Second Chances: Hana Tāka Daka!? (PC Engine)

It sometimes amazes me how many PC Engine games I initially ignored due to what I considered sub-par graphics. Jigoku Meguri is one such title. Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen is another, as is Obocchama-kun.

The funny thing is, all of the above-mentioned games have since become favorites.

Some of you may be shocked to hear that I include Taito's Hana Tāka Daka!? from 1991 in this bunch. After all, this horizontal shoot 'em up could hardly be called ugly. Its does take a while to get used to its unique visual stylings, though--or at least that was the case for me.

That's mainly due to the game's rather unappealing protagonist. What can I say, his big eyes, long nose and dangling, geta-hooved feet just don't do it for me--and on top of that, he's positively huge (compared to his surroundings) when it comes to this particular genre.

Speaking of this game's surroundings, I used to find them pretty unappealing, too--mainly due to their chunkiness, for lack of a better word, as well as their garish use of color.

How did I get over these supposed shortcomings? It finally dawned on me that Taito was a top-notch game developer and that maybe I should give some of their less appealing (at first blush, at least) efforts--like this one--a second or even third chance before deciding they weren't worth my time.

Once that was out of the way, I basically fell in love with Hana Tāka Daka!? and its charmingly weird cast of characters, setting and even gameplay (although the latter definitely is the least captivating aspect of this now-pricey HuCard, thanks to its rather pedestrian--although by no means boring or bad--mechanics).

I say "basically" because a few sticking points remain for me, with the most newsworthy being that the game puts up a pretty stiff challenge despite its candy-coated visuals.

That's rarely completely kept me from enjoying a game in the past, though, so I'm not about to let it keep me from enjoying this one. Just don't expect me to publish a post about "beating" Hana Tāka Daka!? anytime soon.

I'm also not the biggest fan of the way the game forces players to choose between having inadequate firepower and a small hitbox (i.e., a tiny protagonist-slash-"ship") and having ample firepower and a gigantic hitbox. This wouldn't be much of a problem if Hana Tāka Daka!? were a pushover, of course, but it's not, so a lack of firepower is sure to be an issue for those who aren't shmup gods or goddesses.

Aside from this colorful side-scroller's handful of negatives, there are a good number of positives associated with it too, such as its pleasantly discordant soundtrack and its surprisingly complex level design.

To those of you who've also spent a bit of time with this title: do you agree with the above, or do you have a different opinion Taito's effort here?

See also: previous 'Second Chances' posts

12 import games I bought in 2012 but didn't tell you about until now: Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen (PC Engine)

Oh, hey, another game has graduated from being featured in a recent "Second Chances" post to, well, being featured in my games collection.

And "featured" it shall be, due to its stellar cover art.

Thanks to my strange obsession with taking skewed (as opposed to straight-on) photos of games, though, you probably can't quite tell how stellar Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen's cover art is.

I'll do my best to snap a few additional shots of it and post them on my Flickr photostream in the next few days, OK? In the meantime, you can take closer look at the box art in question here.



I've spent quite a bit of time playing Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen since I acquired it, by the way. And although I still wish it looked a little less muddy, I'm enjoying pretty much every other aspect of it at the moment.

Did you know this Taito-made quarter-muncher was ported to the Famicom, too? That version's a more accurate conversion than this one is, actually, as its art style is more in line with the original.

See also: Previous '12 import games I bought in 2012 but didn't tell you about until now' posts

Acquisition #146: Otocky (Famicom Disk System)

My initial idea was to begin this post by saying, "I have no idea why I recently bought this game." I thought that because, truth be told, although I own a rather wonderful Twin Famicom system--a cherry red one; here's a photo of it, and here's another--I rarely play it or the many cartridges and disks I've acquired for it thus far. (Yes, that means I tend to play said games via emulation these days.)

As such, picking up yet another Famicom game--especially a disk system one, as I play them even less than their cart-based counterparts--seemed to me to be a waste of money at best.

So, why'd I go through with this particular purchase? Well, beyond the fact that this game--ASCII's Otocky, which was released in Japan in 1987--is completely awesome, I went through with it because I'd never before seen a complete-in-box copy of it for sale and I was worried I'd never come across one again.

Before I move on to some of the photos I snapped of this acquisition, I probably should share a detail or two about Otocky with those of you who've never heard of it. The main thing you should know: It was conceived and designed by the great Toshio Iwai, who later made Electroplankton for the Nintendo DS.

