Messages

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Games that were first on the PC Engine and ported to SNES/SFC or genesis]

Bonk's Adventure -> NES Bonk
Bonk III -> SNES Super Bonk (-ish)

Bomberman '94 -> Mega Bomberman

Nectaris -> GB Nectaris

Fire Pro Wrestling... maybe?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Some basic music questions]

Hi, most PCE game tunes have been ripped into the .HES format, an archive of which is here: http://hes.joshw.info/
CD game rips are better obtained from here: http://www.snesmusic.org/hoot/kingshriek/
Maybe there is a more complete / up-to-date archive?

The .HES player for WinAmp, named NEZPlug, allows any channel to be isolated or disabled during playback, so I think that covers all that your friend wants to do.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Hacked the System Card to display BIOS execution]

Hi, folks.  Just to see what CD games did when they booted, I hacked my own code into the PC-Engine CD card to report (both on-screen and via serial port) which BIOS calls get executed on real hardware. It's a tad glitchy, probably because I'm stealing CPU time, but the results are kinda cool.

Perhaps an emulator / watchpoints / lua script could do a better job, but oh, well.

Here's what I captured from Pomping World:
E06F 25 EX_SCRMOD 1E 20 00
E06C 24 EX_DOTMOD 00
E0A2 36 EX_SATCLR
E006 02 CD_BASE   0024 8200 0E82
E009 03 CD_READ   B008 8000 0020 0116
E009 03 CD_READ   0008 8000 0020 0116
E009 03 CD_READ   0008 8000 0020 0116
E009 03 CD_READ   0008 8000 0020 0116
E009 03 CD_READ   0008 8000 0020 0116
E009 03 CD_READ   0008 8000 0000 0116
E05D 1F EX_SETVEC 40 D5 01
E063 21 EX_JOYSNS
E033 11 AD_TRANS  0020 0000 0400 00C6
E009 03 CD_READ   0004 C000 0500 010A
E0E4 4C EX_COLCMD
E063 21 EX_JOYSNS
E0A2 36 EX_SATCLR
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 8358 9D00 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 835E 9D20 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 815B 9D40 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 8367 9D60 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 82B7 9D80 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 82E9 9DA0 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 926E 9DC0 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 935F 9DE0 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 82F0 9E00 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 8C88 9E20 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 82DF 9E40 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 82C4 9E60 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 89BA 9E80 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 82B3 9EA0 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 82A2 9EC0 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 8142 9EE0 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 8140 9F00 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 8140 9F20 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 8140 9F40 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT 8140 9F60 0000
E060 20 EX_GETFNT FE79 9F80 0000
E063 21 EX_JOYSNS

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Hi-Res TurboGrafx / PC Engine logos]

sucks most of the links are dead

My EPS logos etc. are still accessible; links at the bottom of this page: https://www.chrismcovell.com/videogames.html

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Sapphire DEBUG mode & hidden things]

Hey, folks, I was poking around in the Sapphire ISO and initial loader (IPL) and found a few things.  First of which is a debug/configuration pre-load menu that went unused and deactivated:



The debug mode DOES work and has things to play around with by pausing the game and pressing buttons. The game can even run without the Arcade Card.

RAM Values for...
Debug: $2698 00/$FF off/on
Level: $269A 0..2  easy-hard
Play rec.: $269E 0..2 normal/trace/record
Demo No.: $001E 0..9 (not used ?)
Stage No.: $269C 0..9 all/1-9
Acc Read: $26A9 00/$FF off/on

If you skip the AC detection manually in the IPL, it loads the game, but with garbage for cinemas / large enemies / ground. If you set the above RAM value to turn "off" AC, it skips some screens and the BG is just blank. I haven't played through the game with these hacks yet.

Also, there is an earlier Arcade Card warning screen hidden in the ISO, before the well-known cheesecake pic was decided on:

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: CDROM Disc Maker (Batch File)]

This looks pretty cool.  Might prove useful for making simple CD compilations, etc.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Any pce experts or devs know the "true" romsizes of PCE CD games?]

