At long last, I've got a chance to play through this game in its entirety. And what better version to playthrough first than the original NEC PC-9821 version?
First off, I would like to take the time to thank Marc Laidlaw for his summary on the original version. It considered me to play this original version. I would also like to thank LiquidPolicenaut for his walkthrough (even though it mainly pretained to the home console versions, which I have yet to play). Despite the game's overall complexity, especially later on in the game, that did not stop me from making it all the way to the end of the game.
Spoiler:
Overall, I really enjoyed the game, and also I understood some storyline elements in the game, despite what little knowledge of Japanese I have.
The only parts in the game that really gave me trouble were the part in Act 1 where you first enter Tokugawa HQ, the part where you have to shoot down an astronaut that is trying to shoot you in the Astronaut's museum (I don't even know if that was Tony Redwood that was trying to shoot me) in Act 2, and the Bomb disarming scene, also in Act 2. Surprisingly enough, even though it said in the walkthrough to get thrown out of the HQ, only to obtain some info from your allies, and then return, I managed to do everything I had to do there my first time there. As for the astronaut shooting scene, I must mention that the shooting scenes seem to be a bit harder this time around. While the background is an improvement over the one in Snatcher, where the screen became a 3x3 grid, the red cursor where you had to point and shoot your opponent seemed a bit harder to control. Then again, it was probably because I was playing this game on an emulator, instead of a real PC-9821 machine. As for the bomb diffusing scene, the first part, the one where you had to discard all the bags, until you're left with the one that contains the bomb, wasn't too hard, once you paid careful attention to every bit of detail, in both the bag that you're examining, and the one that you're trying to match with. But the part where you had to disarm the bomb, that definitely took practice, especially the 2nd part, where you had to guide that little red switch through the maze with the pliers. Thank god they made that part easier in the home console versions. Also, it wasn't until later when I realized that in the last part, you're supposed to cut wires 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9 with the pliers.
As for the part that Marc mentioned about this version featuring different music at certain points, I've noticed that too. The home console versions of the scene where Ed gets shot has "The Movement of Clouds" playing, but originally, it was "Shoot for Angels". I saw a clip from the Saturn version of that scene on YouTube.
It's just too bad, however, that the most recent version of Anex86, the emulator that I used to play this version, doesn't have the "Konami Wave" jingle, "Old L.A. 2040", and "Policenauts End Title" or even the lip-sync. Hopefully, future versions will fix these issues. I did find a way around this, though: I downloaded the old "Konami" Wave jingle onto RealPlayer, and played it, right when the Konami logo came up. As for the other two songs, I copied them onto CD, and played them at the points in the game where they start playing. However, I have no idea when exactly does the ending theme start playing. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.
All right, now that I've played the original version, I would like to play the 3DO version. First off, I'd like to know which of these models of the console should I get, and does it matter which one I get:
* Panasonic FZ-1 R.E.A.L. 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (Japan, Asia, North America and Europe) - The first 3DO system, which was initially priced at $699.99 in the U.S. The price was later reduced to $499.99 in the fall of 1994.
* Panasonic FZ-10 R.E.A.L. 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (Japan, North America and Europe) - Less expensive than the FZ-1, the FZ-10 is also smaller, a primary selling point along with the new top-loading design.
* Goldstar 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (South Korea, North America and Europe)
* Goldstar 3DO ALIVE II (South Korea only)
* Sanyo TRY 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (Japan only)
* Creative 3DO Blaster - PC ISA expansion card with a double-speed CD-ROM drive and one controller that enables a PC to play 3DO games.
Also, how do I save game files on the 3DO, and do I really need a mouse accessory to play the 3DO version of the game? If so, which one?
