27th June 2022, 11:31 PM
I finished swapping out 30 capacitors in that rat's nest of a CD-ROM unit. I ended up accidentally tugging no less than three wires to their breaking point, but I was quick to strip a little space and resolder each one as it happened so I never lost track of what went where. I had to scrub the board pretty thoroughly along the way, multiple times, to get at all the dirtied eroded away spots the leaking capacitors were threatening to damage. It looks a lot nicer now and with fresh capacitors I shouldn't have to worry about leaks again for a long time. I sealed it all up (always the trickiest part) and after having to reopen it again due to a not entirely secured flat ribbon cable, it was all working fine. I used my favorite old laser lens cleaning disc and well, the thing's working perfectly as it was when I got it.
Sadly, Voultar's out of stock so I won't be doing that RGB mod on the IFU for a while. Incidentally, the Composite signal I modded into the PC Engine is clearer than the composite out of the interface unit. I never expected to pull that off, but hey all that means is I'll probably end up using the thing solo when playing Hucard games until I go for the full RGB mod. The IFU's caps all look to be intact without leaks, so I'll put off a full cap replacement for another time on that unit.
(Actually I went and replaced the BIOS chip in my Sega CD unit so it's region free. I have a little easy to install region free mod board coming in the mail that I'm going to put in the 32X. It'll basically set the 32X's region to whatever the Genesis is.)
All in all, I'm getting a lot out of this PC Engine, and I don't have a single scrolling shooty game yet. I have a hefty collection for the Sega Genesis, but now's the time to pick up what this console's known for. That said, it's got a number of fun games outside of that. Rondo of Blood is of course one of the best traditional style Castlevania games. I think I still rank Castlevania IV above it, but I'd certainly tie it with Bloodlines on Genesis.
Splatterhouse is more of a traditional pure 2D punch kick game similar to Kung-Fu on NES, as opposed to it's Genesis sequels that go for that 3D-ish beat-em-up style. I do enjoy slower paced games that involve a lot of careful planning, and the original Splatterhouse has a lot of that. The word I guess would be "methodical". By the same token, I personally LOVE the first two Bonk games! Are they better than Mario World or Sonic 3 & Knuckles? Mmm... no not really, but the level design is expertly done taking into account all of Bonk's abilities and with very careful enemy placement that allows for creative usage of those abilities. It's rather fun finding just the right rhythm to juggle yourself in the air on that very first boss without ever touching the ground until he's beaten. I... "tried" Bonk 3 and I gotta say it's pretty disappointing compared to the first two. Anyway, if you aren't into slow paced methodical platformers, I can understand disliking Bonk, but for me I certainly have enjoyed them, the first two at least. Oh, and that sprite design! Bonk has some of the most creative hilarious sprite design in a game that manages to fit midway in tone between the playful cartoony animations in Super Mario World and the off-the-wall ridiculous extremes of Earthworm Jim.
Sadly, Voultar's out of stock so I won't be doing that RGB mod on the IFU for a while. Incidentally, the Composite signal I modded into the PC Engine is clearer than the composite out of the interface unit. I never expected to pull that off, but hey all that means is I'll probably end up using the thing solo when playing Hucard games until I go for the full RGB mod. The IFU's caps all look to be intact without leaks, so I'll put off a full cap replacement for another time on that unit.
(Actually I went and replaced the BIOS chip in my Sega CD unit so it's region free. I have a little easy to install region free mod board coming in the mail that I'm going to put in the 32X. It'll basically set the 32X's region to whatever the Genesis is.)
All in all, I'm getting a lot out of this PC Engine, and I don't have a single scrolling shooty game yet. I have a hefty collection for the Sega Genesis, but now's the time to pick up what this console's known for. That said, it's got a number of fun games outside of that. Rondo of Blood is of course one of the best traditional style Castlevania games. I think I still rank Castlevania IV above it, but I'd certainly tie it with Bloodlines on Genesis.
Splatterhouse is more of a traditional pure 2D punch kick game similar to Kung-Fu on NES, as opposed to it's Genesis sequels that go for that 3D-ish beat-em-up style. I do enjoy slower paced games that involve a lot of careful planning, and the original Splatterhouse has a lot of that. The word I guess would be "methodical". By the same token, I personally LOVE the first two Bonk games! Are they better than Mario World or Sonic 3 & Knuckles? Mmm... no not really, but the level design is expertly done taking into account all of Bonk's abilities and with very careful enemy placement that allows for creative usage of those abilities. It's rather fun finding just the right rhythm to juggle yourself in the air on that very first boss without ever touching the ground until he's beaten. I... "tried" Bonk 3 and I gotta say it's pretty disappointing compared to the first two. Anyway, if you aren't into slow paced methodical platformers, I can understand disliking Bonk, but for me I certainly have enjoyed them, the first two at least. Oh, and that sprite design! Bonk has some of the most creative hilarious sprite design in a game that manages to fit midway in tone between the playful cartoony animations in Super Mario World and the off-the-wall ridiculous extremes of Earthworm Jim.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)