So that's the infamous game that glitches out badly during stages if you open the disc lid lol. BTW, wouldn't the name of the game be Tenchi o Kurau?

It is technically the object marker "wo" so writing just "o" makes it lose its distinction when romanized.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Am I the only one who did NOT know this??]

Intro for Muse - Bliss:...

Well, they both have nearly the same chord progression as Bronski Beat's Smalltown Boy anyway...

[Off-Topic / Re: Game Sack]

Most of the western computing world / media was indeed underwhelmed when the MSX1 was announced, and Yamaha were left playing catch-up with their chipsets for the decade to follow.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Six-Button Controllers through a TurboTap]

Getting data in or doing full duplex would be a bigger problem.

Yeah, the idea is both send/receive full(ish) duplex since the PCE also echoes each byte received as it comes in.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Six-Button Controllers through a TurboTap]

The above facts that you illustrated with the GIF is sadly the reason that I discovered my RS232/UART monitor PCEmon can't be used with a TurboTap: there's no way to select one of the 5 ports, and then send serial data to it through the output lines. 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Am I the only one who did NOT know this??]

I didn't know the game Platypus before, but it looks like every one of its level themes is a very close remix of a famous C64 tune.
1) Comic Bakery, Martin Galway
2) Parallax, Galway
3) Sanxion, Rob Hubbard
4) Aztec Challenge, Paul Norman(?)
5) Wizball, Galway again
6) Driller, Matt Gray

The original C64 tunes are all awesome and really worth checking out.

[Off-Topic / Re: Draw a game with MS Paint quiz]

Pilotwings it is!  Fun to draw; a pain in the ass to make any straight lines.

[Off-Topic / Re: Draw a game with MS Paint quiz]

Here it is, not so hard:

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Am I the only one who did NOT know this??]

The BGM from Jurassic Park NES's first stage

...was later used in Platypus on the PSP

These are of course covers of the infamous Comic Bakery loader on the C64 by Martin Galway:

[Off-Topic / Re: Draw a game with MS Paint quiz]

That would be Ganbare Gorby! (aka Factory Panic) on the Game Gear.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: [CC65][linker][help] How can I configure CC65's linker to build PCE roms > 8k]

I *really* don't recommend using CC65 on the PCE at this point, because the compiler and assembler really don't like that our PCE's HuC6280 processor has zero page at $2000 instead of $0000.

Is the compiler/assembler actually referencing ZP as word addresses each time?  :/

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Son Son II - in western magazines]

The U.K. in the '80s/'90s still was OK with saying "oriental" and "J*p".

And Super Gaming, good as it was, wasn't a preview of new games coming out in Japan, more like a "here's what we bought on our last Japan junket."  Hence the 1989 game featured in 1991.

P.S. Super Gaming was an offshoot by the writers of EGM, an American magazine.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Super SD System 3]

It doesn't make savestates (in the emulation sense of the word); it manages save-RAM, the same as the CD system and TurboBooster Plus did.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo games you should like that you don't. My example (Forgotten Worlds)]

We played it and were so disappointed.  The tunes were nice, but that's it.  The game is repetitive and boring.  I clearly remember saying, many times, "didn't I just kill this thing in the last level."

Yeah, Super Mario Bros. sucks in the same way.   
2nd level is always underground and 4th level is always some dumb, empty, boring castle.  And the boss never changes.  How could people like this??   

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Joystick Compatibility w/Supergrafx]

This is interesting.  The SGX does have an extra parallel interface, so perhaps... somehow... it is creating conflicts with 6-button joy reading, etc?  I'll try the joypad test with my SGX when I have the time.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Just stumbled onto the My Life In Gaming video]

...that one fat guy is so hideous, a little something in me...

Look, even the handsomest among us will shock and disappoint our classmates inwardly at the 20th jr. high school reunion...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Super SD System 3]

I'm hoping someone implements a full TG-16/TG-CD via FPGA with HDMI out.  That is how PCE/TG-16 will continue to live on outside of crappy emulators.   PCE/TG-16 deserves to be properly preserved and FPGA is the best way to go.

They did. It's called UPPERGRAFX/UPEEGRAFX...

