A $20000 Game? Magical Chase on PC Engine

I love the PC Engine (and by extension the TurboGrafx 16) so it's time for a series on this retro gaming beast of a console! Because whether you use the MiSTer FPGA Pc Engine core, real PC Engine hardware or something like Mednafen emulation...there is a ton of fun to be had! Like Magical Chase! one of the best shmups of all time and one of the best PC Engine games of all time! It's a best retro games candidate if there ever was one! Hudson Soft and NEC knew what they were doing with this console that took on Nintendo and Sega and almost won! and its one of the most expensive video games ever!
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Magical Chase is a classic shmup or shoot em up because I know everyone loves to argue what the genre is actually called. Its up there with Blazing Lazers, Gate of Thunder, Spriggan and others! So let's check out one of the best PC Engine games...because its def NOT a PC Engine hidden gem! But is is one of the most expensive retro games! especially when its Magical Chase on TurboGrafx 16
Questions? Comments? Just leave them below and I will do my best to answer each and every one of them!
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VGE
#retrogaming #pcengine #analogue #retrogamer #retrogames #emulator #emulation #retrogames #retrogamer #shmup #shmups #turbografx

[@IamMarkSmith]

I first played it on a modded original Xbox I bought back in 2008. I fell in love with it. It is the most charming "Cute em' up" next to my other two favorites Parodius, and Star Parodier.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic in the genre no doubt about it

[@Michirin9801]

This is one of my favourite games, quite possibly my favourite shmup, perhaps tied with Soldier Blade, it's absolutely a comfort game to me.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic on the system for sure

[@ghulcaster]

Had no clue, it's loaded on my MiSTer lol. I grin when I think of how much money I have saved because of that thing.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

MiSTer is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year round

[@CaptainFalco311]

So happy to see this game get some love. I've only emulated it (obviously) but it's a ton of fun, the graphics still hold up today, and the soundtrack is super underrated

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Always down to give games more love

[@jackal27]

One of the best cases for the existence of flash carts!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha yes nobody should actually buy this

[@pigs18]

Played it via flash cart and it's something I would love to see in a modern compilation. Great music and better play control than most games of its era. If you die in this game, it's because your reflexes weren't good enough, not janky hit boxes or poor game mechanics.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

So many good shmups on PC Engjne could use a rerelease

[@hybridvigga]

I'm sure it's on the PC engine mini console, but I could be wrong.

[@robertpeacock894]

One of my close friends sold me his backup Turbo Express. When he got it out he noticed his loose copy of Magical Chase! That’s like finding an old lottery ticket!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha finding a chunk of cash in a drawer style

[@beingsupersonic7499]

Wow, I knew this game was rare but had no idea it was so insanely expensive!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Just a couple dollars haha

[@beingsupersonic7499]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Ha yeah. And I thought Taromaru and Hyper Duel were silly lol

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

All game prices are silly these days

[@beingsupersonic7499]

@@VideoGameEsoterica indeed! Somebody recently said to me that they are going to start a retro gaming collection, and I just thought you poor bugger😂

[@dorfus]

The BMW is gonna depreciate faster, though.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

True. The retro games economy is still killing it vs my 401K

[@starlightrevenant]

Didn't knew the Cotton franchise started with this game, despite its $21,989 price CIB.

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

It didn't completely different publisher and developer Quest developed Magical Chase, Success developed Cotton Both came out in 1991

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Just a couple dollars lol

[@THELEGENDARYK2]

That magical combination of good game and extreme rarity making super high price. I dont see why the PCE copy should be $700. That's just too many people making a compromise inflating the price.

[@dorfus]

One of the greatest soundtracks of all time.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic

[@l3rvn0]

Bought a PCEngine just to hear its OST on real hardware, it's really that amazing

[@DanRussell-zl9re]

I have the pc engine cib my brother let me play his US Copy years ago ouch crazy price my favorite shumps are Blast Wind , thunder force 5 and of course Radiant Silvergun I also really like Saphire on pc engine cd I’m still looking for Zerogar on nec Pcfx great video

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Zeroigar is fun. Not perfect but fun

[@Superdimensional]

Quality reproduction with box and case $60 PCEworks

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes obv there are other ways to put this on the shelf

[@nicci_dee8292]

Ah it reminds me at .... Trouble witches.... with the Shop :D

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Very similar concept for sure

[@Riz2336]

The Nintendo world championships 1990 of turbo games huh. Looks cool not worth paying that price especially when easily available to get on a rom site

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha yes no game is worth this much

[@DrJ3RK8]

I always berate myself for selling this card in the 90s. :D Oh well... This was readily available at my local Toys R Us at the time. Good game! I still play it frequently. Just wish I had the HuCard still. ;)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Hindsight is painfully 20/20 on this one

