Ys for X68000

[Seldane]

Instead of discussing Ys in the Xak thread, I figured I'd make a new thread about Ys X68000 instead.

Development started in 1989 by S. Senoo and Dempa Micomsoft. Two years later they released the game (07/19/1991).

The box art was drawn by none other than Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame. (I did not include the disks nor the countless Falcom ads that is contained within the box on this picture -- just the manual which has a textured cover.)

wayback.digitalsloth.net/ys/library/ys_x68000.php

As you might know, the early Ys games got ported to just about every system available in Japan at the time. Most of them looked the same, except this one. Ys X68000 is truly unique. Development started in 1989 by S. Senoo and Dempa Micomsoft. Two years later they released the game (07/19/1991). Instead of just porting the game, they remade it with entirely new, computer generated graphics. This style was (and remains) very unusual and most people consider the artistic style used in this game "weird." The Japanese certainly did it -- and they did not like that. The game did not sell well at all and therefore, this is one of the rarest Ys games in existance.

The box art was drawn by none other than Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame. This has drawn attention to the game in recent years because of his popularity. Amano fans are even more interested in the game than Ys fans are.

The game remains pretty faithful to the original game (unlike -- say the Famicom version). There are a couple of notable differences, and that's primarily Minea village. It is completely different and feels more like a desert town found in Arabia or something. The field is also very different, it feels more like a dark forest. Zepik village is a little bit different too.

Another interesting thing about this game is that Falcom actually borrowed some inspiration from it when making Ys ETERNAL. Reah. Instead of just sitting in the village like she does in the original, she's standing on top of the castle walls of Minea.

The hills are very different too, and there's a "new" area -- outer shrine. This looks like the area that was left out in the original Ys I. A place found in Asteka II. It is roughly translated "Place of a thousand pillars."

Other than that, though (aside from the new graphics) -- the game is more or less identical to the original game (especially the dungeon designs).

There are also two new songs in this game -- "Mura" in Zepik village, and "Mountain Road" (hills). Both were composed by someone known as "GORRY" (credited in the manual).

Written by Seldane
Latest updated 05/23/2006

And here are some screenshots of this very pretty game. It did not sell well at all because the Japanese didn't like the graphics style -- it was too different from the other Ys games.

[SkyeWelse]

Very nice! You have the original then, a true collector. You remind my of myself if only the series was either Genso Suikoden or Panzer Dragoon. Alas I don't have the income I once had or I would be actively searching for every piece of Ys Memorbilia I could get my hands on. I too enjoy collecting rare pieces of a set dedicated to a series.

And I hope you won that battle with Dark Fact there. Looks like it was a very close battle. lol

-SkyeWelse

[esteban666]

Yay! I love this info Seldane . Be sure to update your original post with additional commentary as you make more observations.

I must say that I am not particularly fond of the game's aesthetics... but for that very reason I am absolutely intriqued by this game! What a blacksheep!

Am I overstating things if I were to call the X68000 version the bastard child of the Ys series?

I know, I know... folks will be quick to point to PCE Dawn of Ys (among other titles) as the true bastard child... so feel free to elaborate.

I've only played the console Ys games, if that helps put my comments into perspective...

[Seldane]

Well, I don't really have anything more to add to that post (I think). Not much to say about this one. I remember when I played it many years ago. I was instantly hooked! The gameplay is absolutely fantastic in this one. I finished it in a day or two.

Bastard child of the series? Maybe. Like I said, Ys fans in Japan hated it and that's why it didn't sell well.

The game remains pretty faithful to the original game (unlike -- say the Famicom version). There are a couple of notable differences, and that's primarily Minea village. It is completely different and feels more like a desert town found in Arabia or something. The shops are gone too (I think, I don't really remember). The field is also very different, it feels more like a dark forest. Zepik village is a little bit different too.

Another cool thing about this game is that Falcom actually borrowed some inspiration from it when making Ys ETERNAL. Reah. Instead of just sitting in the village like she does in the original, she's standing on top of the castle walls of Minea.

The hills are very different too, and there's a "new" area -- outer shrine. There are white pillars and stuff on the ground and it looks very pretty. This is not part of any other Ys game.

Other than that, though (aside from the new graphics) -- the game (especially the dungeon designs) is more or less identical to the original game.

There are also two new songs in this game -- "Mura" in Zepik village, and "Mountain Road" (hills). Both were composed by someone known as "GORRY" (credited in the manual). These are very nice songs in my opinion.


Hmm, "Well, I don't really have anything more to add to that post (I think). Not much to say about this one." -- I was wrong.

[esteban666]

Hmm, "Well, I don't really have anything more to add to that post (I think). Not much to say about this one." -- I was wrong.

Ha! Great stuff. Two exclusive songs you say? That alone makes the X68000 version worthwhile, let alone all of the other nuances you listed. I'm intrigued, I tell you .

Did the exclusive X68000 tracks ever make it to an OST or compilation? I'm anticipating a "NO!", unless, of course, Falcom put out a compilation of "little-known" or "obsucre" Ys tracks (a compilation of this sort would be a great idea, in my opinion)...

[Dark Fact]

Did the exclusive X68000 tracks ever make it to an OST or compilation? I'm anticipating a "NO!", unless, of course, Falcom put out a compilation of "little-known" or "obsucre" Ys tracks (a compilation of this sort would be a great idea, in my opinion)...

