of a computer.  Like modern Disney movies, there is no real work or effort put into the final product any more.  Also Gundam Wing does quite suck, it is easily the worst Gundam show out there not counting that new Seed bullshit.

[runinruder]

Robotech did not come about as a "cheap way to save money."  Macross was the one that Macek wanted to bring over, but due to episode-count standards at the time, he couldn't convert it by its lonesome; so he combined it with two other series that Harmony Gold had acquired the rights to.  (Look around the web for more info on this.)  RT's staff writers like Greg Finley did a fantastic job with it, especially considering the circumstances, and if you hear those guys reflecting on the show today, it's clear it meant more than "money making" to them. 

And for the record, I think the "purists" are insane.  I much prefer Robotech's Macross Saga to SDF: Macross, and I rank Masters about on par with SDC: Southern Cross.  Mospeada does crush New Gen, however.

[malducci]

Robotech did not come about as a "cheap way to save money."  Macross was the one that Macek wanted to bring over, but due to episode-count standards at the time, he couldn't convert it by its lonesome; so he combined it with two other series that Harmony Gold had acquired the rights to.  (Look around the web for more info on this.)  RT's staff writers like Greg Finley did a fantastic job with it, especially considering the circumstances, and if you hear those guys reflecting on the show today, it's clear it meant more than "money making" to them. 

And for the record, I think the "purists" are insane.  I much prefer Robotech's Macross Saga to SDF: Macross, and I rank Masters about on par with SDC: Southern Cross.  Mospeada does crush New Gen, however.

 Yup. And the sound track to Robotech is much better than Macross. I haven't heard the original sound track to SDC: Southern Cross or Mospeada.

Like modern Disney movies, there is no real work or effort put into the final product any more.

What!? Are you actually serious or just talking out your ass? It's one thing not like or be interested in these (newer) Disney movies, but to say that "no real work or effort put into the final product" is just ignorant.


Anyway, back then I loved the fact there were anime art and cinemas in TG/DUO games. American art and design was (usually) pretty horrid. I didn't care for the Euro look/design either, but I admit it was usually better than the American style.

[Monster Bonce]

I couldn't say it's true of Europe as a whole but I've always thought that some French games were quite similar to Japanese. I wonder if this is related to the positive French attitude to « bandes dessinée » (comics) and animation?

And then, more recently, there's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_nouvelle_manga

[runinruder]

And the sound track to Robotech is much better than Macross.

Yeah, I totally agree.  It's funny; I'd played Macross 2036 before actually watching SDF: Macross, and based on the tunes in that game, I thought that the show's soundtrack would rival Robotech's.  Then when I finally got around to watching it, I discovered that some of the game's best tunes (like the stage 2 track) aren't even in the show.

I haven't heard the original sound track to SDC: Southern Cross or Mospeada.

Most people don't like Southern Cross' soundtrack, but most people don't like anything about the show to begin with.  I'm a Southern Cross/Masters fanatic, and I love the music.  

Mospeada also had a great soundtrack with some really good songs.  The background music seemed to suit the animation better than RT's music, which seemed more appropriate for the space battles of the Macross and Masters sagas.  I like Lancer's songs too, though.  

[takashirose]

Who in here likes Galaxy Express.  I love that movie.

[Kitsunexus]

Who in here likes Galaxy Express.  I love that movie.

It's cool, but the laserdisc game that it powers is even cooler.




And for the record, my favorite Gundam is G Gundam.

[Keranu]

Anyone who refuses to count Ys I & II as seperate games is wrong. 

Well they are cleary seperate games because they were originally sold that way, but in my head I like to think of them as one game because of how extremely close they are to each other. Do you think Falcom originally intended to sell it as one game but eventually decided not to or something just to make extra cash or for some other reason?

[TR0N]

Who in here likes Galaxy Express.  I love that movie.

I like it's just a shame it didn't get release again on dvd in the u.s 

[FM-77]

Anyone who refuses to count Ys I & II as seperate games is wrong. 

Well they are cleary seperate games because they were originally sold that way, but in my head I like to think of them as one game because of how extremely close they are to each other. Do you think Falcom originally intended to sell it as one game but eventually decided not to or something just to make extra cash or for some other reason?

No. In fact, Ys 1 was originally just a stand alone game with no sequel intended. That would've worked fine too. Personally, I don't think Ys 1-2 fits that well together (but good enough), as they are pretty different in many ways.

[jimid2]

Who in here likes Galaxy Express.  I love that movie.

I like it's just a shame it didn't get release again on dvd in the u.s 

Ya, I'm glad I've still got my VHS copy...

It's funny, I've never really thought about it and drawn a direct line before, but there's every likelyhood that my Turbo Duo was largely responsible for my interest in Anime as well... I know that the very first Anime tape I ever bought (Bubblegum Crisis ep. 5, which I bought sight unseen for $50!!  ) I chose from a wall of Anime's because I owned the PC Engine game (though I couldn't figure out how to play it very well - too much Japanese) and the blurb on the back of the Animeigo box said something about vampires (or implied it)... After that, I was hooked, and Akira, M66 and Ghost in the Shell, PatLabor, Armitage the Third and many others soon followed...

If you don't like Cowboy Bebop, then you shouldn't be watching anime in the first place since you obviously have no taste.  That's like saying Casablanca or The Godfather are shit movies.

ditto...

One of the interesting things that I've enjoyed in my later adulthood is sharing the Anime series that I discovered before my kids were born or when they were very young with them now that they're in their teens... Neither one of them has inherited the "obsessive-compulsive" gene that makes them a "fan" of anything in particular - they have broad interests and are pretty well-rounded, which is the antithesis of Otaku - so it's fascinating to discover which series they really like and which ones they let slide... Cowboy Beebop, Trigun and Bubblegum Crisis 2040 are three of their prefered series to date, but we never finished Neon Genesis Evangelion or The Wanderers (El Hazard) TV series (though they liked the OVAs). I'm curious to see how they take to Fushigi Yugi or Outlaw Star or Saber Marionette J next...

[Black Tiger]

Anyone who refuses to count Ys I & II as separate games is wrong. 

Well they are cleary separate games because they were originally sold that way, but in my head I like to think of them as one game because of how extremely close they are to each other. Do you think Falcom originally intended to sell it as one game but eventually decided not to or something just to make extra cash or for some other reason?

No. In fact, Ys 1 was originally just a stand alone game with no sequel intended. That would've worked fine too. Personally, I don't think Ys 1-2 fits that well together (but good enough), as they are pretty different in many ways.

I just thought that it was cool that at the end of Ys SMS it says that:


"A soft light surrounds 'Adol', as if he has been blessed by the goddesses of Ys."

"But some things will never be. Knowing this, 'Adol', the swordsman, sets off on his next adventure..."


And when they made Ys II, they actually turned the light into something literal that flew him into the air to take him to his next adventure, instead of the Littlest Hobo scenario alluded to in Ys I.

[Kitsunexus]

Maybe I'll give Cowboy Bebop another chance, I watched it on VHS a LONG time ago...it's probably better now.

[GUTS]

You should, Cowboy Bebop is one of the most well written pieces of entertainment I've ever come across.  The characters are all amazingly real, the dialog is incredible, and it has probably the single best ending out of any anime I've seen (it just fits the series so perfectly).  It might help if you watch it in Japanese- the american voice actors are actually pretty good, but Spike and Ed's japanese voice actors fit them way better I thought.