My PC Engine games (so far)
Okay, I'm not going to review these things; but I can tell you if they is crap or not, so here goes:
Bomber Man 94 (HuCard)
Apparently the best Bomber Man game on the PCE, certainly has a good one-player mode so I'm not going to argue. Nice to have it on Hudson hardware where he belongs.
Alien Crash (HuCard)
Quite an early HuCard release this one, and having played (the sequal) Devil Crush on the Mega Drive I was hoping for more of the same. I now have more of the same, and more samey than I could have hoped. The Aliens in it are more Geiger than ET and it makes for the same forboding atmosphere of the latter game. The only let down here is the "mini-tables" don't vary much and the lack of a save facility (as I said, an early release that would realy have benefitted from this feature).
Balls.
Jackie Chan (HuCard)
I'm a big fan of Jackie's films and of this game. It's a nice platformer with nice music and nice graphics. To play all the way through will take you some time indeed, levels are long, varied and numerous. Then there are the mini games (like knocking the crap out of fish and jumping from cloud to cloud) to add to 'da mix. So when you have a spare afternoon, start kicking some bad-guy ass; but in a nice, Jackie Chan, kind of way.
Nice.
Download (HuCard)
Yet another shooter for the PC Engine, and it's pretty average too. And quite hard. As an inexpensive diversion it's not so bad, even if just for the use of harsh language between levels.
Swearing.
Gunhed (HuCard)
Super Star Soldier (HuCard)
Final Soldier (HuCard)
Soldier Blade (HuCard)
Allows Saves
Galaga '88 (HuCard)
Ordyne (HuCard)
Dragon Spirit (HuCard)
Dragon Saber (HuCard)
Darius Plus (HuCard)
1943 Kai (HuCard)
Never played the arcade original; but I imagine this is a pretty decent conversion. Think 1942 +1 Kai, with the "Kai" being more planes, bullets, bosses and a bit of everything = 1943 Kai. Supposed to be a bit odd or unusual the Kai version; but seems reasonably straight forward and enjoyable. Quite tricky too.
War.
Mr Heli (HuCard)
I suspect this isn't arcade perfect graphics-wise, even though they are still quite nice. Developed by Irem, it's not very similar to R-Type as you fly up, down, left and right in a cute helicopter. Power-up's are good and it's pretty challenging. If you're not going to buy the arcade original then it's worth getting.
Chopper.
Space Invaders (HuCard)
Atomic Robo Kid (HuCard)
I got this free, so it represents reasonable value for money. It's a fairly stright forward horizontal shooter (reminds me a little of Mr. Heli, just not as good) where you control a little robot. You know... It's a way to spend an afternoon when it's raining outside.
Wet.
Street Fighter II (HuCard)
Looks okay considering the spec of the original PC Engine; but without a 6 button pad, I am powerless to say more.
Buttons.
Fantasy Zone (HuCard)
Gate of Thunder (Super CD-ROM²)
Allows Saves
From Hudson and Red, you know you can go too far wrong, and you won't. Best shooter on the Engine? Some say so. Graphics are good, as is sound. Game play is nice and varied too, some though has been put into this to make it stand out from the [very large] crowd of shooters on the console. Three weapons of two strengths each are available, and on death you only lose the power-up you were usin; so you're not left stranded. The levels have been created so that you can make the best use of a certain shot type at a certain time throwing a little strategy in to play. You know it's a pretty safe bet when the creators are Hudson and Red.
Lightning.
Winds of Thunder (Super CD-ROM²)
Allows Saves
If you like Thunder, then you will love this.
Anyway, it's nothing like Gate of Thunder; but it's made by Hudson and Red and has a similar name, so go figure. Horizontal scrolling with a dude and his choice of armour instead of a spaceship and it's all gravy, baby. Choice of four suits of armour with different shot types (the elements) and a shop feature to buy health and shizzle: cool. When you are playing and get hit it lowers your health bar and shot strength bar instead of instand death; meaning this can get pretty hectic. Finally you can also choose wich level you want to play.
Gusty.
Star Parodia (Super CD-ROM²)
Allows Saves
I'll be honest here, I'm a little disappointed with this game. It's still a good game with great graphics and over the top power-ups; but when a single game (and I'm not highly skilled) can take best part of an hour; it's just too long for a shooter. Power-ups are varied for each character (as well as being unique) and I find I have a soft spot for playing as the PC Engine. There are a few Japanese text option, which if I decipher, may enhance my enjoyment of the game somewhat.
