Images

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / REVIEW: Mysterious Song]

Hah, it's been a couple years since I've really been active around here -- RL stuff - family, job, etc, etc., but I've always been lurking around from time to time, and finally managed to squeeze in some to play a new PCE game - Mysterious Song!  I'm sure most of you on this board are familiar with the title, and there are no shortage of reviews/comments on it.  So I thought I'd add in my 2 cents.

I must say I was quite impressed - you can really tell a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into creating this, so before anything else... great job guys.

I won't bore folks with the minor details, but will jump straight into it. 

The gameplay is of the classic JRPRG variety.  3-player party wandering the overworld, going between villages, caves, dungeons, etc.  Gameplay is simple in nature -- players can equip all things, there are the basic attack/heal spells, and everything just flows without dragging on.  There's nothing that hasn't been done before, but it doesn't do anything wrong.  It's a short & sweet RPG that one can finish in a single session (~3 hours), but that's not such a horrible thing for many of us who are time-poor now. 



Graphics are decent and I thought they were definitely comparable to other "commercial" releases back in the day.  The battle backgrounds in particular were really well done, with great detail & shading in some of the landscapes.





Music is excellent, and probably the standout feature of this title.  Battle music is really well done, for both the peon & boss battles.  I also like the cave BGM, which really makes it feel like your in a cave setting, with that echo-y reverb atmosphere.

The few cutscenes are also well done.  The art style isn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I can appreciate it being different from the standard anime fare, and again, I can tell a lot of work went into all this.



Other than the length of the game, I would say this game can certainly satiate the needs of classic RPG players. 

Compilation of my other reviews:
Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World
Ane-san
Babel
Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki
Blood Gear
Burai
Burai II
Cosmic Fantasy 1
Cosmic Fantasy 3
Dragon Knight III
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
KO Seiki: Beast Sanjūshi
Kūsōkagaku Sekai: Gulliver Boy
Nekketsu Legend Baseballer
Tengai Makyō: Itōryōdan
Tengai Makyō: Ziria
Valis I~IV
Xak I & II
Xak III

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: What PC-Engine Stuff did you get today?]

Sorry for the crap pic, but you get the point...


Had a quick 3-day stop in Kansai, and had a peek inside some retro shops in Denden Town & Namba and grabbed a few I've been meaning to get over the years.  I guess super potato moved near Namba station?  I noticed that there were shutters down in their denden town location, but by complete fluke, I ran across a super potato shop by Namba station.

I got TWO copies of LoX I because... the super potato in Namba forgot to put the CD in the game!  This is actually the case with Cosmic Fantasy 4-1 as well.  I later looked at the receipt and noticed they didn't charge me for those games either...  Unfortunately I didn't have time to go back to Namba and getting the discs before I had to leave - and I could only find a replacement copy for LoX1 at another shop before leaving. 

Anyway, the inventory of PCE goods in retro shops definitely doesn't seem to be as extensive as it used to be back when I was living there (2004-2005) - too bad.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: DAY OFF! who's playing turbob's?]

Hah, I actually remember that ad as a kid.  It was in some random manhwa magazine (the were some child actors in Korea IIRC)

Thanks for the nostalgia trip. 

[Off-Topic / Re: Wow... Look At All Those Posts!]

Hah, and I'm in top 10 in time spent on this board... 

And I practically never sleep cause I'm on this board round the clock! 



(Actually that probably just has to do with me hopping around time zones 12-14 hours away from where I used to be for the first 2 years I was on this board...  I'd actually feel sorry for myself if I really was on this forum 24 hours a day...) 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / REVIEW: Burai II]

Compared to the prequel (which I reviewed ->here<-), the sequel is a much, much more polished version of the original Japanese PC RPG. And unlike the prequel, the PC Engine has the only console version of this game.

The PC versions actually labels this game as gekan (下卷), which is more akin to "second half" of the one full story, rather than a "Part II". That is, it's a direct continuation of what happened in the first game. And just like the prequel, the game is split into a number of chapters, and you guide through a number short quest that's about 2-3 hours per chapter for a number of characters before they all meet up for a final showdown with the evil mastermind. However, the last quest in the prequel was much longer, but in this version, it's just as short as the individual chapters that precedes it.  Most of the quests are pretty straighforward, and there are a lot of cutscenes which advance the storyline.

This time around, the developers just about addressed every single complaint I had about the prequel's effort, including updating the graphics to match the contemporary RPGs of the era, widening the playfield, greatly easing the menu navigation, and the whole game overall feels helluva lot more polished than part I.

In fact, the game menu/navigation is pretty intuitive and easy for the average gaijin as there are a lot of icons indicating what's going on with your party members, how equipment affects party members, etc. For example, when you go into a shop, you can see how each of the equipment generally affects your party member, so you don't have to waste all this time trying out random things for party members.  When fighting, you can easily tell what's happening as icons indicating things like poison, stone, etc. appear, and up or down arrows show what's going on when your abilities are affected.

All of these things were absent in the prequel.  The developers have done a good job this time in really updating the game, and it also really helps your average gaijin understand what's going on.



One thing that took a step backwards in gameplay compared to the prequel is the difficulty level.  This game is much easier than the prequel - and this could be just for the console version.  I read that the PC versions are still much more difficult. This is a double-edged sword. While it makes it for less frustrating experience, I just didn't get the satisfaction of developing your character like that in part I.  In part I, dying is a regular part of the game in the beginning of the chapters, but you eventually get to a point where your characters kick major ass. 

In this version, they're never really *that* weak, and it doesn't take long before you're polishing off your enemies like nothing.  Also in part one, you really had to be choosy about what status you "fast-track" for character development; and also the books that your characters learned new skills from really made a difference.  In this version, you can simply set your development skills mostly to strength, and simply plow away. I never even bothered so much with the book reading - learning new skills just wasn't as important in this version.



The overworld graphics isn't anything to write home about, but there are a LOT of cutscenes in the story, and the artwork is quite exceptional. The prequel's artwork was a bit more gritty and eye-catching to be honest, but this is still really good stuff, and as I mentioned before, there's a LOT of it.  The style of the artwork is quite unique, and I can't quite point another title (other than the prequel) that has a style similar to Burai. 

