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Post by Apollo Chungus on Feb 14, 2022 18:23:43 GMT -5
I guess I'll pop in and show the PC Engine games I've written about for HG101.
Aoi Blink (1990); side-scrolling platformer; developed by Westone Co. Ltd, published by Hudson Soft; Japan-only
Cute licensed game made by the Wonder Boy/Monster World team based on an Osamu Tezuka anime, where you play as a party of three characters who fire different projectiles depending on who's being controlled. Collecting 100 coins permanently upgrades your health and levels often have two exits leading to new areas worth exploring for goodies and secret keys needed to find the world's boss. There's an English fan translation that translates the dialogue, which sometimes clues you in to the location of the secret keys: www.romhacking.net/translations/504/
Dragon Egg! (1991); side-scrolling platformer; developed by NCS/Masaya; Japan-only
You play as a young girl who rides a dragon around. You can pick up coins to buy power-ups and equipment in shops, and collect fire orbs that will level up the dragon from an egg all the way to a fully grown dragon who can breathe fire and even hover around. An English fan translation was released at the start of the year that translates the opening cutscene, but there's no text anywhere else so you can play it with no problem: www.romhacking.net/translations/6405/
Neutopia (1989); action-RPG; developed and published by Hudson Soft
An action-RPG much in the vein of original Legend of Zelda, with overworld traversing and dungeon solving adventures that entails. A bit easier to get into with smaller overworlds and plenty of hints to guide you to your next destination. Puzzles are a bit repetitive. Surprisingly well-written English localization.
Neutopia II (1991); action-RPG; developed and published by Hudson Soft
More of the same, but you now play as the hero's son and the structure is much more linear! At least the dungeons are more varied this time around.
Silent Debuggers (1991); survival horror first-person shooter; developed by Data East, published by NEC
A unique survival horror game where you skulk around the corridors of a spaceship, looking for aliens to blast. They'll periodically break into the central hub where many important rooms are, and those rooms will be jettisoned if they're around too long - which chips at your ability to retain ammo, recharge batteries, and other functions of the ship. Quite difficult - maybe too difficult - but there's nothing like it.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Feb 15, 2022 9:09:32 GMT -5
Here's every game ranked in shmup junkie's shoot 'em up review video: S-tier: Air Zonk Blazing Lazers/Gunhed Gate of Thunder (CD) Gradius Gradius II (CD) Lords of Thunder (CD) Magical Chase Nexzr (CD) R-Type R-Type Complete CD (CD) Salamander Soldier Blade Star Parodier (CD) Truxton/Tatsujin A-tier: 1941 CA (SGX) Aero Blasters/Air Buster Cotton (CD) Detana! Twinbee Download Forgotten Worlds (CD) Galaga '88 Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (CD) Hana Taaka Daka!? Hyper Dyne Side Arms Hyper Dyne Side Arms Special (CD) Image Fight Mr. Heli Parodius Da! Seirei Senshi Spriggan (CD) Super Raiden (CD) Super Star Soldier Twin Cobra/Kyukyoku Tiger B-tier: 1943 Kai After Burner II Aldynes Atomic Robo-Kid (free-roaming) Cho Aniki (CD) Cloud Master/Gokuraku! Chuuka Taisen Coryoon Darius Plus Download 2 (CD) Dragon Saber Final Blaster Final Soldier Hani in the Sky Hellfire S (CD) Image Fight II (CD) Kiaidan 00 (CD) L-Dis (CD) Metamor Jupiter (CD) Override Psycho Chaser (ground-based w/ humanoid avatar) Raiden Rayxanber II (CD) Sinistron/Violent Soldier Spriggan Mark 2 (CD) Super Air Zonk (CD) Super Darius (CD) Super Darius II (CD) Sylphia (CD) Terra Cresta II Veigues Tactical Gladiator (auto-scrolling run 'n gun/mech action) Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (CD)(auto-scrolling platformer hybrid) W-Ring Xevious Zero Wing (CD) C-tier: Ai Cho Aniki (CD) Alzadick (CD) Armed Formation F Avenger (CD) Barunba Bouken Danshaku Don Burning Angels Choujikuu Yousai Macross 2036 (CD)(but really it's a B) Cyber-Core Dead Moon Dragon Spirit Fantasy Zone God Panic (CD) Heavy Unit Ordyne P-47 Psychic Storm (CD) Psychosis/Paranoia Space Harrier Space Invaders Space Invaders: The Original Game (CD) Steam-Heart's (CD)(erotic) Syd Mead's Terraforming (CD) Rabio Lepus Special Rayxanber III (CD) Thunder Blade Toilet Kids Toy Shop Boys Twin Hawk/Daisenpu Twin Hawk Custom/Daisenpu Custom (CD) D-tier: Hawk F-123 (CD) Legion (CD) Power Gate Saint Dragon F-Tier: Deep Blue Rock-On www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FO7P1KYFUI
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Post by dsparil on Feb 15, 2022 14:44:33 GMT -5
Apollo Chungus, thanks for posting the links. I've been interested in Neutopia and the sequel since you first posted about them. I'll hopefully be getting to all my super backlogged PCE games this year. ommadawnyawn2 Also thanks for posting the ranking. Did you watch and copy the whole list?! That's some serious dedication if you did. For the games I've already played, I don't disagree with it too much although I think whether the PCE port is still worth playing should be taken into account. I'm probably not going to do letter rankings when I get to my own, but I think I'm going to end up with a "Play This Port Instead" section.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2022 17:22:03 GMT -5
His grades are pretty much in line with popular opinion - using that word loosely considering the relative niche of the entire system in the west. Compared to my own opinions from what I've played I don't see many games I would move more than one grade, and none upwards so I don't consider anything to have been 'snubbed'. A few the other way around though. I've never been able to enjoy Forgotten Worlds (which I got alongside my system so I did try a bit) nor Side Arms Special (and I presume by extension the standard version). Atomic Robo Kid I thought was pretty awful too. The worst I've played by far was Toilet Kids. The other shmup I got with my system and I quickly sold it for around £5-£10 regrettably as it now fetches decent money. Shmup Junkie isn't complimentary about that. I think recommendations of alternative ports is useful information and he does do some comparison videos, but I'd imagine that it would be an awful lot of work for one video. I think for this video the context is more towards the system itself rather than looking outwards and that can be relevant too especially if you're looking to play on the original hardware. There's a few I'm going to look at picking up based on his coverage (along with of course some of the posts in this thread ).
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Feb 15, 2022 19:24:38 GMT -5
I did dsparil, though I started on it a bit a while back, and had just been waiting for him to post the list or a pic as he said he was going to in the comments. That was over a month back now though so I thought wth and just did it, seems he appreciated me posting it.
I definitely disagree with some rankings there from what I've played so far (I'm not crazy about Salamander and Truxton for example), but not to the degree where I think a game he put in S- or A-tier isn't worth a play, and I think that level of experience with the library is at least worth something.
Just beat Star Parodier a couple of times (Bomberman and PCE ships on normal); not quite S tier for me but a fun game with great presentation and good length. I think I'll check out Nexzr next(r). Edit: Also, does level 7 sound like mystic cave zone or what?
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Post by dsparil on Feb 16, 2022 16:04:44 GMT -5
Space Harrier seems like a real snub since the commentary is so positive but then it seems to get ranked at a C because of the 32X port. Deep Blue and Rock-On are bad, but they have a sort of odd mystique that make them unrankable in a grading based way.
