Sharp X68000 MIDI and RAM upgrades & imported games!!

[@retrobitstv]

Part 2 is now available here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mH26lGmlo9qCZ7s

[@robf228]

Holy Cowabunga! I had no idea about JIS screwdrivers. Thanks!

[@nneeerrrd]

RIP all the screws you've rounded😂

[@16bitgium]

That custom RetroBits cover on your multisync monitor ...So awesome

[@kirgahn]

Wow, amazing video. So, the Sharp x68000 was sort of a NeoGeo of the Japanese home computers. Never dug into this specific hole before. That garou densetsu port looks incredible and the MT32 sounds amazing in that hang on port. What a cool machine!

[@retrobitstv]

It really was the king of the hill until the Neo Geo came along 3 years later! Part 2 drops tomorrow with lots more game footage and MIDI ear candy!

[@NightSprinter]

What's interesting regarding using the MT-32/CM-32L/CM-64/CM-300 was some games (such as Gradius II: Gofer's Ambition) would actually have both FM and LA synthesis at the same time. So if you just used the MT-32 for music, you would be without a good few music channels. Also, some games such as Akumajou Dracula X68k also programmed custom patches for the MT-32 and related LA synthesizers.

[@elone3997]

Man, the game packaging on these are great. The boxes and box art are super cool in themselves, but seeing the disc design label art and all the included paperwork makes me sorry to live in a time when this is all sadly no more for new releases (as in digital downloads I mean). Great video!

[@krizzik]

I really, REALLY enjoy your X68000 Coverage. Have you considered doing more game focused reviews of this system's game library with MT32/SC comparisons like you did with this video?

[@retrobitstv]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the feedback! I will definitely take that under consideration. Part 2 will have a lot more gameplay footage in it that use the MIDI and RAM expansion and a new pre-built HDD image :D

[@timdaeleman]

Again a cool video. Good to see Overtake works with later Midiori devices. It was one of the few games that didn't work with my older iteration of the Midiori.

[@leonkiriliuk]

You should make a video on BlueSCSI or ZuluSCSI and the HDD images that are available, fully loaded with games to be enjoyed on your X68000. Given you has a SASI machine with a working FDD, getting the SRAM SCSI bootloader to run would be trivial to convert your SASI machine to a SCSI one.

[@retrobitstv]

I am definitely planning to talk about the latest .hds compilation from the nfggames forum in part 2!

[@pacolima431]

Excellent idea, please do that! Never managed to get it to work with a ZuluSCSI. Btw, I think he has a Super which is native SCSI.

[@retrobitstv]

@@pacolima431Yep, it's a Super and I'm using a BlueSCSI V2. I don't have access to a SASI machine so I have no knowledge of how the bootloader Leon mentioned works unfortunately.

[@arrimasarrington638]

​@@retrobitstvhello. I'm Arrimas Arrington. What about fighting video games for x68000?

[@pyjama9556]

Thanks again Matt for going back to the x68000 for some more excellent content, never knew about jis drivers!👌 Great upgrades btw, it’s coming close to the perfect x68000 setup, you got some of these accessories at incredible prices and boy does it look great on your new monitor!👏👏 I can’t wait for your next video on this unicorn computer I’ve always wanted but was never able to get!!🙌

[@retrobitstv]

Glad you enjoyed it! I got really lucky that the seller reached out to me directly! In Part 2 I'll be talking about a brand new low-cost MIDI+RAM upgrade that was just announced too!

[@Bolton115]

100 pins, I thought it looked like a Zorro board connector! 😂. It's interesting that they went with the older floppy disk tech, too. Neat machine tho, I wish they had sole 'em here in the States.

[@Raptor50aus]

I had the full length Roland sound card in the early 1990s inside my desktop pc

[@dlfrsilver]

For Information, Fatal Fury series on X68000 only give their maximum with lot of ram and with a XVI or 030 + installation on hard drive. Many animations are locked when run from floppies.

[@retrobitstv]

Cool, good to know thanks! I didn't see any option to install from HDD but I didn't look that closely at the manual or what was on the disk.

[@dlfrsilver]

@@retrobitstv I have scantrad the manual of this game in english. That's why i got such informations, and also translated the development diary present on the game disks. The HD installer is on one of the disks.

[@andrewholt5659]

Nice video. Love midi music. Those disk swaps are brutal.

[@tigheklory]

Thanks for mentioning JIS screw drivers. I already knew about his the hard way working on 1970s Japanese dirt bikes in the 80s as a kit. So many stripped case screws.

[@davidsmall6322]

This is a great love-story

[@roydriver8956]

Final Fight on the X68000 is said to be one of the best conversions of all time for home computer.

[@ixisid]

In my experience, the '2' in 5"2HD usually refers to double-sided media when it comes to Japanese nomenclature for computer tech of the era.

[@retrobitstv]

Ahh, that makes sense. I hadn't seen that particular notation before!

[@tigheklory]

Super Hang On looks great, you weren't using your turbos at all when you were playing. I have to say that the MT audio sounds so wrong, I have the actual arcade and Genesis versions and I just don't like the piano sound on the MT with SHO. I know that the Roland is better, but it just sounds wrong. I want that Yamaha sound! LOL.