The audio is also MUCH improved. While it's no Ys soundtrack, the tunes do a good job of matching up with the atmosphere, and no longer on a super-quick loop like that of the prequel.





The game is hardly ever talked about in the gaijin PCE crowd, as there's almost no information about the game in English except runin's review in ->here<-. I've yet to find a decent faq for this in even in Japanese let alone English.  Only one I found was a super basic one in Japanese for the PC versions ->here<-, but it's almost of no help.  I hardly used it. 

However, the game is relatively linear and the easy interface makes it quite possible for an intermediate JRPG player to get into without much problems.  My last save file has an indicated playing time of 21:30, so it's not a super long one by any means either.

Also, I actually wrote a minifaq while I was playing.  I've submitted this to gamefaqs just now, so it should help those out with some previous JRPG playing experience and basic kana reading skills.  I'll provide a link once it goes through.

...Onto my the next one...

Compilation of my other reviews:
Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World
Ane-san
Babel
Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki
Blood Gear
Burai
Cosmic Fantasy 1
Cosmic Fantasy 3
Dragon Knight III
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
KO Seiki: Beast Sanjūshi
Kūsōkagaku Sekai: Gulliver Boy
Nekketsu Legend Baseballer
Tengai Makyō: Itōryōdan
Tengai Makyō: Ziria
Valis I~IV
Xak I & II
Xak III

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / REVIEW: Tengai Makyō: Ziria]

After another long hiatus, I finished the next PCE RPG, so here's another review.  This time, it's relatively better known (at least amongst this crowd) Tengai Makyō: Ziria.  AFAIK, this is the first console-CD RPG that was released, and along with that was tagged as PCE's "big budget" RPG-series of the era.  You can tell that this game clearly had Dragon Quest/Warrior as a template, and the developers simply changed the environment, added in some wacky humor, and added couple extra tidbits that CD-format allowed them to do.  It's also pretty damn long.  I'd guesstimate the playtime at maybe 50-60 hours or so, but it felt like it was double that.  I've said this in previous reviews of other RPGs - perhaps I'm just more time-impatient these days with a job & family and all that, but this one was a just a grind toward the end.  It took me 13 months(!) of on-off playing to finally finish this one off.

Anyway, starting from the gameplay - TM:Ziria feels like it was created by a cookie-cutter console-RPG-template back in the days.  It's got the typical talk/tools/magic/status/etc menus in the overworld, and fight/magic/tools/run/etc... during the fight scenes.  You meet several NPCs before your party eventually stabilizes into a group of three, and you carry on your fight against the evil baddies, and you have to grind quite a bit to make sure that your party has a chance of survival as they move on.  Sound familiar enough?  Well, the developers made sure you got a looooot of it.  It's not the most impressive CD-game in terms of presentation, but man, I can say that they took advantage the abundant space storage to make sure that there was a lot of game.



As for the more unique bits about this game, you can't not notice the wacky environment.  There's the pseudo-feudal Japan setting, and the game throws a lot of goofball characters at you.  Because of this unorthodox setting, it makes it more difficult for those of us who are non-Japanese to really "get" everything (language barrier aside), but it at least makes for an interesting, and more exotic setting than your typical console-RPG settings.  The plenty of wacky characters that are strewn throughout the game are also memorable - the crazy gaijin Hotei, the oni father-son duo, mischievous tanuki monsters, etc., and also Tsunade, the little girl with a big axe, who provides plenty of comic relief throughout the game.



The overworld graphics are pretty dated, but is colorful and interesting enough with the aforementioned Japanese environment, and there are a couple scenes that look quite good.  Battle graphics are better than your average RPG, as there are a number of cool backgrounds, and the enemies are well detailed and are quite sizable.  Cinema scenes are pretty basic - it's mostly static background shots with characters talking along.  I suppose the big wow for its time would be the addition of speech, which is nothing now, but at least the voice acting is pretty well done, especially whoever did Tsunade.

The music is almost all chiptunes.  It's not bad, and it fits the mood and atmosphere of the game.  However, it's nothing particularly memorable IMO.  Being a CD game and all, some cool redbook tunes here and there in the overworld would've been nice.





All said, I would've been mighty impressed had I played this game when it was first released -- when I was playing the likes of Dragon Warrior I.  Compared to the competitors of its time, graphics are much more colorful, enemies are big and detailed, plenty of cut-scenes, and even speech(!).  The only one that might've held a candle to this game perhaps would've been Phantasy Star I (which was way ahead of its time IMO).  However, there are just a number of aspects about this game that hasn't aged very well.

Still, if you're a retro-gamer, you can appreciate how much has gone into making a game like this in a 1989-context.  If you like old-school RPGs and the PCE, Ziria should be on your playlist, but make plenty of time for it. 

I still have the sequels - Manji Maru and Kabuki-den to go through (which I've bought in 2005!), and just from screenshots and reviews from others here, I'm expecting a lot more polish from them...

Compilation of my other reviews:
Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World
Ane-san
Babel
Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki
Blood Gear
Burai
Cosmic Fantasy 1
Cosmic Fantasy 3
Dragon Knight III
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
KO Seiki: Beast Sanjūshi
Kūsōkagaku Sekai: Gulliver Boy
Nekketsu Legend Baseballer
Tengai Makyō: Itōryōdan
Valis I~IV
Xak I & II
Xak III

[Off-Topic / Re: The Beer Thread]

I know it's a gimmick, but I had to buy a couple cans today It actually tasted a slightly more like a bitter, but either way, nothing to write home about at all other than the name.

[Off-Topic / Re: Any car stereo buffs here?]

Yeah, the manufacturer site hasn't been much help...

I know what wires should go where on my car's harness, and so I might just try soldering some wires directly on the pins of the connectors, and see how that goes. 

That said, how the hell do you read the diagram below?  I see 16 pins on the connector side, but on the drawing, there's only 14 points... Which are connectors aren't used?  And also on the drawing, the wires are lined in a single row, whereas the connector has 2 rows, so I'm not sure how to read that.

Can anyone tell me how to read the below -- I labeled it points A- P on the connectors, and wires 1-14.  For example, does wire 1 (yellow) go to connector A, I, or somewhere else?  And also for rest of the wires...

