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[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Price Check: Duo-R]

Currently I use a Duo-RX as my main system and a PCE/Coregrafx+Booster Super CD Rom as backup.

Oddly I've never had any accuracy issues with the RX's pad/Arcade Pad 6.  I just tested again to make sure I wasn't wrong about it, with Street Fighter II' and I was able to pull off every high level combo with no mistakes or unwanted inputs, its perfectly accurate.  I did find some things I felt made it not perfect; the unneccesary thickness of the pad on the outer bottom, and the raised middle portion would cause my finger to hit it instead of the "IV" button until I adjusted for it. Also, the edges of the d-pad are sharp and can cause discomfort if you like to "slide" your thumb on it to get your moves off. But it is by no means inaccurate. I have 2 of these pads (both in mint condition), as I wanted one for each of my setups, and even though I got a really good deal on one, they are really overpriced.

I have a ton Avenue Pad 6's and they're okay, I'd rate the Hori Fighting Commander PC a notch higher but I found it will sometimes cause the system to crash if you plug it in with the power turned on.  Since I got the RX pads I haven't gone back, and to be honest I didn't know people didn't like them till I read this thread, since they sell for such a high price.  I was considering doing a mod for it so I could use the III button as the run/select as if it were an Avenue Pad 3, but the stupid thing is worth too much so I'm having second thoughts.. oh well.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: How much difference does the Arcade Card really make with a Duo-R?]

I did mean, more "of its generation", as that it is software for a piece of hardware designed and released in *1987*, it is absolutely insane. Back then I was buying arcade boards and had all the current hardware of 1995 but the fact that there were more technically impressive things out there did not diminish how special, impressive or magical Sapphire was, or still is, on the PCE for me.  Whether or not its "good" is a matter of taste.  Sapphire is not my absolute favorite but its definitely in my top 10 shooters on that system.

I got Pulstar as soon as it was released (on Neo CD), and yeah, its the Sapphire for that platform, freaking hard too but I do recall beating it staying up all night with a friend back in the day.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: How much difference does the Arcade Card really make with a Duo-R?]

Would love to see Dead of the Brain I-II translated SOMEDAY...  I wonder why stuff goes to french first?  (supposedly thats whats happening with Phantasy Star: Generation 2 for PS2).

I fired up Sapphire again yesterday and I'll have to say... the end result is spectacular no matter how they got there, and it IS using technology they had at-hand to do things that other systems of the time wouldn't have been able to do, in this case, the large amounts of RAM, CD storage capacity, the strong color palette, and having the Mhz to get it all done fast and fluid to display those awesome prerendered sprites, morphing, and multi-mode boss transformations.  There's a reason why the Genesis/Sega CD or the Super Famicom don't have anything like it.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: How much difference does the Arcade Card really make with a Duo-R?]

Flash Hiders says it uses it in the back of the manual even though it doesn't have the Arcade Card icon on the front.  Someone stated that there were a few sound effects that wouldn't be heard otherwise.

Flash Hiders, I didn't notice any difference in sound effects (back in the day) but I do know it loads all the character graphics initially if you use the Arcade Card, and thus will have no load times between matches which is really nice!

Also, I've noticed that memory in the Arcade Card (Pro, at least) will retain the data held in it for some games even through a system reset.  For instance Mad Stalker and its crazy long initial load, will go super fast if you just did a soft reset.  Speaking of which, Mad Stalker is pretty good and underrated.

By the way this is the most awesome and true statement I agree with all year so far:

Sapphire may not be the greatest shooter ever.  But I find it to be a total celebration of the PCE.  The colors, the style, the music.  It's all just comes togeather so well and screams ''THIS IS PCE, IN YOUR FACE BITCHES!!''.

Most systems tend to have slow drawn out deaths, the last few years having nothing but awful cheaply made shovelware.  Street Fighter 2 Alpha on SNES?  ROLF.

Now the PCE however, went out on SAPPHIRE.  It didn't sit around on life support, it held a massive fireworks show and went out in full glory from the people that gave it birth.

If I were a console and had to die,  Sapphire is how I would die...!  Though to be historically accurate it kind of went out with Dead of the Brain, which I haven't got around to playing yet.  Has it been language patched yet I wonder..?