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Zenki
Jun 3, 2012 21:13:58 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Jun 3, 2012 21:13:58 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/zenki/zenki1.htmStarting in 1992, Kishin Douji Zenki (or Demon Child Zenki) was a manga serialisation in Monthly Shounen Jump. Wikipedia and other sites claim this apparently ran to 12 volumes, ending in 1996. In 2005 a company called Bamboo Comics re-released these as 7 volumes. Irrespective of the number of volumes, it spawned an anime series for the duration of 1995 (from January to December if online sources are correct). Some say there were 51 episodes, the now-defunct official Enoki Films website claims 52 at 25 minutes each. In 1997 there also appears to have been an OVA. The story, very broadly speaking, is your standard modern-fantasy hokum mixed in with a bit of Dragon Ball. Over a thousand years ago a sorceress named Ozuno (sometimes Ozunu, or even Oz-Nay) battled evil with the help of guardian deity Zenki, and they defeated the evil demon queen Karuma. Afterwards Ozuno seals Zenki in a pillar/monument/shrine. Fast forward to today and Ozuno's descendant Chiaki (aka: Cherry) summons Zenki to save her. Since he takes the form of a child, she has to use a magical bracelet to turn him - Super Saiyan style - into his more powerful form from the past. As luck would have it Karuma's evil is also back, in the form of seeds which look like giant eyeballs, and which Zenki must destroy... Or something along those lines. As expected there's a diverse roster of secondary characters which appear throughout the series' various iterations. Of course we're not here to talk about the manga and its anime offshoots, rather the five videogames they spawned, all released in a seventh month period between August 1995 and February 1996 (so therefore likely intended to coincide with the anime series). All of them are extremely obscure, with the best known possibly being Vajura Fight for the PC-FX, by virtue of its high price and legendary status on a system generally lacking in decent games (don't argue, NEC's PC-FX was a failure no matter how you cut it). They're also all rather interesting, not only in terms of aesthetics and mechanical design, but the companies which actually made them.
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Zenki
Jun 4, 2012 2:12:56 GMT -5
Post by Scylla on Jun 4, 2012 2:12:56 GMT -5
Nice, I had been looking forward to this one. :) Great read. I had no idea there were so many Zenki games. I knew there was one on Super Famicom and the PC-FX game, of course, but I didn't know there were three more beyond that. I'll have to pick up Battle Raiden sometime. Something about the description and graphics give me a tiny bit of an ActRaiser vibe, but I don't know if that's an appropriate comparison or not. For one correction, the correct subtitle of the PC-FX game is Vajra Fight, as in this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VajraIt's a very widespread mistake that confused me myself when I first got the game and didn't understand the lack of consistency on various web sites. I'd say the legendary status of the PC-FX Zenki can be more attributed to the circumstances of the PC-FX rather than the "wow" factor of the game or the rarity. Zenki is among what is regarded as the "Big 3" in the PC-FX community. There are very few pure, traditional action games on the PC-FX, with the three being about it, unless you count sports games and FMV fighters and such. Pretty much every Western PC-FX owner wants those three (Chip-chan Kick and Zeroigar being the other two), as most of the other games are considered not particularly English-friendly. All three go for big bucks, and all three have that sort of "legendary" status (although Zenki is at the top of the bunch). None of them are the most shining examples of the respective genres, but they're quality action games (with a lot of flash, no less) on a system that's lacking them. That said, I would argue with the comment that the PC-FX is lacking in decent games (although undeniably a commercial failure.) It's lacking in games in general given that it only has a 60-some game library, but the quality ratio is generally regarded as quite high by those who dig deep into it. The problem, though, is that Westerners tend to immediately disregard the existence of any game that isn't English-friendly, so they'll see it only has a few action games and go with the knee-jerk reaction of believing it has almost no worthwhile games. It actually has quite a few quality RPGs, dating sims, adventure games, etc., and many are, in fact, playable without being fluent in Japanese, if you have the patience and don't care about missing out on story. I played through both Farland Story FX (a strategy RPG) and Last Imperial Prince (a side-scrolling adventure game a la Zelda II) not that long ago myself. Also, I think the Vajra Fight coverage is a little excessively harsh on it due to the price, like saying that it's "unacceptable" that it's so short and has cutscenes breaking up the action. The developers had no idea or control of the fact that it would eventually sell for hundreds on the used market. I think it's fair to say that it's not really worth the going rate in terms of the amount of time and enjoyment the typical person is likely to get out of it, but I don't think any of that should come into play when assessing its merits. I think if it was a 20 dollar game, many people would be a lot easier on it, which isn't quite fair to the game since it's the exact same game no matter how much it costs. And criticizing the story is just plain silly because it's not the type of game where story matters and its over-the-top nature is part of the charm, I'd say. If it was a more straight-and-narrow serious game, that would only be to its detriment, I feel.
