Finally I managed to start the HP. It's still very much under construction (it's my first HP mind you) but it should be smooth sailing from now on, as it's just a matter of keep adding games.

http://high-tech-world.webs.com/

Visit it and tell me what you think of it, and also if I'm missing something I should be adding to it.

Re-introducing the old forgotten SEGA CHAN!

▲CLICK for full size!

As some of you may now the SEGA Enterprises were developing arcade hits even before the video game era came around. However this friendly and muti-functional servo robot from 1982 shows how vanguardist the company was at providing high-tech entertainment.

I was only 2 years old when SEGA CHAN was released, and probably many of you weren't even born yet. However I guess it must have been surreal to see one of this old-school Japanese robots in action at that time.

SEGA CHAN was mainly designed to serve as very cool and high-tech way to promote establishments and gather curious customers. However seeing as how it was forgotten in time, and no future models were designed, it probably was one of those ideas that was just too ahead of its time to be successful.

I guess stuff like SEGA CHAN was the way how the people of the '80s envisioned the future. Problably back then they though that by now every stablishment around was going to be handled by robots, or at least have some kind of robot helper.

Here's another taste of my future HP. Tell me what you think.

http://high-tech-world.webs.com/girlsgarden.htm

The top page link doesn't work because I still haven't come up with something

I also think that the problem with a blog vs. a homepage is that a homepage is not as attractive with just a few games at the beginning.

What do you think about this? Also what do you think is necessary for a top page? besides obviously the about page and links to the game reviews.

I really don't like the GS blog anymore. I feel that without some sort of archive categories keeping up a blog like this is a waste of time.

Unfortunately other blogsites like Blogger have an editor and post preview that I really can't work with, while other sites like Wordpress have horrible and non-editable templates that I just don't like. That's why I'm trying my luck at making a homepage. I really would've liked another blog better because it's less work, but like I said I just couldn't find an appropriate one. Even finding a free hompage that allowed me to just clear everything and have a full black background was a real pain in the arse as most other sites I tried looked just like blogs.

But I finally came to a website I liked so I gave it a try and this is basically what I came up with.

http://high-tech-world.webs.com/deka.htm

Since probably most of my game reviews will look like that let me know what you think about the look of it. I still haven't added a link to the top page because I still haven't done it.

In the halcyon days of video games it used to be very common than when a certain game company wasn't currently planning or just wasn't interested in translating one of their popular works into a specific game system, another game company would just buy the license and do the translation and publishing work themselves. This was a very convenient practice that benefited both game companies, but specially us game fans since thanks to it we were able to play many games that perhaps otherwise would have never been released.

Licensed reprogrammed games were highly predominant throughout all of the '80s and until the late '90s in most PC and home video game systems. For example, with the exception of「Street Fighter II'」and「Super Street Fighter II」all of the CAPCOM arcade games that were released for the [SEGA Mega Drive] system were reprogrammed by SEGA. And in the case of the [NEC PC-Engine] all CAPCOM games released for the system were reprogrammed by NEC. Likewise a great deal of the arcade and console games that were translated for the many PC platforms were reprogrammed by companies that focused more in the PC market, while in turn most PC games that were translated for consoles were reprogrammed and published by companies that focused more in the console market. This was not only practical but it also made a lot of sense, specially from the marketing point of view, as in general consumers are more likely to purchase a product from a well-known brand name in its respective market area.

「Power Drift」for the PC-Engine (reprogrammed by ASMIK) was the only console translation of the popular SEGA arcade racer during the 16-bit generation. Power Drift was also reprogrammed by ACTIVISION for the various Western PC platforms. Speaking of which, Western PC systems were filled with sub-par reprogrammed games that had nothing to do with what gamers were getting in Japan.

CAPCOM and SEGA were overall the big name game companies that handed down the most licenses, although the much smaller Nihon Falcom was probably the one that licensed the most games in relation to their number of released games. Surprisingly the big game companies that licensed the less games were NAMCOT and KONAMI which usually reprogrammed and published their own products across most of the video game platforms of the time.

Obviously the quality of reprogrammed games varied greatly and accordingly to the talent and dedication of the developer in charge of the translation, and of course, accordingly to the difference in power between the original and the destination systems. The PC-Engine in particular is notable for having one of the game libraries with the highest amount of reprogrammed games thanks in no small part to its parents companies NEC and Hudson Soft which together licensed games from a lot of different game developers, even including games from their direct rival company at the time SEGA.

In Japan the owners of the [Sharp X68000] personal computer were lucky to have some of the best reprogrammed games of their time, like an arcade perfect port of the [SEGA SYSTEM-24] game「Bonanza Brothers」in all of it's high-res arcade glory. Also, one of my favourite reprogrammed games was the Mega Drive version of「Senjou no Ookami II」which although it was lacking the 3-player simultaneous action from the original [CPS-1] version, the new gameplay mechanics implemented by SEGA in its new [ORIGINAL MODE] made the gameplay deeper and arguably more interesting and challenging than the original arcade game.

This type of third party reprogramming fashion ran out of steam by the end of the '90s. As games were getting more complex and production costs were increasing considerably, it is very likely that licensing costs also increased to a point where it just wasn't worth it anymore for most game publishers. Something important to note about licensed reprogrammed games is that more than a corporated decision, they had more to do with fan-service and the personal desire of the developing studios to have such games. Licensed games were never high-budget productions nor they ever became smash-hits or system-sellers, since if the games had such potential to begin with, they most likely would've been published by its own parent company in the first place.

While licensed reprogrammed games are not extinct, the practice is only but a shadow of what it used to be. And unfortunately the ones who lost the most with its downfall was us game fans. (T^T)

AH HARIMA-NADA

「ああ播磨灘」 9/13 /1993 / SEGA
16Mbit Cartridge /Action/ 1-2 Players

Ah Great Introduction

Ah Harima-Nada is a sumo wrestling game based on the manga & anime series of the same name by manga artist Kei Sadayasu. Neither the manga nor the Mega Drive video game are really well known outside of Japan (and from what I can gather the MD game is rather obscure even in Japan), so this is a good chance to introduce at least this quality sumo wrestling game from SEGA.

The first noteworthy feature about Ah-Harima-Nada is certainly the attractive game packaging. In the front cover we can see the main character Harima-Nada menacingly pointing with his finger at any potential buyers that dare looking his way... If looked from a distance (like from the store shelves for example) the cover really gives the sensation that is telling you「Hey! You Over There!! Buy this game! or else..!!」I don't know if this was done on purpose, but it really feels like some kind of hypnotic marketing stunt... (^^;;

Hey! You Over There!! Buy This!!

Speaking of game covers... It's very likely that at some point many of us have complained about the terrible game box covers that we got here in the West in comparison with Japan during the 8-bit and 16-bit generations. But believe it or not, many of them were really a blessing in disguise! In Japan almost every single game that came out had these cool anime covers (yes, even the really awful ones). So just imagine that if when you were a kid the first thing to see when entering any game store was a wall full of catchy game covers resembling cool anime videos. Chances are now you would be reminiscing about how many times you walked away with an awful game that had a really fancy box cover... (T∀T)

Fortunately this was not the case with Ah Harima-Nada, since its actually decent quality game. But the thought of too many great covers at once is a really disturbing one indeed... ( ￣っ￣ )

Ah Great Story

CLICK for full size

Tradition and status dictate the world of professional sumo wrestling. Wearing the mysterious-looking mask, the new Yokozuna appears before his public, as for his name... Harima-Nada!

Boastful and overconfident, the young Yokozuna has only one goal in his mind: To beat the seemingly unbeatable winning record of 69 consecutive wins set by the legendary 35th Yokozuna: Futabayama Sadaiji「双葉山 定次」.

But can the rebellious Harima-Nada really achieve this feat? His unruly and carefree behavior is often seen as unfit for the harsh life of the professional sumo wrestler. Can a man like this really become the first one in history to achieve the 70 consecutive winning mark?

The road to victory will not be easy...

Ah Great Gameplay

Just because this is a sumo wrestling game that features characters with a huge oversized body mass, don't be thinking for a second that the action will be slow-paced. Quite the contrary, the game will demand some fast reflexes from the player (as well as a heavy dose of button mashing!), to avoid getting pounded into oblivion or being thrown of the ring at the first chance the CPU gets!

Real life sumo matches are known to last only a few seconds in most cases, and the minimum lapse of concentration from the wrestlers can make them lose the bout before they realise what just happened. This fact about sumo wrestling is something that was translated remarkably well into the game, as it doesn't matter if you have a full life bar and are just one hit away from knocking down your opponent, if you let your guard down just for a moment, you can end up being tossed out of the ring before you know it.

Of course this is something that works both ways (more for the player than for the CPU really). So you can get beaten down to a pulp but with just a single well-timed throw or reversal, you can be the one coming on top. And this gameplay trait is what ultimately makes the game so much fun to play, because you know that regardless of how well you're doing during a fight, you can never relax, while in the other hand even if you're losing badly, you know you still have a chance of winning.

Ah Harima's Great Move List

Basic Commands

※When Harima-Nada is facing right. If Harima-Nada is facing left, reverse the left/right controls.

Control Pad... Advance, Retreat, Defense, Jump

Start Button... Pauses Game

A Button... Weak Attack

B Button... Strong Attack

C Button... Grapple

Run... F, F

Advanced Commands

Low Kick... D + A or B

Hawk Attack... (while in the air) B

Aerial Throw... (while in the air) F + B

Hell Tightening... (while standing next to the opponent) D, DR, R + B

Head Butt... (while running) B

Flying Head Butt... F, D, DF + B

Counter... (when receiving a rushing attack from the opponent) DB + A+B

Grapple Commands

Push Forward... D, DF, F + A or B

Side Throw... D, DB, B + B

Side Suplex... F, UF, U, UB, B + B

Special Commands

Back Breaker... (while grappling the opponent) U, D, U + BB

Telekinetic Wave... Rotate control pad 360 degrees + B This is an unblockable move that will stun your opponent for a couple of seconds regardless of his position on screen. This move is more useful for the CPU than for the player though...

Fire Hand Palm... B (hold), F + B

Out of all the moves available to Harima-Nada, the grappling ones are overall the most useful, first because they can end up in a ring out, and second because by remaining grappled to your opponent you can stop him from performing any special attacks. If you attempt to throw your opponent near one the ring corners you will engage in a「power struggle」that will decide who actually gets thrown out of the ring. During this time you must push the A + B buttons and move the controller pad as fast as you can to avoid being the one who biting the dust.

Ah Great Story Mode

In the 1 Player mode your goal will be to win 70 sumo matches and beat the record of the legendary Yokozuma Futabayama Sadaiji. There are 3 difficulty settings to choose from: Komusubi「小結」(Easy / ends midway, can't see the ending), Ozeki「大関」(Normal) and Yokozuna「横綱」(Hard). In both Normal and Hard modes the CPU will start relatively weak and easy to beat but it will get dramatically more difficult along the way. Since there aren't 70 sumo wrestlers in the game, this means you will have to fight the same characters at least three times, and as expected, they will be more difficult and violent the next time you face them.