Otocky is every bit as experimental as the aforementioned DS game, although I personally find this one--which conceals its musical aspects within the confines of a side-scrolling shmup--to be both more accessible and more fun. (To catch a glimpse of the game in action, check out this gameplay video.)

With all of that background information out of the way, let's get to what most of you likely clicked on this post to see: Otocky's packaging. Here's the front of the game's box:



And here's the back of its box:



The game's box is larger than most Famicom games, by the way. In fact, I'd say it's nearly the size of a PC game box. Why? Don't worry, I'll get to that in a second.



The photo above shows off the case that contains the Otocky disk. Sure, the art is the same as what was used on the game's outer packaging, but it's so cute and colorful I'm not going to complain.



So, here we get to the reason for the outer box's girth: Otocky's manual. If someone were to tell me that it's the largest instruction manual to be included with a Famicom game, I wouldn't bat an eye. Not only is it large in terms of dimensions, but it's also large in terms of number of pages. It's 72 pages long!



Thankfully, it's not simply 72 pages of text. In fact, it includes a number of completely adorable illustrations--one of which can be see above, and one of which can be seen below--that are nearly worth the price of admission all on their own, in my opinion.



I also really like the pages shown in the photo below, which shine a light on a few of Otocky's enemies.



If you somehow haven't gotten your fill of Otocky information in this post, head on over to my Flickr photostream to see a few more photos of its outer packaging and its disk.

See also: Previous 'Acquisition #123' posts

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

Manual Stimulation: Hany in the Sky (PC Engine)

For the longest time, I completely ignored this peculiar PC Engine shoot 'em up and its similarly titled (not to mention similarly odd) companion, Hany on the Road. Why? Honestly, it's because I found the protagonist of this pair of games--who looks to me like a condom with eyes and arms--to be on the wrong side of the creepy line.

As for what prompted me to have a change of heart and to give them the attention they deserve: Why, it was the art that graced the covers of their instruction manuals, of course.

I'm not sure which piece of cover art I prefer between Hany in the Sky and Hany on the Road, to tell you the truth. Although I consider both to be wonderfully creative, I'm tempted to give the nod to Hany in the Sky's cover illustration (below) due to its cotton-candy cloudscape.



Are the interior pages of Hany in the Sky's instruction manual similarly delicious? Overall, I'd have to answer in the negative, although things start off delectably enough.

For instance, there's the left-hand page below, which replaces the typical series of images warning boys and girls to not abuse their HuCards and such with images of ... actually, I'm not sure what the images on the page in question are supposed to depict. Regardless, I like them quite a bit.



Next up: A four-page comic that I'm guessing clues in readers to this game's completely wacky backstory. Again, I have no idea what's going on in the panels below, but who really cares when they're illustrated as well as these are?

Acquisition #131: TwinBee (Famicom)

True story: I've never been much of a fan of the first game in Konami's TwinBee series.

The PC Engine port of the series' second quarter-muncher, Detana!! TwinBee? Always up for a round or two (or more) of it. And that game's Super Famicom-centric follow-up, Pop'n TwinBee? One of my all-time-favorite shmups.

The original TwinBee, though, has never impressed me. Actually, it's generally produced the opposite reaction--thanks to its pedestrian graphics (especially when compared to its above-mentioned counterparts) and its plodding gameplay.

So, imagine my surprise when I came across a complete-in-box copy of the Famicom version of this antiquated "cute 'em up" on eBay recently ... and found myself wanting to buy it.

I have to (rather sheepishly) admit that the main reason I found myself wanting to buy it was its box art. I mean, just look at it: 

Although I wouldn't say TwinBee's packaging is the among the best I've ever come across, it's certainly among the most colorful. Also, it features flying frogs, knives and strawberries--what more can you ask for in a piece of cover art?

Anyway, as I'm sure you've figured out by now, I went ahead and bought that complete-in-box copy of TwinBee. It helped that it was fairly cheap, of course, but it's possible (OK, likely) I would have picked it up even if it had cost me a few bucks more.

Now all that's left for me to do is put down my computer (and the camera that took the photos above), hook up my trusty Twin Famicom and finally take the game for a spin. 

See also: Previous 'Acquisition 123' posts

More bullets, more buff dudes, more ... butts?

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Let's Play: 'Which Box Art is Better?' (Sugar Shooter 2 edition)

Just so you know, I'm going to change things up a bit for this round of "Which Box Art is Better?" Rather than discuss the merits of the pieces of cover art produced for a single game released in various regions, today I want to discuss the merits of cover art produced for a pair of games released in a single region.

