Happy birthday to me :)

So, as I just gave away in this post's header (above), it's my birthday.

What wild and crazy things have I done since I got out of bed about seven hours ago? Well, playing the "special" mode of the PC Engine port of Parodius Da! counts as wild and crazy, right?

I've also played a good bit of a few other PC Engine games, namely Detana!! TwinBee, Pro Tennis World Court (RPG mode, of course) and Valkyrie no Densetsu.

That's all well and good, I'm sure some of you are thinking, but what about newer games? Have you spent any time with games that were made and released in the last, say, 20 years?

Not really. I'll be playing some of those kinds of games soon, though. Or at least I hope I'll be playing them soon.

That's because between my parents and myself, I received three thoroughly modern games as birthday gifts this year.

OK, so I personally bought two of the three games in question. Also, one of them technically is 20 years old--although the version I snagged is just seven years old.

That particular game would be Chrono Trigger DS, by the way.



Yes, Justin Difazzio, I'm finally going to play this classic Squaresoft RPG. (In case some of you haven't followed every single word I've said on this blog or on Google+, Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr over the years, although I watched my older brother play through most of Chrono Trigger when both of us were much, much younger, I've never played through it myself.)

As for why I bought it now, that would be because Square Enix's online store hosted a bit of a sale yesterday, and one of the best bargains to be had (for a short period of time, it seems) revolved around brand-new copies of Chrono Trigger DS for $6.

Another, far more modern game I bought for myself yesterday: the Vita port of Hatoful Boyfriend.

I've been meaning to buy this pigeon-centric dating sim for ages, but failed to do so until now for all sorts of stupid reasons.

When I heard (via Twitter) that it could be picked up via the PlayStation Store for just $5, though, I hightailed it over there and nabbed a copy as quickly as I was able.

Sadly, I'm not going to be able to play the damn thing until at least Christmas, as the game is 1.9 gigs in size--which is way more than my poor Vita can handle.

As such, until I buy (or receive for Christmas) a Vita memory card, Hatoful Boyfriend is going to have to become intimately acquainted with the other games on my PSN download list.

That leaves just the game my parents so kindly bought and sent me for my birthday: Yo-Kai Watch for 3DS.

I really enjoyed this game's demo, so I'm very much looking forward to playing through the full offering.

Have you played any of these three titles? If so, share your thoughts on them in the comments section below.

Five PC Engine games I'm going to (attempt to) play once I've learned enough Japanese

Could it be said that I'm getting ahead of myself here? Yes, it could. The fact is, though, that the possibility (slim as it may be) that I may someday learn enough Japanese to play any of the following PC Engine games is what's driving my studies at the moment, so I'm OK with this "getting ahead of myself" business.

So, which previously inaccessible (well, except for in the case of one of the games below) am I itching to stumble my way through, Japanese-to-English dictionary in hand, at some point in the future? Read on to find out.

1. Laplace no Ma--I'm including this Human-developed Super CD-ROM title here for one reason and one reason only: it's one of the few horror-themed dungeon-crawlers I've come across. Considering it's a CD-based game, I'm guessing it's stuffed full of kanji (the most difficult of Japan's alphabets), which would make things quite a bit trickier, but I don't care. That said, let's see if I'm still this cavalier if and when I find myself staring at its title screen.

2. Madou Monogatari--To be completely honest, I'd already own this Arcade CD-ROM title--lack of Japanese knowledge be damned--if it weren't for one little thing: it's sky-high price. It's supposed to be a pretty great game, though, and it's surely an adorable one, so maybe I'll reward myself for reaching a particularly daunting educational milestone by picking up a copy (assuming I can find one).

3. Necromancer--I've heard that this HuCard-based RPG is a bit rough around the edges and features far too many random battles, but I've long wanted to give it a go anyway because of its dark theme and because of its H.R. Giger-inspired box art (which can be seen here).

4. Pro Tennis World Court--A weird choice, no? Especially since I could play the English version of this game (known as World Court Tennis) whenever I want. The thing is, that iteration's localization is absolutely atrocious, while its Japanese counterpart is supposed to feature lots of "loony, in-jokey dialogue," so I'd really like to experience the game as it was originally intended.

