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Post by SignOfZeta on Oct 23, 2022 11:23:03 GMT
Yeah, from a 16bit console standard - it's got a lot of power! From a 32bit standard though, the lack of a really fast blitter system like the Saturn and PSX, make it pretty lacking ('chip tunes' aside, but even PS1 mostly did streaming music rather than chip generated.. so I guess I shouldn't be TOO hard on it haha). With some recent activity for the PCFX, maybe we'll see some nice demos show off the lesser known capabilities  Even if you were to only use the base PC Engine VDPs' capabilities, it would be pretty damn powerful. They can still switch resolution modes on the fly, right? Imagine ports of Neo Geo fighting games Yeah…the thing with Neo is…people think you can port Neo games to anything because the CPU is the same as Genesis or Amiga but there’s a lot more to arcade hardware than just CPU. I’m sure you could do Fatal Fury Special again like the PCE did just fine but keep in mind that even the PlayStation struggled…horribly…with ports of later Neo stuff like KOF 98 and even the Saturn and Dreamcast had a few teeny issues. Maybe it’s just because I’m such a Neo fan but IMO porting Neo games…well…regularly…never really happened. Good Neo at home on something other than a Neo wasn’t really common until systems became powerful enough to run Neo in an emulator so…Wii, I guess. I don’t think the FX could touch Pulstar, Rage of Dragons, KOF 2003, etc, I’m not even sure it could do Samurai Shodown 1 well. |
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Post by spenoza on Oct 23, 2022 14:58:57 GMT
The Neo Geo had a rather unique graphics chip, in many ways. Really, almost every console or arcade machine of the time was doing something weird or bespoke. Every piece of hardware was this bizarre mix of off-the-shelf or reused chips and something made specifically by or for them.
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Post by crisgenjin on Oct 23, 2022 23:40:50 GMT
Even if you were to only use the base PC Engine VDPs' capabilities, it would be pretty damn powerful. They can still switch resolution modes on the fly, right? Imagine ports of Neo Geo fighting games Yeah…the thing with Neo is…people think you can port Neo games to anything because the CPU is the same as Genesis or Amiga but there’s a lot more to arcade hardware than just CPU. I’m sure you could do Fatal Fury Special again like the PCE did just fine but keep in mind that even the PlayStation struggled…horribly…with ports of later Neo stuff like KOF 98 and even the Saturn and Dreamcast had a few teeny issues. Maybe it’s just because I’m such a Neo fan but IMO porting Neo games…well…regularly…never really happened. Good Neo at home on something other than a Neo wasn’t really common until systems became powerful enough to run Neo in an emulator so…Wii, I guess. I don’t think the FX could touch Pulstar, Rage of Dragons, KOF 2003, etc, I’m not even sure it could do Samurai Shodown 1 well. Even with the CD add-on and extra RAM to help it, Fatal Fury Special is still limited by the hardware (One background layer, rather low color count and weak PSG sound effects). I feel like the PC-FX would do a way better job at handling such games, since it's a 16-bit system on steroids |
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Post by turboxray on Oct 24, 2022 0:21:39 GMT
You have 128k of vram per VDC so 256k. That's 128 sprites and 2 BG layers. You also have 4 BG layers from King and one BG layer from Rainbow layer. And you have 512k (two banks of 256k) for King. Two sprite layers and 7 BG layers. I think you could get really close to Rage of Dragons, KOF 2003, and Samurai Shodown series (with scaling too). I mean video capability wise, it should be able to get really close. Memory wise.. it's going to have the same issues as PS1/Saturn - only 2mb of ram to hold all frames. I guess you can use the BMP slot for additional memory up to 128megabyte external ram space - like a Saturn cart. I dunno. It'd be interesting. Definitely much better than any other 16bit home console could do.
I think it could do an impressive version of Pulstar. How close though? I dunno...