Make sure you have the time available and enjoy.
long.
CD Denjin (Super CD-ROM²)
Allows Saves
This is a bit complicated, I like to think of this as Air Zonk as the Japanese titles confuse me. The CD version of this game is apparently not the same as the HuCard one; the HuCard one is supposed to be better (go figure). Either way, this game is a bit of a disappointment to me. It just seems to be lacking something and I'm not sure what. Need to play this a bit more to try and find the missing ingredient, I can tell you the graphics are nice though.
Confusing.
RayXanber III (Super CD-ROM²)
Allows Saves
Quite a hyped game this one, and being created by Data East, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm still not sure either.
They have made a game that is a little bit R-Type and a little bit something else. It certainly looks nice, although the sound effects of the shots can be quite weak. It's not your typical horizontal shooter; for example, the first level has you going round and round a mothership protecting it from attack. Level two is quite a nice, traditional underwater level. Level three, I'm not sure about yet, I just seem to be defending myself from attack almost constantly from a huge four legged thing.
Pretty.
Summer Carnival '93 (Super CD-ROM²)
Allows Saves
One thing that attracted me to this title was the packaging; it looked pretty cool, especially for a shooter. Essentially this is a [much cheaper] re-release of Nexzr, it has the full games as well as the Carnival Mode (essentially the same as the Caravan Mode of the Hudson titles).
For some reason the two Carnival modes have me addicted, one is a two minute scoring test, the other is how quickly you can reach a score of a million or something (has to be within 5 minutes). Both modes a frenetic to say the least, and you'll be thankeful you can save your scores.
The main game Nexzr may be too simplistic for some as it only uses one button: fire. No bombs or any of that shite. I have to say, it's pretty hard gameplay as these things go too, level 3 against a level long full screen boss type character can drain your spirit when you die near the end.
Winner.
SideArms Special (CD-ROM)
This has the same arcade version of the game that was released on HuCard as well as the slightly blasphemous sounding Before Christ version. Not sure why it's called BC, but it's like a remixed version of the arcade original (and is a bit harder). Again, it seems like another acurate arcade conversion for the Engine, throwing in some extra shizzle for good measure: it even has a choice of the original arcade voices or PC Engine voices.
Jesus.
Forgotten Worlds (Super CD-ROM²)
I'm glad I have my 3 button pad for this game. Even the options let you choose an Avenue pad, so crucial it is to play. Y'see, Forgotten Worlds has you rotate your character clockwise and anti-clockwise while shooting, so it makes use of the select button. So using a standard 2 button pad means you have to stop moving and use your left hand to rotate anti-clockwise: a sure way to death, a 3 button pad means you assign button III to select and bob's your overfriendly uncle.
The game itself seems pretty arcade perfect; but it's too hard for me (or I'm too shit at it).
Spin.
Ai ChoAniki (Super CD-ROM²)
Macross 2036 (Super CD-ROM²)
Save?
Not played this much yet and it seems pretty stright forward left to right shootin' type thing. Looks quite basic and seems to play quite basic. Need more time with this one... Maybe.
Vanilla.
Spriggan (CD-ROM)
Allows Saves
Considering this isn't a "Super" CD-ROM game, it looks damned fine. It reminds me on Dimahoo and a few other sort of Medevil shooters. What is clever is the way you can power-up your Knight (who is a pretty big sprite); It has three slots at the bottom of the screen which can be used as bombs; but you can mix and match the colour of the items to gain access to combination power-ups. Nice and complex system which takes a bit of getting used to (I keep picking up too many blue ones); overall it's a bangin' game.
Blinder.
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (CD-ROM)
Allows Saves
It's Wonder Boy with monsters in it; with the monsters being big snakes and stuff. What more do you need to know. Good, straight forward platform gaming.
Monster.
Dynastic Hero aka Wonder Boy IV (Super CD-ROM²)
Jigoku Meguri aka Tour of Hell (HuCard)
Well, it's a bit like Ghosts 'n' Goblins; but with a monk, and cuter graphics, and maybe weaker sound effects. Graphics are good, with good music too; and as you would expect, the first level is set in a graveyard. What does diferrentiate it from GnG is a less sinister vibe, plus you can backtrack through the stage to get to secret areas. It also throws a bit of variation into the mix with level 2 taking place on a river with you in a little boat. It's another nice platformer on the PC Engine, is what it is.
Spooky.
Super Adventure Island (HuCard)
Cotton Fantastic Night Dreams (Super CD-ROM²)
Paranoia (HuCard)
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