1 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [ Techno music ] 2 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Alright folks, it's Dr.Sparkle again 3 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Geez, It seems like forever since the last episode. 4 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Well anyways, sorry it's so late but here we are again. 5 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The PC engine schedule seems to get a bit more hectic 6 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 as we get closer to the 1989 holiday season. 7 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Today, we're gonna finish up July and blast through all of August and September. 8 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We're gonna' see a number of arcade ports today, 9 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 as well as some obscure (and rather shitty) original titles. 10 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We ended last episode with a classic shooter, Blazing Lasers, 11 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and we begin this episode with a not-so-classic shooter, Side Arms 12 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (or Side Arms: Hyper Dyne, as it's officially called in Japan) 13 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This is the second port of a Capcom arcade game for the system 14 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (the first being SunSun 2) 15 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and, once again, this is published by N.E.C., not Capcom themselves. 16 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 However, in the U.S., this was one of the very few TurboGrafx games not published by N.E.C. 17 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Rather, it was by a small company called Radiance Software, 18 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which seemed to have very close ties to Capcom. 19 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They were also well known for their involvement in the canceled, ah, 20 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Nintendo Entertainment System California Raisins game. 21 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The guy who ran Radiance, Christopher Riggs, 22 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 actually lists himself as being a Product Developer at Capcom in the early 1990s. 23 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Prior to Radiance, he apparently 24 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 co-founded a company called Pacific DataWorks, with, uh, Troy Lyndon 25 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (who was an interesting guy who much later, uh, was behind the, uh, the infamous Left Behind computer video game. 26 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Pacific DataWorks mostly did DOS and Commodore 64 ports 27 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 for Capcom (including Side Arms!). 28 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Riggs also had a company called Riggs Interactive which did, uh, computer ports for Capcom. 29 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So it's no surprise that the first Radiance game is, of course, a Capcom port. 30 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Anyhoo, Earth got blown up or something, and 31 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 your little robot mecha dude is out there, uh, to kill lots of aliens. 32 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Mechanics are moreorless like similar shooters of the era (such as Gradius). 33 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Enemies drop power-ups, speed-ups, and other types of, uh, special weapons. 34 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Nothing too new or exciting, here, but there are a couple interesting ideas. 35 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The main one is: you can turn around and fire in the opposite direction 36 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 by hitting the second button 37 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (making Side Arms kind of a predecessor to Forgotten Worlds). 38 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, Side Arms was originally an arcade game from 1986. 39 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Aside from the ability to fire, uh, front and back, a big feature of Side Arms was that two players 40 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 could occasionally combine into a single more powerful form 41 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (with one player controlling the mech and the other controlling his special attack weapons). 42 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The home version dropped this 2-Player mode, 43 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (meaning that your combined form is basically just a temporary upgrade). 44 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It lasts until you get hit. 45 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The other cool feature is the ability to select your... which weapon you wanna lose from the Start menu 46 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (as opposed to losing your current weapon when you pick up a new one, like in most other shooters). 47 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You can actually carry a whole bunch of weapons at once. 48 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, this is actually very helpful, since certain types of weapons are more useful than others in some spots. 49 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In fact, certain weapons are pretty much vital for some areas. 50 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And this leads me to one issue that so many Shoot-em-Ups have. If you die once, you are pretty much screwed. 51 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Side Arms is even much worse than many other similar games. 52 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When the action gets hectic and you screw up and get killed, 53 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you'll be brought back to life with, like, a single random underpowered weapon, 54 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 generally with enemies, like, closing in on you from all sides. 55 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, get killed and odds are good that you'll get killed again within a second or two. 56 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And there are so many damn enemies (like missiles, et cetera) that home in on you 57 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and follow you around, as you try to avoid them. 58 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And when you have, like, a very basic weapon that only shoots in one direction, it's pretty difficult to pick these guys off. 59 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Also, like Gradius, picking up too many speed power-ups will make you move, uh, too fast and be hard to control precisely. 60 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Overall, it's actually a pretty hard game (harder than Gradius or R-Type, in my opinion) 61 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but it actually, uh, looks great and I liked it better than the Genesis port of Forgotten Worlds. 62 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We exit July with a real stinker. From AICOM, it' s Takeda Shingen. 63 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Aha!", you say, "We've already seen this game on Chrontendo. 64 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was, like, a strategy game, published by HOT-B." 65 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Well, no. This is actually a completely different and unrelated game called Takeda Shingen. 66 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, Takeda Shingen (the real person) was a 16th century warlord, known for 67 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (among other things) having a badass set of armor 68 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (which is, uh, sort of semi-accurately depicted here). 69 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Rather than being a Strategy game, this is a rather dull Beat-'em-Up 70 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And it's a painfully slow affair. 71 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You have exactly two moves (at least at first). 72 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's Attack with a sword slash and Jump. 73 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You'll be, uh, taking enemies head-on, uh, just sort of hacking at them until they die. 74 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They block a lot, so normally you'll just, sort of, walk up to them 75 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and start repeatedly slashing at them. 76 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They'll block a few times and then you'll get a hit in. 77 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This was a port of a Jaleco arcade game (which looks a lot nicer). 