Battle of the Ports - Tatsujin / Truxton (達人) Show

[@supersonics5000]

Lord Karnage approves this message , brought to you by our sponsor Truxton! for the Sega Genesis!!!...

[@yannic1036]

Mark from Classic Game Room loves this game. Great vid btw ;)

[@mastersproutgamer9327]

And so does Pam from her KZbin channel, Cannot Be Tamed.

[@cloudskipa]

Ah Tatsujin was my first MD game I got with my JP import MD in 1990. Stunning game and since I never played the arcade original before it, I also never knew just how good of a port it was until I later played it via MAME. Toaplan done a great job with it.

[@RetroCore]

It's a shame the second game never got a Saturn port.

[@bartdunbar5108]

always loved the Genesis/MD version. love your videos, keep up the great work

[@RetroCore]

Thanks man. I'll keep them coming.

[@latinsizer]

You be surprise how many people doesnt even know that Truxton has a sequel.

[@RetroCore]

It sure does have a squeal but it wasn't really that wide spread unlike the original. Maybe that's why not many people know about it?

[@MarcBarkyMarta]

Music & colors = PC Engine. SFX & graphic detail = MD/Genesis. Tough call, but I’d tip it toward the PCE. Probably the only time that will happen with a Toaplan game on both machines, because the MD/Genesis was the Toaplan master.

[@luke_y_444]

Ok, the Mega Drive version is less colorful than the PC Engine version, but its colors are still closer to the arcade version. It shows when the three versions turn together. Graphics are also a cut above on Mega Drive. On this port, it is clearly the SEGA which wins. Of course, the Arcade version is the best, just for the fact that it has the highest definition.

[@mastersproutgamer9327]

Speaking of the Mega Drive port, I read that that version made its debut on the Mini 2, courtesy of Sega and M2.

[@madsceptictrooper6803]

Mega Drive port of Truxton is only Toaplan game on system to be published by Sega that received world-wide release, rather than Sega being publisher in either North America or Europe. There are rumors, Toaplan designed their port for PAL console standards, Sega might have requested them to do so for some reason. Lord Karnage is a huge fan of Truxton, especially the Mega Drive port. Taito actually contracted Sting to port Truxton to PC Engine. Different than with other Toaplan games, I prefer the music in PC Engine port than in Mega Drive port.

[@SoftOtaku]

Nice work! Always happy to see comparisons properly done. I think maybe "no frills" was the phrase you were looking for. But then what do I know? I forget more English everyday. Thanks for the excellent video!

[@RetroCore]

My English is awful these days. I live in a city with next to no English speakers so the only English I get is when I go drinking every other week.

[@GlenLehane]

Great game, for a long time I thought it was only ever a Megadrive exclusive, I didn't know about the arcade version!

[@RetroCore]

There's a sequal too!

[@GlenLehane]

Nice!

[@MaoRatto]

TRUXTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( Lord karnage Joke )

[@1983parrothead]

Most people love mostly Mega Drive ports of arcade games, but my heart is resistant to certain Yamaha YM2612 soundtracks, due to their sizzling sounds, while my heart feels equally as heavenly with arcade soundtracks as a friend I know who went to Japan and smiled greatly, but cried when leaving from there back to her home country. There are some exceptions, such as ThunderForce IV and Hitoshi Sakimoto soundtracks. The Fujitsu FM TOWNS also has YM2612 as well as what Sega used in some arcades: YM3438, which seems crispier sounding than YM2612. But some FM TOWNS internal soundchip soundtracks such as the 3-disk Asuka 120% BURNING Fest. version, also uses the Ricoh RF5C68. Ricoh was also responsible for the Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System soundchip: the RP2A03 (APU).

[@RetroCore]

It all depends upon who's programming the YM2612. Every American based game sounds awful in my opinion. Every single one. European can sound good but only the Japanese really knew how to use it.

