Analogue Duo Firmware 1.3 Released

Following its 1987 debut, players of the PC Engine would have to wait four years for the release of its CD-playing hardware revision, the PC Engine Duo. But in 2023, both system’s libraries were brought into the modern age with the release of the Analogue Duo. Through the use of a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), the Analogue Duo plays original PC Engine cartridges and Duo CD-ROMs accurately when compared to original hardware, all while delivering the modern convenience of HD video output and wireless controller input.

But there’s no need to wait four years for the Analogue Duo to update – firmware version 1.3 was released March 29, 2024 with audio adjustments, palette enhancements, and bug fixes for over a dozen games. A step-by-step guide on updating the Duo’s firmware is available here (link). Though, whether a firmware update for an FPGA console constitutes a revision to software or hardware is a philosophical debate for another day.

Release Notes

Added low-pass filter to ADPCM channel
Adjusted audio levels on all channels
Improvements to composite video palette
Fixed issues affecting CD stability
Fixed crashes affecting the following games:
- Doraemon – Nobita no Dorabian Night
- Efera & Jiliora: The Emblem from Darkness
- Far East of Eden Tengai Makyou – Ziria
- Fiend Hunter
- Forgotten Worlds
- It Came From the Desert
- Gate of Thunder + Bonk’s Adventure + Bonk’s Revenge
- ImageFight II: Operation Deepstriker
- Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force
- Riot Zone
- Snatcher CD-ROMantic
- Syd Mead’s Terraforming
Fixed synchronization for:
- Sherlock Holmes – Consulting Detective
- Sherlock Holmes – Consulting Detective – Volume 2

To learn more about Analogue’s latest boutique console, check out Try’s MyLifeInGaming’s review and their video below. For owners of the Analogue Duo looking to play their legally dumped back-ups from an SD-card, consider installing its jailbreak firmware released in February 2024.