PC Engine Christmas Orgy

[Spector]

To celebrate the upcoming anniversary of the birth of the Nazarine, I have decided to take my spare moments to properly re-enact the Christmas I wanted back in 1990 by playing all the PC Engine games featured in the C&VG "Complete Guide To Consoles" Book Vol III, which I read approximately 647 times in the lead up to Chrimbo that year (I still have it), along with some other choice cuts from that time.

Here are my initial thoughts (most of the games I hadn't played much before) along with the percent marks they got in the mag...

Devil Crash - seems like a decent sequel to Alien Crush. Hope it's harder (94%)
Ninja Spirit - gives me deja vu; another scrolling platformer (91%)
Super Star Soldier - too long winded, and I don't like starting a level again after dying. However, it looks great(89%)
Xevious - Good, though too easy (72%)
Rastan Saga II - Clumsy and silly, a bit of a joke (81%)
Splatterhouse - really interesting this one; bursting with atmosphere (94%)
Image Fight - good, but doesn't induce panic like Tiger Heli  (82%)
Down Load - questionable language, middling shooter (83%)
Don Doko Don - simple fun  (94%)

Plus...
Power Drift - a good laugh, addictive, but not as good as Chase HQ
Operation Wolf - a solid conversion
Batman - original take on a major licence or a missed opportunity? I don't know.
Klax - magnificent; couldn't be improved upon
Hani On The Road - kids television meets Shockway Rider, and wins!


So I'm interested in you guys' opinions, especially Sunteam Paul because of his site, and Runinruder (because of his love for Takeda Shingen!) Let's hear em!   

[RuninRuder]

Runinruder (because of his love for Takeda Shingen!)

I posted thoughts on a number of those games in my "useless" thread.  I think I failed to post about Download (great shooter with great graphics) and Power Drift (rough graphics and controls but still pretty fun).

[Spector]

Playing these games a little more I have to say it annoys me to find the difficulty level on Image Fight to be so high on level 2 onwards. What's the point in having four skill levels when the lowest level is ultra difficult? Who are they making games for anyway? Pah. It's a decent shooter apart from that.

Download is more enjoyable as a result of being not quite so hard, and it's definitely one I'll be returning to.

Splatterhouse is a game with too much atmosphere and too little actual playability. It's just a memory test with no room for tactics. I'm not impressed - stick to the screenshots, as firing it up in your PCE will lead to disappointment.

[Tatsujin]

great idea but no time for origes

[RuninRuder]

Download is more enjoyable as a result of being not quite so hard, and it's definitely one I'll be returning to.

The visual effects in the last level are not to be missed.

[rag-time4]

Interesting that you thought Xevious was too easy!

I'm a huge fan of Image Fight - totally love the red pods. For me it's a tough, but fair, game. Would love some competition in the high score thread!

Have you ever cleared the penalty zone?

I've got Super Star Soldier, Download, Ninja Spirit, and Batman among the others.

SSS to me is a bit boring, but it does have nice graphics. Repetitive gameplay though.

Download seems pretty neat, I haven't played past level 2 yet.

Ninja Spirit I like but haven't played all the way through.

Batman is ok for what it is but I don't much enjoy it.

Here are my totally arbitrary and meaningless numbers:

Image Fight 100
SSS 80
Download 85
Ninja Spirit 90
Batman 70

[Keranu]

Haha, that's a really awesome Christmas idea! I love doing stuff like that.

[Spector]

I'm getting into Image Fight a bit more now, but my highest score is only 106000 

My new opinions:

Download has some ... interesting language   

Devil Crash is better than Alien Crush because it's tougher and the bonus stages are definitely more taxing. I think the music in Alien Crush was slightly better though.

Don Doko Don is almost ruined a crap fifth stage which gets on my nerves. Not a great game.

Power Drift would be more fun if the other vehicles didn't keep getting in the bloody way!

Operation Wolf - though my main thing is the horizontal/vertical shooter, this into-the-screen affair ain't bad. I like it! Kinda reminds me of Kelly's Heroes!

Klax is slick and faultless. Apparently the Megadrive version is pants.