[@1983parrothead]

Retro Core I definitely agree with you. Even though I was born and still being raised in America, most of my family is Scottish and a little German. I only met one game music composer Tommy Tallarico in my birthplace, and he is somewhat from mediocre to excellent in composing music, most notably Cool Spot, some Earthworm Jim games and the Sega Mega CD Terminator. He is cousins to Steven Tyler, who Steven Tyler of Aerosmith was one of the judges on American Idol Season 10 that Lauren Alaina from my hometown area was involved with. I went to same high school as Lauren, but graduated before she entered, but I met her twice and she remembers me. Most recently, she was in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2017, while this past late March, Reba McEntire phone called Lauren Alaina to let her know that she has won the Academy Of Country Music Award For New Female Vocalist & everyone starts crying. I just felt like sharing that. Sorry if unnecessary.

[@RetroCore]

Tommy Tallarico has some excellent scores on CD based systems as he's not limited to the awful sound engines used by some developers. I do love his Terminator CD work.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Given this is one masterfully-crafted game.

[@JonCampos80]

The soundtrack of Truxton is amazing. However, in arcade and pc engine versions the tempo is slow for a fast paced game like this. Despite the mega drive version lacks drums, the tempo is what you can expect for a game like Truxton and the synths are very good too. The slow paced tempo of the soundtrack in arcade/pce versions is something you expect to hear in a game like outrun. The downside in the md version is that it has too much loudness.

[@vludi7857]

The tempo in the MD port was a mistake and the composer apologized.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Vludi Arcade ost is superior

[@marioghernandez4960]

Jon Campos Maybe to lull the player into a false sense of security that the game would be easy? If so, it was rather clever.

[@RunplaysinHD]

If you want to watch Tatsujin with clean music and video, almost without shot noises, I have it on my channel in the PC Engine playlist

[@handlessuck589]

Truxton is a pretty long game for a shmup. A full run of all 4 loops is maybe 2 hours. The music in my mind is more of a journey type music with just how long the game drags on, and on, and on, and on. The pauses in between enemy waves tend to be really long and it's a game where you'll spend more time staring into empty space than shooting things. The fast paced music doesn't fit at all.

[@jayblack7495]

Sega's console versions, especially when acknowledging its limitations, is truly a beauty to behold; and equally worth every cent it fetches on the collectible market . . . Great video!

[@RyumaXtheXKing]

Only two ports? This gives me hope for Radikal Bikers.

[@krissymarklewis1793]

I prefer the Genesis version, It's bloody addictive. The same with Fireshark.

[@GustavoValdiviesso]

I came here to say Lord Karnage send a message, but I see the message has been delivered 😎

[@RetroCore]

Err, okay 😁

[@GustavoValdiviesso]

@@RetroCore I've been binging you videos for the last two weeks. Great stuff!

[@wilton969]

Got this when I bought my Megadrive. So many good memories with this game. The MD version definitely has the best soundtrack. The PC Engine was so good for an 8 bit machine.

[@SoftBank47]

The tiebreaker for me is cost. Truxton on the Mega Drive is usually about $90-100 for a complete copy (box and instructions), while on the PC Engine I've seen complete, unwrapped copies go as high as $300, with the low end approaching $200.

[@RetroCore]

Pc Engine games are stupidly expensive these games, even where I live in Japan.

[@SoftBank47]

I checked around places in Fukuoka, and I'd go so far to say as there might be a bubble for PC Engine games currently. Even PC Genjin is around 4000 yen pretty much everywhere.

[@Curryking32000]

great game. I'm a seasoned vertical shooter fan but I can't get past the first level on this, its sooo difficult.

[@nekononiaow]

Truxton is definitely my favorite arcade 2D shoot them up, thanks for the video! When I played it in the arcades I kept analyzing the graphics to figure out how it would be possible to convert it to the Amiga. ;) My conclusion being that it was doable with some sacrifices but sadly, this excellent game never got a home computer port. It is also on my list of arcade games to re-port to the Amiga so there will be a home computer version at some point though. :D

[@RetroCore]

Ooh, I look forward to seeing an Amiga version sometime in the future. I think the Amiga should be able to pull it off.

[@nekononiaow]

It will be a tough one though, multiple layers of background, lots of colors and sometimes large animated sections of the screen will be a challenge. ;)

[@RetroCore]

Laurent Giroud but at least no parallax scrolling to deal with.