If my intuition is right, I'll only need 3 wires for battery, ignition, ground, and + 8 wires for all 4 speakers' +/-.  I've no auto antenna, so need for the connector for blue wire. 

And digging in a bit more, what the heck do I connect the parking line and reversal line wires?  These are two separate wires separate from the 16-pin connectors.  Do I just leave them alone?  (From some research, some say ground the parking line to permanently enable DVD... not that I intend to even use DVD on this unit).

[Off-Topic / Any car stereo buffs here?]

Well, I'm not much of one, but the head unit on my crappy commuter just died.  I'd rather not commute in total silence, and and as I like to tinker around a bit, I thought I could probably try my hand at installing a car stereo unit.  I managed to get the old unit out fine, and got hold of a el cheapo unit for $10 from some random dude.

Problem is, the unit didn't come with any connectors of any sort in the back to connect to a wires/harness to the car.  From looking around, there seems to be manufacturer (and model) specific connectors, but I couldn't get this info, even from the manufacturer's website.  The connector opening is approximately 2.5cm x 1.5cm.

Are there a few standards out there, or anyone in the know where I can get this info?  I'm waiting for verification email from car audio forums, but I thought I'd try here to see if any of you knew...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Korean Vistar (Vistar-16): Does anyone here actually own one??]

termis, you f'n rule. Thank you for the swift response and the evidence/sources to build a credible account of Vistar's history in Korea.

If anyone else can provide more input/observations, please do so.

BONUS: termis, do you know if PCE had any presence in South Korea prior to the introduction of the Vistar ? I mean...did some folks import it ? Did magazines mention it ?

Thanks again.

Yeah, no wuz.  The PCE was imported into Korea by several different mobs. 

The original PCE, in its original form, was first imported into Korea by some small-time importer called Alpha Trading.  It seems the original CD-ROM was imported as well.  I'd imagine it was gray-market import, but this ad claims they're the official importer of NEC consoles in Korea.




Then Daewoo stepped briefly stepped in to importing the PCE shuttle, as the "Zemmix PC Shuttle".  Zemmix series, as some of you may know, are a series of MSX consoles in Korea by Daewoo, but they also used the Zemmix brand for their one-off venture in a non-MSX console.  Daewoo localized the PCE shuttle for the Korean market with a 220v PSU, and tacked on a Daewoo sticker on the bottom with the label "Daewoo PC Shuttle".  Unlike the Vistar, the Daewoo imported the Japanese version of HuCards.  But similar to the Vistar releases, the Daewoo-released HuCards were just stickers on the back of the HuCards, along with a translated(?) manual.  I see Daewoo-versions of HuCards of Dragon Spirit and Deep Blue in these two blogs below.  The author mentions recalling having several other Daewoo-imported HuCards, including R-Type part I/II.

http://blog.dreamwiz.com/hanhogyu/3830105
http://blog.naver.com/backmr?Redirect=Log&logNo=42529355




But Daewoo eventually stepped out of importing PCE as well, and that's when Haitai (a now bankrupt confectionary(!) company) came in to release the Vistar.

So in sum - Vistar is not the only Korean-market PCE, and it's not even the first one...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Korean Vistar (Vistar-16): Does anyone here actually own one??]

Man, the Vistar-16 looks a hell of a lot better than the US Turbo by a long shot.

Surely you jest - it looks like a frickin' early DSS receiver!

Necro is correct. ;)

Seriously, though, I would love to have a Vistar but I don't think I'll even get a chance to hold one only hands before I die.

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HUCARDS WERE AVAILABLE IN KOREA.

Anyone who can help compile a list would be greatly appreciated. I emailed Nfgman (Lawrence or Laurence ?) back when he first posted his article on Vistar and he provided only a handful of titles.

They're pretty rare in Korea too, but when I browse the Korean websites, I read messages of people getting/selling the system for somewhere between $50-$65.  (Granted the those prices I found were from 2002 and 2007, respectively).  So I guess they're not so rare to the point that it exchanges for crazy sums of cash - at least in Korea.

According to the ad below, 22 titles were "localized".  The 5 titles on the ad showing:
Bonk 2
Neutopia II
Soldier Blade
Ninja Spirit
Dead Moon


https://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o90/thumpin_termis/vistar1.jpg
https://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o90/thumpin_termis/vistar2.jpg

On this blog, I also see:
http://blog.naver.com/q__________?Redirect=Log&logNo=130042584125



Air Zonk
Keith Courage

And the aforementioned nfg game site where most English-speaking folks initially got their info:
I'm about 95% sure the guy who sold it to him has it listed here (he says that he sold it some dude in the US, and the games on the pic are exactly that of those listed on the nfg site)  -- http://bbs2.ruliweb.daum.net/gaia/do/ruliweb/default/308/read?bbsId=G005&itemId=110&articleId=1329327

Bloody Wolf,
King of Casino,
Super Star Soldier,
Vigilante,
Super Volleyball,
Psychosis
Devil's Crush.

That's 14 out of 22...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: System Modifications - Poll]

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with modding, and would encourage EVERYONE, yes, even the ones with a brand-new spanking rare system, to put in mods.  Every single system I have is modded at the very least with a region-free chip/switch. 

That said, I think cosmetics should definitely be considered.  For example, a lot of people put in simple rocker switches like this below which I think are ugly.  It just looks so out of place.



So when I put in my umpteenth multi-region + 50/60Hz switches for my saturn, I really looked around for some switches that wouldn't look awful.  I ended up with this. 



I know that some people put the switch inside the battery bay for the saturn, and there's the switchless mod too, but those are annoying for functional reasons -- I just want to switch and start playing.  Not open the battery door, close it again, or having to press buttons for multiple seconds to switch regions/Hz -- that's just irritating.  Functionality still trumps anal desire to make it look completely stock (why even bother modding in the first place, then?)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Pop cultural references to TG-16]

Zonk as a red devil mascot for TNT Fireworks.

Actually the other two devils seem somewhat familiar as well.  I'm digging down to my youth back to the mid 80s and all, but I get visions of the one on the left on like some 4th of July firecracker stand/package, etc... something to do with firecrackers, and the one on the middle having to do with some candy of some sort... like hot tamales-type candy or something (holy crap, I had totally forgotten about hot tamales too until I saw this).  Anyway, my mind can be making things up, but if anyone recognizes the other devils, let me know!

