Because the bulk of the platformers I've played in the last few days have been of the PC Engine variety, I thought I'd compile my (sometimes pithy) impressions of them here.
Chozetsu Rinjin Berabo Man--There's no denying this side-scrolling platformer, known as Bravo Man in the States, never much appealed to me before TheGameroomBlitz suggested it in the comments section of this recent post. To be frank, screenshots of it (and, really, video of it, too) make it look like a complete turd. That, combined with the rather terrible word of mouth that surrounds this Namco-made HuCard, has been more than enough to keep me from giving it a go. Until last week, I mean. So, now that I've finally played it, what do I think of it? Surprisingly, I kind of like it. It's a low-rent game, no doubt about it, and it has a whole host of issues--the super-hero-ish protagonist is large and slow, the graphics are on the messy side--but it also has a certain charm to it that makes it more enjoyable than it has any right to be. In large part, that's due to Berabo Man's elastic limbs, which are used to dispatch enemies in lieu of a more traditional gun or laser, but for me it's also due to this game's curious cast of characters, which includes absurdly small tanks, cartoonishly squat ninjas and some other odd-looking creatures that look remarkably similar to Fantasy Zone's Opa-Opa.
Doraemon Nobita no Dorabian Night--Here's another PC Engine platformer that I've ignored over the years due to what I considered to be subpar graphics. In action, though, they're actually rather nice, if still slightly rough around the edges. Nobita no Dorabian Night's gameplay is similarly "acceptable," with some aspects being pretty interesting--Doraemon's stun gun being one of them--and others, like the overall blandness of the action at hand, being less so. At the end of the day, Nobita no Dorabian Night feels like PC Genjin's less accomplished cousin, which isn't exactly the worst thing you could say about a PC Engine platformer, if you ask me.
Dragon Egg!--Like the titles mentioned above, this NCS-developed platformer isn't all that impressive at first blush. The dark graphics and stiff controls made me think I was playing a bottom-shelf Mega Drive (Genesis) game early on, which wasn't what I was expecting based on some of the positive impressions I've read elsewhere. A few stages later, though, my opinion did a 180. That's when I'd collected enough power-ups to transform the lowly egg the Sayo-chan-esque protagonist had been using as a weapon up to that point into a small, Yoshi-like dragon who gladly popped his head out of a sack and aimed his fiery breath at any and all enemies in her path. That one detail was enough for me to add this game to my lengthy "to buy" list (so far I've only experienced it via emulation), despite the fact that I've only completed a few levels so far.
Genji Tsushin Agedama--What kept me from giving this colorful conundrum (it's part shmup, part platformer, after all) a proper once-over until recently? I honestly have no idea. It couldn't have been its graphics, which are both well drawn and brilliantly hued. Maybe it was its mouthful of a name, which just doesn't have the same appealing ring to it that games like Bravo Man and Dragon Egg! do? Regardless, I'm now beating myself up over that idiotic oversight, as Genji Tsushin Agedama seems to be a real gem of a PC Engine game (based on the few stages I've played through thus far, at least). The auto-scrolling levels do take some getting used to, it has to be said, but once that's out of the way the game is a thoroughly and surprisingly enjoyable romp.
Momotaro Katsugeki--Here's a HuCard I first played a few years ago due to a random recommendation I can't fully recall at the moment, only to find it decidedly underwhelming. Upon picking it up again last week, though, I had at least a slight change of heart. I still find it less thrilling than some folks do, but I now appreciate all of the things it brings to the PC Engine-platformer table, such as its colorfully diverse backdrops and its similarly varied actions and obstacles. This is another game that brings to mind the famed PC Genjin (Bonk's Adventure outside of Japan) series, by the way, and not only because of its visuals, although the titular Momotaro's projectile weapon (a peach-flinging sword, I believe) helps to give Katsugeki a different feel than its prehistoric predecessor.
Pac-Land--I have surprisingly vivid memories of encountering the arcade version of this game for the first time in a faraway arcade as a teen. This was back before the Internet clued us into every last release, mind you, and as such the very sight of a Pac-Man-themed platformer blew my young mind. I share this because I have a feeling it'll help explain my decades-long interest in this particular title, which is unabashedly derided by pretty much every other person on the planet. Yes, the bulk of Pac-Land's graphics look as though they were created by a five-year-old with very little artist talent. Yes, its gameplay alternates between boringly basic and hair-pullingly challenging (in the "cheap" sort of way). Still, I get a kick out of booting it up and running through at least a handful of its stages every now and then. That may be nostalgia talking, I admit, but I honestly think there's a little more to it than that--although probably only just a little.
