Time Cruise II (PC Engine)

Time Cruise II

Face

HuCard, 1991

When many people think of pinball games on the PC Engine (or TurboGrafx-16), games like Devil's Crush or Alien Crush come to mind...however Time Cruise is a great game in it's own right and one of my first exposures to video pinball.

In the US the game was just called Time Cruise, however in Japan the Roman numeral II was added. When you boot up the game, you get the title screen on the left. Doors open up, revealing different areas. Oddly enough this is the US title screen. Once the screen goes black, the large "II" appears and then the game title.

On this screen you have 3 options. Play, Practice and Option. The option screen basically lets you choose a different controller layout, but unfortunately it's not choosing different buttons. Nope, it lets you choose an option to use multiple controllers. It's a very odd set up and I should have taken a picture of this option so you could better understand what I'm trying to describe. The default controls: left on the D pad and the II button control the left and right flippers. Pressing the I button will shake the table. Over pressing this button could cause a Tilt and forfeiting your ball.

What helps make this game stand out from some of it's pinball competitors on the PC Engine/TG-16 is the sheer size of the table. The table is basically comprised of 7 screens. The middle section is three screens tall, while the side tables are made of two screens.

This large layout gives you plenty of things for the ball to hit and ricochet off of to net you some big points. The game changes screens quickly as the ball moves around and its usually pretty easy to follow the ball. If you're wondering why the game is called Time Cruise, at the top of each section are these silver warp gates. You first have to activate them by hitting the trigger about 5 or 6 times with the ball. A path will then illuminate to the gate letting you know it's ready. If you can work the ball over to the now active gate, you'll be transported either into the future or into the past.

One of the areas in the future is this table that you have to move to roll your ball to the hole in the green area. Obviously is game was released far before there was motion controls, so to move the board you manipulate the X and Y axis. Do it before the time runs out and you'll earn an extra ball and add some serious points to your score. I used to be able to work this table pretty easy, but I've become rusty.

One of my favorite warp tables is this caveman golf area. You are a small caveman and you have to golf the ball over water hazards and keep the ball from going into the bushes, labeled OB (for Out of Bounds I assume). You have a gauge at the top of the screen that measures how hard you hit the ball. If the ball falls into the water, you start over where you are. However if you hit it out of bounds, it takes you up one level. Make your way to the bottom and successfully hit it into the hole and you'll earn an extra ball and a lot of points. With practice, this isn't very hard, but it's a lot of fun.

Another warp area set in the past is this medival themed table. As the ball ricochets off the treasure chests at the top, they open to reveal gold inside. If you hit all 6, they close and you get a new point tier (represented by the roman numerals in the background). The chest in the middle is actually a little monster that moves around the screen.

The bottom portion of the table has 6 swords. The color on the handle changes as the ball hits them. Hit them all and you'll illuminate another roman numeral in the background. The sides of the top and bottom tables are lined with pink jelly creatures and white masks that act as bumpers.

my high scores from my recent play (CJH)

Overall this game is a lot of fun and it's still one of my favorite pinball games on all retro platforms. The music on the main table is very forgetful unfortunately, but better in the warp areas. With the large size of the table, there are several open areas that are kind of bland. What I mean is there isn't much going on in the background. No moving pieces to look at in the background as Alien Crush or Devil's Crush has for example. Those tables seem more organic where as Time Cruise is more inorganic (if that makes sense).

Both the US and Japanese versions of Time Cruise will run you at least $50.00 on the secondary market for a complete copy of the game. That price is a little steep if you ask me, but if you like video pinball and you've never played this game then you need to pick up a copy in some way shape or form.

Crest of Wolf (PC Engine)

Crest of Wolf

Westone / Hudson Soft

Super CD- ROM, 1993

Crest of Wolf, also known as Riot Zone on the TurboGrafx CD is your standard fare beat 'em game. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but there are a lot of similarities with Capcom's Final Fight. Being that I'm playing the Japanese version, I wasn't able to follow the dialogue in the animated scenes that set the story. I don't need to read though to find out its your basic rescue your kidnapped girlfriend, beating up thugs along the way.

