The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[newtmonkey]

@roots.genoa

Honestly, I would not even recommend it to people that like combat-heavy 8-bit console RPGs (I'm a fan).

 

The graphics and music are poor, the story is dull, the characters (other than Nyan) are boring, and there's no variety whatsoever in the combat.  It's really a slog, even though you technically don't have to do any unnecessary grinding to get through the game.  There's really nothing to recommend it, even compared with older console RPGs such as Mother, Final Fantasy I-II, Phantasy Star I-II, and Dragon Quest I-III.

Edited July 27, 2023 by newtmonkey

[roots.genoa]

Yeah, somethings tells me that compilation won't be released in the West contrary to the Valis and shooting games ones.

[Tanooki]

Likely not, but who knows as #2 did make it to the US (as I said, I had it.)  I don't remember disliking #2 and I do remember finishing it, but nothing about the content of the game anymore 25 years+ later.  I guess one would have to read up somewhere if someone compared to two for improvements to see if #2 is still fun or aged terribly to weight buying the package deal if it even happened in english.

[+Black_Tiger]

I wouldn't recommend Cosmic Fantasy 2 unless you're a Working Designs fan.

 

CF3 is a big improvement overall and is unique in that there is no overworld map. Everything is just connected, like the Dungeon Exlplorer games.

 

I like the style of the CF4 games, but only made it part way through them before I lost my save files. One of them had to much fetch questing for me for the language barrier.

 

I'd prefer if they hadn't included the digicomic sections and instead used the budget for additional cutscenes.

 

One or both feature some neat "Mode 7" effects.

[newtmonkey]

Cosmic Fantasy 2

I decided to give this a shot last night, in an attempt to get the bad taste of CF1 out of my mouth, so to speak.  I figured there must be something to this series to have kept it going for several sequels.

 

On the one hand, it's definitely more interesting and better looking/sounding than CF1.  There's more variety in how the scenario progresses, and the semi-animated cutscenes are surprisingly frequent, and also surprisingly good.  Not bad for a CD-ROM² game!

 

On the other hand, it is mechanically even more broken and simplified than CF1.  Every enemy, including bosses, so far is just a bag of HPs that attacks you every round.  Enemies in CF1 couldn't cast spells, but did have special attacks that cause status ailments.  CF2 doesn't even have that!  Also, any character can equip any piece of equipment, so you might as well get your wizards in full plate mail wielding two-handed swords, or whatever.

 

Outside of that, it's definitely an improvement over the first game so far.

Edited July 28, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

Cosmic Fantasy 2

I've become quite addicted to this game.  I actually look forward to playing it, which is in stark contrast with Cosmic Fantasy and Tengai Makyo ZIRIA, which I often dreaded playing.

 

The combat in this game is just awful, to the point where the game feels broken.  Enemies do hardly any damage at all and have no special attacks.  It just feels like a massive waste of time, because the only way you could lose would be to fall asleep with your head resting on the "confirm" button.  It's also lame that every character can use all equipment, since it makes everyone seem very samey.  You just roll into town, buy everyone the best equipment you can afford, and then you're invincible.

 

On the other hand, everything else is a massive improvement over the first game.  The characters and story are interesting, the dialog is a lot better, and the overall "flow" is superior.  It's fun to see what weird situation you'll get into next.  There's also a cool twist to the game 10 hours in or so.  I also must mention the impressive cutscenes; they're drawn and (sometimes) animated extremely well, complete with mostly accurate lip synching and not much loading.  It's quite impressive for the humble CD-ROM² hardware.

Edited July 30, 2023 by newtmonkey

[+jgkspsx]

Working Designs games are effectively not licensable because Victor Ireland personally owns all of the voice recording rights. They would have to rerecord everything.

[roots.genoa]

26 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

Working Designs games are effectively not licensable because Victor Ireland personally owns all of the voice recording rights. They would have to rerecord everything.

What do you mean? What about the recent compilation, then? https://www.gematsu.com/2022/09/cosmic-fantasy-collection-launches-december-15-in-japan

[+jgkspsx]

1 hour ago, roots.genoa said:

What do you mean? What about the recent compilation, then? https://www.gematsu.com/2022/09/cosmic-fantasy-collection-launches-december-15-in-japan

They either paid him a buttload of money or they redid the voice acting. I guess we’ll find out. That’s why there are no WD games with voice on any of the minis. Sega wouldn’t cough up the bucks for his desecrations of Lunar.