[General Gaming / Re: Anybody need a sealed Stadium Events?]

Ridiculous offers beg for a ridiculous counteroffer.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Anyone ever play BURAI? [REVIEW Added]]

Okay, so I finished the game today, so on with the review.

There isn't much info on this game in English other than runin's review, so I had a tough time getting started on the game.  Luckily, I found some info on a number of Korean sites, mostly on the MSX version, as the MSX had a decent following in Korea.

From what I gather, it seems Burai tried accomplishing what Final Fantasy VII would do years later when it first came out for the MSX, as in being this grand, high-production storytelling RPG.  For example, the original MSX version came out on a 15-disk package, with a 40-minute(!) intro scene.  The game is definitely tries to be an epic, as it involves things like the fight between light and darkness, intertwined stories amongst all the characters, huge plot twists, with lots and lots of text.  And there are 7 different quests, each lasting perhaps 2-3 hours each, before all the main characters come together for the second half of the game. 



Now, this all sounds pretty cool, but when you first start the game, the crummy in-game graphics will take you straight back to the early years of computer RPGs, complete with the super crunched up play-area.  This limited play area is frustrating to say the least (BTW, this limited-field thing seems to be very common in Japanese PC-derived RPGS).   The sprites are also tiny, battle fights have no background, is static, and there's zero nice factor at all. 


   
The music is also irritating, as many pieces loop way too often, and it gets super repetitive FAST (I think the overworld music looped every 20 seconds or so – with a short fade every single time, too).  Vast majority of pieces sound very bland, as I can only recall a few good pieces throughout the game.

The gameplay is all about character development, hence, expect a lot of grinding.  There are some extremely annoying thing about simple things like navigating through the menu.  For example, a common heal spell only heals about 20% of your health, so you have to cast it multiple times to completely heal one character.  Not a huge deal in itself, but you have to cycle through your spell list every single time you cast it as the cursor will flips back to the beginning of the menu -- certainly annoying when you have to cast it 5 times to completely heal one character.  I'm not sure if this game just wasn't designed for the gamepad in that sense; maybe Riverhill didn't bother optimizing the gameplay for a gamepad.  Also, simple things like just talking to villagers can be annoying as they constantly bump right back into you after your initial chat, forcing you to read the same thing like 3 times before you get away from them.

Now, even with all these annoyances, the game does grow on you.  One of the primary enjoyment factors of an old-school RPG is watching your character grow from a super wimp to an ass-kicking character, and you get to see this multiple times for a big cast of characters in chapter 1, and once more after they regroup in chapter 2.  And you have some control in how your character develops as well, as you can focus their growth areas such as magic, strength, search skills, etc.   Because of this "development", there's some grinding involved in the game.

Going along with the grand storyline, the developers put some real effort into the storytelling presentation, with character designs by Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno (who have been involved in some big-time animes of that era).  Very, very cool 70-80s Japanese manga style artwork, which I don't see much of in PCE titles.  Many drawings seems to be hand-drawn as well.




         
Now, because Burai isn't a cookie-cutter console JRPG, I'd say the gaijin-protection is higher than most PCE RPGs.  The gameplay itself isn't so difficult once you figure it out, but figuring it out will take longer most other JRPGs, especially if you're doing everything by trial and error.  I was fortunate enough to find a pretty extensive faq in a language I can read (Korean), and the faq had a lot of good info which I definitely wouldn't have figured out for myself.  I'll see if I can whip up something in English for those who are interested in trying out the game for themselves. 

PCE was the only console to receive the sequel this game, so I'll have a go at it sometime...

Compilation of my other reviews:
Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World
Ane-san
Babel
Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki
Blood Gear
Cosmic Fantasy 1
Cosmic Fantasy 3
Dragon Knight III
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
KO Seiki: Beast Sanjūshi
Kūsōkagaku Sekai: Gulliver Boy
Nekketsu Legend Baseballer
Tengai Makyō: Itōryōdan
Valis I~IV
Xak I & II
Xak III

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Anyone ever play BURAI?]

Dude, you totally just burn through these things -- I just barely got to the prison-break scene (still within in the first half of part I), and you finished through both part I and II! 

I gotta say that part II looks much, MUCH better.  The bigger playing field alone makes that so much better.  Not doing something like what they did for the Mega CD version (expanding the play area) just seems so... I dunno... lazy.  For comparison: 

Mega CD:        PCE CD:

I'll post a review myself once I finish, but I just started a new job, so my pace will be at a much slower rate -- I reckon I'll finish sometime this month, though...  But so far, I can think of lot more negative stuff to write about than the positives.  That's not to say this game is a total write-off, but I do think it's one of the weaker JRPGs in the PCE catalog.

However, I prefer the cutscene art for part I - at least compared to what I see in the runin's review shots.  Part I's art reminds me of manga art reminiscent of someone like... Leiji Matsumoto.  I dunno if he's the best example, but if I had to articulate, the art's kinda feminine in a way, but still meant for a general audience (that is, not a total shojo manga).  It's also gritty, looks hand-painted, and this style is pretty unique in the world JRPGs I've tried to date.  Some Japanese sites were also saying the artwork is very much like whoever did Saint Seiya, but I never read that series so I dunno.

Just some examples that highlight what I'm saying above:

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Homebrew Suggestion: R-Type]

Looking great, Chris! Keep it up! My only concern with the full-screen modification.... Will this make the image appear squished vertically when played on a TV with the real hardware?