You can take control of either Hawk or Tony. Hawk is the blonde wearing a white t-shirt w/ blue jeans...he's basically this game's version of Cody from Final Fight. Tony is the big dude with the mohawk...this game's Haggar. Both players do play a little different and feature different animations in their attack, but like most beat 'em ups does it really matter who you choose?

Upon firing up the game I noticed that the game looks and feels as if its almost unfinished. The graphics are kind of ugly in places and the character designs leave a lot to be desired. At least the enemies are varied, but there are a LOT of color pallet swaps to make the additional characters. The animation for your character, as well as the enemies seems stiff. Hit detection is decent, however many of the enemies would land a chain of attacks on you that I just could seem to block or get away from. Thankfully the game didn't have any slow down of flickering that I noticed when there were multiple enemies on the screen.

Going back to the characters, do these enemies remind you of a particular ninja that garnered fame on various Sega platforms?! I fought a couple of shirtless fat guys that seemed to resemble Karnov as well. The big guys in the game run around like the big, fat bald guys in Final Fight. There are guys that slide kick across the floor just like the guys w/ knives in the previous mentioned game. At least there was some originality in the level design after the first level or so.

The one positive thing I have to say about this game is that the soundtrack is pretty great. There are a few tunes that I didn't care for, but overall I really enjoyed the guitar heavy metal. I felt it fit the game really well and I wish there was a sound test. At least you can listen to the game's entire soundtrack in the YouTube video above.

After you beat the boss of each level, you'll see your character walking down the street and up to a poster with an image of the boss and a reward listed below. You'll thing plunge a knife into the poster before the screen fades and loads the next level.

The boss battles throughout the game I found to be fairly easy, however the boss(es) of the first stage proved to be tougher than most. You fight an Asian martial artists by the name of Mr. Lee. Once you get his health to about half way, a female armed with Wolverine type claws joins the battle. Not overly difficult, but the lady did get some cheap hits in on me as she jumped around the screen.

Stage two's boss, Shauna, appears to be some type of dominatrix. When you first approach her, she is laying down on a board stacked upon cinder blocks. She has a sexual look to her, even though her character model really doesn't show that much skin. I can see this character being heavily altered/censored if this game ever appeared on the Super Nintendo. Despite her wielding a whip, she was a real push over.

Stage three's boss took place in what appeared to be a doctor's office? You see this guy sitting on a desk who jumps down, then all these spikes protrude from his body. He looks way more menacing than he actually was. Next.

Remember when you jumped into the wrestling ring in Final Fight to fight the boss, Sodom? Stage four's boss isn't some Japanese shogun warrior, but a big sumo wrestler named Fuji. I don't know if it was his larger size that made it easy to land hits on, but I was able to take him out fairly quickly.

Stage 5 has you eventually invade the enemies base, a penthouse at the top of a skyscraper. Why does that seem so familiar? I can't remember the name of the boss, but he has that pretty boy look. Kind of reminds me of one of the guys from the first Die Hard movie, only this guy knows martial arts. I didn't find him too terribly difficult to beat, in fact I thought I had beat the game. Did you notice those statues in the background? Well one of them there is more than meets the eye.

The final boss of the game is Toro, a statue that comes to life after you beat the pretty blonde guy. He attacks with a sword and if he gets any distance on you he'll fire a slow moving fireball your way. For the final boss he was way to easy to beat. Like with most characters and bosses, you could pin them in the corner and lay down on your attack button...or just use the handy built in turbo switches to really take it to them.

Once he falls, you walk into the next game and the love of your life runs into you arms. There are more animated scenes that help wrap up the story I presume. After that you are greeted by a screen with "Congratulations" spelled out in large characters. Roll credits and put a fork in this one because you are done.

Without changing any of the default game play settings, you get five lives. I was able to make it to the 5th and final level before I had to continue as I had earned a few lives based on my score. The levels are a tad long and the overall difficulty did seem to ramp up a little on the final level. I believe I had to continue twice in my play through. I don't know if the continues are unlimited or not, but when you do have to continue you get to pick up right where you left off. No going back to the beginning of the stage here.

Overall the game is OK. Games like Final Fight or Streets of Rage are far superior, but I still enjoyed it thanks in part to the soundtrack. The game isn't overly expensive and unless you really want to know the story behind the game, there isn't any reason to pay more for the US version. Plus the PC Engine version has the far superior cover art. If you are fan of beat 'em ups you at least owe it to yourself to try this game.

Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (PC Engine)

Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo

Konami

Super CD-ROM2, 1993

Ask just about any PC Engine owner what one of the must have games for the console is and I'm sure that 99% of them will tell you Dracula X. Part of the famed Castlevania gaming franchises, this 2-D side scrolling game never left the shores of Japan...kind of.

The game was released in Japan in October, 1993 and is the 10th Castlevania game. The game features multiple endings, voice acting and CG cut scenes exclusive to this version of the game. Thanks to the PC Engine's CD-ROM2 and the Super System Card, this is the first Castlevania game to utilize a save system. In 1993 this feature was a huge improvement over the standard password feature. The one thing that I don't fully get is the voice acting is done in German?

The game stars Richter Belmont in his quest to rescue his beloved Annette is kidnapped by Dracula's servant Shaft. On the way he rescues Annette's little sister, Maria Renard (who becomes a playable character in the game!). The game plays like most of the traditional Castlevania games that came before it. Most of the standard sub-weapons are included such as the dagger, cross, holy water, axe, pocket watch and the grimoire - a magic spell book. If you choose to play the game as Maria she has a set of unique sub-weapons: a cat, dragon, cardinal, turtle, egg or musical notes.

The game was such a success that Konami re-released the game on the Super Famicom in Japan two years later in 1995. Akumajō Dracula XX featured a few changes however. While the plot was the same, several of the levels were redesigned, a slightly different art style was used in the game and there are only 2 alternate levels. Maria was also cut from the game as a playable character. No surprise either than the music is of lesser quality being on a cartridge. The voice acting was removed in part of the cartridge's limitations. I believe the cut scenes remain...although they may have been removed for the U.S. Super Nintendo release, also in 1995.

If anything of this looks or sounds familiar it should. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the Playstation is a direct sequel to Dracula X!

I originally owned a CD-R version of Dracula X. The previous owner of the PC Engine Duo RX I bought included the burnt copy as a freebie. I can remember some rather graphic cut scenes featuring a human sacrifice and knowing Nintendo I can't believe they would have left that intact when the game was brought to the U.S. Now the original Japanese version was released on the Wii's Virtual Console in March of 2010, but I never downloaded it so I have no idea how faithful it is to the original (i.e. was it censored in any way).

It's not often these days that I care to own the original game in this day of digital download, but this was one game that I wanted the physical copy of. The problem is with it being an import and the large Castlevania fanbase that exists the game doesn't come cheap on the secondary market. If you're lucky you can get a complete copy for around $80.00, but usually it still fetches around $100.00.

Part of the reason I wasn't satisfied with a CD-R or the Wii digital version is the instruction manual and the awesome artwork. Now you can browse each individual page from the manual and see for yourself why this game is so awesome and coveted by many. (you can click on the images for a larger view)

Earlier I mentioned that the voice acting is done in German.  Well one part of the story in the front of the manual is also written in German...odd.  After you've input your name your adventure starts off with the Prologue - Mission 0.  You can see in one of the pictures how there are differing paths between the levels. I like this as it adds more replay value to the game. I love the art used for all the characters.  By the way, the other 3 girls you see are maidens you can also rescue in your quest to vanquish Dracula.  The last two wide scans show some of the enemies and boss characters you'll run across during the game.  Most of them are just as formidable in the game as they appear in the manual.

Looking at still pictures and scans is one thing, but when talking about video games you need video.  A quick search on YouTube and I found a video featuring the opening sequence and the entire run.  The video is over 3 hours long so I don't expect anyone to watch it all, but skip around and take a look if you aren't familiar with the game.  I can't express how fun this is to play and just how awesome it is.  Hands down this has to be one of the finest games in my library.  I personally bought a PC Engine console solely for the ability to play this game.  Of course that was before the Wii (or even the PSP) was released.  Would I recommend someone today buy a PC Engine for this game?  Not really...unless you are an avid gamer.  It's a GREAT console and there are a lot of great games for it, but with the ability to download it to you Wii console or buying the relatively cheap Dracula X Chronicles PSP game, save your money.  As I said it doesn't come cheap, but if you do decide to take the plunge I think you'll be one happy gamer like myself.

