#system 16

M2 Co. Ltd.'s Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa (System 16) aka "Fantasy Zone II DX," extracted from Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol.33: Fantasy Zone Complete Collection (PS2) and running in Final Burn Neo

Hello ladies and gentlemen, here we are at Day 16 of the daily blog challenge for January.  So this once again is an emulator alternative to MAME once again for DOS but a Windows version is available.

This emulator was written by Thierry Lescot (ShinobiZ) and Li Jih Hwa(Nao).  Now Nao was the man behind the M72 emulator so good to see he continued with other projects before he joined the MAME team.

As the name suggests the emulator runs the Arcade machines based on the System 16 mainboards from SEGA.

Like M72 some of these roms can run faster with this emulator than MAME but given time that difference may be lesser.

I have not got a complete set of System 16 ROMS as they are getting harder and harder to find.  

So here is some of the games it can run...

1. Alien Syndrome

Two players control two soldiers, named Ricky and Mary, who fight their way through large eight-way scrolling levels while rescuing their comrades who are being held by aliens.

After they have rescued a certain number of hostages, the exit opens and they can pass through it in order to fight the end of level guardian.

If this monstrosity is defeated, they are then able to move onto the next stage.

Alien Syndrome features two player simultaneous gameplay and pickups which assist the player, including better weapons and maps of the current level. 

2. Super Hang-on

Now this is a bootleg of the classic arcade as several of the SEGA roms were encrypted at the time. This is a dual 68000 systyem board.

MAME now supports these encrypted roms but System 16 didn’t.  however the game was totally playable to the end.

Super Hang On is a motorbike racing game which is of course the sequel to Hang On    

The arcade mode in Super Hang-On is similar to the original Hang-On. However, there is a choice of four tracks to race on which are based on continents, each containing a different number of stages.

Also, should the player reach the normal maximum speed of 280 km/h, a turbo button is enabled. Using this button allows the player to reach an even higher top speed of 324 km/h.

Each stage is roughly half the length of a stage in the original Hang-On. Africa is the easiest and shortest out of the four courses (six stages). Asia is the second easiest and is similar in length to the course from the original Hang-On at ten stages long. The Americas is the second to toughest course, containing 14 stages and Europe is the hardest course, being 18 stages long.

When the player starts a race, they have their choice of four songs that will play during the race.

3. Dynamite Dux

Once again this a bootleg due to encrypted roms.

The player controls one of two bow tie-wearing cartoon ducks named Bin (blue) and Pin (red). They are Lucy's pets, and must travel through six stages set in real locations, though everything else in the game is very cartoonish.

Dynamite Düx uses only two buttons: the jump button and the attack button.

The attack button allows the player(s) to use the Punch Glove or throw enemies. The attack button can also let him/her pick up and use numerous weapons including: rocks, bazookas and the game's signature weapon, bombs (hence the title).

The game allows enemies to attack from multiple angles which makes it unlike most games but equally it isn’t too unfair in doing so.

2. Golden Axe

This game really doesn’t need any introduction as it is probably one of the most famous System 16 games of the era other than Altered Beast.

But if you don’t know.  Golden Axe is set in the fantasy land of Yuria.  You must fight your way across the land as one of the three main protagonists of the game to make your way and ultimately defeat Death Adder.

The first is a battle axe-wielding dwarf, Gilius Thunderhead, from the mines of Wolud, whose twin brother was killed by the soldiers of Death Adder. Another is a male barbarian, Ax Battler, wielding a two-handed broadsword, looking for revenge for the murder of his mother. The last is a longsword-wielding Amazon, Tyris Flare, whose parents were both killed by Death Adder.

1. Out Run

This is another that is made up of bootleg and original roms due to encryption. This is a Dual 68000 game as opposed to System 16

The worlds most recognised driving game ever created by SEGA.  It really doesn’t need an introduction but if you have been living under the ground in a hole for the last twenty years or more here is a synopsis of the game.

Our Run is a driving video game in which the player controls a Ferrari Testarossa Spider from a third-person rear perspective.

The object of the game is to reach the finish line against a timer.

The game world is divided into multiple stages that each end in a checkpoint, and reaching the end of a stage provides more time.

Near the end of each stage, the track forks to give the player a choice of routes leading to five final destinations.