[@DrJ3RK8]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Indeed! When I sold most of my physical games at the end of the 90s, early 2000s, there wasn't really a vintage game collecting scene outside of maybe arcade board collecting. Everyone was also a bit more excited about new game tech at the time too with GPUs starting to come out etc. Emulation had just picked up speed too around 97-98 so I was more interested in playing that way. The one game that I got back then that was REALLY expensive (for the time) was Chi no Rondo. I didn't even have a way to play it at that point, but wanted to have a copy. :D

[@GamerGee]

I need a time machine. Buy all the hucards and bring into present time. Profit.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

And now it’s all about the retro again. No surprise there

[@GamerGee]

Thank goodness for emulation. What’s higher. Neo turf masters!!!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lots are still higher. Especially in Neo geo land

[@steambub]

Last time I checked the game price, it was only $5k. Either buy a repro or play the spiritual successor Trouble Witches Origin.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes just grab a repro if you need a full set IMO

[@ajsingh4545]

The Japanese version has a different looking first stage, title screen, shop, and main character. Some enemies in stage 1 are also different.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes there are a few regional variances

[@IamMarkSmith]

Also, who owns the rights to this game? Why didn't they include this on the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 mini consoles? What a missed opportunity! I play it now on my TG-16 via my Turbo Everdrive.

[@TitchgamerRG]

Teddy Bear Etha LOL

[@apollosungod2819]

A BMW has to be a certain number of years old before it becomes a "collectible" for people who had genuine nostalgia for it. NEC Turbo GraFX 16 however has seen fans who never actually owned or cared about the TG16 or NEC at all because they are just collectors and they figured out which games had low print runs due to the circumstances of the TG16 and Turbo Duo... The main mistake NEC America did was delay the PC-ENGINE and name change it which took an entire year... basically NEC Japan ordered and funded the NEC America subsidiary branch to sell the PC-ENGINE in 1988 which means it could have been launched in late 1988 and then eventually they could have built up an install base. Instead they delayed by a year and their managers apparently believed that they could sell big numbers so they ordered too many units... around 700k TG16s which means retailers who ordered these systems were stuck with them (the SAME thing with Sega of America's 32X only the TG16 was actually a great console and not the sabotage that 32X was) and when prices were dropping in 1990 and 1991, most of those retailers were not ordering more TG16s because they weren't stupid.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

There’s def too much speculation in retro gaming and value these days

[@hybridvigga]

At least NEC america actually sold the console, hi from Europe by the way.

[@apollosungod2819]

@@VideoGameEsoterica some ten years ago not that many cared about the NEC TG16... so its a lot of factors because you have older collectors and new collectors who were not even born back then and have become big retro fans due to youtube videos.

[@apollosungod2819]

@@hybridvigga and the way they did it ended up affecting the strategy for Europe which basically vanished... I have done a lot of research myself and remember how stores were selling the TG16 at huge discounts... that only tells you the retail stores were no longer gonna order new consoles and the same thing happened with the Sega of America created 32X which was a bad idea. The idea of NEC headquarters Japan... remember they are the Japanese headquarters that created, engineered, manufactures, etc They hire staff at subsidiary branches to do one basic job... sell the product to that region etc but in all seriousness the way NEC America or whatever their name was did was just the wrong way to do things. The PC-Engine shell design was fine as it was... it's purpose to play videogames not to look big and wasting an entire year cost NEC America any chances of becoming relevant... ordering too many units just adds to the problem. Note that in Japan whenever they did console system launches they actually monitor how many units were shipped to retailers, how many units actually sell to customers and how many games are actually selling on a weekly basis and maybe they did that because they were very careful to lose millions of dollars and get a bad consumer reputation... That said NEC also made the Super GraFX which was an attempt to fight off the potential for the Sega MegaDrive to gain sales and the unknown of Nintendo releasing their Super FamiCom and the Super GraFX failed but for different reasons

[@hybridvigga]

@@apollosungod2819 Yeah there were only five games on that new one. I was always a video game nerd as a kid, got a japanese megadrive nearly a year before it launched over here, and an import SNES the year after. I always wanted a PC Engine, but there was no way I was talking my mum into importing another console for Christmas, and besides, there were rumours that Sega were going to make their own CD thing at the time...