If you lose a match you will be able to continue up to three times before getting a game over. Although one would think that losing a single match would defeat the whole point of the campaign (which is to achieve 70 consecutive wins). In reality continuing the game has no real consequences and doesn't affect the ending or anything else. And is certainly amusing to see Harima being as threatening as ever even when losing, and saying something like「Bokke! It was only because the player is lacking skill that I was defeated!! Let's do this again, you and I!!」. (^^;;

70 matches can sound like a lot, but since they generally won't last long and are only a single round affair, the game in reality doesn't take much longer to complete than the average fighting game. Still, because the game can be hard to complete the first time with only 3 continues, of if you simply want to call it quits for the time being, the game features a password system for your convenience. After every 8 matches or so, the Chief Director will be showing up to give you the current password (which is all in Japanese hiragana characters). The passwords are actually simple catchy phrases that Japanese players will probably find very convenient and easy to remember. However for everyone else not used to deal with hiragana characters, the passwords can be a bit of a pain to write up.

CLICK for full size

The storyline itself is very simple and self-explanatory, so players don't really need to know Japanese to understand it.「Kishin-Ryu」, who despite always training himself over the limit is nevertheless defeated by the lazy and over-boastful Harima-Nada. This obviously frustrates and infuriates Kishin-Ryu to no end as he just cannot understand how can an impertinent guy like Harima-Nada defeat him. The plot revolves mainly around the original game character and Harima's main rival

I must admit I'm very disappointed about the storyline cut-scenes in Ah Harima-Nada, specially coming after the fantastic 1992 Judo Simulation game「Shura no Mon」, which was another anime based game with a similar contact sport premise. But while Shura no Mon featured minutes long storyline cut-scenes, Ah Harima-Nada in turn features only a few short ones... big bummer... (T^T)

As expected the night of the 70 match will feature the epic battle between Harima-Nada and Kishin-Ryu who has just been promoted to Yokozuna rank. Kishin-Ryu has changed his name to「Kishin-Nada」and now wears a new menacing-looking kabuki make-up. Needless to say he will be by much the most difficult (and cheapest) opponent in the game.

Kishin-Nada has two special attacks unavailable to Harima-Nada: The Dragon Dance ( A+B / also used by other characters) and the incredibly cheap Hyper Head-Butt (D, DF, F + A+B), which is basically an upgraded version of Harima's Hell Tightening. The best tactic to use against Kishin-Nada is to grapple him as soon as you can in order to avoid his deadly Hyper Head Butt attacks, and then just aim for a lucky throw that will toss him out of the ring. Alternatively you can try to spam Kishin-Nada with quick successive simple head-butt attacks. This tactic will not always work but if you manage to chain 2 head butt attacks in a row without him blocking them, then it's very likely he will not be blocking them at all.

With Kishin-Nada defeated for good, Harima-Nada has just consagrated himself as the greatest Yokozuna to have ever existed! His record of 70 consecutive wins will become an inspiration for all the new sumo wrestlers for generations to come!!

Ah Great Conclusion

Unfortunately the game is not without it's flaws, and perhaps the more relevant one lies in the graphics department. While the actual game graphics are very decent, the problem is that there just not enough variety. All characters including Harima-Nada have only one winning pose which gets really tiresome after a while. Characters also share basically the same move list and some of them are only palette swaps of the same character model. But undoubtedly the biggest drawback is that there's only one arena in the whole game, and which is something that was acceptable for the low graphical standards of early 80's fighting/wrestling arcade games, but inexcusable for a 1993 game on a 16-bit console system. So when one takes into account that Ah Harima-Nada is a 16 megabit game, the lack of graphical variety certainly comes as a huge disappointment.

The sound effects also suffer from the same lack of variety than the graphics, so the few voice samples present in the game (including Harima's voice) are also shared by all characters. Fortunately the sound is saved by a truly awesome original soundtrack that mixes the cool sounds of the traditional Japanese taiko drums with more modern catchy upbeat tunes. So if you're a fan of traditional Japanese music, then you will certainly love the soundtrack of this game.

Ah Harima-Nada is certainly not a game that can be recommended to everybody, and I doubt there's that many people outside of Japan (if at all) that know or are fans of the source material. But the good news for those interested in the game is that nowadays the complete Mega Drive cartridge retails only for around the 2,000 Yen price range (around US$20 or €14), and it isn't particularly hard to find.

~ OMAKE ~

Clearing the game on the Hard difficulty setting will unlock a hilarious hidden animation showing Harima and two other sumo wrestlers dancing together to the sound of「Harima's First Excersices」.

The song Harima's First Exercises is also featured in the music CDs「SEGA-CON Vol.1」and「SEGAROCKS Live In Japan」.

Game Passwords

8 wins「うぬっ！にしきさとは、どこだ！」

15 wins「うぬっ！りゅううんは、どこだ！」

23 wins「うぬっ！すさのおを、よべ！」

30 wins「うぬっ！げんかいを、よべ！」

38 wins「うぬっ！りゅううんだ！」

45 wins「うぬっ！みのわうみだ！」

53 wins「うぬっ！ふがく、おまえだ！」

60 wins「うぬっ！はくほう、おまえだ！」

68 wins「うぬっ！たちかぜ！！」

Cut-Scene Selection「えがみたいよ」

Harima's First Excersices「たいそうしようよ」

Omake mini-games「かるたやりたい」

▲This password will let you play a bunch of quiz and card matching mini-games with the character portraits.

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!

PSYCHIC 5

■ Original Title: サイキック５
■ Publisher: Jaleco
■ Developer: NMK
■ Release Date: 1987
■ System Specific: Arcade
■ Genre: Action
■ # of Players: 1 Player Only

Video game company NMK (Nihon Maicom Kaihatsu) was certainly among the best「low-profile」dedicated arcade developers of their time. Founded by the former Tehkan Ltd. (now TECMO Ltd.) staffers that developed the arcade cla$$ic「Bomb Jack」, NMK was established in 1985 and remained active until 1996, leaving behind a selected but diverse library of high-quality games. Throughout most of their active years NMK worked principally as a subcontractor under more prominent game companies, and this unfortunately prevented many of their best games to become associated with the NMK brand name. It was really only after the company filled for bankruptcy in 1999 that NMK truly began to get their much overdue and deserved fan appraisal.

I have already covered in this blog the excellent「Super Dimension Fortress Macross」games that NMK developed for BANPRESTO, and this should give a hint about the quality of NMK as a game developer. But other notable NMK releases include game titles such as 「Thunder Dragon I & II」,「Task Force Harrier」(UPL),「Butasan」(JALECO),「Bomb Jack Twin」,「Operation Ragnarok」(SNK) and「Makai Densetsu」(JALECO). But perhaps their finest work ever was the game that rose them to prominence in the first place: The 1987 hidden masterpiece Psychic 5!

※ABOUT PSYCHIC 5

Psychic 5 is a multi-directional scrolling action game of a very unusual and novel design for it's late 80's release date. The game became notable for its deep gameplay mechanics and complex scoring system that were unparalleled in comparison with any other contemporary arcade game of the period. And while the game never became a smash hit, nor it earned NMK much fan appraisal at the time as it did to its publisher JALECO. Nowadays Psychic 5 has become a respected「cult」game and a testament of NMK as a game developer.

Psychic 5 can only be described as an unique「out of the box」type of game that gave a new twist to the simplistic and otherwise common game tasks of collecting items and getting a high score, handling them in a very unorthodox and distinctive manner that was real innovative for a 1987 game. The single player team based gameplay mechanics were also unconventional at the time, specially for an arcade action game. In fact Psychic 5 was released the same year that Nihon Falcom released their cla$ic title「Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family」, which was another game that became notable for its team based gameplay mechanics (although they weren't implemented as seamlessly or as intuitive as in Psychic 5). The influence of Bomb Jack can also be seen in Psychic 5 as the action is mainly handled vertically, instead of horizontally as it's the norm of 2D side-scrolling action games.

So NMK implemented PC game level gameplay mechanics into Psychic 5, but since Psychic 5 is an arcade game it could not be as demanding as a PC game, and this is perhaps where NMK's brilliant programming really shines. Psychic 5 is designed in a way that the player is not required to fully understand or even make use of the scoring system to enjoy and complete the game. However, players that understand and take advantage of the game's unique gameplay mechanics will undoubtedly find Pyshic 5 more enjoyable, rewarding and even more challenging!

※ GAME OBJECT ※

In Psychic 5 the player commands a group of five different individuals with ESP powers properly named「ESPERS」. The player must take advantage of the special attributes of each ESPER to traverse the 8 maze-like game stages called「Scenes」with the ultimate goal of defeating the Devil King「SATAN」who will be waiting in his throne at the end of each Scene. At the beginning the player will only have access to the two default ESPERS AOKI and AKIKO, while the rest of the characters must be rescued throughout the adventure before they can become playable. The player must also complete each Scene under a 2 minute time limit, and failing to do so will result in the loss of a player life. However the player can obtain valuable extra time through special items or by reaching the various check point barriers located in every area. Something unique to Psychic 5 is that the player will always get an extra life from defeating the Scene boss SATAN.

【 HOW TO PLAY 】

■ 8-way Joystick ... Handles character movement
■ A Button ... Jump
■ B Button ... Attack

Special Controls

■ Joystick up + A Button ... High Jump
■ Joystick up (hold) after jumping ... Hover
■ Joystick down after jumpng ... Quick Drop

【 Commanding the Psycho Soldiers !! 】

※Character Ability

All of the five playable ESPERS have their own set of special attributes that makes them different from each other. Knowing how to make the best use of the unique abilities of each ESPER is the key to succeed in the game. Besides the four main character abilities explained below, there are two other relevant character attribute which are not listed:「SIZE」and「SPEED」. The character's size is actually a very relevant attribute in Psychic 5. Characters with a small size will be less likely to get hit by the enemy or by the various hazardous contraptions found in the game. Small characters will also be able to move through the narrow areas no one else can.

JUMP ... Determines how high the character can jump. Only characters with a high enough jump ability will be able to reach the higher areas that may be necessary to continue exploring the area.

HOVER ... This ability determines how long can the character remain airborne after jumping.

POWER ... This is the more specialized ability and it determines how proficient the character is at throwing down the locked doors that will be blocking the way throughout the game. Characters with a low power ability will take longer to push down the doors and this can result in a serious time loss for the player.

ATTACK ... Determines the amount of damage the character can inflict on the enemy.

※Character Description

It is very likely that the inspiration for the design of the five ESPERS is based on the popular teenage detective club novesl, in which teenagers of all physical and social types despite their differences join together to form a club and solve mysteries.

NAOKI ... The baseball cap-wearing rascal and leader of the gang. Naoki is the overall best balanced team member and the ideal choice to start any Scene.

AKIKO ... The only female team member. Little AKIKO is the smallest character of the group and this gives her a lot of advantages. Her high hovering ability also makes her good boss killer alternative and an excellent character for exploring. But most notably AKIKO has perhaps the highest hidden potential of the group. Under the effect of the「P」 item (MAX ATTACK ability), AKIKO can become the deadliest and more efficient team member.

BUNTA ... The obliged overweight (and probably rich) team member. At the beginning BUNTA will be the natural enemy and boss killer of the group, as thanks to his high attack ability he will be able to defeat SATAN with just three hits. BUNTA also has the highest power ability of the group, which means he can throw down locked doors like domino chips saving up a lot of valuable time. Unfortunately his low jump ability makes him unable to reach higher areas, and thus an unfit character for exploring.

