Pc engine or FM towns marty?

Pc Engine or FM towns?

  • Pc Engine.

    Votes: 41 85.4%
  • FM towns marty

    Votes: 4 8.3%
  • What the hell,I've never even heard of these.

    Votes: 3 6.3%

  • Total voters
    48

titchgamer

Guerilla Warrior
Joined
May 31, 2018
Posts
1,731
I think the Marty is better but damn hard and expensive to get stuff for it!

So I would get the TG16 Personally.
 

Takumaji

Master Enabler
Staff member
Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Posts
19,029
The Marty is based on a computer system called FM Towns that got sold in Japan from the late 80s to the mid 90s. The computer wasn't exactly a big hit but got some good games spread over various genres like arcade action/ports, Japanese adventures and RPG, adult titles, OVA tie-ins, strategy, simulations and war gaming, as well as a large number of tools and business software.

The computer runs on early PC-style hardware and has a PC-ish operating system but isn't fully PC-compatible out of the box. The Marty has a faster CPU and some custom chips for graphics and sound made by Fujitsu. Its main medium are CDs but you can also connect a floppy drive to it. Most FM Towns games also work on the Marty, which is good because the number of Marty-exclusive games is small. Many of the ports that came out on it are considered arcade-perfect, even more so than the PC Engine versions. The CDs and floppies have no copy protection (at least none that I know of), both systems will work with CD-Rs. It should be noted that while many of the text-heavy FM Towns games will technically work on the Marty, they cannot be played without keyboard, mouse and/or a floppy drive for saving progress and other stuff.

In the end, it all depends on your means and tastes. If you want a reliable system that has all the big titles of the late 80s and 90s in mostly good quality (plus a bit of obscure stuff) and is relatively accessible, get a PC Engine. If you're looking for a large variety of genres, very good ports, a true Japanese-centric gaming experience and a system that sort of breaks the boundaries between late 80s/early 90s gaming and home computing, get a Marty. Of course things look different if you take pricing and availability into consideration, FM Towns and Marty stuff is very expensive and difficult to find outside of Japan.
 

Mai_Lover

Dodgeball Yakuza
Joined
Nov 29, 2007
Posts
641
The Marty is based on a computer system called FM Towns that got sold in Japan from the late 80s to the mid 90s. The computer wasn't exactly a big hit but got some good games spread over various genres like arcade action/ports, Japanese adventures and RPG, adult titles, OVA tie-ins, strategy, simulations and war gaming, as well as a large number of tools and business software.

The computer runs on early PC-style hardware and has a PC-ish operating system but isn't fully PC-compatible out of the box. The Marty has a faster CPU and some custom chips for graphics and sound made by Fujitsu. Its main medium are CDs but you can also connect a floppy drive to it. Most FM Towns games also work on the Marty, which is good because the number of Marty-exclusive games is small. Many of the ports that came out on it are considered arcade-perfect, even more so than the PC Engine versions. The CDs and floppies have no copy protection (at least none that I know of), both systems will work with CD-Rs. It should be noted that while many of the text-heavy FM Towns games will technically work on the Marty, they cannot be played without keyboard, mouse and/or a floppy drive for saving progress and other stuff.

In the end, it all depends on your means and tastes. If you want a reliable system that has all the big titles of the late 80s and 90s in mostly good quality (plus a bit of obscure stuff) and is relatively accessible, get a PC Engine. If you're looking for a large variety of genres, very good ports, a true Japanese-centric gaming experience and a system that sort of breaks the boundaries between late 80s/early 90s gaming and home computing, get a Marty. Of course things look different if you take pricing and availability into consideration, FM Towns and Marty stuff is very expensive and difficult to find outside of Japan.

Thanks for the info about the FM Towns. I knew that the Marty was a kind of derivative of it, but I didn't know much about the computer back then. I always did like how the CD sat facing forward in the tower.
 

Heinz

Parteizeit
15 Year Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Posts
22,334
These systems I've learnt about only from being here and honestly they don't appeal to me at all. Old computers like the FM Towns are probably better experienced in emulation, that goes for DOS as well.
 

JohnnyFever

Mr. Big's Thug
Joined
Jun 25, 2005
Posts
195
PCE all the way. The Marty looks cool...but the games are crazy expensive. Also, you can score Ninja Sprit... Which is reason enough to have the PCE. I love that game. Irem... Where have you gone....
 
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greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Posts
4,474
No denying that the FM towns looks like a pretty neat console. It's the only console I want, but do not own. Has been for a long time. The price of the games has kept me from going in.

Pretty easy to see though, even without playing Marty, that the PCE has a much stronger library.
 

Neo Alec

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Posts
11,927
The background of the logo on our Youtube/Twitter banner is a close up of the Marty.
 

roker

DOOM
20 Year Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2003
Posts
18,871
FEET BEHIND THE FUCKING GRASS YOU MOTHERFUCKING COW FUCKING BASTARDS!

Some fucker went and ruined the shutout.

Let's blame this on Airraid, no matter what.

lol, Airraid

one of the most bizarre members to grace this forum
 
Last edited:

pixeljunkie

Whilst Drunk., I Found God., Booze = Bad.,
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2003
Posts
7,107
Plus the damn floppy drive on that Marty makes me furious
 

c0nn0r

If I could have, My time back, I'd keep it in ma'
10 Year Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2012
Posts
835
If you have a hankering for a Japanese non-DOS PC, get a Sharp X68000.
 

jro

Gonna take a lot
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2004
Posts
14,410
lol, Airraid

one of the most bizarre members to grace this forum
Didn't he post something asking for opinions on whether or not people thought he should suck a dude's dick in exchange for access to a woman who may or may not have been willing to have sex with him?
 

NeoSneth

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2000
Posts
11,088
When this thread started I actually knew all about the Marty.
I now have no fucking clue.....

so clearly, it's still PCE.
 

wyo

King of Spammers
10 Year Member
Joined
May 22, 2013
Posts
10,114
I've been deciding this for a while now,and I thought that the neo community could give me a hand.Should I get a Sega Saturn or a 3DO? Both have excellent games on them but I am mainly looking for really hard games.
 

NeoSneth

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2000
Posts
11,088
I've been deciding this for a while now,and I thought that the neo community could give me a hand.Should I get a Sega Saturn or a 3DO? Both have excellent games on them but I am mainly looking for really hard games.

Jaguar
 

jro

Gonna take a lot
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2004
Posts
14,410
My bad I was thinking of goingmerry. Also a top-tier member. Still thought we had this whole mess figured out due to the feet. I mean, come on.
 

Takumaji

Master Enabler
Staff member
Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Posts
19,029
If you have a hankering for a Japanese non-DOS PC, get a Sharp X68000.

Great system. The thing is tho, owning and maintaining 16bit computers like that can be a pain in the ass. I have a bit of experience with that kind of stuff and while I would always prefer the real thing over emulation, I wouldn't recommend it to others unless someone is willing to invest some serious time and money in it.

That's why I prefer 8bit computers, most of them are kinda monolithic and way less prone to failure than the more advanced but technically tricky 16bit machines, maybe except the Atari ST, I have three of them and they're built like tanks.
 
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