A Sharp X68000 Hidden Gem! Phalanx

[@kosmosyche]

Yeehaw, pardner! Where's my banjo? I reckon them aliens gonna squeal like little piggies when I'm done with them.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

🤣 nice

[@CultOfTheGlenda]

You are really on fire with these X68000 videos lately! Good work!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They were a ton of fun to make. Sadly series is coming to an end soon

[@CultOfTheGlenda]

I might be a little bit slow or something, but I have to ask: why?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I run 10 to 12 video series then I move on. Maybe more X68000 in 2026. But I have one more surprise up my sleeve

[@CultOfTheGlenda]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I guess your 96-part series of Nintendo suing again is more of an anomaly. I hope it stays that way; I love that series.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha news updates have no limits to episodes

[@aliceinmansonland448]

After ALL that X68000 research... This is like saying... "YOU MISSED A SPOT!"😂 Excellent video! (Tatakae Konyanko EX was my big find, but who could say no to a SHMUP!😊)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I may add a few bonus episodes to the series now

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

So if R Type had a one night stand with Darius...

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Out comes Phalanx 9 months later

[@Mansfels]

Cho ren sha is one of my favorite shmups which is also on sharp x68000. This game looks really cool, definetly will check it out

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Cho Ren Sha is a classic

[@balaam_7087]

I recognized that old man with the Banjo immediately, he was in all those strange ads for the game in old gaming magazines :D

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I had to put him in the thumbnail

[@rvounik]

my fav game on the sharp, that soundtrack is so good especially when using midi!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The soundtrack is legendarily good

[@DrJ3RK8]

Nice! I didn't realize this was also on the X68000. I always liked it on the SNES.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yeah I think most people don’t realize it’s on the X68000. They just remember the SNES version

[@Jabjabs]

Oh look at that parallax! Not only lots of layers but they overlap in many fancy ways. There is a reasons the x68k was considered the Japanese Amiga.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

X68000 could do a lot of things with 2D

[@fv_ys_]

"My life has been a wreck since I met X68" That`s funny. Taken from [ Secret Messages In X68000 Phalanx Chart A Descent Into Crunch-Induced Madness ]

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha game has a weird sense of humor

[@_BELMONT_]

i remember finding this game on SNES at a flea market thinking. "why not, it's only 3 bucks." i dont remember what i was expecting when i popped the cartridge in for the first time but i was very surprised at how much fun it was! Can't wait to try it out on the Sharp!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s funny how few people knew what was on the cart. They just knew “ooh the banjo hillbilly game”

[@_BELMONT_]

@@VideoGameEsoterica i wonder what the conversation was like that led to that label art! :)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha who knows. Makes zero sense

[@TripleDaGOD]

The Wii port of this is really good as well. Worth a playthrough for the arrange mode alone. All versions of the game are worth a play if nothing else.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s def a deep cut more people need to play

[@ChadDoebelin]

3:33 here comes the 128bit 68090! wow!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Imagine if that’s what we actually got

[@jamiec2023]

No love for banjos? Phalanx deliverance has to be the name for the sequel

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I’d buy that

[@nicolasrolke3538]

Need to try! Thank you 😊

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That’s what I’m here for!

[@miguelcarneiro1192]

Very cool looking one my friend

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic

[@miguelcarneiro1192]

@VideoGameEsoterica I didnt knew it, looks very cool

[@Michirin9801]

Never knew this was on X68000... Never played the famous SNES version either, nah, I played this on GBA, no hillbillies on that version either.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I don’t think many people knew it started life on X68000

[@Yuuretsu]

This is a fantastic shmup. I actually prefer the Snes ost in this case but the horrible slowdown kills that version for me sometimes.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Both have classic soundtracks. Really can’t go wrong with either

[@kcb1784]

I only knew this was going to Phalanx -because- of the hillbilly. I remember seeing this at the Block Buster Video.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Everyone remembers the hillbilly but not the game haha

[@kcb1784]

@VideoGameEsoterica I remember looking at the back of the box and thinking "this looks like R-Rype". Never understood NA box art.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@kcb1784 the box art always got mangled from Japan to the US

[@SkyScourgeGod]

