Parasol Stars (TurboGrafx-16)

Developer:

Taito

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Release Date:

1991

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Systems:

PC Engine, Amiga, Atari ST, Game Boy, NES

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This week on Super Adventures I've chosen the wrong game to play, because what can I say about Parasol Stars? You play a dude with an umbrella who keeps on beating up enemies and taking their lunch until you run out of credits, stages or patience. Unless you have a friend playing too, then there's two dudes with umbrellas, and matching dungarees.

I suppose I could mention that it's actually Bubble Bobble III, except it says that on the title screen above, so you already know that. Also this TurboGrafx version was published by rogue game localizers Working Designs, but I don't think there's much scope for them to inject their idiosyncratic humour into this one, seeing as there's probably like six words in the game and they're already in English.

There's a good reason why I'm playing the TurboGrafx version instead of the original arcade game, and that's because there isn't one. Unlike the first two games, this was for home systems from the start. I always used to play the Amiga version and I always used to suck at it, so I'm curious to see if I do any better on a two button controller instead of a one button joystick.

NHK Okāsan to Issho: Niko Niko Pun (TurboGrafx-16)

And the latest game for my year-long epic marathon through the alphabet is... another PC Engine game. If you're wondering why I'm playing this so soon after Neutopia, well, amazingly this the only game beginning with 'N' left to play on my requests list. I've got the names of 11 A games scrawled down there, 15 S games, even 7 W games, but this is the one and only N. And now that I'm playing it there are in fact no Ns.

There's a whole lot of words in 'NHK Okāsan to Issho: Niko Niko Pun', but if you break the title down it's pretty straightforward. NHK is Japan's public broadcasting organisation (equivalent to Britain's BBC), Okaasan to Issho is a long running TV series for children, and Niko Niko Pun was a segment on that series. I know absolutely nothing else about the series, but judging by the characters on the game box I'm guessing it's for children. Young children.

Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)

"Neutopia" is the twentieth episode of the sixth season of the animated sitcom Futurama, and the premiere of Season 6-B. It is the twentieth episode of the sixth season in production order, and the 108th episode in broadcast order.

Actually ignore that, because the Neutopia I'm looking at here is a TurboGrafx game from Hudson Soft. I figured that my site could do with a few more of these around, especially after that run of modern 3D PC shooters I just played. The game's been described as 'a bit of a Zelda clone', so if this ends up being about stylish gunplay and gritty realism again then you can't blame me this time.

Speaking of Zelda clones, the way the logo has been skewered on a sword sure seems familiar. Though Nintendo didn't really start piercing its Zelda logos until Link to the Past two years later, so I'll let them off with that.

J.J. & Jeff (TurboGrafx-16)

Today's J game is... Turbografx-16 platformer J.J. & Jeff! Though it's possibly more notorious under its Japanese name of Kato-chan & Ken-chan.

The game was originally loosely based on a Japanese TV series called 'Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan', which was a problem when it (eventually) came time to localise it for North America, as no one there had ever heard of the series. So the two unknown Japanese comedians were taken out and replaced with... two unknown characters based on no one at all. To be fair it probably worked out much cheaper this way if Hudson Soft were paying Ken Shimura and Cha Katō for their likeness.

I should probably warn you now that the game's got a reputation for toilet humour, so it might not be a good idea to read this while you're eating. Then again it's only going to be 80s cartoon pixel graphics so how bad can it be?

Final Soldier (TurboGrafx-16)

Today I'm ticking off another title from my game requests list by taking a quick look at PC Engine game Final Soldier. I was also asked to play more PC Engine games as well (by the same guy) so I'm killing two birds with one stone here!

The name Final Soldier makes me think that this is going to be a Contra-style run and gun, but the spaceship on the title screen says 'shoot 'em up'. One thing I'm pretty sure about though (if series like Final Fantasy, Final Fight, Final Zone, Final Lap etc. are anything to go by), is that this wasn't the final game in the franchise by a wide margin.

In fact this is the third game in Hudson Soft's long running and popular Star Soldier series, which lasted from the NES all the way until the Wii. Popular enough in fact to be featured in their "Hudson All-Japan Caravan Festival" tournament, which toured the country each year letting players compete to see who could get the most points in a set time limit on specially modified versions of the games.

Personally though I've never had much interest in getting high scores (or playing shoot 'em ups for that matter), so forgive me if I drift off after five screenshots or so and start rambling about something else without realising it.

