Japan's EXCELLENT Namco Ports on Sharp X68000
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Күн бұрынThe Sharp X68000 computer system is a home to many great arcade ports. Today, we're taking a look at seven Namco classics that were ported to the system... also Galaxian 2. Note: At the minute forty mark there's b-roll of a floppy's "floppiness" showing an 8-inch disk instead of a 5.25-inch. I didn't have a floppy on hand so figured this would suffice, but apparently not.
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0:00 - What is a Sharp X68000?
1:36 - X68K Game Box
2:08 - Bosconian
3:42 - Dig Dug
4:17 - Galaxian... 2?
5:13 - Mappy
6:17 - MotoS
6:38 - Pac-Mania
7:32 - Rally-X
8:29 - Xevious
9:19 - Closing Up
Intro and outro music are existing works of Skylar Spence aka Saint Pepsi.
You can find his work here: skylarspence.net/
Background Music:
Little Wave (Stage BGM A) - Bosconian X68K OST
Good Morning (Loading BGM) - Bosconian X68K OST
History - Sonic Mega Collection OST
#sharpx68000 #japan #arcade
@colonelsandwich641 6 ай бұрын
Galaxian 2 and Mappy are what you'd consider Doujin soft, being unlicensed fan projects made just for fun like you said. There's a good amount of neat Doujin titles on the X68k too, including a couple other ports of Namco titles like Grobda and Hopping Mappy (titled "Tiny Hopping Mappy")
@novelezra 6 ай бұрын
COTTON on the Sharp X68000 has one of the coolest features that *ANY* retro computer has. A dancing keyboard. Because the keyboard lit up, COTTON had it 'dance' to the music in what is probably the first instance of such a thing.
@jonniefast 6 ай бұрын
neat 🥺🥹
@Retrogamingmaverick 6 ай бұрын
The x68000 did not fuck around. My mind was blown out of the goddamn world as soon as I saw the marble madness port.
@CreeperDudeBro 6 ай бұрын
7:04 As a certified Namco Nut™ I can actually explain why the game feels slow at the start for you. In the original Japanese release of Pac-Mania in arcades, there were 4 extra levels at the start of the game's worlds, and the game's default difficulty is set to Normal, whereas Atari Games' version released in America defaults to Hard to make the game faster, and cuts 1 level each from the worlds on the first time through them. Also a fun fact, the loading screen for Pac-Mania uses music that was used in the High Score table only the American version has, the Japanese version just has a single high score with no initials for it. And the loading screen uses a flyer's artwork for the game, with all those amazing quotes! This is what playing a game like Pac-Mania since you were 3 on the GameCube does to someone.
@hi_tech_reptiles 6 ай бұрын
There's so many amazing x68k games. It was essentially a Genesis crossed with an arcade board, and many arcade games were deved on it. Early high end computer gaming.
@KonaKonaKaabisteru 6 ай бұрын
X68000 was so ahead of it's time - so many excellent arcade ports. My faves lean into Konami's SHMUPS, including Nemesis Kai-remakes for MSX's Nemesis 2 - then there's original Castlevania Chronicles too... There's so much more excellent ports to talk about on this system, here's hoping you cover more in the future!
@Isaacfess 6 ай бұрын
The Framemeister returns! Strange little console, it's really cool how arcade ports evolved over the future.
@thewingedavenger1007 6 ай бұрын
FrameRater is my channel of choice for all Bosconian-related coverage!
@zeeke.tv_4842 6 ай бұрын
Frame just wanna let you know you are my favorite youtuber of all time. I subscribed years ago now and I've thoroughly enjoyed all your videos and have learned so much from them.
@FrameRater 6 ай бұрын
Wow, thanks! =D
@ChaseMC215 6 ай бұрын
Galaxian 2, although unofficial, looks fun to play
@zusk8556 6 ай бұрын
I used to only know it as the computer that had the original version of Castlevania Chronicles, but I've been binging videos of this system ever since I saw the early Thunder Force games on it. Its library looks insanely good
@MrVenom1974 6 ай бұрын
Thanks for the video. These are really awesome acrade ports! Bosconian is a pure masterpiece!
@RetroRulzMyTown 6 ай бұрын
Oh yeah, it's about time that the most underrated system with the most overlooked ports showed up. Bosconian's port alone is nothing short of perfection!
@Skrillerwolf 9 күн бұрын
The x86 games look so cool. I can't imagine how crazy expensive this would be to collect for, glad the emulation is good! Definitely want to check this out
@eddiehimself 6 ай бұрын
The X68000 had such a futuristic design, the 5.25" floppy drives look like they could easily be slot-loading CD drives.
