Second Chances: Valkyrie no Densetsu (PC Engine)

You'd think I would've learned long ago not to judge a PC Engine game by static screenshots.

After all, though I originally turned up my nose at titles like Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen, Mr. Heli no Daibōken and Obocchama Kun due to what I considered to be their far-from-catwalk-ready looks, I changed my tune on each of those HuCards (as well as a number of others) after sinking a bit of time into them.

The thing is, I didn't much like Valkyrie no Densetsu--Legend of Valkyrie in English--even after a few go-rounds with it. I guess I didn't find its gameplay all that appealing during those initial forays. Or maybe I just couldn't get past its rough-hewn graphics.

Granted, calling Valkyrie no Densetsu's graphics rough-hewn seems downright generous at first glance. Its enemy sprites in particular are nightmare fodder thanks to their surprisingly crude designs that stand in stark contrast to those of the game's adorable protagonist and most of its backdrops.

I say "most" here because, well, some aspects of this Namcot-made title's environmental graphics also aren't what I'd call pretty. A case in point: a lot of the trees you saunter by during the adventure at hand look as though they could've been tended to for a few more hours (if not days) before earning the company's seal of approval.

All that said, if you're anything like me, a surprising number of the components singled out for complaint so far will grow on you--at least a bit--over time.

Seriously, at the moment, when one or more of the game's imp or ogre baddies skitters into view, I now look at them with more than a smidge of admiration rather than the tight-lipped frown of disgust that used to greet their appearance.

Is that because Valkyrie no Densetsu's a blast to play? Honestly, I don't know. I mean, the game is pretty fun--it basically feels like an antiquated precursor to The Legend of Zelda, even though it was released three years later--but I'm not sure I'd say it's such a blast it would cause me to forget about eye-searing graphics.

No, I think the only acceptable explanation here is that I've somehow come around to Valkyrie no Densetsu's awkward aesthetics.

Which is a very good thing, as Martha Stewart might say (if she enjoyed video games). There's a lot to like in this 1990 release. Although its adventure is stubbornly straightforward--no real exploring or even backtracking is allowed, although forks in the road pop up now and then that let you switch paths--the scenery changes frequently enough that you're unlikely to become bored.

Also, new enemies, obstacles and situations--like rescuing a captive child, or stumbling upon a hidden shop--are introduced at a fairly nice clip, and that helps liven up the proceedings as well.

Valkyrie no Densetsu's controls deserve a positive nod, too. Some may describe Miss Valkyrie as a tad sluggish, especially when she has to make a leap, but I disagree. Or I'd disagree if those same folks implied her somewhat languorous movement holds back the game in any meaningful way.

In fact, the single knock I can aim at this surprisingly adept arcade port is that the boss monsters you encounter every once in a while aren't the most interesting of adversaries. That's basically the only complaint I have at the moment, though, which I guess goes to show how much it can help to give games that don't click with you at first a second chance.

Have any of you played Valkyrie no Densetsu? If so, let me and others know what you think of it in the comments section that follows.

Note: photos via thebrothersduomazov.com and videogameden.com

Manual Stimulation (KiKi KaiKai, PC Engine)

That little peek into KiKi KaiKai's manual a couple of days ago--in my most recent "Nice Package!" post--wasn't enough, was it?

Don't be shy. I also didn't think it was enough. I couldn't just fill that write-up with photos of this PC Engine game's instruction booklet, though, could I? Thankfully, I have another series that's pretty darn suitable for such things.

Speaking of which, let's take a more thorough look at this Taito title's manual, shall we?



KiKi KaiKai's cover illustration sure is snazzy, isn't it? I especially like that there's more perspective and movement to it than a lot of its counterparts from the same era.



The art style used inside KiKi KaiKai's instruction manual is quite a bit simpler than the one used on its cover, but I don't see that as a negative. In fact, I'm a big fan of the illustrations that fill its handful of pages.



That's a very good thing, as without those wonderful drawings, KiKi KaiKai's manual would be nothing but a bunch of text, some squiggles and a couple of black-and-white screenshots.

Not that such a product would be the worst thing in the world, mind you. But who wouldn't prefer to look at pretty illustrations while learning how to play their brand-new (back in 1990), ball-busting PC Engine game?



My only complaint with this particular pamphlet: the same accomplished (and adorable) depiction of Sayo-chan--this is the name of KiKi KaiKai's protagonist--that appears on its initial pages also pops up a few more times as you flip through it.

Oh, well, you can't have everything, right? Anyway, speaking of Sayo-chan, she's a young Shinto shrine maiden living in Feudal Japan, in case you didn't pick up on that in the manual's opening salvo.



KiKi KaiKai's story can be summed up as: a handful of "Lucky Gods" (whatever that means) surprise Sayo-chan one day and warn her of impending danger. Shortly thereafter, they're ambushed by a group of thuggish goblins who whisk the deities away to a far-off mountain range.



