Hudson just announced a compilation of Galaxy Fraulein Yuna games, which will include the ever elusive and worth-$500-ish super rare shooter Sapphire (I never realized it was part of the same series).  It'll be about 3000 yen.  Worth noting is that there's also a Tengai Makyou collection coming out with Ziria, Manji Maru, the Kabuki spin-off, and the fighting game (can't remember their titles right now...).  Too bad the latter collection will never be playable in English.  The shooter selection should be an easy import title though.

http://www.gmstar.com/psp/yunapcebc.html

Nice.  Never played Sapphire, but it only took me a few Youtube viewings of the PC Engine original to sell me on it.  Can't wait! 

And the music is awesome, but.... what's with the overbearing sound effects?

I've actually played the original (in uhh... less than... original... form...), and I totally don't remember the sound effects being as awful and grating as they are in any of those youtube videos.  Maybe that's a product of emulation?  I played it on an actual Turbo Duo.  Maybe I'm just remembering wrong though and was too busy being aghast at a game having those graphics on what is essentially an 8 bit system.

ill buy sapphire right away if they dont screw this up.

here is a better video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0eXCeGG … re=related

who would have thought this game would get a re-release on the PSP?

I'm interested, but... am I gonna have to hold my PSP vertically to play it?  There's an option to do that with another PSP shooter (I can't remember the name now).  I guess it could work, but it would get uncomfortable for me after a short while.

Twinbee Portable supports the Tate viewing option.  As I mentioned in this particular thread, the verticality does work fairly well by allowing you to flip the PSP to either side; having the d-pad/analog nub on the top and face buttons on the bottom is my personal preference.  The games really do look amazing on the PSP in Tate mode.

I admit it's still more comfortable playing horizontally, though - but you'll obviously end up with a far more scaled down screen ratio.

Sapphire was a console game and not an arcade game, so it never ran on a vertical monitor to begin with. Just holding the PSP standard would be fine.

The other Yuna games are visual novel-type stuff IIRC. Still, 3000 yen isn't bad at all.

Star Soldier. I spend a few minutes at a time playing it in the restroom at work.

Has anyone picked this up yet?  I plum forgot about it last month:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9f- … -2qi4.html

So I finally picked up Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Collection for the sweet price of just $18 at my local import shop.  Sidestepping the first two Yuna games, I dived right into Sapphire.  I'd just attempted my first playthrough, only getting to the end of stage 2 on Normal before biting the dust..... This game's pretty damned tough!  Your ship's speed is unusually slow compared to the enemy's quicker attacks, so Sapphire's definitely playing by the success-hinges-on-enemy-pattern-memorization book.  I'm thinking it's almost gonna be a prerequisite to drop a crap-ton of lives before nailing all the patterns.  The bosses and sub-bosses are plentiful and quite brutal as well; your hit box seems unforgivably large, so it's easy for big bosses to easily clip you. 

I'm having a fun time with the game nonetheless.  It feels good to step away from the bullet-hell framework of today's modern shooters, and it's neat seeing how the PC Engine was able to pull off some of these cool looking effects.  And the music score?  Absolutely LOVING it.  Fans of Lords of Thunder, T's Music, and high-energy VGM rock in general will be in nirvana with this soundtrack.  I'm guessing an official CD was never released, correct?

This recording I did will have to suffice, then.  Hurray for the in-game sound test, though I had to work in some of the looping myself.  (Track 8 was the only one I regrettably couldn't get a proper loop in for; the in-game fades out rather prematurely):

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire Game Recording:
http://www.mediafire.com/?nwoylytjjng

I do have beef with the sound effects, though.  They are, unfortunately, as overbearingly loud as heard in the Youtube video.  This does appear to be a product of the original release as well, but it's a shame they didn't include a volume selector, as it seriously distracts from the incredible music.

In theory a rip should exist of the original game's redbook audio.  If none can be found, I'll dig around for my CD-R of the original game and do one sometime.

Here's the PC-Engine Redbook for Sapphire.  Similar to Thunder Force.

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (PC-Engine) Redbook Audio.rar
sendspace.com/file/eoaioq

Awesome, thanks for the rip, Carl - and to Joe, for the thought. :)  The time lengths appear to be exactly the same as that of the sound test mode on the PSP version.  I did extend a couple of the stage themes in my recording, since I didn't quite care for the way they originally faded out.  Also, it's great to hear those songs that transition from the voice tracks.

I just beat the game on Normal.  I've found the challenge to be a lot less formidable when playing as Charlotte.  She's got the fastest ship out of the four characters, putting you on a much fairer playing ground with the enemy's movement speed.  I don't doubt that with a lot more practice, the game can be readily mastered with ALL the characters -- but Charlotte definitely makes for the best beginner's crutch. 

Game's a total blast.  I haven't had this much fun with a memory/pattern based action title since Contra 4. :)