No. The X68000 OST never came to public because, like Seldane said, it wasn't a successfull release on Japan. And if you ask me "Why didn't Falcom release the exclusive songs of this version on their Falcom Special Boxes (or any album)?" I'll say it's because of the copyrights. They weren't made by Falcom... and as far as I know, the composers didn't allow it's usage... afterall it's THEIR songs...

[Red Hairdo]

Ummmm...This console's games were in cartriges (like SNES) or CDs (like PCE)?

And, errrmm...do you know how many Ys games were made for that console?

The box art was drawn by none other than Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame. (I did not include the disks nor the countless Falcom ads that is contained within the box on this picture -- just the manual which has a textured cover.)

Yeah, the drawing looks like Terra from Final Fantasy 6 (FF3 in US). Kinda strange, but cool

[Dark Fact]

Ummmm...This console's games were in cartriges (like SNES) or CDs (like PCE)?
And, errrmm...do you know how many Ys games were made for that console?

Let's put it in order:

It's not a console... it's a Personal Computer (Sharp X68000)
The game medium was 5.25" in diskettes.
The OFFICIALLY released games for that system are Ys and Ys III.

[Seldane]

True. It was a series of personal computers only released in Japan. Performance-wise, they were like Amigas.

This particular game were on two 5.25" diskettes, YsIII were on four (three, excluding the user disk). The later X68000 computers featured regular 3.5" diskettes.

A group of hackers known as TEAM MILKHOUSE ported over the PC-9801 versions of Ys I and Ys II to X68000 and unofficially released them on various BBS:es, etc in Japan. These ports are known as True-Ys and True-YsII.

The other Falcom games released on the X68000 computers are Dragon Slayer, Dragon Slayer VI: The Legend of Heroes (ported by T&E) and Star Trader (which featured exclusive content).

[Dark Fact]

Even though the X68000 is obsolete nowadays, I'm still marveled that it could do such amazing games with so limited processing and storage power. Too bad that it didn't make it overseas. The Final Fight on X68K is AS GOOD as the arcade version (infinitely SUPERIOR than the Super Nes port).

[Red Hairdo]

 Thanks for the info Seldane and Dark Fact. =) So, X68000 was a computer afterall. I wish I could play those Ys someway (using emulators or not)...They really seem very interesting. 

[JoeQuaker]

Yes, very awesome item Seldane. You got my interest. I see there are a couple of X68000 emulators out there... haven't tried yet but winUAE for emulating the Amiga runs pretty good so I'm not ruling out (nor have I tried yet) a good emulation.

http://www.jcec.co.uk/X68emu.htm
That's suposed to be a good emulator, let's try it out!

[Seldane]

I'm using Win68k Highspeed myself. It is -- in my opinion -- the best X68000 emulator. I've been using SX Window 3.0 (OS) with virtual hard drives on it as well. Works like a charm.

[Dark Fact]

I'm using Win68k Highspeed myself. It is -- in my opinion -- the best X68000 emulator. I've been using SX Window 3.0 (OS) with virtual hard drives on it as well. Works like a charm.

Indeed the best... But I couldn't make certain games run on it, like Garou Densetsu 1&2... On my X68K it runs smoothly.

[JoeQuaker]

Thanks, I'll have to give that a shot too. I like old puter emulators for things like MSX and PC98, I'll probably dig this too.

[Red Hairdo]

A group of hackers known as TEAM MILKHOUSE ported over the PC-9801 versions of Ys I and Ys II to X68000 and unofficially released them on various BBS:es, etc in Japan. These ports are known as True-Ys and True-YsII.

 Hmmm...I got 4 Ys ROMs for it. Ys I for the X68000 is definitely AMAZING. Yeah, that Ys REALLY rocks.  The music is really great, the frame rate is incredibly good (kinda fast=D), and the graphics are cool at all! I really liked it!=D
 I also got a Ys I and a Ys II for it which seemed to be the unofficially released True-Ys and True-Ys II  which you spoke of. =) It is just like you said.
 I also found Ys III, but... a question came to my mind then: That Ys III...is the game's graphics like the MegaDrive and Super Nintendo version of Ys III OR did I download an unofficial version of it? xD Because I thought the Ys III graphics for X68000 would be kind of similar to the Ys I 's graphics...

 By the way, thanks to you three I could play them.  Thanks

[esteban666]

Did the exclusive X68000 tracks ever make it to an OST or compilation? I'm anticipating a "NO!", unless, of course, Falcom put out a compilation of "little-known" or "obsucre" Ys tracks (a compilation of this sort would be a great idea, in my opinion)...

No. The X68000 OST never came to public because, like Seldane said, it wasn't a successfull release on Japan. And if you ask me "Why didn't Falcom release the exclusive songs of this version on their Falcom Special Boxes (or any album)?" I'll say it's because of the copyrights. They weren't made by Falcom... and as far as I know, the composers didn't allow it's usage... afterall it's THEIR songs...

I figured as much, that is why I fantasized about a CD compilation of "Little-known Ys Songs" . Have any fans compiled a list of unique / obscure Ys compositions (Seldane, you up for the challenge)? As always, thanks in advance

[Seldane]

Red Hairdo: YsIII for X68000 was developed by Falcom and Riot reused most of those graphics when they ported it over to Mega Drive. The game isn't as fancy-looking as Dempa Micomsoft's Ys I remake.

stevek666: (oh right... esteban, hehe) I'm not much of a music-guy so I think you'd have to ask someone else about that... I know a guy, Vert, who would probably be delighted to do it.