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Zenki
Jun 4, 2012 3:06:19 GMT -5
Post by Sketcz-1000 on Jun 4, 2012 3:06:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback (and Vajra correction). I like to think I give non-English games more time than most would - I enjoy a lot of foreign-language only games (Ys II: Special for example), and in some instances the lack of fluent understanding is beneficial because it adds a mystique to something. Last Imperial Prince is something I've really wanted to play for a while, and maybe write an article on, I just don't have the time. Actually, seeing as my TV PC emulates the system quite well, I'd like to cover a whole bunch of PC-FX games!
As for pricing, I absolutely do feel that it comes into play assessing a game's merits, and it goes both ways. I have despaired at narrow minded journalists (many of them my colleagues who I've worked alongside), criticising a game, lambasting it in some instances, for low production values or whatever, when the game in question was a budget release, or a cheaper digital download, or quickly dropped in price. I am willing to forgive many, many, many things if a game costs me £10 or less. Playing Operation Darkness currently, it cost me $10 imported, and for that price any criticisms regarding the camera are just silly. You can buy it for ten bucks - it's totally worth the price of admission. I've paid more for crappy airport lunches.
For me I always take into account the price of access, and the ease of emulation if it's possible. In fact one of the reasons I enjoy crappy kusoge games is because it costs me nothing to experience them.
Full disclosure: I downloaded Vajra Fight. It cost me an hour on a Saturday afternoon. In fact it took longer to download than play through. But that's fine. For that price it's fantastic - I'd say everyone needs to play it.
Perhaps I'll reword the text. I don't want to put people off. I feel it deserves to be played. But I want to put a bit of perspective on its legendary status..
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Zenki
Jun 4, 2012 18:44:07 GMT -5
Post by Scylla on Jun 4, 2012 18:44:07 GMT -5
I'm totally with you on the frustration over bad reviews of quality budget games. I think the MSRP and goals of the developers should always be taken into consideration, but the prices on the used market are a different matter. They would come into play in my final assessment of a game in terms of whether it's worth giving a try at the going rate or not, but I wouldn't consider it in terms of what works or doesn't work in the game. I would definitely like to see more PC-FX coverage. :) I think we're on the cusp of the PC-FX opening up much more to the Western world than ever before. Emulation of the PC-FX is really solid, and multiple groups are taking interest in creating translations. Welcome to Pia Carrot!! can already be played in English, and this group has Team Innocent and Ah! My Goddess in works too: projects.mattsmessyroom.com/And the great part is that even if someone isn't into emulation, the fan patches can be played on a real PC-FX since it has no problem with burned discs. Oh, and this is just a random aside, but somebody really should update the Tengai Makyou article with some real coverage of the PC-FX game. I have a feeling that it'll get torn apart since most people don't give FMV fighters a chance, but it deserves some coverage either way.
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Zenki
Jun 5, 2012 1:58:57 GMT -5
Post by Sketcz-1000 on Jun 5, 2012 1:58:57 GMT -5
I love FMV games. One of my favourite genres. The blanket criticism they receive always pains me - because most of them are super cheap today, and provide many hours of good old-fashioned fun. One day I'm going to write a lengthy feature on Ground Zero Texas... When you said FMV fighter I thought you meant one I'd played at a retro convention, on the PC-FX. But a quick check of my blog entry reveals it to be Battle Heat. I'd be willing to give Tengai a fair shot, but being FMV the ISO(s) is/are probably going to be massive to download.
