PC Engine: WELCOME TO THE IDEAL WORLD!

[MintyJuffowup]

Introducing the Engine

After much deliberation, we have once again set our sights on journeying through a console’s library. This time, it’s the compact, modular dream conjuror: the PC-Engine. Much like we did with the GAME BOY, we’ll be looking at a year’s worth of releases per month, as long as that makes sense. We’ll go by first release, regardless of region. The resource I’ll be using to track releases is Wikipedia. It’s one of the few that combines all the variations of the console into an unified list. If you find something better, please share!

This time, I’m introducing a new twist. At the end of each month, we’ll pluck some award categories from this list and talk about what we think should win them . You can add more categories to the sheet. More categories means more fun

I’m setting up this top post as our table of contents. If a game gets discussed, I’ll link the posts here at the top. Because so many games on this console have deep, points-based systems, the second post is going to be where we organize leaderboards. Please share your scores and race times. !

Here’s the schedule I have in mind for this season:

February: 1987 and 1988
March: 1989
April: 1990
May: 1991
June: 1992
July: 1993
August: 1994
September: 1995 and after

Don’t feel like you have to stop talking about a game because we’re in a new month, but also try not to zoom ahead!

Lastly, I saw that 8bitdo has a special remake of the TurboPad: PCE 2.4g/TG 16/PCE Core 2.4g wireless gamepad | 8BitDo If anyone has one, I’m curious to know how they feel!

Knowing the Engine

Here’s an archive of a really cool blog from Kevin Gifford where he played a bunch of games in chronological order.
https://web.archive.org/web/20191015110051/http://magweasel.com/category/i-love-the-pc-engine/page/10/

lonelyfrontier has a great long post about it here: PC Engine – Adventures On The Lonely Frontier

loki has about two dozen posts about PC Engine games over at lunatic obscurity: lunatic obscurity: pc engine

Kimimi has a bunch of long posts about PC Engine games as well! /PC Engine – Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster

You can flip through scans of a popular Japanese magazine for the console here: Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

A lot of English manual and magazine scans are here: Magazine Database (TurboGrafx-16 & PCE in Print, 1988-2015) :: TurboPlay Magazine Archives

http://www.pcengine.co.uk/

Talking the Engine

Each of these games have been mentioned in the thread. Ctrl+F or search the thread to see em.

1987 (5/5)

Bikkuriman World
Kato-chan Ken-chan/ J.J. & Jeff
The Kung Fu
Shanghai
Victory Run

1988 (22/22)

Alien Crush
Appare! Gateball
Bikkuriman Daijikai
Dragon Spirit
Fantasy Zone
Fighting Street
Gaia no Monshou
Galaga 88/Galaga 90
Jaseiken Necromancer
The Legendary Axe
Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru/Keith Courage in Alpha Zones
No-Ri-Ko
Pro Yakyuu World Stadium
R-Type I & II
Sadakichi Sebun: Hideyoshi no Ougon
Sengoku Mahjong
Space Harrier
World Class Baseball
World Court Tennis
Yokai Dochuki
Yūyū Jinsei

1989 (78/78)
Artist Tool
Bari Bari Densetsu
Battle Ace
Benkei Gaiden
Bloody Wolf
Bonk’s Adventure
Break In
Bullfight: Ring no Hasha
Cratermaze/Doraemon
Cyber Cross
Daichikun Crisis: Do Natural
Deep Blue
Digital Champ
Double Dungeons
Dungeon Explorer
Energy
F1 Dream
F1 Pilot
F1 Triple Battle
Final Lap Twin
Fire Pro Wrestling Combination Tag
Gambler Jikochuushinha
Ganbare Golf Boys
Gunhed/Blazing Lazers and Gunhed Special Edition
Hanii In the Sky
Heavy Unit
Jack Nichalus’s 18 Greatest Holes of Golf
Jinmu Denshou
Juuoki & Juuoki CD
Kagami no Kuni no Legend
Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman
Knight Rider Special
Kore ga Pro Yakyuu ‘89
Kyukyoku Tiger
Last Alert
Mr Heli Daibouken
Mahjong Gakuen
Maison Ikkoku
Makai Hakkenden Shada
Military Madness/Nectaris
Monster Lair
Moto Roader
Naxat Open
Neutopia
The Ninja Warriors
Ordyne
Out Live
P-47: The Freedom Fighter
Pac-Land
Power Golf
Power League II
Rock-On
ROM ROM Karaoke Vol. 1-3
ROM ROM Stadium
Shinobi
Shiryou Sensen: War of the Dead
Side Arms/Side Arms Special
SonSon II
Space Adventure Cobra
Super Albatross
Super Momotaro Dentetsu
Susano-Ou Densetsu
Takeda Shingen
Takin’ it to the Hoop
Tatsu no Ko Fighter
Tengai Makyou: Ziria
Tsuru Terhito no Jissen Kabushiki Bai Bai Game
Valis II
Vigilante
Volfied
Wai Wai Mahjong
Winning Shot
Wonder Momo
Ys Books I & II

[MintyJuffowup]

Hi-Scores

Alien Crush

22,024,100 - loki
18,393,700 - boojiboy7
15,564,000 - vikram
08,107,100 - MintyJuffowup
04,139,300 - Rudie
03,277,700 - LaurelSoup

