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10/31/2023: Localization News - Dead of the Brain 1!

No, NOT a trick, a Halloween treat! Presenting the Dead of the Brain 1 English patch by David Shadoff for the DEAD last official PC Engine CD game published by NEC before exiting the console biz in 1999! I helped edit/betatest and it's also a game I actually finished in 2023, yaaay! Shubibiman also did a French localization. github.com/dshadoff/DeadoftheBrain
twitter.com/NightWolve/PCENews
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Messages - PhilBiker

#1
I'm looking at this forum loaded with GREAT information but what I don't see is a contact list for folks to do a complete cap replacement for my original Turbo Duo.  I've done a lot of soldiering over the years - enough to know that this is beyond my skills.  Is there such a list maintained here?  I'm near Washington DC and would like to get the old Duo back in action.
#2
JJ & Jeff.  Funny look on their face + funny music = funny VG death.
#3
Quote from: guest on 08/15/2007, 01:44 PMThat's the best place to keep Deep Blue - sealed in the box and unplayable.
Yes.  I completely agree. :dance:
#5
Quote from: Joe Redifer on 07/26/2007, 05:44 AMClick here for Genesis voice examples recorded from real hardware by me.
Click here for TurboGrafx voice examples from CrackTiger (I assume from real hardware).
You need to add some samples from the original "Fighting Street" and "Forgotten Worlds" to that TG16/PCE example.  Both Capcom and those have to be the absolute WORST!  "What strength but don't forget there are many guys like you all over the world!".
#6
The original "Fighting Street" CD is where it's at.
#7
Quote from: Arjak on 07/17/2007, 06:07 PMAlso, did the 3 in 1 disk come with a back insert, originally? My copy doesn't have one. :-k
No, it did not.  Do a search here for some amusing examples you can print yourself.
#8
Quote from: guest on 07/13/2007, 01:52 PMI reverse engineered Deep Blue and found that it consisted exclusively of the following components.

IMG

IMG

IMG
LOL!!!!   :lol:
#9
Quote from: Nödtveidt on 07/10/2007, 08:22 PMThere's a major difference between a game being challenging due to clever level design and being challenging due to a sloppily-coded control scheme. If a game is going to be hard, it needs to be hard on its own merits, not hard because it's difficult to control.
-- cough --- Aero Blasters Zero Gravity -- cough.
#10
Friggin' hilarious game.  I actually like it for its pure cheesiness.  Great music!
#11
Quote from: guest on 07/05/2007, 08:54 PMhttp://www.racketboy.com/retro/2007/06/tubrografix-16-tg16-101-beginners-guide.html
One big mistake: the Most Duos won't play burned CD-Rs, as a matter of fact, some Duos have been known to fail as a direct result of attempting to play CD-Rs.  The older TG-CD system is much more robust in this regard.  Your points about "cheap" CD games are not correct.  Otherwise, nice article.
#12
Quote from: nat on 07/02/2007, 09:41 PMthe size of your dragon makes the hitbox waaaaay to big. Not to mention various powerups go so far as to INCREASE YOUR SIZE worsening the problem.
Cyber-Core has the same behavior, if anything it's worse on Cyber-Core.  Powered up your bug is GIGANTIC.  Which is kind of cool, except that thing about avoiding shots.  Dragon Spirit plays a lot like Cyber-Core, which, though not one of my favorites, is pretty cool IMO.
#13
Quote from: guest on 07/02/2007, 09:31 PMI find that classic 2D games are much more impressive on a huge screen than modern 3D stuff.
Devil's Crush is INSANE at gigantic size.
#14
Another site I'd recommend is Shmups.com for reviews.  They do a pretty good job.  Check the "Xenocide Files" for older reviews of some of the games discussed here.
#15
Quote from: guest on 06/30/2007, 08:27 PMOtherwise R-type is the king of the slow shooters.  If you're sick of R-type, the alternative slow shooter would be Sinistron.
And Psychosis, another great slow shooter.  I'm not big on slow shooters myself but the crazy visuals of Psychosis keep me coming back.
#16
If you liked Cyber-Core I think you'll love Dragon Spirit.

