Same method I always use, lol. Good luck

davyK wrote:

Consoles themselves won't be that expensive though. Rob Webb / consolegoods.co.uk might be worth a look. His site is distinctly low tech but he's a very good seller.

*Adds consolegoods.co.uk to bookmarks*

wonderbanana wrote:

Now to find a good CRT...

I got lucky on ebay a few years back and got one of the last B&O CRT's ever made. Frikking amazing TV. £40.

Living in N.Ireland I find it tougher to source one. There are currently several B&Os available on eBay but they are all in GB and require collection.  A road trip would be fun but also a bit of a time & money sink. I'm happy with my current CRT but every so often I get some minor interference on it which goes away after a few minutes after warming up but I'd be a lot happier if I had a backup.

PVMs/BVMs are usually small which puts me off somewhat. The image is supposed to be superb though. There are supposed to larger ones but they are rare. Not sure how you connect to one either - it appears to be component or some other method.

I've had DC Gunbird 2 for ages and it's one of my favourites. Excellent game but it's pretty tough. There are 3 display options - the best being TATE in which it looks gorgeous. I rotate my CRT for it. Unfortunately it is one game that doesn't work with VGA (at least that's the case with the PAL version). I have a rotatable monitor and thought it would be prefect using the VGA - but not to be. Using a boot disc forces it work in VGA but it glitches

Anyhow - it looks great in RGB SCART so no great loss.

The DC port has an exclusive extra character (accessible at the character select screen easily - think you just move the character highlight beyond the last character). It also has a very nice single player 2 character mode that lets you play with 2 characters that tag team with each life loss. It gives you 4 lives - 2 for each character and is fun to play. It also lets you see the 2 player story (as nonsensical as it is). It's a really tough game as I say but the options let you tame that. I've been able to 1CC the game but at the lower levels.

There's a 2nd loop but I can't remember how it is activated - hard to do - and the 2nd loop itself is legendary in shmup circles as to its difficulty.

The different characters play very differently and really adds to the play value. There's 4 different attacks (inc. bombs) with each too , some of which are linked to a power up meter - so lots of fun experimenting with those.  As is usual with Psikyo games The order of the first 3 or 4 levels varies at random - so adding more to replay value.

Great game for score chasing too - there's gold coin pickup chaining which is really tough to get right - you have to touch the coin JUST has it glints for bigger scores -  and each level has a hidden "gem head" to find.

Lucky enough to have picked this up at a sensible price in early 00's along with Cannon Spike and Rez.  But £40 is a good price - if you like shmups you will love it. At first I admit that I found it a bit humdrum - but spend any time with it and its charms soon reveal themselves. It has a very nice 3D pixel art look to it and an enjoyable soundtrack.

Can't make that out - what's the game?

Had that (PAL version) for a while before my clearout. It looked quite nice as far as I remember but I got rid of it since I have PAL and JPN versions of VF2 (!)

the version I had came in a double disc case - the 2nd disc had some sort of gallery on it.  I think the JP version doesn't have a gallery disc but there's a separate gallery disc for each character sold individually. Real collector fodder right there!

Yeah I have that vf remix. A good place to start

I'll be getting an NTSC-J Saturn, and most of the games will be NTSC-J.

Most fighting games have English menus anyway.

Any text heavy games will be NTSC-U.

If sticks are your thing there are a few options. There's the PAL and US version of the Virtua Stick which has a pretty bad rep. It's cheap but if you are into sticks you probably won't like it.  It comes in an all black trim or in grey and blue.

The one to look out for is the JP only HSS-0136 stick - also called the Virtua stick but is very different looking. You will probably be a lot happier with this one. The one I have has an ascii stick but some have a better sanwa one - think it's pot luck. If you are hardcore you could probably mod it.  Not cheap though sometimes you will find it reasonably priced. I got mine for less than £40 but the stick felt pretty grotty. I few spots of 3in1 oil sorted that though - it's silky now!


If you want to spend more money there's the awesome looking Astro City 2 player stick.

No shmups on the 2nd best shmup system ever. Oh the shame.

wonderbanana wrote:

No shmups on the 2nd best shmup system ever. Oh the shame.

Recommend me some

Bummer about Gunbird not being VGA compatible I'll have to get behind my set up and get my wires out which is a massive bummer. I was hoping my projector could flip the screen through 90 too but a play last night confirms 180 or mirrored.

CEX is a good shout swirl. I may trade in my old Sony Z5 phone and see what I get in-store credit.

Can recommend Sunsofts Galaxy fight and it's sort of sequel waku waku 7 for decent alternative fightmans on the Saturn. Galaxy fight has decent mechanics and eternally scrolling arenas. Waku waku 7 though is a beut, one of the best visually on the system and its great fun, huge sprites and fancy dan moves all over the shop.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

The Virtual On port is under appreciated imo.  The drop off from the arcade is more than understandable, and it works very well with a pad once you get the hang of it.  Quite a tactical two player game too with things like bomb blasts that can't be fired though, full kudos for the workable split screen mode.  

Not in Reg's pic, but Last Bronx was another port that looked wonderful.  High res characters and a couple of stages with 3D walls.  Pick the right characters and it's a good game too.

I was massively into my Saturn, probably my most obsessive period, full Segaboi.

The Japanese version of Last Bronx is a lovely 2 disc edition.

Eric wrote:

Bummer about Gunbird not being VGA compatible I'll have to get behind my set up and get my wires out which is a massive bummer. I was hoping my projector could flip the screen through 90 too but a play last night confirms 180 or mirrored.

That is a bummer - what alternative DC cable have you for that will work with the project? It will still look pretty good I reckon. Maybe try for s-video? It's a bigger deal not being able to rotate the image - surprised the projector doesn't let you do that as I thought that was a standard feature - has been in every one I've tinkered with and I've messed about with some old ones.