32-bit comparisons?

[_joshuaTurbo]

With the endless amount of comparisons between SNES, Genesis and TG16/PCE on these forums, a question popped into my head-

Are there any games that came out cross platform for the 32-bitters including the PCFX?  Saturn Vs. PSX videos and forum debates are everywhere, but what about PCFX vs. Saturn vs. PSX vs. 3Do?  

[Necromancer]

Nat did one of Langrisser II.

[nat]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, actually, and I may have something in the works along these lines.

There are a ton of games that came out on the PC-FX, Saturn, and Playstation. Blue Breaker, Langrisser/Warsong 2, Shanghai: The Great Wall, Angelique Special, Angelique Special 2, Angelique/Requiem of the Heavens, Classmates II, Boundary Gate, J.B. Harold/Blue Chicago Blues, Farland Story, First Kiss, Return to Zork, Dragon Knight IV, the list goes on and on.

From what I've seen, the Playstation and PC-FX versions of games are often identical while the Saturn versions are usually redrawn to take advantage of the Saturn's slightly higher resolution.

[RR1980]

hmm wasn't there a Street fight II sequel type game on the PCFX

[SignOfZeta]

While I'm sure there are people here that will defend the thing, citing unused technologies and hidden potential, the real reason you never see comparisons between the PC-FX and any other system (except for maybe the CD-I) is because there is none. The few games that actually appeared cross platform were usually rather low-end, unimpressive affairs (again, zealots will disagree) and during the short pathetic life of the system very few titles that most gamers would consider "real games" were released. The titles that made the Saturn and Playstation what they were (VF2, Xmen versus Street Fighter, Panzer Dragoon Azel, Guardian Heroes, Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy 7, Gran Turismo, etc) seem to be in another class completely that what the FX could do. f*ck, NBA Jam on Playstation, or even DDR, is more of a game than most FX titles. At least its a game.

Again, fanatics will disagree, but (as I said in the other thread) all that matters really are the games that actually were released, and in that regard the FX not only fails to compare to the competition, totally, but also fails to compare to its predecessor.

[Black Tiger]

Although the PC-FX doesn't have the kind of library that the Saturn and Playstation do, the real reason there isn't much in way of comparisons is the small interest that the PC-FX has online combined with how unfriendly emulation of 32-bit consoles is. The point of comparisons isn't to shame specific consoles.

[esteban]

The point of comparisons isn't to shame specific consoles.

TRUTH.

[Arkhan]

While I'm sure there are people here that will defend the thing, citing unused technologies and hidden potential, the real reason you never see comparisons between the PC-FX and any other system (except for maybe the CD-I) is because there is none. The few games that actually appeared cross platform were usually rather low-end, unimpressive affairs (again, zealots will disagree) and during the short pathetic life of the system very few titles that most gamers would consider "real games" were released. The titles that made the Saturn and Playstation what they were (VF2, Xmen versus Street Fighter, Panzer Dragoon Azel, Guardian Heroes, Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy 7, Gran Turismo, etc) seem to be in another class completely that what the FX could do. f*ck, NBA Jam on Playstation, or even DDR, is more of a game than most FX titles. At least its a game.

Again, fanatics will disagree, but (as I said in the other thread) all that matters really are the games that actually were released, and in that regard the FX not only fails to compare to the competition, totally, but also fails to compare to its predecessor.

the PCFX was approached incorrectly is all.  The system itself has alot of potential for Saturn style games, but the direction most games went was FMV heavy. 

You can see what could've been if you look at Zeroigar, the RPGs, CCK, and Boundary Gate.

Boundary Gate is on par with Shining the Holy Ark!

but sadly most games were of the digital-comic/FMV heavy variety, and that didn't really take off like they hoped.

Arcade shooters and platformers are what really did it back then, and PCFX got

ONE SHOOTER

f*ckkkkkkkkkkk. 

If I could alter history I would go back to the developers and force them to make a bunch of exclusive shooters, and a game like Zenki that was a platformer like SOTN, not a fighter.
 
As it stands now the system is a niche sort of setup.  If you don't like cutesy talky games, don't bother.  Not enough bang for your buck if you hate that stuff.

I saw a guy on DigitPiss I believe, that bought a PCFX and Zenki for an idiotic amount and then was like WTF WHERES THE REST OF THE GAMES THAT ARE LIKE THIS.

*face* + *palm*

[nat]

While I'm sure there are people here that will defend the thing, citing unused technologies and hidden potential, the real reason you never see comparisons between the PC-FX and any other system (except for maybe the CD-I) is because there is none. The few games that actually appeared cross platform were usually rather low-end, unimpressive affairs (again, zealots will disagree)

Well, that's all in the eye of the beholder of course. I wouldn't consider myself a "zealot," and I'm not going to cite unharnessed potential, but the PC-FX is a great system if you like JRPGs, dating sims, strategy adventure/RPGs, and digital comics. It's a damn shame the library isn't larger. I might be in the minority, but I'd be happy with a larger library even if it consisted of the same ratio of genres among games as it does now. So far, all the PC-FX games I've played through have been of remarkable quality. If that trend continues as I further explore its library, it'll hold (in my eyes) one of the best quality-to-crap ratios of any system out there. Sure as hell trounces the TurboGrafx-16/PCE! I happen to agree with you that a system is only as "good" as its library of releases dictates, and in this regard, the PC-FX looks pretty damn good.

and during the short pathetic life of the system very few titles that most gamers would consider "real games" were released.