@misterzygarde6431 6 ай бұрын
I am genuinely impressed with the Sharp X68000. I definitely imagine it could go toe to toe with the SNES and Genesis.
@net_news 6 ай бұрын
not with SNES... lacks mode 7.
@SmeddyTooBestChannel 6 ай бұрын
@@net_newslook up Geograph Seal and the SEGA super scaler ports. the system is powerful enough to do 3d games without even directly needing something like Mode 7. just bitmap-based shit.
@mortenera2294 6 ай бұрын
@@net_news It could do it in software
@net_news 6 ай бұрын
@@mortenera2294 sure but it takes cpu resources.
@cawleygamma 6 ай бұрын
It’s more powerful than a SNES, the benefit of it being a computer so significantly more expensive but with faster CPU, custom chips and more RAM. Compare the ports of Final Fight or Street Fighter II and the Sharp is effectively giving you the arcade experience. Look at other titles like Geograph Seal to see it surpass the SNES even with custom chips in the cart.
@DIASTCartoons 6 ай бұрын
That bootleg Galaxian had me shocked when the aliens dropped. Also, Cherry Pepsi is so nostalgic to me now. I was listening to that around the time I found your channel.
@retrojamm07 3 ай бұрын
This is amazing! I hope you can cover other amazing X68000 ports and games. I heard Sega has lots of them (Fantasy Zone is my fav!).
@Chihiro_Fujisaki 6 ай бұрын
A framerater vid at 5:30pm is exactly what I’m in the mood for right now 😎
@kitestar 6 ай бұрын
There is also a bespoke “mini” for the sharp 68k which not only has built-in roms, but also allows for USB loading
@cybershroom9240 6 ай бұрын
Whats the name of it?
@kitestar 6 ай бұрын
@@cybershroom9240 the sharp 68k Z
@Gatorade69 6 ай бұрын
@@cybershroom9240The X68000 Z Mini. Though last I heard they were only available in Japan and were sold out.
@TheRealJPhillips 6 ай бұрын
Nice video. I started emulating The X68000 maybe a year ago. Interesting system with some wild and interesting games
@LVPB 6 ай бұрын
Great video 👍
@turdcalzone7636 2 ай бұрын
Truly aesthetic physical design, wow.
@Dasan1111 6 ай бұрын
NO Genpei Toumaden?! That's was the best among X68 Namco ports.
@FaithyJo 6 ай бұрын
Yeah, Framerater! ❤
@EntranceJew 6 ай бұрын
These reviews are pretty acute. Bosconian and Rally-X are my favorites I'd catch on the old Plug 'n' Plays. Not being able to grind into a turn is one of the biggest detriments a Rally-X port could lack, it's one of the few games where the joystick adds a lot in a way that you don't get with pac-man or the sort.
@TheHumanVoiceBox 6 ай бұрын
I don’t have time to watch this right now, so will just comment and like, great video
@robertvelasquez823 2 ай бұрын
If you catch it, you can see a model of an X68000 to replace the computer on the arcade version of the Mappy game.
@PavleMajonez 6 ай бұрын
Good video, I hope to see more video on retro computers! Also, which Sharp X68000 emulator were you using when you recorded the gameplay footage?
@FrameRater 6 ай бұрын
RetroArch, though for one game I used XM6 Pro-68k. Overall compatibility is hit and miss, many games have issues trying to boot. It's possible I was doing something wrong though.
@belstar1128 6 ай бұрын
most of The games you showed were already older when the x68000 came out .but it handles 16 bit arcade games well too.
@Sinn0100 6 ай бұрын
This is pretty neat. Everyone that covers the Sharp X68000 typically goes straight into either Capcom arcade games or occasionally they cover Konami titles. Very seldom do we see Namco's games on Sharp's stupidly powerful computer (for the time). Have you played Galaga '88 or '89? I ask because it reminds me of Galaxian 2. It's another fleshed out remix of sorts that allows better movement, power-ups, and much a sleeker graphical presentation. You also change levels with different backgrounds. You can play Galaga '88/'89 on the PC Engine/Core Grafx/TG-16 and arcade. One thing, while I love Galaga '88 I do not like the ship design. The original Galaga had a much cooler looking ship.
@axelprino 6 ай бұрын
That Galaxian 2 is something I wouldn't mind being ported to modern systems and turned into an official sequel, looks really fun.
@jonothanthrace1530 6 ай бұрын
The X68 has such a weird case, I wonder why it was like that.
@Vulpas 6 ай бұрын
I think I remember that Xevious music being in the Earthbound arcade... Interesting.
@daveraschke 6 ай бұрын
man i haven't heard of that since that game sack video.
