magazine

ArCAdE PErfECT?
The PC Engine was famed for its conversions – here’s
how some notable examples compare to the originals
R-Type
IREM, 1988
■ This conversion was
mindblowing in 1988, and
it’s still impressive today. While it’s not quite a 1:1 fit with the arcade
game graphically, you’d be hard-pressed to notice unless you put
the two side by side. The sound is also slightly weaker on the
PC Engine, which is common – most arcade games were using FM
sound by this point.
Galaga ’88
NAMCO, 1988
■ The original
arcade game uses a
vertically-oriented monitor, but the PC Engine stays horizontal
with some small black borders making for a square playfield. The
arcade game generally exhibits higher quality sprite work with
superior shading, too. Thankfully, the cosmetic changes don’t mar
an excellent blaster.
Out Run
NEC AVENUE, 1990
■ While the PC Engine version of Out Run is generally considered
to be the best of the early bunch of coin-op conversions, the arcade
machine was a sprite monster and Hudson’s hardware could never
realistically hope to match its processing power. There’s no sprite
scaling and fewer sprites on screen overall with this version, and
this opening stage misses the sea on the left-hand side of the road.
Still, it’s an admirable effort to say the least.
¥24,800
PC Engine’s price on launch
(30/10/1987).
¥57,800
CD-ROM² System’s price on
launch (4/12/1988).
emergence of the Super CD-ROM² format in
1991 sent HuCard releases into decline, as the
CD format allowed NEC some advantages over
the explosively popular Super Famicom, but
Paul was still along for the ride. “The PC Engine
was always designed to have the CD add-on,
and as such it felt like a natural progression of
the machine, unlike the Mega-CD,” he notes. “I
was lucky enough to buy a CD unit from a friend
(after playing titles like Monster Lair and Ys I just
had to have one) so I was building up a good
library of both CD and HuCard games, but mostly
focussing on the CDs.”
While some great arcade conversions were
released on disc including Pomping World
(better known as Pang) and Gradius II, the high
capacity of CDs was more commonly used for
digital comics, RPGs and adventure games with
lavish animation and lots of speech. “CD-based
games opened up a whole new world which
was truly exciting to be a part of. We now had
stunning anime-style visual scenes, amazing
music and the storage capability that allowed
for some incredible games,” says Paul, and
there’s no denying the quality of what’s out
there. Original games like Gate Of Thunder and
Winds Of Thunder, the Cosmic Fantasy games
and Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood were simply
fantastic, and the CD-ROM system attracted more
RPG conversions such as Might & Magic III and
Dungeon Master. It’s hard to disgree when Paul
says “To me, a PC Engine without a CD unit is
only half a machine.”
Still, one last play for the arcade lover’s cash
was made in the form of 1994’s Arcade Card,
a CD-ROM add-on which gave the PC Engine
an additional two megabytes of RAM – a
preposterous amount by the standards of the
day, more suited to next-generation
machines. While it did allow the system
24 | RETRO GAMER