 If you're looking for a capable, easy-to-use vintage computer system to play some classic games on, the X68000 is iwthout question your very best bet. Unlike IBM PC Compatibles there were no differences between the hardware revisions that would prevent your games from running on one model and not the other. What expansion options there were, like MIDI interfaces and RAM expansions, were completely standardized so you never had to worry about anything. For the modern buyer of X68000 gear there's nothing at all to worry about. All the games are self-booting, and you need only insert the floppy and turn the system on. No cumbersome XMS/EMS configuration, no graphics or sound card compatability to consider.
The X68000 offers a far better playing experience than any other computer of the era even if you don't consider benefits of a consistant platform. The custom graphics hardware combined with the very capable sound hardware meant most games were simply perfect. Arcade ports, often handled by the original companies, were pixel perfect and ran smoothly. Here's a small gallery and list of some available games. Please feel free to check out the NFG Store for a few bits of X68000 hardware and software you can buy. |
Konami was a big supporter, and while SPS handled some early (And crappy) releases like Salamander, Konami did some first-party gems (in super-deluxe cases + sleeves): Castlevania, Gradius 2, Parodius and Detana Twinbee. Arcade-perfect, all of them.
SPS did release some good stuff: A custom Gradius remake called Nemesis '90 with some truly lovely graphics, and a great port of the PCE/TG16 classic CyberCore. They also did a port of Namco's Marchen Maze, which is truly stunning to look at. Their crap-list included a version of Rally Bike, Sylvalion, New Zealand Story, Twinbee and PacMania.
A handful of great MegaDrive games were released on this system as well, taking advantage of the similar and more powerful hardware. ThunderForce 2 had clear voice and better scrolling. Granada and Sol Feace were both better than the Genesis versions. Kaneko released arcade-perfect translations of Kyuukyoko Tiger (Twin Cobra) and Flying Shark. Zoom was a big supporter too, with some great games like Overtake, Genocide, and an incredible Phalanx (which saw a SNES release).
Electronic Arts published two titles too, a version of Cotton: Night Dreams (Which had the kb lights flashing to the music) and a port of Raizing/8ing's Kingdom Grand Prix. Irem released two games, Image Fight (excellent) and Rtype (very poor). Falcom released Ys 3, which features some of the very best versions of their music.
Feedback over here if you have any.
Arcade
X68000
As you can see from the two above shots, both taken with an emulator (MAME + Ex68) are pixel perfect duplicates. There are some coloration differences, noticable on the browns, but I don't know if this is because of an actual difference in colour or emulator rendering innacuracies.
More Screenshots Here!