78 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The game isn't exactly hot shit, 79 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but your character moves much faster and there's a bit of action. 80 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This is hardly top tier stuff, as of 1988, but it seems reasonably bearable. 81 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's even, like, bonus rounds where you can get on a horse and do some target practice. 82 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The horse stuff got completely stripped out from the PC Engine version 83 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and the result is just so damn monotonous. 84 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You know, I got a good way through this game and there were a pretty limited number of enemy types. 85 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's basically dudes with swords (who are just like you), 86 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 dudes with a long flail on a chain (and these guys are annoying), 87 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and dudes with a long spear. 88 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Boss battles are at the end of each level, though each level looks about the same, 89 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so there's really not much to distinguish one level from the other. 90 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Bosses are really nothing exciting. This guy is just a big version of the swordsman. 91 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Post-boss fight, you visit a shop where you can refill your health 92 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and buy some critical of... offense and defenseive upgrades, 93 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 such as the war fan. 94 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, in real life, uh, Takeda's often depicted with his war fan. 95 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's a famous story about how he deflected an enemy blade with his fan, once. 96 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So this game, naturally, has him, you know, carrying it around. 97 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Takeda Shingen isn't really a fun game to play, especially in comparison to contemporary 98 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Beat-'em-Ups like Golden Axe or Final Fight. 99 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Later, you get some better attacks, but the lack of variety really kills any excitement. 100 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It just feels like you're fighting the same fight over and over and over again. 101 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Your health bar is pretty long and health refills are pretty frequent 102 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so there's not much challenge at all for the entire first half of the game 103 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (until you get to this boss, who's, like, ten times harder than the last one). 104 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, overall, Takeda Shingen is a bummer of a game. 105 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, we enter August with Maison Ikkoku and a new publisher, Micro Cabin. 106 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We've heard their name come up a few times before in Chrontendo. 107 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They were actually a pretty prominent publisher of, uh, games for Japanese computers, 108 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 back in the '80s. 109 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Like a lot of other sort of dodgy PC Engine games, this one has some pretty decent music. 110 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Right. So, Maison Ikkoku is one of these inescapable menu-based adventure games. 111 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Luckly, for us, we have an English translation by Dave Shadoff and Matt LaFrance. 112 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You play as one Yusaku Godai: 113 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a down on his luck student, living in sort of a rundown boarding house. 114 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The manager of the boarding house turns out to be (of course) 115 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a beautiful young woman who was recently widowed, named Kuyoku. 116 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This was based on a popular manga, by the famous manga artist, Rumiko Takahashi, 117 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who you might know from such comics as Uruse Yatsure and Renma One Half. 118 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It basically chronicles, uh, Godai's desire to express his love for Kuyoku, as well as the wacky residents of the boarding house. 119 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Eventually, of course, at the end of the series, the protagonists get married. 120 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This first appeared on the M.S.X., back in 1987. 121 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It looks pretty similar to this port, actually! 122 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It also wound up on the F.M. 7 and few other computers. 123 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, the first console appearance of this game was on the Famicom, which we saw very briefly in Episode 33. 124 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 At the time, I'd pretty much said, 125 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Well, we'll check this out in more detail when we reach it in ChronTurbo." 126 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and now, my dear friends, that day has arrived. 127 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It turns out to be a reasonably normal adventure game. 128 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Uh, this character, here, is some kind of weird pervert dude who builds tunnels and peepholes in the walls between the rooms. 129 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Uh... You find a porno mag, which contains "pretty radical stuff". 130 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Later, you can actually, uh, give it back to him... sort of, uh, win his favor. 131 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Much of the game takes place inside the titular Maison Ikkoku. 132 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Uh... Maison is simply the French word for "house", which (I think) is being used ironically 133 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (in the sense that calling this place "Maison" you know, sort of, tried to, like, give it a touch of class. 134 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Um... Ikkoku, I believe, means hotheaded or tempermental 135 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (perhaps referring to the various nutty residents here. 136 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In this game, you actually save by going to the bathroom. 137 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's naturally all sorts of goofy sexual innuendo going on between the characters. 138 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And this, so far, seems to be the first PC Engine game that actually shows 139 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 nipples in one of its human characters in an obviously sexualized way 140 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (as opposed to nipples on a statue or a monster or something). 141 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Um... For the most part, you go around talking to people, collecting items, 142 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and using them in sort of unintuitive ways. 143 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Here's your love interest, though you actually call her by the rather formal name, um, Kanrinin-san, 144 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 rather than her real name. 145 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You can't interact with her too much yet. Um... You actually have to get on her good side first. 146 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A lot of the game involves, uh, talking to people and getting on their good side by giving them things. 147 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Among the other things, uh, you find, uh, her bra is up on the roof and you have a daydream about her, 148 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 um, once, uh, you found the ladder that allows you to climb up on the roof. 149 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Aside from the house, you can travel to a couple locations nearby, such as this store. 