1989: Year of the Tigers

(Update: So the 60 FPS versions are up, but I have reports that the MP4 version does not sync the sound and video correctly when played in Quicktime. I have no idea why this is or how to fix it.)

After much blood, sweat, tears, screaming, crying and general unpleasantness, Chronturbo Episode 3 is finally here. This is the first "new look" episode in the Chrontendo family: the first step in an overall makeover for the series. Any changes will be (at least initially) limited to superficial things. Eventually, we see some updates to Chrontendo and Chronsega, as well.

As always, the connoisseur may download impeccable 60 frames/second h.264 versions on Archive.org, or stream the 30 frames/second version on Youtube. Naturally, various flicker effects are lost in the 30 fps version.

So what's changed in Chronturbo Episode 3? There are new opening and closing sequences, for one. The little introductory sequences for each game are also redone, though they remain relatively unchanged.  I've added new graphics when a caption appears onscreen. Also, there is the aforementioned auto-ducking. Well, it's not literally auto-ducking, but I am adjusting the game sounds to be louder when I'm not talking, so the music can be better heard.  A number of games this episode have some pretty decent music, so its best that we should be able to hear it.

Chronturbo 3 is the first "full" episode of Chronturbo, with 16 games released from January through March 1989. As I mentioned earlier, the pace of releases for the PC Engine starts to pick up dramatically in 1989. Furthermore, NEC was able to do what Sega could not with its Master System: induce third party publishers to release game for the system. This episode features a mere four games from console creators NEC and Hudson. The rest are from outside companies, include seven publishers releasing their first game for the console: Irem, Data East, Sunsoft, Pack-in-Video, Face, Aicom, and Taito.

Still, the two best games end up being from Hudson.

This raises interesting questions about the food supply in underground dungeons.

Dungeon Explorer remains one of the best remembered games on the system. Developed by Atlus, it's an odd mash up of an RPG and a Gauntlet clone. Essentially, Dungeon Explorer is Gauntlet with some RPG elements thrown in. Just like Atari's arcade classic, the game is designed for simultaneous multiplayer, and most of the action involves wandering around top-down dungeons, killing endless hordes of monsters which spawn from portals. These portals must be destroyed to stop the monsters from constantly re-spawning. Unlike Gauntlet, Dungeon Explorer scatters its dungeons around on an overworld, then tosses in some NPCs and a rudimentary plot. Your characters permanently increase their power after defeating each dungeon's boss, so Dungeon Explorer has a simple leveling system.

It's a cool hack and slash game, and feels like a distant ancestor to Diablo. The music, in particular, stands out as catchy and memorable. DE is probably the first really good game from Atlus to be released in the West. What a shame that the US version had such amateurish looking cover art.

Why, NEC? Why!?!?

  
Military Madness

By early 1989,  military tactics games were quite common on the Famicom. We've already seen one such game, Gaia no Monshou, in Chronturbo Episode 2. Much better is Hudson's take on the genre, Nectaris/Military Madness. It closely resembles Daisenryaku and Famicom Wars in its conception. On top of the basic "move your units around kill stuff" gameplay, Hudson threw in a plot about a radical group on the moon threatening to nuke Earth, as well as an in-game manual.

Why did I feel a sudden twinge of solitary sadness creep over me?

As you may know from previous episodes of Chrontendo, Military Madness is the standard to which I hold all other early console military simulation games. I stand by my position today; it is by far the best such game we've seen in terms of execution.

Other Good Games:

It's not great, but it's miles better than Tiger Heli.

I've already mentioned that Chronturbo 3 features three shoot-em-ups. The best of these is probably Kyūkyoku Tiger, a Japan-only port of the arcade game we call Twin Cobra in the US. This is one of many shooters Toaplan was cranking out in the late '80s (Zero Wing, their most retroactively famous game, hit arcades in 1989).  There's nothing too terribly original or awesome to found in Kyūkyoku Tiger. It's just a reasonably engaging game in which you fly around a helicopter, blowing up tons of enemy aircraft, tanks and gun turrets. The PC Engine's hardware meant there could be quite a few projectiles on screen at once, though this version is still less hectic that the arcade original.

Hanii takes a bit of inspiration from R-Type here.

Another quite good, though very different shoot-em-up was Face's Hanii in the Sky.  Steeped in Shinto lore, Hanii features a heavily armed haniwa figure blasting its way though a variety of bizarre enemies. The main gimmick is your rotating cannon. This allows you to attack in all directions. While not the slickest or prettiest shoot-em-up on the system, Hanii is unusual enough to make it worth a look.

SonSon II

We have a lot of aggressive tigers this episode.

The first Capcom-developed game on the PC Engine,  SonSon II is a cute little action platformer in the Wonder Boy in Monster Land mode. I've already discussed it in some detail.

Space Adventure Cobra: Kokuryuuou no Densetsu

The most modestly clad woman in the whole game.

The only CD Rom Rom game this episode -- this Hudson produced title is based on a sci-fi manga/anime from Buichi Terasawa. The production values are pretty high; the art and music are great, and professional voice actors were used.  Space Adventure Cobra is also a harbinger of the future of NEC's consoles: it's an adventure game that features "mature" content. In this case, that means lots of women in skimpy outfits.

