Some thoughts on a few new PCE game I picked up

[Lord Thag]

I've picked up a nice pile of PCE titles over the last couple of days, and I thought I'd post a few thoughts on them. I'm sure most of you have played the better share of these, but I always like reading the review threads, so there ya go 

Gradius: I'd never played the PCE version of this, but now that I have, I found it to be vastly superior to the NES version. The sounds and graphics are spot on, and it plays just like the original I mastered all those years ago. And that is kind of the problem. While visually quite nice, Gradius is rather slow and easy. I played through 3/4 of the game on my first try, and I was tired and being attacked by kittens to boot. It's still a good game, but it's far easier that I remember. Maybe it's just that I'm better than I used to be.

Tower of Druaga: This game surprised me. I loathed the original arcade, but this one is more fun than I thought. I got it cheap, and it was well worth the money. It's not a fast game, but the graphics are good, the gameplay is fun, and there are a ton of levels. You can level up your knight with several stats, and this adds some light RPG elements to the experience. I need to give this some more play, but so far, it's pretty fun in an easy-going, play-before-bed, relaxing sort of way.

Image Fight: I love this game. Seriously, this is one of the best shooters I've played on the PCE. It's no graphical powerhouse, by any means, but the gameplay is sharp a s a knife, and it demands your respect. It's hard, but fair, and the bosses are quite challenging and fun. This game deserves all the praise it gets. I'm trying to ramp up my skills to compete with rag-time 

Altered Beast (hucard): Mixed feelings on this one. It's not terrible, by any means, and the gameplay is decent, if not easy. I miss the 'Wise Fwom Your Gwave!' and other voice overs. The controls feel a bit stiff too. On the other hand, this one is no mere pushover like the genesis version. Not the best PCE game by any means, though.

Cyber Knight: This looks to be a very fun RPG game with Phantasty Star/MEcha elements. Great intro too, and the battle system seems nice. When I have the time, I'll be checking this title out in depth. I know zilch about the japanese language, but this one was not that hard to puzzle out.

Spiral Wave: Space Harrier with a map, basically. It's not bad at all, though it's pretty challenging. I keep getting crushed 

Salamander: This game is amazing. I had completely forgotten how awesome the thumping, intense soundtrack to this game was, and it sounds beautiful (and far better than the NES). The graphics are pure candy, and the powerup system is not the usual gradius one (which I like), and the more standard setup works fine here. Great gameplay, and the challenge is far stiffer than Gradius. It's a lot faster too. This title is very much in the 'A league' of the PCE games I've played. OUtstanding stuff.

So, any of you folks have input on these titles?

[runinruder]

Cyber Knight: This looks to be a very fun RPG game with Phantasty Star/MEcha elements. Great intro too, and the battle system seems nice. When I have the time, I'll be checking this title out in depth. I know zilch about the japanese language, but this one was not that hard to puzzle out.

Very good game, one of a number of solid HuCard RPGs that generally go unnoticed.  Absolutely fantastic music.  There's a FAQ available for the SNES version, and about 95% of it is applicable to the PCE one.  You really should at least study up on katakana (which isn't at all difficult to learn) if you want to get through the game, however. 

Spiral Wave: Space Harrier with a map, basically. It's not bad at all, though it's pretty challenging. I keep getting crushed 

This is a brilliant sleeper with more great music.  I wrote a guide for it, found here:

http://www.honestgamers.com/systems/guide.php?guide_id=5066&platform=TurboGrafx-16&abr=TG16&gametitle=Spiral+Wave+%28TurboGrafx-16%29

[Necromancer]

Tower of Druaga: This game surprised me. I loathed the original arcade, but this one is more fun than I thought. I got it cheap, and it was well worth the money. It's not a fast game, but the graphics are good, the gameplay is fun, and there are a ton of levels. You can level up your knight with several stats, and this adds some light RPG elements to the experience. I need to give this some more play, but so far, it's pretty fun in an easy-going, play-before-bed, relaxing sort of way.

This one isn't a bad game but it never really caught my fancy either.  If you have a flash cart, try out the translation patch.