Diamakaimura (SuperGrafx)

Reproductions and clone systems are the norm in today's retro gaming circles. While this avenue isn't for everyone, it has opened the doors to let gamers play games that often elude our grasps because of their scarcity and or high price tag on the secondary market. Reproduction games have come a long was well. My first exposure to repros were the cheap Mega Drive games you can pick up at various places online.

Recently I've been seeing some new TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine repros on Facebook from a group calling themselves Turbo Reproductions. I reached out to Sakhan Shawn Yith and asked if he could make a SuperGrafx reproduction of Diamakaimura. He was more than happy to oblige. Well it arrived today and I eagerly popped it in my Retro Freak console once the kids were in bed and...nothing. The clone console didn't recognize the HuCard unfortunately. While I'd love to own an actual SuperGrafx and use that to upgrade my CoreGrafx II I have attached to my Super CD-ROM 2, that day will just have to wait.

Even though I may not have been successful at playing the game this evening, I still wanted to give the guys at Turbo Reproduction a huge shout out. The quality of the product they produced is top notch. First of all their HuCard has some heft to it. It's a little thicker than a standard HuCard and while I'm not sure what it's made of, it's not just plastic. It had a tight fit in both the Retro Freak and my PCE, but not a death grip. The label applied, while upside down from it's normal orientation, is of a high quality and looks great on the card. The case is fantastic. They use the same case and format for the insert that Peter Tuttle of Onslaught Reproductions uses. The game looked great on my shelf with my other cases I purchased from Peter earlier.

Overall I'm very impressed with the total package. They are letting me exchange the game for another of my choosing and I believe the next card will be their new black/gold HuCard! Stay tuned for more info from Turbo Reproductions and their products.

Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)

Neutopia
Hudson Soft

HuCard, 1989

Even though I've owned several TurboGrafx systems in the past, I never gave games outside the shooter genre much love. I didn't know anything about Neutopia until a few months back until I saw the game featured on someone's YouTube channel. I thought it looked like a fun game so off I went searching for a copy. Unfortunately I didn't like what I found - the prices!

Normally I don't even consider buying loose TurboGrafx games (or PC Engine), but luckily I ran across a guy in a Facebook group I'm a part of that was making custom cases with artwork. These great little hard plastic snap cases were originally made for gift cards. I have no idea where he gets these, but they are awesome. I had him make me up a Neutopia case and I proceeded to buy my first loose HuCard.

   

The case is a little smaller than a PlayStation Vita case. It's the same height as the original TurboGrafx cases so these look great up on the shelf.

I was told the game was a blatant Legend of Zelda rip-off and it is, however it's a fun game and isn't that what matters? The one thing going for Neutopia over Zelda is you don't have to worry about your battery dying on you. Instead the game uses a password feature to save your progress.

The game plays from a top down perspective and you navigate from screen to screen just like that other game. You start off equipped with a small shield and sword. You are on a quest to search out 8 medallions that have been scattered after Princess Aurora has been captured by the evil demon Dirth. Medallions are usually hidden in underground labyrinths where you must find a crystal ball to mark the map. A large key must also be found in order to unlock the final door leading to the boss fight. Sound familiar?

As you progress through the game you can upgrade your armor and your sword as well as find new weapons such as bombs and a wand that shoots fire (burns bushes too). The similarities to Zelda are definitely there, but I'm ok with that as Zelda was a great game and o equally enjoy Neutopia. The visuals are a tad nicer, but the soundtrack, while good isn't as epic as its NES cousin.

Overall this is a fantastic game and one that I'm glad I decided to pick up. A complete version can run you $60+ on the secondary market so be prepared if you are looking to add this game to your collection.

DinoCity (Super Nintendo)

DinoCity

Smart Egg Software
Irem, 1992

I have no idea where I first learned of this game or when or where I even bought it. I know you aren't supposed to judge a game by it's box art or in this case label art, but man does this game have horrible North American artwork!

I watch a lot of YouTube retro video game shows and I've yet to see this game featured on any of those channels. Kind of half thought it show up on one of Metal Jesus' Hidden Gems videos. Anyhow the game thankfully is much better than this horrible label art. Based loosely on the film Adventures in Dinosaur City, this game was first release in Japan and then later in the U.S..