No, he means the entire system emulated on an FPGA, not anything that attaches to the rear of the PCE, as the UperGrafx does.

Incidentally, a guy named Ki has had a working FPGA implementation of the PCE for about 10 years now; he has just started taking another look at his project again.  Hopefully that will bear fruit sooner than later.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: D&D: Order of the Griffon - Music Patch?]

Looks like it was in this thread: https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=21698.msg478149#msg478149

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Games that have unused music?]

I don't know too many but:

Neutopia's demo mode song runs for twice as long as the demo itself.

Devil's Crush has a really weird, long song in the sound test that goes unused (thankfully).

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Getting started programming?]

A little bump since I've added episode 5 to my tutorial videos:

https://www.chrismcovell.com/PCEdev/

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Graphic, Sound, & Coding Tips / Tricks / Effects / Etc. Tools for development]

For timer interrupt code,it's ~300 cycles per voice, and for exemple, playing a 7khz sample, a timer interrupt is fired every 32768 cycles .

Sounds cool!  Is there a 7khz/32 overtone or sound glitch for every time you have to reload the PCE wave buffer?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Neutopia II fireballs]

A friendly reminder: I have mostly complete maps of Neutopia I and II on my page here:  https://www.chrismcovell.com/gamesillust.html

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Super SD System 3]

I wonder how they got around the legality of being able to include the CD ROM bios files?

You put it on your SD card and choose it from the menu.  I recommend watching that lengthy video that was linked to on the neogeo forum.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!]

... burn a CDR of Exile with custom redbook tracks?   

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Super SD System 3]

This looks really awesome, good engineering.  Too damn expensive, so I'll stick with my CD games.

Once somebody adds a "savestate" button to the surface of the hardware, I'll buy it.  (I have proven that it is possible...)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Neutopia II fireballs]

Calm down and observe.  (It's possibly the reason for your double-posts, too.)

The direction you are facing when an enemy is hit with the wand weapons in Neut II is the one it will be sent in.  So, if you unleash a fireball towards an enemy and then turn around, it'll come towards you.  So, just watch where you face your character when you attack an enemy with slow-moving fire / whirlwind.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Kato and Ken 30th anniversary!]

Street Smart for SNES is a great example. Being originally a Ranma 1/2 fighting game...

Worse still, it was actually called Street Combat.

Good video!  My 2c: the game is a bit repetitive, but has a great early-'80s platforming challenge for hardcore gamers wanting to hone their reflexes.  It gets far too cruel near the end of the game.
Kato and Ken (the entertainers themselves) can go hang; I never liked their brand of humour.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Hudson tile compression format: Has anyone made a decoder?]

A little update:  I decided to look into a couple Hudson games so far to see how they uncompressed their graphics data.  So, I'll post some notes here.  If anybody has any questions or wants to make contributions, please do.

In Bomberman, anyway, BAT maps, Palette data, and BG & SPR tiles all are compressed the same way (but written into VRAM in slightly different ways)

A pic of my Hudson compression decoder inside of PCEmon:


Some notes:

Code Select Expand

Bomberman & Neutopia use the same compression method

Neutopia analysis:

The game maps stuff in at ROM bank $4C, $4D, which are invalid, but...
Game mapping: bank $00-1F. Then 20-2F, repeating.
So banks $4C/$4D are really $2C / $2D.


Bomberman analysis:

$01:A4C0 starts loading tile graphics...

lda #$16, JSR $E377 (BG tiles...)
lda #$0C, JSR $E427 (SPR tiles...)

