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So I just bought a PC Engine CORE GRAFX

G

gryz

Banned
Coregrafx.jpg


Got it used on Amazon, hopefully should be arriving next week. Pretty excited as it's my first "real" import system and a system I have never played before.

What should I buy for this thing? Can someone with more knowledge than me explain what's the deal with the CDROM and System cards? it seems like the cdrom unit is pretty hard to find. Anybody have experience with modding the japanese one to play US games?

Also general PC Engine thread.
 
I had a converter to play USA games on PC Engine, no modding.

Is the Core limited to RF out only like the white PC Engine? If so you'll want to get that AV attatchment thing or the CD Rom that has composite out.
 
drugstore_cowboy said:
I had a converter to play USA games on PC Engine, no modding.

Is the Core limited to RF out only like the white PC Engine? If so you'll want to get that AV attatchment thing or the CD Rom that has composite out.
Click to expand...

core supposedly has the AV cables which is nice.
 
Congratulations, I also have a PC Engine (white model) and love it!!

First, the CD-ROM drive are very expensive and hard to find in working condition. The best way is to always keep looking on ebay and wait the chance to grab one at a good price.

Second, there's a way to mod you system to play japanese and north american games, but it's really hard and I recommend you to just buy the japanese hu-cards with are somewhat unexpensive (the shooters tend to be pricier).

And sorry about the bad english. :)
 
Congrats...

Japan games:

Magical chase (US one is too hard to get and expensive as all hell)
Bomberman 94 (best outside Saturn Bomberman IMHO)
Download
Blue Blink
Gunhed (Blazing Lazers in the US)
Star soldier series

And if you mod/convert for the US

Devil's crush
R-type
Military Madness
Splatterhouse
Dungeon Explorer

That's a good start...
 
Here are some useful articles on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TurboGrafx-16
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/turbografx-16
http://www.1up.com/features/20-years-turbografx-16-retrospective

This lists what system card goes with what peripheral:
http://pcenginefx.com/main/nec_compatibility_guide.html

Does not mention the Games Express system card which is used to play Games Express naughty CD games :)

Here is how to mod your PC Engine for regioning stuffs and RGB output:
http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/category/nec/pce/

PC Engine Game Reviews:
http://pcengine.co.uk/

For CD games you could either get the
CD-ROM² peripheral
220px-PC_Engine_CD-ROM2_Interface_Unit.jpg

or the Super CD-ROM²
220px-Super_CD-ROM2_with_CoreGrafx_II_%283-4_right_view%29.jpg


I elected to go for one of the Turbo Duo variants:
PC_Engine_Duo.jpg
 
HuCard games you might want to consider:

Alien Crush
Coryoon (Good luck finding this for cheap!)
Coryoon_05.gif


Detana!! Twin Bee
Download
Dragon Saber
Dragon Spirit
Final Soldier
Magical Chase (Expensive)
Marchen Maze
Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: PC Bangai Hen
Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: PC Soccer Hen
R-Type
Raiden
Shubibin man
Shubibin man 2
Schbibin_Man2_02.gif


Side Arms
Soldier Blade
Soldier_Blade_02.gif


Splatterhouse
Splatterhouse_02.gif


Super Star Soldier
Valkyrie no Densetsu
 
sweet thanks for all the info everyone, pretty excited to check this thing out.

Tempy said:
I elected to go for one of the Turbo Duo variants:
PC_Engine_Duo.jpg
Click to expand...

there's a used store by me that has a TurboDuo in the case with all their other rare games but it's "not for sale", pissed me off when I thought I finally found one.

Pimpbaa said:
Wish NA got the same design as Japan. TG-16 was so damn ugly.
Click to expand...

"In regards to the restyled shape of the machine, it was going to be sold at a relatively high price and the customers we asked questioned why something so expensive should be in such a small package. They believed that if it’s small it should cost less, not more. "
 
I'll admit to knowing very little about this system but Devil's Crush, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Gate of Thunder are awesome games worth checking out.
 
gryz said:
sweet thanks for all the info everyone, pretty excited to check this thing out.



there's a used store by me that has a TurboDuo in the case with all their other rare games but it's "not for sale", pissed me off when I thought I finally found one.