@andysanchez3 6 ай бұрын
Japanese computer history is so fascinating
@ClexYoshi 6 ай бұрын
Tempest 2000 and Robotron 64 come to mind as sort of arcade evolution titles from the 90's.
@tidepoolclipper8657 6 ай бұрын
Konami (especially with the Sharp Castlevania not only later on showing up in Castlevania Chronicles albeit with inferior sound quality, but also being modified into a separate arranged mode) Dempa, and Koei would be good to take a look at.
@Knuxfan24 6 ай бұрын
Did not realise the version of Bosconian on there had such a glow up. Makes me resent the fact that the game always gets ignored even more now!
@thedungeondelver 6 ай бұрын
Question for the uninitiated (well, I've known about the 68000 for decades but never looked much in to it): was there anything to do with the system other than play games? I know huOS existed, but were there any serious apps or anything for it, or was this just more like a console, but with a GUI and keyboard.
@colonelsandwich641 6 ай бұрын
It was very often used as a workstation, iirc many of Capcom's CPS1 games were literally developed using X68k hardware. It would also explain why X68k ports of many Capcom arcade titles are nearly perfect (aside from minor hardware differences)
@belstar1128 6 ай бұрын
yea it had a lot of basic office applications too. but i do think people wanted more compatibility between the systems for documents so the x68000 was abandoned. in the west they made systems that were just as powerful and expensive. but gaming companies ignored them since gaming in the west was seen as for kids only so only the cheaper systems got support .
@gracekim25 6 ай бұрын
Ooo never heard of this 😮
@ShadowXeldron 6 ай бұрын
Do any of these games have MIDI support? If they do then you can connect a MIDI synthesiser for better audio quality.
@Highretrogamelord 6 ай бұрын
Really great video! Really fun to watch! Question though: Would you be interested in making a video about Sharp X68000 doujin games? For example Bishoujo Senshi Super Moon Fighter/Bishoujo Senshi Super Moon Fighter X.
@FrameRater 6 ай бұрын
I've never heard of these games, what are they?
@Highretrogamelord 6 ай бұрын
@@FrameRater If you mean doujin games, they are homebrew/Indie games that were big on Japanese home computers (the PC-88 also had a massive doujin scene for example). If you mean the Bishoujo Senshi Super Moon Fighter games, they are Sailor Moon fighting games.
@MrJans3n 6 ай бұрын
@@Highretrogamelord If we're talking X68000 Doujin games, you can't not mention Cho Ren Sha 68K. One of the finest shmups ever made
@wraithcadmus 6 ай бұрын
An absolute beast of a machine, not just with excellent ports, but used by Capcom to develop CPS1 arcades (e.g. Street Fighter 2). It was of course also five times the cost of other contemporary home micros like the A500, not that they shared any markets.
@inklingex4433 6 ай бұрын
Did you know the Capcom CPSI board was exactly based upon the SHARP X6800? Not just that but there were several arcade PCBs in the late-80's that were being X6800 too. Also lmao that unofficial Galaxian port goes on crack at the end!
@cybershroom9240 6 ай бұрын
I'm surprised you didn't cover the amazing Galaga 88 port from the sharp, it has an arrangement mode that crossovers IPs like Mappy, Rally X, and Xevious enemies into the bonus stages. I say least look up the soundtrack and hear the credits
@FrameRater 6 ай бұрын
I didn't know about that, I actually planned to include Galaga '88 but it just froze on the boot screen for me.
@cybershroom9240 6 ай бұрын
Weird you couldn't get it to boot, but I can't say I've tried emulating it I only came across it for the exclusive soundtrack @@FrameRater
@valcrist7428 Ай бұрын
How does this Computer did not win against the IBM PC and Machintosh/Apple? This was the most decent gaming PC and probably the best Micro Home Computer during those times. So advanced and capable.. Buying this in the late 80's and still kicking in the early 2000s..
@FrameRater Ай бұрын
Not sure, they might've been expensive to produce. Never left Japan.
@ericp631 2 күн бұрын
It wasn't good at professional tasks, didn't use a common os, never left Japan, and a 486 absolutely destroys this thing. The thing about PC architecture is constant advancement/upgradability. Some piece of integrated custom chipset can come out and blow people away and the next year Intel/amd come out with that year's line that blows away your unupgradable piece of kit. This thing was a beast when released, but obsolete fairly quickly. That's why the PC won the micro wars.
@Sonicfoxtrot 6 ай бұрын
I heard a lot of capcom's arcade games were developed with X68000 computers. That's why those versions ended up pretty much arcade perfect. Not sure how true that is though.
