Translation: You idiot! I hate you! I’m going to cancel our date.
This game really wants to teach me how to make money in the stock market. I can do three things: buy, sell, and wait. Every so often, that teacher comes up and gives me a tip. “Expensive stocks rise well!” “Pay attention to charts to make money.” Every time you make a transaction, the woman picks up the phone to do it. That’s the best part, the animation where she picks up the phone. I think I’m really starting to reap what I sowed when I said I’d play through all of these games.
I’ve long suspected the “recession” Japan has been in for 30 years was a falsehood, and I was right. “We tripled our money in 3 years, this has to coniltinue forever haha! Oh no! Who could for see this happening…we have to blame…economics.”
I’m sick today so I figured I would play Tengai Makyou: Ziria. After heeding Rudie’s warning, I wound up meeting the first true companion. When I was grinding, I watched this interview in another window:
In the history of JRPGs, this one is in a weird space between the simplicity of Dragon Quest and the refined cinematic style of Square’s 16 bit work. Regardless of grinding, simple battle mechanics, and homogeneous town art, the game manages to feel very charming and breezy. Sometimes, the combat feels totally secondary and the game seems most preoccupied with presenting a massive world populated with a virtually limitless mass of humanity. Sometimes random townspeople will have their own portrait art. There are moments where the game goes wild with adding as many people and as much dialogue as possible.
Even through the Google translated filter, I was still able to pick up on inspired bits of humor, character, and storytelling. In the first section, tanuki imposters pop up everywhere until I realize that they are all part of the local bad’s missionary scheme. In the second section, the game convinces me to chop down a sacred tree to create a bridge. I can’t imagine that is going to play out well later. There is a recurring mini-game where I can sneak through a room with guards to steal trivial amounts of money.
I really shouldn’t play more on the off chance that a fan translation gets released in the next ten years. I can’t wait to try the sequel.
I like how in 2023, I can store as many rom fullsets as I want but I still kinda gotta pick & choose CD images to fit on this 1TB drive with all my other stuff. I feel like CD marketing/hype people were right somehow
This is the only game from 1989 that hasn’t been mentioned! (I think) It’s really innovative, which means it’s also hard to understand. Luckily, someone made a thorough guide with pictures Daichi Kun Crisis FAQ/GUIDE :: tg-16.com. Unfortunately, the guide requires reading which is something I do not want to do.
The story is that these cow people lived on infertile land until a mysterious woman came around and made volcanoes. This made the soil rich and the land turned green. But then monsters started coming out of the volcanoes. Is this witch good or evil? I love when a video game starts with creation mythology.
I played for 30 minutes. I moved around, planted tomatoes and corn, sucked up ash, and whacked monsters with a shovel. I went to the store and bought things without really knowing what I was getting. I did all of this without realizing that I wasn’t making progress towards the goal of the game. The goal is to cover the island with trees, thereby preventing the spread of ash. Once 75% of the island is covered in trees, the game switches to a different perspective and a boss appears.
Unfortunately, this appears to be the only PC Engine game that the studio made. In fact, it looks like the only original game the studio made at all.
1990! This is the year where annual releases crack 100. That’s a pretty big deal! Wheel of Names
I made this wheel with all the software released for this year if anyone is feeling lucky. I probably have somethings wrong! I’ll update the wheel as we hit milestones.
Before I talk about 1990 games, I want to give awards…
The Most Next Gen
So many cutscenes, voiced-lines, and quality of life features…it’s Tengai Makyou: Ziria!
The Most Dungeon
This is obviously Dungeon Explorer. Obviously!
The Most Mario-64-like
A game that presents a whole new dimension, virtual playground full of mystery, that game is…Jinmu Denshou!
And the one game I would recommend to a Button is Military Madness. Hudson Soft was integral to the development of the Nintendo Wars series. This game is more than just a prototypical version. I’d say it’s fully-formed and distinct from that series. There’s a hex-grid instead of squares which forms the basis of the surround mechanic. Factories are pre-filled with particular units and you can’t buy extras. Usually they’re placed so that each player has their own factories to capture, but savvy players can subvert this setup. It all takes place on the Moon. It’s really rewarding to stick with it through the whole campaign.
This is made by Westone! It’s based off a Tezuka series! With a pedigree like that, it was bound to be charming at the very least. There’s a fan translation out there for anyone who wants to try.
When I started, I had some vague idea that I was supposed to save my dad with the help of a blue donkey. I get dropped into a map where I can choose the next stage. Entering a stage, I have a trio of people that all move and jump with each other. I can switch between them at will and they all have different attacks and jump heights. I have no idea who these characters are or why some of them show up on some stages and not others. I’m finding the platforming to be just okay, sort of like Monster World.
