PC-Engine - Expensive to collect?

Hey Everyone,

If I were to get into PC-Engine games and just plunk down some cash, say $200 usd, how many unique titles (I don't care how cheap/common) could you get for it? I'm assuming all come with cases, just not spines.

Any experienced users kind enough to enlighten me? (^_^);

 

Heh, if you don't mind me asking... What's the crap <--> non-crap ratio on the PC-Engine? (^_^);

I guess Famicom is cheaper to get into, given the larger install base of games? Or is that only true because there are more "junk" games to be had for cheap?

 

you may get 1 to 5 uber great or up to 50 common crap games

 

Regardless, there are plenty of quality PC Engine titles to chose from, especially if you like arcade to home conversions and shoot em ups.

 

If you are not looking for spine-cards, you can get some good amount of fairly nice games for 200$. If you are willing to bid on yahoo, you could save a lot of money. There are rarely any bundles in the middle pricerange (we're talking 10-20k yen with mint shooter & stuff) but lots of HuCard packages that can contain some nice games.

There's a lot of cheap stuff, it only gets really expensive if you're on the hunt for spinecard'ed CD/SCD games that are sought after. Like most of the real good games.

 

It's a good system, and regardless of price now, it's a fraction of what it was 10 years ago. The unfortunate side is most of the games are in higher demand in Japan than the west, so if you decide you don't want something, you may have to sell for a loss (or be patient).

The other downside, with MAME being so accurate, the arcade ports are somewhat non-important if your goal is re-experiencing the original.

 

I personally still think PC Engine games to be more "affordable" than their TG16 counterpart. However, if you want to buy AAA titles, then $200 won't get you very far... but there are tons of excellent games for $20/$40 a piece, like the Star Soldier series or CD games such as Cotton or Gate Of Thunder...

 

your US$200 to buy list:

Gate of Thunder
Winds of Thunder
Star parodia
Seirei Senshi Spriggan
Soldier Blade
Bomberman '93
PC Genjin 1 and/or 2

OR

Akumajo Dracula X
Gate of Thunder
Winds of Thunder

those games are all PCE exclusives (except for dracula x which you can have now on the PSP as a freebee, but so you can DL the others via VC etc.) and will keep you busy for quite some while.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys! I think I will get my feet wet in some PC-Engine once I get out of my cramped apartment. I'll probably get a bunch of cheaper good games to start, then work my way to the more expensive ones to round out the collection (^_^);

 

don't forget there are bunch of unofficial(?) CD/SCD titles that will cost you...

 

I can fairly say, that he needs not one of those. not until he runs for all the 735+ pce games exist. but then again, there are other titles which will cost him a hundredfold of those unofficials.

 

The unofficials are turds, to say the least!

 

Oh that just depends on how you look at them, a couple of the Games Express games are much better for their genre then the official games are...

 

You guys mean games which were produced un-licenced right? Like strip fighter or something? Hrm... Speaking of games, which ones are ridiculously priced based on rarity alone and which ones actually have a high price because they kick ass?

 

Akiyama jin = improve your math skills! No fun at all, costs 3000-5000$

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire = defend a world full of render graphics, kicks ass & costs 300-500$

+ lots more.

I believe most of the pricier games on the PCE apart from some exceptions are quite fun to play.
Totally opposite to most expensive Famicom games that are either metal versions of mediocre games (Kinnikuman, Gundam Scramble) or some weird side genres that could be purchased by mail order (Space College etc.). >_<

 

I thought Sapphire sucked. The one that always justified the $100 price tag was Dracula X. There are cheaper ways to get it now, but if you've got an RGB monitor it's worth getting it on the PC-Engine modding the unit. It's a hassle, but worth it.

Quite a few rather pricey these day games (shooters around $25-$50) that are worth having. Spriggan, Sylphia (this is actually $150-$200 these days), Winds of Thunder, Gates of Thunder.

I think Sapphire is awful, but many disagree with me. Kaze Kiri is quite pricey. I like it, but some find it repetitive. Popful Mail is good but will require a bit of Japanese. Rainbow Islands is a faithful port. Soldier Blade, Shubibinman, Valis, etc. etc.