 Clear BG below:
lda #$20, STA $22BB, JSR $E6A4 (clear MAP with char #$20)

 Decompress BG MAP below:
lda #$03, STA $B4, CLX, LDA #$01, JSR $F5F3...
($B4 appears to be a title Gfx page offset.)
(Acc chooses MAP #)

-$F5F3
 + X -> $8D, #$03 -> $23BC, JSR $E704
 +-- $E704, A*2->X, $23BC -> MPR2
 +-- $E6EC, map in 2 banks pointed to
 | retrieve X->$8D->A
 | STZ $2213, $2215
 +-- $E750 (mangle address write value), write to VRAM
 | both X and Y set to #$1F
 +-- $F63F, decompress, write to VRAM. High byte added with $B4 before write.
 |   in a BPL loop with Y, then VRAM add. inc'ed by $80, then a BPL loop with X
 RTS





-$E377
  +-- $E397
  |    +-- A*2->X, lda $F03E-F,X -> $36-7
  |    <-- sheets 1,2
  |
  +-- $E400
  |
  |
  +-- $E4DC if $2210 is nonzero
  |
  |
  SMB0 $1A (update palette flag)
  RTS

ldx 0/1, lda 1/0, JSR $F5F3... BG MAPs?


$F03E: Master Gfx file pointer table - $23 entries

F0B6,F0BE,F0C6,F0CE,F0D6,F0DE,F0E6,F0EE
F0F6,F0FE,F106,F10E,F116,F11E,F126,F12E
F136,F13E,F146,F14E,F156,F15E,F166,F16E
F176,F17E,F186,F18E,F196,F19E,F1A6,F1AE
F1B6,F1BE,F1C6

$F084: same table, for sprites - $19 entries

F1CE,F1D6,F1DE,F1E6,F1EE,F1F6,F1FE,F206
F20E,F216,F21E,F226,F22E,F236,F23E,F246
F24E,F256,F25E,F266,F26E,F276,F27E,F286
F28E

$F0B6-F295: Master Gfx file data table (8 bytes each)

byte layout
0: Data source table entry # (in bank #$18)
1: X = VRAM Destination: $2000+$X000 (8k boundaries)
2 & 3: VRAM offset to add to Destination above
4: # of 8x8 tiles to write. "00" = 256 tiles.
5: Palette Data source table entry # (in bank #$0F)
6: Start palette # (0-F?)  ?
7: # of palettes to write to RAM buffer.

00,00,00,02,C5, 00,0C,04,
01,00,00,06,3C, 01,0B,01,
02,00,00,06,40, 02,0B,01,
03,01,00,00,60, 03,00,08,
04,01,00,06,20, 05,0A,01,
05,01,00,00,60, 06,00,08,
06,01,00,06,20, 08,0A,01,
07,01,00,00,60, 09,00,08,
08,01,00,06,20, 0B,0A,01,
09,01,00,00,60, 0C,00,08,
0A,01,00,06,20, 0E,0A,01,
0B,01,00,00,60, 0F,00,08,
0C,01,00,06,20, 11,0A,01,
0D,01,00,00,60, 12,00,08,
0E,01,00,06,20, 14,0A,01,
0F,01,00,00,60, 15,00,08,
10,01,00,06,20, 17,0A,01,
11,01,00,00,60, 18,00,08,
12,01,00,06,20, 1A,0A,01,
13,01,00,00,60, 1B,00,08,
14,01,00,06,20, 1D,0A,01,
15,02,00,00,40, 1E,0C,03,
17,01,00,00,9D, 1F,00,05,
16,02,00,00,A9, 1F,00,00,
18,01,00,00,00, 20,00,06,
19,01,00,00,6D, 21,00,03,
1A,00,00,04,7B, 22,0E,02,
1B,01,00,00,00, 23,00,04,
1C,02,00,00,40, 23,00,00,
1D,02,00,04,94, 24,07,01,
1E,01,00,00,A0, 25,00,02,
1F,01,00,00,DF, 26,00,0E,
20,02,00,00,7B, 26,00,00,
21,02,00,00,93, 26,00,00,
22,02,00,00,9D, 26,00,00,

notice 16 and 17 are swapped above...




Sprite data table byte layout
0: Data source table entry # (in bank #$10)
1: X = VRAM Destination: $2000+$X000 (8k boundaries)
2 & 3: VRAM offset to add to Destination above
4: # of 16x16 tiles to write. "00" = NOTHING!
5: Palette Data source table entry # (in bank #$0E)
6: Start palette # (0-F?)  ?
7: # of palettes to write to RAM buffer.


