Manual Stimulation: Son Son II (PC Engine)

Considering how wonderfully colorful Son Son II the PC Engine game is, you could be forgiven for assuming Son Son II the PC Engine instruction manual follows suit.

Unfortunately, it doesn't. Or at least it doesn't do so fully. Instead, it does so in fits and spurts.



Its first few pages are a perfect reflection of that. Although the spread seen below features three really nice illustrations, the rest of the acreage on hand is mostly white space and black text.



That's less true when it comes to the spreads that follow, but even then it'd be hard to argue that there's a whole lot more black and white on those pages than there are colorful pieces of art.



At least the pieces of art that are there are easy on the eyes. Granted, I've rarely come across a drawing of a collectable in-game item I didn't like, so maybe I'm alone in finding them appealing.

(Speaking of game items, my friend, Jess, recently published a great blog post about Capcom's long history of silly, strange and intriguing power-ups. I'd definitely recommend reading it if you find such things interesting.)



I also really like the enemy depictions that are showcased in the scan above. The only thing I don't like about them is there are only 11 of them.

Oh, well, at we got those 11, right?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts about Don Doko Don, Parasol Stars and Parodius Da!

Manual Stimulation: Rainbow Islands (PC Engine)

I have some good news and some bad news to share with you in terms of this PC Engine port's instruction manual. Let's start with the good news: Rainbow Islands' manual is in full color--unlike many of the ones produced for this system. The bad news: the illustration that appears on its front and back covers is the only one to be found in all of its 14 or so pages.



Still, let's not dwell on the negative. Although this CD-based title's instruction manual pales in comparison to its gameplay, I think it's worth checking out anyway. (As always, click on the scans shared here if you want to take a better or closer look at them.)



Unfortunately, the manual's "story" page, above, isn't as interesting as it probably would've been had Taito published this game instead of NEC Avenue. After all, Taito had a history of producing PC Engine manuals that featured plenty of charming, if strangely childish, illustrations. (The one packed along with the company's PC Engine ports of Don Doko Don, Mizubaku Daibouken and The New Zealand Story are good examples.)



Under NEC Avenue's care, though, Rainbow Islands' manual is crammed full of color screenshots rather than illustrations of any ilk. They're nice enough screenshots, it has to be said, but who on earth would rather encounter screenshots than illustrations while flipping through a game manual? Not me, I'll tell you that much.





At least the designers responsible for this instruction manual provided readers with looks at a good number of the game's stages--and even what I'm guessing is one of its endings, based on the colorfully congratulatory screenshot seen in upper-right corner of the page below.



That said, I would've exchanged all of this manual's color for a few doodles or drawings or other pieces of art. Oh, well, you can't always have everything, can you?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts

Manual Stimulation: Splash Lake (PC Engine)

Although I prefer long, illustration-filled instruction manuals when I'm paging through them while sitting on a comfy couch, I prefer shorter, more straightforward ones when I'm working up one of these posts.

The focus of today's post--the manual produced for NEC Avenue's Splash Lake, an appealingly quirky, if a bit lacking in the long run, action-puzzler that was released for the PC Engine in 1991--falls into the latter category, as you'll quickly discover.



Although I'd hardly call Splash Lake an amazing effort, it's far better than its rather questionable box art suggests it is.

Don't get me wrong, Splash Lake's cover illustration is appreciably colorful, and it's hardly what I'd call boring, but it also looks a bit too much like it was made by someone just coming to terms with computer graphics. (Of course, the same can be said about the bulk of game-related box art from the early 1990s.)



The first few inside pages of Splash Lake's manual aren't much better, it has to be said--although that cartoonishly rendered PC Engine and CD-ROM2 system on the left nearly makes up for it.



Things improve a bit on the next pair of pages thanks to the cute (and kind of creepy) rendition of the game's bow-tied-but-limbless ostrich.



Mr. Ostrich (or, "Stumpy," as I like to call him) shows up on the last two pages of Splash Lake's instruction manual, too, only this time he's looking a little less chipper.

The same can't be said for the game's line-up of baddies, who take center stage just before the manual's curtain call. I especially like the sunglasses-sporting and cigarette-smoking tree stump, although his colorful cohorts are a pleasant enough bunch too.