The pair of games we'll be dissecting today: Dudedle Studio's Sugar Shooter, which hit the streets in late 2010, and its sequel, Sugar Shooter 2, which is expected to make its way into gamers' hands (in Japan) any day now. (Awesome aside: Folks who buy the limited edition get this ass-tacular face towel.)

With that said, here's the art that graces the cover of the Japanese version of the first Sugar Shooter:

And here's the art that will greet folks who buy the Japanese version of Sugar Shooter 2:

Although I'm pretty fond of the former game's box art, I much prefer the imagery created for the soon-to-be-released (in Japan, at least) sequel. Sure, it's composition is a bit typical, but it's so colorful that it's not at all difficult for me to overlook it.

What do all of you think? Do you prefer one piece of Sugar Shooter cover art to the other?

See also: Previous 'Which Box Art is Better?' posts

Another day, another Sugar Shooter 2 demo

Did you download the Sugar Shooter 2 demo that I mentioned in this post early last week? If so, you may want to head back to the Dudedle Studio blog shortly, as a brand spanking new demo of this upcoming, bara-tastic, bullet-hell shmup was added to the site on Friday.



Said demo not only includes a number of bug fixes and other improvements, but it also includes (as far as I can tell) a second stage. So, download away--especially if you're at all interested in shooting the clothes off of a bevy of cartoonish bodybuilders.

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

Are you ready to blast the underwear off of another set of buff baddies?

You bet I am--especially if the bosses who appear in Sugar Shooter 2 are as cute (and, yes, as hot) as those who were featured in the first Sugar Shooter.

Unfortunately, I won't know if that's the case or not for a while, as this Mac/PC-based bullet-hell shmup, although finished, has only been sent to those who pre-ordered it thus far.

A note on the Dudedle Studio blog promises it will be made available to the rest of us shortly after the Japanese version drops on (or around) Feb. 19, though, so at least there's that.

In the meantime, why not busy yourself (as I am) by playing through the Sugar Shooter 2 demo that can be downloaded here?

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

The Great Gaymathon Review #48: Barunba (PC Engine)

Game: Barunba

Genre: Shoot 'em up

Developer: Namco/Zap Corp

Publisher: Namcot

System: PC Engine

Release date: 1990

There are a number of reasons to like this odd, side-scrolling shmup: Its box art is lovely (as is its manual), its bosses are huge and its gameplay offers up a few surprises that help it stand out from the pack. Sadly, there are many more reasons to dislike it--most of which have to do with the aforementioned gameplay. (Two that don't: The great majority of the game's enemies and backdrops are at best boring and at worst ugly, while its sound effects are the definition of "grating.") Specifically, although the globe-shaped ship gamers control while playing Barunba impresses with its rotatable weaponry, the rather cumbersome rotation aspect actually gets in the way more often than not. As such, most folks are likely to keep their guns aimed straight ahead as much as possible. Also, although each of the game's five stages are surprisingly extensive (e.g., long), most of them become a drag well before you reach the end. So, with three bullet points in favor of Barunba and four against it, what's my final verdict on this Namcot-published HuCard? I'd say it's a curiously unique but disappointingly flawed game that's worth playing only if you find it on the cheap or if you're fairly obsessed with the shoot 'em up genre.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' 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

Ten questions with one of the main dudes at Dudedle Studio

I had such a blast playing through Dudedle Studio's Sugar Shooter a few months back that shortly after I finished my review of it I reached out to Punipen, the studio's chief designer, programmer and scenario writer, in an attempt to get to know the guys behind this boss-rush, bullet-hell shmup that's aimed at the bara-loving set a bit better.

Thankfully, he wasn't at all turned off by my (completely honorable, I assure you) advances and graciously agreed to answer a handful of questions--I know only nine appear below, despite the promises of the headline above, but the first one originally was split into two--about the company's background, what prompted him and his colleagues to create the sexy Sugar Shooter and why they make gay games in general.

The Gay Gamer: Can you tell me a bit about Dudedle Studio's back- ground? When was the company founded, for instance? Also, why was it founded? What were your goals for the company?

Punipen: First of all, I think we're more of a studio or group of indie developers than a company. We started making games as a hobby, just for fun. And since we're all gay, we [decided we] would develop erotic games for gay people.