00,03,00,00,40, 00,1C,04,
01,05,00,00,3F, 01,18,04,
02,04,00,00,1F, 02,10,07,
03,04,00,00,1F, 03,10,07,
04,04,00,00,26, 04,10,07,
05,04,00,00,2A, 05,10,07,
06,04,00,00,21, 06,10,07,
07,04,00,00,3A, 07,10,07,
08,04,00,00,1C, 08,10,07,
09,04,00,00,20, 09,10,07,
0A,04,00,00,40, 0A,10,07,
0B,05,00,00,20, 0A,18,00,
0C,04,00,00,31, 0B,13,02,
0D,05,00,00,40, 0C,11,02,
0E,04,00,00,40, 0D,11,06,
0F,05,00,00,40, 0D,11,00,
10,04,00,00,11, 0E,10,03,
11,04,00,00,30, 0F,10,03,
12,05,00,00,40, 10,17,05,
13,04,00,00,39, 11,10,0B,
14,02,00,04,10, 00,1C,00,
15,02,00,08,20, 12,17,01,
16,04,00,04,15, 13,10,02,
17,04,00,00,08, 14,10,06,
18,05,00,00,12, 15,10,03



$18:4000: BG Gfx data pointer table - $23 entries
Offset is from $4000 in bank $18 (to $1F).

4046,45E7,48E0,4C74,526E,554B,5DED,606E,
67FC,6A98,75A1,7874,7FF9,8329,88E7,8BE5,
909B,9317,996E,9D32,9E8C,9FF1,A749,B3F5,
C091,CFF4,D811,DB50,F37E,FA02,FFC6,09F4,
1C0A,2318,2FBD

Offset of $4000 is removed from data pointers
before handling their banks, so apparent overflow doesn't matter.


$10:4000: SPR Gfx data pointer table - $19 entries
Offset is from $4000 in bank $10 (to $17).

4032,4DBD,5E92,684D,7167,7E63,8BAE,94F8,
A1CC,A967,B0AB,BFE1,C799,D453,DD7C,EC2E,
FDAA,004B,0CAF,19E2,299E,2B04,3162,3799,
393B


Palette offset table for the BG, bank $0F

404E,406D,408F,40B0,4127,4154,4172,4209,
423A,425C,42D3,4303,4320,4391,43BE,43D4,
4455,4484,449C,4527,4554,4575,45F1,461E,
4637,46AE,46DB,46FC,4736,4763,4785,47D8,
4861,48EE,492A,4954,49C4,49DF,4A15


Palette offset table for SPR, bank $0E

402C,407C,40E6,4145,41BF,4227,4286,42D9,
4339,437D,43C5,4455,448B,44C4,4545,458A,
45D2,4622,46E0,46F4,472F,47AF

BAT (MAP) offset table, bank $03

4020,4255,44A7,479E,4906,4AFA,4DB0,5177,
5296,53B5,5554,56CB,5816,5A27,5B66,5CF9

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: TurboGrafx-16 Collecting with Dad in the 90's]

I've seen a few of your videos and they definitely are nostalgic -- makes me really wish I had taken photos (camcorders were above our budget) during my youth.

About 1994 or so (?), the Compucentre chain of shops was clearing out TurboDuos new for $99 CDN, so my friend and I picked up one each, such a good deal.  Great memories from that system as well.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?]

This is true, but Rare was never a publisher until 1997, so they were not limited by N's restrictive licensing agreements as technically Tradewest, Acclaim, etc. were the publishers.

Rare became a publisher with the N64 title Diddy Kong Racing (sez Wikipedia).

[General Gaming / Re: Just got into the Wonderswan/Colour and wanna talk about it]

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Nantettatte Engine: A PC Engine Birthday present for you and yours.]

Fair enough.  Some people don't like puzzlers; some, fighting games; some, match-3-jewel 'em-ups.

[General Gaming / Re: Just got into the Wonderswan/Colour and wanna talk about it]

And the Wonderswan's sound is good! The speaker may not be, but the sound hardware itself is, and games like Pocket Fighter and Star Hearts really show off how much better the WS sounds than even the Game Boy!

