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Post by fergzilla on Jan 1, 2015 19:13:45 GMT -5
Yeah, the game is THAT lesser-known. Shocking just might be only slightly more well-known than its base game, but only slightly. Though a Google search of "幻世快進劇" in kanji does bring up a couple of things, including a few mentions on 2channel. Even a few mention "Shocking". I doubt that the game will be too hard to find. It's from the near-late-90s, and all shopping results say that the game is 800-1000 yen-ish ($8-10-ish USD), which is quite cheap actually. I wonder if there is a dump of the game, and if so, if we're allowed to post it. Compile did go bankrupt, and it's doubtful that we'll ever see a re-release of that game again due to general unpopularity and legalese rights and such (not even from Compile Heart, who are too busy with their Hyperdimension Neptunia stuff as is, and I doubt they even remember at all....). Searching for "ダウンロード" is hard enough as is. Of course, there's always searching "ディスクステーション" on Yahoo Auctions Japan for finding DiscStation stuff to buy, though due to the very nature of magazine bonus discs, they may fluctuate from "oh, this is very cheap" to "OH MY GOD I NEED TO TAKE OUT SEVERAL LOANS FOR THIS" Also, apparently, 幻世 (Gensei) is an entire Compile DiscStation series, if we go by this Pixiv Encyclopedia entry, as well as a Google search of "幻世 コンパイル" (last word being Compile's Japanese name). Pixiv even has some Japanese fanart of the yellow wolf character, so he's quite popular with the Japanese "kemono" community, which is pretty much Japan's equal to the west's "furry" base. Also, a Japanese speaker did give me more info on Genseo Kai Shingeki's story. The wolf is basically motivated by some "legendary pervy book", but in the end it turned out to be a "legendary clown book" (エロ(ero)=erotic, ピエロ(piero)=clown). Don't worry, the game's completely worksafe, though. Ironic that Yun Sung would censor the story into "you are a human turned into a wolf" for their version, as they themselves made a lot of pr0n-y arcade games, those hypocrites (thankfully, "Shocking" isn't one of their porn games, though). |
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Post by derboo on Jan 1, 2015 23:08:50 GMT -5
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Post by fergzilla on Jan 2, 2015 2:03:08 GMT -5
DiscStation #12 is the specific volume which has the two games that Shocking, Bomb Kick, and Dynamite Bomber rip off. Cannot seem to find that, though then again, I might be acting stupid. I'm just curious, I want to make lots of comparison screenshots to all those games. Huh, didn't know that DiscStation has some form of popularity in Korea, while in the west, they're barely known at all. Kinda thought they were a small niche at best even in Japan. How popular was Compile in Korea, or at least how big of a presence? I know that they did have some of their Sega Master System/Genesis stuff officially exported there (including the Genesis version of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, though that could be mostly Sega America's work on re-skinning a Puyo Puyo game to make it look like the humorous syndicated DiC Sonic cartoon airing at the time, rather than actual Compile involvement beyond its base game), as well as a Korean PC port of Madou Monogatari. I don't know, most of Compile's work have that very Japanese-y flavor to them, which wasn't too popular with Koreans in the 90s (and still isn't, but at least South Korea is warming up to their media since last decade, especially with the repealing of a long-standing racist law). I might not know what I'm talking about, so I'm very curious. I also wonder how the Korean translators of Gensei worked out the whole エロ/ピエロ wordplay out. Don't think 에로틱/어릿 광대 would have worked out AS well... Whatever the case, Gensei and Jump Hero Gaiden 2 definitely attracted enough attention to have two Korean companies rip them off. |
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Post by wannabe on Jan 2, 2015 2:52:21 GMT -5
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Post by fergzilla on Jan 2, 2015 3:11:42 GMT -5
Yep, that's the game that Bomb Kick rips off, all right. I feel like I'm digging deeper into this (re-)discovery of Korean ripoffs and their respective Japanese originals. I knew that Koreans weren't exactly original-minded in the 90s-early 2000s game design wise, but man did Yun Sung and Limenko have the audacity to target the games that don't even have cult status. But thanks. It's the Korean version rather than the original Japanese, but eh, I'll manage. At least now I know where Yun Sung stole one of the fonts they frequently use from. Now all that I need is the Gensei Kai Shingeki game so that I can compare it to Shocking, and I'm good. This is probably article-worthy for me for an OCD-ish comparison, as practice of course. Or when Hardcore Gaming 101 eventually writes up about both Yun Sung and Limenko in their Korea section, it'd be something to note at least. Seems that Korean version downloads of both games are more common than original Japanese version downloads. |
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Post by supercomboy on Mar 24, 2015 2:28:52 GMT -5
Hi there, this is my first post. Thank you for making these articles, they are really fascinating. After reading this this and a couple of other online resources last year, I got into Korean collecting myself.
In the past year I've been amassing quite a bit of "정발" stuff and one observation I've made that is not specifically explained in your articles is what happened with Korean-Japanese relations in 1993.
