An overview of PC Engine games

[dsparil]

This is a thread for anyone's thoughts about games in the PC Engine ecosystem including the original system, the various permutations of the CD add-on, the SuperGrafx and even the PC-FX. I partly created this in order to have a place to put my chronological survey of the system's shooters, but all games are welcome.

Update 02/03/23: With the shooters and American exclusives down, it's time for the rest!

My survey of PC Engine shooters:

SPOILER: Click to show

03/25/88 R-Type (Part-1/2)
07/15/88 Galaga '88 / Galaga '90
10/14/88 Fantasy Zone
12/09/88 Space Harrier
12/16/88 Dragon Spirit
03/01/89 Hanii in the Sky
03/20/89 P-47: The Freedom Fighter
03/31/89 Deep Blue
03/31/89 Ultimate Tiger
06/23/89 Legend of Jinmu
07/07/89 Gunhed / Blazing Lazers
07/14/89 Side Arms / Sidearms
08/25/89 Rock-On
08/31/89 Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
09/08/89 Ordyne
11/30/89 Battle Ace
12/01/89 Mr. Heli's Great Adventure
12/15/89 Side Arms Special
12/22/89 Heavy Unit
01/19/90 Atomic Robo-Kid Special
03/01/90 Paranoia / Psychosis
03/02/90 Space Invaders: The Day of Resurrection
03/09/90 Cyber Core
03/16/90 Super Darius
03/23/90 Armed F
04/06/90 Psycho Chaser
04/27/90 Barunba
06/22/90 Down Load
06/29/90 Xevious: Fardraut Saga
07/06/90 Super Star Soldier
07/27/90 Image Fight
09/21/90 Darius Plus & Darius Alpha
09/21/90 Legion
09/28/90 After Burner II
09/28/90 Final Blaster
09/28/90 W-Ring: The Double Rings
10/19/90 Rabio Lepus Special
11/02/90 Aero Blasters
12/07/90 Avenger
12/07/90 Burning Angels
120/7/90 Thunder Blade
12/14/90 Twin Hawk
12/14/90 Toy Shop Boys
12/14/90 Violent Soldier
12/21/90 Saint Dragon
01/08/91 Override
02/22/91 Aldynes: The Mission Code for Rage Crisis
02/22/91 Dead Moon: Nightmare of the Moon World
03/22/91 1943 Kai
03/29/91 Down Load 2
04/05/91 L・Dis
04/12/91 Hellfire S
06/07/91 Rayxanber II
07/05/91 Final Soldier
07/12/91 Spirit Fighter Spriggan
07/26/91 Twin Hawk Custom
08/09/91 Hana Taaka Daka!?
08/23/91 1941 -Counter Attack-
08/30/91 Power Gate
11/15/91 Gradius
11/15/91 Magical Chase
11/22/91 Raiden
11/29/91 Coryoon
12/06/91 Salamander
12/13/91 Spiral Wave
12/20/91 R-Type Complete CD
12/27/91 Dragon Saber — After Story of Dragon Spirit
Likely '91 Space Fantasy Zone
01/04/92 Adventure Baron Don: The Lost Sunheart
02/21/92 Gate of Thunder
02/21/92 It's Parodius! —From Myth to Laughter—
02/28/92 Here Comes!! TwinBee
03/06/92 Toilet Kids
03/13/92 Paradise! Great Wizard of the Middle Kingdom
03/13/92 Hawk F-123
03/19/92 Psychic Storm
03/27/92 Forgotten Worlds
04/02/92 Super Raiden
04/03/92 Super Dimension Fortress Macross 2036
04/24/92 Star Parodier
05/01/92 Spriggan mark 2 — Re-Terraform Project
05/01/92 [Syd Mead’s] TerraForming
06/26/92 Rayxanber III
07/10/92 Soldier Blade
07/17/92 Summer Carnival ’92 — Alzadick
07/24/92 Tatsujin
09/18/92 Zero Wing
10/23/92 Kiaidan 00
11/20/92 PC Denjin — Punkic Cyborgs
11/27/92 God Panic — The Most Powerful Army Corps
11/27/92 Terra Cresta 2 — Mandler's Counterattack
12/11/92 Nexzr
12/18/92 Gradius II: Gofer's Ambition
12/18/92 Image Fight II: Operation Deepstriker
12/25/92 Cho Aniki
01/22/93 MetamorJupiter
02/12/93 Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams
04/23/93 Winds of Thunder
07/23/93 Nexzr Special
07/30/93 CD Denjin: Rockabilly Heave / Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly-Paradise
10/22/93 Sylphia
12/24/93 Super Darius II
02/24/95 Ai・Chō Aniki
07/28/95 Space Invaders: The Original Game
11/24/95 Ginga Fukei Densetsu [ Sapphire ]
03/22/96 Steam-Heart's
08/08/97 God-Fighter Zeroigar
08/01/04 Meteor Blaster DX
08/08/14 Atlantean
09/08/14 Hypernova Blast

