Showing posts with label NAC Geographic Products Inc.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NAC Geographic Products Inc.. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Welcome to WonderSwan World: Engacho!
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Thursday, March 14, 2013
Manual Stimulation: Engacho! (WonderSwan)
Can you believe it's been nearly a year since I bought a copy of Engacho!, NAC Geographic Products' amusingly gross WonderSwan puzzler? (A few photos of the game's packaging can be seen here.)
I can, but then again I've bought a lot of games in the last year (he says as his husband groans in the background).
More unbelievable, in my opinion, is that I've yet to play the damn thing. Of course, that would require me to buy a WonderSwan system of some sort, and for whatever reason I haven't been able to make myself do that yet.
While I ponder why that is, why don't all of you do something a bit more enjoyable--like take in the beauty that is this game's instruction manual.
OK, so it's clear from the cover of the Engacho! manual that "beauty" may not be the best word to use here. You have to admit, though, that it's pretty darn colorful--and the illustrations are quite amusing (if not exactly attractive).
Moving along to the interior of this title's surprisingly lengthy manual, right off the bat we get a glimpse of its nose-less protagonist. Sadly, I can't tell you his name--or the names of any of the characters highlighted on the next few pages--as I still don't know a lick of Japanese. (Don't worry, I'm working on it.)
Should any of you who understand Japanese be able and willing to lend a helping hand with this information, by the way, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Next up in the Engacho! manual: the ever-thrilling explanation of controls. It's a fairly necessary section in such booklets, of course, so I won't complain too much that it's lacking in excitement.
Here we get a look at the game's intro screens--which, sadly, are in black and white. Couldn't the folks at NAC Geographic Products have re-released this one after the WonderSwan Color hit the streets? I guess not. Oh, well, at least the sprites are worthy representations of the hand-drawn originals.
I can, but then again I've bought a lot of games in the last year (he says as his husband groans in the background).
More unbelievable, in my opinion, is that I've yet to play the damn thing. Of course, that would require me to buy a WonderSwan system of some sort, and for whatever reason I haven't been able to make myself do that yet.
While I ponder why that is, why don't all of you do something a bit more enjoyable--like take in the beauty that is this game's instruction manual.
OK, so it's clear from the cover of the Engacho! manual that "beauty" may not be the best word to use here. You have to admit, though, that it's pretty darn colorful--and the illustrations are quite amusing (if not exactly attractive).
Moving along to the interior of this title's surprisingly lengthy manual, right off the bat we get a glimpse of its nose-less protagonist. Sadly, I can't tell you his name--or the names of any of the characters highlighted on the next few pages--as I still don't know a lick of Japanese. (Don't worry, I'm working on it.)
Should any of you who understand Japanese be able and willing to lend a helping hand with this information, by the way, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Next up in the Engacho! manual: the ever-thrilling explanation of controls. It's a fairly necessary section in such booklets, of course, so I won't complain too much that it's lacking in excitement.
Here we get a look at the game's intro screens--which, sadly, are in black and white. Couldn't the folks at NAC Geographic Products have re-released this one after the WonderSwan Color hit the streets? I guess not. Oh, well, at least the sprites are worthy representations of the hand-drawn originals.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Acquisition #132: Engacho! (WonderSwan)
Just over a month ago, I mentioned in this post that I recently developed a bit of an obsession with the Bandai WonderSwan. I also mentioned that I've already picked up a few games for this Japan-only handheld, which was first released in 1999.
One of those games, as I'm sure you surmised after reading the headline above, is the WonderSwan version of NAC Geographic Products' amusingly gross puzzler, Engacho!
I've owned the PlayStation version of this title, which tasks players with leading a frightened boy through tile-based stages while avoiding the putrid characters that can be seen on the box above, for some time now (read a brief review of it here) and I've enjoyed what I've played of it, so when I saw this portable port pop up on eBay I couldn't help but pick it up.
I haven't played it yet--I'm still waiting for the perfect SwanCrystal to appear on eBay--but I like what I've seen of its black-and-white graphics so I'm looking forward to doing so soon.
In the meantime, I'll just stare at the game's packaging, which is pretty swell, don't you think?
I also quite like the little cartridges (above) on which WonderSwan games appear, and the plastic sleeves that protect them. The cartridges are about the size of GameBoy Advance cartridges, by the way--in case any of you were wondering.
To see a few more snapshots of this particular pick-up, check out my Flickr photostream.
See also: previous 'Acquisition #123' posts
One of those games, as I'm sure you surmised after reading the headline above, is the WonderSwan version of NAC Geographic Products' amusingly gross puzzler, Engacho!
I've owned the PlayStation version of this title, which tasks players with leading a frightened boy through tile-based stages while avoiding the putrid characters that can be seen on the box above, for some time now (read a brief review of it here) and I've enjoyed what I've played of it, so when I saw this portable port pop up on eBay I couldn't help but pick it up.
