Your top five PCE-CD games.

[johnk_]

i don't know what i should be hunting down..

are there any especially good shooters or action/platformers for the system? Or anything else really good?

[Korian]

Yeah there are tons of great shooters, and platformers, they tend to be quite pricey though. Ys 1+2 and 3 are both amazing games that need to be played. Ys 3 has great music but choppy parralax. Ys 4 is excelent too if you don't mind using a faq. Future Boy Conan and Yoshimoto Comedy are two cute and simplistic platformers and can be had cheap. There's so many great ones but it all depends on how much Japanese text you can put up with. Or if you feel like swinging a faq. Stay away from Fighting Street though.

[bbobb]

Lords of Thunder
Dracula X
Ys Book 1 & 2
Dynastic Hero
Macross 2036
Spriggin
Terraforming
Bonk 3
Air Zonk
Download 2
R-Type Complete
Monster Lair

Those are a few off the top of my head that I'd recommend.

[NeoZeedeater]

Kick ass shooters like Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, Star Parodier, and Spriggan come to mind.

[Low]

Other good titles, though not must-haves:


Nexzar
Cotton
Cho Aniki
Syliphia (a near miracle to find it cheap)
Sidearms Special (not much to look at, but fast paced)
Psychic Storm
Pop N Magic


*-neo

[OmegaFlareX]

Yeah there are tons of great shooters, and platformers, they tend to be quite pricey though.

Lies. On average, the PC-Engine market is much more affordable than that of the Saturn's, for example. All 2-dozen of my PCE/TG16 games (with only three exceptions) were had for less than $30. A good handful of those were in the $10-$15 range.

As for the question at hand... I don't have that many CD games, but here's what I do own and which ranks in my top 5 (excluding Drac X):

Avenger
Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams (SCD)
Daisenpu Custom *3*
Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (SCD)
Gate of Thunder 3-in-1 (SCD) *1!*
L-Dis
Lords of Thunder (SCD) *5*
Monster Lair
Rayxanber II
Star Parodia (SCD) *2*
Ys Book I & II *4*
Ys III: Wanderers From Ys

Some other CD games that I hear are good:
Shubinbinman 3 (action)
Emerald Dragon (RPG)
Fatal Fury Special (fighting)
Star Mobile (puzzle)
Valis I-IV (action)
Rainbow Islands (SSP)
Shadow of the Beast (Act/Adv)
Panic Bomber (puzzle)
Fray (action)
Shape Shifter (Act/Adv)
Pop 'n Magic (SSP)

And for shmups we have:
Nexzr
Rayxanber III
Spriggan
Macross 2036
Image Fight II
Sidearms Special
Both Cho Anikis (for shits and giggles)

Bookmark the following sites now:
The PC-Engine Catalog Project
PC-Engine Software Bible
16-bit's eBay store

It's always good to see some PCE love around here. Have fun!

[NightWolve]

On the US side, they're:

Ys Book I & II (Action-RPG)
Gate of Thunder 3-in-1 (Shooter)
Cosmic Fantasy 2 (the only real traditional RPG the US got - Working Designs)
Exile (Action-RPG)
Exile II (Action-RPG)

Other Favorites:

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (Shooter) - Needs Arcade Card or ME emulator
Summer Carnival '93 - Nexzr Special (Shooter)
Seirei Senshi Spriggan (Shooter)
Kaze Kiri (Action - Ninja Gaiden like)
Rayxanber II (Shooter)
Super Raiden (Shooter)
Lords of Thunder (Shooter)
Fray CD Xak Gaiden (Action)
Ys IV-The Dawn Of Ys (Action-RPG)
Macross 2036 (Shooter)
L-Dis (Shooter)
Valis III (Action)
Ys III (Action-RPG)

I would tell you "Xak III-The Eternal Recurrence" as well (look at the other topic), but after beating it like 5 times for script testing (I have an English translation patch for it), I'm utterly sick of it... That's the sacrifice that comes with the job usually.

Bookmark the following sites now:
The PC-Engine Catalog Project

What he said. Yeah, www.pcecp.com is a great resource to have. I hope they make a local version so I don't have to worry about it not always being there. That's a great database they've compiled and it'd be a shame to lose it.

[CypherUppercut]

Even though most of them were mentione already.
My personal Top 5 minus Dracula X:

3 in 1 CD: The best bang for you buck. 4 great classic games.
Ys Book 1+2: I like 1&2 more than 3
Valis 4: Solid platformer just as enjoyable as Dracula X
Spriggan: Good Shooter, Nuff Said.
Dungeon Explorer 2: Fun with a multitap, gets a little boring single player.

[Victrix]

Driffting OT, but why is it that though the TG controller FEELS blocky and uncomfortable, after a few minutes play, I completely forget it is there, and its very comfortable. Particularly for shooters. Bizarreness, says me

[Melf]

fShape Shifter is garbage. Dungeon Explorer is worth getting, but I prefer the Sega CD version. Part 2 is expensive though. No one's mentioned them but do try the Exile series. You can get part one new off WD's site for about $30. Part 2 can be readily had on ebay. Both are excellent action/RPGs.