5. Tengai Makyo II: Manji Maru--True story: I bought a copy of this game all the way back when I was in high school, when I still owned a TurboGrafx-16 system (along with the bulky CD-ROM attachment, thank you very much) and obsessed about grand Japanese RPGs such as this one. Sadly, GameFAQs was but a twinkle on someone's eye at the time, so I barely put a dent in it before raising the proverbial white flag. Like the other CD-based games mentioned here, this one is chock-full of kanji, so it's likely to continue to stump me for some time to come, but I'll give it my best all the same.

Honorable mentions: Dragon Knight II and III, Record of Lodoss War, Seiya Monogatari: Anearth Fantasy Stories and War of the Dead.

Note: the Laplace no Ma, Madou Monogatari and Necromancer screenshots above were taken from shinjuforest.blogspot.com and thebrothersduomazov.com.

Manual Stimulation: Pro Tennis World Court (PC Engine)

The instruction manual included with every copy of Namcot's Pro Tennis World Court for the PC Engine begins rather boringly, if you ask me, with the cover art shown below. (That said, I quite like the perspective used. Bravo to the illustrator responsible for it!)



The first two pages aren't much more interesting--unless you like adorably-drawn anime-ish girls in tennis drag--but I'm including them anyway because of the sticky note that's attached to the second one. I'm guessing the scribbles that cover said note are codes for the game's RPG-esque "quest" mode?



Here's how the same pair of pages look when not obscured by a sticky note, in case anyone cares:



The instruction manual's next pages are pretty yawn-inducing, too--until you notice the image that takes up a portion of the lower right-hand corner. Is that a warrior-ish tennis player attacking a zombified tennis player? Yes, I think it is.

The Great Gaymathon Review #26: Pro Tennis World Court (PC Engine)

Game: Pro Tennis World Court

Genre: Sports

Developer: Namcot

Publisher: Namcot

System: PC Engine (HuCard)

Release date: 1988

Pro Tennis World Court is widely known--to 16-bit afficionados, at least--as "the tennis RPG." There's a good reason for that: Along with the expected singles and doubles modes, this Namcot-published game features a "quest" mode that tasks players with wandering the Final Fantasy-esque lands of the creatively named (or not) "Tennis Kingdom" in search of the "Evil Tennis King." (I'm not making this up--check out this blog post for more on this title's sad excuse for a backstory.) Before you can challenge this lizard-like baddie (he's green) to a Nadal-Federer-ish face-off, you'll have to vanquish a number of his minions in tennis matches of varying lengths. You'll also have to upgrade your equipment (rackets, shoes and shirts--which boost your character's power, foot speed and ability to refuse challenges, respectively) using the winnings you receive after beating the aforementioned, randomly-encountered foes. All in all, it's an enjoyably unique, if slightly unpolished (you'll know what I'm talking about when you approach your first NPC), experience. You'll have to be patient if you want to eke every last ounce of fun out of the game, though, as it starts rather slowly. Thankfully, things speed up appreciably once you update your gear a bit. Even then, Pro Tennis World Court (World Court Tennis in the States) never feels quite as slick or arcade-y as another well-known PC Engine title featuring fuzzy, yellow balls--Final Match Tennis--but its quirkiness at least partially makes up for it.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

I'm pretty sure this means I can die a happy man

Guess what I just grabbed off of our doorstep? If you guessed "a PC Engine," give yourself a pat on the back.

Yep, I (finally) bought NEC's little white wonder. I've wanted one ever since I first read about--and saw pictures of--the system in the first issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly. (Or was it the first issue of Video Games and Computer Entertainment? It doesn't really matter, does it?)

Anyway, here's a photo of the system's--my system's--surprisingly pristine box:

The system came with six games--Barunba, Cyber Dodge, F1 Circus, Fire Pro Wrestling 2nd Bout, Street Fighter II' Champion Edition and Wonder Momo--though, honestly, the only one I give a hoot about is Street Fighter II.

I also picked up, separately, copies of PC Genjin, PC Genjin 2 and Pro Tennis World Court. (Yes, I'm one of the few people in the world who enjoys playing Namco's "tennis RPG.")

Now if I could just find an AV Booster--or an inexpensive-but-still-in-working-order CD-ROM² system--on eBay...