Road Blaster; Thunder Storm (found Windows/Sharp X68030 ports of arcade games; 2009): Difference between revisions

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|image=111091 front.jpg
|image=111091 front.jpg
|imagecaption=Cover art of the Windows/Sharp X68030 port of Road Blaster.
|imagecaption=Cover art of the Windows/Sharp X68030 port of Road Blaster.
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
}}
}}
Some time in 2009, a company named "Jitensyasougyou" ported the two Data East arcade games '''''Road Blaster''''' and '''''Thunder Storm''''' (''Cobra Command'' in the west) to Microsoft Windows and the Sharp X68030, respectively. The game was released on DVD format and was the first Sharp X68000 game to be commercially released since ''Princess Maker'' (1996).
==Overview of the Source Game==
'''''Road Blaster''''' and '''''Thunder Storm'''''(Known as Cobra Command in the west) are both Data East Laserdisc based Arcade games from the mid-1980s that have seen numerous ports to many consoles over the years. The rights to these games were sold in Febuary 2004 with the liquidation of Data East due to its bankruptcy to the Japanese developer and publisher G-Mode Corp., which specializes in mobile game development.  since their aquisition of these games there are two known ports; a 2011 port by Revolutionary Concepts to IOS and a limited release to the sharp X68030/68060 MSX PC and Windows Only released in japan.  This rare port is the primary focus of this page.  


Information of this port is very scarce due to the fact that this version was only released in Japan since no copies of this version were shipped outside Japan. Only the cover art and minor information for this port are only available. As of October 2012, sales of the Windows/Sharp X68030 port of Thunder Storm has been ended, while sales of Road Blaster ended in December 2012, making them harder to find.
==History and Technical Info==
(The following information is from the Road Blaster Page, but holds true for both Ports)
The sharp X68030 and windows port was coded by Taiyo Seisakusho Inc. and distributed by Jitensyasougyou Inc. The minimum specs for windows are windows 2000 or newer, a pentium 3, directX 9, and 1.5 GB worth of free space on a hdd, as well as a DVD rom drive to install the game from. The minimum specs for the Sharp X68000 are either an 030 or 060 revision PC, Human68k Vers. 3.02 OS, Internal ram of 8mb, and 150MB or more free on the hdd.  It uses the same DVD as the PC port as the install medium, making it the only Sharp X68000 software to be distributed on DVD-rom.  It is not Emulator compatible. The source of the video used for the port is the rare VHD Version, pulled from a disk with only a couple of previous plays.  It seems the X68000 port was a passion project by a talented Developer only listed in these pages as EXCEED, and the windows port is just an upscaled x68000 port version.  it was sold through the online store of Jitensyasougyou and some online retailers before Road Blaster was pulled from sale after October 2012, with the store page edited to reflect the end of its availability. Cobra Command was pulled in December 2012


==Technical Information==
==Discovery of Playable Demo==
Unlike the majority of games and software released on the X68000, which was released on the floppy disk format, this was one of the first pieces of X68000 software to be released on an optical disc format. Due to the game's large file size, thus the videos, of course, it was released in DVD format, making it perfect for this port.
Located in the archived store pages are download links to playable demo versions of the windows ports, and the links to download from are still up being hosted, even though they're inaccessable.  you can get Road Blaster  and get Cobra Command .  Both of these are strangely listed as trial versions, and updaters for the full versions if you own a physical copy, which means it might be possible to manipulate the exe to unlock the full game.  As for the sharp X68000 versions, there appears to be no digital versions available or roms available at this time, but there might possibly still be copies existing in people's Sharp X68000 software collections.


X68030 system requirements for Road Blaster and Thunder Storm can be found  [http://www20.atpages.jp/tkhr000/x68softlist/x68soft5.htm here]:
==Gallery==
(translated extract) "Operable only with X68030 / X68030 + 060 Turbo, Human68k Ver 3.02 (It does not work on emulator). HDD capacity 150 to 350 MB required (180 to 220 MB for Thunder Storm). To operate at a high frame rate, 64 MB of memory is required for X68030 + 060 Turbo. Since the supply media is DVD, in order to install, a DVD-ROM drive compatible with X68000 is required. It might be easier to copy to CD-R and then install it"
[[File:Road Blaster PC port Screenshot.jpg|thumb|left| Screenshot from the Windows Port of Road Blaster]]
[[File:Road Blaster PC screenshot 02.jpg|thumb|center]]
[[File:Road Blaster PC screenshot 03.jpg|thumb|right]]
[[File:Thunder Storm PC Screenshot.jpg|thumb|center|Screenshot of the Windows port of Thunder Storm]]


==External Links==
*[http://www20.atpages.jp/tkhr000/x68softlist/x68soft5.htm Japanese list of X68000 games]
*[http://www.anos.jp/index.htm Official pc ports page]


[[Category:Lost video games]]
[[Category:Lost video games]]
[[Category:Partially found media]]

Revision as of 18:56, 17 September 2019

Lmwtan cleanup.png


This article has been tagged as Needing work due to its lack of content and clarity.



111091 front.jpg

Cover art of the Windows/Sharp X68030 port of Road Blaster.

Status: Partially Found

Overview of the Source Game

Road Blaster and Thunder Storm(Known as Cobra Command in the west) are both Data East Laserdisc based Arcade games from the mid-1980s that have seen numerous ports to many consoles over the years. The rights to these games were sold in Febuary 2004 with the liquidation of Data East due to its bankruptcy to the Japanese developer and publisher G-Mode Corp., which specializes in mobile game development. since their aquisition of these games there are two known ports; a 2011 port by Revolutionary Concepts to IOS and a limited release to the sharp X68030/68060 MSX PC and Windows Only released in japan. This rare port is the primary focus of this page.

History and Technical Info

(The following information is from the Road Blaster Page, but holds true for both Ports) The sharp X68030 and windows port was coded by Taiyo Seisakusho Inc. and distributed by Jitensyasougyou Inc. The minimum specs for windows are windows 2000 or newer, a pentium 3, directX 9, and 1.5 GB worth of free space on a hdd, as well as a DVD rom drive to install the game from. The minimum specs for the Sharp X68000 are either an 030 or 060 revision PC, Human68k Vers. 3.02 OS, Internal ram of 8mb, and 150MB or more free on the hdd. It uses the same DVD as the PC port as the install medium, making it the only Sharp X68000 software to be distributed on DVD-rom. It is not Emulator compatible. The source of the video used for the port is the rare VHD Version, pulled from a disk with only a couple of previous plays. It seems the X68000 port was a passion project by a talented Developer only listed in these pages as EXCEED, and the windows port is just an upscaled x68000 port version. it was sold through the online store of Jitensyasougyou and some online retailers before Road Blaster was pulled from sale after October 2012, with the store page edited to reflect the end of its availability. Cobra Command was pulled in December 2012

Discovery of Playable Demo

Located in the archived store pages are download links to playable demo versions of the windows ports, and the links to download from are still up being hosted, even though they're inaccessable. you can get Road Blaster and get Cobra Command . Both of these are strangely listed as trial versions, and updaters for the full versions if you own a physical copy, which means it might be possible to manipulate the exe to unlock the full game. As for the sharp X68000 versions, there appears to be no digital versions available or roms available at this time, but there might possibly still be copies existing in people's Sharp X68000 software collections.

Gallery

Screenshot from the Windows Port of Road Blaster
Road Blaster PC screenshot 02.jpg
Road Blaster PC screenshot 03.jpg
Screenshot of the Windows port of Thunder Storm