Fujitsu FM Towns

For emulators, see FM Towns emulators and Emulators on FM Towns, and for system information, see Fujitsu FM Towns Marty.

"Hyper-media personal computer."

The FM Towns is a Japanese line of personal computers launched by Fujitsu in 1989. It was heavily based on the IBM PC, but it was not directly compatible due to a different firmware, an unique operating system, and a custom chipset that made it surpass even the X68000 as a sprite-pushing beast. Also, it had a CD-ROM drive built in, which gave it impressive multimedia capabilities.

Even though the system had great potential, it was an expensive machine with a limited library, so it struggled against the hugely popular PC-98. Later on Fujitsu re-released it in console form, named FM Towns Marty. But that didn't work either, as it was far more expensive than other consoles. And it had a serious compatibility problem: while the Marty could run most older FM Towns games, it often could not handle newer titles designed for more advanced models of the computer. When Fujitsu decided to wind down the system, they lessened the blow by launching the FMV Towns, a PC that had the FM Towns custom bits in an expansion card for backwards compatibility.

Almost all of the FM Towns' games are either PC or arcade conversions, which are near perfect and many of which were never converted to other systems. You could count on one hand's fingers the number of exclusives, however.

The list

Cover	Title	Genre	Description	Screenshot
	Alltynex	Shoot'em Up	A really cool doujin shmup where you can turn into a mecha and slice enemy shots. It is the sequel to Raid Wind for the PC-98. It got two PC sequels (RefleX and Kamui) and a remake, Alltynex Second.
	Mahou Daisakusen (Sorcer Striker)	Shoot'em Up	The FM Towns got a lot of arcade conversions, all courtesy of Ving, and most of which were only converted to this system. Here we have a arcade-perfect conversion of Raizing's ultra-cool fantasy-steampunk shmup. This one apparently won't work on the Marty.
	Pu-Li-Ru-La	Beat'em Up / Acid Trip	Another amazing and (at the time) exclusive arcade conversion, sure to make you go "WTF?" all the time!
	Raiden Densetsu	Shoot'em Up	Excellent port of the original which probably only loses to the Raiden Project port for the PSX. This one features its own arranged soundtrack.
	Rayxanber	Shoot'em Up	One of the few FM Towns exclusives, which later received sequels to the TurboGrafx CD. It is a good shmup, though at times it can get boring. At least it is not brutally difficult like the second game.
	SplatterHouse	Side-scrolling	The best port of the arcade classic, where you wear a Jason-like hockey mask and punch the shit of ghouls and other nightmarish creatures.
	Tatsujin Oh (Truxton II)	Shoot'em Up	The only home port of Truxton II known to man, and the absolute best FM Towns game. This game is FAST, and it gets pretty chaotic as you advance.
	Turbo Out Run	Racing	Drive your Ferrari all the way from NY to LA. A more over-the-top sequel to Out Run. The visuals are not quite arcade-perfect, but it's still far better than all other home ports, plenty fast and smooth (unlike the more detailed but sluggish Amiga version, or the choppy and ugly Mega Drive one). And best of all, the arranged soundtrack is delicious.
	Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom	RPG	One of the best ports of Wizardry V. Still uses those old-ass wireframe dungeons, which is a bummer, but everything else is improved, like the improved graphics for the monsters and redbook audio soundtrack. Has a option for English text so no moonspeak skills required.
	Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders	Adventure	Better than the original PC version! And totally in english!

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