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Post by dsparil on Feb 16, 2022 16:19:45 GMT -5
OrdyneDeveloper Namco Publisher Namco, NEC Format HuCard Release (JP) September 8, 1989 Release (US) February 1990 Difficulty Low to Moderate Looping No Continue System Resurrect in place with money kept, continues use checkpoints and money still kept, 5 continues Namco’s near cute’em’up doesn’t quite hit the mark in its transition to PCE. On the positive side, the two player mode was included as was a semi-hidden harder mode. However, the sound and graphics take a hit sometimes from needless tweaks. For example, when enemies are defeated in the arcade game, a popping sound is used which has been changed to a generic tone. As the PCE is unable to reproduce the rotation effects used in the game, some uses have been removed entirely and others replaced with sections using circular sprites losing detail in the process. The changed sound and graphics end up deemphasizing the game’s cute aspects leaving it somewhat bland. The two player could be a draw, but this much better played in its original form. Approximate Hitbox
I had never played this before, and I was quite surprised how much better the arcade version is. This one is a bit humdrum, but the original's graphics really blew me away! It's an exaggeration to say it's near PSX in quality, but that's still what I'd lean towards over anything in the fourth generation. It really feels like the game lost its soul in the porting process.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2022 23:28:16 GMT -5
Ordyne isn't the worst shoot-em-up on the platform but perhaps the least interesting. Lacking conversion as you say. The shop system loses a lot of the interest it might have added since power ups are quickly lost. Space Harrier is a nice port but I guess there were times where games were docked due to ports elsewhere after all but not consistently so. Parodius was also docked for some missing levels although it plays better than the SNES version. I'd place Space Harrier higher myself. Salamander is one that grew on me. Definitely not as immediately accessible as the Gradius and Parodius games but with practice it does become a much nicer time. The membrane/wall being featured early is a down point since beating it can be pretty inconsistent due to the precision required. Still, that's a rare occasion where I'd prefer to play the arcade version whereas I ordinarily prefer rebalanced home ports. ommadawnyawn2 - Are you saying Sonic copies Star Parodier's soundtrack? They are very similar.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Feb 17, 2022 3:27:55 GMT -5
Looks like Sonic 2 is actually about half a year younger. So that might be the case or it could be that they both borrow from new jack swing music and have a similar "dark carnival" tone simply by happenstance.
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Post by dsparil on Feb 17, 2022 5:02:26 GMT -5
Early Sonic seems to borrow from mainstream music more than other franchises. I've found myself thinking "that sounds like Sonic music" way more than for any other game.
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Post by dsparil on Feb 20, 2022 8:56:23 GMT -5
Battle AceDeveloper Hudson Soft Publisher Hudson Soft Format SuperGrafx Release (JP) November 30, 1989 Release (US) Unreleased Difficulty Low to High Looping Yes Continue System From Start of Level, No continues Like the SuperGrafx itself, Battle Ace feels rushed to market. While it may be coincidental, Sega’s similar G-LOC was released to arcades only a few months later. Both are a first person take on Afterburner, but Battle Ace does do a few things to distinguish itself. The most readily apparent is the sci-fi aesthetics but the game also adds in bosses and at least one obstacle avoidance section per stage. Missiles are also unlimited but only two may be fired at a time. On the minus side, most stages feel very similar to each other differing only in the boss and minimal scenery leading to a very repetitive experience. Battle Ace does show off the greater prowess of the SuperGrafx to a degree, but the failure of the system meant that better takes never came. Approximate Hitbox
This is one I really wanted to like, but it just does not hold a candle to G-LOC in any version including Game Gear! I should also note that the big cross shape is your position with the cross hairs being much smaller in the middle. This constantly tripped me up when it was close to the middle of the screen. I'm still a little unclear about how much control Hudson had over the PCE, but I get the impression that NEC was basically in the driver's seat and tried treating the PCE like one of their computer lines with upgrades and major add-ons. This strategy has always had limited succession on consoles, and they probably should have made the SG the new base model and discontinued the original at that point. I can't find the original price for the SG so maybe that wouldn't have been feasible.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 15:15:23 GMT -5
Marchen Maze - Developer - Namco
- Publisher - Namco
- JP Release - 11 December 1990
- US Release - N/A
- Format - HuCard