"In regards to the restyled shape of the machine, it was going to be sold at a relatively high price and the customers we asked questioned why something so expensive should be in such a small package. They believed that if it’s small it should cost less, not more. "
Click to expand...

Go buy one from someone on PCenginefx.com. Thats what I did after someone recommended them here. Got a PC engine DUO, freshly recapped for about $180.

I need to get mine modded at some point for whatever english hucard RPGs exist (Neutopia 1 and 2). I'd like to be able to play Legend of Heroes: Dragon Slayer in english but man is it expensive. Same with Super Darius II.
 
jbueno said:
Get Makyou Densetsu/Legendary Axe, nice underrated little game.
Click to expand...

Woah! Nostalgia rush! For some reason this is one of my all time favorite TG16 games, although I am not sure why. I think it was because it was one of the first games that got me excited about the system. The magazine shots etc. There was also a TG16 van or something that came and visited our summer camp to promote the system...that I missed because I was sick. All I got to see were the mysterious brochures left around camp and stories from my friends who talked greatly about the Legendary Axe.

Why the hell was this never added to Wii VC?! Still pisses me off.

Oh yeah, this game is practically impossible towards the end. Even with save states I was being brutalized.
 
Picked one up a few months ago as well, same model, for nostalgia sake. I never had a CoreGrafx back in the day (only a SuperGrafx). Picking up a few games here and there.

Legendary Axe is a good one, wow at those memories.

Don't recommend going the Everdrive route. That is no fun, no fun, at all...just pick a few games to buy on Hu and go from there. Enjoy the format. PCE/Turbo was my favorite 16-bitter of the three.
 
Nice. I wish I still had my TG-16.

Some of my favorites:

Devil's Crush
Air Zonk
Bonk's Adventure (of any type)
Bomberman (of any type)

I've toyed with buying a SuperGrafx and/or TurboDuo for many years. I remember being a kid back then and wanting those so bad.
 
gryz said:
there's a used store by me that has a TurboDuo in the case with all their other rare games but it's "not for sale", pissed me off when I thought I finally found one.
Click to expand...
lol, I know exactly which shop you're talking about!

I've got a Duo-R for CD-ROM games and Japanese HuCards, and a TG-16 for US HuCards.

It's a cool system to collect for. I didn't start until about three or four years ago, but I've enjoyed playing its (often superior) versions of favorite games I'd played before on the NES/Genesis/SNES, like Salamander, Forgotten Worlds, Strider, Street Fighter II', Cadash, R-Type, Raiden, Gradius II, and Aero Blasters. It's a surprisingly capable system.
 
woodypop said:
lol, I know exactly which shop you're talking about!

I've got a Duo-R for CD-ROM games and Japanese HuCards, and a TG-16 for US HuCards.

It's a cool system to collect for. I didn't start until about three or four years ago, but I've enjoyed playing its (often superior) versions of favorite games I'd played before on the NES/Genesis/SNES, like Salamander, Forgotten Worlds, Strider, Street Fighter II', Cadash, R-Type, Raiden, Gradius II, and Aero Blasters. It's a surprisingly capable system.
Click to expand...

Salamander seems like a pretty good port, unlike the Famicom version which had some considerable changes, but on the plus side it came in a beautiful translucent green cart. I recently watched this video of the game running on actual hardware and it made badly want a PC-Engine and this version of the game, shame about the rarity and high prices of the system and games locally. Oh well, the near arcade perfect PS1 port will have to suffice for now.
 
This is a road that I would love to go down one day but you can't just stop with one console and a few games. I imagine things can get out of hand pretty fast.
 
Are we allowed to talk about Everdrives here? I know it's a weird gray area...

