PC Engine + PC-E CD Recommendations

I will be a first time owner of the PC Engine Duo-R, and I'm curious what games or hardware that can be recommended for me to get. I've heard many times, in many gaming discussions that the PC-E has a great library of games.

The genre that usually stand out to me are: Fighting, and platformers, but if there's just a game I should really try out please say so!

Hardware wise, I already have a multi-tap and other controllers, but the DUO-R controller has yellowed this somewhat looks to be common. Are there any pieces of hardware I should also look out for? It's also going to be outputted by composite, is there any S-Video for it?

Maintenance, anything I should be aware of or care of? The Hu-Card door looks a little flimsy to me...

Think that's all I can think of at the moment, but there's anything else some owners can mention, that would be helpful

 

The PC Engine itself is quite reliable from what I've heard. If you have the CD addon, then you have to worry about maintenance, a lot of things can go wrong there.
In my opinion, one of the best platformers for the PC engine is Castlevania Rondo of Blood. It's very expensive and it's only available if you have the PC Engine CD addon.

I would strongly recommend you to get a Turbo Everdrive, so you could enjoy all of the games the console has to offer.
http://shop.retrogate.com/Turbo-EverDrive-TURBO-ED.htm

 

I'll be getting the Duo-R, so I'll be able to play. However can the Duo-R use the Super CD games just fine?

 

As far as I know, you can play Super CD games just fine because the Duo-R has the Super System 3.0 Card built in.

 

If you want video output better than Composite you will need to get a modified console. Talking stock systems, Composite is as good as it gets. But it's fairly common for people to mod them for S-Video and RGB. If you are going to use composite I'd recommend using a standard definition TV and avoid any HDTVs.

The DUO-R is capable of playing most games. It cannot play SuperGrafx (6 games) or Arcade CD games unless you get the Arcade Card DUO (or Pro). There are not terribly many Arcade CD-ROM games. So with a DUO you can play most games, all but 6 or so if you obtain the Arcade System Card.

The HuCard door isn't "flimsy" but you can certainly break it off being careless or clumsy.

I also second investing in the Turbo EverDrive. The PC-Engine is a very expensive system to get into. If you use the Turbo EverDrive and maintain focus you can experience nearly all the games offered on HuCard. I say maintain focus because when people suddenly can play any game they want at any time they may not be able to commit to a game for long.

Bring us to the CD-ROM games, some of the games again are extremely expensive. But you may be aware that nothing is going to stop you from playing a CD-R. For example Kaze Kiri is a fun game worth playing on the platform but are you going to spend $200+ to try it out? Sapphire is an Arcade CD-ROM game that is also pretty cool but insanely expensive. And then it gets complicated because there is an apparent bootleg pressing of the game that can be passed off as the original which may cost your $400+ from what I briefly checked just now. That's not to say though that there aren't affordable good games. But these options shouldn't be ignored for giving expensive ones a try before dropping big money on them.

Here are some games I like on the PC-Engine, or games I've heard should be enjoyable.
Batman
Bloody Wolf
Bonk 3 - Bonk's Big Adventure
Cotton
Devil Crash
Dracula X - Rondo of Blood (Castlevania)
Galaga '88
Gate of Thunder
Gradius II
Kyukyoku Tiger (Twin Cobra / Tiger-Heli)
Mugen Senshi Valis (Valis - Legend of a Fantasm Soldier)
Neutopia
Ninja Ryukenden (Ninja Gaiden)
Super Raiden
Winds of Thunder (Lords of Thunder)

Browse the site I've linked to for these games to find more PC-Engine games. It's a wonderful site.

 

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire is easily the most impressive graphical game of the system and probably the most impressive game in an 8-bit CPU system.

 

I only have 2 PC Engine games: PC Genjin and Bomberman '93. Both of those are really good games, and very cheap. Another one that is supposed to be good and relatively cheap (but which I haven't played) is Valkyrie no Densetsu. It's sort of an action/platformer/shooter type game by Capcom, which was originally an arcade game. There are some good ports of Sega games, like Out Run (though if you already have the Saturn version, there isn't much of a reason to own the PC Engine version). I've also heard that you can easily run CD-Rs on a PC Engine CD unit, if you want to do that.

Getting an RGB mod for the PC Engine is definitely worth it. It looks way, way better than composite. I have a CD-ROM2 unit that needs to be fixed; I believe all it needs is a replacement gear for the drive, which should be around $8-$10. It'll be nice to finally play CD games, as I've had this system for years and I've only now finally figured out why it wasn't working. I only have a System Card 2.1 currently, so eventually I'll probably need to get a 3.0 card. I'd like to get an Arcade Card, but it looks like it's pretty expensive.

 

I certainly will be getting a Turbo Everdrive.

With the System Cards, are they usually hard to find or are they as common as a multi-tap?