Have any of you played the aforementioned PC Engine platformers? If so, please feel free to share some of your thoughts on them in the comments section below.
If you haven't played some or even any of them, maybe you should consider doing so as part of Anne's #PlatforMonth game-along event?
15 comments:
Hey now, I never said Bravo Man was GOOD... just strangely compelling! I wonder if he had any interaction with Dhalsim in Namco X Capcom or Project X Zone...
By the way, I've played that Genji Tsushin game a long time ago, and was pretty impressed with it. There's something appealing about the simple gameplay and candy colors of Turbografx games, although that appeal may not have been readily apparent in the early 1990s, during gaming's embarrassing adolescence. Cute and colorful didn't fly in the United States when everyone had Mortal Kombat on their minds.
Oh, I didn't mean to imply that you thought Bravo Man was great, Jess. You did recommend, though--even if it was in a rather back-handed-compliment kind of way :)
Anyway, I agree that it's strangely compelling. Heck, I even kind of enjoyed the underwater shmup sections, which everyone else seems to loathe.
As for your comments on Genji Tsushin: yep, it's a pretty appealing game all around, in my opinion.
And you're right about the TG-16's fate in the US during gaming's "embarrassing adolescence," as you put it. At least partially.
What I mean is that I personally think there were a whole host of reasons the TG-16 failed in the US. One of them was that the style of game it offered up just wasn't all that attractive to gamers of the time, but another was that the system's marketing wasn't all that great. The marketing of the machine and its games catalog often tried to ape what Sega was doing at the time, but the problem with that (IMO, of course) was that it failed to convince Sega fans to buy a TG-16 rather than a Genesis. Add to that the fact that, for the bulk of Genesis owners, if they were going to buy a secondary console, it likely was going to be the SNES, and you've got some market-penetration issues.
And then, of course, there were NEC's and Hudson's rather odd localization decisions. So many promising PCE games were left in Japan, while many games that were never going to appeal to American audiences were brought over instead. Without any/many third-parties to bring them over in NEC's/Hudson's absence, the system struggled mightily against the SNES and Genesis.
All of this is coming from someone who loved the TG-16 dearly at the time and who owned a TG-16, a TG-CD, a DUO and about 30 games :|
Hey, I like how it looks, too, finchiekins--or at least some of it. I love Pac-Man himself, for instance, and all of the ghosts, too. Even some of the backdrops are OK, in my opinion, although many others are kind of terrible. Still, I like the game. You should give it a try at some point, by the way. It's ... probably not what you're expecting. Anyway, give it a go and then let me know what you think of it!
I don't think it helped that NEC wasn't a household name among gamers. Nintendo? Absolutely! Sega and Atari? Sure. But NEC? Don't they make computer monitors or something? The lack of brand recognition had to hurt them.
There's a whole laundry list of reasons the Turbografx failed in the United States. Many you've already mentioned, but one I never considered was mentioned by Wikipedia. Evidently NEC targeted major cities in its advertising and ignored rural areas, since this worked well in its native Japan. Of course, they ignored the fact that America is a very different country from Japan, with a population spread across a large span of territory. The Turbo competed against the Genesis in cities- at least at first- but floundered miserably everywhere else. It's the same lack of foresight that bruised the Xbox One, which (in its original design) would have been difficult or impossible to use in rural areas because of the spotty internet available there.
Unfortunately, my Turbografx-16 collection is as miserable as it gets. I've got the system and a single game, Galaga '90. I don't even know where the bloody controller is at the moment! I probably would have had a better shot at a worthwhile collection if I had purchased a Turbo from Toys 'R Us when they were on clearance... but I thought Ecco the Dolphin was a better use of my fifty dollars. Smooth move, past self!
Good thing you didn't see Pac-Land ON the NES. Yikes!
Yes, I'm sure brand/name recognition--or lack thereof--hurt NEC and the TG-16, but I still think that could've been overcome, at least to an extent, if the right games and marketing campaigns had been in place.
As for your Wikipedia example: I've honestly never heard that before. It sounds interesting, although I'm not entirely sure I believe it or agree with it. I mean, I guess it's possible NEC only marketed the system in only the biggest cities in the US (like, the top 10 biggest) and ignored the rest at their own peril, but even then there was plenty of marketing (at least at first) in all of the gaming pubs of the day. And even then the word of mouth regarding the system either was slightly negative to fully negative or was non-existant.
That's more of an anecdotal observation than a scientifically supported one, of course, so I guess take it with a grain of salt.