MAKOTO ... The obliged intelligent and geeky team member. MAKOTO is the tallest character in the game and this makes him very susceptible to get hit by the enemy or get crush by the moving platforms. MAKOTO does have the highest jump ability of the group and is also the fastest character, but in reality that does little to compensate for the many downsides of his big size.

GENZHO ... The trademark grampa character. GENZHO is a very interesting character to use as he has the highest hovering ability and his Psycho Wand is the most powerful weapon in the game So once you've rescued him, he can replace BUNTA as the boss killer team member. His only real drawback is his awfully low power ability, so don't waste time trying to push any doors with him.

【 TECHNIQUE 】

Psychic 5 has many diverse and fun gameplay mechanics. Use the following special techniques to help you beat the game!

The Psycho Hammer

ESPERS can use their psycho hammers to attack the enemy. If an ESPER is not strong enough to defeat an enemy in a single strike then they will stun it instead and render it harmless for a couple of seconds. When the enemy is stunned it becomes possible to walk through them without the risk of getting hurt.

Rescue your companions!!

The Devil King SATAN has trapped your companions inside various magic jars and scattered them all over the different game areas. Remember to be always on the look out for any trapped companions so you can add their strenght to your team.

Use the Telephone Booths!!

You can swap team members at the telephone booths that will be located at various convenient spots in every Scene. Make good use of them and pick the right ESPER to deal with the task at hand.

Check Point?

Check point barriers will add 30 valuable seconds to your time limit. Pay special attention to the「ON」sign as some barriers can only be accessed from one side.

Keep-A-Knockin'

Throughout the adventure you will come across various locked doors which cannot be opened and the only way to advance further will be to throw them down by moving and holding the joystick in the direction of the door. But just how fast can an ESPER complete this process will depend on his/her POWER ability.

Don't step on the scale models!!

These annoying scale model houses can slowdown your walking speed by half and also prevent you from jumping (so you don't break them I guess?). Make sure to avoid walking through them easily by using your hovering ability.

Who turned off the lights!?

Touching the「SW」light switch will turn off the lights and you will be unable to see the background for a few seconds. It will also disable any flames in the are, which can be used to your advantage.

Smack the Witch!!

The Devil King SATAN has sent the evil witch ZARA to spy on you! So if you have the chance smack her with your hammer and steal her broom! Riding the broom has the same effect than the TIME STOP item but with the added advantages of flying and invisibility. Furthermore you will be able to throw down locked doors with a single strike and even use telephone booths!

A Question of Time!!

Remember that you're in a race against time so try to not dilly-dally around! There are various ways to gain extra time like special items, reaching the check point barriers and riding the witch broom.

Breaking the food bowls for points and items !!

You can break the many bowls laying around the area for food items that can be collected for bonus points. Collecting food items will also award you with various random「special items」that will be placed automatically in the 5 slot item panel located on the top of the screen.

Unlocking the secrets of the boxes !!

There are two types of items that can be obtained from the「 ? 」boxes:「default」and「random」. Default items never change and can always be found on the same「 ? 」box. Random type items on the other hand can only be obtained by collecting the food items from bowls. Only one item can be on screen at once. If you break another box the other item will disappear.

To make use of the items stored in the item panel you must break an「 ? 」box when the desired item becomes highlighted by the yellow square.

One last important fact about items from「 ? 」boxes is that only one of them can be on screen at once, so breaking any other「 ? 」 box will make the last item disappear. This applies to even special items so don't forget it!

※ITEM LIST

Collect the 5 letters and get an EXTRA LIFE!

POWER UP!! (Doubles character's Attack)

TIME UP!! (40+ Seconds)

TIME STOP!! (Stops time and freezes enemy movement for a limited time)

You can gain double the score points

※Default only items:

100 PTS

2000 / 4000 PTS

【 HOW TO SCORE BIG TIME 】

Getting a「HIGH SCORE」was something that was becoming gradually less and less relevant in the side-scrolling action games of the late '80s, and always on a far second plane to completing the game. Fortunately Psychic 5 revitalizes this old gaming practice by giving it more depth and some actual extra challenge, thus making the whole score-getting process more rewarding and fun.

These are the various types of score bonuses that can be obtained in Psychic 5 and how to get them:

TIME BONUS !

This is the simpliest and most basic type of bonus. Basically when you clear a Scene you will get 100 PTS for every reming second you have left. NOTE: for the purpose of this bonus, one minute「1:00 」will count as 100 seconds.

ENEMY BONUS !

Defeating any type of normal enemy will give you 1000 PTS, but you can gain an additional 500 PTS bonus for any spawned lesser enemies that remain on screen when their parent enemy is defeated.

100% BONUS !

You can earn this bonus by collecting all food items of the same type in a Scene. This bonus is worth 5000 PTS per completed food set.

ALL 100% BONUS !

This bonus can be obtained by breaking all the bowls and collecting all the food items in a Scene without missing a single one. This bonus is worth 10000 PTS「 multiplied by the Scene number」.

ALL GOLD BONUS !

This is the more complicated bonus to get but also the more rewarding. Basically, this bonus requires that you obtain all of the possible bonus points from collecting all of the food items in a Scene, which can only be done with the help of a special「Chain Bonus」. Normally getting a 100% Item Bonus will award you with 5000 PTS for any completed food set. However, by collecting the same type of food item in a row you can start a score chain bonus that will give you an extra 100 PTS per item. If you can manage to keep up with the score chain until you complete the set, then you will earn a 100%「M」agical Bonus that is worth 10000 PTS instead of the regular 5000 PTS. Do this with all of the food items in a Scene and you will earn the mythical All Gold Bonus which is worth 50000 PTS multiplied by the Scene number.

Collecting the same type of food item in a row sounds like something very simple to do right? WRONG!! there's actually a trick to it and it's very important so pay attention!

When you break a bowl, the food item inside will be the same than in the previous bowl「if you don't use your hammer anywhere in between after you hit the first bowl and before the second」. If you do though, the item in the next bowl will「shift」to the next one in the list. However, by continuing to use the hammer, the「item rotation」can make it possible to bring the first item back again, and this basically will prevent your score chain from breaking. For example; the first Scene has 4 types of food items: sushi/egg/soup/rice. So if you swing your hammer 4/8/12/16 times after breaking the「first」bowl, you will find the same item on the second one. This remains true unless you have already completed a set. If that's the case, you should swing your hammer 3/6/9/12 times to find the item twice.

In case you didn't noticed, the item rotation for each Scene can be figured out by multiplying the number of your desired item on the Scene food list with the total number of different items in the Scene. For example; on a Scene with 5 food items, you would need to swing your hammer 5/10/15/20/25 times to find your desired item again.

MAGICAL BONUS !

Not all magic jars will have an ESPER trapped inside. If you fail to meet certain *hidden* game requirements, or if you have rescued all characters already, then instead you will find a「M」Mark item inside. You can collect up to 5 magical for an amazing 1000000 PTS bonus!!

【 SECRETS 】

A game like Psychic 5 wouldn't be complete without at least a couple of secrets to further add up to the gameplay enjoyment.

SECRET BONUS !

Every Scene in the game has a hidden「Gold Icon」trapped inside a regular looking「 ? 」box. But of course this wouldn't be a secret bonus if you could obtain it by simply by smashing all the「 ? 」boxes in a Scene right? So the only way to collect this unique bonus will be to break the right「 ? 」box when the thousands digit of your score fits the number of your currently collected secret bonuses. For example: To get your first secret bonus the thousands digit of your score must be「0」like in「10048」. To get the second secret bonus your score can be「181300」, for your third「152200」and so on. Only the thousands digit of your score counts, don't forget it.

Currently I have managed to discover 6 out of the 8 possible secret bonuses in the game. You can click on a Scene to check their location.

SCENE 1 ~ SCENE 2 ~ SCENE 3 ~ SCENE 4

SCENE 5 ~ SCENE 6 ~ SCENE 7 ~ SCENE 8

GET ESPERS SOONER !

This is where getting the All Gold Bonus (at least in Scene 1) shows its real reward. Normally you will get MAKOTO in Scene 3 and GENZHO in Scene 5, but you can actually get them sooner by doing the following:

If you get the ALL Gold Bonus in Scene 1 then you will find MAKOTO in the magc jar of Scene 2 (otherwise you will find a Magical Bonus in it).

If you get MAKOTO in Scene 2 and get the Secret Bonus of Scene 3, then you will find GENZHO in Scene 3. However if you fail to meet any of these requirement you can still get Genzho in Scene 4 by getting the All Gold Bonus in Scene 3.

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!

サスケＶＳコマンダー
SASUKE VS COMMANDER

Original Title: サスケＶＳコマンダー
Publisher: SNK
Release Date: 1980
System Specific: Arcade
Media: Arcade system board
Genre: Shooting
# of Players: 2-Player Alternated Play
Rating: ★★★★★★★

Everyone knows of SNK (Shin Nihon Kikaku) thanks to their popular NEO*GEO game series like 「Garou Densetsu」,「The King of Fighters」and「Metal Slug」, among other successful SNK trademark game franchises. Older or more dedictated gamers may even know or remember some of their pre NEO*GEO productions like「Prisioners of War」and「Prehistoric Isle」. However, only very few people outside of Japan would know about「Sasuke vs. Commander」 a 1980 shooting game responsible for establishing the company's reputation in Japan.

ORIGINAL GAME DESCRIPTION

"SASUKE! Protect my life from NINJA."
Go to kill them all! "Yes, SHOGUN"

This is a furious battle game between SASUKE and commanders. The scene is laid in the beautiful city of KYOTO. A great number of commanders are attacking SASUKE with their magics, such as HENSHIN, BUNSHIN, KAEN and HIRYUKEN. All players should find this game the newest one with many characters and varied sound.

HOW TO PLAY

2-way joystick ... Handles SASUKE
A Button ... SHURIKEN

Sasuke vs. Commander is a simplistic shooting game of the fixed screen type very similar to the 1979 NAMCO game「GALAXIAN」. Your goal in the game is to shoot down the ninja commanders that will be flying down the screen at top speed. The ninjas will attack Sasuke with their shurikens, but they can be destroyed with your own shurikens. Any ninjas that you fail to defeat in time will vanish from the screen after completing their flight.

After all ninjas have been defeated the ninja boss or「OYABUN」will appear to challenge Sasuke. The boss will use various special techniques to attack Sasuke. The type of attack will change or become increasingly more powerful as the game progresses. During boss battles a「Magic Bonus」bar will appear at the bottom of the screen. The bar represents the amount of bonus points that can be obtained from the fight, and it will gradually decrease as time advances. After the boss fight Sasuke will continue to the next round and his attack power will increase by one level.

CHARACTERS

Sasuke

Red Ninja (40 PTS) Green Ninja (80 PTS)

Ninja BOSS (odd number stage)

Ninja BOSS (even number stage)

STAGE OVERVIEW

Sasuke vs. Commander features only two game screens. The first one is the beautiful scenery of Kyoto with the five-story pagoda and the traditional Daimonji sign burning on the mountain. Here you must protect the life of the Shogun and repel the attack of the ninja commanders. First you will be attacked by a group of red ninjas who will serve as the basic enemy unit of the game. After the red ninjas are defeated a new group of elite green ninjas will appear on the screen. Green ninjas fly in group formations and attack more often than their red comrades.

