IGS PolyGame Master Cartridge Collection

I finally managed to track down the elusive Puzzli 2, completing my IGS PGM cartridge collection.  Of all the titles, Puzzli 2 and SVG: Spectral VS Generation took me the longest to find.

I’m a big fan of the system, the games are a nice change from the usual Capcom, Konami, Sega and SNK ranges.  In addition to the system favourites, namely Demon Front and DodonPachi II: Bee Storm there is an awesome selection of fighters, scrolling beat-em-ups and puzzle games.  Happy 6-in-1 even features an arcade cooking game!

The system was popular in the Far East, but relatively obscure in the West.  As far as I’m aware none of these titles were operated in UK arcades.

Here is a picture of my collection and a list of titles:

Square brackets - Chinese title / Round brackets - Japanese title

Left Row

1. Demon Front [魔域戰線] (デーモンフロント) (2002)
2. DoDonPachi II: Bee Storm [怒首领蜂II-蜂暴] (怒首領蜂Ⅱ) (2001)
3. Dragon World II [中国龙2] (中国龍２) (1997)
4. Dragon World 3 [中国龙3] (中国龍３) (1998)
5. Dragon World 3 EX [中国龙3EX] (中国龍３EX) (1999)
6. Dragon World 3 Special (中国龍３スペシャル) (2000)
7. Dragon World 2001 [中国龙2001] (中国龍２００１) (2001)
8. Dragon World Pretty Chance [中国龙Pretty Chance] (中国龍プリティチャンス) (2001)
9. Happy 6-in-1 [歡樂六合一] (2004)
10. Knights of Valour / Sangoku Senki [三国战纪] (三国戦記) (1999)

Middle Row

11. Knights of Valour Plus / Knights of Valour In Three Kingdoms [三国战纪正宗PLUS] (三国戦紀正宗Plus) (1999)
12. Knights of Valour Super Heroes / Sangoku Senki Super Heroes [三国战纪风云再起] (三国戦記スーパーヒーローズ) (1999)
13. Knights of Valour Super Heroes Plus / Sangoku Senki Super Heroes Plus [三国战纪乱世枭雄] (三国戦記スーパーヒーローズPlus) (2004)
14. Knights of Valour 2 / Sangoku Senki 2 [三国战纪2] (三国戦記２) (2000)
15. Knights of Valour 2 Plus: Nine Dragons / Sangoku Senki 2 Plus: Nine Dragons [三国战纪2群雄争霸] (三国戦紀２・武将争覇) (2001)
16. Martial Masters / Shin Ī Ken [形意拳] (シンイーケン) (1999)
17. Oriental Legend [西游释厄传] (西遊釈厄伝) (1997)
18. Oriental Legend Special / Oriental Legend Super [西游释厄传SUPER] (西遊釈厄伝スーパー) (1998)
19. Oriental Legend Special Plus / Oriental Legend Super Plus [西游释厄传群魔乱舞] (2004)
20. Photo Y2K / Real and Fake [大家來找碴] (リアルアンドフェイク) (1999)

Right Row

21. Photo Y2K 2 / Real and Fake 2 [大家來找碴2] (リアルアンドフェイクＰＨＯＴＯＹ２Ｋ) (2000)
22. Puzzle Star [魔幻星座] (パズルスター) (2000)
23. Puzzli 2 [大渔方块2] (パヅリ２) (1999)
24. Puzzli 2 Super [大渔方块2SUPER] (パヅリ２スーパー) (2001)
25. Shiny 3-in-1 [閃亮三合一] (2004)
26. SVG: Spectral VS Generation [聖魔世紀] (スペクトラルVSジェネレーション) (2005)
27. The Gladiator: The Road of Sword [神劍風雲] (闘幻狂) (2003)
28. The Killing Blade [傲剑狂刀] (1997/8)
29. The Killing Blade Plus [傲剑狂刀加强版] (2005)

Spectral Vs Generation – Revision Differences

It took a long time to track down Spectral VS Generation, and then somehow I ended up with two cartridges.  Interestingly the games were different revisions, one carts had V201 on the bottom right of the warning screen and was dated 10/11/05 and the other V202 12/26/05.  There is also a V200 on cartridge format and the PCB is V100, so there are at least four revisions.  Whilst researching the differences I discovered that Idea Factory, the developers were formed from former Data East employees, very cool!

Here is a list of changes made to SVG from revision V100 to V201:

1. No AMI logo on the title screen
2. Vocal track used every second round appears to have been removed.
3. The alt version of two of the characters are unlocked by default.

I contacted IGS (International Games System) to see if they could provide further information and was very pleased to receive a reply.  The following questions and answers were originally spread over two emails and have been edited into one.

Have a nice day. This letter comes from IGS in Taiwan. It’s our pleasure to get your mail this morning.

First of all, thanks for your deeply support toward our PGM system. We had many popular and successful PGM games in the past.

However, because of different market trend, our PGM system had phased out for years already. In further, most of PGM team members had quitted.

We will try our best to answer the questions you inquiry. Please find them as below. Thanks.

1.  Please could you confirm that there were 29 official IGS PGM1 titles released in cartridge format.

A: Frankly, I can’t confirm if it’s 29 official game titles for PGM system. PGM system divided into fighting, shooting, puzzle and etc. And it’s different packages and game titles by markets. So, that’s why I can’t confirm it. But, if you have game listed, I could help you to confirm if it was released by IGS.

2. I've recently been playing Spectral VS Generation and I see there are different revisions of this title.  Do you have any information available on what the differences are between these versions?
China M68K Version 200 09/15/05 15:06:10 V200 A: fixing bug
China M68K Version 200 10/11/05 10:07:20 V201 A: 1) modify HP toward evil master by different level. 2) adjust AI toward some characters.  
China M68K Version 200 12/26/05 16:15:36 V202 A: Fixing bug

3. Do you have any information or even pictures of PGM 1/2/3 titles which were planned but never released?  For example, prototypes which were developed and put on location test, but for some reason never officially released.  Or games in development, but never completed.  Or even games you had planned which never made it into development.  This interests me greatly, and I'd be most grateful to hear about any unreleased titles.

A: I am sorry that there are no many secrets toward PGM series.

For reaching high quality, our team spends 2 to 3 years in average to create a new PGM game.

Before developing a new project, it must be enforced with fully estimate by supervisors. So, as I know, there is no uncompleted case in development.

Here, we are thankful for your deeply support. And it’s our honor to bring excellent memory for you.

We are welcome to get your question toward our product in the future.

Happy New Year.  

Best Regards,