I'm by no means an expert on this, but this made me curious too -- I got some screen captures of R-Type off MAME -- and then squashed all the images to 4:3 to emulate what it'd look like on an actual TV, and I think the results actualy looks better with Chris's hack.  It seems like the original Turbo/PCE version is the one that's a bit streched out vertically compared to the original (i.e. take a look at the neck curvature of the boss between the three shots -- the SGX full-res and MAME shots seem to be more true to each other)

Unhacked Turbo vs Hacked SGX vs MAME (all rendered to 4:3 at 320x240)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Three-Button-Friendly Games (TBFG FAQ)]

I'll start - I just loaded up this game today, (and man, I'm not sure what to do... I'll be posting about this game in another thread)

* (1) Burai


* (2) MAP BUTTON III TO: (Select)
* (3) Brings up status screen as seen below

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / REVIEW: Dragon Knight III]

As I opened the case to the game, a receipt fell out, and looking at it, it made me remember that DK3 was one of the last batch of games that I bought on the day that I left Japan 4 1/2 years ago.  I paid 880 yen for it at the time, and I wouldn't have paid much more because I knew this game was a censored version -- and I hate censored stuff, and it also had a US PC release (which I never played, but recall seeing ads of).  But thought, "Meh, 880 yen."  As it's a mildly adult-themed RPG, I thought it'd be gimmicky and didn't expect all that much from a gameplay point of view.  (As an aside: I hate the term "hentai" being incorrectly used for Japanese adult material -- you'd sound fucking retarded if you went up to a store counter in Japan and asked where the "hentai" section is located.)

Boy, I was pleasantly surprised after playing thorough it.  The girl factor is just a little extra eye candy of top of a solid, well-playing RPG.  The game doesn't have all this jazzy stuff of some of its peers, but what it does, it does well.  It has a nice, quick pace, and it doesn't bog itself down with anything unnecessary.  And what it does add compared to others (other than scantly-clad girls with gratuitous panty shots) is awesome characters that are easy to like, *brilliant* voice acting, and absolutely hilarious script & humor.



The presentation in-game is nothing fancy.  It looks like a number of other JRPGs with SD-sized characters walking about.  The development team did do little nifty things like changing up the player's armor color depending on his equipment (and being totally naked if equipped with nothing!).  The battle scenes have colorful backgrounds, which is a nice change after a number of plain-black background RPGs I've played through over the past few years.  The peon enemies are mostly girls representing some random monster (or not).  One that made me laugh was a peon that literally flashes her high beams as an attack.  On the other hand, a lot more polish has been applied to the cutscenes -- albeit they come in just one or two shots at a time -- you're consistently treated to a number of chicks in compromising positions, not to mention a number of rather mean-looking villains.

The music certainly on the top tier of PCE RPGs when it comes to the the soundtrack, as there are some cool pieces, especially in the dungeons.  There was a special thanks note to T's music in the credits, so I'm not sure about the level of their involvement, but either way, the music in DK3 doesn't hurt T's reputation at all.




Now, the real reason to get this game is unfortunately, not a good enough reason for many gaijins.  The script and the voice acting in this game is absolutely fricken hilarious.  In fact, this is the most humorous RPG script I've ever read.  The main character is a total perv, but he can kick ass too, much like a medieval fantasy version of City Hunter Ryo Saeba.  As a matter of fact, the voice immediately reminded me of him, and I soon found out it's the same voice actor as that of Ryo Saeba's.  Even though I'm not a big fan of the anime version of City Hunter (but a huge fan of the manga), this voice actor is spot on in representing an "ass-kicking perv".  This does carry over somewhat just from his intonation, but one is really, really missing out if they don't understand what is being said in the game.  A lot of voiceovers also meant that I had an added bonus factor -- it made it made it much easier for me to understand (rather than only mentally reading out all the text, with kanji and all).  Just some of the dialogs below made me laugh out loud, and it's a real shame that this would be lost on the majority of the import playing crowd.

This is a game ripe for fan translation, as ALL voiceovers is accompanied by a script, so just translating the script will allow the player to get 100% of what's going on (unlike, say Xak III or Ys IV, which isn't the case with its voiceovers -- not that I'm complaining about the effort put in to those titles  ).  All this can be remedied, as you can just play the US PC version (Knights of Xentar), but I have no idea whether the translation or voiceovers did any justice to the original.  Now, I'd imagine this will be similar for parts I & II, which I now will definitely get a hold of sometime in the future. 

 

The gameplay, as I mentioned, is quick-paced and takes a no-nonsense approach.  There are no unorthodox elements in the commands or how you go about the game.  The game pace reminds me a lot of Dragon Slayer I -- moving speed, battle speed, and the game duration as well.  It never drags on, and even grinding isn't too bad as you gain levels relatively quick and your efforts pay off rather quickly.  And though there's nothing complex about the gameplay, there are some random hidden bits around and a few multi-route areas, so an existence of a FAQ -- even though it's for the Knights of Xentar US Release -- is very welcome, and the FAQ is good enough to get you through the game, even though there are some minor differences here and there.



All in all, a very good RPG that doesn't get enough talk with the PCE crowd.  Check it out if you get a chance, or at least give the US DOS version a try at some point. 

And I'm just sayin, fan translation groups -- take a good look at this one. 

Collection of my other reviews over the years:
Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World
Ane-san
Babel
Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki
Blood Gear
Cosmic Fantasy 1
Cosmic Fantasy 3
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
KO Seiki: Beast Sanjūshi
Kūsōkagaku Sekai: Gulliver Boy
Nekketsu Legend Baseballer
Tengai Makyō: Itōryōdan
Valis I~IV
Xak I & II
Xak III

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / REVIEW: Cosmic Fantasy 3]

As one of the best known RPG series in the TG/PCE market in the west (which isn't saying much, really), I've been meaning to play thorough the whole series, since I originally beat part 2 sometime back in the mid 90s.  I went back and played through part 1 several years ago, and replayed part 2 over the past few months.  I won't bother reviewing part 2 as most of those who are into RPGs have played this one as it's one of the few US RPG releases.

When I started on part 3, what immediately jumped out was the how much more polished this one is compared to the prequels.  There were just things that are crude and seemed unfinished about the prequels (little things like music looping back every time you talk to some village character, status effects missing in part 2, etc).  However, the developers seemed to have really stepped up in their production levels of this one.  One can tell a lot more time went into everything.

As with all cosmic fantasies, there's plenty of story involved this one.  There's always humor peppered throughout the game, and Nyan, the feline character, provides plenty of comic relief.  And unlike some other series, CF doesn't forget its roots, as there's always cameos of characters from the all the prequels (Even as I played through part II recently, I found that Cobra (Yu) and Sayo (Saya) were actually the main protagonists of part I).  And we find later in the story how all these characters are connected to each other.