Blazing Lazers was groundbreaking at the time of its release.

Another thing about Aero Blasters - it has some GREAT music.  The song in the cave level (level 2) is really cool.  And the bosses actually get easier from levels 1-3.  The Level 3 boss is pretty much a joke IMO.  Fatasy Zone as much as I don't like the way it plays (the scrolling forard to back when you turn around is pretty insane on my 96" screen) the music is great, you'll hum along to this one.
#17
Quote from: nat on 06/30/2007, 02:01 PMIt's called challenge. The first zero-G stage is one of my favorites in the whole game. Make no mistake, you'd better have your best game face on for this one.
IME it's impossible unless you're doing two player simultaneous.  If you are doing two player simpultaneous at that point you can pretty much switch off "flash" bombs all the way through.
Quote from: nat on 06/30/2007, 02:01 PMAlso, I'd like to add that you should play Blazing Lazers/Gunhed before Super Star Soldier or Soldier Blade. Those games are good, but are kind of sequels to Blazing Lazers and not quite as good.
Though they are similar, Blazing Lazers was made by a different company / team than SSS ans SB.  They are all three excellent.

I hate Raiden.  Boring graphics, completely uninteresting sounds, and unbelievably slow movement, you can barely avoid shots.
#18
The TG-16 is renowned as a shooter lover's system, now as well as when it originally came out.  I can only comment on the ones I have:

US Carts:

Aero Blasters is awesome, particularly two players, until the "Zero Gravity" kicks in, then it's a complete washout.  What where they thinking?
Blazing Lazers is the best shoot-em-up I've ever played.  Great music, perfect gameplay, great visuals, easy parts, completely insane parts, you name it, this game has it all.
Sidearms is fun but gets very hard very fast.  It's got a manic pace that's a lot of fun for the short time till it gets insane.
Super Star Soldier is fantastic.  Some of the levels are completely impossible unless you go into them all powered up - if you "continue" you may as well run+select and start over.
Soldier Blade is great also.  Lots of fun.
R-Type of course.  TG-16 version has some serious blinking/graphics problems.
Air Zonk is fun if you like "cute-em-up" games.
Deep Blue is an abomination.
Sinistron I can't remember it's been so long since I played it.  I remember it being impossible.
Fantasy Zone I hate it.  Make me an offer.
Psychosis is kind of frustrating, but colorful and can be fun as long as you don't pick up the crappy weapons.  Imaginative visuals and very good music.  This is one of those games where memorization is almost more important than game play skill.
Ordyne is an OK cute-em-up.  Great fun with two player simultaneous play.
Galaga '90 rules if you like the original Galaga.
Dead Moon Really neat backgrounds and ho-hum gameplay.  It's pretty good, but I get the feeling that it could have been a lot better if some of the people designing the backgrounds did some of the sprites instead.  Bosses are just wierd.
Space Harrier Supposedly it's a great port of the arcade version.  I don't particularly like it.

US CDs:
Gate Of Thunder is amazing.  Almost as good as Blazing Lazers in my book.
Lords Of Thunder is very good, about 4/5 as good as "Gate".
Cotton is frustrating and impossible.  Anyone want to make me an offer?  My copy's like new.
Monster Lair is extremely fun with two player simulateous - great music.
Forgotten Worlds has funky controls, but is pretty cool.

Cyber-Core is OK, but not on my list of favorite TG-16 shoot-em-ups.
#19
Opera 9 reports

You don't have permission to access to this document on this server,
but you can return to www.tg-16.com if you'd like.

