For the eighth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... the PC Engine version of Jigoku Meguri (aka Hell Explorer or Bonze Adventure, depending on where you live).

Astute readers will recall that I discussed the change of heart I had in regards to this Taito platformer in this recent "Second Chances" post.

One thing I think I failed to mention in that post is that the PC Engine port of Jigoku Meguri admirably follows in the footsteps of a number of other Taito-published HuCards--including Don Doko Don, KiKi KaiKai, Mizubaku Daibouken and The New Zealand Story--as spot-on arcade conversions.



Another thing Jigoku Meguri shares with those games: It has a pretty slick instruction manual. (Expect to see it appear in an upcoming "Manual Stimulation" post.)

As is the case with most of these "12 Games of Christmas" posts, a few additional photos of this game can be found in my Flickr photostream.

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

Second Chances: Jigoku Meguri

Unlike the previous games that have been written about in these "Second Chances" posts, I can't seem to remember when I first played Jigoku Meguri, a Taito-made platformer that was released for the PC Engine in 1990, or why that first experience with the title was such a turn-off.

All I recall is that it didn't impress me. I think it had something to do with its odd protagonist--a bald and somewhat paunchy monk who defeats foes by tossing what appears to be giant prayer beads at them.

Regardless, I played Jigoku Meguri--also known as Bonze Adventure in some regions and Hell Explorer in others--once or twice via emulation and then turned my back on (and turned my nose up at) it for good.

Or at least that's what I did until a few months ago. What caused me to give it a second (possibly third) chance? While considering which games I should include in this Halloween-themed post, I remembered that Jigoku Meguri was set in hell and thought it might make a good fit.

Not wanting to recommend a game I couldn't stand, I gave it another shot--and found myself enjoying it quite a bit. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I couldn't believe I'd ever deemed it unworthy of my time and attention (not to mention affections).

As for why I enjoyed it so much: Simply put, barraging this game's baddies with giant prayer beads is a blast. It reminds me of the frenzied fulfillment I feel while playing Bubble Bobble--and barraging that game's baddies with bubbles--to tell you truth.

In fact, launching huge green, purple and red beads across the screen is so addictive that I usually find myself hitting my PC Engine controller's action button at warp speed even when no enemies are nearby.

There are other reasons to like Jigoku Meguri, of course--its graphics are colorful and expressive, for instance, and it's difficult enough that most folks won't be able to beat it on the game on their first (or, likely, second or third) try--but for me its main draw is and always will be the aforementioned, addictive-as-crack bead-throwing mechanism.

See also: Previous 'Second Chances' posts