Recommendations and ranking

SuperGrafx:

SPOILER: Click to show

11/30/89 Battle Ace (shooter)
04/06/90 Madö King Granzört
07/27/90 Ghouls 'n Ghosts
02/22/91 Aldynes: The Mission Code for Rage Crisis (shooter)
08/23/91 1941 -Counter Attack- (shooter)

American Exclusives:

SPOILER: Click to show

* Approximate release

Nov. '89 R-Type (US)
Oct. '90 Battle Royale
July '91 Tale Spin
Sep. '91 Yo, Bro
Oct. '91 Champions Forever Boxing
Oct. '91 Impossamole
Nov. '91 The Addams Family
Nov. '91 Turrican
Dec. '91 It Came from the Desert
Dec. '91 André Panza Kick Boxing
Feb. '92 Darkwing Duck
Apr. '92 Davis Cup Tennis
May '92 Night Creatures
June '92 Gunboat
July '92* Falcon
Sep. '92 Order of the Griffon
Oct. '92 Ghost Manor
Jan. '93 Camp California
Oct. '93* John Madden Duo CD Football
Dec. '93 Beyond Shadowgate
Dec. '94 Bonk 3: Bond's Big Adventure (Super CD)

Every game:

SPOILER: Click to show

10/27/87 Bikkuriman World
10/27/87 Shanghai
11/21/87 The Kung Fu / China Warrior
11/30/87 Kato-chan & Ken-chan / J.J. & Jeff
12/28/87 Victory Run
01/22/88 Wicked Holy Sword Necromancer
02/05/88 Yōkai Dōchūki
03/25/88 R-Type Part-1 (shooter)
04/22/88 Victory Life
05/20/88 Pro Baseball World Stadium
06/24/88 Power League / World Class Baseball
06/03/88 R-Type Part-2 (shooter)
07/08/88 Sengoku Mahjong
07/15/88 Galaga '88 / Galaga '90 (shooter)
08/11/88 Pro Tennis World Court
08/30/88 Mashin Hero Wataru / Keith Courage in Alpha Zones
09/14/88 Alien Crush
09/23/88 Crest of Gaia
09/23/88 Demon Realm Legend / The Legendary Axe
10/14/88 Fantasy Zone (shooter)
11/18/88 Sadakichi Seven: Hideyoshi's Gold
12/04/88 Fighting Street
12/04/88 No・Ri・Ko
12/09/88 Space Harrier (shooter)
12/16/88 Dragon Spirit (shooter)
12/22/88 Bravo! Gateball
12/23/88 Bikkuriman Great Goods World
01/14/89 Vigilante
01/27/89 SonSon II
02/09/89 Nectaris
02/23/89 Moto Roader
03/01/89 Hanii in the Sky (shooter)
03/03/89 Winning Shot
03/04/89 Dungeon Explorer
03/17/89 Out Live
03/18/89 Modified Townsman Shubibinman / Cyber Citizen Shockman
03/20/89 P-47: The Freedom Fighter (shooter)
03/23/89 F-1 Pilot — You're King of Kings
03/24/89 War of the Dead
03/28/89 Good Luck! Golf Boys
03/31/89 Cobra —Legend of the Black Dragon King—
03/31/89 Deep Blue (shooter)
03/31/89 Ultimate Tiger (Shooter)
04/01/89 Makai Hakkenden — Shada
04/18/89 Energy
04/21/89 Wonder Momo
04/27/89 Susano Oh Legend
05/25/89 Power Golf
05/30/89 Naxat Open
06/01/89 Pac-Land
06/19/89 Wai Wai Mahjong — Pleasant Parlor Pals
06/22/89 Fire Pro Wrestling — Combination Tag
06/23/89 Cyber Cross
06/23/89 Legend of Jinmu ("shooter")
06/23/89 Valis II
06/30/89 The Ninja Warriors
06/30/89 Far East of Eden — Ziria
07/07/89 Final Lap Twin
07/07/89 Gunhed / Blazing Lazers (shooter)
07/14/89 Side Arms / Sidearms (shooter)
07/28/89 Takeda Shingen
08/04/89 Maison Ikkoku
08/08/89 Power League II
08/10/89 Break In
08/25/89 F-1 Dream
08/25/89 Rock-On (shooter)
08/31/89 Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair ("shooter")
09/01/89 Bloody Wolf
09/08/89 Ordyne (shooter)
09/14/89 Super Albatross
09/15/89 Super Peach Boy Electric Railway
09/22/89 Beast King Story (Altered Beast)