[@SRC267]

Did I hear Cute 'em up? 😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha you did

[@jeremygregorio7472]

The game isn't actually selling for 20K. That's an eBay trick. You post something for way more than anyone would ever pay with the understanding that they're going to contact you outside of eBay to make the final sale. It lets you use eBay to advertise your product without giving eBay the 15 to 20% cut they normally take. The actual sale price is going to be around 5K which is still pretty insane but if you're in obsessive compulsive collector who wants a full set of a console the turbographx 16 is a good pick because the library is relatively small and you can probably get the whole thing for around 20K which is doable by a lot of dedicated collectors

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s more fun to say 20K if I’m being honest haha

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

We have Cotton at home Cotton at home $20k *stone Cold What gif*

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

🤣 nice

[@claudiosacchi3720]

I'm not a big fan of cute'em ups but this one is a wonderful game. I consider it as good as airzonk and harmful park on the ps1.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Harmful Park is a classic

[@simon41978]

The most I'd ever pay for a game is $500. And, probably, it would be an arcade board or MVS cart. 3rd Strke cost me about 500. Something like a genuine Pulstar on MVS would be attractive. Discs are too fragile and get scratched. I don't think you can really justify it for a SNES/Megadrive/TurboGrafx16 game. I was actually looking at Fire Emblem Thracia on Ebay. Very expensive!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I don’t spend much on games any more. Arcade boards are a diff story

[@simon41978]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Ah, yes, it's a great hobby though.

[@jonmurrs7068]

Just on emulation, never on real hardware.. it is very good

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic

[@Charlie-Cat.]

$20,000 Dollars VGE? Cheap! 8^)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Only compared to Neo geo haha

[@Hreasvalgor]

1 digit price game : Very likely to buy 2 digit price game : likely to buy 3 digit price game : Very likely to NOT buy 4 digit price game : not in a thousand years 5 digit price game : …. No

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I RARELY touch the four digits but that’s when it’s exceedingly rare arcade hardware. Not the stuff that’s easy to find but expensive. The stuff that comes up for sale once every 3-5 years. And even that’s rare

[@METR0lD]

Haha, yep. This game is insanely expensive. Only game I have that's even remotely comparable is Shantae on the Game Boy Color (complete with box and all inserts in like-new condition), but even that pales in comparison to Magical Chase!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The value is the friendships we’ve made along the way right? Lol

[@zhukov2116]

Are we looking at the same ebay? I can see prices from around a paltry $1500.

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

The PC Engine version is 1500 the TG16 version is 20k

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

See below

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Wild prices

[@blakegriplingph]

$20k for a game is too ludicrous in my book. And have you by any chance considered reviewing _Lords of Thunder_ for the TurboDuo? Tony Hawk was commissioned to produce a promo VHS for it during its release as he was strapped on cash at the time when skating experienced a slump in popularity.

[@karlhanso]

Cheap compared to kizuna encounter super tag which cost 299k usd on neostore

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Too ludicrous in anyone’s book

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha that’s Neo Geo for you

[@almeidachannel7121]

Nice Video ! Sub & Big Like ! And Love Retro Games !

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoyed

[@Biospark88]

Thank god for everdrives.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

A nice way to play

[@Biospark88]

@@VideoGameEsoterica you don’t have to personally reply to every single comment you know

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I feel compelled. People take the time to write. I feel like I owe them a response

[@chriscrossan8034]

And i thought Coryoon and Harmful Park prices were preposterous.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha nope they get higher!

[@shinramiddlemanager7949]

Who on earth buys these games these days instead of just emulating? I just play it on the MiSTer just fine.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’m really not sure 🤷🏻‍♂️ def not me

[@rentoptional1524]

A complete copy of Magical Chase went for around 3 grand 10 years ago . Now it's over 15....not a bad way to spend money. It's all about investment and assets with games this expensive. It's not about the ability to play them.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

If you bought at the right time you won. Like my AES games. Bought most of the expensive titles in the low hundreds like 15+ years ago

[@hybridvigga]

At 20-grand a pop, it'd work out cheaper if five people went in and bought the rights to it than actually buy the old cartridges. Although, if you had 50 copies, you could trade it for 9.9 sealed Mario 64 from that fake auction company 🙂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha love the idea

[@ciaranmccarthy]

I am thinking of trading my PAL AES copy of Kizuna Encounter for this.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha you wish

[@WheeledHamster]

But is it $20,000 fun????

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha no it is not

[@bartvb5059]

Retro game collecting has started turning into a scam more and more since COVID. Some of the prices people are asking are just absurd. If (when?) Analogue ever makes an FPGA Saturn I'd probably start wasting money on japanese Saturn games again though 😂

[@Dr.D00p]

The fact that it's a game is irrelevant. It's a commodity. The people who invest these sorts of sums are professional investors, and they'll put money into anything that has a perceived scarcity value. Today, they'll buy a rare videogame. Tomorrow, it will be something else. There is no sentimentality or nostalgia fueling these prices.

[@bartvb5059]

@@Dr.D00p that's exactly what I mean when I call it a scam. It's not about collecting old favorites and discovering new ones anymore. It's just about making as much money as these 'investors' can get away with.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Prices have def gotten stupid

[@gzero26]

I mean, you can ask what ever price you want. Doesn't mean you are gonna get it! LOL so damn ridiculous with all these prices. Scam really

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Someone will eventually pay close to it