[@alanharrison2726]

The Amiga would easy port this .

[@YuukoEnjoyer]

I LOVE Truxton!!!!! Thanks so much for this video!!!!

[@RetroCore]

No worries :)

[@NanoCresta1982]

como me gustaría vivir en Japón, me encanta todo lo retro japonés!!!!

[@psychoretro5041]

Wow this little pc engine is a beast, should sadly had more success at his time...

[@RetroCore]

It was very successful in Japan.

[@psychoretro5041]

@@RetroCore Yes but not in europe unfortunatly.....

[@Gridseeker]

Hey Mark! Have you tried or played the steam version, developed by Bitwave? So far I give thumbs up, but some stuff feels kinda weird like the bgm in some stages (I swear stage 3 music doesn´t sound correctly, though I must confess I scarcely played the original arcade machine). Still, besides this and other issues as the interface to configure the controller, I think Bitwave has done a remarkable job. I hope they port Truxton 2/ Tatsujin oh, IMHO the best game of Toaplan.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

Never played Tatsujin (Truxton) but it looks pretty tough and both ports look and sound great, I prefer the MD version overall but the tempo of the music in the PCE version is more in line with the arcade version but apparently the composer of the MD version didn’t get the documentation from Sega around about two weeks before the game was due to be released which is why the MD versions music is sped up. Anyway, great Battle of the ports I’m currently binge watching your older videos with the voice overs.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks for watching many videos.

[@blazingsoulhunter2862]

For some reason, I think of trucks when I hear this name. In that case, Truckston. It sounds like a town to me.

[@RetroCore]

I can't disagree with that 😁

[@kristina80ification]

in before CGR fan spam. ;)

[@supersonics5000]

To late!!!

[@kristina80ification]

supersonics5000 I made the comment when there was only one other comment about CGR and it wasn't typical "OMG LORD KARNAGE RULZ! style spam.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Will you ever do Flying Shark?

[@RetroCore]

I think k I've done that one. I'll have to take a look at the list of shows I've made. If not I'll add it to the to do list.

[@zombee38]

For me this is almost a tie...I like the PC engine's version because its more colorful but the sound is better on the Megadrive....I am lucky to own the Genesis version...great game no matter on which console you own it...thanks for this video.

[@Maru96]

The PCE port has more saturated colors but that's not accurate to the arcade, the Genesis port overall has more accurate colors.

[@yohkom.7988]

I agree Marcel, PC Engine colors look satured and rather bad imo, same happens with Columns or the Supergrafx port of Ghouls 'n Ghosts (the grass at least which looks like NES colors). Mega Drive version of Truxton not only has better colors but also much more enjoyable sounds!

[@GoodFebruarian]

I like that Skull Bomb

[@liamconverse8950]

I've heard if you want to clear this game particularly the arcade version you should get used to playing with the max speed upgrades

[@Bob_Beaky]

Such a nice game. I confess to never having played it until I got a Caanoo handheld which came with the arcade version of the game. It was a lot of fun playing the game in tate mode with the lovely 'clicky' stick. As a result, I've always thought that Tatsujin is a better name than Truxton. Truxton just sounds clunky and heavy to me... it's the very thing that put me off getting the Sega port. A trivial thing, I know, but pre-internet there wasn't an easy way to check games out before purchase! Anyway, nice video as always. I don't mind the short length. It's not like you missed anything out other than extended game play footage. :) Good work. PS: Hope things aren't too crazy for you! :)

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, I agree. I've never liked the name Truxton. Tastsujin sounds much nicer to me. I'm afraid work will be crazy in August and I'll be away from home a lot! I'll try to keep the videos coming though.

[@mastersproutgamer9327]

Good news: Truxton is included on both the Taito Egret II Mini and Astro City Mini V. Bad news: While the former keeps references to Taito, the latter slowly maturely removes them from the title screen. Why, Sega?

[@RetroCore]

Because in Japan it was published by Toaplan, not Taito.

[@firisrozley5768]

Never thought that you would review Mark's (of CGR) favorite game. I may never be able to finish this game but hey the music at arcade & Mega Drive ports were pretty decent.