Silent Debuggers (TurboGrafx-16)

For whatever reason and despite my best intentions I didn't play nearly enough TurboGrafx or PC Engine games last year, so I figured that I'd make up for this disheartening insufficiency by playing one this year.

Silent Debuggers is... a game for that console. It was made by Data East, released in 1991, the theme tune could be described as 'funky' and it apparently has something to do with a space station. Other than that I don't know much about it, except that it might be a first person RPG type of thing.

Dragon Egg! (TurboGrafx-16)

Here's another requested game for you: Dragon Egg! on the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine console, released in 1991. Actually it's only really for the PC Engine as it was never localised for the West.

I imagine that the TurboGrafx would have been on the way out in America at that point seeing as the SNES had just launched the month before and the poor console had already been getting enough of a thrashing from the Genesis and NES. It got beaten so badly in fact that its successor, the PC-FX, wasn't even released outside of Japan, which might have actually been a good thing considering that...

Sorry, right, I'm supposed to be playing this Dragon game. I'll go do that then.

Samurai-Ghost (TurboGrafx-16)

There hasn't been enough TurboGrafx games on the site lately, or at all really, so I thought I should do something about that. Then I remembered that thinking makes my brain hurt and decided to just pick one to play randomly.

So here's Samurai-Ghost, I'm hoping it's a clever spook 'em up where I get to float around a house haunting the shit out of the living, harassing them by possessing their furniture and chasing them down the halls waving my spectral katana at them. Though it's on the TurboGrafx so it's probably a shoot 'em up.

Bonk's Revenge (TurboGrafx-16)

At last I've finally gotten around to playing another requested game: Bonk's Revenge for the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, aka. PC Genjin 2.

This is the second in the Bonk/PC Genjin series of games, which were actually based around a character from comic in a PC Engine magazine (the name's a clever pun, see, as genjin means caveman). So this guy was basically Hudson's own Mario or Sonic, the mascot for their console. Though weirdly this is the first in the series to be exclusive to the system, as Bonk's Adventure came out on like four other formats. I played it for the site a couple of years ago on an Amiga, where it was called BC Kid just to confuse things even more for no good reason.

Magical Chase (TurboGrafx-16)

Another requested game. Somehow looking at that title screen I'm getting the feeling that Magical Chase might be one of those 'witch on a broomstick' cute 'em up shoot 'em ups. I mean 1993 seems a bit early for it to be a Quiddich sports game, and what else can you do on a broomstick but fly around and zap things?

Plus it's on the TurboGrafx, the console of shoot 'em ups.

Cadash (TurboGrafx-16)

As requested, today I'm taking a look at Cadash, on the TurboGrafx-16 console. This is a port of a 1989 arcade game of the same name, and looking at those flames on the logo I'm guessing it's mostly going to be about walking to the right and hitting things with a sword.

Barunba (TurboGrafx-16)

That title screen's not giving much away. Though if I had to guess, I'd say it was probably a platformer or a shoot 'em up. Or a puzzle game.

Bravoman (TurboGrafx-16)

It's based on an arcade game apparently, so it's probably not going to be an epic rpg adventure.

China Warrior (Turbografx-16)

Hey it's Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat! Uh, I mean Fei Long from Street Fighter! Or maybe that guy from Enter the Dragon...

Hudson Soft gave their PC Engine games volume numbers in Japan, and this is Vol 1 making it one of the very first games ever released for the console.

Blodia (TurboGrafx-16)

I get the feeling that this one isn't going to be pushing the TurboGrafx to its limits.

The title made me think it could be a shoot 'em up or an RPG, but it's obviously going to be a puzzle game.

Die Hard (TurboGrafx-16)

That's a good title screen I reckon. Nice colours, it's got the right logo, and they even put the Nakatomi Plaza building on it. Which is nice seeing as the entire movie takes place there.

Batman (TurboGrafx-16)

SIX PART BATMAN: THE MOVIE (1989) SPECIAL, part 5.

Gold text, big yellow oval with a bat logo in the middle, music that sounds nothing like the Batman movie score. So far it's pretty similar to the other games.

Bloody Wolf (TurboGrafx-16)

Another arcade conversion. I'm hoping it turns out to be better than Dragon Ninja.

Down Load (TurboGrafx-16)

The title screen's not giving much away, but it's called Down Load (or maybe Download) so I'm expecting cyberpunk action.

Doraemon: Nobita no Dorabian Night (TurboGrafx-16)

Seems like we're going to be visiting ancient Persia. Wow, what is up with that guy's eyes?