Thanks for the list of games too @MottZilla given me a pretty good head start at what to look out for. I certainly want to try and get Advanced V.G, doesn't seem too uncommon anyway.

 

System Cards aren't that hard to find. Since you have the DUO there is only one system card you *might* consider getting and that is the Arcade DUO System Card. You do not need any other system card as the DUO has the 3.0 Super System Card built in which is compatible with all CD-ROM and Super CD-ROM games with the one exception of Altered Beast which requires System Card 1.0. If desired you can load the 1.0 System Card BIOS with the Turbo EverDrive and I think that game should work.

One thing I didn't mention about CD-Rs, if you choose to use them you should use a good quality brand. Avoid any bargin types.

 

EVER Drive and CD burns will make gaming on the PCE more enjoyable. The Prices on some PCE games are reBONKulious

 

Great stuff to know, I'm guessing it's just a handful of games that need the arcade duo system card? I'm just confused by what you said previously that the SuperGrafix has 6 games, but arcade system card has how many compatible games? I most likely won't be touching these but just making sure.

 

Rondo of Blood is excellent, a must have, and worth the asking price in my opinion.

For fighting games, get a 6-button pad Street Fighter II' CE is a good port, and so are the Neo Geo ports (Arcade card). For platformers, the Bonk/PC Genjin series is obvious. Ninja Spirit, Shockman/Shubibinman 2 and 3, Cadash, Legendary Axe, Jackie Chan, New Adventure Island, Bikkuriman World, Dragon's Curse, Dynastic Hero, etc., etc. There are really a lot of excellent shoot-em-ups, both hucard and cd--hopefully you already like the genre but if not the pc engine can quickly turn you into a fan! Of course, there are many more good games in other genres.... so many great games for the pce!

Duo-R tends to have fewer problems than earlier models, so hopefully you won't have to worry about replacing capacitors any time soon. Just be gentle and take good care of it, and it should treat you well for a long time to come

Pick up a Tennokoe Bank hucard. The pce's internal backup memory for saving games is only 2K and will fill up quickly. With the tennokoe bank, you can back up/swap the internal memory in four slots on the hucard. You can do the same with the Memory Base 128 (offering even more room), but it's not quite as convenient.

 

12 games require it. Some others gain some enhancements if you have it (like less loading or maybe something else). Not counting that Darius game for Super Grafx it looks like there are 5 games for it. So with the DUO about 17 games are off limits. That's not so bad.

 

Would saving be an issue with the Everdrive? I'd assume the internal memory is mainly for the CD-ROM..

I think I have the six button controller from the bundle I won in the auction, are six button controllers only 3rd party?

By the looks of that, I'll be able to play Advanced V.G off the bat. The other games you mentioned I should be fine with, appears the library is rather broad too, unlike the PC:FX which I wouldn't mind owning in the future but there's just not much on it sadly.

 

Unless your going for the < 12 or so top tier titles in terms of price (Sylphia, Dead of the Brain, Ect) everything will be easily affordable. I wouldn't even worry about top tier games, since most are just mediocre titles that are somewhat rare.

I don't consider paying $100 for a CIB copy of Dracula X to be un-attainable to the adverage gamer, and even then, that's over the average. Most games can be had for $5-$30 easy.

 

Hucard games save to the internal backup ram too, just like CD games. They don't have their own save ram built into the hucards. The tennokoe card isn't really a necessity, it's just a nice thing to have in case you run out of space and really don't want to delete any saves.

Yes, that's a 6-button pad, the Avenue 6. There are a couple others, but the Ave 6 is a good one, in my opinion. The Bomberman games are great on PCE, so enjoy that Bomberman '94!

The PCE has a great and varied library--much better than the PC-FX

 

The Duo-RX came with a PC-FX styled 6 button controller but are really expensive (at least from my own observations). If you are a fan of the SNES controller then definitely look in to getting the Hori Fighting Commander 6 button as they are much less expensive than finding a loose RX controller but slightly more than an Avenue Pad 6. It also makes Street Fighter 2 enjoyable.

 

Ah yes, that's the one I was thinking of Stevo. I tried looking on the internet for PC-Engine hardware information, but I just couldn't find anything. When searching for controllers, and certain hardware there's different styles and colours, and they seem different enough that it's more than just redesigns in colour.

 

I will probably have PCE stuff worth around few grands. however mind you I'v ebeen collecting for over two decades now so... Sadly my PCE don't get the play time - in fact none of my console had play time since I moved the house. T^T

unlike other Japanese console PCE had unlicensed titles released on it - think of R+18 rating
although expensive it'd be fund to collect those~

 

I'll have to find space for it on my setup, I was thinking of a simple bridge so I can store a system under one another. I love top loaders but hate them since you can't stack.

Ohhh and I'm suuure it will be really fun to collect them