|
Post by dsparil on Apr 9, 2024 14:38:13 GMT -5
Kiki Kaikai 奇々怪界Developer Pixel Publisher Taito Format HuCard Release (JP) March 27, 1990 Release (US) Unreleased Taito’s quasi-historical Kiki Kaikai series is best known for its SNES entries which were developed and published by Natsume. Released in the US as Pocky & Rocky, these cooperative overhead action games differ somewhat from their Japan exclusive predecessor. Most obviously, Kiki Kaikai is a solitary affair. The feudal era miko Sayo-chan must rescue the Seven Lucky Gods across eight stages armed with nothing but her ranged ofuda scrolls and melee gohei wand. Waves of enemies drawn from Japanese mythology are unrelenting, and Sayo-chan dies in a single hit. For the PC Engine, Taito and developer Pixel slightly revamped the game. Stages have been expanded somewhat, but the difficulty has also been raised with a greater density of enemies. For devotees of the arcade game, this version certainly provides a new challenge, but most people are better sticking to a modern port of the arcade game. Sadly the graphics of the game were not improved. The enemies have some cute designs, but the backgrounds are bland and repetitive. The bosses do look nice at least.
|
|
|
Post by dsparil on Apr 15, 2024 7:40:09 GMT -5
Be Ball Chew-Man-FuDeveloper Now Production Publisher Hudson Soft, NEC Format HuCard Release (JP) March 30, 1990 Release (US) July 1990 Now Productions’s Be Ball is best seen a fairly unique mashup of Pengo and Sōkoban. The basic game is simple, colored balls with differing properties must be moved into spaces of the same color. Each of the game’s mazes is filled with respawning enemies that can only be defeated by rolling a ball into them. Additionally, the walls of the maze may be destroyed with repeated impacts. Although simplistic, the chaos and tension that comes from the enemies some of which can move balls around is really what makes the game enjoyable. The game's levels are divided into groups of ten which feature enemies with differing abilities. Apes can move balls around, but the penguins mainly seem like a Pengo homage.
Not a whole lot to this game, but check it out if you haven't.
|
|
|
Post by dsparil on Apr 18, 2024 9:08:33 GMT -5
Cosmic Fantasy — Adventure Boy Yu コズミック・ファンタジー ・冒険少年ユウ・Developer Shin-Nihon Laser Soft Publisher Telenet Japan Format CD-ROM² Release (JP) March 30, 1990 Release (US) January 25, 2024 Cosmic Fantasy series mastermind Kazuhiro Ochi got his start not in games but animation. At the age of sixteen he was a high school dropout but one that had cold called his way into a position at a Tatsunoko offshoot. By his twenties, he became interested in entering the games industry and was a natural fit at Telenet. After bouncing around a few projects, he got the opportunity to head his own game. Cosmic Fantasy is the story of Yu, an agent of the Galactic Commonwealth. After crash-landing on the undeveloped planet Norg, he gets involved in its various fantastic problems. Along the way Yu recruits the mage Saya, and the pair go off to stop the witch Morgan and her four generals. Ochi wore all the main hats for Cosmic Fantasy barring its programming. He did not however have a particular affinity for RPGs. His true desire was to make an adventure game but was seemingly directed away from the genre by Telenet. This shows the most in the gameplay which deviates little from the model set by Dragon Quest and is in some ways worse than it with a rigidly segmented world and ironically not even a hint of adventure elements. In most respects, the game does not compare well to its main CD-ROM² competitor, Far East of Eden — Ziria, which isn’t especially thrilling either. The graphics are substantially poorer both in-battle and the overworld. The general design is also less interesting with a blander world and no side content to speak of. Cosmic Fantasy can at least boast better cutscenes, but that can only go so far with gameplay that is as stale as old hardtack. Although the series is essentially PCE exclusive, the first two games got packaged together as Cosmic Fantasy Stories for the Mega/Sega CD in Japan. This version is a fairly large revamp of the game with an expanded party, rebalanced gameplay and larger dungeons. This version can be seen as the definitive one although the increased grinding is a sore spot. Decades later, the entire series would see a rerelease on Switch across two Cosmic Fantasy Collection volumes courtesy of D4 and publisher Edia. This version however is very barebones and lacks any sort of convenience features. There are no options to cut down on grinding either via direct increases or a simple fast forward. The sole niceties are the addition of a music player and cutscene viewer which has the oddity of being the only place the graphics receive the filtering they desperately need. This does mark the first time the game has been made available in English in any sort of manner. Luckily the manual was also translated since it contains useful information. In total, the English language Cosmic Fantasy goes further than D4’s EGGCONSOLE Switch releases on the translation front i.e. those feature none, but is a severe regression on the emulation side without any speed control, free saving or their useful pre-made “bookmarks”. The overworld graphics are overly simple and a bit barren. Out of the context, Yu's crashed ship isn't even recognizable as one. The battle graphics are better, but this is about as good as they get. The cutscenes are significantly nicer looking at least. Monmo is just a personified fast travel method, but a full character in Stories.
