Friday, May 29, 2009

I wonder why some PC Engine games never made it to the U.S.?

I wonder why some PC Engine games never made it from overseas to North America for the the Turbografx-16?

I was going through my PCE games today picking out a few to play and i started to think about this.

Games in my collection like Digital Champ or Break-In to me would be "no-brainers" as we americans enjoy things like boxing or pool(billiards if you prefer).

What about Knight Rider Special,Hatris or Rastan Saga II? These games would of been a perfect fit for U.S. gamers.

Heck i could even see titles like DragonEgg! or SonSon II being released here with a few minor changes if any at all.

All of this makes me wonder if maybe if some of these great games made it here how much better the Turbografx-16 might of done?

Software makes the system right? And these games and many other PC Engine titles could of pushed the T-16 ahead of the pack but instead U.S. gamers got games like Impossimole.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

A few personal PC Engine notes

No review from me this post just a few odd notes of things i have been playing on the PC Engine as of late.....

Power League II: this was a freebie Hu-Card that i had gotten from WolfGames(awesome place to order PCE and other import games from) with a game i ordered from them and for a baseball game its fun(Am not into sports games but i guess everyone should own one at lest right? lol).

Panic Bomber: I have had this game for a while now and its a fun puzzle game in the vain of Puyo Puyo featuring Bomberman(Great fun and cheap to buy too).

Burning Angels: This great overhead shooter(shump) has been talked about on the HuPack before and it should be talked about its a good game(I like the anime clips in it reminds me of the Dirty Pair anime).

P-47: Another World War II shooter(shump) but this one is horizontal(left to right)and is a fun and cheap game to pick up if you dont own it already.

Knight Rider Special: Yes i know its a Pack-In Video title but its worth getting and playing just because its Knight Rider!(I used to watch the show as a kid plus it reminds me alot of RoadBlasters which was a great arcade game from Atari).

Dragon Spirit: Got this on a trade and i used to own the U.S. version(Turbografx-16)years ago(Its 1941/42 but with dragons!).




Sunday, May 17, 2009

Daisenpu.....War is Hell they say but this game isn't.

Daisenpu is a vertical shooter(or Shump if you perfer)released by NEC Avenue for the PC Engine back in 1990.

It is a conversion of Toplan's/Taito's arcade game known as Twin Hawk which also saw a release on the Sega MegaDrive the same year.

In Daisenpu you control a World War II fighter plane and fly into the heart of the enemy lines shooting at tanks and various warships.

Power-ups can be found in the game by shooting some of the smaller tanks during play.

You can also call out a small squadron of fighter planes that will fly next to you as your wingmen and will help you shoot at your enemies and with a press of a button will dive bomb at your foes as well.

One of the most interesting things about Daisenpu is the fact that there is no pause between levels creating a continuous flow in the game.

Graphics and sounds are good in the game as is the controls of your plane which moves quite smoothly on the screen(well as limited as your movements can be in a shooting game).

I should also note that a year after the release of the Hu-Card edition of this game a CDRom2 version was released and while i have not had a chance to play Daisenpu on CD my understanding is the Hu-Card is the better of the two(which seems to be a common thing among CD ports of Hu-Card games i have heard).

So Daisenpu is a good shooter(shump)for your PCE with much in common with games like Fire Shark or Tiger Heli.

It is one of my "go to" games when am looking for something fun to play with a little bit of challenge to it.

They say "War is Hell" but those with skills in shooting games will no doubt blast there way through this game with ease but it is still worth a buy if you are looking for something new or at lest a round of play or two if you have a friend that owns a copy.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Power Drift..... Very Ambitious!

I picked up a copy of PowerDrift for the PC Engine most recently which is a port of the Yu Suzuki produced arcade game from Sega.

What can i say about this game but its a very ambitious port of a fun arcade title and in spite of the limitations of PCE hardware the game turned out quite nice.

The arcade Power Drift has all sorts of sprite scrolling creating a 3-D effect and gave the game a almost roller coaster feel to it.

The home version on the PCE does a good job recreating this and while not perfect or as smooth you still know you are playing Power Drift.

Players still get to choice from 12 drivers from various walks of life but instead being able to pick your tracks like in the arcade you now have to play them in order.

This is Asmik published Hu-Card game(The same good folks that brought us another Sega arcade port for the PCE....Shinobi).

After playing Power Drift for a while i pondered to myself if this game could be done better as a Super CD or Arcade CD title?

I guess we will never know but still am pretty happy with Power Drift on the PC Engine and yes i know there those who don't care for this port but i find it enjoyable and i think its well worth trying out.