When the ninja commanders get hit by your shurikens they will turn purple and slowly fall down to the ground. Falling commanders will be your biggest threat since they cannot be destroyed by your shurikens. So be careful when shooting a commander, if they are too close to Sasuke it may be better to just let them pass.

Once all ninjas are defeated the boss will appear to challenge Sasuke to a duel. Here we will go to the second game screen which is a plain-looking mountain side. There are two type of bosses in the game that will be alternating themselves every stage. Boss fights are a single hit affair, so the first one to hit his opponent wins. If you win you will get bonus points accordingly to how fast you won the fight. However if the boss wins you will lose a life and receive no bonus points. Moreover the boss will summon the red and green ninjas so they can mock Sasuke together. (^^;;

After every boss battle regardless of the outcome, Sasuke's attack power will increase one level. This is very helpful because the enemy's speed and aggressiveness will be increasing considerably after every round. It is also worth mentioning that while the gradual increase of difficulty was very common, if not a gameplay standard of the arcade games of the period. not many games actually did something to balance the situation in favour of the player. So this gameplay tweak must have come as a nice change for the Japanese players of the time.

When all of the player's lives are lost, the game over screen will come up where we will get to see Sasuke trip on a rock and die... such a tragic and ironic ending for our hero...

Similar to the majority of games from the period Sasuke vs. Commander doesn't feature an ending nor it has any type of continue option. The only motivation for the player is to survive the longest time possible to get the highest score. However back then this was all the motivation gamers needed to have fun playing video games.

Sasuke vs. Commander is what all arcade gamers were playing after school in Japan in 1980. While the game may come as rudimentary or plain archaic for nowadays standards. Back in 1980 Sasuke vs. Commander was a very novel game for it's time since it implemented gameplay concepts like boss fights and attack power upgrades that weren't still mainstream in video games.

Sasuke vs. Commander still remains one of most fondly remembered retro arcade games in Japan where the game is considered a cla$$ic. Unfortunately Sasuke vs. Commander was never released outside or Japan nor it was ever ported to any home gaming system, and this pretty much prevented it from ever gaining notoriety outside of Japan. Fortunately its success in Japan was more than enough to establish SNK as a noteworthy gaming developer.

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!

■ Original Title: アレスタ
■ Publisher: Compile
■ Release Date: 07/23/1988
■ System Specific: MSX2
■ Number of Players: 1
■ Genre: Shooting
■ Rating: ★★★★★★★★

Released as a 2 Megabit (MSX-Music) Mega ROM cartridge for the MSX2 computer system. ALESTE impressed the entire MSX community upon it's original release as it was the fastest and smoothest scrolling game yet seen on the MSX2. ALESTE featured a 2.4 screen (480 dots) scrolling at top speed 1 second. This was labeled back then as「Hyper Scrolling」and it was believed to be impossible to do on the MSX2. However, in contrast with it's impressive high-speed scrolling capabilities, ALESTE could only display the awfully low amount of 32 sprites simultaneously on screen, and this unfortunately resulted in some heavy flickering issues when too many enemies show up on screen.

ALESTE is in reality the direct continuation of the groundbreaking shooter「ZANAC」that Compile developed for Pony Canyon in 1986. ALESTE was originally meant to be an official sequel to ZANAC, but ultimately this did not happen since Pony Canyon was the copyright owner of the Zanac franchise. Eventually (according to the "official" fan rumour) Compile's director and producer Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani decided on the name「ALESTE」after reading about the Lightning Arrester device in an electronic magazine.

COMPUTER ALERT!!

A.D. 2019. Earth's environment maintenance computer「DIA51」has become infected with a mysterious virus that corrupted all its data. The virus gave birth to a new type of mutant flora that quickly spread fast across all of Earth's surface, bursting through mankind's concrete, fabricated world. Soon afterwards DIA51 takes total control over Earth's main defense systems and begins to use them against the human population.

Yuri Lennox, one of the scientists working with DIA51, and girlfriend of the test pilot Raymond Waizen was seriously injured during the initial attack. Angered by this, Ray promises to destroy DIA51 as she carries Yuri to the emergency operation room. Piloting Earth's latest and most powerful fighter plane: The AF-68030 "ALESTE". Ray Waizen makes an emergency take off determined to destroy the enemy!

Game Content

Game Controls:

MSX Keyboard

Arrow Keys ... ALESTE movement control
SHIFT ... Main-Cannon
Z ... Secondary Weapon "ARM"
SPACE ... Fires the main-cannon and ARM weapons simultaneously
STOP ... Pause

Joystick / Pad Controller

Joystick / Pad ... ALESTE movement control
A Button ... Main-Cannon
B Button ... Secondary Weapon "ARM"

ALESTE refined the original gameplay mechanics that Compile developed for ZANAC. Surprisingly enough, even though ZANAC was released two years before ALESTE its gameplay system was still the deepest and more developed one of any shooting game, and which really says something about the significance of Compile in the evolution of the shooting genre. Specially if we take into account that shooting was the hegemonic video game genre of the '80s.

Power-up System

ALESTE's main cannon can be upgraded by collecting the「Power Chips」that can be detached from the Box Master units (also known as "P Carriers") that periodically will descend from the top of the screen in a line formation. As the main cannon's power level is upgraded, the number of bullets fired from the ship as well as their speed increases.

ALESTE can also equip a specialty weapon called "ARM" that is separate from the main cannon. There are eight different types of ARM weapons, each represented by differently-numbered power-chips. You can change the type of ARM weapon equipped by collecting a differently-numbered power-chip or you can upgrade your current ARM by collecting another power chip of the same number. ARM weapons can be upgraded up to three times increasing their power and efficiency with each level gained. ARM weapons also have a limited amount of ammunition that will decrease gradually as the weapon is fired. If the ARM ammunition runs out, that weapon will be lost regardless of its current power level. You will also lose all accumulated weapon power if you lose a life.

Immediately after collecting any power chip ALESTE will start to blink and become invincible for a couple of seconds. You should take advantage of this at any chance you can to avoid getting hit by the enemy.

Game Balance

ALESTE features an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) controlled adaptive difficulty setting called the「A.L.C. (Auto Level Control) System」. The A.L.C. automatically adjusts the game's difficulty level according to the player's skill level and rate of fire. Basically, the game increases the difficulty for experts but decreases it for inexperienced players. For instance, shooting the main cannon frequently, collecting power-ups, and failing to destroy the boss enemies within the specified time limit makes the A.L.C. more aggressive, resulting in a greater number of tougher enemies appearing on screen. However, actions such as losing lives, starting a new level, or running out of ARM ammunition decrease the A.L.C. aggressiveness, resulting in fewer on-screen enemies.

STAGE 1: NIGHT OF CITY

BOSS: INFECTED SKYSCRAPER

ALESTE follows the level design of ZANAC very closely. Once again all of the stage bosses in the game will be stationary fortresses consisting entirely of ground turrets or cores. The stationary fortresses are also the predominant type mid-boss enemies, so expect to fight a lot of them throughout the game. Boss battles also have a pre-set time limit and you must defeat the enemy within the time limit to score bonus points. However, failing to destroy the boss in time will make it fade away, leaving you with no other choice than to continue onward with your head down in shame knowing that your skill level is so poor that you bored the enemy into letting you through...

STAGE 6: HYPER SHOOTING

The notorious sixth stage that was missing from the Mark III version. This stage is the only one in the game without a boss, so all you have to do is survive the enemy ambush for a while. STAGE 6 is also the shortest of the regular stages and it scrolls at a noticeable slower pace (most likely to cover for its short length). Overall, this stage doesn't seem to fit with the general look of the game (although the stage itself looks very good), and it also feels somewhat 'incomplete' and more like an afterthought. This can lead to believe that it probably was added very late into production and hence why it was missing in the Mark III version.

STAGE 8: FINAL SHOOTING

BOSS: DIA51 CORE

Despite the fact that most of the late stages are very long and filled to brim with seemingly never ending waves of enemies, ALESTE is not really a difficult game to complete. The game is very generous with the high score bonus 1UPs, so you will be getting extra lives frequently. The enemy bullets also don't move very fast and your ARM weapons are capable of destroying all of them even at their starting level. A fully powered-up ALESTE with a Lv.3 ARM is pretty much unstoppable, although the A.L.C. System and the limited ARM ammo do serve as a good counter balance.

SEGA MARK III EDITION

■ Original Title: アレスタ
■ Publisher: SEGA (Licensed by Compile)
■ Release Date: 02/29/1988
■ System Specific: SEGA Mark-III / Master System
■ Number of Players: 1
■ Genre: Shooting
■ Rating: ★★★★★★★★

The Mark-III / Master System version of ALESTE was released nearly 5 months before the MSX2 edition and was also produced by Moo Niitani.

ALESTE was released as a 1 Megabit (FM Sound) Gold Cartridge in Japan, while in Europe and North America it was localized as「Power Strike」. In North America, Power Strike was distributed in limited quantities by Tonka Corp. and wasn't only sold through a special mail offer.

STAGE 2: GREENSIDE SHOOTING

BOSS: GROUND CORE

ALESTE on the Mark III follows a slightly different storyline and lacks the anime cut-scenes from the MSX2 edition. It also features only 6 stages against the 8 found in the MSX2 game. It's still not clear however if the missing content was actually removed for the Mark III version or if it was implemented later for the MSX2 edition. All indications point that the extra content was indeed added later, or just didn't make it in time for the Mark III release, however there is no official word about it.

STAGE 7: INFILTRATION

BOSS: DIA51 DEFENSE SYSTEM

ALESTE scrolls super smoothly on the Mark-III and features minimal flickering and slowdown, which is something that plagues the MSX2 version. The game seems to have less on-screen enemies on the Mark III than on the MSX2, however because of the faster gameplay and other game balance differences like the less amount of item carries and default ARM ammo, ALESTE is noticeably harder on the Mark III. Something that is particularly annoying about the Mark III version though, is that all of the numbered power chips will move towards the top of the screen two times faster than on the MSX2. So if you shoot an item dome or carrier that is already around the top part of the screen, it's very likely you won't be able to pick up the item.

STAGE 0: UNKNOWN ZONE

BOSS: GROUND CORE

To play the bonus "STAGE 0" You must complete the game and then choose CONTINUE from the main menu. STAGE 0 is the fastest scrolling stage in the game, but unfortunately it's also the shortest one. STAGE 0 is playable in both versions.

SOUND TEST

Both game versions feature a hidden sound test menu. To access it input the following codes:

Mark III

At title screen, push UP, DOWN, UP, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN, RIGHT, UP, and psuh the [A] Button.

MSX2

During the game introduction push the [S] [T] and [SPACE] keys and you will acess the sound test from the title menu.

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!

Tenchi wo Kurau

Original Title:「天地を喰らう」
Release Date: 06/17/1994
Publisher: Nec Avenue (licensed by Capcom)
System: PC-Engine「Super CD-ROM²」system
Genre: Action

The PC-Engine conversion of the 1989 arcade game「Tenchi wo Kurau」by Capcom. The game, whose title translates as "Devour the Heaven and Earth" is based on the four volume manga series of the same name by Hiroshi Motomiya. The manga itself is an adaptation of the traditional Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Story

"When power centralizes for too long, it always splits.