By this I mean that, with the Super Comboy and Super Aladdin Boy series, there is a sudden change around (I think) the middle of 1993. Where there had been an outright ban on Japanese language elements in the games and on their packaging, there is then a sudden availability of Japanese games. Dragon Ball Z 2 with official Korean stickers on it is a good example of this.
There is other evidence of a significant change as well. For example, with the SCB, there is the sudden disappearance of PAL-styled "fat" boxes and all of the later titles are Japanese style "long" boxes. This time also sees the introduction of green stickers with dated serial numbers as well as Japanese language titles with black and white Korean instructions included alongside the Japanese ones. On the Super Aladdin Boy line, it's suddenly ok to have games like Fantasy Star 4, Shining Force 2 (both un-localized), and even rebadged games like Super Monaco 2.
There are some other examples as well, but my question is do we have any idea what decision was made or law that was passed in '93 which allowed Japanese language to be present again legally? And did this somehow NOT extend to the consoles? I've heard several times about the Samsung Saturn's BIOS being stricken of Japanese (although I haven't yet independently verified this claim)
The closest thing I can find is this line: "A revision of censorship regulations for popular media, enacted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports on July 1st 1993, demanded that video games on CD-ROM or cartridge, just like other "audiosivual" media like movies and music, be submitted for evaluation through the Korea Public Performance Ethics Committee". Obviously this is a significant piece of legislation but to me it seems odd that stricter censorship regulations would simultaneously allow for Japanese language content. But maybe this is what happened.
If the full product embargo wasn't lifted until 1998, this would mean there were about 5 years of legally sold JPN region games within Korea.
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Post by derboo on Mar 24, 2015 5:28:36 GMT -5
You've got things mixed up a bit. There was no ban before 1994, or rather none that was effective for games. If there was a change in packaging, it had other reasons (my assumption would be that it rooted from the Comboy being an NES instead of a Famicom to prevent compatibility with Taiwanese knock-off carts - of course that only led to people playing knock-off carts on knock-off consoles - and there was also the factor that most Korean students at the time learned English but no Japanese. But later having simultaneous releases with Japan became a priority in order to outrun unofficial importers).
I do talk about this my article a few paragraphs later:
So up to December 31, 1993, Samsung and Hyundai always had the option to just publish the Japanese versions as they were, but simply chose not to at first.
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Post by supercomboy on Mar 24, 2015 8:52:37 GMT -5
Would you be able to show me something from before mid 1993 that is both official and has Japanese on it/in it? I've never come across anything but have an abundance from 93.
Your point about simultaneous releases in an attempt to outpace piracy may be the best explanation for the change made by both Hyundai and Samsung.
Though I think the "official" stuff was always sparse compared to the gray market. I have a Game World magazine from 1992, just before the SCB hit the Korean market and it is absolutely packed with retailers not only selling Japanese systems (presumably self imported), but advertising them brazenly. I'm pretty sure the laws were being rampantly disobeyed before 93.
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Post by derboo on Mar 24, 2015 14:31:03 GMT -5
The practice of simultaneous Japan releases was adopted late in 1992, so if you're going to find any Japanese packaging before 1993, it's gonna be December 1992-ish. Earlier than that, you'll find some Japanese in on-screen texts, like the Korean releases of My Hero.
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Post by supercomboy on Mar 29, 2015 6:18:28 GMT -5
There seem to be some exceptions to this though. Like the "Korean version" of NBA Jam T.E. which has a Korean box, but Japanese cart, manual and then the B&W translated manual also. The date is 1994.