Starting from graphics, You can definitely tell a lot more went into the production of the game.  It's a lot anime-y this time around. I mean the prequels were too, but this time, there's also a LOT more cinema scenes - and they're some of the most well done in the PCE library I've come across so far.  More effort has also seemed to have gone into voice overs, and the overworld is vibrant & colorful.  The enemy characters are also a lot more cartoony this time around whether you like that or not.  Telenet added even nice little touches like the characters leaving behind footprints in the snow.

The only thing I really wish they would've put more effort was into the battle background.  It's a plain black background, and this really detracts from the feeling of being really immersed in the environment.  Some earlier RPGs such as Phantasy Star I had that factor nailed, and it's unfortunate that many RPGs since then still couldn't get this factor right.



The gameplay is also a bit more complex this time around.  The prequels were pretty straightfoward - anyone can equip anything, and the battle interface was the standard attack, magic, run, item variety.  This time around there are multiple different types of attacks such as standard attack, "force" attack where you do more damage at the expense of being more exposed, quick attack where you're almost guaranteed to get the first hit in, group attack, weapon effect attack, etc... Same goes for parry - there are different modes of all this stuff.  Granted, I didn't get to use all this stuff during the whole game, but some of the moves (such as force attack) are definitely necessary to have an easier time in the game.  Weapons and armor are now also differentiated between characters and what they can equip.  Because of the added complexity, it's a bit more difficult for a non-Japanese speaking gaijin to get into than the prequels, which is compounded by the lack of a complete English faq on this game (as far as I know).  There's a partial one that black tiger has put out which covers about 2/3 of the game, and I actually wrote down the last 1/3 as I played through the rest of the game, so perhaps this can help those who are looking to complete the game.

My two gripes about gameplay would be that 1) there are too many misses when you attack.  A good 50% of all your attacks will be in vain, and it's not uncommon where you have a single people left, and all four of your characters miss their attack move, forcing another turn - this can get irritating after awhile.  2) Exploring the world can be annoying at times, as a lot of the overworld is in different tiers - that is, it's not as straightforward as going from east to west at times, as you have to maneuver through various tiers to go from one point to another (see 3rd pic bottom).  And the map that was included in the game doesn't really help much in this case.



Overall, it's a definite improvement in the series, and it's really too bad that this one didn't make it to the west.  It certainly had the fit & finish level to compete against the top-tier RPGs of the era, and I'm pretty sure it would've been a cult classic now (somewhat like CF2) had it been released in English.

This is the first PCE game I played from beginning to end on an emulator (Ootake), and other than a slight video/audio sync issue during the cinema scenes, it played out perfectly, and it even allowed me to capture shots and like these for this review you're reading now.  Now, I don't have either part of CF4, so this series will be on hiatus from my playing list while I move onto something else... Perhaps I'll finally start the Tengai Makyou series next...

Just to cap it off, it wouldn't be a CF without the shower scene, so here is is (complete with a censor bar I put in  ), along with a couple more random screen shots.


Collection of my other reviews over the years:
Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World
Ane-san
Babel
Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki
Blood Gear
Cosmic Fantasy 1
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
Iga Ninden Gaiō
KO Seiki: Beast Sanjūshi
Kūsōkagaku Sekai: Gulliver Boy
Nekketsu Legend Baseballer
Tengai Makyō: Itōryōdan
Valis I~IV
Xak I & II
Xak III

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

I got a USB saturn controller as a birthday gift.  The thing is fricken awesome -- mk2 saturn controllers are my favorite controllers ever!  To test it, I went and downloaded ootake (which blows away ME, BTW) & tried some PCE games on the laptop, and controls are smooth as butter.

After all these years of disappointing joypads for the computer (starting from the original Gravis Pad), digital pads never quite felt right on PCs, until today.  I'm actually transferring my comic fantasy 2 save files from my Duo over to the PC using nanami bank and will continue the game on the laptop... 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Rainbow Islands menu translation]

Start from beginning
Continue

First sub-menu:

Diamond Puzzle -- Yes
Game Level -- Easy
Game Start

Sub-menu with two different options:

Diamond Puzzle -- No
Game Level -- Difficult
Game Start


The only one I'm not sure about is the reference to "Diamond Puzzle".  I could've mistranslated that one as I'm not sure about the context of this particular phrase in the game.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Check this out!!!]

Can't load the nfggames site at the moment, but some other random interesting tidbits, including the vistar ad in a Korean magazine (most likely from a monthly/weekly comic magazine) and from this ->blog<-, which includes shots of what the CIB system looks like.

- The ad states that 22 titles were available.  I'm not sure if any of these titles were actually localized with Korean script ingame or simply quick jobs with a translated Korean manual but North American Turbochip games.  As far as I recall that's what they did with Keith Courage, at least according to that nfggames site.
- Looks like Neutopia II was localized as "Utopia II" in Korea.
- Vistar owners also got those gimmicky shades in the pic which claimed to reduce the effects of any "harmful rays".    You could apparently buy the glasses separately for approx US$25 (that's my ballpark estimate of the exchange rate at the time)
- Unlike the TG16, the Vistar had both RF and A/V outputs, but the A/V output seems to be only in mono.
 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki]

Well, it's been over two years since I've written up a review of anything (was in school and all), but it's always been my intention to continue on with writing reviews of mostly obscure PCE games, so here it goes again...

So, today, we have Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki:

Within a few minutes of playing the game, I noticed the very Kansai (South-central region of Japan)-theme going on.  The accent, the words ("maido"), the scenery (glico running man, the osaka crab) etc.  I also noticed that this game was probably based on some live-tv comedy show.  Upon a little research, my suspicion proved to be true, as that's exactly what the game is about.  In fact, I found out that the title roughly translates to something like "Laugh! Osaka Accent Comedy Show".

I have to admit that picking up on these little things increased the enjoyment value of the game for me, even though my Japanese is rusty as hell now (it's been 4 years since I've really used it), but I still understood enough of few things to get a laughs here and there from the jokes in the game.  However, you'll still get a few chuckles even if your Japanese is at zero, as there are a LOT of sprite animations that are just plain humorous.  The characters have a lot of costumes, facial expressions, etc to make it interesting enough for a playthrough.