If you know about H-games, you'll see that there are literally tons of them on the market in Japan. Many of them are very good and were turned into animation afterwards, such as Air, Kanon, To Heart, etc.

Sadly, the gay audience is neglected [by the makers of these games]. If you're talking about gay games that feature manly men, they hardly exist. The only company that stands out [for making such games] in Japan right now is Underground Campaign, which is led by Senga Migiri-san.

When we checked [the availability of these kinds of games] outside of Japan, we found that the scenario wasn't so different. While there are Flash games that target gay people who prefer manly men, none of these are big games like the ones Underground Campaign has made. Also, there are many people who wish these kinds of games were available for English speakers.

So, you could say that we've been toying with the idea of making a gay game [for a worldwide audience] for a while.

We didn't actually start making one, though, until Takezamurai-san, the main artist for Sugar Shooter, tweeted me saying that he wished he could make a game. He's a great artist, and I've always been a big fan of his, so I was like, 'Why not?' I got in touch with him and that's when we started working on Sugar Shooter.

So, you could say that our group was founded on November 14, 2010--which is when Sugar Shooter was first released in Japan.

Get yer pipin' hot Sugar Shooter 2 demo here!

And when I say it's piping hot, I mean that literally--as in, it's freshly released--and figuratively--as in, well, it features some smokin' content, just like the first Sugar Shooter.

I've only played the Sugar Shooter 2 demo for a few minutes this far, but already I can tell it's going to be just as fun as--if not more fun than--its fabulously gay predecessor.

One thing that's certain at this point: Sugar Shooter 2 will have a lot more options--such as a bevy of difficulty settings and selectable "partners"--than Dudedle Studio's original effort.

To see what the Japanese version of this boss-rush, bullet-hell shmup for bara lovers looks like in action, check out this trailer:



If you'd rather experience it firsthand, download the one-stage demo of the game from the Dudedle Studio blog.

It appears Sugar Shooter 2 will be playable on both Macs and Windows-based PCs, by the way--something that couldn't be said about the series' initial installment.

Finally, for more information on the first Sugar Shooter, read these previous posts: 'A somewhat gay review of Sugar Shooter (PC)' and 'I think it's about time I played a bullet-hell shmup starring beefy boys in underwear'

Manual Stimulation: PC Denjin (PC Engine)

Let's get this second installment of "Manual Stimulation" off to a colorful start by looking at the front and back covers of this crazy shmup (which was renamed Air Zonk when it was released in North America in 1992):



Sadly, there isn't much to see on the manual's first two pages--well, other than the info someone scribbled in the lower-right corner of the second page. I wonder what it says?



On the next two pages, though, we're formally introduced to the game's protagonist. Random aside: I especially like that little "Haw" illustration in the lower-right corner of the first page. (You can click on any of these scans to take a closer look at them, by the way.)

Manual Stimulation: Barunba (PC Engine)

I’ve voiced my dissatisfaction with the gameplay featured in Namcot’s horizontal shmup, Barunba, before (in this post, for example), but what I haven’t expressed previously, as far as I’m aware, is my fondness for that much-maligned PC Engine title’s instruction manual.

That fondness begins, of course, with said instruction manual’s cover image (below, right), which shows Barunba‘s grinning protagonist gunning his way through a plethora of what appear to be crimson-tinged baddies.



I have to admit, I originally thought the protagonist was piloting his bubble-shaped ship through the innards of another human being, a la Psygnosis’ Microcosm. (I didn’t realize the red blobs in the background were the exteriors of a couple of creatures rather than their interiors, obviously.)

Anyway, the manual’s first two pages can be seen below. I’m guessing they detail the main character’s colorful back story, or something like that.



The next pages, on the other hand, seem to describe the many components of the game’s globe-shaped ship.

The question is: Will I enjoy blowing the underwear off of the bosses in the second Sugar Shooter as much as I enjoyed doing so in the first?

Yep, that's right: Everybody's favorite--or at least it was my favorite--bara-flavored, boss-rush, bullet-hell shmup, Sugar Shooter, will soon get a sequel. Rejoice!

Here's a brief glimpse of a still-in-the-works version of Sugar Shooter II, for those of you who are interested:



Well, that certainly looks like Sugar Shooter, doesn't it--sans the first game's buff (and in-the-buff) baddies, of course. I'm guessing the guys at Dudedle Studio will be adding them shortly.

See also: 'A somewhat gay review of Sugar Shooter (PC)'