Being the rather bold gal that she is, Sayo-chan chases after them--with this colorful HuCard's contents cataloging her ensuing adventure.

Some of the baddies she--and you, as the person who controls her in-game--encounters along the way can be spotted in the illustrations showcased above and below.



And here (below) are the bosses who do their best to impede Sayo-chan's progress. Not that I have any experience battling a good number of them. As I've surely said before, KiKi KaiKai regularly kicks my butt, so I've rarely made it past this overhead smhup's third or fourth stage.



How about you? Have you ever played either the arcade original version of KiKi KaiKai, this PC Engine port, or even some other iteration of this vaunted--if not exactly long-running--series over the years?

Even if you haven't, what do you think about the manual made for its PC Engine release? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section that follows.

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts

Nice Package! (KiKi KaiKai, PC Engine)

Those of you who use Twitter and who follow me may have caught this tweet I sent out a few days ago: "After a bit of a dry spell, I recently bought a ton of Famicom, PC Engine and PlayStation games."

The focus of today's post, Taito's KiKi KaiKai, is one of those games.



To be honest, I've been on the fence about picking up a copy of this title for a while now. Although it's a top-shelf port of the arcade game of the same name--also made by Taito and released in 1986--the simple truth is I absolutely suck at it.

Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. I buy plenty of games that seemingly enjoy pointing out to me that my reflexes aren't as sharp as they were when I was a kid.

The problem with this game, though, was that copies of KiKi KaiKai's PC Engine port tend to be pricey.

As a result, I've hemmed and hawed for a good year or so as to whether I should bite the bullet and buy the damn thing despite my issues or use my hard-earned cash on a couple of other PC Engine classics--ones that would have a less negative impact on my ego--instead.

Obviously I decided to go with the former in the end. And I can't say I regret that decision one bit. After all, just look at this title's beautiful packaging. From the cover of its instruction manual to the labels on the back of its case, it's pretty much perfect, wouldn't you agree?

I especially like the interior of KiKi KaiKai's instruction manual. The illustrations it offers up are the definition of lovely, in my humble opinion.

Of course, that shouldn't surprise me. Pretty much every Taito manual I've come across over the years makes me swoon. Two noteworthy examples from the PC Engine era: Don Doko Don and Mizubaku Daibouken. (Sadly, I'm not sure I'd say Parasol Star's booklet is quite up to snuff.)

If you'd like to sneak a peek at more of KiKi KaiKai's manual, you're in luck. I'm going to publish another installment of my long-running "Manual Stimulation" series devoted to this game's pamphlet later this week.



In the meantime, have any of you played any iteration of this top-down, push-scrolling shmup?

I'm especially curious to hear opinions of the arcade original or the PC Engine port discussed here, but feel free to sound off on the curious reimagining released for the Famicom Disk System or the follow-ups that hit the Super Famicom in 1992 and 1994, respectively.

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' and 'Manual Stimulation' posts

I'm kind of obsessed with the PC Engine's HuCard-based RPGs at the moment

Did you know that only a handful--as in, less than 20--of RPGs were released for the PC Engine in HuCard format?

The reasons for that seem obvious enough, of course--with the compact console's "CD-ROM2" attachment, which allowed developers to use higher quality music and cut scenes, hitting Japanese store shelves barely a year after the base system's release being the biggest one.

Dungeon Explorer

Were CD games cheaper to manufacture than HuCards? If so, that would be another reason.

Regardless, the lack of chip-based RPGs at least somewhat surprises me, especially when I remember how many games of that genre found their way onto Famicom cartridges and disks.

Jaseiken Necromancer

In a way, though, I'm kind of glad so few HuCard RPGs saw the light of day on the PC Engine, because it means it'll be far easier to play through them--you know, should I ever decide to do something stupid like that--than it would be to, say, play through every Famicom or Super Famicom (or even PC Engine CD) RPG.

Don't worry, I'm not planning to make that a goal anytime soon, although I am planning to pop two or three of them into my trusty PC Engine Core Grafx II sometime in the next few (OK, six or seven) months.

Necros no Yosai

The most like candidates: Cyber Knight, Dungeon Explorer, Jaseiken Necromancer, Necros no Yosai and War of the Dead.

Should any of you be curious as to the names of the other HuCard RPGs of which I'm aware, here you go: Cadash, Double Dungeons, Lady Sword, Makai Hakkenden Shada, Momotarou Densetsu II, Momotarou Densetsu Gaiden, Momotarou Densetu Turbo, Neutopia, Neutopia II, Silent Debuggers, Spiral Wave and Susa-no-Oh Densetsu.

Neutopia 2

Only a couple of these could be called traditional RPGs with turn-based battles and such, mind you. A good portion of them are action role-playing games of some sort or other, and a similar number are dungeon crawlers.

If I left any HuCard-based RPGs off of the lists above, by the way, please let me know about them in the comments section below, as I wouldn't be at all shocked to hear I've missed a couple.

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