The platform action of the game itself is very basic.  You run around, jump on enemies & platforms, and clear levels.  Each level has a separate theme, like being in modern Kansai, feudal Japan, jungle, etc.  And along with the new level scenery, your character has a whole new costume set as well.  Between levels, there are a lot of mini-games that doesn't take too much to figure out, even if you don't read Japanese.  In fact, the game is so basic I did a 1LC my very first playthrough, and won every single mini-game as well.  So I can't recommend this game for the game itself, but for the novelty value of enjoying the colorful scenery and the goofy characters & spirite animations.



And other reviews I've done over the years...
Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World
Ane-san
Babel
Blood Gear
Cosmic Fantasy 1
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
Iga Ninden Gaiō
KO Seiki: Beast Sanjūshi
Kūsōkagaku Sekai: Gulliver Boy
Nekketsu Legend Baseballer
Tengai Makyō: Itōryōdan
Valis I~IV
Xak I & II
Xak III

[General Gaming / Re: to buy or not to buy: sega saturn]

Yeah, the saturn, much like the PCE, has tons of great stuff -- including a number of shooters -- that weren't ported over to the western markets, so you definitely want access to Japanese games.  And I also agree with Zeta, switching's the way to go (and the 2-way JP/US switch is waaaaaaaaaay easier than switching a PCE/TG16.  It does get a little more involved once you get into a single 3-way region switch). 

Some other reasons for going switches > PAR.
- You don't have to flip through the PAR menu every single time you start a game.  Maybe not a big deal to some, but it started getting annoying to me.
- People often complain of the PAR's thicker PCB wearing the saturn cart port out quicker than using official carts (though to be fair, the saturn cart port sucks no matter what).
- And of course, direct save access + ability to play ROM cart games as Zeta mentioned.

Here's my main unit -- 50/60 Hz region switch in the left, which isn't really necessary for North American folks unless you wanna try out some EU games (on a 50Hz capable TV). 3-way US/EU/JP switch on the right.


And I thought PAR worked well for ALL 1MB/4MB fighters (except the old ones not working well with Vampire Savior, IIRC).  From what I understand the whole graphic glitch with some SNK 1MB games only happen if you use the official Sega/Capcom 4MB memory carts.  I could be wrong on this one, and I'm too lazy to go and check for myself.

[General Gaming / Re: What non PCE game are you playing now ?]

Managed to 1cc Makaimura PCB today.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: beautiful plastic(NEC consoles)]

Anyone who prefers purple trim on black over silver/black trim on black has definitely got some fruitiness in 'em.  Value for money, on the other hand...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Arcade Card Pro or Duo?]

Basically, the Pro will work on any setup... That said,

With this setup (SGX + Super CD-ROM2), you can also use the Arcade Card Duo version and save a bit on the cash.


With this setup (SGX + RAU30 + CD-ROM2), you must use the the Pro version.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Game of the Week Club]

Awesome idea.  I'll also take this chance to pirate away if I don't have the game.  I also find myself being a bit harsher than most PCE fans on most game reviews, but I figure that'd just make things a bit more interesting.

Anyway, so I tried out the Daisenpu Custom for a few hours, and overall, was very underwhelmed.  It's a CD-ROM2 game, so I don't know if the card version is better (I get the feeling it may be -- I was really seeing how more RAM could've helped this title), but carrying on...

First of all, I found the choice of colors to be pretty drab/off.  For example, quite a bit of lanscape was in this turquoise color, and I don't recall seeing many turquoise landscape in real life.  Not to mention, there aren't a lot of detail in the landscape -- some are completely flat, so there are times when you're flying over a single-solid color landscape like in the pic below.  It almost looks like you're flying over calm water at best (with tanks on top!), or at worst, just lazy development -- I vote for the latter.  Sorry for the crap cell phone pic, but my point should be evident in the pic. 

 

The animation wasn't much better, as explosions are a quick firecracker-like pop, and that's it -- no crater left in the hole like the MD (and presumably, the arcade) version.  When you release a bomb, you just see like a solid explosion for a few seconds, not much else (no bomb dropping down or anything like that).

The music was decent -- a nice tune that keeps an atmosphere of suspense -- the bright point of this title in my opinion.

As for the gameplay, I found this one to be a bit tricky.  There's definitely something challenging about shooting away at ground based foes who don't have far movement range, but because of that, you tend to close in on them to get rid of them, but then they might shoot off a pea round just at you're about an inch away from them.  And even some of the minor peons take a good 5-6 shots, so that makes things even more difficult.  The power-ups definitely help, but not enough to overcome the handicap you have against the multi-hit taking foes, and it really takes some skill and/or rote memorization to get your way through far in the game.  I didn't notice the squadron of help you got in youtube clips in the HuCard and MD versions -- that definitely would've helped in certain areas.

Overall, this title doesn't get mentioned often when it comes to good shooters for the PCE, and for a good reason.  I'd say it's definitely in the lower-leagues compared to the many alternatives for the system.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Insanity: Berzerk for the PCE]

Found the delivery notice yesterday, so I picked it up from the post office on my way to school.  I just tried it for 5 minutes on an emulator.  I really do like the music! 

Now back to studying...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: OK enough of the weird name...is it Bunilla or Vanilla?]

I also vote for "Vanilla".  But I can see why some people transcribed it as "Bunilla".  Check out the cover:



As in "Bunny"-la. 

Even then, it I reckon it should've been バニーラ (as in バニーガール, not バニラ.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Insanity: Berzerk for the PCE]

Just to be picky:

インサニティ and not インサニチ, but hey, it's your game! 
 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Ziria SCD version]

so the wife bought me this little goodie for my birthday -- now I have no excuse to not start the TM series (already had TM2 & Kabukiden)...

Anyway, she got me the SCD version, and I read the Hibaihin (not for sale) in the corner.  From what I read, it was a pack-in for the SCD-ROM2 system?  (was this always the case?)

I also recall reading that this version pre-loads the text in SCD memory or something like that... I wonder if there's a noticeable load difference between the original CD version and this one...