However, disrupted power is doomed to be reunited"

It has been 400 years since Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, established the country. However, the Han Dynasty was about to face their biggest challenge... The Yellow Turban Rebellion. Under the leadership of the sorcerer Zhang Jiao, the rebellious taoist sect known as The Yellow Turbans have unleashed "The Way of Heaven" a military campaign against the Han Empire. Instigating the general population to revolt against the Han Dynasty, the rebels have captured or set ablaze most of the provinces in northern China.

"We swear we will die together as brothers even though we were born separately"

It was during this time of turmoil that the warrior Liu Bei, descendant of Empeor Jing of the Han Dynasty, called to raise a volunteer army that would crush the rebellion. Obtaining the financial backing for his army from two wealthy horse merchants, Liu Bei was able to gain the loyal support of the legendary Chinese generals Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, as well as that of the promising young warrior Zhao Yun. Swearing to be brothers until the yellow turbans lie completely defeated. The four legendary heroes riding on horseback from the Three Kingdoms period rode off to put an end to the yellow turban rebellion, and thus forever engraving their names in history.

Game Contents

Controls:

Control Pad .... Character Movement
I Button .... Right Attack
II Button .... Left Attack
Run Button ... Mega Crash
Select Button ... Pause

Originally released on the arcades in 1989. Tenchi wo Kurau (released overseas as「Dynasty Wars」) distinguished itself from other games in the genre thanks to its horseback fighting mechanics, as well as for the large amount of enemies the player had to face on screen at once. Together these two features gave the game a more genuine 'warfare' feeling in accordance with its historical setting.

The PC-Engine edition of Tenchi wo Kurau features two modes of play:「PC-Engine」and「Arcade」. However both modes are exactly the same in terms of content, and the only (rather lackluster) difference between them is that the PC-Engine mode lets you resurrect up to 2 times if your vitality gets to 0 while the Arcade mode will have you restarting from the beginning of the round. In the same manner the game has both PC-Engine and Arcade 'voice modes' with the default PC-Engine mode featuring new and improved voice overs.

As it was to be expected NEC Avenue had to make some concessions in order to accomodate a CPS-1 game on the more technically limited PC-Engine. Although I'm convinced that NEC Avenue could have done a much better job in handling the translation (alongside their follow-up release of Strider Hiryu).

Unlike the arcade game which featured simultaneous 2-player action, the PC-Engine edition is strictly a single player affair. The original graphical detail was also toned down considerably and the amount of enemy units that can be on screen at the same time has been reduced by 10% (probably to avoid slowdown issues). In spite of the general quality downgrade tough, and aside from some annoying flickering issues. Tenchi wo Kurau managed to retain the charming look and atmosphere of its parent arcade game. This unlike Strider Hiryu which was a total disaster (worse even since it was an「Arcade CD-ROM²」release). A very regrettable loss however was the removal of the tactical attacks that were present in the arcade game:

In the original arcade version the player could perform 4 different special attacks called "Tactics" at the expense of the character's own Hit Points. The type of tactical attack you could use would be dependant on the situation and type of terrain you were currently on. The "Ambush" tactic in particular would summon a companion to fight alongside the player for a limited amount of time. Unfortunately all of the tactical attacks were removed and replaced only with the Capcom trademark "Mega Crash" power move, which this time around is a cheap-looking flash of light that can instantly wipe out any minor enemies on screen. On the arcade version the Mega Crash was only the 'free' attack you would get by continuing the game. However in this version the attack is substantially more powerful and will consume your character's HP.

Fortunately Nec Avenue compensated the loss of the tactical attacks by bringing over the「Meteor Strike」special attack from Tenchi wo Kurau II into this version. Just like in the sequel, the Meteor Strike can be performed by continuously tapping any of the attack buttons.

Playable Characters

The character selection screen. All of the four heroes have different initial「Attack Power」and「Vitality」attributes.

Liu Bei 劉備

The leader of the three brothers. He has the lowest attack power but the highest HP. His weapon is the broad sword.

Guan Yu 関羽

Despite his big size and rough looks, this great general is as educated as he is well-mannered. He has both high attack power and HP. His weapon is the guan dao.

Zhang Fei 張飛

This brave warrior desires nothing more than to be in the battlefield slaying enemies with his snake halberd. Reckless in battle with a tendency to disregard his own safety. Zhang Fei suffers from having the lowest HP among his comrades. In contrast he has the highest attack power of the group, surpassing even Guan Yu in raw strength.

Zhao Yun 趙雲

A courageous and fearless young warrior. He has moderate attack power and high HP. His weapon of choice is the spear.

One of the best aspects of Tenchi wo Kurau is its excellent anime artwork which fortunately remains intact on the PC-Engine. The character portraits specially are nicely animated with the facial expression of each character changing accordingly to your performance in the game.

The normal "cool" character expression → Holding down the attack button gradually increases the power gauge「Grrrrーーー！！」→「Kyahー！」Release the attack button to unleash the powerful「Vacuum Strike」attack. The character portrait then changes to reflect the fury of the attack.

Round 1: Your campaign starts in the province of Xingyang. Don't expect to find much opposition on your way to the enemy encampment since all the rebels in the area are nothing more than pushovers. At the enemy camp you will be challenged by the yellow turban Generals Cheng Yuanzhi and Deng Mao. They aren't particularly strong nor they have any special attacks, so they should be no match for you.

「I Have Slain The Enemy General～」Every time you complete a round an intermission picture will be showing up, often showcasing the final blow delivered to the boss.

Clearing a round and collecting the Yellow Orbs will earn you valuable experience points that will be used towards leveling up your character and increase your vitality. Kongming your tactical advisor will be notifying you whenever you happen to level up in the field. In the arcade version Kongming would also show up to remind you when you were about to run out of time. However that doesn't apply in this version since it's not possible to run out of time.

You can also level up your weapon and increase your attack power by collecting 3 Blue Orbs (the last Blue Orb will not actually show up, instead the next Lv. weapon icon will appear in its place).

Round 2: You will be facing a bigger enemy resistance on your boat trip to Tianshui. On the outskirts of the city you will meet Zhang Jiao's younger brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang. However the cowards will run away as soon as they feel their own lives threatened. As you chase after them you will be amubushed by the 'Big Men Brigade'.

The Zhang Brothers don't seem to be intimidated by your advances. They even challenge you to a decisive battle at the Tong Pass.

Round 3: You will finally come face to face with the false sorcerer himself. Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang will be arriving shortly to back up their brother, so get ready for a tough fight.

The death of Zhang Jiao marks the end of the yellow turban rebellion. However...

Profiting from the general turmoil caused by the rebellion. The renown General Dong Zhuo and his adoptive son Lü Bu have staged a coup d'état against the Han Dynasty. So while one rebellion has been suppressed, another has just begun... The threat to the country is still far from over...

つづく。。。

Tenchi wo Kurau

「...It's not over yet...!」Each charcter features his own Game Over screen.

In comparison with the arcade game, the PC-Engine edition has a noticeably easier difficulty level. The enemy bosses in particular are nowhere near as fierce as they were in the arcade (perhaps depriving you of your valuable coins incentivated them more?). Because of overall easy difficulty level, the lack of a selectable difficulty setting certainly comes as regrettable.

Round 4: From now on you will be at war with a new rebel faction led by the traitor Dong Zhuo. At the snowy Sishui Pass you will cross swords with General Hua Xiong. He has a very strong swing attack and a very good defense, so don't let your own guard down.

Round 5: The enemy Generals Li Jue and Gou Si will be trying to stop you from crossing the Hulao Pass. Li Jue will be the first one to challenge you, but with his weak attacks he won't be stopping you for long. Once at the gate Guo Si will make one last attempt at halting your progress. He has a strong middle range attack and a better defense than Li Jue, but in reality he won't be any more difficult to defeat.

Just as you are about to cross the Hulao Pass the feared Lü Bu will suddenly appear before you! Lü Bu is by much the strongest boss you have faced thus far and his attacks really powerful. Be specially careful about his「Sonic Boom」attack. You can get cut down to pieces with just a couple of hits.

Once Lü Bu gets a taste of your real strength he will throw his halberd at you and make his escape. However you get the feeling you will be meeting him again soon enough...

Round 6: Rumble in Luoyang City. First you will be fighting General Zhang Li throughout the city streets, but he will be retreating along the way only to ambush you later alongside General Xiahou Yuan. Both Generals will be using long range weapons to attack you, but it's their rush attack that you really need to be careful of.

Round 7: You're about to enter Chang'an where the palace of Dong Zhuo is located. From this point on the enemy troops will start fighting more viciously, so get ready for a long and hard fight. At the hanging bridge you will face General Xu Rong. He will be throwing axes at you in a Makai-Mura manner, but they can be easily destroyed with your weapon. Xu Rong will be the first enemy to drop the valuable「Red Food Bag」item that will completely restore your health. and you certainly will be needing it because immediately after crossing the bridge you will be challenged by the powerful sorcerer Li Rú, son-in-law of Dong Zhuo himself.

Li Rú has some powerful spells and other dirty tricks under his sleeve. Be really careful about his fire dragon and explosive grenades since those will be his most dangerous attacks.

Round 8: As soon as you enter the Eastern Chang'an area you will be greeted by two elite guardsmen. Their chain and spiked ball attacks are rather strong but they shouldn't be giving you too much trouble. Crossing the city gates you will suddenly feel an evil presence drawing near... The moment you have been waiting for ever since the battle at the Hulao Pass has finally arrived... Lü Bu has returned to settle matters with you once and for all!

Lü Bu will be a lot more dangerous this time around, often going berserk with his special attacks. Above all make sure not to stay in the same plane as him for too long or you certainly are going to get hurt. The support troops will make the fight more difficult but they will stop coming after a while. Keep this in mind as well.

「Although once again you were able to defeat the mighty Lü Bu. You can shake the feeling you haven't seen the last of him.」

The Big Men Brigade will be making their last stand near the entrance to the palace, but it's a bit too late for them to show up since by now they are little more than pushovers. Don't be relaxing just yet though, for a tough battle will be waiting for your afterwards.

Dong Zhuo's brother Dong Min is the only enemy General left and also the most powerful. But you have managed to slain one after another all of those like him who have stood in your way. Burning with determination, you know for certain you will be sending Dong Min to rejoin his comrades in hell.

With Dong Min dead, the rebel army is all but done for. All that's left now is Dong Zhuo.

Having lost all of his Generals the traitor Dong Zhuo will be attempting to flee the region! Unfortunately for him, he won't be getting far.

With nowhere left to run, Dong Zhuo has no other choice but to accept battle... and thus the decisive duel begins...!

The traitor Dong Zhuo has been slain. Along with him, his short-lived reign of terror has come to an end.

However...

The collapse of the Han dynasty and the death of Dong Zhuo have left a serious power vacuum in the country. With the government in disarray and chaos reigning the provinces. A mysterious character is about to stage his raise to power. It seems yet another war for supremacy is about to begin...

In the arcade game players were hyped with the announcement that Tenchi wo Kurau II was "Coming Out Soon". However 3 long years had to pass before the sequel was finally released. (Good thing Capcom said "soon" don't you think? or we might still be waiting for that sequel.)

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!