That's a pretty silly assessment. Not counting the Anime Freak releases (which I concede are not games by any means), and assuming you don't count digital comics as "real games" that still leaves 75% of the library. Maybe you & "most gamers" have a different idea of what makes a real game than I do.

On the flipside, if by "very few" you mean "very few compared to the Saturn and Playstation," well, the fact that both those libraries are exponentially larger than the PC-FX's precludes any sort of argument.

The titles that made the Saturn and Playstation what they were (VF2, Xmen versus Street Fighter, Panzer Dragoon Azel, Guardian Heroes, Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy 7, Gran Turismo, etc) seem to be in another class completely that what the FX could do. f*ck, NBA Jam on Playstation, or even DDR, is more of a game than most FX titles. At least its a game.

Still not sure what characteristics a title has to have to make it a game. Do you consider RPGs games? How about dating sims? Strategy games (like Warsong/Langrisser, etc)? These are all honest questions, I'm trying to understand your qualifications for what constitutes a "game."

Again, fanatics will disagree, but (as I said in the other thread) all that matters really are the games that actually were released, and in that regard the FX not only fails to compare to the competition, totally, but also fails to compare to its predecessor.

I completely and totally agree with the first part of this sentence. There is no Symphony of the Night or Rondo of Blood on the PC-FX to compare with your Saturn or Turbo, and in that regard, you are correct in that it can not compare. The PC-FX is a non-traditional console, so traditional comparisons are pointless.

To date, I have yet to encounter a dud on the PC-FX. Have you played all the games on the PC-FX? I have not; I can't comment on games I haven't played through, I can only report on the titles I have played. I can say that I've yet to encounter a Genpei Toumaden, Talespin, or Falcon among the FX games I've completed. As a matter of fact, they've all been exceptionally good. And believe it or not, every single one of them has been a real game!

I'd eagerly recommend the FX to anyone who likes the genres I mentioned earlier. The fact it also has a few fighting, shooting and action games is just a bonus, really. Obviously, it's not for everyone.

[SignOfZeta]

Obviously I consider RPGs "real" games. In general though what I'm getting at is that, for most people, a video game is usually something where there is a bad dude, or a ninja, or a space ship, or a car, or a Pac Man or something you control that isn't a f*cking video clip or a curser. The FX's ratio or "curser to action" games is horrific. Only the Wonderswan compares...but the Wonderswan is still better than the FX since it has Pocket Fighter, and Makaimura and Judgement Silversword, and One Piece and...shit, Densha de Go! for that matter. An well done FX version of Densha de Go! (FMV-based, of course) might actually be pretty cool.

And no, I haven't played every single game on this system, or probably any system, and neither have %99.999 of all people who played video games. That's a f*cking ridiculous prerequisite for an opinion. I love the PCE, but there a couple hundred games on it I've never played. Despite this I'm going to decide that I like it regardless.

BTW, I know of one shooter and one beat-em-up. Are there actually any other action games on FX? There is a side scrolling action RPG (name escapes me) I think but how many other games are more than just menus and videos? That's the most frustrating thing of all about the FX. Nobody even knows WTF it can do because almost nobody bothered to even try.

[_joshuaTurbo]

There are a ton of games that came out on the PC-FX, Saturn, and Playstation. Blue Breaker, Langrisser/Warsong 2, Shanghai: The Great Wall, Angelique Special, Angelique Special 2, Angelique/Requiem of the Heavens, Classmates II, Boundary Gate, J.B. Harold/Blue Chicago Blues, Farland Story, First Kiss, Return to Zork, Dragon Knight IV, the list goes on and on.
From what I've seen, the Playstation and PC-FX versions of games are often identical while the Saturn versions are usually redrawn to take advantage of the Saturn's slightly higher resolution.

That's what I was looking for.  Comparisons of games that came out across the PCFX and multiple other platforms.

BTW, I know of one shooter and one beat-em-up. Are there actually any other action games on FX? There is a side scrolling action RPG (name escapes me) I think but how many other games are more than just menus and videos? That's the most frustrating thing of all about the FX. Nobody even knows WTF it can do because almost nobody bothered to even try.

Don't forget Chip Chan Kick.  That is a bubble bobble style puzzler/ action game.

but looking at your comparisons Zeta, the CD-i had Mario Hotel, a few Zelda games, Burn Cycle along with some other 'real' games in its library.  Does that mean the CD-i > PCFX?

