What games should I get?

[Arjak]

I just recently bought Magic Engine (because ebay prices for actual systems are insane) and I was wondering what CD games I should get. I currently have the following on my want list:

Lords of Thunder (ordered and waiting for arrival)
Ys series
Gate of Thunder
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes
Implode
Meteor Blaster DX

Please make suggestions on other games I should look into; and feel free to praise or criticize any of the games listed. I don't want to get a bad game by accident!

[sunteam_paul]

Schbibin Man 3
Dracula X
Star Parodia
Wonder Boy : Monster Lair
Dungeon Explorer II
Spriggan

to name but a few...

[nat]

I already posted this on MagicEngine.com, but get Sapphire.

Please make suggestions on other games I should look into; and feel free to praise or criticize any of the games listed. I don't want to get a bad game by accident!

Implode f*cking rules. I put off buying it for a long time because in all honesty, I thought it looked so-so. I can't say much for the "bonus" games included (more like demos), but Implode itself is serious fun. Whenever I put it in I can't stop playing. Things start moving at a maniacal pace around level 9 or so. The music is sweet, too.

And of course I don't need to say anything about Ys, Lords, and Gate of Thunder. Those are a given.

[Turbo D]

You already picked out the greatest cd games, so I guess I can only suggest cotton. But on the other hand, that Cotton really pisses me off 

[guyjin]

magic engine is a scam. There are better emulators, and they're free.

I'm sorry you wasted money on it. 

[Turbo D]

magic engine is pretty easy to use, but it does perform sloppy and sometimes slow. Also, it can be free 

[Tatsujin]

here some more

Nexzr
Sapphire
Faussete Amour
Forgotten Worlds
Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou
Horror Story
Image Fight II
Kaze Kiri
Metamor Jupiter
R-TYPE Complete CD
Rayxanber II
Rayxanber III 
Spriggan Mark 2: Re Terraform Project 
Sylphia
Super Raiden
Rainbow Islands 

[nodtveidt]

Magic Engine isn't a scam, it's the only "professional" grade PCE emulator there is. Every other one lacks in one way or another.

Mednafen is by far the most accurate, but configuring it is a bitch, and it doesn't start up centered. It also lacks a few niceties that Magic Engine has.
Hu-Go! requires a massive runtime to be installed and configured first. Also, its colors are usually wrong.
YAME has a lot of broken dialogs.
Ootake has incorrect emulation and is rather buggy overall.
hu6280 is abandoned and lacks accuracy anyways.
tgemu works decently but severely lacks the "professional touch".

Any other PCE emulator isn't even worth listing here. Right now though, the real battle for the crown is between Magic Engine and Mednafen. If Mednafen had a proper frontend and added some of the cool features that Magic Engine has (such as slowmo/speedup), it would be the clear-cut winner.

[Arjak]

I've only seen these games on TZD, but they look interesting. What is your opinion on:

J.B. Harold Murder Club
Shape Shifter

And yeah, I tried a couple other emulators before going to Magic Engine, I too thought it was a big scam, but now I realize that it was the only realistic choice if I wanted to play Turbo games. The other emulators I tried didn't measure up, and ordering a Turbo Duo off of ebay is an even bigger scam than Magic Engine!

[nat]

The other emulators I tried didn't measure up, and ordering a Turbo Duo off of ebay is an even bigger scam than Magic Engine!

Truthfully, there is no substitute for the real hardware.

Find yourself a Japanese Duo or "briefcase" console. These are ridiculously less expensive than a US TurboDuo.

Without a real console you're missing out on so much of the gaming experience.

Shape Shifter

f*cking awesome. I haven't had a chance to play through the entire game yet, but it appears incredibly big, and has an interesting premise. Not to mention nice graphics. Beating bosses gives you the ability to morph into different creatures.

[nodtveidt]

Shape Shifter has a lot of nice features in it (faked multiple parallax, ADPCM streaming, etc) but it seems they forgot to concentrate enough effort on what really matters in a game...proper gameplay. That aspect of the game was clearly tacked on as an afterthought. If you can get used to the VERY erratic and mostly broken controls, you might have fun with it.

[Keranu]

The main gameplay flaw I found in Shape Shifter is when you're on the ledge of a platform and your character (especially the panther) will fall off if you wait there for a second. However this flaw actually makes the game fun for me as it feels great once you get used to this weird design .

[Bake]

I think a lot of turbo fans dislike Shapeshifter because it is difficult, and it takes awhile to master the levels so you don't die often (I think you can only die 9 times; after that, game over).  However, I still recommend that you purchase the game.  I liked it even though the gameplay is at times tricky (that panther!).  I even beat the game, but because it was so difficult I don't think there is a lot of replay value in it (Maybe, I'll try to beat it again someday).  So, I would start with Ys book I and II, Gate and Lords of Thunder.  Then, get Shapeshifter and whatever else you think looks fun. 

[runinruder]

Shape Shifter and JB Harold are both excellent.

Shape Shifter is tough at first.  You need to put in some practice to master the controls and familiarize yourself with the level layouts.  Once you reach a point of proficiency, the game feels great to play.  Completing it is a rewarding experience (even moreso when you can do it with one life).  And everything else, from the parallax to the soundtrack to the big bosses, rules from the get-go.  I've played through it lots of times.  But if you're not willing to put in some practice time, or you're simply not a good player, then don't bother with it. 

[malducci]

Shape Shifter and JB Harold are both excellent.

Shape Shifter is tough at first.  You need to put in some practice to master the controls and familiarize yourself with the level layouts.  Once you reach a point of proficiency, the game feels great to play.  Completing it is a rewarding experience (even moreso when you can do it with one life).  And everything else, from the parallax to the soundtrack to the big bosses, rules from the get-go.  I've played through it lots of times.  But if you're not willing to put in some practice time, or you're simply not a good player, then don't bother with it. 

 Or you don't care for games with sub par play controls

 There are plenty of challenging games with good-to-great play control. Shapeshifter is not one of them.

 The game seems polished in all other areas though. The graphics are great and really beautiful at times and the effects are nice. The sounds effects are up to snuff and the music is really cool. If your a PCE/DUO lover, then you'll probably forgive the controls. But if this game were on another system, I'm sure it wouldn't fare so well from its fans.


 Ys and Dragon Slayer on your list, that'll keep you happy and busy for a while. I'd go for CF2, DE2, and Ys 3 (maybe - if you can handle the scrolling . After a little while I don't even notice it anymore).