つづく。。。

Space Battleship Yamato

Original Title:「宇宙戦艦ヤマト」
Release Date: 12/22/1992
Publisher: Human
System: PC-Engine「Super CD-ROM」System
Genre: Simulation

Cinematic Simulation game Based on the cult cla$$ic TV anime series of the same name by renown manga & anime artist Leji Matsumoto. Space Battleship Yamato for the PC-Engine puts you in command of the legendary battleship and her crew during their unforgettable one-year journey to save Earth from and invading and seemingly unbeatable alien force. The series 26 episodes are translated into 9 different game scenarios where your leadership skills will determine if the Yamato manages to return to Earth triumphantly, or if it becomes forever lost among the sea of stars...

Story

In the year 2199, The Gamilas, a militarized alien race from a planet far outside our solar system, declared war on Earth. The Gamilas began bombarding Earth with radioactive planetary bombs. Although all of the world's nations untied to fight the alien invaders, all of Earth's Defense Forces throughout our solar system were defeated one after another...

The constant radioactive bombardment eventually rendered the Earth's surface uninhabitable. To survive, the people of the world had to move to underground cities, kilometers below the surface of the Earth. However... The deadly radioactivity is slowly infiltrating the underground cities, and if this continues, it is estimated that in only one year's time all life on Earth will become extinct. Meanwhile the last remnants of the Earth's Defense Forces make their last stand near planet Pluto, but are ultimately defeated...

When all seems to be lost, an unidentified space craft crashes on planet Mars. Outside the small ship, a beautiful young woman lies dead, and in her hand what appears to be an advanced type of data capsule is recovered. After being analyzed, the capsule is revealed to be a message from Queen Starsha of Iscandar, the twin and rival planet of Gamilas. It seems Queen Starsha has become aware of the Gamilas threat, and is offering Earth the「Cosmo-Cleaner-D」, a machine capable of cleansing the planet of its radiation damage. Included inside the capsule are also the blueprints for the「Wave Motion Engine」a technologically-advanced, faster-than-light engine, necessary to reach planet Iscandar as it is located 148,000 light years away from Earth.

With finally a ray of hope ahead, what's left of the Earth Defence Force decided to convert the ruins of the ancient Japanese battleship Yamato, a symbol of bravery and sacrifice, into Earth's ultimate space battleship and humanity's last hope of survival. With only a one year limit to travel 296,000 light years of distance, the Space Battleship Yamato sails for the stars...

Game Controls

Control Pad ... Moves cursor / Operates bridge controls
Button I ... Accept command
Button II ... Cancel command
Run Button ... Skips storyline cut-scenes
Select Button ... Not used

Given the rather simplistic packaging and the lack of gameplay info on the back cover, it can be difficult for anyone interested in the game to figure out on their own just what type of simulation game is Space Battle Ship Yamato, or if it's complex and difficult to play. Fortunately, the game is actually very simple to play, and thanks to it's low learning curve, (move and fire, that's all there is to it, really) it can be fully enjoyed even by players without a good notion of the Japanese language.

Inside the Bridge

Space Battleship Yamato is played from the point of view of the Captain Okita in the main bridge of the ship. The main screen panel will let you see both yours and the enemy's position in the area, and you will be able to see the enemies directly in front of you through the bridge window. The Yamato itself is controlled through the bridge operators with each member fulfilling a specific task in handling the ship. In this aspect, and in spite of the rather simplistic gameplay mechanics, Space Battleship Yamato succeeded in giving you the sensation that you're controlling the Yamato "realistically" from the bridge, just like in the anime series.

The most important crew members under you command will be Daisuke Shima the helmsman and Susumu Kodai the gunner. They are the only bridge operators with direct control over the Yamato, so during battles you can expect to find yourself switching control back and forth between them as you will attempt to outmaneuver and shoot down the enemy. Another important crew member is the Wave Motion Sensor operator Kenjiroh Ohta, who can detect the damage received from the enemy, and if necessary order immediate repairments on any damaged part of the ship, a function that will be vital for your survival during certain scenarios. For the rest of the crew we have Chief Tokugawa who is in charge of handling the main energy reactor of the ship. He can get it going so that you can use the Wave Motion capabilities of the Yamato once the energy gauge fills up. Next we have the radar operator Yuki Mori, who can analyze the enemy units you will be fighting against. And finally the gunner assistant Yasuo Nanbu will be in charge of scrambling the「Black Tiger」fighter squadrons. (more about this in the next section)

The remaining bridge crew members science officer Shiro Sanada and chief communications officer Yoshikazu Aihara, don't have any active role in handling the ship, and they will only be providing you with info about your current mission objective as well as any mission updates. Last but not least there's Analyzer the bridge robot. You can use him to change the current BGM theme.

Weapons of Fate

The armament of the Yamato consists of 14 stand-alone weapons located throughout the body of the ship, with each weapon capable of firing at enemies located in a specific direction and range. Basically the weapons on the bow and deck can hit the enemies in front of the ship, the ones on the portside and startside can hit the enemies to the sides, and the ones on the stern will hit the enemies coming from behind. The strongest weapon of the Yamato: the「Wave Motion Gun」is a special case and it can only be used during certain scenarios and only against specific targets. In order to use this super weapon you will need to activate the main energy reactor and then wait for energy gauge to fill up. No weapons should be used during this process, otherwise the gauge will drop down drastically.

Every weapon in the Yamato can only be fired once at a time before you have to wait for it to reload, and generally the stronger the weapon, the longer the reload time will be. So you should always try to position the Yamato in a manner that will let you fire your currently available weapons at the enemy, while at the same time staying clear of their firing range.

Most of the enemies you will face in the game will be other battleships. However the enemy also very often will be sending squadrons of fighter planes to chase after you. These fighters will move too fast for you to be able to outmaneuver them, and thanks to their small size and high mobility, they can be very hard to hit with most of the weapons of the Yamato beyond the Pulse Lasers. Fortunately you can scramble your own squadrons of Black Tigers to deal with these annoyances. Up to 3 squadrons of Black Tigers can be dispatched to fend off the enemy, and they will be specially helpful during the scenarios where you will need to save the energy of the ship to be able to use its Wave Motion capabilities.

Behind the Camera

One of the most important aspects of the game are its cinematic qualities, which undoubtedly were the main selling point of the game during its original release. Space Battleship Yamato features no less than 1 hour and 10 minutes of storyline cut-scenes, which is really remarkable for a 1992 production. Of course anyone familiar with the PC-Engine would know how rudimentary the "animated" cut-scenes were on the system, specially in comparison with anything from the 32-bit generation and beyond. But for the early 16-bit cinematic standards of 1992, they certainly were top-notch and best of all, they captured perfectly the beautiful artwork of Leiji Matsumoto. And while they certainly aren't the best cinematics to be found the PC-Engine, as other later released games featured higher quality, better looking cut-scenes. I still consider the cinematics in Space Battleship Yamato among the very best of the system.

Space Battleship Yamato also featured new and improved voice overs that were recorded specially for this production. The opening and closing themes from the TV anime series are also present in the game, and they complement nicely to the immersing cinematic experience. It is only regrettable that the rest of the music in the game is hardware generated and not red book audio quality.

To the Stars and Back Again...

With 9 scenarios to play, the adventure wasn't as long as I was hoping it to be, specially because of how enjoyable it was from start to finish. Fortunately the available scenarios were all very engaging and fun to play, and I really liked how the developers tried to make most of them as varied as possible, placing the Yamato in many precarious situations that you will have to deal with. The pre-set scenarios were actually very beneficial for the overall gameplay experience, specially since you will discover that under normal circumstances the Yamato is pretty much an invincible warship of death! And this brings us to the only relevant flaw in the game: its overly easy difficulty setting.

As I just said, the Yamato is an overpowered monster. It's shielding and firing range capabilities are vastly superior of that of any enemy in the game, so very often you will be able to shoot down the enemy battleships from outside of their own firing range. But ultimately what really sets the game on the easy side is the unbalanced repair ability of the Yamato. Even during the times where you will be unable to avoid getting hit by the enemy, you can just repair any damaged part of the ship and get it to working order almost instantly. Moreover this ability has no cost and its only disadvantage is that you will not be able to use any weapon or part of the ship that is currently undergoing repairments, which in reality is far from being an actual disadvantage. So thanks to all these technical advantages backing you up, you can be sure you will always have the upper hand during any ship vs. ship battle.

Fortunately the scenario design manages to counter this problem (for the most part at least) by providing you with the much needed extra challenge. Throughout the game you will be given various mission objectives to do besides just destroying the enemy units. Not to mention the times you will have to deal with a heavily damaged Yamato from the start, something that certainly will be making things more interesting for you. So even if the game still remains relatively easy, you won't really care as much because the scenarios are all very interesting and fun to play.

Space Battleship Yamato is undoubtedly a very worthy production. The game is very easy to pick up and play, and has a very entertaining campaign that becomes addicting from the start. Fans of the anime series will love how the game is played, but even players not familiar with the anime series will be able to enjoy the game and get immersed in its wonderful setting thanks to the lengthy and well-made cinematics. Overall, Space Battleship Yamato is very recommended for anyone looking for a good retro anime game on the PC-Engine.

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!

Konami Wai Wai World

5th Step: Fuuma Stage

This stage can be though during your fist visit. You will need to rely in Kong's high attack power and jump ability to get through the stage.

Mantle (Flying ability for Konami Man and Lady obtained!

Now that you have finally obtained the Mantle, Konami Man and Lady will become the most useful characters in the game alongside Kong. At this point it is highly recommended that you take the time time to revisit the Goemon and Simon stages to collect the 4 items that were previously out of reach, specially the Power Capsule and Armor that will be making the game a lot easier for you. You can exit the stage from the warping portal located in the opposite platform from where you just picked up the Mantle.

6th Step: Item Collection

The Power Capsule and Armor will be indispensable from this point on, otherwise you will find yourself underpowered against the hardest enemies in the game. You can use your newly acquired flying ability to get to the item's locations faster.

Goemon Stage

Power Capsule (Attack Power of all characters increases) obtained!

Maneki Neko (Goemon weapon) obtained!

Simon Stage

Heat Gun (Konami Lady weapon) obtained!

Power Armor (Defense Power of all characters increases) obtained!

Now that you have collected the 4 missing items, it's time to go back to the mission and continue from where you left off.

7th Step: Fuuma Stage (revisited)

Now that your characters are stronger this will be a totally different stage. You will no longer need to rely on Kong and you can clear the stage very easily with just Konami Man or Lady.

The boss can be easily defeated shoot 'em-up $tyle with Konami Man or Lady. Alternatively you can use Simon and his Holy Cross attack to defeat the boss faster at the expense of more bullets.

Fuuma rescued!

Original Game: Getsufuu Maden「月風魔伝」
Character Ability: Fuuma is able to destroy special blocks with his standard Katana attack.
Weapon Ability: The shuriken burst attack has the wider rage of all special attacks. Furthermore the shurikens are capable of destroying the special blocks better than any other weapon. The attack will consume 3 bullets.

Shuriken (Fuuma weapon) obtained!

8th Step: Moai Stage

This will be the most challenging stage in the game, but by now your party will be strong enough that it is very unlikely you will have any problem beating it. You can use Kong, Fuuma and later Moai to destroy the special blocks found throughout the stage.

Rice Ball (Auto-Resurrects a companion/ 1 time use only) obtained!

Your characters individual abilities will certainly come in handy throughout the stage. I don't think you will ever need it, but try not let any of your companions die so you don't waste the Rice Ball on this stage.

The boss is really a pushover and can be easily defeated by any character. Just try not too waste too many bullets on it.

Moai Rescued!