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, I've noticed on a few occasions that CGR's Mark loves this game :) Even Game Sack covered it when they did a parody of him.

[@griffo83X]

Megadrive version is my fave as its the one i played the most and one i bought when i first got a megadrive all those years ago, great game great memory's:)

[@PyronsLair]

Good episode +retrocore, just one info about port diferences. The mega drive version for one side looks and sounds more closely to the orginal but for the other side the music stops at 1/3 of composition, turning tha game more repetitive in general, pce version all musics is complete making the game more enjoyable to play

[@RetroCore]

Good info. Thanks for the input.

[@ararattempest-lingua]

for this game, I really love PC-Engine version prior to Mega Drive one, also tried X68K version but I don't like playing this with keyboard and awkward controls. and, is this also on FM-Towns Marty???

[@RetroCore]

I think the X68000 version is the second game. I know for sure the Marty version is the second game. The first was only ever released on the Mega Drive and PC Engine.

[@ararattempest-lingua]

Retro Core oh the sequel...yeah, totally forgot, thx for the reply!

[@chunkycjw]

A shooter i always remember in name and from featuring on the box the Megadrive came in but don't think i ever played. Didn't know there was an arcade port, nice versions all round

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, in the UK there were not that many shooters officially released so the Thruxton box was quite common to see in stores.

[@losalfajoresok]

Never played this one. I will give it some credits.

[@RetroCore]

It's a good game but be prepared to die a lot.

[@lailanitaganap2402]

PC Engine wins and is the king of shoot em ups.

[@BlaximilianD00d]

i thought for a second that those power ups make the game too easy and then bam. 4:56

[@hyperboytkl1077]

Is this game I am seeing in the video traditional arcade or sega version?

[@RetroCore]

I don't know., sorry.

[@solarflare9078]

Both

[@erikin2k7]

oh my. I watched this and I felt old! great memories

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, we're all getting old but what great times we've had.

[@shadycharacter6966]

Picked this up about 4 years back at a thrift store for 5 dollars U.S. ...Would like to get the pc engine version but it's getting up there in price like so many now and like you said the original name is way better

[@RetroArcadeGuy]

I double dare to say Tatsujin looks like shooter porn for the hardcore shooter gamer. Nothing wrong with that! Didn't Toaplan did the Fire/Sky/Flying Shark series? I loved those games!

[@RetroCore]

You wouldn't be wrong with that statement :) Yes, Toaplan were behind the Fire Shark series.

[@steliosarvanitis5606]

The coin eater of my childhood.;p

[@RetroCore]

Mine too :)

[@Cenon2_]

Unable to reach a fully upgraded five-way lightning gun before dying haunted my childhood, since because of it's latching ability it looked like the coolest weapon on any game back then. I was so young I couldn't read, so I didn't know the name of the game back then. But I never forgot what I witnessed. +Ten years later I got a full mame library and hunted the game from a to z just to finally get my hands on the lightning arcs. Goddammit that was satisfying, but also left a bit empty feeling. I actually tried Truxton II first while trying to find the game of my childhood memories. It felt very familiar, so for a moment i thought maybe it was the game I was looking for. But I identified Truxton I right from the opening screen when I tried it

[@martinevans1206]

PC Engine looks more brighter and colourful.

[@dirkb9788]

I own the Genesis version and i am loving it. Great game, just great.

[@RetroCore]

The are so many great Toaplan shooters for the Mega Drive. Maybe try hellfire if you're looking for a hardcore challenge.

[@dirkb9788]

Thanks for the advice👍

[@marioghernandez4960]

Actually, each loop is one big stage in itself; in fact, the game is just one big neverending stage seperated by a few bosses.

[@RetroCore]

That was kind of the trend back then.

[@marioghernandez4960]

That reminds me. What other shooters tried something like that?

[@marioghernandez4960]

This makes me wish that there was an emulator just for Toaplan shooters.

[@gunma747j]

Mario G Hernandez Welp,there's exist fba

[@ManaNaito]

You need to be an expert to beat Tatsujin.

[@luisreyes1963]

As do most Toaplan shmups.