[Tanooki]

But that's Japan, doesn't he just own the ENGLISH?  Maybe it just won't get localized (or he got paid enough to satisfy his asinine trolling needs.)  He's one of those sorts you hope ends up with 'natural causes' sooner or later as the family may be smarter enough to realize when money is being dangled in front of you for little to no effort, you take it.

 

I get it says it's planned in the story, but it's a question mark at this rate.

 

I am glad to see that CF2 is being realized to have some good quality points to it, even if the gameplay is generic for a JRPG.  The story, turns, twists, characters, etc are good enough to keep you engaged I do remember that enough, just not HOW.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Tanooki

[+jgkspsx]

Yes, he owns the English dub audio only. He personally paid for those and licensed them to Working Designs so even though he doesn’t control the WD rights anymore he can effectively block them from licensing anything.

[Tanooki]

Well then it seems unless he decides in his old age to act like an adult, dying sooner than later would be a benefit to the fans of Lunar and anything else he's being selfish about which is a shame.

[Yakumo1975]

All working designs dubbed games should be redubbed anyway.  Working designs dubs are horrible plus all the childish fart jokes are annoying.  The dated American pop culture is also annoying since games are meant to be in a fantasy setting, so why on earth would the characters be referencing American or any pop culture in the first place. 

[SlidellMan]

We should be thankful for Working Designs closing its doors in 2005, and here's hoping that Mr. Ireland isn't repeating the same mistakes with his current company, Gaijin Works. (Don't hold your breath, however.)

[newtmonkey]

Cosmic Fantasy 2

It feels like I'm nearing the end of this one.  The game has an interesting structure where you are introduced to the two main characters separately, and then they finally join up with some other characters later on.  It's like a very scaled-down version of Dragon Quest IV, I guess.

 

It's a really easy game so far, and 99.9% of battles can be won easily by having each character just attack every round.  No thought required at all.  There were some "harder" bosses throughout, but they're only more difficult in comparison to the rest of the game; you still attack every round, but have to heal every once in a while.

 

It's not a game you'd want to play for interesting combat or exploration (it's ridiculously linear), but the characters are cool, and the semi-animated voiced cutscenes are a lot of fun.  I'm impressed so far with the surprisingly accurate lip synching.  There's also a fun twist after the first two "chapters" where you get to meet some old friends from the first Cosmic Fantasy.

Edited August 2, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

Cosmic Fantasy 2

Finished!  A significant improvement over the first Cosmic Fantasy, but still just a mediocre RPG with overly simple yet frequent combat.  Fun characters and story, though.

 

I posted my detailed impressions in the "Games Beaten In 2023" topic:

Edited August 3, 2023 by newtmonkey

[SlidellMan]

Might and Magic Book I for PCE/TG16 CD has now been translated:

Romhacking.net - Translations - Might and Magic

[SlidellMan]

Renny Blaster:

Castlevania meets Kung-Fu Master/Spartan X.

[turboxray]

On 8/2/2023 at 7:13 PM, newtmonkey said:

Cosmic Fantasy 2

Finished!  A significant improvement over the first Cosmic Fantasy, but still just a mediocre RPG with overly simple yet frequent combat.  Fun characters and story, though.

 

I posted my detailed impressions in the "Games Beaten In 2023" topic:

You plan to keep playing through the series? I'm curious how good the 3rd game is.

[newtmonkey]

@turboxray

Yes, I do plan on playing through all the games eventually, but took a break from the series since I got burned out playing through CF1 and CF2 so close together haha.

[SlidellMan]

Turbo XRay, have you thought about making a series of videos on how to program games for the TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine? I understand if you don't want to.

[Tanooki]

I'd watch that, or at least semi-deep dives into games like sharopolis does across the board, but perhaps using a Mesen like tool set where you can document how things are.

[SlidellMan]

Friendly Reminder that River City Ransom got a PCE/TG16 CD port:

 

[Tanooki]

I never did try that.  They also had the soccer title too. For me it was all about the unique super dodgeball which was a must own. 

[roots.genoa]

I actually discovered the series thanks to the soccer game on Game Boy (even though I actually played Renegade on Amstrad CPC before that, but the connection is looser), like many people in Europe I think. It was incredibly fun and probably the only soccer game I really liked for a long time. I was so used to it I didn't understand why I would get a yellow card when I hit players in other soccer games. 🤭