@oldschool9247gaming 3 ай бұрын
6:13 literally one of the things you collect in mappy is a sharp x68k lol
@goatbone 6 ай бұрын
More Sharp X68000 please
@EMHMarkIX 6 ай бұрын
At 1:39 - that disk from 8-bit Guy's video showing it's "floppiness" is not a 5.25" disk but 8".
@FrameRater 6 ай бұрын
I couldn't find much footage of people deliberately "flopping" these things, I don't have any myself to demonstrate.
@eddiehimself 6 ай бұрын
Interesting how that copy of Bosconian has a box price of 6800 yen lol.
@edy1361 6 ай бұрын
I love the 68000, an amazing machine for arcade ports but unfortunately it hasn't got many good original games.
@Geno746 6 ай бұрын
I never knew this about Xevious but you can lower the games difficulty by defeating a specific enemy the Zolbak. I learned that from an episode of Game Center when he played with Sakurai.
@FrameRater 6 ай бұрын
Wow, I need to try that for myself.
@Hamburgaga 6 ай бұрын
A lot of shmups had the best ports on that system in my opinion, expecially graphically
@RadiaUmbra 6 ай бұрын
now you basically have to do a version for Capcom
@tarstarkusz 6 ай бұрын
1:42 Either you have TINY hands or that is an 8" floppy.
@goatbone 6 ай бұрын
kei sounds like kay
@ElectraTheMiraidon39 6 ай бұрын
There almost like the arcade originals. 😭
@MaxOakland 6 ай бұрын
Did this use the same 68000 chip as the first Macintosh or is the name a coincidence?
@Gatorade69 6 ай бұрын
Almost everything used a Motorola 68000.
@belstar1128 6 ай бұрын
at last the cpu but the mac had bad graphics and sound for the time
@nintendonicholas9141 6 ай бұрын
Is it fair to say that the X 68,000 is a 80s and 90s equivalent of a modern gaming PC?
@FrameRater 6 ай бұрын
I believe that's accurate.
@belstar1128 6 ай бұрын
Yea but the strange thing is that its its own platform there not nothing like that today its only pc and mac now. linux doesn't count because its an os.
@morrowlterraslove 4 ай бұрын
Sucks you didn’t mention about Galaga 88
@FrameRater 4 ай бұрын
iirc I couldn't get it to work :(
@Monhamd1000 6 ай бұрын
x68000 is good but the price is not worth it.
@gamingguy9006 2 ай бұрын
It is n kay
@tarstarkusz 6 ай бұрын
There is a recent port of Xevious to the Amiga platform and it requires an AGA Amiga to pull it off. Any of the X68000 can play Xevious. The X68000 should have been released in America with an English language OS and ROM. If they did it right, this could easily have taken out the Macintosh. The Mac only became color in 1987 and they were a fortune and in some ways, a lesser machine to the x68000. The one thing it does lack though is the 3.5" disks. Though, to be fair, the Mac IIs have a 800k disk, not the 1.44 of later on.
@ericp631 2 күн бұрын
The primary market for computers in the US, especially back then was professional. It's ability to play games well wouldn't mean anything.
@tarstarkusz 2 күн бұрын
@@ericp631 Wrong. There were multiple separate and distinct markets. There was the big business market, this is where the 2 computers being sold into it were PCs and Macs. There was the educational market, which could be further broken down, which primarily were populated by Apple II, Macs and PCs, in that order. Then there was the home market, which consisted in the US primarily as Apple II, Commodore and Atari (including the Amiga and ST). Then there was the small business market which was primarily Apple II and custom (or highly customized) computers. There were other markets too, but most were pretty small. Plus, sound and graphics were important to some markets outside of playing games.
@ericp631 2 күн бұрын
@@tarstarkusz I didn't say there wasn't different markets. I was talking about the size of those markets. And the home/gaming market for PC's in the US at that time was incredibly small. The PC gaming market doesn't explode until the '90's when this thing is obsolete. Mac's dominated (and still do)the publishing field, a place were no one cares about xevious.
@tarstarkusz 2 күн бұрын
@@ericp631 Again, you are wrong. The best selling computer of all time was a games computer (the C64). This thing was not obsolete in the early 90s. Macs dominate graphics because of their monitors and color matching hardware, or at least that used to be the case. What is your point anyway? You are clueless.
@ericp631 2 күн бұрын
@@tarstarkusz the c64 was a product that was sold all over the world, not just the the US. And yes the c64 initially sold well, but then it crashed with the rest of the burgeoning home market in the early 80's. Now other regions, such as Europe, had adopted the home micro concept than the US. And all that had to do with the video game console. The console was an idea introduced here and that influenced how people thought, why spend thousands of dollars on a home computer if all I want to do is play games when the Nintendo does exactly that at a fraction of the price. Thus home adoption rates for computers was very slow. All you need to do is look at the data.