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Post by fergzilla on Apr 7, 2015 19:51:14 GMT -5
The thing is, I wonder how Samsung got away with releasing the 1993 Sega Mega Drive game Battle Mania Daiginjou (the sequel to what is known as Trouble Shooter in the US) in South Korea. They even had boxart that has been given the name 배틀매니아 대음양 (Baeteul Maenia Daeeum-yang). Not only did it have Japanese text, it also had a Japanese flavor as well, which is probably why the game did not get an English release (MIJET fan translation patches notwithstanding). You'd think that this was something that would have gotten Samsung in hot water with Korean officials (I cannot find a ROM version (nor even mere screenshots) with Korean text, even if the filename purports to be a Korea-region ROM). Especially considering how the Sega Master System game Kenseiden from years prior was altered to replace all references to Japan with South Korea, even going as far as to renaming the game 화랑의 검/Hwarang-ui Geom (lit. Sword of the Flower Knight). |
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Post by dswizzy on Apr 8, 2015 22:17:53 GMT -5
It'll be cool to see a couple of scans of game world magazines and see how one's issue looked back then. Maybe there's a couple of games that weren't featured in the article
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Post by derboo on Apr 9, 2015 0:33:13 GMT -5
Maybe there's a couple of games that weren't featured in the article Probably not. I've leafed through all of Game Champ and many issues of Game World, and I'm pretty sure I got all of the published Korean developed games of that time at least listed in the index with a link to a screenshot. You can dig up photos from a bunch of magazines in the blog, and I've once put a link to a complete scan of Game World's big City Heroes review in the comments to Unseen 64s entry on the game. |
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Post by dswizzy on Apr 9, 2015 9:48:24 GMT -5
Maybe there's a couple of games that weren't featured in the article Probably not. I've leafed through all of Game Champ and many issues of Game World, and I'm pretty sure I got all of the published Korean developed games of that time at least listed in the index with a link to a screenshot. You can dig up photos from a bunch of magazines in the blog, and I've once put a link to a complete scan of Game World's big City Heroes review in the comments to Unseen 64s entry on the game. Ah i see now, my fault man. Btw, this is off-topic question but um... how much completion is that Taiwanese article so far? Cuz i got a few more games to show like "Moth" which is this Horror Visual/Sound Novel made (or i think) published with permission by Chunsoft. And the other one is this game that plays exactly like The Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past &/or Minish Cap, I still have a copy of it downloaded already if you wanna check it for yourself. |
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Post by Delacroix on Jun 23, 2015 2:55:09 GMT -5
OK, first post here from me, hello and welcome, everyone. I do have a few things to say regarding this particular part of the work discussed here: www.hardcoregaming101.net/korea/part2/company-triggersoft.htmFirst off, Toema Jeonseol 1. It is not named Blood Aria, in any version, in any media whatsoever. Toema Jeonseol 2. The Russian cover is wrong, as the game isn't called Blood Aria II. Both the images used by the installer and the disc names suggest that Blood Aria is a mere subtitle for Toema Jeonseol 2, so the full title would be: Toema Jeonseol 2: Blood Aria, or as English title fans would prefer, Legend of Ghost Hunter 2: Blood Aria. Now, as for the first Toema... I played it extensively under the title Akuma: Demon Spawn. I also shortly tackled Lamentation Sword release and I have this to say: while the Lamentation Sword version uses certain sound files that in Akuma are dummied out, its translation is clearly worse in quality than Akuma's, the way the sentences are formed clearly shows the shoddiness of the translation in that case. What is dummied out in Akuma? Korean speech, the few short instances of it when you strike a convo with the character. I suppose that by modifying the .evt files accordingly this could be restored because copying the LS ones restores them along with Lomax' horrid translation. As for the game itself, well... Akuma: Demon Spawn is a Diablo-clone in both storyline and gameplay. The player's objective is simple: find Satan and kill the guy, preferably with the famed Blood Sword of legend, because nothing much else works on him. The quests are your standard RPG fare - recover this, kill that, bring this to person X, talk about that to person Y, and so on, and so on. As for the gameplay, I found out the hard way that it's really repetitve. All in all, I've personally tested everything the characters have at their disposal and I must say this: stick to resurrection and sealing the devils' entrances as far as it comes to spells, don't sell gate jewels but use them on the gates always and get ready to use bows most of the time. Here's why: While after some time these craters that spawn demons will reopen, it won't happen outright, giving you a LOT of time to do stuff all over the place unmolested by enemies, plus sealing a crater gives you an exp boost. As for monsters, many of them are outright killers that will whittle you down quickly and if you give'em chase, they'll just run away, potentially luring you into a deathtrap. They don't run if you use bows so that's what you should use most of the time. However, when monsters like witches are spawned one by one, it's a good idea to equip one of the chars with a sword and DO give'em chase so that instead of casting spells and interrupting you from sealing the crater in question, they run away from one char, leaving the others able to stop their "production". And it just goes like that over the entire game. Sometimes the progress is fast, sometimes slow but this way is the only one I've found out to be successful every time I tried to make some progress. The game is divided into two major sections, our world and the underworld, which differ a bit in graphics and feel. Our world is a bit like Diablo II's act one, sometimes green, sometimes barren, while the underworld is mostly barren. The redbook audio tracks are awesome (for all three Triggersoft games I own, actually) and I sometimes catch myself listening to them even without the game launched. A certain novelty in gameplay as opposed to Diablo's is the ability to control up to three characters at once in Akuma - that's right, you're not alone on your adventure. All in all, Akuma: Demon Spawn is a decent game with a nice storyline and maybe a tad repetitive but challenging gameplay and I quite like it. Didn't get far in the sequel because the character JUST WON'T LEAVE THE VILLAGE - obviously I need to do something but my knowledge of Korean language is NULL so I won't be able to play this until some fan translation is out. Interestingly, couldn't find a download for the life of me so I had a buddy of mine help out in importing it. He did - two versions in fact, one budget release in a jewel case and another, a big box. And there's a surprise. The big box version included a bonus game in an envelope, called Chaos. Supposedly unreleased (1999-2000). Now, I couldn't run it past the menus, again, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, so I cannot provide any screenshots of this 2001 game but I did scan the envelope and the disc for youse all. I'm also uploading it to my MEGA account so if anyone wishes to examine it and make some screenshots and maybe tell something more about the game, I'll hook you guys up.    |
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