Other game specific posts:

SPOILER: Click to show

Märchen Maze (excelsior)
Mr. Heli (excelsior)
Rainbow Islands (excelsior)
Wonder Momo (excelsior)
Detana!! Twinbee (excelsior)
Photograph Boy (excelsior)
Welcome to Pia Carrot!! (kaoru)
Galaxy Fräulein Yuna (kaoru)
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (kaoru)

Other informative posts:

SPOILER: Click to show

Apollo Chungus's articles for the site
Shmup Junkie shooter tiers (ommadawnyawn2)
Some shots of HuCard internals

[dsparil]

R-Type Part-1 & Part-2

Developer Hudson Soft
Publisher Hudson Soft
Format HuCard
Release (JP) March 25, 1988 (Part 1)
June 3 1988 (Part 2)
Release (US) November 1989
Difficulty Moderate to Hard
Looping Second harder loop in Part-1 and US only
Continue System Checkpoints with upgrades lost, 3 continues in Part-1/US, 5 in Part-2

The first of 1988’s five arcade conversions, R-Type is as accurate a port as the system allows. Due to the size of the game, the original Japanese release was split over two HuCards while the US release was able to use a higher capacity card. Although R-Type has a reputation for difficulty, the first half can be finished on a single life with some practice. However, the second half is a large step up in difficulty. For a number of years, this version was one of the most easily accessible ports due to its presence on Wii, Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console. However, with the shutdown of the Wii Shop Channel and the game’s delisting from the Wii U and 3DS eShops in 2020, there is little reason to choose this version when there are many others available.

Approximate Hitbox

[dsparil]

Galaga '88
Galaga '90

Developer Namco
Publisher Namco
Format HuCard
Release (JP) July 15, 1988
Release (US) December 1989
Difficulty Easy to Moderate
Looping No
Continue System Resurrect in place, no continues

A refinement of the series’ classic gameplay, Galaga ’88 adds in enough new features to feel less archaic than its predecessors and more friendly to less experienced Galaga players. Right from the start, the ability to start with a double ship makes the early game much easier. The addition of a dimension hopping mechanic adds an in-game way to adjust the difficulty while also adding multiple endings to the game. The very whimsical This Is Galactic Dancing bonus stages are choreographed to music as the name suggests and still give some points if only watched. Several other new features like the triple beam ship, two vertical scrolling sections with bosses and colorful graphics round out the package. While somewhat unassuming, Galaga ’88 is real highlight.

Approximate Hitbox

[dsparil]

Fantasy Zone

Developer Bits Laboratory
Publisher NEC Avenue
Format HuCard
Release (JP) October 14, 1988
Release (US) December 1989
Difficulty Easy to Moderate
Looping Yes
Continue System Progress kept with new position and no upgrades, no continues

The first of two back-to-back Sega games, this classic cute’em’up makes a near perfect transition to the PCE unlike the Master System port which lacks some feature. like a health meter for the enemy bases which when destroyed, bring about the level’s boss battle. However, the SMS version includes two exclusive bosses and infinite weapon energy when all four engines have been purchased from shop. Without this feature, the utility of weapons is greatly lessened as they have a rather brief time limit. The bright and colorful graphics along with the varied bosses and environments make Fantasy Zone a game still worth playing today. However, the newer 3D Classics version for 3DS and Sega Ages version for Switch are preferable to any other port.

Approximate Hitbox

[Deleted]

Nice work. I particularly like the extra details you've put in such as the hit boxes and release details etc. I've been enjoying your updates on playthroughs on the shooters for this system. Given we have pretty different opinions on specific titles there's no doubt some moments where I'll be shouting at the screen when you dislike my favourites   but I was really pleased how much you enjoyed Galaga 88 since it was one of the games that sold me on picking it up on the system.