Error 403: You are forbidden to see this page.
#20
Quote from: turbo D on 06/26/2007, 05:14 PMPro tip by Dave: Turn on your turbo switch and run through the levels constantly kicking everything in sight  :D
While fun, that doesn't work so well when you come upon a hole or a campfire.  I still don't know how to beat the friggin' boss.  It takes 10 or 15 minutes or so to get to the first boss, it's a lot of fun, but playing the other day I remembered why I always turned the thing off at the end of level 1.  There's got to be a way.  I do all the things in the "protips" it's hilarious to bounce off the coke cans for points.
#21
Quote from: Bake on 06/24/2007, 12:34 PMI have not played my turbo in awhile, most likely because I have not gotten any new games for it lately.  So, I've decided that I should buy 2 new games with this BOGO sale for TZD.  There are three games I have in mind: Forgotten Worlds, Prince of Persia, and Riot Zone (I pretty much have all the other games of their list except for Sim Earth and Sherlock Homes.  I'm not really interested in those though).  I have never played any of these games.  Out of these 3 games, which 2 should I buy?  I heard a lot of bad things about Prince of Persia, so right now I am thinking of buying Riot Zone and Forgotten Worlds.  Any input?  OR maybe all three are worth buying??
Riot Zone is ludicrously easy and not very fun.  It has cool music and the sounds are interesting for about 10 minutes.  Prince of Persia is a good port of that game if you may like that game.  I don't really much.  Forgotten Worlds is a fun shmup.  If you like Sidearms you'll love FW.  Of the three, FW is by far the best.
#22
How in the heck do you beat the bosses?
#23
JJ&Jeff also has FANTASTIC music BTW.
#24
Quote from: GUTS on 06/13/2007, 03:40 PMHell it's way better than JJ & Jeff and they sold that garbage at full price.
I like JJ & Jeff a gazillion times better than KC.  To be fair I've never spent quality time with KC.  But JJ&J is hilarious with poop everywhere and wacky stuff like the dinosaurs with gigantic necks and tiny bodies.

Wonk-wonk-wonk.  Where are your true friends at times like these?  Right here!  Wonk-wonk-wonk.
#25
I personally think that JJ & Jeff is fun.
#26
The Duo was DOA regardless.  The CD technology was pushing it price-wise.  Personally I wouldn't have bought the Duo if the pack-ins hadn't been there.  I had played the Bonk games on a friend's system and loved them, so they were a big incentive for me.  I already liked Ninja Spirit so that was cool, too.  Gate of Thunder blew my effing mind.  I didn't learn about Bomberman till months after I got the system.
#27
My long-ago memory tells me that this was a fun game two player.  Never played it one player.
#28
I wanted to post in the other thread about how you got into turbo and decided to post here instead, cause I've got all the games here.

Back when the TG-16 came out a friend of mine bought one.  He even bought the CD unit when there were just 4 games for it, and he got all of them (Fighting Street, Monster Lair, Last Alert, and Ys I&II).  I played his TG16 all the time, and we used to play a lot of 5 player moto roader.  Eventually he wanted sports games and got a Genesis to play Madden and others and sold off all his turbo collection (which was formidable!). 

Somewhere aroung 1991 when the TG16 was being blown out at $50 new and lots of turbo stuff was available at used stores for dirt cheap, I got one.  Originally, I got it for multiplayer games like Moto Roader and for Blazing Lazers and the Crushes.  However, I loaded up on the cheap games and got some new ones as well.  When the Duo came out I bought it, largely because I loved the Bonk games already and didn't have them, and bought more games, too!  I never really got into video games enough to be that interested in other systems.  In '93 I got a SNES to play John Madden football, and for Super Bomberman since my second TurboTap died on me just like the first one.  I have like 6 games for the SNES, including a couple Shmups I just got because they are well regarded.

Here's my collection today, some of which is going to go on the chopping block because there are games that either suck or don't interest me that I'll never play again.  All games are US releases, I never bought an import, though I want Spriggan.

I love Shmups.