Kojima games owned: Snatcher Pilot Disk - PCE (NTSC-J) Snatcher CD-ROMantic - PCE (NTSC-J) Snatcher - SS (NTSC-J) Policenauts Pilot Disk - 3DO (NTSC-J) Policenauts - 3DO (NTSC-J) Policenauts - PSX (NTSC-J) x2 Policenauts Limited Edition - SS (NTSC-J) Zone of The Enders - PS2 (NTSC) Metal Gear - NES (NTSC) Snake's Revenge - NES (NTSc) Metal Gear Solid - GBC (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid - PSX (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid GH - PSX (NTSC) sealed Metal Gear Solid VR Missions - PSX (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid Integral - PC Metal Gear Solid Integral - PC (Sealed) Metal Gear Solid - PSX (PAL) Metal Gear Solid Special Missions - PSX (PAL) Metal Gear Solid Integral The Best - PSX (NTSC-J) Bleem!cast for Metal Gear Solid - DC (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - PS2 (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - XBOX (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - XBOX (NTSC) sealed Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - PC Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence Limited Edition - PS2 (NTSC) Metal Gear>>Solid Snake OST Metal Gear Solid OST Metal Gear Solid 2 OST Metal Gear Solid 2 The Other Side OST
In my opinion you are probably better off getting a copy of Policenauts for 3DO and then emulating it on freeDO. Unless you have other reasons to get a 3DO, I think that's your best bet. http://www.freedo.org/
Just to instil my personal curiosity: why the 3DO version? It's arguably the worst of all the console versions, given that it's missing a lot of stuff that was added for the PlayStation and/or Saturn-version(s); the shooting gallery, the encyclopedia mode, some dialogue and a few additional scenes (which were added for the Saturn version) etc. Also, some of the FMV sequences are different in the 3DO version (they were redrawn for the PlayStation/Saturn, all for the better) and all of them are a lot grainer due to the Cinepak compression that was used:
3DO
Saturn
"The west, so afraid of powerful government, now has no government. Only financial power."
epitaph wrote:Just to instil my personal curiosity: why the 3DO version? It's arguably the worst of all the console versions, given that it's missing a lot of stuff that was added for the PlayStation and/or Saturn-version(s); the shooting gallery, the encyclopedia mode, some dialogue and a few additional scenes (which were added for the Saturn version) etc. Also, some of the FMV sequences are different in the 3DO version (they were redrawn for the PlayStation/Saturn, all for the better) and all of them are a lot grainer due to the Cinepak compression that was used:
3DO
Saturn
Well, to be fair, Marc did say on more than one occasion that all versions of Policeanuts have their good points.
Kojima games owned: Snatcher Pilot Disk - PCE (NTSC-J) Snatcher CD-ROMantic - PCE (NTSC-J) Snatcher - SS (NTSC-J) Policenauts Pilot Disk - 3DO (NTSC-J) Policenauts - 3DO (NTSC-J) Policenauts - PSX (NTSC-J) x2 Policenauts Limited Edition - SS (NTSC-J) Zone of The Enders - PS2 (NTSC) Metal Gear - NES (NTSC) Snake's Revenge - NES (NTSc) Metal Gear Solid - GBC (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid - PSX (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid GH - PSX (NTSC) sealed Metal Gear Solid VR Missions - PSX (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid Integral - PC Metal Gear Solid Integral - PC (Sealed) Metal Gear Solid - PSX (PAL) Metal Gear Solid Special Missions - PSX (PAL) Metal Gear Solid Integral The Best - PSX (NTSC-J) Bleem!cast for Metal Gear Solid - DC (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - PS2 (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - XBOX (NTSC) Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - XBOX (NTSC) sealed Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - PC Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence Limited Edition - PS2 (NTSC) Metal Gear>>Solid Snake OST Metal Gear Solid OST Metal Gear Solid 2 OST Metal Gear Solid 2 The Other Side OST
The 3DO version is the first copy that I played all the way through, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The PSX and SS versions are both better quality and have more content, but in no way is one version leaps and bounds better than another (ex. PCE Snatcher & PSX Snatcher)
SNATCHER SERIES Snatcher (Mega CD) [European] Snatcher (Saturn) [Japanese]
POLICENAUTS SERIES Policenauts Pilot Disk (3DO) [Japanese] Policenauts (3DO) [Japanese] Policenauts (PlayStation) [Japanese] Policenauts (Saturn) [Japanese] Policenauts (Saturn) [Japanese]
ZONE OF THE ENDERS SERIES Zone Of the Enders (PlayStation 2) [European] Zone Of the Enders: The Second Runner - Special Edition (PlayStation 2) [European]
BOKTAI SERIES boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand! (Gameboy Advance) [European] boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (Gameboy Advance) [European]
OTHER SERIES Penguin Adventure (MSX) [European] Kabushiki Baibai Trainer Kabutore (DS) [Japanese]
KOJIMA-RELATED GAMES Konami Krazy Racers (Gameboy Advance) [European] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) [American]
I prefer the look of the older versions, as I believe that clean-looking pixel art is much more difficult to create in that style than hand-drawn art. Everything else is superior in the Saturn version though, as far as I'm aware.