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Post by crisgenjin on Oct 24, 2022 8:43:02 GMT
You have 128k of vram per VDC so 256k. That's 128 sprites and 2 BG layers. You also have 4 BG layers from King and one BG layer from Rainbow layer. And you have 512k (two banks of 256k) for King. Two sprite layers and 7 BG layers. I think you could get really close to Rage of Dragons, KOF 2003, and Samurai Shodown series (with scaling too). I mean video capability wise, it should be able to get really close. Memory wise.. it's going to have the same issues as PS1/Saturn - only 2mb of ram to hold all frames. I guess you can use the BMP slot for additional memory up to 128megabyte external ram space - like a Saturn cart. I dunno. It'd be interesting. Definitely much better than any other 16bit home console could do. I think it could do an impressive version of Pulstar. How close though? I dunno... It's just for laughs, but I'd kill to see Rastan on the PC-FX. I think that compared to the MS-DOS and Apple IIGS conversions, it would be near arcade perfect (Aside from the difference in sound hardware) |
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Post by _jash on Oct 25, 2022 19:23:59 GMT
I have virtually no nostalgia connection to the PC-FX as a console. Where my love for the aesthetic of the PC-FX was the potential and the way Aaron Nanto photographed/presented it on the old website. In 1999, I only ever heard rumblings about the PC-FX and what games were coming out. Once it was was confirmed that it wouldn't be getting a release outside of Japan I kind of figured it was just an epic flop. When I discovered Aaron's site in '99, I was in awe of the reviews and screen shots of some of the cooler looking games. I think I fell instantly in love with Team Innocent, Sparkling Feather, and Chip Chan Kick. I remember his gameplay reviews on pcenginefx TV and had emailed him to send me physical copies of his episodes on CDrs, (which I still have!). Then I finally decided to make the jump, ordering one from hit-japan in 2000. I couldn't wait for it to finally arrive! The successor to the PC Engine! A 32-bit NEC machine with a whole new library of games to discover!
Then I finally got the PC-FX in the mail, tore it open with such voracity nearly damaging the box. I got Battle Heat and Power League FX as my first two games (they were around $20). I hooked everything up, slapped in Battle Heat and after at least 15 minutes I exclaimed to myself "What in the living fuck am i playing?" Power League was a bit better, I mean- it's baseball and the visuals were nice, but yeah, kind of a disappointing entry into the console. I would only have those two games for a month until I saved up a bit more to grab a few more games. I would pop in battle heat every once in a while just to try to figure out what was going on, but usually to no luck. I was awful at it. I would eventually grab Sparkling Feather (Which I likely spent the most time playing) and then Team Innocent. Both of those games were a much better experience, and showed off a bit of what the PC-FX could do. I still felt a bit disappointed.
With the cost of certain "Heavy hitters" going up, I lost my patience and started to download and burn a few games like Chip Chan Kick, Zeroigar, and Zenki FX, tried them out and decided- damn. This was the very best the PC-FX had to offer? I mean, it's not even in the same league as Saturn or PS1, I guess if anything it felt like the PC Engine, with way smoother FMVs. Still carrying over the HuCard/PCE chiptunes as well didn't make it feel very next gen at all. I don't know what could've saved the PC-FX honestly, but one thing that could've made it wayyy more popular in our little community would be backwards compatibility. I mean imagine if in that little door slot you could get a $99 expansion with a HuCard. I would use the PC-FX to play everything PCE/Turbo if that was an option.
23 years later, I think the PC-FX is likely one of the most disappointing consoles I own, but oddly I still love it, and enjoy whipping it out once or twice a year to play a round or two of some of those bizarre games, lol.. And hey there's always the translated Pia Carrot....
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majors
Punkic Cyborg
Have cabs, will travel
Posts: 157
Fave PCE Shooter: Parodius
Fave PCE Platformer: Legendary Axe
Fave PCE Game Overall: Spriggian
Fave PCE RPG: Ys
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Post by majors on Oct 26, 2022 14:01:12 GMT
... and enjoy whipping it out once or twice a year to play a round or two of some of those bizarre games, lol.. So Evercon and Linc? The PC-FX does look nice at a gaming event for the very least photo ops |
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Post by SignOfZeta on Oct 26, 2022 19:29:24 GMT
Indeed, if the FX was simply backward compatible we’d all be using it, even if just for PCE games. They screwed up literally everything.
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Post by _jash on Oct 27, 2022 20:37:55 GMT
... and enjoy whipping it out once or twice a year to play a round or two of some of those bizarre games, lol.. So Evercon and Linc? The PC-FX does look nice at a gaming event for the very least photo ops Haha, you know it!! Maybe 3 times a year if I'm signed up for MGC  |
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