I figured I'd give a bit of an introduction to my own experience with the PC Engine before I move onto covering any specific titles (hopefully that's OK). Basically I became a renewed hobbyist around the late Gamecube era and the Wii was one of the main attractions that pulled me back in; specifically the Virtual Console. I was so much looking forward to rediscovering old classics as a lapsed gamer. Of course Nintendo's release strategy meant on and initially after launch there were fairly slim pickings available, but the TG16 was new to me and that caught my eye. Bomberman was an old favourite series and I recognised the mascot Bonk, so I picked up those two titles very quickly in late 2006. I had a really nice time with those and over the following months picked up R-Type, Super Star Soldier, Splatterhouse, Dragon's Curse and as previously mentioned Galaga 88. Although I was really enjoying the service it didn't take me too long to realise the limitations of its support and I was left feeling there was more to be discovered. I slowly moved towards picking up original games so that I was no longer bound to these limitations although I was only learning about the PC Engine and it's Japanese library so I needed the extra push to pick that up. That push came when my brother got his own classic imported system, a Japanese Saturn, and with some great games to boot. I was jealous. It wasn't long after that I came across an ebay auction for a PC Engine Duo-RX with a bundle of games that I wasn't familiar with. My initial purchases weren't the best but with a good amount of research and continuing to push into the vast library I eventually broke into this part of the hobby. Over the years I've owned hundreds of games, though many were unknown through bundles. I've pared down my collection pretty heavily, and though there's quite a few titles I'd still love to pick up I'm happy with what I do have and feel I have a nice rounded selection. 

The PC Engine is a platform I hold dear not only because of it's fantastic library but also because it was a big part of a specific time of rediscovery of video games and a big part of why I still play today. That said given the arcade nature of the majority of the games on offer and my lack of skills (for lack of a better term) there's very few I've actually beaten. It wasn't an issue for me previously as I would enjoy the pick up and play aspect of many of these games, however now I do find I'd like to see them through; not for any personal challenge, but simply to see the entirety of the work the developers put into these games, many of which are already favourites. I'll do my best to contribute here sooner rather than later with some playthroughs but I should have quite a few games to talk about.

[dsparil]

Thanks! By my count, there's 112 total games in the overall ecosystem including 3 home-brew games, 1 PC-FX game and 2 for the Pioneer LaserActive / LD-ROM² (Vajra 1 and 2) which are technically emulatable if I can manage to track down images. The grand total of 2 videos I found on YouTube look to be TV captures from actual hardware so I'm not getting my hopes up for those.

For my own experience, I did have a friend that had one like I mentioned before, but now I'm questioning if I ever actually played anything on it. Aside from that, it might have just been Ys Book 1 & 2 on Wii VC and then Ys IV a few years ago. I'm very interested in seeing what games pop up. Snake posted Exile the other day, and that's one that I have on the back burner.

[Deleted]

I have Exile in my collection, but of course it's Japanese so I haven't played it. I keep forgetting to ask how you're emulating these? I'll need to use an emulator to help work through these games.

[dsparil]

I use OpenEmu which is Mac exclusive. It's a nice front end to a bunch of different emulators, and it uses Mednafen as the PCE backend. The emulator itself is command line only, but there are some front ends for it. I assume most people just RetroArch, but the Mac version is very hit and miss (mostly miss) so I don't use it.

Also, there's a patch for Exile that removes the gameplay changes WD made if you're interested in the English version instead.

[Deleted]

Thanks!

[Snake]

dsparil - Wow!  That is a cool list!  Didn't even know people were homebrewing shooters for the system in recent decade! Loving the infographic hitboxes too, so handy.    I didn't even know they first released R-Type PC-Engine on 2 HuCards.  

Thanks for putting this together. I'm going to enjoy seeing each title broken down like this.  The system really got tons of shooters across different developers.  


Excelsior - I'm jealous! A PC-Engine Duo-RX!  You have any photos of your collection?  I regret not jumping on the system when games were to be had on bundle deals.  I have but a handful of games... some lost in-between moving homes.  I bought a few as souvenirs (Monster Lair - Ys 1 and 2), back in 2006 in Tokyo/Akihabara, for like, 500 yen a piece .  

[dsparil]

Space Harrier

Developer Dempa Shimbunsha
Publisher NEC Avenue
Format HuCard
Release (JP) December 9, 1988
Release (US) February 1990
Difficulty Easy to Moderate
Looping No
Continue System Resurrect in place, no continues

While this port of Space Harrier lacks the trademark checkerboard floor, it more than makes up for it in speed. It might actually be a little too fast as it’s only possible to fully appreciate the game’s psychedelia when pausing at just the right moment. This is quite unlike the contemporaneous Space Harrier II for Genesis which does feature a smooth scrolling checkerboard but has jerky and lower frame rate sprite movement. Like other primordial games, Space Harrier is fairly basic but makes up for it by being the purest essence of the rail shooter. While this may have been the best port at the time of release, the later 32X version is essentially arcade perfect. Best of all is the much later 3DS port as the game makes good use of the 3D effect.

