Chrontendo Episode 12: Shooter Bliss

Hello everyone, Chrontendo Episode 12 is now available to download or stream over at archive.org. This episode sees us finally reach December of 1986 and the Japanese holiday season. As a result, we'll the number of games being released spike dramatically as publishers try to fill the shelves with product before New Year's Day. Not surprisingly, we see a few new publishers enter the fray this season. November and December see the Famicom debuts from the television and music company VAP, toy giant Takara, Japanese utility and cable provider Vic Tokai, and music/electronics behemoth CBS/Sony. We'll also be introduced to a few companies who actually specialize in video games, such as HAL Laboratory, the Square-led consortium DOG, Towachiki, Use, and Imagineer. Of these last five, only HAL would have a long and prestigious career.

As it turns out, this would be the last great influx of new publishers for the Famicom. Over the years Japanese publishers for the system would come and go, but never again in such great numbers. If we were to flash forward to November/December 1987, we would see releases from pretty much the same companies that released games in November/December 1986. By this time, the Famicom has entered its adult years.

As for the games themselves this episode? An odd selection, notable for two very good shooters (and one pretty decent shooter), a notorious example of kuso-ge, and a couple terrible games based on very popular licensed properties. Also, we have the second US-only release, this time courtesy of Data East.

Episode Twelve's Grand Champion:

Zanac AI

















We've seen some fine shoot-em-ups for the Famicom so far, but Zanac leaves all competition in the dust. A vastly superior port of a title originally released for MSX computers, Zanac is an early title from Compile, who you might recall being the developer of Lunar Ball. Compile would eventually go on the become what many consider to be THE developer of shoot-em-ups for consoles, with such titles as Blazing Lazers, Guardian Legend, and the Aleste series. Zanac feels like the first modern shoot-em-up for the Famicom, with its frequent bosses, wide variety of secondary weapons and generous helping of power-ups. From a technical perspective, the game is an amazing accomplishment. Zanac manages to cram in tons of enemies and bullets without slowdown or excessive flickering.

Coincidentally, this episode also features Tiger-Heli, a port of Toaplan's first shoot-em-up. While the arcade Tiger-Heli was a fun, if not exceptional game, the Famicom port is severely hampered by terrible programming, courtesy of Micronics. While still a worthwhile game, playing the Famicom Tiger-Heli will make you wish it was ported by someone with Compile's technical competence.

More Notable Games:

Moero Twinbee - Cinnamon Hakase wo Sukue!

Episode 12 is a little shooter-heavy, what with Zanac, Tiger-Heli, and this little gem from Konami. A console only sequel to the arcade game Twinbee, Moero Twinbee tweaks the formula slightly by adding horizonal scrolling levels as well as vertical. Still present is the unique and slightly irritating power-up techinque that requires you to shoot falling bells until they change color. Fortunatley, some of the best power-ups are found by bombing ground targets. Its a rare day that sees two high quality shooters on the Famicom in one episode, so enjoy it while you can. Next episode, things return to normal with the dire Gall Force.

Ikari

















Ikari is one of the most divisive games released for the Famicom/NES. A select few revere it as a classic, while many others consider it to one of the worst games for the system. Much of the vitriol centers around the difficult to use controls - the arcade original used a rotary joystick while the Famicom port makes due with the D-pad. Still, some of the greatness of SNK's original game manages to shine through, despite another horrible porting job from Micronics. Speaking of which, Micronics has managed to become the arch-villain in the Famicom saga so far. They should receive criminal charges for the number of classic arcade games they have screwed up so far.

Castle Excellent

Sequel to ASCII's MSX game The Castle. This Lode Runner like puzzle game, released as Castlequest in the US, has you make your way through a 100 room castle in order to find a princess. Each room contains enemies, death traps and color-coded locked doors. The wonky jumping controls give Castle Excellent some hair pulling moments, but overall it remains a well designed, challenging game.


