Second Chances: Hana Tāka Daka!? (PC Engine)

It sometimes amazes me how many PC Engine games I initially ignored due to what I considered sub-par graphics. Jigoku Meguri is one such title. Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen is another, as is Obocchama-kun.

The funny thing is, all of the above-mentioned games have since become favorites.

Some of you may be shocked to hear that I include Taito's Hana Tāka Daka!? from 1991 in this bunch. After all, this horizontal shoot 'em up could hardly be called ugly. Its does take a while to get used to its unique visual stylings, though--or at least that was the case for me.

That's mainly due to the game's rather unappealing protagonist. What can I say, his big eyes, long nose and dangling, geta-hooved feet just don't do it for me--and on top of that, he's positively huge (compared to his surroundings) when it comes to this particular genre.

Speaking of this game's surroundings, I used to find them pretty unappealing, too--mainly due to their chunkiness, for lack of a better word, as well as their garish use of color.

How did I get over these supposed shortcomings? It finally dawned on me that Taito was a top-notch game developer and that maybe I should give some of their less appealing (at first blush, at least) efforts--like this one--a second or even third chance before deciding they weren't worth my time.

Once that was out of the way, I basically fell in love with Hana Tāka Daka!? and its charmingly weird cast of characters, setting and even gameplay (although the latter definitely is the least captivating aspect of this now-pricey HuCard, thanks to its rather pedestrian--although by no means boring or bad--mechanics).

I say "basically" because a few sticking points remain for me, with the most newsworthy being that the game puts up a pretty stiff challenge despite its candy-coated visuals.

That's rarely completely kept me from enjoying a game in the past, though, so I'm not about to let it keep me from enjoying this one. Just don't expect me to publish a post about "beating" Hana Tāka Daka!? anytime soon.

I'm also not the biggest fan of the way the game forces players to choose between having inadequate firepower and a small hitbox (i.e., a tiny protagonist-slash-"ship") and having ample firepower and a gigantic hitbox. This wouldn't be much of a problem if Hana Tāka Daka!? were a pushover, of course, but it's not, so a lack of firepower is sure to be an issue for those who aren't shmup gods or goddesses.

Aside from this colorful side-scroller's handful of negatives, there are a good number of positives associated with it too, such as its pleasantly discordant soundtrack and its surprisingly complex level design.

To those of you who've also spent a bit of time with this title: do you agree with the above, or do you have a different opinion Taito's effort here?

See also: previous 'Second Chances' posts

12 import games I bought in 2012 but didn't tell you about until now: Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen (PC Engine)

Oh, hey, another game has graduated from being featured in a recent "Second Chances" post to, well, being featured in my games collection.

And "featured" it shall be, due to its stellar cover art.

Thanks to my strange obsession with taking skewed (as opposed to straight-on) photos of games, though, you probably can't quite tell how stellar Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen's cover art is.

I'll do my best to snap a few additional shots of it and post them on my Flickr photostream in the next few days, OK? In the meantime, you can take closer look at the box art in question here.



I've spent quite a bit of time playing Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen since I acquired it, by the way. And although I still wish it looked a little less muddy, I'm enjoying pretty much every other aspect of it at the moment.

Did you know this Taito-made quarter-muncher was ported to the Famicom, too? That version's a more accurate conversion than this one is, actually, as its art style is more in line with the original.

See also: Previous '12 import games I bought in 2012 but didn't tell you about until now' posts

Second Chances: Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen

I've never liked the looks of this PC Engine shoot 'em up, which is based on the legend of the Monkey King. That's because I've always considered it to be the two-dimensional shmup equivalent of too many of today's three-dimensional FPS titles: Brown, dark and drab.

It's almost like Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen's developers decided, "There are too many cheerful and colorful PC Engine shooters. Let's make one that's the complete opposite!"

(It should be noted, by the way, that I also find many of this title's character, or maybe I should say "creature," designs to be the definition of dreadful.)

So, I ignored this HuCard like a pixelated plague. Until I came to the realization that Taito released a ton of surprisingly great games for NEC's adorable little system--such as Don Doko Don, Hana Taka Daka!?, Jigoku Meguri, Mizubaku Daibouken, The New Zealand Story and Parasol Stars--back in the day.

Giving Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen a second chance with that in mind helped a great deal. For starters, once I looked past this game's gloomy graphics (don't be fooled by the screenshot below) and focused instead on its gameplay, I found that it's a pretty great shoot 'em up. More specifically, I discovered that it's both tight (in terms of controls) and tough--two things a shmup needs to offer for me to fall in love with it.

I also discovered that it has some awesome boss fights, which I believe rival those found in Coryoon and PC Denjin (aka Air Zonk) when it comes to beauty and brilliance (thanks in large part to the many layers of parallax scrolling they contain).

Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen's soundtrack is nice, too. Sadly, it's often drowned out by the game's overly loud "pew pew" effects that accompany each and every shot.

That lone misstep--well, if you don't count the dreary aesthetics--isn't nearly enough to get me to continue to ignore this 1992 release, of course. On the contrary, I now regularly find myself playing and enjoying it regularly due to the aspects mentioned above.

Do I still consider it to be a rather unattractive title? Yes, I do. But it no longer means more to me than the rest of what it has to offer any gamer interested in playing a retro shoot 'em up that isn't a total pushover.

See also: Previous 'Second Chances' posts