Shmups:
Psychosis
Raiden
Deep Blue
Gate of Thunder 4-in-1
Lords of Thunder
Super Star Soldier
Space Harrier
Fantasy Zone
Sidearms
Ordyne
Sinistron
Cyber-Core
Monster Lair
Veigues Tactical Gladiator
Cotton
Aero Blasters
R-Type
Blazing Lazers
Galaga 90
Air Zonk
Soldier Blade
Dead Moon

All Others:
Ninja Spirit
Bonk 3
New Adventure Island
Bomberman 93
Buster Brothers
JJ and Jeff
Parasol Stars
Last Alert
John Madden Duo CD Football
Prince Of Persia
Final Lap Twin
Andre Panza Kickboxing
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones
Alien Crush
Fighting Street
Moto Roader
Implode
Devil's Crush
Legendary Axe II
Riot Zone
Shadow Of The Beast
Ys Books I and II
Takin' It To The Hoop
World Class Baseball
TV Sports Football
Time Cruise

Hardware
Base TG-16
Turbo Duo
Duo controller adapter
Turbo Tap
Five Turbo pads, one with extension cable
Freedom 16 (haven't tried it since I detemined that it sucks 5 minutes after trying it - maybe it's worth another look)

There are very few games that I want for the system, Spriggan, Battle Royale, I remember that being incredibly fun in multiplayer.
#29
Quote from: guest on 04/25/2007, 11:49 AM@ kid_rondeau:  Dear God!  You actually suffered through Deep Blue all the way to the end?  You poor bastard.
I was thinking the same thing!  I can't get anywhere in that game.

I have very rarely had the time or patience to get to the ending of any video game.  I love the Shmups, but most of them seem to get progressively harder and harder and harder till I give up.  For example, Super Star Soldier, there's just a point where it goes from fun to impossible.  That's one of the many things I I love about Blazing Lazers/Gunhed.  Level 1 is easy peasy, then it gets to a certain difficulty level, hard but nowhere near impossible, and pretty much stays at the same level till the completely insane Level 9.  I like the Blazing Lazers / Gunhead and Moto Roader ending music.
#30
Quote from: nat on 04/07/2007, 01:21 PMWhat's your favorite track?
The music is one of the things that makes the game so great!  All the music is brilliant.  I kind of like the crazy music for the last level (which BTW is completely INSANE - I completed the games multiple times years ago but can't get through it now!), but I think my favorite is the music on the bubbles level.  The main title music is pretty great, too.
#31
Quote from: nat on 04/12/2007, 11:49 AM
Quote from: ccovell link=msg=35794The original Time Cruise was in development for the PC-Engine but was cancelled/evolved into Time Cruise II.  I have some pics in magazines of the original Time Cruise, and it looks way different.  I'll try to post some pics when I can.
You're wrong.

Time Cruise II came out before Time Cruise I, duh.

The reason Time Cruise II has a copyright date of 1991 and Time Cruise is dated 1992 is because the developers at FACE originally released Time Cruise in 1992. After doing so, they thought how cool it would be to have a sequel that actually came out before the original game seeing as how this was, well, Time Cruise.

So they went back in time to 1991 and released Time Cruise II. There was another planned sequel, Time Cruise III (these are the screenshots you speak of), that was actually scheduled for 1989 but there was a problem.

The head honchos at FACE in 1989 were of a different mind than those who were running the show in '91 and '92 and weren't as keen on the whole time travel idea. In fact, they weren't big pinball fans at all. You see, the problem with traveling backwards in time with corporate schemes in mind is that no one is aware of your plans when you show up. Long story short, the CEO at FACE in '89 thought these guys were full of shit and told them to get lost. He had, after all, never met them before in his life. The disgruntled group managed to show some screenshots to other game houses at the time in hopes someone else might pick them up. Some of these shots made their way to a gaming magazine and were promoted as the upcoming game "Time Cruise" since the *real* "Time Cruise" and "Time Cruise II" hadn't actually been created yet, even though they had.

Nothing ever came of the proposed Time Cruise III. The developers ended up joining Pack-In Video to replace the team that was fired for creating Deep Blue.
I wonder if Marty McFly had dissapearing screen shots fo the game in the 50s.
#32
Resurrecting a very old thread....