This Episode's Losers

Ganso Saiyuuki: Super Monkey Daibouken

There are plenty of bad games for the Famicom, but few manage to reach the level of Ganso Saiyuuki. In the categories of boring gameplay, shallow combat, amateurish graphics, general incoherence, and simply lacking anything that even resembles fun, Ganso Saiyuuki takes the gold medals. Hell, this game takes the platinum medals. It's difficult to completely understand Ganso Saiyuuki without playing it yourself, so I can't really elaborate on how bad it is. However, someone picking this game up for the first time will probably be simply baffled, as it appears at first glance to be a game in which absolutely nothing happens. Imagine Dragon Quest with no enemy encounters (though these do eventually appear) and no NPCs and with an impossibly huge overworld. Needless to say, it has a cult following in Japan as being a prime example of kuso-ge.

Transformers: Convoy no Nazo

















Another spectacular debacle of a video game, this quickie cash-in from ISCO and Takara fails on almost every level. Really, a basic run to the right and shoot things game shouldn't be that hard to make, yet Convoy no Nazo manages to flub even the simplest gameplay elements. For example, most enemies are too short to actually be hit be your laser - it simply sails over their heads - thus forcing you to jump over most things that come your way. Even the most desperate Transformers fan should avoid this mess.

Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo

Notable for being the first of many, many Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z video games. Unfortunately, this Tose/Bandai title, released in censored form in the US as Dragon Power, gets the series off on the wrong foot. Shenron no Nazo misses even the low standards set by earlier Bandai games like Chubby Cherub and Ninja Kid.

The Rest:

Mappy Land - Decent but flawed console only sequel to Namco's arcade game concerning a rodent law enforcement officer.
Nagagutsu o Haita Neko - Based on Toei's 1976 animated film. Not to be confused with the related, but very different US only game, Puss 'N' Boots: Pero's Great Adventure.
The Monitor Puzzle - Kineco - Kinetic Connection - Difficult puzzle game involving putting together pieces of a moving image.
Aigina no Yogen: From the Legend of Balubalouk - Awkwardly titled adventure/platformer game. Seems to involve a kidnapped princess of some sort. The Famicom debut from Vic Tokai.
Hottaman no Chisoko Tanken - Sort of like Dig Dug, only more complicated. Famicom debut from Use.
Daiva - Part of an ambitious project of seven interrelated Daiva games, each released on a different Japanese system. The game itself combines Star Raiders with mediocre platformer action.
Karate Champ - The odd man out this episode. This Data East title was the second US-only release (after Nintendo's Gumshoe). Well, this technically isn't true - Karate Champ was given a belated release on the FDS in 1988. The 1984 arcade game was one of the first one-on-one fighting games and was probably still popular enough in 1986 for Data East to feel it warranted an NES releases.

As always, this episode may be downloaded from archive.org.

Episode 11: The Two Castles

Well, it is running a wee bit behind schedule, but Chrontendo Episode 11 is finished and available for download. What's in store this episode? A pretty nice selection of games, actually. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but of all the third party publishers, Konami and Hudson are the ones really putting some effort into their games. By Fall 1986, both publishers had mastered the art of original games for the Famicom, in ways that others, such as Jaleco, Sunsoft, Square, and even Namco and Taito, have not.

This episode also sees the first great game for the Famicom Disk System that was not released by Nintendo themselves. The system is slowly coming of age, with six FDS games being released this episode. By end of the year, new FDS games will be coming out one after the other.


This Episode's Winner...

Akumajo Dracula/Castlevania

















Classic platformers don't get much cooler than the orginal Castlevania. Light years ahead of most other recent Famicom platformers, this Konami release combines rich graphics, atmospheric music and imaginative level design. Castlevania eschews the typical cutsey style of most post-Mario side-scrolling platform games, instead opting for a spooky, gothic horror themed game set inside a decaying, monster infested castle. Your character, Simon Belmont, makes his way through six levels, each quite different in design and with a unique boss at the end of each. The bosses are one of the most impressive elements of the game. At a time when repeated or virtually identical bosses where commonplace, each of Castlevania's bosses are completely different in appearance, attack pattern, and weakness. While some might fault the game's controls as being unforgiving, they are still massively superior to the sloppy controls found in such games as Atlantis no Nazo or Gegege no Kitaro.