I bought a Turbo Duo a few years ago and it's one of my favorite systems. It's been really great (and expensive!) finding old gems I never knew existed.
 
Also, for folks wanting to get a Turbo Duo, it's best to skip the U.S. systems and get an import Duo-R because A) The U.S. Turbo Duos are rediculously expense now and more importantly B) they have faulty capacitors which die out after awhile (an issue the Duo-R doesn't have)
 
Congrats! The PC Engine is/was such an awesome system. It may just be my favorite console ever, although I love a hell of a lot of systems (Famicom, Super Famicom, Saturn, PS1, DS, etc.), so it's hard to say that without exception.

Anyway, before I suggest a few games, here's the lowdown on getting a CD-ROM system for your new Core Grafx: You can get either the "suitcase" CD-ROM2 system or you can get the "backpack" Super CD-ROM2 system. I'd go with the latter myself, as you won't need an added system card (unless you want to play PC Engine CD-ROM "Arcade" games). Neither is bound to be all that plentiful on eBay, though, so you may have to keep an eye out for them for a while before finally getting one.

As for suggested HuCard games:

Alien Crush (pinball)
Battle Lode Runner
Bomberman '94
Coryoon
Galaga '88
Gekisha Boy (aka Photograph Boy)
GunHed
Jigoku Meguri
Mizubaku Daibouken (aka Liquid Kids)
Parasol Stars (Bubble Bobble 3, basically)
PC Denjin (aka Air Zonk)
PC Genjin 1 and 2 (aka Bonk's Adventure and Bonk's Revenge)
Son Son II

Warning: A good few of the games above can be pricy. Actually, Coryoon is downright insanely expensive (complete copies tend to go for about $200 on eBay), while complete copies of Gekisha Boy, Mizubaku Daibouken and Parasol Stars tend to go for $60 or more.

Personally, I'd skip Coryoon and go for PC Denjin if you're into shmups, as the latter is a lot cheaper and just as fun/impressive, IMO.

If you're into platformers, though, I'd highly recommend picking up Gekisha Boy, Mizubaku Daibouken and Parasol Stars even at $60 a pop. All three are among the best platformers the ol' PCE has to offer.
 
picked up "Darius Plus" at a local game store this weekend, now I just have to wait for the pc engine to get here.
 
Yeah! I have one too! :D

Easily one of my favourite consoles ever, it was my second console right after the Atari 2600 so it was quite the jump in gameplay mechanics and graphic capabilities.
I really should hunt down an interface unit and CDROM reader or a Turbo Duo directly, there are tons of excellent games on CD too!

Recommended games:

tg5H1.jpg

Devil's Crash - pinball game, one of my favorite games ever, awesome music, nice atmosphere and seriously addicting gameplay

Dnw92.jpg

Bonk series - action platformers, the 2nd one is the one I have the fondest memories of but the others are pretty good too, especially Denjin, the shump one

AqYrK.jpg

Splatterhouse - one of the very first horror games, excellent music and quite difficult to beat... that 5th level boss...

These are just off the top of my head, but there are tons more to be discovered!

Have fun!
 
so the store by me just has a big wall of PCE games for 10-20 each, thinking I should just buy up all of them haha. gonna at least go back with this thread up on my phone next time.
 
gryz said:
so the store by me just has a big wall of PCE games for 10-20 each, thinking I should just buy up all of them haha. gonna at least go back with this thread up on my phone next time.
Click to expand...

You have a store you can go to with a huge wall of PCE games? Lucky bastard.
 
gryz said:
multiple stores actually, only downside is dealing with bored hipsters who think they know more about videogames than you
Click to expand...

Video Games New York? Is that where you are...

Those games aren't THAT cheap down there, are they?
 
El_TigroX said:
Video Games New York? Is that where you are...

Those games aren't THAT cheap down there, are they?
Click to expand...

Pink Gorilla in Seattle, there are a couple other stores as well that have some, one of which is the bastards that wouldn't sell me the turboduo that won't be named haha
 
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