Phalanx in general is a hidden gem in the shmup library regardless of what machine its on. The X68000 has so many of these types of games that its no surprise that Phalanx get buried underneath so many others on this machine. The weird cover art, while very well known and beloved in a funky sort of way now, didn't really help things when it came out back in "ye olden days". At least it's still very accessible and fun on the Super Nintendo although the X68000 does a great job of representing this title. On the subject of shmups, did you ever get a chance to check out that copy of Rayxanber for the Marty that I sent you? I bet that's a great game for the Marty.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I love the cover art but it probably did NOTHING to help sell the game on SNES

[@Gunhed873]

There’s a mini version of the game hidden as an Easter egg in the fighting game Zero Divide (also by Zoom) on the PS1. Pretty sure it’s based on this version.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Ooh I did not know that and I know way too much useless knowledge haha. I’ll check it out

[@urdnal]

Here come the X68090. 128 bit" If only.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Imagine if that was the future we got

[@Holammer]

3:33 "here comes the 68090". Sadly the .60 was the last CPU in the 68k line. ... or that's what I thought anyway, turns out there's a 64bit 68k based CPU today called Apollo Core 68080. The dream is alive.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I do love the futurism of the game in that respect

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

The 68080 isn't really a true CPU, it's an FPGA core. So it's more like a virtual CPU based on the 68k architecture.

[@Pawnband]

In retrospect I think the box art on SNES was a bad move. I specifically remember passing this game up many times and never playing it because I had no idea what the hell it was supposed to be. I remember thinking it must be some kind of weird puzzle game. I do love the boxart now though, it was just too ahead of it's time.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Absolutely a bad move. It didn’t explain anything about what the game was in the least

[@iamdmc]

looks cool but I'm already dizzy AF looking at it for 1 minute think I've got to stick to the likes of Super R-type (another banger, with a soundtrack to match)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

R-Type always hits. This is the truth

[@NLSagat]

Might have missed it in the vid, but what did you use to play this? Actual hardware, mister, emulator? (and if the latter, which one?).

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

XM6 Pro

[@EnigmaHood]

Ever play Thunder Force II for the Sharp X68000? It's very different from the Genesis version!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I have. Maybe one day I’ll do a Port Authority on it

[@EnigmaHood]

@@VideoGameEsoterica But which version do you like more? 🤔

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s been so long I’d have to find out

[@EnigmaHood]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Should probably play both when you're ready to make the video!

[@SolCresta3405]

I mostly know the SNES port.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’d say 99/100 people only know the SNES version

[@MarquisDeSang]

Have you ever played a retro style shumps at 165 fps on a gaming monitor? It is difficult to go back to 30/60fps after that.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def makes a diff

[@METR0lD]

The perfect shmup for us hillbillies in Wisconsin!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I mean you def all have banjos up there for sure

[@METR0lD]

And the occasional kazooie.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I hope that was a mistake comment haha

[@METR0lD]

Never!

[@zbarsky]

This isn’t being played on the Mister FPGA X68000 core?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

No. It wasn’t working well on the core

[@DrNoBrazil]

An American discovering the x68000 after 2000... And trying to lecture everyone, makes sense...

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Well you still haven’t discovered how to talk to people but I don’t fault you for that 🤣

[@jacobprayer8656]

​@@VideoGameEsotericawhen does the speaking seminar begin? I need to learn too.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

April 20th, 2069

[@inceptional]

Is there anything this version does that isn't in the SNES version? Because the SNES version only ran in SlowROM originally, so much of the slowdown [of which I still see some in this version here] can be removed simply by switching to the FastROM patched version there. So, unless there's something actually different about this version, I think I'd rather just play the SNES version to be honest. Edit: Ah, I can see the visuals are actually a little better in the Sharp X6800 version. Although, unless this version released first, I think that's just some tweaking after the fact. And, either way, it doesn't look like anything that couldn't have been added to the SNES version if they wanted too.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

There’s no huge reason to play this over the SNES version unless you are making a series on the X68000 haha

[@inceptional]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Still, it does look a little better on the Sharp X8000 overall. So, for the handful of people who'll be playing games there, that's a nice bonus.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@inceptional yes def has the edge visually