SFII champion edition, PC engine

Having just got a PC engine by NEC, i went about getting as many of the best releases i could find on ebay, some import sites and several connections i have who can lay their hands on some rare titles.

So far i have B.C. Kid and street fighter II, and ive spent some time comparing the them to the other versions.

I started with SFII , having owned this title on the snes and the mega drive i was surprised that the older PC engine still managed to keep up with both consoles, the sound is a bit muffled and the graphics are patchy in place, the actual game play is superbly fast.

There are a few extras as well, you get all the bonus stages including the barrel stage missing from the SNES version, and several other items such as an extra stone in the Chun-li level.

You also get to play as the four bosses that you don't get in the SNES or Mega Drive games, this adds allot to the game in 2 player vs mode.

But the only problem is that to play vs mode you need the 2 player adaptor and two six button pads, the pad is easy to find but the adaptors are like hens teeth, I've found some but have been unable to locate one fro less than £50, i may have to cough up the cash for one.

So in summing this is a great version of a classic game, its got features not included in the other consoles and this almost makes up for the sound standard and lack of graphical polish.

A new start takes AGES, it takes SEGA

After March and Aprils console cull I've changed a few things in my collection.

I always liked SEGA consoles and games. Sure, Nintendo had the NES and SNES, they had the N64 and the game cube, but somewhere they lost touch with the common man, they strayed away from hardcore3 and the people who put them where they were and have embraced the "casual gamer" or "game chaves" as i like to call them.

That group of people who think waving an 80's TV remote around in their front room to play an ugly game with all the finesse of PONG (yes I'm talking about WII sports) is a gaming evolution and look like prats while doing so.

Atari bit the dust after their last console the Jaguar, it was outdated (and i don't care how many times they told the gaming press, two 32 bit chips do not make a 64 bit console!) and under powered mess with bad styling and a very odd controller.

So in my view, Sega is the only one of the many retro console manufacturers who never really put a foot too badly wrong (yes the ps1 out sold the Saturn and the dreamcast was ditched as everyone had their heads so far up sony's arse to notice it over the PS2 (the fools!!!).

What I'm leading to to with this ramble is that for the time being i will be mostly collecting sega.

Ive just got a Saturn with 12 games, boxed and with a memory cart for £17!!! this led me to go through the boxes in my store room and find a boxed dreamcast and a Meagadrive with CD and 32X plus a load of games, and a master system one and two.

All i need now is a better game gear (mine is scratched to hell) and the rare than rocking horse manure Nomad and i will be on my way!