Original Game: Gradius「グラディウス」
Character Ability: Like Goemon, Moai is an anti-air specialist, however he has even more trouble than Goemon when dealing with ground enemies. Moai's standard attack is the head piercing, which has a high attack power.
Weapon Ability: Moai's ring attack is as powerful as Kong's rock throw, and is also capable of destroying the special blocks. The ring attack uses 1 bullet.

Ring (Moai weapon) obtained!

9th Step: Waruda Stage

Konami Man! The Vic Viper and Twin Bee are read to go!

Hurry to Gate No.3 and get ready to lift off!

The time has come to crush the enemy. Go Konami Man! Shoot down Waruda!

The shooting stage is really more of a fan-service bonus, so it's very simple and easy. You can push the [Select] button to change between the Vic Viper and the Twin Bee.

It's finally time to storm Waruda's base. The stage is completely linear so all you have to worry about is conserving your life bar, which will not be very difficult. The most annoyiing enemies in this stage will be some flying parasites that can drain your life bar. Try to not let them get to you since it can be problematic to shake them off.

You can fly to get pass the mid-boss without getting hit!

You finally get to meet Waruda which is a three-headed alien. Kong will be the best character to use since his attacks are the most powerful. You can climb on the lower head which makes hitting Waruda easier.(Kong won't fit so you have to use another character to climb on it) Just ignore the parasites and use your special attacks until you run out of bullets. An alternative strategy is to use Mikey's fast slingshot attack until you run out of bullets or health, then change to Kong and use his megaton punch to defeat Waruda.

Waruda has been defeated but you're still not free of danger! The place is about to explode and you have to escape before the time limit runs out.

Escaped!

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!

Konami Wai Wai World

Listen Konami Man and Lady! To rescue your companions you first will need to locate the key to their cell. The key will probably be guarded by a "Boss" enemy or it could also be found at a hard-to-get area.

As you companions increase in number your party will grow stronger and your mission will become easier.

Konami Man

Original Game: Konami Wai Wai World「コナミワイワイワールド」
Character Ability: Konami Man can equip the Mantle to fly in the air. His standard punch attack is fast but has a limited range.
Weapon Ability: The weapon of Konami Man is the Beam Gun. It has a normal attack power and uses 1 bullet per shot. The Beam Gun can also be used while flying.

Konami Lady

Original Game: Konami Wai Wai World「コナミワイワイワールド」
Character Ability: Konami Lady can also use the Mantle to fly. Compared to Konami Man her kick attacks have a better range, specially against flying enemies.
Weapon Ability: Konami Lady can equip the Heat Gun. Unlike the Beam Gun, the Heat Gun can penetrate the enemy and hit multiple targets. The Heat Gun uses 1 bullet per shot.

Dr. Cinnamon Comment:

Both Konami Man and Lady can use the「Mantle」to fly in the air and reach otherwise inaccessible locations. This ability will be necessary to collect the most powerful items in the game, but it can also give them an attacking advantage if used in conjuntion with their special weapons.

Unfortunately the Mantle alongside the rest of the heroes equipment was stolen by Waruda's followers.

Suggested Stage Clearing Path

1st Step: Goemon Stage

The Goemon Stage is best place to start the adventure. It has a very simple layout and can be easily cleared with just Konami Man and Lady. The「Power Capsule」(increases the attack power of all characters) and「Maneki Neko」(Goemon weapon) items can be found in this stage, however you will not be able to collect them until you have obtained the「Mantle」item for Konami Man and Lady.

Before you exit the area you should to play chou-han at one of the gambling rooms located in the middle of the stage. The other games are in reality a waste of time to play, but playing chou-han lets you max your bullets very easily since you will have a 50/50 chance of winning and every time you win your bullet amount will be doubled. Maxing your bullets at this point will save you a lot of time later in the game.

Goemon rescued!

Original Game: Ganbare Goemon「がんばれゴエモン」
Character Ability: The pipe attack is one of the fastest attacks in the game and is specially effective against enemies coming from above thus making Goemon the ultimate anti-air character. Goemon is also the only character capable of opening the treasure chests located throughout the game.
Weapon Ability: Goemon can throw gold coins at the enemy for moderated damage. Each coin will use 1 bullet.

2nd Step: Simon Stage

Re-live the epic battle!

The「Heat Gun」(Konami Lady weapon) and the「Power Armor」(Increases defense power of all charcters) can be found in this stage, but you also will be needing the Mantle to collect them.

Simon rescued!

Original Game: Akumajou Dracula「悪魔城ドラキュラ」
Character Ability: The famed "Vampire Killer" whip has the longest attack range in the game, however the swing motion is slow and can leave Simon exposed to an enemy attack.
Weapon Ability: The Holy Cross can be thrown like a boomerang and is capable of hitting all the enemies on its path twice. Up to 3 crosses can be thrown at once for a devasting attack. Each cross attack will use 5 bullets.

To collect the「Holy Cross」(Simon weapon) you need to climb on an invisible ladder located in the rightmost upper corner of Dracula's room.

Holy Cross obtained!

3rd Step: Mikey Stage

Beam Gun (Konami Man weapon) obtained!

Mikey rescued!

Original Game: Goonies「グーニーズ」
Character Ability: Mikey's small body allows him to pass through narrow passageways no one else can. His kick attack has the lowest range and attack power in the game and he is also unable to attack while crouching.
Weapon Ability: Mikey is an expert with the slingshot which compensates for his weak melee capabilities.

Slingshot (Mikey weapon) obtained!

4th Step: Kong Stage

You will need to have Mikey in your party to be able to fully explore the stage, so make sure not to lose him.

Simon can easily defeat the stage boss with his Holy Cross attack.

Kong rescued!

Original Game: King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch「キングコング２・怒りのメガトンパンチ」
Character Ability: Kong has the highest attack power and jump abiility in the game. However his big size makes him easier to get hit by the enemy. His standard attack is the powerful megaton punch.
Weapon Ability: The rock throw has a very high attack power and can destroy any special blocks in your way. The rock throw uses 1 bullet.

Bananas (Kong weapon) obtained!

This is the only regular stage in the game without a hidden warp portal, so unfortunately you will have to walk all the way back to the teletransportation machine... In the event that you hapen to lose Mikey on your way back, you can use Kong's high jump ability to exit the stage.

つづく。。。

Konami Wai Wai World

Original Title:「コナミワイワイワールド」
Release Date: 01/14/1988
Publisher: Konami
System: Famicom
Genre: Action

The story so far

Oh my! This is bad! This is bad! We are being attacked by Waruda!

What are the Konami heroes doing? Why haven't they arrived here yet?

At this rate the Earth will fail into despair!

Beep -- Beep -- Beep --

 Doctor Cinnamon! Doctor Cinnamon! This is Konami Man reporting!

 The heroes... everyone has been captured by Waruda!

 I'm heading back to the laboratory right now, Doctor.

Ahh! Konami Man, you have arrived well.

Now let me introduce you to Konami Lady, the latest android which I have created.

Nice -- to -- meet -- you --

Konami Man and Lady, you are the only heroes left in our world!

You must protect the Earth from Waruda and rescue the heroes which have fallen captive.

Go Konami Man! Go and defeat Waruda!

Game Object

Your goal in the game will be to rescue the 6 Konami heroes which have been captured by Waruda. You can use the highly advanced teletransportation device located at gate No.2 to travel to the 6 stages where your companions are suspected to be imprisoned. You can select the order in which you want to explore each stage, however some stages will not allow you to advance further until you have obtained a certain character or ability. Once all of the heroes have been rescued you will be able to enter gate No.3 and travel to the final stage where you can finally put an end to Waruda's world conquering ambitions. If during the adventure you find yourself in need of physical attention, or if you need to use the password recovery system to keep track of your progress. Please visit the laboratory located at gate no.1. I'm sure Dr. Cinnamon will be able to help you out.

Game Controls

Control Pad ... Moves characters around
Control Pad [Up] ... It enters the gambling rooms
Control Pad [Down] ... Opens the gates at Dr. Cinnamon's base / Releases companion from prison (requires「Key」item) / Activates hidden warp portal
A Button ... Jump / Accept
B Button ... Attack / Cancel
Start Button ... Opens the status screen
Select Button ... Aircraft Change (Shooting Stage only)
Control Pad [Up] + [A] Button ... Character change
Control Pad [Down] + [A] Button ... Activates special attack (requires special item for each character)
A Button + [A] Button (hold) ... Fly through the air (requires「Mantle」item / Konami Man and Konami Lady only)

Hi! I'm Pentarou and I will be in charge of handling the warping machine.

As to why I don't join the adventure even though I'm a Konami hero too, only the developers know...

Don't worry, the warping procedure will be painless...for me anyway. Have fun out there and defeat Waruda!

Hee hee hee, I'm Cinnamon's younger brother Simon. I can resurrect any of your companions for the reasonable price of 100 bullets. You can request my services by selecting my name「サイモン」from the character database on Cinnamon's computer.

Now if you don't want anything, scram! I'm quite busy at the moment.

You can trust your progress will be recorded by my Etchi 005 super computer. So make sure to come back to the laboratory and retrieve your current password「パスワード」before quitting the game!

You can also use the Etchi 005 to access the character database, or request an appointment with my brother Simon. He doesn't like visitors much, but he will glad to take your bullets.

The Heroes

The playable heroes from Konami Wai Wai World. Knowing how to make the best use of their abilities will be key to succeed in the game! Before you can make use of their special attacks you will need to recover their special equipment which has been stolen by Waruda's followers. Special attacks consume「Bullets」which can be obtained principally from defeated enemies.

Hidden Warp Portals

After successfully rescuing a companion you will still need to come back to the base in order to proceed to the next stage. However having to walk all the way back to the teletransportation machine can be a tiresome process, specially since you and your companions will probably be exhausted by then. Fortunately Dr. Cinnamon has just confirmed the existence of what it appears to be warping portals hidden in 5 out of our 6 target areas. These portals are capable of bringing you back to to the base instantly saving you a lot of time and effort. Make sure to remember their locations!

Click on the stage name to check the location of the warping portal

Mickey Stage | Goemon Stage | Fuuma Stage

Simon Stage | Moai Stage

Shooting Part

Of course this couldn't have been a proper Konami game without some shooting action! Our motto didn't used to be "We Love Shooting Games!" for nothing you know! Currently the Vic Viper and the Twin Bee are undergoing repairments at gate No.3 since they were severely damaged during Waruda's initial attack. But I'm certain the repairments will be completed by the time you have rescued all of your companions.

Gambling

Don't forget to visit the casino games located at the Goemon and Mickey stages. You can win big time betting your own life bar and bullets!

There are 3 type of games to play and they are as follows:

Chou-Han

Roll a pair of dice and guess if their sum will be「チョウ」"even number" or「ハン」"odd number". If You win your bullet amount will be doubled. If you lose your bullet amount will be reduced in half.

Slot Machine

Push the [A] button to stop the spinning slots and try to get a winning combination. The game costs 10 bullets to play.

Prizes:

Crown x3 ... Resurrects dead companion
Apple x3 ... Life recovery
Grapple x3 ... Life recovery
Apple, Apple, Crown ... Bullet +100
Grapple, Grapple, Crown ... Bullet +100

Matching Card Game

Pick any 2 cards from the 5 cards on the table and try to get a matching number. If you win your life bar will be restored, however if you lose you life bar will be considerably reduced. Play at your own risk!