Approximate Hitbox

[Deleted]

Snake - The 2 HuCard R-Type keeps the original soundtrack with the CD one (which I guess you're familiar with) having a remixed version taking advantage of the CD quality. It's divisive but personally I can't play R-Type without hearing the name 'sung' through the music.




If you don't mind I'd rather not post any collection images right now since I'm planning to cover individual games here but may come back and do that later. I think there's around 70 that I've hung on to. I'm thinking I might pick up the odd new one though soonish. I picked up a decent number of them in Akihabara myself actually in 'friends'.

[dsparil]

Jan 30, 2022 2:03:47 GMT -5 excelsior said:

 I think there's around 70 that I've hung on to. I'm thinking I might pick up the odd new one though soonish. I picked up a decent number of them in Akihabara myself actually in 'friends'.

~70 is quite the collection considering the entire library doesn't even break 700! How big was it at its max?

[Deleted]

Jan 30, 2022 7:49:12 GMT -5 dsparil said:

Jan 30, 2022 2:03:47 GMT -5 excelsior said:

 I think there's around 70 that I've hung on to. I'm thinking I might pick up the odd new one though soonish. I picked up a decent number of them in Akihabara myself actually in 'friends'.

~70 is quite the collection considering the entire library doesn't even break 700! How big was it at its max?

At one time i guess it must have been over 100 but some of these games didn't even make it onto my shelf or into the Engine.

[Deleted]

Wonder Momo

• Developer - Namco
• Publisher - Namco
• JP Release - 21 April 1989
• US Release - N/A
• Format - HuCard
  
  

Wonder Momo is a port of a 1987 arcade game from Namco where both versions stayed in Japan. I discovered it as a game that was bundled alongside my console so it made sense to me to cover it first. Like the classic Super Mario Bros 3 Wonder Momo is presented as a stage play, although here it compliments the gameplay through the levels being limited to a few screens wide also taking place in front of an audience which gives it a unique presentation. 

                                        

Gameplay is set up as a one plane side to side beat-em-up. Enemies come from side to side and progress through each stage is made through defeating a boss, though standard enemies will appear until this is achieved. Like the setting Momo's move set is similarly quirky as we begin as a young schoolgirl who can face either side utilising kicks or towards the camera where she can deliver a split kick on the ground or in mid air (with two elevations of jump being possible). There's a few powerups including a health pickup but most importantly a whirlwind that will transform our heroine into Wonder Momo! In her standard schoolgirl form the lead is fairly weak and bosses can take quite a few hits, however, in her Super Sentailike garb she is much stronger. Further she wields an empowered hoola hoop which acts as a projectile and the strongest attack you can use, though it must be recollected as it bounces around the screen after each use. There's both a health bar and a Wonder bar, the latter communicating how long you can use the powered up form. After every few stages we are 'treated' to a mildly risqué image of the lead.

                                        

Unfortunately the game isn't without issues. Enemy placements and patterns have a random element to them and can become annoying, particularly when paired with a somewhat clumsily implemented hit detection. Though the correct attack placement can be learned I doubt most players would put in the effort to do so. A select few will appreciate the charms of the game which are mostly found in camp value. Everything from the title screen to the music to Momo's transformation is overly peppy and its setting feels similarly kitsch. Personally the game grew on me as I enjoyed the resource management of the Momo bar which is aided using her secondary method of transformation; facing the camera and tapping attack a bunch of times, which in itself is more risky but feels fun to pull off. The hoola hoop is similarly fun to use. I can't really recommend the game; I don't think most will get past the core issues in the gameplay, however it can be enjoyed for its kitsch presentation, and I think the arena style beat 'em up it presents has potential.



Arcade Port
The Arcade port is made up of 4 acts of 4, whereas the PC Engine version is just 12 stages long each given as an individual act. The missing stages include enemies not seen in the PC Engine version which is a shame because it could really do with a few more to add variety. The ending for the arcade is a final of the stage curtain being raised and the actors taking a bow for the audience. It's a nice touch and unfortunate its missing from the Engine version which just gives another 'naughty' scene.

More Momo
Although an arcade sequel to Wonder Momo was cancelled in 1993 she has appeared in other media and other video games. She is playable in Namco Super Wars on the Wonderswan, cameo'd in Namco X Capcom and made some kingd of appearance in Queens Gate: Spiral Chaos. An eventual second game Wonder Momo Typhoon Buster arrived, made by Wayforward in 2014. Her most recent appearance was as a stage in Pac Man 99 which I've posted a video of below.