[@fulgenzio1973]

Can i suggest Arkanoid for the next episode? It' s a timeless classic and i remember some great conversions (Amiga especially, programmed by Discovery Software)

[@RetroCore]

That's a great suggestion but unfortunately I'm really busy in July and August so I don't have the time to do Arkanoid. The are so many versions I'd have to cover. In the future though it can be covered.

[@fulgenzio1973]

Put it in the pipeline for the future!

[@enricomazzarellosimracing6502]

amazing comparison and explanation... by the way, i'm still convinced, that MEGADRIVE version, is better than PC Engine ( and most of the time, i'm the first to prefer PC Engine than MEGADRIVE, but in the case of Truxton, i'm very disagree with your opinion. It is true, that colours look more close to the original on PC Engine, but the sprites are indeed too big, and sometimes, it gives me the feeling, that there is a lack of enemies on the screen, so for what concerns proportions , MEGADRIVE version, is indeed better.

[@RetroCore]

It's very funny in a way because I'm the opposite. I normally think the MD version is best. Zero Wing, Hell Fire, Aero Blasters and Devil Crash are all superior on the Mega Drive in my opinion but this one.... Hmm... Forgotten Worlds is also far better on the PC Engine too. Probably because its a CD title. The Mega Drive game suffers from being on a small cartridge.

[@enricomazzarellosimracing6502]

@@RetroCore Aero Blaster, is the perfect example. .. MEGADRIVE version, maybe shows more graphics, but that's it, PC ENGINE , have better animations, better explosions, and better frame rate too, and more vivid colours. ... which gave me more the feeling of playng a real port from coin op, even if graphic is slightly worst than MD... Rainbow Islands, another example. .. MD version, even if had ( maybe ) better graphic has "sterile" gameplay, very boring compared with PC ENGINE... Street Fighter 2, is for me another perfect example, the PC ENGINE, catch the most important thing from this game, which is the atmosphere, that is for me, the closest to the coin op... after all anyway opinions ☺

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

@@enricomazzarellosimracing6502 For me the very chiptunesque musics of the PCE port of Street Fighter 2 is the exact the opposite of "catching the atmosphere" of the arcade, on the other hand The Mega Drive sound track is extremely close to the original.

[@enricomazzarellosimracing6502]

@@kathleendelcourt8136 that's a matter of power of the sounchip of the machine, (Megadrive 16 bit, PCE 8 bit, better than this, it was no possible on PCE ) but the colours and the animations of Megadrive version, are so ugly, PCE version remind me too much the colours of the summer, when i look that game running, remind me too much of those moments, when i was play coin op... Megadrive, so sterile... (I only owned MD version back in the 90's, and technically, was perfect to play, but still feel like PCE version, give more magic feeling when i look at it )

[@luke_y_444]

Sprites are no bigger on PC Engine. The definition of this version is lower than the Mega Drive version. So we can say that we are closer to the sprites, but they are not bigger. We are rather on a smaller window, which still makes the game more comfortable on Mega Drive. Too bad on the latter, the music is too loud...

[@marioghernandez4960]

Do you think there IS money to be made from a re-release on any modern console?

[@RetroCore]

Maybe but not a lot.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Retro Core Understandable

[@CaseTheCorvetteMan]

I thought the arcade version also side scrolled, as Raiden does...

[@RetroCore]

It's one of those things I thought too but apparently not.

[@marioghernandez4960]

So what did you think of the sequel?

[@RetroCore]

It's okay. Nothing too special to be honest.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Retro Core Which is better then?

[@RetroCore]

The second one. The first one is only a cult favourite in the West because it was released widely there. Truxton isn't so special in the world of Toaplan shooters. I'm not saying it's bad but I am saying it's not this amazing game people make it out to be. It's just a good shooter.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Retro Core Then why was the sequel rarely ever seen outside of Japan?

[@RetroCore]

I don't know. Same reason why most Toaplan games weren't.

[@StarFox85]

💪🥂

[@heilong79]

I thought the Saturn got a version which had 2 games on the disc, maybe arcade and Saturn mode but I remember the Bomb having a different graphic in the 2nd game. Edit: never mind the other game was Grind Stormer, also on the megadrive.