Runner-Up's

Meikyuu Kumikyoku/Milon's Secret Castle

















Admittedly, this Hudson release is not in the same league as Castlevania. Milon's Secret Castle is a carefully designed, cute and fun puzzlish platformer built around a musical theme. Strangely similar to Castlevania, the object of the game is to ascend floor by floor, room by room, to the top of the titular castle. Each room can only be exited by finding a sufficient quantity of hidden items. While not without flaws, Milon's Secret Castle is a quality title.

Senjou no Ookami/Commando

Capcom finally ditches Micronics and ports their 1985 arcade hit themselves. The results are not quite as impressive as you might hope, but you still end up with a pretty good vertical action game. Furthermore, Commando inaugurates the Capcom tradition of adding additional gameplay elements to console ports.

Pro Wrestling: Famicom Wrestling Association

After two previous attempts someone finally releases a decent wrestling game for the Famicom. Unsurprisingly, that someone turns out to be Nintendo themselves.

Family Trainer Athletic World

Not really a good game, but notable for debuting Bandai's Family Trainer series. These games were designed to be used with the Family Trainer mat, on which the player stood and controlled by moving around. Nintendo was apparently quite pleased with the idea, since they released it themselves in the US as the Power Pad. Curiously, Nintendo is now reviving the idea as the Wii Fit.


Less than average games:

Urusei Yatsura: Lum no Wedding Bell

















Based on a popular manga/anime series, this Jaleco title was released in arcades as Momoko 120%. Not a fantastically horrible game, Urusei Yatsura is just a little on the annoying side. The fact that it's ending up in Episode 11's "bad game list" just shows the relatively high quality of the games this time around.

Sansuu 4/5+6 Toshi: Keisan Game

It's probably a little unfair to throw this quickie educational release from Tokyo Shoseki on the list, but it's actually less intereting than the previous three Sansuu games. They've even cut the number of games on each cartridge in half!

Also this episode:

Terra Cresta: Pretty decent port of this classic vertical shoot-em-up from Nichibutsu.
Buggy Popper: Port of the old arcade game known as Bump 'n' Jump in the US.
Othello: An Othello video game from the mysterious publisher Kawada.
Dead Zone: Weird text adventure game from Sunsoft. Has the distinction of being the second
Japanese text adventure game for the Famicom.
Super Star Force: Kemco's lame sequel to Star Force. Not nearly as good as Hudson's sequel to that same game.
Ginga Denshou - Galaxy Odyessy: Time traveling vertical shoot-em-up. Not as interesting as
it sounds.
Mississippi Satsujin Jiken: Port of Commodore 64 adventure game Murder on the Mississippi.
I am a Teacher - Teami no Kiso: The second knitting instruction game from Royal Kougyou.

Well there you have it! Go ahead and download or stream Episode 11 here.

Chrontendo Special 10th Episode!

Yes, it is here at last, the special 10th episode of Chrontendo! Except that it is not really that special. In fact, it is pretty much a standard episode. Sorry. But, it does feature 15 more Famicom games from August and September of 1986! What's in store this episode? The first game in a beloved franchise from Hudson, the Famicom debuts from SNK and Victor, a very odd FDS title, an early Square release, and perhaps the first genuine kusoge game for the system.

This Episode's top pick:

Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima/Adventure Island

















From Hudson we have this charming little side-scrolling platformer, which is actually an altered port of Sega's Wonder Boy. What's this?? A Sega game on the Famicom! How is this possible? Well, Wonder Boy was developed by a company called Escape/Westone who somehow retained rights to the game itself, even while Sega held the rights to the name "Wonder Boy" and all the characters. Thus, Hudson was able to release the game on the Famicom, courtesy of Escape, with redesigned character sprites. Oddly, Hudson based the new protagonist on real-life Hudson employee Toshiyuki Takahashi. For the US release, Adventure Island, the character name was changed to the inappropriate sounding "Master Higgins." Confusingly, both Wonder Boy and Adventure Island had several sequels, and Hudson continued to released altered ports of the Wonder Boy games while developing unreleated Adventure Island games. A very quick run-through of the Wonder Boy and Adventure Island series is given in Episode 10.