What I remember reading is that the WS multiplexes its 4 channels' outputs through PWM at a high rate (similar to the Namco 163) but this is still quite audible.  On the actual WS hardware, the PWM audio is passed through to the piezeo speaker as-is, but the headphone attachment contains a lowpass filter to take out the PWM aliasing.  So it sounds good ONLY IF you purchase the official headphone adaptor.

[General Gaming / Re: Just got into the Wonderswan/Colour and wanna talk about it]

To be quite frank, both the NGPC and WSC may have had 16-bit CPUs and dual-layer playfields, but the low-bitplane graphics for both BGs and sprites in many games let the side down.  Music too.  Plus unimaginative game libraries and licensed dreck for the most part.  People rave about fighting games on the NGP, and for the WS.... er, Gunpey... but I never liked either and that was about it.  Libraries & systems were long ago sold off or given away as curios.

The only dedicated portable prior to the GBA that WOWed me was, of course, the Atari Lynx.

[General Gaming / Re: Just got into the Wonderswan/Colour and wanna talk about it]

I put my feelings about the WonderSwan near the end of a video I made that shows an educational portable that re-purposed the WS hardware:

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!]

Hi, folks.  I've written up an overly-detailed tech document about Binary Star:  https://www.chrismcovell.com/texts/binarystar-tech.html

It was mostly asked for by scene people who didn't really know much about the PC-Engine, technically.  So it may cover some familiar territory.

Enjoy...? 

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!]

Thanks, everyone.

I've added an entry on Pouet and a video on Youtube:

https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=72039

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Favorite Namco PCE game?]

Yeah, why did I?   

It's as relevant in 2017 as it was in 1989, in 2001, and in 2006.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?]

While they weren't totally exclusive, Nintendo and Rare were pretty much in bed with each other since Battletoads SLALOM.

fixed it for ya.

Rare did go where the money was, which is why they abandoned the UK home computer scene and went NES/Famicom full on, very early on.  I guess the Sega systems also promised financial rewards, and the PCE/Turbo, not so much.

DMA and Gremlin Graphics did jump into PCE/Turbo dev, though.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Favorite Namco PCE game?]

well yeah, it's easy to look up something if I don't have to fumble through a picross game to find it... lol

Erm, it comes before any such requisite fumbling.  It's in fact the very definition of a splash screen.  :/

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Favorite Namco PCE game?]

I can recall the second level's music too, but it was garbage and annoying, and a total buzz kill after how good stage 1's tune is.

You're wrong.    The 2nd stage's tune is great too, for the "intricate" feeling it provides.

Anyway, if you don't like buzzkills, go play the Famicom version of the game to get that tune out of the way first.  Go look it up.  No, I won't provide a YouTube link. 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Kyouyyoykyoyoykoykyuyuyuyuyuuyueaahahoooo Tiger]

Not all the same composer.  Macco's engine but as far as composers go:

Tsukasa Masuko AKA "Macco"
Works: Dungeon Explorer, Bonk's Adventure / PC Genjin, Kyukyoku Tiger, Maniac Pro Wrestling (as "Sound Director"), Tatsujin*, Tensei Ryu*

Hirotoshi Suzuki AKA Hiro T. Suzuki AKA "Steinberger" Hiro
Works: Legendary Axe II / Ankoku Densetsu, Maniac Pro Wrestling, King of Casino*, Nekketsu Dodgeball

Hirohiko Takayama
Works: Bonk's Revenge / PC Genjin 2, Tensei Ryu, (PC Genjin 1*), Galaxy Gayvan (CD), Death Bringer (CD)

* = no solid proof.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Taito PCE chiptunes suck]

Agreed.  Besides ToaPlan conversions, Taito soundtracks are even a notch below the NES!

(Taito's great music on that system was usually thanks to Geoff Follin or Natsume.)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Kyouyyoykyoyoykoykyuyuyuyuyuuyueaahahoooo Tiger]

Kyukyoku Tiger and Tatsujin both use Macco's sound engine (arranged by him, too?) so, yeah, that wonderful random-pulsewidth sample gives it its grit.