[@RetroCore]

Easy to mistake between Tatsujin and Grind Stormer.

[@Arcadiality]

An essential for the PCE.

[@D3KadaNS]

Viewpoint?

[@RetroCore]

It's on the to do list :) thanks for the contribution though.

[@Sakf504]

Loved the PC Engine soundtrack.

[@thestripedmenace]

Am I the only one that finds the Genesis/Mega Drive's versions's sound a little bit too loud and ear-piercing for comfort? That's a problem I have with most Toaplan games in the console, with the only exception being Slap Fight MD's Special Mode, for obvious reasons :P Praise Koshiro! I could listen to any of his OSTs for all day!

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, it is a bit loud but I think that maybe a side effect of having no drum track to balance everything.

[@Maru96]

Also the speed of the music is faster by mistake on the MD

[@thestripedmenace]

Marcel Weber Interesting. Why is that?

[@RetroCore]

Zillion Taborda because they programmed it for 50Hz I remember reading. So on a Pal system it should be fine but a little too fast on an NTSC system.

[@thestripedmenace]

Retro Core How odd, considering how Japan uses the NTSC standard!

[@izzie31]

Phrase of the day "turbo nutter speed"....police: how fast do you think you were going sir?.....driver: i am not sure officer was it turbo nutter speed. hahaha

[@RetroCore]

hahaha, and thats why I've paid over 250,000 yen to the japanese police in 8 years. thae again I think that's down to the pathetically slow speed limits of Japanese roads.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Now, if you could please do an episode covering Hellfire...

[@RetroCore]

I did Hellfire 11 months ago. Please use the KZbin search bar to find videos. Type Battle of the Ports followed by the game name kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqfTXqymeZmJhMU

[@marioghernandez4960]

Retro Core Didn't know. Either that or I couldn't find it.

[@stoicvampirepig6063]

Amazing games, better than its rather tedious sequel.

[@RetroCore]

yeah, the 2nd game may look better but it's not a fun to play,.

[@AllieRX]

I wonder why Tatsujin was renamed to Truxton outside Japan. Was "Tatsujin" too hard to pronounce for westerners?

[@Wourghk]

It's a matter of market appeal. Truxton has a very Germanic sound to it, which appeals to a western English-speaking audience, while Tatsujin is very East Asian / oriental, and would seem foreign to them. The game itself doesn't display much by way of Asian theming to justify the name in a western market, like games such as Ninja Gaiden did, so the name change was likely to assuage unfamiliarity and deflect cultural stereotyping for the sake of sales. Besides, Truxton is cool. I'm glad the name was used.

[@RetroCore]

I guess so. The "tsu" sound is not so easy to pronounce for many westerners. It's why Matsuda was changed to Mazda.

[@Wourghk]

Really? We 'tsu' each other all the time over here. Gives lawyers something to do.

[@RetroCore]

Thats "su" not "tsu" :p

[@marioghernandez4960]

Could you please go to Zer0div's website (if they have one) and request that they re-release this game on the Switch as an eShop downloadable? (Just thought it would be nice to have this timeless gem back from the ashes... and I hate to be rude -_-)

[@RetroCore]

It would be nice but I doubt they will unless there's a lot of money to be made from it. Sad but probably true.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Retro Core Well, if two of Psikyo's classics were brought back, why can't this be?

[@marioghernandez4960]

This should be re-released for the Switch, like Psikyo's Strikers 1945.

[@ryzmaker11]

I'm surprised by some of your statements which are plain wrong AND which can be verified with this very video :D 1° the arcade version *has* lateral scrolling & 2° Mega Drive port's colors are more accurate than the PC Engine ones (the latters are a bit too garish). Also the PC Engine version has poor presentation (the HUD lol) & even the fact that its music has more drums is canceled by the fact that they're mostly interrupted by the SFX. & talking about SFX, they're plain horrible on PC Engine! The green & especially the blue weapon are rather unbearable to use... & no mention of the Mega Drive version exclusive weapon? The red one when fully powered mmh? Which is different than the other versions... & all this despite the fact that the Mega Drive port is an early release (1989) versus a much later release on PC Engine side (1992) which makes the Sega version even more impressive! You should dig more before posting such video :P not to mention that you usually seem to deliberately overlook some PC Engine flaws while being rather harsh on the Mega Drive. You know, both systems were released around the same time (1987 for the PCE & 1988 for the MD) & the PC Engine was even (slightly) more expensive in some regions while having less to offer overall so...