When I get to the final stage of the map, I can’t open the last door. That’s because I need a red key. Someone nearby helpfully explains that I can find it at the end of an earlier stage. It turns out there are invisible chests that I can’t see unless I shoot them. When I play through the next world, the same thing happens except the hint is less exact. “Look near a door.” There are so many doors between these five stages. I really don’t appreciate how the girl is downplaying my efforts just because Blink is helping me.
This is made by AlfaSystem, who worked closely with Hudson and NEC, even assisting on No-Ri-Ko. This is the game with all the incredible game over screens!
It turns out that it’s also a very competent shooter. It’s the most cinematic Hu-Card I’ve played up to this point. It really makes me wonder if it was intended for CD. I’m really impressed with the design of the first stage. It has all these details like roadsigns, the boss flying in the distance, and the sky gets brighter over the course of the stage. Later bosses feel really unfair and I still haven’t beaten it. Give it a try!
Taito Chase HQ
Had to use three credits to finish the first level. I stayed arcade-at-home smart and reset my first 5 attempts until I felt comfortable. My own experience with the arcade game is minimal I knew you just kind of hit the car until it stops. I kept running out of time. The High Gear is way too fast and required Last Starfighter reaction rates with how the track is rendered. Spoilers this is the smoothest scrolling of the 3 this post.
3 out of 5 Victory Runs
Power Drift
Done by NEC. Look Power Drift for the PC Engine. I can tell you are really trying to emulate your arcade big brother. It isn’t working out sorry. You just cannot get those sprites out enough. Thank you, but I won’t be seeing you again, despite your best effort.
1 out of 5 Victory Runs
Outrun
You know what Outrun is really fucking great. This reminded me how good Outrun is. This is not a great port when you can play Outrun on anything including a native PC rebuild and it just got a public Mister core this week!
2 out of 5 Victory Runs
Turns out Victory Run gets 5 out of 5 Victory Runs!
atomic robo kid special - a shooting game with a good reputation that it has for a reason. it’s a little weird at first, but give it a chance, and it’s a fast, exciting stg
cyber core - it’s just a generic, completely unremarkable shooting game. fine i guess.
kikikaikai - great port of a great game
download - all these games so fat have been shooting games. this one looks really cool, but it’s too hard for me lol
ninja spirit - not a shooting game! an excellent platform game with surprisingly few platforms. follows the legend of kahe logic that of course, ninjas can jump incredibly high
ultra box vol. 2 - not a game at all, but a weird magazine thing with minigames, a fanart gallery, original anime, and more. there are 6 volumes of this in total
marchen maze - in the arcade, it was isometric, but here, it’s top down. interesting in that you die by being pushed off the stage, rather than by direct contact with enemies and their attacks (iirc)
champion wrestler - an ok button mashing wrestling game that doesn’t really have a place in this post-fire pro world
This one is different than the Mega Drive version of the game. It’s slower and the level layouts are completely different. I heard that’s because the Mega Drive version is based off an early prototype. I don’t like this version quite as much as that one.
But what I love about New Zealand Story is how much it feels like a throwback to an earlier kind of level design, the kind where developers draw pictures with platforms or fill a whole stage with steps and frogs for no reason than it being something to do. I love Tiki the Kiwi and I feel like a god whenever I’m in a goose. The game really is too hard though.
This is made by FACE, the Hanii in the Sky/Strip Mahjong people. I’ve developed a weird level of respect for them because they really try to do something unique in everything they do. They are also loyal to the PC Engine.
This is a pretty nice platformer with Louis Vuitton boss rooms. Alice is a bit stiff and clumsy, so I have to puzzle out how to survive without relying on reflexes. I played through the first stage without realizing how to use magic. It turns out, Alice collects different spell books and she can use them for different abilities. The first one reveals secrets in the area, like extra lives and heart extenders. The second makes Alice jump higher, not that interesting but I guess it’s necessary.
Maybe I’ll have time to play through the whole thing!
Champion Wrestler and Fire Pro Wrestling Combination Tag both came out in 1989–although CW didn’t get ported to PCE until 1990 so I guess it did get beat there.
Aero Blaster/Air Buster is in the tradition of why not have a shooter with 3 names. Think there is Aero Blaster 64 which is in the Sonic Wings series and is unrelated to here.
I had to compare contrast the PCEngine with the Genesis. The FM Synth does get an edge but I can’t play the Genesis version because of flashing lights during the set-piece in level 1. It is just a single flash in the PC Engine version and the PC Engine version does seem more readable in the tunnel chase section despite not having the road signs the Genesis version does.
It’s a great shooter. Will play more.
Will also have to play Atomic Robo Kid in Genesis, PCE, and Arcade flavors more. Years ago I unfairly dismissed this weird game. I don’t have a full opinion yet. Feels like you can die and that’s it you cannot recover. That is not something I like in a shooter.
I need to reorganize my best to worst list into letter grades because it is quickly becoming completely unwieldy.
game from this year, what would it be?