See also: 'The return of the PC Engine'

The return of the PC Engine

Sadly, the header above doesn't refer to the return of NEC's PC Engine--quite possibly my all-time favorite console--to Japanese store shelves. Rather, it refers to the return of that system's relevance to my far-too-regular eBay excursions.

That's noteworthy because it's been many months since I last purchased a PC Engine game. In fact, I can't remember the last one I bought. Is it possible that it was Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen (read about it here), which I picked up last November? I think it is.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there, is it? Much more relevant to this particular discussion is the pair of PC Engine games I acquired a few weeks ago: Naxat Soft's Star Mobile and NEC Avenue's Splash Lake, both of which can be seen in the photos below.

Star Mobile, a CD-ROM2 game originally released in 1992, has intrigued me for ages thanks to the fact that it's a Zodiac-themed puzzle game that challenges players to stack stars of different weights on a gilded scale without dumping them into the intergalactic void.



Splash Lake, on the other hand, is an action-puzzler that puts players in the shoes of a legless ostrich (wait a second...) that's tasked with destroying various bridge planks--by pecking them--and sending each stage's baddies into the titular body of water.

I actually owned the North American version of this game, which hit the streets in Japan in 1991 and jumped the pond a year later, way back when, but I stupidly sold it along with the rest of my TurboGrafx-16 collection so I could buy a Japanese Sega Saturn at launch.



I really like the simple-but-cute label that's affixed to Splash Lake's CD, by the way. You can see it in the not-so-stellar photo above, or you can see an appealingly clear scan of it here.

Splash Lake's instruction manual is pretty nice, too--not to mention short--so look for a "Manual Stimulation" post devoted to it to be published sooner rather than later.

The Great Gaymathon Review #53: Fantasy Zone (PC Engine)

Game: Fantasy Zone

Genre: Shoot 'em up

Developer: NEC Avenue

Publisher: NEC Avenue

System: PC Engine

Release date: 1988

I have a feeling this particular port of Sega's classic, pastel-soaked shoot 'em up was maligned by more than a few people (including myself) back in the day for failing to be "arcade perfect." Those detractors had a point, actually: As good as this game looks, for instance, its graphics don't quite match the coin-op original's brightness or softness. (The ever-so-slightly harsh backgrounds in this version are the main culprits here.) This HuCard's rollicking soundtrack also suffered a bit (OK, a lot) in the transition from arcade cabinet to PC Engine console, thanks in large part to someone's bright idea (not) to raise it in pitch to the point that every song is the aural equivalent of being jabbed in the back of a head with a child's fork while attempting to eat at a fine-dining establishment. (Translation: It's really irritating.) The folks at NEC Avenue nailed the most important aspect of this home conversion, though--that being the gameplay. Just like the original, the PC Engine version of Fantasy Zone tasks players with piloting an adorably winged ship, named Opa-Opa, through looping, open-ended worlds--a la Defender--in an attempt to destroy all of the enemy bases that reside within them. Destroy all of said bases and, surprise, you face a dastardly boss. In the end, doing all of the above feels like it should, although that's not to say it's without flaw. For example, there's a sense of inertia to Opa-Opa that, when combined with the aforementioned wrap-around stages, can be awkward to deal with, especially at the outset. Also, the game is the definition of challenging. (Case in point: There are eight levels, but I've yet to get to the fourth without cheating.)

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

Manual Stimulation: Fantasy Zone (PC Engine)

Considering it was released near the end of the PC Engine's first year on the market, Fantasy Zone's instruction manual is surprisingly slick.

That's good, because it's only 10 pages long, and if it were like most manuals of the time and featured just a few black-and-white screenies and a bunch of text it would be a bore and a half.

Instead, the inside pages of Fantasy Zone's manual are nearly as colorful as its cover, which can be seen in the scan below.



Moving inside, you have to love the first page's hilariously dramatic warning to owners to not abuse their HuCards. Following that, there's a little intro page that features Opa-Opa striking various poses.

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

... NEC Avenue's PC Engine port of Fantasy Zone.

This version of Sega's surreal, pastel-filled shmup was released in 1988, by the way. It isn't an arcade-perfect port, but it's close enough that only the most anal Fantasy Zone fans would turn up their noses at it.