As for the game itself? It is pretty good, at least compared to other post-Mario platformers we've been seeing on the Famicom so far (see Super Pitfall and Musashi no Ken in this episode). While certainly derivative of Super Mario Bros, the game is charming, fun and the controls handle well. The major drawback is a certain degree of repetitiveness, as later levels are very similar to earlier ones. And like many games of this era, the end of level bosses are virtually identical. Overall, Adventure Island is quite a relief from the mediocre platformers being released for the Famicom.

More Cool Games:

Jajamaru no Daibouken

While no one's idea of a great game, the newest installment in this Jaleco series does incorporate some new ideas from Mario-style platformers. If nothing else, Jaleco has cranked these things out on a regular basis - Ninja Kun in May '85, Ninja Jajamaru Kun in November '85, and now Jajamaru no Daibouken in August '86 - allowing us a clear view of the development of the platformer genre. This game features longer, more horizontally orientated levels, and boss fights after each one. And of course, the giant toad is prominently featured in Jajamaru no Daibouken (even though I referred to it as a giant frog in the voiceover. Whoops!)

Mobile Suit Z-Gundam: Hot Scramble

















I swear that if I ever open my own greasy spoon diner, I'll have a breakfast special called the Hot Scramble. That just sounds like a delicious egg, cheese and sausage based breakfast. No such tasty treats are contained in this game, but you do get some decent cockpit-view shooting action, courtesy of Masanobu Endoh's Game Studios. That's right! A Bandai game not developed by Tose! Mark this day on your calender. I can only assume this game was a success in Japan, since it was followed about by about a thousand other Gundam games. I guess Chrontendo will have to tackle those eventually....

ASO/Alpha Mission and Super Xevious: Gamp no Nazo

Two shoot-em-ups for the price of one! Granted, neither of these are really "cool" games, but they are both somewhat notable. ASO (Armored Scrum Object) happens to be the first Famicom release from SNK and also contains a very unusual word in its title. I'm sure I can count the number of times I've seen the word "scrum" used on one hand. This game makes the serious mistake of giving the player a number of very cool sounding power-ups (Flame, Nuke, "Sheeld", etc...) and then severely limiting the usage of those weapons. Super Xevious is a console only sequel - still a very rare thing in 1986 - to Namco's hit arcade game Xevious. Somehow, Super Xevious manages to add a few updates to the Xevious formula (power-ups, actual levels) and still fall short of the original game.

Games which angry up the blood with their sheer awfulness:

Hokuto no Ken

















Hokuto no Ken!! Goddamn, this game pisses me off! Listening to my voiceover for this game, I realize I let Hokuto no Ken off way to easily. Really, the game is a bit insulting. Clearly, Toei was thinking that since it was based off a popular manga/anime (known as Fist of the North Star in the West), it would sell a certain number of copies regardless of how little effort was put into the game itself. And I'll be damned if developer Shoei System (aka Bears) didn't turn out one of the laziest games for the Famicom ever. Hokuto no Ken is one of the first examples on the Famicom of "kusoge"; that is, a shitty game. Kusoge hold a certain fascination for many Japanese gamers, and I will admit that when playing Hokuto no Ken, I find it hilariously awful for about the first minute. After that, the hatred starts to set in, and I curse Toei and Shoei System for ever releasing this thing. Seriously, it's like they came over to my house, left a steaming turd on my front porch, and then ran away.

On a related note, we will get to see one of the most mind-warplingly awful kusoge games in Episode 12.

Super Pitfall

Well, Pony Canyon went ahead and let Micronics develop a new entry in the beloved Activision series. Way to go, guys. From a purely technical standpoint, I suppose Super Pitfall is not that bad. However, this is a fine example of taking a perfectly acceptable idea way too far. While games such as Zelda and Metroid used the idea of hard-to-find secrets and hidden items to enhance replayability and reward resourceful players, Super Pitfall uses those concepts to completely kill the game. Super Pitfall is essentially a remake of Pitfall II - your goal is to find your niece, her pet Mountain Lion, and the Raj Diamond. But, in Super Pitfall, every item you need to complete your quest is invisible. That's right, all the keys, replacement ammunition, quest items and completely invisible and found by jumping while standing next to them. In one case, the entrance to the next level is accessed by jumping into a particular enemy! And there are no clues anywhere; it is simply jump, jump, jump until you just happen to uncover a necessary item. Unfortunately, this particular theory of game design - artificially extending a game's length by simply hiding key items - will continue to be a hallmark of bad games for the Famicom for some time.