[SignOfZeta]

Nah, a shitload of bad real games is still worse than a shitload of good curser/FMV games.

At least the FX was good at whatever the f*ck it was doing.

[nat]

And no, I haven't played every single game on this system, or probably any system, and neither have %99.999 of all people who played video games. That's a f*cking ridiculous prerequisite for an opinion.

Of course it is. The way you were declaring "facts" about the game library made me wonder, however, if you knew something I didn't. As in, maybe every PC-FX game other than the ones I've played were as you describe.

Obviously I consider RPGs "real" games. In general though what I'm getting at is that, for most people, a video game is usually something where there is a bad dude, or a ninja, or a space ship, or a car, or a Pac Man or something you control that isn't a f*cking video clip or a curser. The FX's ratio or "curser to action" games is horrific.

But it really isn't. That's what I was saying in my first message, only 25% of the library is as you say, video clip and/or cursor-driven. The other 75% of the library is just plain ol' JRPGS with FMV cutscenes instead of your standard pixel art, dating sims (the term is misleading, as you usually actually control a "real" avatar as opposed to menu-driven drivel), puzzle games, and other random strategy RPGs, board games or action games. The "It's a FMV-only console" is a stigma, probably propagated by the lack of actual screenshots on the Web. Those that do exist, are usually culled from the first 10 seconds of any given game's opening cinema (almost always FMV on the PC-FX). PCECP, I'm looking at you. It's easy to assume the PC-FX library consists only of FMV games browsing the "screenshots" on PCECP, as like 97% of the shots there were taken within 10 seconds of booting a game and only 3% actually show any of the actual gameplay. That, coupled with PCECP's ludicrous "Genre" (Simulated Life Game? What the f*ck?!) listings, it's no wonder people view the console as they do. PCECP lists half the RPGs as either "Simulations" or "Simulated Life Games," usually accompanied by a screenshot of the title screen, box art, and finally one of the FMV pre-title sequence.

Hey, I initially bought the PC-FX exclusively for Zeroigar, Zenki, and Last Imperial Prince because I found a once-in-a-lifetime deal on the hardware. I was just like everyone else, I assumed all but four games were boring "press a button, watch a video" snore-fests. What I actually got was exponentially more than I bargained for.

Look, I'm not asking you (or anyone else) to start liking the console because I said so. I'd just like to stop the propagation of misinformation surrounding its library and bring some clarification to situation. I have some ideas along these lines that I sort of alluded to in my initial response to turboStar, but it's hard to say if they'll ever come to fruition as my focus these days (on the rare occasion I have both the time and motivation) is the Brothers Duomazov.

BTW, I know of one shooter and one beat-em-up. Are there actually any other action games on FX? There is a side scrolling action RPG (name escapes me) I think but how many other games are more than just menus and videos?

Do you consider JRPGs "action" games? If so, there are... well, tons. See my paragraph above. If not... There's Last Imperial Prince (the name you're looking for), also there is Chip Chan Kick and Team Innocent (an anime-styled version of Resident Evil) in the "action" game department. Ruruli Ra Ra or whatever the f*ck it's called is a standard platformer. There are a handful of "fighters," but those probably aren't what you consider "real games" since gameplay visuals are played out via FMV clips in response to moves instead of an actual pixel-art avatar.

[Black Tiger]

Does the Sega-CD suck because non-fans think that it has mostly or only fmv games?

I think that a positive opinion can be formed from minor exposure to a console's library, but negative ones require a deeper prerequisite to have credibility. Finding enough content to justify a console for you makes a positive opinion of any platform valid. The only way you can dismiss a library you haven't familiarized yourself with enough, is by saying something like "I haven't seen or tried enough of the games, but so far it's not looking/sounding good".

This is a big problem with the PCE in particular. Most people who diss it don't really know much about it or its games. Nintendo fanboys do it a lot with Sega consoles. I love the 32X for a few games, but many people totally write it off as being the same as the SuperGrafx with only 6 games or so. Even though it actually has something like 40 games. It's still not a lot compared to most consoles, but it's still a huge discrepancy.

Good or bad, many people say that the PCE has mostly or only shooter games, when in reality less than 15% of its games are shooters and there are as many games that fall under the general RPG label. It even has more RPG-related games than the SNES/SFC, which is considered the RPG king by quantity alone.


I've long planned some PC-FX comparisons. I even gathered a bunch of screen shots from "real" games a long time ago, but they're on an old computer and I don't have time to dig them up. I have some good ideas for comparisons that I could pull off with my current setup once I find some free time.

[nectarsis]

Look, I'm not asking you (or anyone else) to start liking the console because I said so. I'd just like to stop the propagation of misinformation surrounding its library and bring some clarification to situation.

It seems it's ALWAYS the same tired "it's a FMV "porn" game machine with no real/"good" games."  USUALLY by people that have played 5-10 minutes of a VERY few games.  In other words people that have played so little of anything yet they "know" the system & library.