Finally, I just got the manual & CD -- was there a map or anything like that with this one?  (Or the original one, for that matter)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: [?] best TG-16 covers]

I had to look hard, but Order of the Griffin is awesome.  I can't imagine this one looking better on a PCE cover.  (Just the Japanese characters alone would throw it off a bit, IMO)

My personal favorite among US releases is Battle Royale, because a couple of my buddies made it onto the cover:

That cover reminds me -- whatever happened to Keranu?  Haven't seen much of him lately.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Placing RPG on hold for a bright idea....]

Haha, that'd be original enough to warrant a purchase!

Reminds me of these kangaroos that I recently came across -- they think they're supermodels.   I'm sure they'd love to be in another game.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Pop cultural references to TG-16]

I do recall seeing another PCE plate on here long time ago -- it might've been from the same movie, but anyway, from the cult classic, Duel

[Off-Topic / Re: Pix from and around your area?]

I had to duck into the train station, so took a couple quick cellphone shots around Melbourne CBD (basically, downtown).

Flinders Station -- this is the essentially the center of Melbourne, as everything grew out from here.


St. Paul's Cathedral -- Kitty-corner from Flinders station.  I basically just turned around from the first shot and took this one.


Typical scene from the CBD.  Old buildings (or at least old-style facades) mixed in with the new.


I had some other shots after this, but somehow messed up the resolution setting on the cellphone and they came out too small.

[Fighting Street / Re: FACT: There is no God.]

Can all atheists who try to use science to somehow "prove" atheism take this part to heart?



And if you haven't figured it out by now, no, I'm not religious at all, I simply don't give a rat's ass about any religion.  But what bugs me is that atheists go on an on and on about how religion is holding science down and blah blah blah, and how religion is evil and blah blah blah, but I don't give a shit about that -- PROVE your statement. 

It's the exact same thing I ask to religious, or non-religious folks.

Atheists simply haven't explained or proved jack shit about non-existence of god to people like me, agnostics.

[Off-Topic / Re: So who wants to come to Canada with me?]

[Off-Topic / Re: So who wants to come to Canada with me?]

You sure you want Alberta in there? 

[General Gaming / Re: French kids robbered Sofmap in akiba...]

Literal Translation:
These boys said:
"We think that Japanese people shouldn't trust others so easily."

Real Translation:
"Keep an eye out for dem foreigners!"

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB/T For a Pc engine region mod PCB]

Not sure if anyone's producing these at the moment (grahf was doing these for awhile, right?  I haven't seen him on these boards so much since he went to Japan...)

If you, or anyone you know, have the know-how, you can build one yourself with a few IC chips:
http://mbrandel.vizionaires.net/?page_id=48

The other alternative is bypassing the PCB board altogether and using a 8PDT switch -- little more straightforward (not saying much), but the switch options are a lot more limited.  Actually, I think these days, the only 8PDT switches that'll suit the bill is this long pole switch.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Some tasty kanga kebabs.  I'm 'bout to sear them up, and wash 'em down with a cold glass of VB. 

[Off-Topic / Re: Show us your desktop!]

Not a gaming-related desktop.  Well, I haven't touched any games/consoles for the past 3+ months or so!  Well, they're en route now -- in the middle of the Pacific Ocean somewhere...

[General Gaming / Re: Coolest/Rarest/Favorite item in your game collection]

I don't think it's worth much, but I have a shrink-wrapped Samsung edition of Virtual On for the Saturn. 

Most people don't even know such an item exists. 

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

A 94 Holden Nova (A rebadged Toyota Corolla).  Public transit is so for ghetto people. 

[General Gaming / Re: Just got my Saturn back and look what is does!!!]

I have a US saturn.   This mod works the same??

All pretty much the same.  I built a US/UK/JP, 50/60Hz switch saturn using a US model, but using the PAL model instructions.  The only difference is the way the initial jumpers are set between the models, but if you understand enough electronics to attempt the mod, you'll probably be fine. 

The switchless mod is cool, but I actually prefer the hard-wired swiches.  I like to just flick the switch and know what setting I'm at, instead of pushing/holding whatever unintuitive button and trying to figure out what setting it's currently in.  Getting the right-looking switch is key, though.

Yea it is just nice to have all options open as same PAL games didn't see it statewide like Deep Fear and that rocks!!

Pretty much the reason why I went for the 3-country mod -- just for the hell of it.  I don't even have a single EU game at the moment, but having the option of being able to play one is nice!

[Off-Topic / Re: Mecha Fan Rollcall]

I do love big-ass robots, but I'm totally old school.

Growing up going back & forth between Korea & the U.S., I became fans of bunch of mechs that were popular in that era, some in the West, some in the East, some on both sides of the pond --

Atom/Astroboy
Mazinger/Tranzor Z
Grandizer
Mechander Robo
Transformers
Voltron
Gobots, etc...

But above all, for us kids in Korea, we had the Robot Taekwon V (or more precisely for my generation, it was the sequel, Super Taekwon V) Yeah! 


As for Gundams, I loved the designs of the mechs as a kid, but I never saw a single episode of it at that time (saw it only through books & magazines).  I guess the story was for a bit more "mature" audience, so it never made it past the Korean censors in the 80s.  I tried getting in to it as an adult, but to be honest, story didn't pick up fast enough.  I just don't have time to be watching 500,000 episodes just for the sake of watching it.

The only one that really impressed me after becoming an adult was Giant Robo.  This one had the opposite effect of Gundam.  The design of the Robot wasn't particularly slick looking, but the presentation was just rad.  It's been awhile since I've seen it though... 10 years or so?

[Off-Topic / Re: teh "how do'h ya look" thread (reload)]

Hah -- ain't no 'mo Modelos where I'm at currently (Seoul), so here's what I'm having right now.

1.6L cASS Red.  Basically, the Korean version of the foty'.  Yeah!    (Sorry for the shit lighting -- I'm using the laptop webcam.)

[Off-Topic / Re: teh "how do'h ya look" thread (reload)]

There was some random reference to NASCAR in one of the other threads, and I just came across this pic that's been hidden away for some time...

It's me tailgating at a NASCAR Supertruck series event at California Speedway when I stopped by my 2nd hometown of Fontana (colloquially known as "Fontucky").  Yee-haw! 

Okay, I'm not really into NASCAR, but my buddies said that I HAD to go -- I was probably the only Asian soul there.  (& I promptly fell asleep for a good couple hours in the middle of the race  ).