Ghostbusters

While Ghostbusters was a popular, but not particularly good Activision game for US computers, this Famicom port is another matter entirely. The final level must go down as one of the worst levels ever in video game history. Your three Ghostbusters (Ernie Hudson's character is conspicuously absent from the game) must march up innumerable flights of stairs in order to meet the final boss, Gozer. However, this is accomplished by hitting the B button once for every step you wish to take. Thus, your characters move at an almost comically slow rate, while being attacked by impossible-to-avoid swarm of ghosts. Really, it is worth playing the game just to see how badly conceived this level is. I suppose this was the beginning of Activision's slow slide into irrelevance in the late 80s and early 90s, prior to their recent phenomenal turn-around.

Also this episode:

Musashi no Ken: So-so platformer from Taito based on (surprise!) a manga/anime series.
King's Knight: Baffingly weird vertical shooter with a fantasy theme from Square.
Koneko Monogatri: Based on the film released in the US as "Milo and Otis." A cute and simple platformer.
Space Hunter: Incredibly, a mere month after Metroid, Kemco released this game about a female "Space Hunter." Unlike Metroid, this game is not good.
Sky Kid: Port of Namco's Choplifter-like horizontal shooter.
Banana: First Famicom release from Victor. A decent puzzle game.
I am a Teacher - Super Mario no Sweater: What the hell? An instructional knitting disk for the FDS?

As always, Chrontendo Episode 10 may be downloaded or streamed from archive.org here.

Chrontendo Episode 9 Released

In our never ending quest to play every game released for the Famicom and NES home consoles, we present Chrontendo Episode 9.

It's another 15 games, this time from June through August, 1986. And you know what? We actually have a pretty decent selection of games this episode. An all time NES classic, Metroid is released for the FDS in August. Hudson and Konami also release a couple high quality titles. And there really aren't any absolutely terrible games this episode -- the worst I can say about Sqoon and Choplifter is that they are merely mediocre.

We are also seeing more and more original titles for the Famicom; only five titles this episode are ports of existing games. Namco checks in with three releases this time, including the rather ambitious Valkyrie no Bouken. Data East and Jaleco come off looking like slackers by comparison, with two uninspired arcade ports.

Of course, this shouldn't lure you into a false sense of security. The Famicom is not going to be all wine and roses from this point onward. FAR from it. In fact, Episode 10 will reveal a previously unknown world of gaming horror. And I cry tears of despair while thinking about some of the titles that will be unleashed on unsuspecting Japanese gamers during the 1986 holiday season....

Chrontendo's Game of the Month:

Metroid

















Nintendo follows up Zelda and Nazo no Murasame with another big release for the FDS, this time from the minds of Gunpei Yokoi and Yoshio Sakamoto. Metroid takes the sidescrolling platformer and moves it in an entirely new direction. Rather than the linear world of Mario and Luigi, Metroid's Samus Aran travels through a vast array of tunnels, caverns and corridors extending in all directions. Your job is to navigate Samus through Metroid's labyrinthine network of enemy-filled passageways, hidden doors and dead ends. While Metroid isn't completely non-linear, you are free to explore as much as you'd like. In fact, backtracking through previously explored parts of the map in order to gain entry to newly accessible areas is a major part of the game.

Metroid certainly takes a page or two from Zelda. In order to get very far, you'll need to upgrade Samus' life bar and offensive capabilities. Fortunately, every power up you find is free for the taking; you won't find any cranky old men running expensive shops in Metroid.

While nothing in Metroid is completely new - the idea of a freely explorable underground world goes back at least as far as Activision's Pitfall II - everything comes together into a wonderfully playable experience. Every aspect of Metroid is high quality: the atmospheric graphics, the character design, Hip Tanaka's excellent music, the spot-on controls. Nintendo must have had a lot of faith in Metroid's universal appeal, since unlike Zelda, they released almost simultaneously in both Japan and the US.

