The IGS PGM - Part 5 - The Gladiator - 4/12

HornheaDD

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Rad. Love that little board.

Just wish I had more games for it lol. There's a dude on Twitter that expressed interest in possibly making a multi for it.

Also, Jotego is supposed to eventually work on a PGM core for the MiSTer.
 

awbacon

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Rad. Love that little board.

Just wish I had more games for it lol. There's a dude on Twitter that expressed interest in possibly making a multi for it.

Also, Jotego is supposed to eventually work on a PGM core for the MiSTer.
Yes and Yes. Multi in works and Jotego will do a MiSTer core. I hope the MiSTer core gets more people into PGM
 

kernow

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You do bee storm in those 8 games I'm gonna actually die
 

terry.330

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Demon Front is pretty cool, I would never say it's on the same level as the better Slugs but they certainly put a lot of effort into it. The biggest problem is that it's a bit tedious and overly long. It probably wouldn't feel as long if the stages were shorter and there were a couple more. 5 long ass stages starts to feel like a slog, lot's of Scooby Doo backgrounds makes them feel padded out. The weapons also don't feel as good to use as the ones in Slug. It's certainly impressively animated though.
 

awbacon

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Demon Front is pretty cool, I would never say it's on the same level as the better Slugs but they certainly put a lot of effort into it. The biggest problem is that it's a bit tedious and overly long. It probably wouldn't feel as long if the stages were shorter and there were a couple more. 5 long ass stages starts to feel like a slog, lot's of Scooby Doo backgrounds makes them feel padded out. The weapons also don't feel as good to use as the ones in Slug. It's certainly impressively animated though.
I really don’t mind the length but Slug 3 is my personal favorite so I really do like the longer style myself
 

yagamikun

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Great video. Glad you revisited the game and updated your thoughts. I've had my copy of Demon Front for a little over a year now. I wouldn't call it a Metal Slug clone by any stretch, but it is definitely Metal Slug inspired. That's a strength rather than a weakness, I think.

Metal Slug 1-3 set a high bar of quality to clear, but as you pointed out in your video, the IGS team had enough creative huzpah to create a unique experience well worth playing. Do I think it's better than MSX? Nah. 😜 That said, there are few arcade experiences I personally would say are on par with it - I just fuggin love X. That said, it's definitely better than MS 4 through the rest of them - and I go back to DF more often than MS3 these days as well.
 

awbacon

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Great video. Glad you revisited the game and updated your thoughts. I've had my copy of Demon Front for a little over a year now. I wouldn't call it a Metal Slug clone by any stretch, but it is definitely Metal Slug inspired. That's a strength rather than a weakness, I think.

Metal Slug 1-3 set a high bar of quality to clear, but as you pointed out in your video, the IGS team had enough creative huzpah to create a unique experience well worth playing. Do I think it's better than MSX? Nah. 😜 That said, there are few arcade experiences I personally would say are on par with it - I just fuggin love X. That said, it's definitely better than MS 4 through the rest of them - and I go back to DF more often than MS3 these days as well.
100% better than Slug 4-7
 

yagamikun

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What would you say are the best games for this board?
Plenty of good games - these are the "must haves" imo.

Official Carts: Demon Front, Martial Masters, Knights of Valor Super Heroes Plus (there are a ton of KOV games, this is the final revision of the first game)

Bootleg Carts: Espagluda, Dodonpachi DaiOuJou Black Label, Ketsui (these Cave developed shooters were made for the PGM, but were released on bespoke boards rather than carts for the main unit - you can find bootleg carts of these games to use on a PGM board).
 

awbacon

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Plenty of good games - these are the "must haves" imo.

Official Carts: Demon Front, Martial Masters, Knights of Valor Super Heroes Plus (there are a ton of KOV games, this is the final revision of the first game)

Bootleg Carts: Espagluda, Dodonpachi DaiOuJou Black Label, Ketsui (these Cave developed shooters were made for the PGM, but were released on bespoke boards rather than carts for the main unit - you can find bootleg carts of these games to use on a PGM board).
the cheapest way to CAVE haha
 
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Plenty of good games - these are the "must haves" imo.

Official Carts: Demon Front, Martial Masters, Knights of Valor Super Heroes Plus (there are a ton of KOV games, this is the final revision of the first game)

Bootleg Carts: Espagluda, Dodonpachi DaiOuJou Black Label, Ketsui (these Cave developed shooters were made for the PGM, but were released on bespoke boards rather than carts for the main unit - you can find bootleg carts of these games to use on a PGM board).
And I guess they sacrifice original carts in order to make this bootlegs work?
 

yagamikun

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Yes and no. Most are modern repro boards - like you'd find from NCI for Neo AES games. Mine are repros like this. You can grab these for less than $150 a pop rather than paying thousands for the original Cave boards - if you can even find them. Although I've seen EPROM conversions, which would sacrifice a game, I think these are the exception rather than the rule in this case.

What you won't find are carts that use real chips from the Cave boards - those bespoke boards are entirely too rare and expensive. Basically, there aren't any "true" conversions I'm aware of, nor would there be any point as you could just hook up the Cave board directly to the Jamma harness.
 

awbacon

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Yes and no. Most are modern repro boards - like you'd find from NCI for Neo AES games. Mine are repros like this. You can grab these for less than $150 a pop rather than paying thousands for the original Cave boards - if you can even find them. Although I've seen EPROM conversions, which would sacrifice a game, I think these are the exception rather than the rule in this case.

What you won't find are carts that use real chips from the Cave boards - those bespoke boards are entirely too rare and expensive. Basically, there aren't any "true" conversions I'm aware of, nor would there be any point as you could just hook up the Cave board directly to the Jamma harness.
yes mine use the modern repro boards. Which is nice because no carts sacced
 
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