Wonder Momo was Namco's first arcade game featuring a female lead and their second released the following year in the form of Marchen Maze - an isometric action game which boasts the claim of being the first Japanese video game to base it's story on Alice in Wonderland. It took more than two years to make it's way to the PC Engine, with the only other port for the time being for the X68000 (though it did eventually make it's way to the Wii Virtual Console). No doubt due to limitations the PC Engine port shifted to a more standard overhead perspective, though it does retain some unique qualities in it's gameplay. The action has you playing as Alice moving around in 8 directions jumping platforms and to avoid enemies whilst she blows bubbles in order to defeat them. It's kind of a fringe shoot-em-up to some extent but outside of the platforming the major difference is that enemies defeat you by knocking you hurtling across the environment with their attacks. Should they knock you off the edge you will lose a life, but will be placed back where you left off if you have any lives remaining. You can charge up your bubbles by holding down the shoot button and they will become larger until you release to fire them. However, the action really never lets up and the enemies will actively pursue and fire upon you meaning that it's rarely beneficial as using the turbo function on the pad allows you to shoot quickly enough that rapid fire will outdo any charged attack. Diagonal shooting is a bit of a pain, as getting Alice to stand still whilst facing a diagonal requires too much precision. The enemies pose a large problem and manoeuvring around them can be immensely tricky as their projectiles come too fast to evade due to the slow moving protagonist and it becomes more a case or pre-empting their moves. Unfortunately the difficulty is the games main drawback, and the curve is uneven - level 3 for me was one of the more difficult of the 9 across the game. Each end level features a boss fight and they are generally fair apart from one or two, but also a little ho-hum in their design. On the fortunate side you are able to restart the game on any stage up to the one you last reached after you lose all your lives. There's some decent exploration in order to find extra lives and power ups such as faster movement and additional jump height. There can be a bit of a trade off as to whether you can survive to seek these out especially as some are not particularly useful or even a hinderance. I did find the ones I mentioned the most helpful and generally am not convinced the final boss could be beaten without them. There is a cheat code that can alleviate some issues - by holding up and pressing start at the title screen you'll begin with 10 lives. I find the visuals quite interesting even if not particularly nice, I kind of like the square tiled platforms. The enemies being based on Alice in Wonderland does add a decent amount of interest since there's some familiarity. Unfortunately, I can't say I was impressed with the soundtrack which I found grated on me much of the time. Arcade PortDespite the perspective change undergone in porting Marchen Maze I appreciate the effort to recreate the enemies and bosses from a different viewpoint. They are all present, though stages are not in the same order; and there's actually some additional enemies from Alice. The arcade game though stood out visually due to it's isometric view and much more detailed background. One substantial change is that in the original version enemies were much greater in number, however they would not seek you down and attack directly. Both are unforgiving but for differing reasons. Platforms are also smaller in the arcade which is balanced by Alice being knocked back by far less distance when attacked. In conclusion I would say that both the arcade original and PC Engine port of Marchen Maze are of interest more due to their unique qualities than that they're good games. This version is simply too unevenly balanced in its difficulty and ultimately the novelty turns into frustration too early on to have that much fun with it. This is another game where I think if the initial movement speed were increased, or similar minor tweaks were made it would be a much more enjoyable product.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 16:02:30 GMT -5
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2- Developer - Taito
- Publisher - Taito
- JP Release - 30 June 1993
- US Release - N/A
- Format - Super CD
Taito brought a good deal of support to the PC Engine with quite a few arcade ports. I was hoping to talk about a few of them, and build toward their best work since I believe some their early platform games laid the groundwork but were not especially good, at least on this platform. One commonality between them is that they are incredibly faithful, so arcade purists should be interested. However, this also lead me to a stumbling block, as trying to make my way through Don Doko Don proved impossible, as the only real exception to this faithfulness was limiting the amount of continues and even with save states a play through would have been a nightmare. As a kid I would play Taito's platformers endlessly, though on the Atari ST and NES, so it's a shame that some of them don't live up. The ones