Other notable games this episode:

Star Soldier

















Hudson begins its run of excellent shoot-em-ups with Star Soldier, the putative sequel to Kemco's mediocre Star Force. Unlike almost every shooter released on the Famicom so far, Star Soldier is lots of fun, with fast paced gameplay, loads of power ups, bizarre enemies, and even decent looking bosses.

Ganbare Goemon!

Konami releases in the first console title in it's long running Ganbare Goemon series. While not well known in the west, the Goemon games are quite successful in the Japan. This entry bears little resemblance to the later, weirder titles in the series, such as Legend of the Mystical Ninja, this is a well designed scrolling platformer with elements of exploration, hidden items, Zelda-esque shops, and even first-person mazes thrown in.

Gumshoe

While the game itself was not particularly memorable, this Nintendo release has the honor of being the first NES game to released in the US only. While the Famicom light gun was not particularly successful in Japan, the NES Zapper was one of the major selling points for the still new system in the US. Nintendo, feeling the need for more Zapper games, developed this game specifically for the US market. Data East was the only publisher to immediately follow Nintendo's example, and it wasn't really until late 1987 that the first wave of US only titles would arrive. Thus, the longstanding tradition of releasing mediocre titles in the US while numerous outstanding games remain released in Japan only begins here. Congratulations, Gumshoe.

Valkyrie no Bouken

















On that note, here is one Japan only title that we are lucky we didn't get. This Namco release is barely playable, but is notable as being the first really blatant Zelda clone. Well, perhaps that isn't completely fair. Valkyrie is an action RPG that borrows heavily from Zelda and Japanese RPGs such as Hydlide. But Namco did have the imagination required to steal elements from Ultima 3 that had not yet been used in any Japanese games. For example, the world of Valkyrie is broken down into multiple continents, and it is necessary to acquire a ship in order cross the ocean. Unfortunately, despite the creative thievery involved, Valkryie no Bouken still feels very primitive and unbalanced, and I lacked the patience to finish the game (despite having finished Hydlide!). Reportedly, it was a hit in Japan.

Makaimura

Known in the US as Ghost's 'n Goblins, this Famicom port was the first home version of Capcom's classic platformer to semi-accurately reproduce the arcade version. While Micronics' typically shoddy programming doesn't completely kill the game, Makaimura does fall a little short of your expectations. Despite the game's shortcomings, this would be one of the first third party releases for the NES in the US, hitting the shelves in November 1986.

Games which are, perhaps, not so good:

Sqoon

















I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about this game I really dislike. On the surface, Sqoon is a typical horizontal shooter, albeit one with a sillier than average plot (Neptunians have melted the polar ice caps, completely submerging the surface of Earth under several hundred feet of water. Narikeen the pirate is called on the save the world with his bizarre little pink submarine. You do this by killing any aquatic lifeforms you encounter in the ocean and blowing up the Neptunians' underwater prisons). For some reason, the various elements in this game never quite come together into a playable experience. Irem would release R-Type to the arcades 13 months later, thus sending any lingering memories of Sqoon into oblivion.

Choplifter

Jaleco's port of the ancient US computer game. This game certainly has its fans. But for me, after having played Konami's near perfect conversion of Gradius for the Famicom, it is virtually impossible to go back to playing games like this.

Volleyball

Okay, this game isn't really bad. It's just that considering Nintendo's recent track record, I was hoping for better. Volleyball is merely an average sports title, co-developed with Pax Softnica. Presumably, this was rushed to the market in order to provide another game for the still-virtually-gameless Famicom Disc System.

Also this episode: A trio of good puzzle games, Babel no Tou, Solomon no Kagi, and Namida no Soukoban Special; the unspectacular shooter B-Wings; the unspectacular platformer Kanshakudama Nage Kantarou no Toukaidou; and the unspectacular run- around-and-hit-people-with-your-huge-fist game, Super Chinese.

Chrontendo Episode may be downloaded or viewed as a streaming video here.