So here we go, the PC Engine games! This should be fun, as I never played PC Engine and some of these games are in Japanese!
Akumajō Dracula X Chi no Rondo
Translated, this is Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, and it's one of the Super CD-ROM2 games. Now, get this. The intro has Japanese subtitles, but German audio! How weird... It also won't let me skip it, which I wanted to since I already saw in demo mode. When I started, I had to input my name into a save file and was treated to some really eerie music. I expect this game to have some pretty good music as it was on a CD. Once I began, I was already fighting Death, which was a surprise. Now, maybe it's my ongoing allergies, or maybe I'm just too old now, but I can't appreciate this kind of difficulty anymore. This game's hard because it's so cheap. Also, Super Castlevania IV has spoiled me on all other Castlevanias pre-Symphony of the Night. I miss being able to whip in any direction. I'll eventually return to it when I can build up the patience again. Also, it does this really annoying thing where it does his special move right after doing a save state, and I've no idea why...
Aldynes
Hey, guess what? This game takes place in 2020! I wonder if it has to do with saving the world from a really bad flu virus.... Anyway, it's another side scrolling space shoot 'em up, and already, it's one of my favorites because of the drone support. So far, I now have four, yes FOUR, drones. What I really love about them is you can change the way they act, kinda like R-Type, in case you need fire support from behind or a full on frontal assault. It's not the best performing shooter on the system, as frame rate dips happen a lot, and some of the power ups are run of the mill. It could also use a screen clearing bomb, but that's just my personal preference. I do look forward to playing more of this game in the future.
Appare! Gateball
So this game is very similar to croquet, which means I really suck at it. Just as I started to understand how to play it, the game ended. It also didn't help that this is one of those games where all the text is in Japanese. I was selecting things on the menu that I didn't know what they meant. I did figure out that I was selecting five people on my team, and then I played against five other people. The thing is, it has a power meter when you hit the ball and you HAVE to be spot on or your ball will veer to the left or right by a LOT. I didn't have enough fun with the game to stay hooked, so I didn't bother trying another round.
Bomberman '94
Now this is a better Bomberman! Better level design, better graphics, better gameplay. The one thing I love about '94 is that power up distribution feels more normal. '93 only gave you one power up per board, which was really stingy. Not only can you get a couple of bomb and flame power ups per board in '94, but they also put in a kangaroo that let you jump over blasts, which really comes in handy when you pen yourself in with a bomb. Also, you can select different boards at your choosing when you enter a world, so that's appreciated. I only wish I could play multiplayer with other Mini owners.
Bomberman Panic Bomber
This is a puzzle game very similar to Puyo Puyo or Puzzle Fighter II, but it's all in Japanese, so it took me a while to figure out how the mechanics worked. Once I found out that you clear pieces with at least three like colors horizontally, vertically or diagonally, I started to have some fun. What I like about the game is that when your opponent dumps trash on you, they're bombs, and you have bombs that periodically fall down that you can use to blow them all up at once, which can lead to combos. I really like this game, but I'm playing on Easy as I don't have the mind like I used to for puzzlers. Great presentation as well.
Chō Aniki
This is most definitely the weirdest shooter I played on the system so far. There's so much random stuff going on, it seems like the developers just picked random graphics out of a hat and threw them into the game. It's another shooter that has drone support, which I love, but believe it or not one of the drones is a bodybuilder in a tight speedo... why? The levels are full of mid-bosses and end with a boss of their own, but after a couple of levels, I was already getting rather bored from it. The game also has really weird music, especially for the boss battles. I'm not sure if I'll come back to this game.
Daimakaimura
So this is Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, known by old school gamers as one of the toughest games around. It's super cheap, and that means I can't get anywhere without save states. But, I have this on the Sega Genesis Mini and I've made further progress in it than here, so I just played one level to see how it runs. I think based on memory, the Genesis version is actually better, but I could be wrong. Weird, though, that they couldn't put the English version of this on the Mini instead.
Dragon Spirit
Remember back when I said that a good shooter needs to find a balance between annoyance and difficulty? This is one shooter that does not have it. I cannot for the life of me find a safe way to beat the second boss, this lava bird that has these meteors orbiting around it. What I also don't like is how the more powered up your dragon becomes, the larger target you become. Being a large target in a shooter is a no-no. I should have liked this game, because I love dragons and I love shooters, but honestly, this game proved to be far more annoying than fun.
More to come. As always, thanks for reading!
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