Devil's Crush is the best video pinball game I've ever experienced on any platform.
Alien Crush is a pretty close second
Time Cruise is good, but not as good as the Crushes.

Time cruise is fun, but the field of play is too big, there's too much going on.  The bonus round where you have to roll the ball around is completely impossible.  The others are neat.  The best thing about DC is that other than the moving sprites, it feels like a real pinball game, and that includes the size of all three levels of the playfield compared to the ball and flippers being roughly equlivalent to a real pinball game.  The bonus levels are varied, the graphics are terriffic, the sounds are great.  Time Cruise has two very cool songs and a super cool "options" menu, I like the optional song better than the default one.  TC is fun, don't get me wrong, but it's no Crush.
#33
Quote from: runinruder on 10/05/2006, 11:54 PM
QuoteNow TV Sports hockey thats where its at!! For me this game was so far ahead of its time
I wouldn't say that.  It came out for Turbo at about the same time that NHL Hockey was released for Genesis, and NHL was MUCH better.  

The only thing I like about Hockey is the title screen music.  The passing is atrocious and it uses the same "moving arrow" shooting system as Blades of Steel, which barely qualifies as a hockey game.

Speaking of atrocious passing, the "move the arm" system in TV Sports Football was one of the worst ideas in any sports game ever.  The running game and every other element (with the possible exception of field goal kicking) were also poorly executed.

TV Sports Basketball was no picnic either, but it's probably the best of that sad bunch.
So true, all the "TV Sports" games were horrible, they didn't even compare favorably with 5 year old NES titles.  (I even have a couple of them, not sure why I even do)  I had some friends who played them like crazy back in the day, but went out and bought other systems just to play sports games.  The Japanese baseball and basketball were passable.  I remember at least one of the golf games was fun, and one of the tennis games was fun, too.  the one with the "quest". 

The complete lack of any legitimate sports games was one of the biggest things that killed the US Turbo Grafx system.  NEC took a chance on the upstart company with zero experience "Cinemaware" and their titles were horribly bad.  Barely - just barely playable.  I mean as a Turbo fan back then I would have been embarrased to show them to any fan who even had an 8 bit NES with Tecmo Bowl and Blades Of Steel.  Atrocious.

I remember the Cinemaware "TV sports" games came out for the PC also, as $5 budget-basement filler for Babbage's.

I even sent a letter to TTi back in the day soon after buying my Duo telling them that they really needed to get with it on the sports games but it was too little too late.  The Tap could have made sports games great.

I do enjoy John Madden Duo football, but when it came out it was already at least two years out of date, the other systems' Madden games were better.  And the FMVs in the Duo version are for the most part embarrasing.  Except the ref making the calls, I like that, and the measurement when things are close.

Oh - just remembered.... I agree with Keranu.  5 player Battle Royale was an absolute HOOT!  Personally I'd count that as the best sports game for the USA TurboGrafx/Duo.  Really really fun.
#34
I tried this SuperCD game for the first time in years.  I remember it being impossible, and it lived up to that memory.  I'm not a stranger to shumps, though I've only completed a handful (Blazing Lazers/Gunhead and a couple others).  Anybody got some tips?  This is a fairly well regarded game.
#35
I have not played Spriggan, but I just looked it up on YouTube and Ebay.  Bad news for my wallet....  Looks good.....

I just ordered Axelay for my SNES.  I got the SNES to play multiplayer bomberman when my second TurboTap crapped out on me, and because Duo Madden football wasn't nearly as good as the SNES '94 game.  I want to get Space Megaforce but it's pretty expensive.
#36
My Duo is October 1992.  I ordered both Implode and the regular edition of Meteor Blaster from TZD.  I guess I should be OK.

I just pulled my Duo out about a week ago for the first play in about 5 years or so, and I am addicted all over again!  The Duo is running great, and I'm loving the old games, trying them all out again.  I thought Deep Blue couldn't possibly be as bad as I remembered.  I was wrong.  I played through Bonk's Adventure last night - didn't defeat King Drool though.  What a brilliant game!  I'm mad though because I lost Soldier Blade, one of my favorites.  Can't find it, but I have the book.