The game is a side scrolling action type platformer. You can take control of two different small kids, Timmy or his friend, Jamie. Each ride on the back of a different dinosaur and have their own attack and abilities. As you progress through the level you'll eventually come to the end and there will be two doors you can enter. Once you go through enough doors you'll fight a boss before moving onto the next area. 

What I can't figure out is that there are two doors, usually one yellow and one red. I don't know if either color is better than the other. It seems you are randomly transported to an ice cave, jungle or grasslands. There are a total of 6 areas to work through, ultimately chasing Mr. Big which has stolen an important component of a machine that will send Timmy and Jamie back to their home.

Timmy attacks with a close up melee type punch while Jamie can attack with a mid-range dart attack. Each can jump on the head of the enemies a la Super Mario Bros.. You can also dismount from your dinosaur to help solve puzzles to advance through the level. The game does support 2 player simultaneous play which is a nice addition.

The game looks great. It's very colorful and well animated. The music was mostly forgettable. Gameplay wise it's challenging. Honestly I wasn't expecting that much of a challenge. The more I played the better I got, especially using Jamie. The longer range attack was really helpful. This is one of those type of games that once you learn the level layout and enemy patterns it gets easier.

Overall this is an above average game. A quick search on eBay gave plenty of listings for the game and most sellers were asking anywhere from $15 to $20. I'm still looking to pick up the instructions for my copy. If you can find it cheap I'd say give it a try.

Final Fight CD (Sega Mega CD)

Final Fight

Capcom
Sega, 1993

The beat 'em genre has been around for a long time. For me there are two games that immediately come to my mind when I think about beat 'ems...Double Dragon and Final Fight. Just like Double Dragon and how it took time for an arcade quality home port to happen, Final Fight has had it's hardships when it comes to home console versions of the game.

The Super Nintendo version of the game was one of the first home versions I played and while it was fun, it was far from arcade perfect. One of the playable characters, Guy, was missing from the game and there were other changes made to the game. Years later I found out that the game was released for the Sega CD and was arcade perfect...or so I thought. To get a true arcade perfect port you have to look overseas to the Sega Mega CD version.

Sega's Mega CD platform is region locked so don't expect to just pop this in your U.S. Sega CD console and hope to have hours of fun. For this very reason this game wasn't added to my personal collection until about a month ago. After securing a Mega CD 2 to add to my Mega Drive console, I knew this was one of the first games I wanted to pick up.

I sat down over the weekend to enjoy the game and I just couldn't put it down. Playing solo I've still yet to beat the game. I can usually start off really well, but there are just a few bosses (Sodom, Edi E.) that hand me my butt no matter what strategy I try to use! However that didn't stop me from several play throughs and getting a decent high score of 1,271,364.

The opening scenes in the Sega CD version has the same "animated" scenes, however when Hagger is informed that they've (Mad Gear) has kidnapped his daughter, Jessica, she is shown in a red dress. 

However in the Mega CD versionx the same scene has Jessica exposed. Why I don't have a clue. When the actual game starts and you see Jessica in the hands of the Mad Gear, she is shown wearing a red dress. So that would mean that in the Japanese version of the game her dress was obviously removed, yet they fully dressed her before they moved her to another location. How nice of the gang!

The SNES version of the game completely replaced the two female characters, Poison and Roxy, with generic male figures. Nintendo was also very strict w/ their games so it doesn't surprise me that they didn't want players beating up women.

The Sega CD version included Poison and Roxy, yet their appearance was still altered. They basically are wearing a little bit more clothing. Compare the above Sega CD image with the Mega CD image below.

Their top and pants are much shorter in the Japanese version and when punched, both Poison and Roxy do show off a little cleavage. Personally I could care less, but at least in Japan Sega was able to keep it arcade perfect.

In addition to these graphical changes, the first bonus stage was unchanged in the Mega CD version. Beat up the car and score perfect and you'll see the Mad Gear guy walk out and fall to his knees crying "Oh God!", original voice and all.

If you are looking to play the best version of this game, obviously the Mega CD game is the way to go. However I understand that this version isn't the easiest to play. The Sega CD is a great port and the route most gamers will end up taking. The Xbox Live version is also a great alternative if you don't have a way to play either of the CD versions.