You may remember me saying recently (in this 'Second Chances' post) that I haven't always been a fan of this game. Well, my opinion of it has changed enough over the last few months that the complete-in-box copy of it seen above was one of the first things I purchased after my birthday.

Now if I could just get past the third or fourth stage.

Anyway, for anyone interested: Another photo or two of my copy of Fantasy Zone can be seen in my Flickr photostream. (Also, click on the ones above to take a closer look at them.)

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

Second Chances: Fantasy Zone

I know a lot of people who absolutely love Fantasy Zone. Until recently, though, I didn't share their adoration of this arcade classic.

Oh, I wanted to. After all, it was made by the folks at Sega (always a positive in my book--well, as long as we're talking pre-2002 Sega) and it's chock-full of color. Also, I've always been fond of the game's oddly named protagonist, a sentient spaceship who answers to Opa-Opa.

So, what's kept me from lusting after this pastel-soaked shmup? Its controls were the biggest hurdle--in particular, Opa-Opa's odd sense of gravity and momentum that takes some getting used to if you were brought up, as I was, on more traditional side-scrolling shoot 'em ups, like Darius, Gradius or R-Type.

Another control-centric issue that has long impeded my ability to accept Fantasy Zone into my heart: Dealing with the aforementioned gravity and momentum issues while taking out the game's thieving enemy forces is the definition of challenging.

A few weeks ago, after reading through The Brothers Duomazov's review of the PC Engine version for what must have been the hundredth time, I decided to erase my previous opinions of the game from my memory and give it a second (maybe third) chance.

Although I'd be lying if I said this latest experience with Fantasy Zone was smooth sailing, er, flying, from the get-go, I'd also be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the title a lot more than I had in the past. Sure, I died a lot--I'm pretty sure I saw the "game over" screen too many times to count before I made it to the second stage--but I didn't much care thanks to my newly minted appreciation of the game's uniqueness (not to mention its odd, and other-worldly, assortment of environments and enemies).

Can it now be said that I, too, adore Fantasy Zone? Yes, I think it can. As for whether it also can be said that I'm any good at it, though, is another conversation entirely.

See also: Previous 'Second Chances' posts

The Great Gaymathon Review #2: Rainbow Islands (PC Engine CD-ROM2)

Game: Rainbow Islands

Genre: Platformer

System: PC Engine CD-ROM2

Developer: NEC Avenue

Publisher: NEC Avenue

Release date: 1993

Most platformers follow in Super Mario Bros' hugely successful footsteps and scroll horizontally. Well, Fukio Mitsuji's arcade classic--technically the first sequel to Bubble Bobble--turns that tried-and-true tradition on its head and scrolls vertically, much like those odd overworld sections of Kid Icarus that caused you to pull out your hair by the handful. (Or was that just me?) As much as I like that mythological Famicom Disk System title, though, it has nothing on Rainbow Islands, what with the latter's titular arcs of light--which can be used as weapons or as platforms--shimmering, Wizard of Oz-esque soundtrack (i.e., the main theme sounds an awful lot like "Over the Rainbow") and almost shocking array of enemies and environments. That's not to say this Bubble Bobble follow-up is faultless. Some players are bound to hate its floaty jumps, or struggle to perfect its run-up-a-slew-of-rainbows-like-a-flight-of-stairs mechanic. Making matters worse, Rainbow Islands' can be merciless from a difficulty perspective. And the boss battles that pop up at the end of each world, while visually impressive, often feel "cheap" rather than satisfying due to the suffocating size of said baddies. Still, Rainbow Islands deserves all the kudos that can be tossed at it due to its surprising amount of depth and to how boldly, radically and successfully its gameplay veers from that of its predecessor.

See also: previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

Gekisha Boy + Rainbow Islands

Remember how I mentioned "two other recent acquisitions" at the end of my last post? Those of you who checked out my Flickr photostream know those pick-ups weren't Famicom games; rather, they were PC Engine games. (Yeah, I know, what a shocker!)

Specifically, they were Irem's Gekisha Boy (aka Photograph Boy) and NEC Avenue's Rainbow Islands.

Here's a photo of the latter game's cover art:

And here's a photo of the former's cover art:

Two more photos of Gekisha Boy--one of which features the super-cool PC Engine CoreGrafx II system--can be found on my Flickr phtostream (if you're interested in such things).