[DJLobo]

Salamander: This game is amazing. I had completely forgotten how awesome the thumping, intense soundtrack to this game was, and it sounds beautiful (and far better than the NES). The graphics are pure candy, and the powerup system is not the usual gradius one (which I like), and the more standard setup works fine here. Great gameplay, and the challenge is far stiffer than Gradius. It's a lot faster too. This title is very much in the 'A league' of the PCE games I've played. OUtstanding stuff.

I loved playing Lifeforce, but I was disappointed when I learned how different the difficulty was when compared to the original game. You'll definitely notice a difference in speed if you've played Lifeforce. Salamander's graphics and sound really show what the system can do. I'm a fan of shooters and this is one of the best titles out there.

[rag-time4]

I've picked up a nice pile of PCE titles over the last couple of days, and I thought I'd post a few thoughts on them. I'm sure most of you have played the better share of these, but I always like reading the review threads, so there ya go 

Gradius: I'd never played the PCE version of this, but now that I have, I found it to be vastly superior to the NES version. The sounds and graphics are spot on, and it plays just like the original I mastered all those years ago. And that is kind of the problem. While visually quite nice, Gradius is rather slow and easy. I played through 3/4 of the game on my first try, and I was tired and being attacked by kittens to boot. It's still a good game, but it's far easier that I remember. Maybe it's just that I'm better than I used to be.

Tower of Druaga: This game surprised me. I loathed the original arcade, but this one is more fun than I thought. I got it cheap, and it was well worth the money. It's not a fast game, but the graphics are good, the gameplay is fun, and there are a ton of levels. You can level up your knight with several stats, and this adds some light RPG elements to the experience. I need to give this some more play, but so far, it's pretty fun in an easy-going, play-before-bed, relaxing sort of way.

Image Fight: I love this game. Seriously, this is one of the best shooters I've played on the PCE. It's no graphical powerhouse, by any means, but the gameplay is sharp a s a knife, and it demands your respect. It's hard, but fair, and the bosses are quite challenging and fun. This game deserves all the praise it gets. I'm trying to ramp up my skills to compete with rag-time 

Altered Beast (hucard): Mixed feelings on this one. It's not terrible, by any means, and the gameplay is decent, if not easy. I miss the 'Wise Fwom Your Gwave!' and other voice overs. The controls feel a bit stiff too. On the other hand, this one is no mere pushover like the genesis version. Not the best PCE game by any means, though.

Cyber Knight: This looks to be a very fun RPG game with Phantasty Star/MEcha elements. Great intro too, and the battle system seems nice. When I have the time, I'll be checking this title out in depth. I know zilch about the japanese language, but this one was not that hard to puzzle out.

Spiral Wave: Space Harrier with a map, basically. It's not bad at all, though it's pretty challenging. I keep getting crushed 

Salamander: This game is amazing. I had completely forgotten how awesome the thumping, intense soundtrack to this game was, and it sounds beautiful (and far better than the NES). The graphics are pure candy, and the powerup system is not the usual gradius one (which I like), and the more standard setup works fine here. Great gameplay, and the challenge is far stiffer than Gradius. It's a lot faster too. This title is very much in the 'A league' of the PCE games I've played. OUtstanding stuff.

So, any of you folks have input on these titles?

Gradius is one I want to get. I've got Gradius II but not the first one... I beat the NES version years ago but have just been putting off buying the PCE version.

Tower of Druaga is one I really want to get. I recently bought the PS2 sequel from Sparky which really piqued my interest in the classic version, which I never played.

Have you ever played the NES version of Image Fight? Makes the PCE version look extremely gorgeous by comparison! I agree though, that eye candy isn't what the PC Engine version is all about, but those red pods really put the gameplay at the top of the list of shooters. The game really pushes you to execute creative flight patterns so you can get the firing angle that you want.

Part of what I love about it is that aiming your red pods just the way you want them requires a very deft touch at times and a high degree of skill and precision. Flying the ship itself is a skill that needs some practice, whereas in 99% of shooters moving the ship around is more of a given and your field of fire is much more limited.

I've never played the Altered Beast HuCard, but I have the CD ROM version.

Haven't tried Cyber Knight or Spiral Wave, but I do have Salamander. The power up system actually threw me when I sat down with it. I just need to spend more time on it and get used to it. Loved Life Force on the NES so I'm sure I'll enjoy Salamander when I spend more time with it.