Vigilante

This screen shot depicts the mental image most people got when they thought of NYC back in the '80s.

1988's R-Type and R-Type II were published by Hudson. This makes Vigilante the first Irem published game for the PC Engine. I know Vigilante isn't exactly the best beat-em-up of the era, but this is a very accurate port of the 1987 arcade game. Some of the weird, suggestive signs in the first level have been cut off, however.

The Bad Games:

F-1 Pilot

The cars in F-1 Pilot feature hilariously over-sized side mirrors.

The very first thing this game does wrong is the title. Why is it called "F-1 Pilot" when this is a racing game, not a flying game? The second thing is the subtitle: "You're King of Kings." Even if you were the best F-1 racer in the world, calling yourself the King of Kings is pretty pretentious. The final mistake this game makes is being one of the worst racing games we've seen so far.

Deep Blue

Only five games from Chronturbo 3 were given US releases. Due to what must have been a serious clerical error, one of those games ended up being Deep Blue. I'm sure this game has its defenders due to its unusual play mechanics. It plays unlike most other games in the genre. Deep Blue overwhelms you with enemies but gives you a rechargeable health bar. In theory this sounds very intriguing, but actual game is so boring and repetitive that it approaches kusoge levels of badness.

Ganbare! Golf Boys

The main advantage PC Engine golf games have over Famicom golf games is the extra shades of green.

Absolutely no relation to Konami's Ganbare Goemon series, this turd from KLON and NCS is the second golf game released for the PC Engine.

The Rest:

Winning Shot

The first PC Engine golf game is a bit better than Ganbare! Golf Boys. It also happens to be the system debut from Data East. There's nothing here we haven't already seen on countless Famicom golf games, but at least the music is pretty nice.

Shiryou Sensen/War of the Dead

Another game where the cover art makes it look 1000% cooler than it really is.

A Zelda-ish action RPG that originated on the MSX2, War of the Dead is sometimes called the first survival horror game. Of course, identifying the first survival horror game is sort of like identifying the first rock 'n' roll song: for any nominee, someone will always point out an earlier example. Anyway, if the above description makes you want to try out War of the Dead, be prepared for an experience that is somewhat archaic and unpleasant. Still, this is an interesting game, in theory.

Moto Roader

Before you judge, please remember that graphics aren't everything.

A top down racing game for up to five players. In order to always have all five cars on the screen at once, the game employees some crazy rubber banding. Slow cars are forcibly dragged across the screen to prevent them from getting too far behind.  If nothing else, Moto Racer provides a nice counter example to the rule that Japan also gets the cooler box art.

Out Live

The entire game looks exactly like this screen shot.

Sunsoft's first PC Engine game is a first person RPG. Imagine a sci-fi themed Deep Dungeon in which you cruise around in a mech suit. Out Live is a very basic dungeon crawler, but the graphics make it look a lot cooler than the similar games we've seen on the Famicom.

Kaizou Chounin Shubibinman

Hey kid! Behind you!

A tokusatsu inspired side-scrolling action game. With its tiny sprites and extremely flat, linear levels, Shubibinman is basically a Famicom game with brighter colors.  Aside from that, it's noteworthy for its extremely generous hit detection.

P-47: The Freedom Fighter

A port of a Jaleco arcade game, released by Pack-in-Video on the PC Engine. P-47 is about the most uninspired, generic shoot-em-up you could imagine.

What's next on the schedule?  Let's see... oh, yes! It's Chrontendo 45. And then, we will probably move on to Chronsega 8, which will see some major changes to that series.

Until then, don't forget to check out Chronturbo 3 at Archive or Youtube!

A Brief Preview

The new Chronturbo is partially edited, but while we're waiting, I have a little preview.  I've worked up a new, hopefully cooler, intro for Chronturbo. Outer space is cool, right? I'm sure some tweaks will be made for future episodes, but here's the first version.



Probably the first thing I'll change will be the Alien Crush footage, which has a brief black screen as the ball moves between the top and bottom part of the table. This makes it look like a there's a glitch in the video.

Your Weekly Dose of Comic Book Body Horror

Double good news, I'm back from my very brief vacation in Portland and back to work on Chronturbo Episode 3.

And now that I'm back, what do I find waiting for me on the internet? Why, it's the years-in-the-making sequel to the classic 40 Worst Rob Leifeld Drawings! For those unfamilar the the man, Leifeld is simultaneously one of the most successful and worst comic book artists of the last 20 years; he could be called the comic book equivalent of Nickleback. His work is noted for its gross disregard for anatomy, perspective, draftsmanship and logic.  His characters are grotesque frankenstein-like creations of mis-proportioned and/or missing limbs, all attached to torsos in impossible ways. At times, he seems to literally draw hands and feet backwards, and has an odd obsession with giving characters huge, flat triangular crotches with starburst-like fabric wrinkles radiating from the bottoms of the crotches.  Leifeld has the amazing ability to produce drawings which appear both half-assed and incredibly overworked at the same time.  You would never, ever want to read a Leifeld comic, but his art has an irresistible hideous allure to it, so check out the article here.