150 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The cashier is meant to look like Lum from Urusei Yatsura. Ya' buy things here to bribe the residents with. 151 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Um... A great deal of time is spent, you know, sorta' dealing with these annoying housemates. 152 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Just like in the comic, Godai tends to fantasize about putting the mack on his landlord, 153 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but he's too scared to do anything. 154 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The main goal of the game revolves actually around trying to look at that picture you see 155 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 on the left hand side of the screen, believe it or not. 156 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And, you know, like a lot of these sorts of things, your goal is kind of vague 157 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and you make progress in seemingly random ways 158 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but the art is good, the music is decent, so it's still a lot better than some of the awful, 159 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 uh, the other awful Adventure games we've seen. 160 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Hudson was, of course, the co-creator of the PC Engine 161 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and they published all the console's games in Japan for about the first year. 162 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But by this point, they are outnumbered by third party publishers (at least in Japan). 163 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This is the first of three Hudson-published games today, Power League II 164 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a baseball game, of course, and the sequel to the first Power League game, 165 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which was released about 14 months before this one. 166 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There are a plethora of modes here - typical stuff: 167 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Single Game mode, a Penant Mode, All Star (nothing we haven't seen before). 168 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, the first Power League game got a U.S. release, under the name 169 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "World Class Baseball". 170 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Power League II was never released outside of Japan, though. 171 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In fact, there are six Power League games on the PC Engine 172 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and the first one was the only one to get a non-Japanese release. 173 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Naturally, this looks and feels a lot like the first Power League game. 174 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 If we look at the two back to back, we see the sprites have been changed a bit, 175 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but both games look very similar (with one exception). 176 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In the first game, after the batter got a hit, it showed the outfield straight down, 177 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 with the uh, camera's line of sight being perpendicular to the ground, 178 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 much like the, uh, Sega Genesis', uh, sports games, like Tommy Lasorda Baseball. 179 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Power League II uses a much more traditional 45 degree angle 180 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (looking sort of down and out over the field). 181 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 As always, playing against the CPU is tricky. 182 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's certainly a way to strike out the CPU, but I didn't find it. 183 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Generally the CPU would get a good powerful hit against anything I would throw at it. 184 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When I was at the bat, I'd get lots of fly balls 185 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (and, uh, the computer would actually catch these with absolute 100% accuracy) 186 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 as well as tons of foul balls 187 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (like, about 4 out of 5 hits would be a foul ...or just really weak hits). 188 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Of course you have to play these things for a little while to sorta' get, you know, the feel to them 189 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and I didn't play it long enough to actually, you know, get very good at this thing. 190 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, Power League II is (just like its predecessor) 191 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a sharp-looking baseball game that doesn't really stand out in any way, 192 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 other than its, you know, nice looking graphics. 193 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And we will get to see four more of these during the life of the console. 194 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Our third PC Engine game, from Naxat (a.k.a. Taxan) 195 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who had previously released the, uh, great pinball game, "Alien Crush" 196 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 as well as a golf game. Now, we have a pool game from them. 197 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Break In, featuring Simulation, Action, Technique 198 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Geez! is this an instructional sex game? 199 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Simulation is sort of a tournament mode, Action is just like one-off, uh, playing a game, 200 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and Technique is like a tutorial practice mode deal. 201 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Break In is pretty generous with the types of games you can play. 202 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 For example, you have, uh, Yotsudama 203 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (a four ball game that's played on a table with no pockets 204 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and doesn't really resemble normal pool that much) 205 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and "Bowliards", which appears to be a, uh, (actually is misspelled here) 206 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is sort of a hybrid between bowling and billiards. 207 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Hmm! Yes, I would like some nice shiny oranges and a glass of... orange soda? ...or maybe a big glass of [???]? 208 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Man, we're gonna' get f---ed up on that [???] there. 209 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Lots of options, here. Choose singles versus doubles, 210 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who is controlled by computer and who is controlled by... "Man" 211 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (Sorry, ladies! This is a man's game.) Pick a character, 212 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (choose from either seven men characters or "Woman") 213 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Dragon"!? Come on! This guy's hobby is golf? 214 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I'm surprised it's not... you know... Billiards. 215 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Actually, I'm kidding. There are seven female characters as well. 216 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Hmm! I like Emmy's dumb '80s fashion and, uh, Sophia's, sort of, adorable geek chic 217 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but really, uh, Sigrid, the boozy actress seems like the coolest to me. 218 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So picking a card determines who breaks. 219 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, when you actually get ready to shoot a va... shoot the ball, here, 220 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you have a great deal of control, much like the typical golf games of this era. 221 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You have this image ball concept 222 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (not something I've seen in pool games prior to this) 223 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 CPU players are generally decent but not 100% perfect, 224 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which is a nice switch from the various baseball games we've seen. 225 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Franky's pretty cool, but I think that mustache is fake. 226 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Like a lot of other PC Engine games, Break In has some pretty chill music. 227 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, this is the Technique part.