Anyway, your TG-16 collection *is* sad! Why'd you even bother to pick one up if all you were going to buy was Galaga '90?
Speaking of sad, by the way, I sold my entire TG-16 collection long, long ago--in order to buy a Japanese Saturn shortly after the system launched. And later I sold that Saturn and all of the games I'd acquired for it (6 to 10, I think) so I could buy a Dreamcast and some games XD
I'm going to second Jess' comment here, finchie. At one point I actually considered picking up the Famicom version--until I saw screenshots of it, I mean. YIKES! Stick with the PCE/TG-16 version...
I love Bravoman! Glad to see you enjoyed it as well. I've played both the TG16 version and the arcade version. The arcade version is gorgeous -- much better looking. But unfortunately the bizarre dialog (what little there is) is all in Japanese. But I guess if you played the PC Engine version then you missed out on that as well, right?
I think the lack of a truly 16-bit CPU hurt NEC a lot. It was a stain on their marketing and it had an effect on the games themselves, which were typically small in both size and scope. I was able to play a lot of TG16 software in 1991, at a store with consoles available for rent by the hour, and much of it had the look, feel, and especially the sound of dressed-up NES games. Hell, Neutopia was essentially the years-old Legend of Zelda with prettier sprites and new levels designs. People were ready to move on to something bigger and better at that point, and the Turbografx just couldn't meet that demand.
(The TurboDuo COULD, bringing an experience that more closely approximated what was available on competing 16-bit systems. It had more genuine games and fewer FMV disasters than the Sega CD, but by the time it was released the die was already cast... the Super NES and Genesis were the dominant consoles, and NEC didn't have a chance at catching up. That horrendous Johnny Turbo ad campaign only drove nails in the company's coffin.)
But yes, my Turbo collection is pretty friggin' sad. I have more 3DO games, for cryin' out loud! I've never been strongly motivated to beef it up, because the games are all readily available on emulators and because they've gotten ridiculously scarce as of late. Even Genesis and Super NES cartridges are uncommon sights in 2014, but from my experience, you'd have more luck finding a unicorn at a garage sale than a HuCard.
If I ever did fire up the old girl again, I'd like to connect it to an RGB monitor, just so I could get the most out of its obscenely bright colors. I've been wanting to do this with a lot of my consoles, actually, since Super NES and Genesis games don't look especially good in composite. What can I say? Emulators have spoiled me.
Oh, yes, you're definitely right that in NA the fact that the TG-16 wasn't a "real" 16-bit machine hurt it a great deal when it came to marketing and word of mouth.
And, yes, you're right that too many HuCard games--esp. the ones that were released in NA--couldn't compete in terms of graphics and game length with the bulk of the SNES and Genesis games libraries.
I do think the TG-CD games were much more successful at competing the Genesis and SNES, but for far too long the TG-CD player was far too expensive to make it a viable alternative for most gamers. And like you said, by the time the TurboDuo was released (and w/ a more reasonable price tag attached to it), it was too late.
Speaking of hooking a TG-16 or PCE up to an RGB monitor, by the way, my PCE CoreGrafxII system was modded to allow that, but I have to admit I know nothing about such monitors and so I've completely avoided even considering the possibility of picking one up some day so I can enjoy my PCE games in the most beautiful way possible. Oh, well :|
Hey there, Steve! Actually, although I said in this post that I played the PCE versions of all of the games mentioned in this post, in the case of Berabo Man/Bravo Man, I actually played the US version (via my Wii). I'm planning to pick up a copy of the JP version later this year, but for the meantime the US version will have to do. Which is fine by me, as I love the US version's hilariously terrible dialogue.
So many cool platformers!! ^^ I always thought Pac Land looked fun and just watched a video review of it recently! That era Pac Man art is my favorite! Super cute and nostalgic! :D
Hey there, Kaze! Pac-Land is a strange one, to be honest. I mean, it *is* fun to an extent, but it's also pretty frustrating (due to the slippery and awkward controls) and even kind of repetitive and boring. Still, I like it well enough--although I wonder if I'd feel differently if it wasn't a Pac-Man game? Probably. Still, you should try it out at some point just to see how you feel about it :)
Nice selection sir :) I like Dragon Egg but I haven't played any of the others (yet) - very surprising in the case of the Doraemon game since I'm such a fan of his! Yet more to add to my list, thanks :)
Thanks, Simon! You should try all of them, of course, but especially Doraemon. The game's a bit boring overall--probably because it's aimed at kids--but it's still worth a go, IMO. I think you'd probably like Genji Tsushin Agedama and Momotaro Katsugeki, too...
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