GAMES : FM Towns/Marty vs X68000

Been keen on x68000 emulation for a while now, but getting myself a system seems near out of the question, so ive been turning my attentions to the Marty / II system.

They seem to share very similar catalogue of games, but I was interested to see what people think is the superior platform for them.

Is it as near as say Amiga vs Atari ST, or would you say there is a clear cut champ. One presumes that for one thing the FM Towns having CD Rom games would point to superior musics, though I dig the X68000 midi.

ideas?

 

The Sharp X68000 is the best in my eyes. Who needs CD audio when you can have high quality midi. Sharp X68000 all the way :smt024

Yakumo

 

Granted there is probably a better selection of games on X68k, though it seems there's enough FM Towns titles to warrant investigation :drinkers:

Its a wonder why X698k didnt go for CDRom, i bet changing floppy disks is something of a chore, one of the reasons my Amiga gets little action these days.

 

Wel the x68000 had two disc drives so changing wasn't as constant as you might think. Still a bit of a pain though.

Yakumo

 

That's why God made SAL.

 

Hmmm, do you know what video out connections the x68k machines use??

Basically I was wondering if its possible to use them without a dedicated monitor?

 

GC also has hq midi o.0 like metroid prime uses midi's o.0

 

MIDI is just a format for musical data, it has no bearing on what the output will sound like.

 

X68K has 15.75KHz RGB, maybe 33.xKhz RGB and perhaps composite nothing else for sure.

 

Thanks for the info, i wonder what the actual output connections are tho, i.e can they be connected to a TV or VGA monitor??

 

Well there will be a DB-15 connector for sure, for connecting to an old Japanese monitor. If it supports 33.1 or whatever KHz RGB, it will probably have a VGA connector for connecting to a VGA monitor. If it has a composite "RCA jack," you can connect it to your TV. If you have an HDTV, you can connect it via 15.75, 33.1 AND composite...

Probably the only person who knows for sure here is NFG/Lawrence.

 

15.75khz RGB... isnt that SCART compatible?

 

Yes. Thats TV/Arcade RGB.

Also, the X68K *DID* have some CD-ROM games! I'm trying to remember where I JUST saw one for auction.

If this thread is about power, Marty 2s take the torch.

 

Thanks for ze replies, a few things are stilling stiffing me though......

Am I right in thinking that the FM Towns II will play all the games, i.e. there are not any Marty only titles.

Its nigh impossible to find what games are Marty compatible, is it most games?

Is FM Towns II a 486, i thought it was (like Marty II), but www.gamechoiceclub.com list it as a 386??

Cheers

 

There are not any games that are only for MARTY 2s, but I believe there are some only for FM Towns, you know, requiring a keyboard or something. Kevin (ASSEMbler) says MARTY is a 386, MARTY 2 is a 486, I don't know.

 

I've never played the 32-Bit FM Towns computer/workstation or the FM Towns Marty console. the first FM Towns computer/workstations were 386, then later versions used the 486. same with the Marty as far as I know.


I have had quite a bit of experience with the 16-Bit X68000 thanks to emulation. I love the original Thunder Force II which is on X68000. its so much better than the MegaDrive/Genesis console version.

most of the arcade games on X68000 are 99.9% exact to the arcade versions. obviously arcade games that used twin 68000 such as Super HangOn, Space Harrier, AfterBurner II, ThunderBlade, are not exact on X68000, they're about 50% which is still better than the Genesis versions which were like 25%...

X68000 was and is an amazing machine. I wish that Hudson and NEC had used an upgraded X68000 as the basis for the PC Engine 2 instead of the 8-Bit SuperGrafx which was only a mildly upgraded version of the original PC Engine.

 

Everytime I hear FM towns I giggle becuase it reminds me of a radio.

 

Indeed, I wondered about that too. Not only does the FM part not make sense (unless it's Fujitsu-Marty or something) but "Towns" ? :smt017

 

True. I've seen side-by-side pics of the X68000 versions of Strider and GNG and they are literally PIXEL PERFECT (a remarkable feat back in the late 1980's/early 1990's).