The classic Leifeld conundrum: is this a right hand or left?

As I mentioned, I have returned from my travels to the north-western edge of the country, namely Portland, Salem and the surrounding environs. Since I love to take every possible opportunity to cram things that are not videogames down your throats, I thought I'd throw down some vacation photos.

The lonesome beaches of the Oregon coast.

An impressive bridge on the other end of the beach.

These are from a small town called Newport. While in Portland itself, I took every opportunity to try the local beer, and visited the Deschutes Brew Pub and tried a couple of their tap only offerings, one of which was a sour ale called "Mos Eisley." And of course, we checked out Voodoo Doughnuts, one of the nation's premeire weird doughnut shops -- I had the famous Bacon Maple Bar. I didn't take a picture of the place myself, so here's a shot off their website. And, yes, the line is like that all the time.

Portland is full of pervs.

Of interest to some of your people might be the theater next door. You can see the sign on the left side of the photo. It's a theater that shows hentai anime and has some sort of "sexy catgirl in peril" drawing on the marquee.* A completely appropriate neighbor for a place that sells donuts with names like "Triple Chocolate Penetration" and "Butterfingering."

For you videogame fans: thanks for your patience. Sure, Chronturbo 3 is taking a while, but it will be worth the wait due to some technical improvements. Like auto-ducking! Check back soon.

*In fact, it's a historic adult theater that's fallen on hard times. Here's a better shot of the catgirl.

Here Come The Shooters

When one thinks of the PC Engine, what comes to mind? Tons of obscure RPGs and visual novels? Definitely. But also, there is the shoot-em-up: Gates of Thunder, Blazing Lazers, Air Zonk, Soldier Blade, ... the list of amazing shoot-em-ups released for the console goes on and on. Perhaps no game system is so closely associated with the genre as the PC Engine/Turbo Grafx 16.  But legends don't happen overnight, and even the PC Engine was not born into shooter greatness. Chronturbo Episode 3 will feature four shooters, and none of them could be considered stone-cold classics. Two are actually sort of terrible!

In terms of semi-reputable shoot-em-ups, we have two games, Hanii in the Sky and Kyūkyoku Tiger. Hanii, from the obscure publisher Face, is one of the oddest shooters on the system. The plot involves the Shinto deity Izanagi, who along with his wife/sister Izanami, sired Japan. By siring Japan, I don't mean they were ancestors of the Japanese people*, but that Izanami gave birth to the actual islands that make up what is now Japan.

In the game, you control a Haniwa figure, who is following Izanagi's orders to blow up a lot of shit. Hanii in the Sky differs from most shooters by allowing you to rotate your laser cannon 360 degrees. Much of time, enemies come at you from the top of the screen, but if a squadron suddenly appears behind you -- simple rotate the canon to the rear and blast away. On top of this, but can obtain various upgrades and items, most of which must be purchased with cash obtained by killing enemies. It's a pretty cool game, though without using a turbo controller it will be impossibly hard.

Kyūkyoku Tiger, from Taito is a rather bare bones port of the 1987 arcade game called Twin Cobra in the US.  Developed by Toaplan, Kyūkyoku Tiger is the middle game in the "Tiger" series, book-ended by Tiger Heli and Kyūkyoku Tiger II. It's just one of many military-themed shooters from Toaplan in the mid-late 1980s. We covered the gimped Famicom version of Tiger Heli way back in Chrontendo 12. Kyūkyoku Tiger is certainly a pretty huge improvement over that game, but it still falls well short of greatness, being somewhat bland and repetitive at times.

On the other end of the spectrum (specifically, the "crap" end) we have Pack-in-Video's Deep Blue Kaitei Shinwa and Aicom's P-47. Both are horizontal shooters and both are deeply dull.  Endless waves of fish (Deep Blue) and aircraft (P-47) fly at you with little rhyme or reason. Deep Blue goes down the enemy overload route, throwing far more enemies at you than you can possible kill. To compensate, you have a pretty decent life meter, which slowly refills when you stop firing your weapon.  In the hands of a more adept developer, this might be an interesting mechanic.  Neither Deep Blue nor P-47 offer much along the way of cool weapons, power ups or bosses.  While not exactly kusoge, both games are completely unremarkable and boring. For some reason, the only game out of the four to receive a US released was Deep Blue, published by NEC.

But hey, don't despair, shoot-em-up fans! Things will start improving, in a huge way, in Chronturbo Episode 5.

Also, a couple quick announcements. One, Dr. Sparkle is going on a brief vacation tomorrow. Once I return, I'll pour my energy into finishing up Chronturbo 3.

Second, I'm continuing to add older episodes onto Youtube, as well as playlists. There is now a Chronsega playlist, and a Chrontendo 1988 playlist which contains all the 1988 episodes. I'll create more lists for other years once the appropriate episodes have been added.

*However, the emperor has officially been considered the direct descendant of the goddess Amaterasu, at least until the post WWII era.