NEC PC-98 guide

The NEC PC-98 were a series of computers developed by NEC during the years 1982 and 2000. They were designed as a competitor for the IBM PC in the Japanese market. Unmodified IBM PCs couldn't display Japanese characters, and NEC used this and other advantages, such as superior graphics, to introduce their own computers in business environments.

The PC-98 are computer hybrids, using both PC components -mainly, the CPU- and NEC propietary hardware for sound and graphics. They ran customized versions of DOS, Windows 3.X and Windows 9X, as well as FreeBSD.

Eventually, the lowering prices of PC clones and the arrival of DOS/V , capable of displaying Japanese characters with VGA cards, put an end to the PC-98. It was discontinued in the year 2000.


Emulation.

We are going to need the following items:

- A PC-98 emulator. In this guide we'll use Neko Project 21/W .

- The PC-98 BIOS. Usually this means the file FONT.ROM . But some games also require the files BIOS.ROM , ITF.ROM and SOUND.ROM .

- Some PC-98 software, which usually comes in the form of floppy disk images or harddrive images.

The first time we run Neko Project 21/W we'll have to do a few things.

1) In Emulate --> Font... we introduce the path to our FONT.ROM file.

2) In Emulate --> Configure... , CPU section, we enter the number 42 (which we will later change to 32 if we experience slowdowns).



On the contrary, if a game works too fast we'll need to lower this number.

3) In Screen --> Screen options... we set the option Use skipline revisions to maximum (255). This will eliminate scanlines in most games.



We can also got to Device --> Sound option... and set FM volume to the max. Like this:



4) And finally, we should go to Device --> Memory and configure some more RAM memory.

Now we close the emulator to save the options and we are all set.


Running games.

Running most games is a simple affair. We insert floppy disk images through the FDD1 and FDD2 menus, and harddrive images through the Harddisk option. Then we reset the computer.

In this case, I've chosen to run 4D Sports Driving , better known as Stunts .





Games are usually controlled through the numeric keyboard and keys such as SPACE, ENTER, Z or X.

As for the game selection... during the 1980s the PC-98 was considered essentially a business computer. The Japanese preferred to play games on their PC-88 , Fujitsu FM-7 or Sharp X1 computers.

Things picked up considerably during the 1990s, but the graphic hardware of the PC-98, unlike the FM Towns or the Sharp X68000 , had important shortcomings, and graphically intensive games are rare in the platform.



Illusion City



Microsoft Flight Simulator (v4.0)

 

Thank you. I could sure use an instruction for running games on PC-98, especially if English translation of Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku will come out eventually.

 

Today I've learned that the game Madou Monogatari for this system now has an English translation, which you can obtain here.

The game is a dungeon crawler and a spin-off from the Puyo Puyo series.



If the name of the game rings any bells, that's because it's also available in Mega Drive and Game Gear versions, although those have cuter graphics.

 

Actualy mado monogatari is not spin off from the puyo puyo

puyo poyo is spin off game from madou monogatari

 

You're right, I just checked with Wikipedia. My confusion probably comes from playing Puyo Puyo a long time before even hearing of Madou Monogatari.

EDIT: I'm taking a look at the PC-98 section on Romhacking to see if there are any other notable English translations I may have missed. I'm providing some links to the ones I find more interesting.

Brandish 2

CRW: Metal Jacket

E.V.O: The Theory of Evolution

Farland Story

Farland Story II: Arc ou No Ensei

Farland Story III: Tenshi no Namida

Farland Story IV: Hakugin no Tsubasa

Farland Story V: Daichi no Kizuna

Farland Story VI: Kagami no Isen

Macross: Skull Leader Complete Pack

Rusty.

Touhou Fuumaroku

Touhou Gensoukyou

Tuhou Reiiden

Tuned Heart

Xak II

 

Is there an PC-98 emulator for Linux, as well?

 

DOSBox-X and MAME have Linux versions. But this thread suggests using any of the Windows emulators through Wine.

 

@Neville, there are many other translations into english.
For example, Aegeankai no Shizuku - GitHub - Svipur/Aegean-Kai-No-Shizuku-PC98-English: An English translation of the PC-98 game Aegean Kai No Shizuku by Illusion Core.

 

Thanks for that. Unless a translation pops up at Romhacking it's likely I haven't heard of it.

 

@Neville, check this thread - PC-98 translations updates (2023)
It has info about many others translations

--- добавлено 17 авг 2023, предыдущее сообщение размещено: 17 авг 2023 ---

That guy also translates games, check another of his threads - My PC-98 translation projects

 

Thank you, I will check those.

 

Plenty of games seem nice. PC-98 seems to me as hidden (and untranlated) gem

 

Well, a lot of them are hentai games or at least have some nudity. And sometimes this kind of content appears too suddenly.

 

A little hentai never hurt anybody xD

 

Two more English translations for the system have surfaced recently.

The first one is for the RPG Dragon Knight 2 :



Download here.

The other one is for the visual novel Kindan no Ketsuzoku :



Download here.

Both can be applied to the floppy or HD installed versions of the games. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate yet an HD version of Dragon Knight II .

--- добавлено 30 сен 2023, предыдущее сообщение размещено: 30 сен 2023 ---

By the way, the Dragon Knight II translation package is a mess, instead of following its instructions you are better off applying the XDELTA patch directly.

 

Another English translation for the system has surfaced at Romhacking. This time it's for the adult (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) visual novel Etsuraku no Gakuen / Love Potion .



Information and download here.

 

@Neville, so many great new translations of the PC-98 classics, yet there's still no sign of a Policenauts one ;_;

 

Just in time for Halloween, Dead ofthe Brain for the system just got an English translation. It's a visual novel with horror, some eroticism and zombies.





Download here.

For those interested, another translation has appeared for the TurboGrafx-16 CD version of the game, which includes the sequel.

 

And another English translation for the system... Madou Monogatari 2!



Information and download here.