I love the original Asteroids and have not liked any of the other versions I've played, so MB is a no brainer.  I love that Mindrec is able to make a game every few years, I have to support the great idea of independant games for such an old system!
#37
Will the Mindrec games hose my TurboDuo?  Do people only use them on the more CR-R friendly (as I understand) TG-CD and Japanese systems?
#38
I've had experience with three Turbo Taps, two of my own and one a friend's back in the heyday. All three eventually screwed up.  I still have one but I think that the last time I was playing multiplayer bomberman it screwed up.
#39
One of my favorite titles from back in the day....

This game is excruciating in one player mode.  I don't know if it's the case, but it appears that the computer players make more money and buy more stuff than they possibly should based on how much money you're supposed to earn at the end of the race.  Start with the 2400 engine or you're toast.  Also, the computer players never run out of gas or need to gas up.
QuoteMoto Roader is a game that can only really be appreciated when playing with at least two other people
ABSOLUTELY!!!  With 5 players the game is one of the most fun video games I have ever played.  Bombing and grenading your friends....  awesome.   Also, when you run out of gas you get right in on the next heat, and even get money despite the DNF!  Alone... so-so. 

I'm trying to get back into it because it's a really great game, but it's so frustrating, by the second race, all the computers are orders of magnitude faster than you are no matter what you do.  It seems that there is no rhyme or reason to their use of bombs and greanades, which is a good thing, and they never buy tires or brakes, causing them to wipe out a lot as things get faster.

GREAT music also.  I remember going on a backpacking trip once and we would hum the motoroader tunes as we hiked.

Corridor is my favorite world.
#40
Quote from: stevek666 on 02/21/2007, 04:07 PMJoe: both items are masterpieces. Sure, we've had our fair share of Johnny Turbo jokes, but this is a nice extension. Bravo! :)
Yes!  Time to print this up........
#41
OK.... revisiting this thread on my single favorite game of all time and the main reason I bought a TG-16 oh so many years ago....

Here's what I remember.

* The pink gells are the "slow" power up for whatever number weapon you have.  And they make an extremely satisfying "clink" when you collect them.  I tend to get them when I don't even need them.  Powering up your roman numeral weapon is the only function they serve.

* The changing powerups "I-II-III-IV" "F-M-S-H" stop changing when you shoot them, but if you let them go they start changing again.  If you are low in power you can use this to your advantage to either get the weapon you want or power up your existing weapon.  They turn into blinking meganukes that obliterate everything on the screen and give you a "continue".  There are two ways to convert them to flashers, either shoot them many times or let them drift to the bottom of the playfield.  I try to let them drift, that way I can use more strategy in timing their use.  I have no idea how many you can have in "reserve".

* When you power up a Letter powerup with the same letter (like getting multiple multibodies) yuo get a nuke (button I).  That's the only way to get more nukes, you can have up to 16 I think.  Some of the letters power up a lot.  The "Homing Missile" is one of my favorite.  If you can power it up enough, the missiles get fast and furious and you can just fly doging shots letting them pretty much take out everything.  I love the shot eating green multibodies also.  Do Shields and Full Fire do anything interesting if you get multiple?  I've never noticed, but I'm not a big fan of those, except shields during very specific points in the game.

* The select button changes your ship's speed.

I love the intricacies of the power-ups in this game and the things they do.  This made me dissapointed with "Super Star Soldier" which has no nukes and the changing powerups just dissapear at the bottom of the screen.

I think I tried invincibility mode once and have never tried it again.  No fun just flying through the levels. This is one of very few shumps that I've completed.

Unfortunately for me, BL was the first shoot-em-up that I ever really played extensively.  Kind of like becoming a basketball fan watching Michael Jordan or becoming a football fan watching Joe Montanna.  No other shumps I've ever played have been as good, and it's not just nostalgia saying that (though admittadly I haven't played a zillion other ones).  Blazing Lazers really does rule.