Kattobi! Takuhai-kun

Original Title:「カットビ！宅配くん」
Release Date: 09/11/1990
Publisher: Tonkin House
System: PC-Engine「HuCARD」System
Genre: Action

Kattobi! Takuhei-kun lets you take the role of a newbie motorcycle courier who has just inherited his father's home delivery company. As a motorcycle courier it will be your job to go around delivering packages throughout 3 different free-roaming areas. The task will not be easy as the police and a new and mysterious criminal organization will try to get in your way at any chance they can get. Throughout the game you will be able to buy new and more powerful motorcycles and upgrade them with weapons and acceleration systems that will help you fend off the many dangers waiting for you in the streets. The game features 30 progressively challenging missions and an auto-save back up function that will be keeping track of your progress.

Story

The courier industry is dominated by huge transnational enterprises while the small and middle sized companies are left in a "survival of the fittest" position due to the ruthless competition in the industry. The main protagonist's father was the owner of a mid-sized courier company in this industry. His company had managed to build a small but stable list of customers, and over the years the business had been prosperous. However... a catastrophe has befallen the courier industry...

A mysterious organization known as「Black Dog」suddenly entered the scene and began stealing the packages from all of the courier services one after another. Their criminal activities have affected the whole industry, but most especially the smaller courier companies. The father's company has also fallen victim of this and is quickly losing customers... The company, no, the whole industry is in danger!

It was at this point that the main protagonist takes over his father's company. Burning with determination, he is set on saving the company and put an end to the Black Dog reign of terror!

Game Controls

Control Pad ... Turns your motorcyle in the desired direction
Run button ... Pauses the game, pushing the Run and Select buttons together will reset the game
Select ... Opens the map screen
I Button ... Uses your currently installed bomb attack / Talk command
II Button ... Accelerator

Welcome to your first day of work!

The life of a motorcycle courier is not an easy one so pay attention! The streets are filled with all kinds of dangers like irresponsible drunk drivers, old hags with nothing better to do than faking accidents, potholes and various other road hazards, and of course those Black Dog creeps who are always trying to steal our packages. To make things worse, the useless police department only seem to spend time bothering us instead of fighting real crime! So try not to break any traffic laws doing things like disregarding traffic lights and one way road signs. You will have enough on your hands already dealing with those Black Dog punks, and the last thing you will need is to have the police also chasing after you!

To complete a job or "mission" as we will call them for now own, you need to collect the package from our hiring client and then deliver it to the destination specified by the client before the time limit runs out. Remember that we're offering a express delivery service so don't dilly-dally around! Most of the times the destinatary client will be waiting for you outside in the street. But there will also be some instances where they might be waiting inside of their office building. In this case, and if you're having trouble locating the client inside the building. Don't be shy and ask around! I'm sure there will be someone in there that will point you in the right direction.

Both the sender and destinatary locations will be indicated by a green mark on the map screen. Don't forget it!

You also need to pay special attention to your [Power] and [Damage] bars on the top of the screen, since if any of them drops to 0 you will fail the mission. The Power bar is your fuel gauge, or physical strength in the case of the bicycle. And it will keep decreasing gradually as you drive around and use your bomb attacks. The Damage Bar represents the condition of your bike, and it will decrease if you get hit by a car or something else.

Remember that every time you complete or fail a mission your power bar will be completely restored. However the current damage status of each of your available bikes will be stored, so keep that mind.

Area Coverage

Before we used to only offer our courier services in Tokyo and its bay area. But we have just opened a new delivery line to the capital of capitalism itself: New York City U.S.A.! To travel to New York you need head to the airport located in the bay area. Be aware that the tunnel connecting to the bay area is being currently overrun by Black Dog punks holding rocket launchers and other weirdos cosplaying as warriors of the past! So be careful, and do try to run over them if you can!

Unfortunately the streets of New York are no less problematic than the ones here in Tokyo. But at least over there you won't have to deal with those annoying old hags walking aimlessly in the middle of the street. Now I've already told you about Black Dog right? The mysterious organization stealing courier packages all over the world for who knows what purpose. Their black cars will be the biggest threat you will face, so if you see them coming just blast them away with your bombs. You know what, just blast away anyone who gets in your way, they deserve it anyway! Just don't be silly and start bombing the police patrol cars or they will never let you hear the end of it...

The Police

*sigh* The police don't seem to do anything else than harassing us. Shouldn't they be doing something better, like you know, stopping Black Dog? Anyway, if you break any traffic law they will dispatch a couple of patrol cars to get you. If they catch you we will have to pay a 10000 Yen fine. Blast away any of their patrol cars and they will suspend your driver's license for the next mission regardless of if you get away or not. Also, something very important to remember is that if the police catches you while delivering any *shady* packages *wink wink* they will arrest you and the game will end, so be careful!

Services

Before doing any delivery work, you should head to the closest shop and buy a bomb attack. Otherwise you'll be defenseless against Black Dog and the other many annoyances roaming the streets. An acceleration system will also make you life a whole lot easier. Shops will be marked with an [S] on the map screen.

At the bike shop you can buy the 400cc motorcycle for 350000 Yen and the 1100cc one for 500000 Yen. They also offer a repair service for if any of your bikes are in need of some maintenance.

At the gas station you can refuel your gas tank. If you're riding the bicycle you can also restore your strength by buying a refreshing drink from one of the vending machines. Gas stations will be marked by a [G] on the map screen.

Motorcycles

There can't be a motorcycle courier without a motorcycle can it? To be a great motorcycle courier you have to become one with your bike, so be sure to treat her right! Currently we only have a bicycle and a 50cc "Scooter" at our disposal. But if you work hard I'm sure you will be able to buy a better ride in no time!

Bicycle

Max Speed: 30km/h
Power Consumption: High
Damage Resistance: Low
Fuel Cost (10L / Full Tank): 1000 Yen (full tank only)
Repair Cost (20%): 4000 Yen

Description: Great for exercise but not really well suited for the job. Its low speed can be fixed with an acceleration system, but its power and damage damage consumption will still be too high. a factor that can make some missions more difficult to complete. The bicycle however has the advantage of not being held down by traffic laws, so you will not have to deal with the police while riding it.

50cc

Max Speed: 50km/h
Power Consumption: Medium
Damage Resistance: Medium
Fuel Cost (10L / Full Tank): 500 / 3000 Yen
Repair Cost (20%): 6000 Yen

Description: The favourite of motorcycle couriers all over the world! The Scooter will remain a dependable bike throughout the game.

400cc

Max Speed: 50km/h
Power Consumption: Low
Damage Resistance: Low
Fuel Cost (10L / Full Tank): 500 / 3000 Yen
Repair Cost (20%): 15000 Yen

Description: You will look like a pro will riding this beauty! The 400cc offers the best balance between durability and handling.

1100cc

Max Speed: 80km/h
Power Consumption: Very Low
Damage Resistance: Very Low
Fuel Cost (10L / Full Tank): 500 / 3000 Yen
Repair Cost (20%): 30000 Yen

Description: The most expensive bike will of course have the highest durability, lowest fuel consumption, and an unrivaled speed level. Unfortunately the handling is more loose than the 400cc model, and with an acceleration system installed the bike can become somewhat frustrating to maneuver. Make sure to leave it inside on rainy days.

Item List

Attack NO.1: 5000 Yen / Backwards bomb attack
Attack NO.2: 12500 Yen / Left & Right + Forward bomb attack
Attack NO.3: 10000 Yen / Left & Right + Backwards bomb attack
Attack NO.4: 7500 Yen / Left & Right bomb attack
Acceleration System NO.1: 5000 Yen / 10km/h speed boost
Acceleration System NO.2: 7500 Yen / 20km/h speed boost
Acceleration System NO.3: 10000 Yen / 30km/h speed boost

Other Items

Gasoline: Recovers 10 power points
Wrench: Recovers 20 damage points
Clock: Stops time and enemies for a fixed period of time
Barrier (Red): Invicibility for a fixed period of time (hit detection active)
Barrier (Green): Invincibility for a fixed period of time (hit detection deactivated)

Kattobi! Takuhai-kun is overall a very commendable game, specially for being such an obviously low-budget production. The developers were able to pull off the game's novel premise remarkably well, and that is certainly the game's biggest acheivement. It is only regrettable that the low production values prevented its concept from being developed further, as it obviously still had plenty of potential left. I'm certain that with a bit more of depth the game would have ended up truly remarkable. Still, Kattobi! Takuhai-kun is one of the most fun "under the radar" impots you can find for the PC-Engine.

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!

Original Title:「ガールズガーデン」
Release Date: 1984
Publisher: SEGA
System: SG-1000
Genre: Action

There's nothing quite like a girl's first love, and little Papri knows this well. That's why she must win the love of his cherished Minto over the charms of her rival Cocco who is also trying to steal Minto's heart. In order to gain Minto's affection Papri must collect 10 flowers from her garden to create a beautiful flower bouquet that she can use to declare her feelings toward him.

Collecting flowers sounds like an easy task right? The only problem here is that Papri's garden is overrun by deadly bears and deep ponds that are real deathtraps. So an otherwise simple and enjoyable task like picking flowers from your own garden is now a daring feat of courage.

Most people probably aren't too familiar with the SEGA SG-1000. Which was actually the first SEGA home computer system released. (and whose games can also be played on the Mark-III/Master System) But I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Atari 2600 which for many of us was our fist gaming system. So you can think of the SG-1000 as SEGA's own Atari 2600 counterpart.

The gameplay in Girl's Garden is just what you would expect from a game on a pre 8-bit system: simple and fun. The top of the screen shows Minto walking towards Cocco and you must complete the flower bouquet and return to Minto before he reaches the arms of your rival. Of course you must do this while avoiding the pack of hungry bears that for some reason roam your garden. Fortunately Papri came prepared for the task and she's carrying a bunch of honey pots that she can use to keep the bears occupied for a while.

To make a premium flower bouquet you can only use flowers that have fully bloomed. And you must avoid picking up whithered flowers at all cost because that would spoil the bouquet forcing you to start all over again. Once your flower bouquet is complete you must head back to you house where Minto will be waiting for you, and then Papri can finally declare her feelings towards him. Unfortunately cupid is a very capricious being, and so the young couple's love moment will not be lasting long...

After every two rounds you will get to play a bonus「Challenge Stage」where Papri can jump over bears for bonus points.

Girl's Garden was actually the first game that the now legendary game programmer Yuji Naka worked on as a junior programmer for SEGA. Girl's Garden earned Naka-san a very positive critical acclaim and fan appreciation that undoubtedly helped him to start his well-known and successful programming career. So you can be sure to find in Girl's Garden a quality and fun pre 8-bit game.

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From now on I'm gonna start doing "remakes" of my older posts from time to time. Specially the early ones that I made before the gamespot redesign and that don't look as good as the ones I've been doing for a while. This is mainly to save me some time for when I finally find a good blog site to move to. As well so to give each game its own post since like some of you know I've used to feature various unrelated games in a single post. Again this will be specially useful on other blog sites, or for if someday GameSpot finally decides to implement categorized arhives.

So for those of you who have actually been throughout all of my blog posts, don't be surprised if you see a game I've already featured before. ('▽'*)ﾆﾊﾟｯ♪

SEE YOU NEXT GAME!