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Post by Ex on Jan 29, 2018 21:24:52 GMT -5
 A lot of us have played (or still play) classic computer platforms, such as Apple II, Commodore 64, or Amiga. Famous PC platforms which had western releases. But what of the PC platforms of the far east? How much time have you spent with the PC88, PC98, MSX, MSX2, FM7, FM Towns, X68000, and more? Only in recent years have I begun to explore the vast ocean of Japanese retro PC gaming. Every instance has been interesting, and many times rewarding as well. Sure there's droves of untranslated eroge, yet many quality platformers, shmups, and puzzlers lie in wait. So what's your experience with this type of retro gaming? Do you have any classic Japanese PC games you'd recommend? I'll come back later and post my own experiences. |
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Post by anayo on Jan 30, 2018 11:02:27 GMT -5
My 2001 XBOX is what I use for Sharp X68000 and PC98 emulation. Sharp X68000 looks so cool to me. It's like they combined the luscious graphics of a Super NES with the rockin' FM synth of a Sega Genesis. I've only played a stage or two in Akumajou Dracula and Geograph Seal, though - no complete playthroughs yet. Once I'm farther along with my Sega Genesis backlog I definitely want to spend more time with this.
I'm not as sure if I like the PC98 yet. I mainly got it for Rusty, but from what I can tell the PC98 wasn't really designed to handle lots of dynamic sprites whizzing around like Sega and Nintendo, so action games seem to have mediocre frame rates. Everything I've heard indicates it was better suited to rendering high resolution, static graphics that just sit still and look pretty. Consequently the best genre on there is point and click adventures like Policenauts. While I intend to play the Policenauts fan translation for Sega Saturn, I'm not enamored with the genre. I tried completing Snatcher on my Sega CD and fizzled out around the 60% - 70% mark. Which PC98 games are supposed to be the best? I haven't conducted much in-depth research for myself yet.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 30, 2018 11:56:15 GMT -5
Yeah, the PC98 wasn't really built for gaming. It was more of a business computer.
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Post by Ex on Jan 30, 2018 12:34:44 GMT -5
Sharp X68000 looks so cool to me. It's like they combined the luscious graphics of a Super NES with the rockin' FM synth of a Sega Genesis. That's a very keen way to describe the X68000, I can get behind that description. PLAY AQUALESWhich PC98 games are supposed to be the best? I've only beaten Night Slave (mecha shooter platformer) and Rusty (Castlevania inspired). But I've heard good things about: 46 Okunen* (EVO on SNES was a sequel to this) Belloncho Body Inspection* (ecchi RPG) Brandish 3 (hardcore dungeon crawler) CRW Metal Jacket* (mecha strategy) Farland Story series* (action RPG) Hayate The Battle (fighter) Macross Skull Leader* (sci-fi space strategy) Marble Cooking* (ecchi puzzler) Reserve (ecchi board game) Reserve 1/2 (ecchi board game) Yugekitai ~ Saikyoushin Fukkatsu no Maki ~* (adventure) Yugekitai Kakuto Hen 1 ~ Saikyoushin Fukkatsu no Maki ~* (fighter) *Has English fan translation. Sarge is right the PC88/98 were designed as business computers, and their OS interfaces were optimized for menu based applications. This is why the Japanese adventure game genre became menu based. |
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Jan 30, 2018 20:32:22 GMT -5
The Farland games are awesome, though you're all probably better off playing the later console titles. Oh, these are turn-based SRPGs, not ARPGs.  I like these Japanese computers quite a bit, though the obscene obscurity of all of the hardware and software is disheartening. You pretty much have to go full emulation, though MSX stuff can be found fairly easily if you wanna pony up the cash. I am fortunate to own an MSX. This is the most similar to a Western computer of the era. It looks like a fat keyboard, and takes carts (+ disks and cassettes with addition drive attachments). Note that all complex games are on the MSX2. The MSX1 library is similar to black label NES, SG-1000, etc. with some oddball simple RPGs thrown into the mix (I have Hydlide II and Dragon Quest). I dig it. One thing I was lucky enough to find for "cheap" last year for the PC was the Dragon Slayer Chronicle. This contains (officially) emulated versions of these classic PC-88, PC-98, and MSX2 RPGs. Pretty rad. |
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Post by Ex on Jan 30, 2018 21:03:20 GMT -5
these are turn-based SRPGs, not ARPGs I was misinformed! I am fortunate to own an MSX. Nice. I've seen lots of good looking MSX 1 & 2 games lately. Stuff like: AshGuine Story II
Buster
Chubby Gristle
Fray
Golvellius II
King's Valley II
Knightmare III
M36 A Life Planet
SD Snatcher
Silviana
Sofia
The Maze of Galious
Trantor - The Last Stormtrooper
Treasure of the Usas
Valis II
War of the Dead
War of the Dead 2
Xak I, III, III |
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Jan 31, 2018 5:00:51 GMT -5
I have really only messed around with PC98 stuff personally, but I find all of it fascinating. As someone who grew up far away from PC gaming, the stuff here looks (obviously) much more in line with what I grew up loving.
My experience is still pretty low, though. I've played the 5 Touhou games for the PC98, and I remember trying out some cheeky RPG that Bone mentioned at some point (Knights of Xentar? Something like that). I would love to dig into this stuff more asap, assuming I can get everything set up correctly.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Jan 31, 2018 8:49:03 GMT -5
@ex
That's a decent list. I'm trying to find physical copies of a few of those. Games like AshGuine Story make me wish I had dropped the extra cash for the MSX2.
Note that a couple (Silviana, Galious) are easier to find/play on Famicom.
I reckon you would also enjoy Courageous Perseus and Borfes. The latter was developed by Xtalsoft, who was on par with Koei, Falcom, Square, and Enix throughout the 1980s. Most of their games never made it off computers, sadly.
@dun
Ha, you probably are thinking of Knights of Xentar. I love that game! Note that it got a U.S. DOS release, translated to English. I'd recommend going that route.
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Post by Ex on Jan 31, 2018 11:16:57 GMT -5
I reckon you would also enjoy Courageous Perseus and Borfes. Courageous Perseus looks a bit like an old Ultima, and Borfes seems Zelda-ish. They both look interesting, thanks for the mentions. Also I'll pour one out for ol' Megatech. |
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Post by Sarge on Jan 31, 2018 11:43:43 GMT -5
Yep, I remember Knights of Xentar. I was looking for JRPGs to play, and... well, yeah, it's one of those games, as I quickly found out!  |
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