I particularly hold dear are Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands and New Zealand Story so I'm glad to be able to talk about Rainbow Islands for now. Rainbow Islands is a direct follow up to the unfortunately and somewhat bizarrely missing Bubble Bobble. The one screen based levels of that and other Taito platformers is ditched though in favour of a vertical design where you need to make you way to the top, not only using the levels own platforms but by creating and walking on rainbows to help you on your way. This makes for a novel set up as your rainbows serve not only as platforms, but also weapons. Enemies can be killed by direct contact with a rainbow as it's fired, or by jumping on a rainbow in order to send it crashing down upon them. For this reason you can't jump onto your rainbows, only walk on them which requires precision and care. The vertical level design allows enemy placement to be simple yet enough to keep you on your toes as you must think the best direction to approach from. Generally the enemies themselves are simple, but they can catch you off guard if you're not careful. Mostly they have simple movements perhaps back and forth or jumping side to side, with some adding a projectile. The toughest enemies found are those that can fly and shoot a projectile directly in your direction such as the vampire bat and the dragon found in the late game. Despite the level design change Rainbow Islands utilises the best feature of it's predecessor and that is that items appear based upon enemy positions as they are destroyed and other similar factors such as how many of a certain item you've collected. Quite a few of the items are food which just serve up points, others add important powerups. The speed boost and additional rainbows are essential, but other nice ones are the angel wings that allow infinite jumping, and various abilities to fire stars through different means. There's quite a lot of power ups and items that give too much to cover really, so I've left a link for a nice guide here: strategywiki.org/wiki/Rainbow_Islands/Special_itemsThe item you'll be on the lookout for of course is the various coloured diamonds. There's seven in all, and find each colour across each of the games initial seven worlds will allow access to the final three bonus ones. Your success will be coupled with a one-up, and by beating the world boss you'll be granted a large sized diamond which must be collected for the unlock to take place. In the final three worlds these large diamonds are replaced by mirrors. Get all ten of these large items for the true ending. Of course the game goes even further and if you collect each diamond across in the order they would appear onscreen you are rewarded with a secret door at the world boss, allowing you to skip over the fight, but also to acquire a hidden large powerup which will last even after you die. The PC Engine port is generous enough to let you select worlds you've already completed so you can reattempt any stages where you missed anything. All this adds to an incredibly dynamic game, and never will two plays of Rainbow Islands be the same. That, great platforming control and elegant, unique design make for an incredible game. The difficulty is very light, with only world nine really preventing a high challenge. Of course this accessibility is in this case perfectly faithful to the arcade version. The only thing we're unfortunately lacking is two player mode. Although presentation is simple it is also effective. The soundtrack is similarly quite limited, and doesn't take real advantage of the CD format. What is there compliments the gameplay wonderfully as it's truly upbeat and chipper. The main theme is reminiscent of 'Over the Rainbow' and could be argued is present for too long, but I wouldn't agree with such a case. Paying HomageOne of the most delightful surprises Rainbow Islands offers is that some of it's world themes have us revisiting those of past Taito games. World 5 is based upon Araknoid, and then the final three stages are from Fairland Story, Darius and most memorably Bubble Bobble as a finale. The Darius stages warning of 'A Huge Battleship' is a really nice feature and it's world feels like the true end of game challenge. World 10's Bubble Bobble feels more like a celebration. It's probably the easiest of all of stages, and of course offers the theme music, enemies and reminiscent level design (though still in a vertical presentation) of that game.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Feb 20, 2022 19:27:50 GMT -5
Hey, these are basically article level!
Been meaning to try Märchen Maze on PCE as I liked the concept but not so much the gameplay of the arcade game, sad it's not much better but I'll try it anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 21:25:23 GMT -5
ommadawnyawn2 - Thank you so much. My fragile ego really needed some positive feedback right now. It's always difficult to know when posting whether anyone actually reads what you write, never mind appreciating it. I am really pleased that this thread has got going as much as it has so in turn I appreciate dsparil making it and all the effort in covering the shooter library.
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