Galaga 88

259,060 - MintyJuffowup
185,860 - loki
106,410 - Rudie

Wonder Momo

19,230 - MintyJuffowup
10,120 - whatevering

Blazing Lazers

2,923,330 - MintyJuffowup
1,526,480 - boojiboy7

Gunhed Special Version

242,170 - MintyJuffowup
228,330 - Rudie

Kyukyoku Tiger

186,600 - MintyJuffowup

Volfied

69,840 - MintyJuffowup

Challenges

• Win a match in Appare! Gateball
• Finish the first race under the time limit in Victory Run
• Get the best ending in Youkai Douchuuki
• End Galaga 88 on the Fifth Dimension

PC Engine Awards
1987/1988

The Most Sky

The Kung Fu
Victory Run

The Most Ubisfot

Victory Run
World Court Tennis

The Most Jams

No-Ri-Ko
Space Harrier

Multiplayer on Fightcade
Appare! Gateball
Pro Yakyuu World Stadium
World Class Baseball
World Court Tennis
Yuu Yuu Jinsei

[LaurelSoup]

@MintyJuffowup

Lastly, I saw that 8bitdo has a special remake of the TurboPad: PCE 2.4g/TG 16/PCE Core 2.4g wireless gamepad | 8BitDo If anyone has one, I’m curious to know how they feel!

Guilty, although I never set up my TG mini to test it.

[MintyJuffowup]

Amazon customers are saying it can also work with Windows. I’m considering it!

[MintyJuffowup]

Shanghai

Shanghai again! This version is pretty bare. The song loop is a little too short. Maybe there are extra options in the Japanese menu that I don’t understand. I don’t feel like I wasted my time with it. That’s because I learned that each successive time I beat it, a dragon breaks through more and more of the wall.

[DaleNixon]

It’s a great controller. Also my go to for NES emulation.

[alfred]

This is the perfect thread to bust out the PC Engine Complete Guide Deluxe

[notbov]

please @ me when you suffer Valis III

people playing Valis III for the first time is my favorite genre

[daphaknee]

SHOTGUN I CALL VALIS III WHENEVER IT COMES UP I HAVEN’T PLAYED IT AND I LOVE SUFFERING

[loki]

i’ll start with the games i own for real before doing any romdiving~

galaga 88 is an absolutely essential game. it’s not arcade perfect, but it’s good enough and still an excellent game.
victory run is about driving a car a long distance like outrun, but unlike outrun, there’s a simple maintenance gimmick in there where you have to replace worn out car parts between stages
yokai dochuuki is a game i’ve barely played, but i got it free with my console. i think there’s a translation patch out for it now, too.
the legendary axe is a great little platformer. it’s likened a lot to castlevania in the same way as kenseiden on the master system is. i guess the link is the slightly dark/realistic setting, and the fact that your guy isn’t very good at jumping.
no-ri-ko is heavily text-based so i’ve never tried to play it. i bought because it was £3 and that’s a price worth paying for the novelty of owning a copy of the first ever cd console game.
space harrier is space harrier. enter your name on the high score screen as MD[space] to unlock a bunch of options that should really have been there from the start
dragon spirit is dragon spirit. hold start and press select to reset the game a bunch of times and eventually, the aspect ratio will change to a narrow fake psuedo-tate mode. a much better game with a turbo controller imo

[alfred]

God gateball is an absolute nightmare. Winning a single game against the computer would be a good challenge for this thread

[smbhax]

I use a Brook Super Converter

https://www.brookaccessory.com/detail/67670908/

with a PS3/PS4 arcade stick when I play the Duo-R. I tried most of the PC Engine pads; they have basically zero ergonomics of course and ended up hurting my relatively tiny hands.

So I guess my recommendation is, play the games with a good arcade stick–or just any pad you feel comfortable with.

[MintyJuffowup]

I like the idea of having thread challenges. I think I’ll add this to the leaderboard post.

[smbhax]

For those who may be subject to photosensitivity, my all-too-tiny list of PCE games I like that also have relatively small amounts of flashing stuff:

Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Nekketsu Koukou Dodge Ball Bu: PC Bangaihen
Pomping World
Riot Zone / Crest of Wolf

[smbhax]

And if you play a CD-ROM² or Super CD-ROM² game, it is vitally important to remember that “ROM²” is pronounced “rom rom”:

PC-Engine CoreGrafx CD-ROM² Commercial

[LaurelSoup]

The Books of Ye are physical-digital-linked assets designed by a collective of award-winning 2D and 3D artists and creative coders, and presented as original multimedia experiences. Each revolves around the Books of Moses, but where each instance of “God” is replaced with “Kanye”, or rather, “Ye”, and each explores a new aspect of the novel power dynamics brought on by an era in which hype has arisen to become the preeminent currency: Those who make believe make reality.

[MintyJuffowup]

Alien Crush
I was surprised at how much this was like its sequel, Devil’s Crush. It even has bumpers that explode with alien critters. The bonus stages feel a lot more forgiving and overall, the game feels slower. The way the plunger bulges down is sick. The bonus counters being alien eyeballs is grotesque. The music is excellent. I’m posting about this so soon because I wanted to get a score up on the leaderboard. Try and come for me! (You don’t need to post a screenshot of your score. I trust you. I just really liked the score screen.)

[loki]

this captures the appare gateball experience pretty well. a bullying game where the rules are made up as you play, and exists only to make you feel stupid

Go Johnny Go Go Go Go | The League of Gentlemen | BBC Studios

i got a really high score in alien crush, but mednafen didn’t save my screenshots for some reason

[MintyJuffowup]

Oh no! You weren’t able to write it down either?

[loki]

no, but i’ll try again later~

i didn’t know the screenshots weren’t saving until after i closed the meulator