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Zenki
Jun 5, 2012 12:50:19 GMT -5
Post by Scylla on Jun 5, 2012 12:50:19 GMT -5
Yeah, I can be hard on bad FMV games, but there are definitely worthwhile ones out there. I think overall the PC-FX uses FMV well, which is great because it's such a powerhouse with FMV, more powerful than both the Saturn and PlayStation, and I loved the layered effects it can do (like FMV running in the background in Zenki).
Battle Heat is fun stuff. Amazingly fluid and crisp FMV too. I can't get enough of the intro, it's like everything badass about '90s anime rolled into one. I imagine Tengai Makyou plays about the same, but I've yet to pick that one up. I can understand if people are extra hard on it, though, since it's such a bitter pill to swallow that Tengai Makyou III got canned. Regardless of what the fighter is like, it's disappointing that we got that but not a real Tengai Makyou.
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Zenki
Jun 8, 2012 12:11:48 GMT -5
Post by Brand on Jun 8, 2012 12:11:48 GMT -5
Sort of related but makes no difference is that is not uncommon for manga reprints to have a different number of volumes. Often the reprints will have have less volumes but still have all the content they just combine volumes.
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Zenki
Jan 29, 2016 21:08:33 GMT -5
Post by kingmike on Jan 29, 2016 21:08:33 GMT -5
Dynamic Designs just released a fan-translation of Battle Raiden for the Super Famicom. From my memory of when I bought that game, I think you guys might've caused a price spike when the article was written (not a Hagane-level one though)
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Zenki
Aug 26, 2018 19:48:27 GMT -5
Post by toei on Aug 26, 2018 19:48:27 GMT -5
So this article hasn't aged too well now that information about the developers and the manga / anime itself is more readily available - then again, maybe it already was and Szczepaniak was feeling lazy, as that first paragraph with its million qualifiers ("wikipedia claims there are 12 volumes", "some sources says 51 episodes, another says 52" - all that stuff is easily verifiable) suggests. But anyway, one especially relevant piece of info - the Game Gear entry's director, Hisayoshi Yoshida, was one of the senior game designers on Sonic 3 & Knuckle, and his co-designer, Tadashi Ihoroi, had worked on Sonic Chaos, which explains why Zenki handles a lot like Sonic (minus the inertia), though there are other elements to differentiate the games. It's also better than most 8-bit Sonics. The game has also been fan-translated recently - those cutscenes are pretty nice, I do recommend checking out the game. One piece of advice if anyone does - during boss battles, you can choose a magic power by pressing start, then use it by holding the attack button for a while. Zenki's regular attack sucks in his grown-up form, so just stick to magic. It's more efficient, anyway. Anyway, the article hasn't been ported over to the new site yet. I wouldn't mind adding that in when it is, if that's fine with Discoalucard , and maybe clean up that opening.
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Zenki
Aug 26, 2018 21:01:17 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Aug 26, 2018 21:01:17 GMT -5
I'll port it over soon, then you can fix up what you will.
I got to play one of these at the Long Island Gaming Expo. It was kinda fun but given that it didn't seem like you could skip the voiced dialogue, it wouldn't be anything I'd play through more than once. Nice animation, though.
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Zenki
Aug 26, 2018 22:02:05 GMT -5
Post by toei on Aug 26, 2018 22:02:05 GMT -5
I'll port it over soon, then you can fix up what you will. I got to play one of these at the Long Island Gaming Expo. It was kinda fun but given that it didn't seem like you could skip the voiced dialogue, it wouldn't be anything I'd play through more than once. Nice animation, though. Deal. Was it the PC-FX game? Or maybe the one with the turn-based visual battles? I haven't hit those up yet, but the Game Gear and SNES action platformers don't have that problem, and they're pretty good. I guess the board game might be nice with other players, but I wouldn't bother solo.
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