For more on Ochi's non-game work, see this interview in connection to an exhibit of his work from a few years ago. In all honesty, the entire Cosmic Fantasy series is a bit of a blip in what appears to be a pretty substantial animation and eventual manga career.
|
|
|
Post by dsparil on Apr 22, 2024 8:13:19 GMT -5
Drop Rock Hora Hora Drop Rock ほらホラ Drop OffDeveloper Cream Publisher Data East, NEC Format HuCard Release (JP) March 30, 1990 Release (US) September 1990 After the highly flawed boxing game Bullfight, Cream returned to the platform with the much more modest Drop Rock Hora Hora. Similar to the only weeks old shooter Paranoia, the game takes place inside the mind. In this case, that of protagonist Takashi’s girlfriend Izumi who has become possessed. Also like Paranoia is the way the gameplay does not especially fit the concept. Rather than an array of phantasmagoric situations, the game is a variation on the block smashing of Breakout. The player controls a free moving sphere which iso used to bounce a block breaking ball. Knocking off a large group of blocks at once gives a point bonus, and surviving to the end of the level is the only goal. Despite the simple gameplay, it is relatively enjoyable while it lasts. The game’s main flaw is the scant sixteen levels compared to the dozens more typical of the genre. The playfield also features a destructible barrier at the bottom to keep the ball in play. A tractor occasionally moves across and replenishes a single hit to the blocks and restores any that have been destroyed.
|
|
|
Post by dsparil on Apr 25, 2024 8:40:47 GMT -5
King of CasinoDeveloper Algorithm Institute Publisher Victor Musical Industries, NEC Format HuCard Release (JP) March 30, 1990 Release (US) June 1990 Algorithm Institute’s second game on the platform is once again the sole choice in its genre. Strictly speaking, it is not the only gambling game especially considering the gambling adjacent nature of mahjong, but nothing else aims to provide an array of traditional casino games. Five in total are offered: blackjack, keno, video-style poker, roulette and a slot machine. The game even has a hypothetical goal in winning $10,000,000 which then gives a password for a special Championship mode. It is however somewhat of a low effort release. Craps is oddly excluded which would have given the game some semblance of a full casino experience. The video-style poker is also a disappointment as it only seems to exist to have a poker slot filled with an option that required no AI programming, and the winning hand combinations are also much harsher than typical. None of the games have any options either such as multi-deck blackjack with a higher payout. Compared to its console rivals like HAL’s Viva Las Vegas / Vegas Dream, the game fairs relatively well as none of them are especially feature rich either. It is a disappointment compared to AI's previous game Break In. Despite some of that game’s problems, there was the feeling of true passion for billiards which largely does not exist in King of Casino. Maybe the team did love gambling, but the resulting product feels more like it was the result of ticking off a minimum of features. Roulette gets the most elaborate presentation. Despite using an American-style wheel with a 0 and 00, the actual betting layout is the kind typically used for French wheels. The rest of the graphics are relatively utilitarian although these milestone images are nice. You do have a choice of casinos which vary in number of tables for differing minimums and maximums. They also have a difficulty although it isn't clear how that actually affects things.
I'm not planning on making a post for all the unlicensed eroge gambling games, but one is worth a footnote here. Hacker International's 1992 game AV Poker is a basic strip video poker game, but it has one interesting tidbit. By all appearances, the basic poker gameplay was also used in a real video poker product apparently available on some international flights Japanese flights. I sadly can't remember where I saw it at this point, but one was incredibly closing ripping off the other if there isn't any connection.
|
|