[@retrobitstv]

Haha, I didn't even realize that you had to press both buttons at the same time to activate it! I never had a home version of the game so I don't have any memories of the music. I'll fire up the arcade version on the MiSTer later and see how it sounds though.

[@RetroRockGamer]

I can't believe you scored that game for 10 bucks!

[@bitdigital8052]

Awesome Demo and great deals on the software and those 2 cards. I built a GalSpanic a while back since I was able to purchase a single PCB. Loving yours with the bigger pcb tho. Will definitely be my next build.

[@MatthewMcGravey]

Love the monitor , I had one but it was dead ...use an NEC Multisync II for my X68000

[@retrobitstv]

Another great NEC option there! This Multisync 3D was on its last legs when I bought it last year for $20. I documented the repair here in case you're interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXPNgGuJZ9B3nZo

[@bengelman2600]

All right!

[@SP95]

SUPER HANG ON !!!??? I had no idea there was a version available for the X68000 and I was amazed to see it running on your video, but that MIDI player doesn't match the right tone

[@NumosG]

So you jumped on it imMIDIately.... yeah, don't think we wouldn't notice that :)

[@SianaGearz]

My favourite GM sound is actually Yamaha synths for some reason. I like S-YXG50 when playing DOS games, MU50/80 should be a similar sort of sound. I also have a PSR-530 here that i also used back in the day, got it in 1998-ish (though mostly i used AWE32 or SBLive) and it also sounds very very similar. There were of course lower grade ROM sets used in other devices like cheaper PC soundcards, they have the same general character but you can tell them apart by not being as good. Would be cool to have MIDI files from the test tracks that you've got going here to test them against the synths that i currently have. Or maybe i'll figure something out, i have a thought.

[@retrobitstv]

Pretty much all of the X68000's popular game music has been converted to standalone files for use with the MMDSP player. They aren't general midi compatible but the format is well-documented so there may already be a way to convert them for the PC. I haven't looked into this yet though.

[@karehaqt]

Overtake looks like a knock off of Super Monaco GP.

[@protox07]

I like your videos

[@S.Madman]

How did you put Super Hang On in Midi mode? Is there a keyboard sequence like some of the other games?

[@retrobitstv]

Super Hang On seems to auto-detect the MIDI card at startup - I didn't have to press a key or configure anything. This page is helpful when it comes to figuring out what key to press for other games though: gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:game_notes

[@S.Madman]

@@retrobitstv Awesome thank you. That list will come in handy.

[@woldemunster9244]

"Cartoon". Subbed. :D

[@retrobitstv]

Haha yea, 'comic'. Welcome!

[@erwindewit4073]

So how do you install the games on the hard drive and run them from it? 😀 And did I see Dungeon Master? Still one of my favorite games?

[@retrobitstv]

I will be covering the use of HDD images in part 2! Good eye - I may do a quick unboxing of Dungeon Master as well if there's time :P

[@erwindewit4073]

@@retrobitstv So cool! I really about the machine, but actually see it work like this. Really cool! I really like your channel and your style too..

[@turbinegraphics16]

I wonder the neo geo cd compares with loading times, I didn't feel it was that bad.

[@retrobitstv]

I did a lot of jump cuts to skip the disk load times. They are quite a bit longer in reality. Fortunately, all of these games have been made to run from the HDD :)

[@newrecs4969]

hi, would you happen to be able to share a link to the Midiori and Galspanic at 60 bucks? hoping for another batch being made. have a stock OG X68000 i just repaired and would love to upgrade it without paying 400+ usd :)

[@retrobitstv]

The thread was on the NFG Games forum which you can find here. This was a while ago so I do not know if any more are / will be available though. nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7328.0 There's also the new Etarikashikoshi which has gone through several preorder cycles already: www.arananet.net/pedidos/product/etarikashikoshi-x68000-8mb-ram-midi-board-preorder

[@newrecs4969]

@@retrobitstv much appreciated, thank you! :) saw the Etarikashikoshi in part 2 as well, has yours arrived yet? will be writing floppies using Xfloppy and a minimum spec Windows 95 build (386SX 40mhz + 4mb ram) with a Mitsumi 5.25 drive for a start, getting the last parts for it tomorrow. hope it works 😅

[@retrobitstv]

@@newrecs4969 I haven't installed mine yet - I will make a video about it at some point but am giving X68K content a rest for a while. A new batch of Etarikashikoshi just went on sale this morning, only 20 units total so act fast if you want one! Good luck with your system :)

[@angrydove4067]

Sweet system, but not cheap.

[@16bitgium]

Doesnt Fatal Fury normally come with a controller?

[@retrobitstv]

From what I've seen, some of the Fatal Fury games were bundled with a 4 button controller but I'm not sure which ones. Street Fighter II came with an adapter to use a 6 button pad Megadrive pad as well. At least there are schematics to build the adapters online so that's always an option.

[@16bitgium]

@@retrobitstvI checked my collection it came with Fatal Fury 2. I got it real cheap on AYjapan and honestly it is not the best gamepad.

[@duxzu]

Can it run Doom? 😂

[@retrobitstv]

It can! But you really need an '030 upgrade and even then it needs to be in a smaller window to get a decent framerate.