[TR0N]

Power Drift would be more fun if the other vehicles didn't keep getting in the bloody way!

You would have more fun if you were not playing such a poor port of it.

The best port i've played of power dirft is on the saturn follow by the dc version.

Far as the cars getting in the way i can't say i had a problem getting around that 

[Spector]

You would have more fun if you were not playing such a poor port of it.
The best port i've played of power dirft is on the saturn follow by the dc version.

Far as the cars getting in the way i can't say i had a problem getting around that 

I've a feeling I've just been put down...   

[Lord Thag]

Good reviews, I'd tend to agree with your ratings with the exception of Image Fight, which would get a 95% in my book. For some reason, I can play that sucker for hours.

I've done something similar with my original Arati 2600 carts, which I still own. Great times. I need to check out Power Drift. I have it, but gave it only a cursory glance.

[_Paul]

Here are my initial thoughts (most of the games I hadn't played much before) along with the percent marks they got in the mag...

Devil Crash
Probably the best pinball game in the world...ever.

Ninja Spirit
Suprised myself when re-reviewing this and thoroughly enjoyed it. I even upped the rating!

Super Star Soldier
As the first shoot 'em up that I truly loved, this has a special place in my heart. Amazing music as well.

Xevious
Makes my ears and eyes bleed when I play it.

Rastan Saga II
When I played this after Xevious one year, I fell into a coma for 5 months.

Splatterhouse
A great conversion, but somehow lacks a little replay value for me, perhaps because I ruined it by putting the level cheat in the day I got it (never again).

Image Fight
Too hard!

Down Load
I've not really played this in depth, but it frustrated me when I had a few goes.

Don Doko Don
Pop 'n Magic is far better, there's something about DDD I just don't like.


Plus...
Power Drift
A 'bold' conversion. Looks messy, sounds messy, plays messy - but when you have a good go at it you get some strange satisfaction of having really played the game.

Operation Wolf
Great conversion of a rather limited game. Short burst play only.

Batman
I really like that they didn't go the obvious route with this game and tried something different. And the cut scenes are great.

Klax
Never really appealed to me for more than 5 minutes at a time.

Hani On The Road
Curious and sort of fun. I need to play this more.

[Spector]

Batman
I really like that they didn't go the obvious route with this game and tried something different. And the cut scenes are great.

But isn't Batman little more than a rewrite of Cratermaze, released more than a year earlier? Even the password system is lifted from it.

[_Paul]

Batman
I really like that they didn't go the obvious route with this game and tried something different. And the cut scenes are great.

But isn't Batman little more than a rewrite of Cratermaze, released more than a year earlier? Even the password system is lifted from it.

Yes, I like that as well. It's very different from what you'd expect of a Batman game though.

[nat]

Batman is fantastic, and so is Download. Some of the system's shining gems, if you ask me.

Rastan Saga, SSS, and Xevious are trash.

Devil's Crush and Ninja Spirit are timeless classics.

Power Drift is a little too primitive for me, unfortunately. I love the original and the Dreamcast port, however.

[geise]

You don't like SSS?    Not the best shooter but shouldn't really be trash.  Haha do you hold Deep Blue higher than SSS?  Just curious.  We all have our opinions.  It surpises me though how many opinions differ on this message board towards certain games.  Especially ones held in high regard.  I find it interesting yet perplexing. 

[Spector]

My problem with Super Star Soldier is that it takes ages to get going, it's too fast and you have to start a whole level again if you get killed, sometimes taking you three minutes or so to get back to where you were when you died. Don't you find that really annoying?

[_Paul]

My problem with Super Star Soldier is that it takes ages to get going, it's too fast and you have to start a whole level again if you get killed, sometimes taking you three minutes or so to get back to where you were when you died. Don't you find that really annoying?

No, because if you collect enough flashing orbs, you continue where you died.

[Spector]

I'll need to give this game another go; I've definitely not given it enough of a chance.

[_Paul]

I'll need to give this game another go; I've definitely not given it enough of a chance.

Just make sure you keep shooting any powerups that look like they are 'stuck' and don't collect them before they flash (i.e. smart bomb).