[@MrPikaPwnage]

I like to think that by 1990 the PC Engine's hucard games were pretty much considered the low budget/portable lineup. Since they had the CD add-on in like 89 and made a bunch of systems with the CD drive built-in, the PC Engine was pretty much a CD system by 92. So don't think of it like the MD vs. the PCE in a 92 game. Think of it like a Turboexpress playing Tatsujin on the go vs. Gameboy or whatever could compete from Sega. It's kind of hard to imagine that they'd still even be releasing hucards that late into the CD system's life unless they were marketed specifically because they were portable and/or cheaper for people who refused to upgrade.

[@ryzmaker11]

Your reasoning is wrong and lacks contextualization. First of HuCard games were supported up until 1994 and this includes some important releases such as PC Genjin 3, Bomberman '94 or Street Fighter II'. But the format was, indeed, not that great of a choice. It's the same kind of cards that were previously used by Sega for their 8-bit range of consoles (SG-1000; Mark III...) but while it worked well for 8-bit games (which needed less storage), it wasn't that fitting for a 8/16-bit console released in 1987 since games were obviously more demanding by that point and many PC Engine games have content cut or others fails due to HuCard size restrictions. Heck, even Street Fighter II which uses a HuCard bigger than usual still lacks content compared to the Mega Drive or SNES versions. NEC quickly released the CD add-on both to have access to bigger storage and to reduce costs since, apparently, HuCards were kinda expensive to produce. The CD add-on is said to be planned right from the start but still, it was somehow messy AND this forces consumers to buy two systems since the HuCards library is hardly up to par compared to rival consoles. And add to this the cost of a multitap (since the PC Engine only has one controller port), the cost of something to improve the picture quality (since the PC Engine doesn't output RGB natively) and the cost of the different System Cards to update the CD part and you realize that, overall, it's an expensive mess which ultimately still cannot compete. And better not talk about the SuperGrafx... (in short: two times more expensive than its competitors, still inferior in some ways and a joke of a library. I really feel sorry for those who bought one back then). And the PC Engine GT (TurboExpress) doesn't belong in the same category as the Game Boy, Game Gear or Lynx. It's a portable PC Engine meaning that, while it was a powerful handled for its time, on other hand it's not a dedicated hardware with its own games which automatically makes it different and also less interesting. NEC didn't want or didn't have the ressources to do handled games.

[@MrPikaPwnage]

I'm gonna politely disagree with you on some points. I'll tackle the last section first. Since the Turboexpress was released in 1990, it had the same market as any other early gameboy or gamegear adopter. By 1990, only about half of the hucard games were even released yet so clearly people would've had more games to look forward to even if they were the same as the home console's games. Your interest in games is entirely subjective so saying that having one set of games being the same as the home console is a little irrelevant. If you were a portable gamer then you'd be looking at a catalogue of games, a lot of which were very technically superior to other portable games, regardless of whether or not they also happened to work on a home console. Just because it didn't have the marketing as a portable console doesn't mean it didn't exist as one. I distinctly remember growing up in the turn of the 21st century when other game systems came out to compete with the upcoming gameboy advance. I thought, as well as my friends, that if it wasn't Nintendo then it didn't have Pokemon or Mario and therefore was not a good system. Obviously I could've given the other systems more credit for their own catalogues, regardless of what my preferences were. Just like that situation, the Turboexpress might seem like it doesn't compete or doesn't have a unique catalogue, but it still has a catalogue and still is a portable system within what it offers. I think it's in the exact same category as the gameboy and gamegear, except that it just wasn't popular or reasonable in price. Now, for the rest of your post I don't quite get what you disagree with. My reasoning was just that A) the CD add-on already existed and was the superior format for PC Engine games. and B) Therefore the hucards would've been chosen as already indicated an inferior choice, but perhaps with the added benefit of being adopted for use on the Turboexpress. I'm just meaning that the hucard games, while still having newer releases and big name releases, would've been an inferior choice in a competition of power and flash that relegates them to a second priority in the home consoles, compared to the CD games on the same system. Yeah the hucards had good games past the release of the turboduos and their variations but at the same time they were missing a chance with each and every game for actually competing in the home console market when they weren't using CD. Therefore, they were using hucards for something else: As I pointed out in the first post, my opinion is that they were semi-budget and also portable for use in the Turboexpress, which are advantages that mean that those games weren't going to compete with the other 16-bit systems. I don't think we disagree on facts, I think we disagree on what they imply about the market and expectations.