In the meantime, I'll just stare at the game's packaging, which is pretty swell, don't you think?
I also quite like the little cartridges (above) on which WonderSwan games appear, and the plastic sleeves that protect them. The cartridges are about the size of GameBoy Advance cartridges, by the way--in case any of you were wondering.
To see a few more snapshots of this particular pick-up, check out my Flickr photostream.
See also: previous 'Acquisition #123' posts
Friday, July 15, 2011
The Great Gaymathon Review #32: Engacho! (PlayStation)
Game: Engacho!
Genre: Puzzle
Developer: NAC Geographic Products Inc.
Publisher: NAC Geographic Products Inc.
System: PlayStation
Release date: 1999
Looking at its cover--which features a quartet of slimy, smelly and even snotty grotesqueries--I'm quite honestly shocked NAC Geographic Products' Engacho! never made its way to the States. Then again, this Japanese import, released in 1999, is a devilishly difficult puzzler and not a dark and dreary FPS, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised by its lack of localization.
Anyway, enough about that--you're probably curious as to what makes this game so challenging. Would it be rude of me to suggest checking out this post, which explains the game's premise more fully than I could here?
If that description makes the game sound something less than devilishly difficult, maybe this will do the trick: so far, I've only successfully traversed the first 10 of this turn-based puzzler's stages. I believe there are between 50 and 100 stages in the game, but I can't say that with any certainty since I'm hopelessly stuck on the tenth and there doesn't seem to be a way to skip troublesome stages.
That's my only real quibble with Engacho!, to tell you the truth. It isn't cheap (it's your fault when you fail to complete a stage), it controls well, its sprite-based graphics are colorful and nicely drawn and its soundtrack is surprisingly catchy. (I especially like the theme song, which recalls Rhythm Heaven
's "DJ School.") And then there's that cover art. Sure, it's gross, but it's also funny and more than a bit intriguing--or at least it is to me.
See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts
Friday, February 11, 2011
What in the hell does 'Engacho!' mean, anyway?
I posed that question on Twitter recently, and received just one response. Apparently, "engacho" means "hitches" or "pegs" in Spanish. That doesn't make much sense given the game's content and (what little I know of its) story, so I'm guessing something was lost in translation when the folks at publisher NAC Geographic Products Inc. chose Engacho! as a title.
Another possibility: They weren't thinking of Spanish when they decided to call their game Engacho! or they simply made up the word.
Regarding the former, the always reliable (ha!) Google suggested this word--えんがちょ--when I asked it to translate "engacho" from Japanese to English. It certainly sounds like the Google lady is saying "engacho," doesn't it? (Click on the link above and then "listen.") Also, Google's translation of えんがちょ is "for example I is wicked," which, while hilariously stilted, fits the game's theme fairly well.
Why am I running off at the mouth in regards to this rather disgusting--but still loads of fun--little puzzler? Well, I bought it recently, that's why. I can only play it on my computer (using an emulator) at the moment, as I don't yet own a Japanese PS1 or PS2, so I can't tell you too much about it--I hate playing games on my computer--but I can share a few photos of it.
For starters, here's the game's colorfully gross cover:
And here's the actual game disc, which I consider to be both cute and creative (the face is of the game's protagonist):
Oh, and remove the disc from its transparent tray and this is what you see:
(In case you're wondering: Yes, I'm completely incapable of taking a straight-on photo of a game.)
I'll share scans of the game's front and back covers when I review Engacho! as part of "The Great Gaymathon." In the meantime, check out this post for (a bit) more information.
Another possibility: They weren't thinking of Spanish when they decided to call their game Engacho! or they simply made up the word.
Regarding the former, the always reliable (ha!) Google suggested this word--えんがちょ--when I asked it to translate "engacho" from Japanese to English. It certainly sounds like the Google lady is saying "engacho," doesn't it? (Click on the link above and then "listen.") Also, Google's translation of えんがちょ is "for example I is wicked," which, while hilariously stilted, fits the game's theme fairly well.
Why am I running off at the mouth in regards to this rather disgusting--but still loads of fun--little puzzler? Well, I bought it recently, that's why. I can only play it on my computer (using an emulator) at the moment, as I don't yet own a Japanese PS1 or PS2, so I can't tell you too much about it--I hate playing games on my computer--but I can share a few photos of it.
For starters, here's the game's colorfully gross cover:
And here's the actual game disc, which I consider to be both cute and creative (the face is of the game's protagonist):
Oh, and remove the disc from its transparent tray and this is what you see:
(In case you're wondering: Yes, I'm completely incapable of taking a straight-on photo of a game.)
I'll share scans of the game's front and back covers when I review Engacho! as part of "The Great Gaymathon." In the meantime, check out this post for (a bit) more information.
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