[@ryzmaker11]

Again that's mostly wrong. HuCards weren't "budget", the games I mentioned were *important* releases for the console. The overall user bases was bigger on cards than on CD. But they still mostly gone the CD route by some point since the PC Engine alone felt kinda limited in some ways (as I pointed out the storage in particular but also the sound which tends to sound "8-bitish", it's charming and works well for some games but not that much for others). But you know, in retrospect, I'm not that fan of the CD format for some genres, arcade-style in particular, since loading times can be annoying in such cases (PC Engine CD's Art of Fighting is awful in that regard). Later CD-based systems (Saturn for example) had faster CD drive and more cache meaning shorter loadings so it worked well in most cases. That might be why the Mega-CD focused more on RPG, simulation and such, where loadings aren't as annoying (and that's why I don't care that Sega didn't port its arcade games on Mega-CD but instead developed console-style games such as Sonic CD, Shining Force CD and such). As for the PC Engine GT, it's the same case as the later released Sega Nomad, it's a way to play your console games on the go but it's not real competitors for the Game Boy/Game Gear for the former or the Game Boy Color for the latter.

[@vludi7857]

While the MD port is a bit better in some presentation aspects (less flickering, somewhat more accurate colors) I'd say the PC Engine port is the better port overall, it has a better balanced difficulty and no slowdowns afaik. Oh and having interrupted drums is better than not having drums at all or having the wrong tempo (MD port)

[@olive2294]

PC Engine port is really better, the game is not fun on the megadrive

[@olive2294]

I know the genesis port since 1990 (when I bought the japanese version, Tatsujin). I find the PC Engine one more challenging with better gfx and sounds. For me there is really a big gap and I am really surprised by the review.

[@yohkom.7988]

The PC Engine version is not fun with its horrible sound effects and saturated, NES-like colors. Also the difficulty is not very well balanced. Much prefer the Mega Drive game overall.

[@dinosaursfor4709]

I think the MD version is much better than the PC Engine! This version of PC Engine has too poor sound effects and this skull bomb is shameful compared to the MD. And I find the songs on the MD more exciting than the Arcade and PC Engine!

[@Maru96]

The skull bomb looks better though

[@TOUKOretrotaku]

The md's sound fx are awful and musics are better on PCE(sound more varied), graphically the both are equal, the PCE one is slighty more vibrant .

[@pcbjunkie1]

This was my first arcade board. I picked it up from a local operator in the mid 1990s. He didn't care for it and sold it cheap. I never really connected with the game. The harsh FM synthesis and somewhat unsuited upbeat music is extremely annoying. I sold it about 10 years ago. I kind of regret it as this game seems to have a huge following now, maybe I should have given it a chance... nah who am I kidding... it sucks.

[@RetroCore]

Oh man, these days you could get some quality money for a Tatsujin PCB. Never mind, I've sold loads of stuff in the past for peanuts which are now worth so much more.

[@pcbjunkie1]

Don't even get me started on selling stuff for way too low. For me though, if I buy it cheap and get enough enjoyment out of it, I don't really care if I get top dollar for it on the way out. It feels wrong asking a multiple of what I originally paid. Also, if someone thinks that it's ok to buy something for $1000 that used to cost $50 a decade ago, it's probably time to get their head examined.

[@RetroCore]

You're a good man.

[@shadycharacter6966]

Picked this up about 4 years back at a thrift store for 5 dollars U.S. ...Would like to get the pc engine version but it's getting up there in price like so many now and like you said the original name is way better