The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Following on from the Genealogy of the PC-Engine, the natural progression was to document the list of HuCard games released on this magnificent console.
The list of PC-Engine HuCard games is to assist would-be gamers with details of games released for the console and its TurboGrafx counterpart.
Have you tried to understand the NEC PC-Engine range of consoles and been totally confused or lost ? Don’t worry, you are not alone.
We have tapped our inner genealogist and have created the NEC PC-Engine Family Tree. The tree shows the lineage of native consoles, per region, and their media type.
Hopefully, this family tree makes things clearer and a tad easier to understand the NEC PC-Engine console range.
click above image to expand it to its full glory!
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Ah yeh, Guerrilla War, released by SNK in 1987, was the first game I played with a rotary joystick. Unlike Ikari Warriors where you had the joystick to move side to side and shoot, Guerrilla War allowed you to move your fighter and at the same time, rotate the gun to shoot in 8 directions ! This rotary “gimmick” seemed to work, as it was used on other games, notably, Heavy Barrel and Midnight Resistance.
[Read more…] about Guerrilla War: the Guevara and Castro connection
Seldom do video gamers get any mass produced video games related programs. But the few that have been made and released, should be added to any self respecting video gamers library. The three video games based documentaries that are a must watch are:
Tetris: From Russia with Love
Synopsis: Fortunes were made and lawsuits fought as Tetris swept the world in the 1980s and killed a million conversations. But 20 years after the creation of this technological phenomenon, its inventor Alexey Pajitnov is only just beginning to make any money.
Released: 2004
iMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409371/
website: BBC Four
Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade
Synopsis: In 1982, at the dawn of the video-game age, the world’s giants of gaming gathered together in a now-legendary meeting at Iowa’s Twin Galaxies arcade. This documentary from director Lincoln Ruchti looks at the players then and now, offering an insightful and nostalgic look at the history of gaming fanaticism.
Released: 2007
iMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479879/
website: http://www.chasingghoststhemovie.com/
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Synopsis: The King of Kong follows the exploits of the two best Donkey Kong players in America, the cocky and current world record holder, Billy Mitchell, and the challanger, the ever gracious, Steve Wiebe.
Released: 2007
iMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/
website: http://www.newline.com/properties/kingofkongtheafistfulofquarters.html
On March 8 1991, Capcom unleashed the Street Fighter II coin-op machine to the arcade world, starved of great 2D one-on-one fighting games. This was the sequel to beat all sequels. The original Street Fighter was released in 1987 with some fan fare, but its successor kick started the franchise and popularity of the 2D fighting genre. The rest, as they say, is history. [Read more…] about Street Fighter II: the 21 year old world champion
Aiming for greatness, Laura D McBryde stars as the all new, Lara Croft in the next installment of, Tomb Raider !
Check out the new Tomb Raider video trailer here
Truxton, or Tatsujin (Japanese for ‘Expert’), is a viciously addictive vertical shoot’em up that was released by Taito in 1988. For the folks in the US, the game was licensed to Midway and Romstar for manufacture and distribution.
The premise of the Truxton is quite simple – you control a fighter ship, taking power-ups and weapon-selection items along the way, and then using them to blast enemies. When the going gets tough, one press of the Tatsujin-bomb button exterminates every enemy on screen (the motherships and big bosses take more hits to kill).
As you progress through each area, it gets more critical to collect the various power-ups and weapons that come your way. The souped-up weaponry, like the green Tatsujin-beam, assist in killing the motherships with fewer shots. The game has 5 big bosses to defeat across 200 hundred areas (not levels!).
Vertical shoot’em ups have a simple premise, but the devil is in their gameplay detail. Truxton has no shortage of gameplay and the vast areas and different enemy types will keep you occupied for a long while. Put your space-suit on, whack on your helmet and get in that fighter ship – the universe depends on you!
Manufacturer: Toaplan
Year: 1988
Genre: Vertical Shoot’em Up
Maximum number of players: 2
Gameplay: Alternating
Joystick: 8-way
Buttons: 2 (Fire and Bomb)
Control Panel Layout: Single Player
Sound: Amplified Mono (single channel)
Cabinet: Upright Standard
Weapons: Red – Power Shot, Blue – Sun Lader and Green – Tatsujin-Beam
The human condition. We are a resilient bunch. If you want to test your resiliency (and your patience), then give the unforgiving and difficult arcade game, Ghosts’n Goblins a spin.
The game sees you, Sir Arthur, a noble knight, run and jump through horizontal and vertical levels to rescue his sweetheart, Princess Guinevere (or Princess Prin Prin in other ports of the game).
Sir Arthur can pick up weapons like: an axe, lance, cross, dagger or firebrand. These weapons can be used to kill Satan’s army of monsters, zombies, bats, ogres, demons and ghosts. Sir Arthur can replace his armour by jumping up at certain hidden spots on some levels. This action causes a pot to appear. It is imperative the armour stays intact. Take two hits, and it is curtains for Sir Arthur. That is exactly why this game is unforgiving and damn difficult to complete.
It is not all doom and gloom if you know some tricks to beat this game. The developers at Capcom weren’t going to be totally cruel to us poor arcade gamers. They left us a few surprises (easter eggs) along the way to help Sir Arthur get further into the game. What were these tricks you ask ? Well, we won’t give away all of them, but one good one can be found on the third cave level. Navigate Sir Arthur to the upper level and move him to the right of the rock, just to the left of the second ladder. Then move left and right, shooting rapidly. A zombie will keep appearing and you can score 100,000 points before time runs out. Don’t worry about the time running out and losing a life, you will be rewarded with two extra lives in the process. Even with this trick, you still have to give up a life to get two back. Those Capcom developers were sadists.
Ghosts’n Goblins was, and still is, a great platform game. It is still difficult and frustrating as ever. So, if you like your games to be difficult and challanging, then you can not go wrong with this one.
Manufacturer: Capcom
Year: 1985
Genre: Platform fighter
Maximum number of simultaneous players: 2
Gameplay: Alternating
Joystick: 8-way
Buttons: 2 (Fire and Jump)
Control Panel Layout: 1 Player Ambidextrous
Sound: Amplified Mono (single channel)
Cabinet: Upright Standard
Monitor: CRT, Raster standard resolution
Levels: Graveyard and forest, town, caves, bridge, castle – lower level, castle – upper level, final boss
In dedication to the fabulous Konami scrolling fighter, Contra – Happy 25th Birthday !
Midnight, September 12 2631. The Marines catch sight of a small-sized meteorite that is fast approaching Earth. The meteorite plummets 20km north-east of New Zealand, at the Gal Mosquito Archipelago. The command keep watch of the meteorite.
Two years later, in December 2633, an intruder known as the Red Falcon is occupying the Gal Mosquito Archipelago and is planning the fall of mankind. Command orders confidential investigations at the enemy’s front base. The marine post orders two “Contra” soldiers, Private First Class Bill “Mad Dog” Rizer and Private First Class Lance “Scorpion” Bean on a mission. The mission being: penetrate the insides of the enemy, destroy the front base and the entire centre of operation.
Manufacturer: Konami Developer: Konami
Year: 1987 (Feb)
Genre: Scrolling Fighter / Run and Gun shooter
Maximum number of players: 2
Gameplay: Joint
Joystick: 8-way
Buttons: 2 (Shoot and Jump)
Sound: Amplified Mono (single channel)
Cabinet: Upright Standard
Travel through alien-infested space stations to rescue your fellow humans. Defeat the end boss before returning to your ship. Pick up strewn weapons to help you eliminate the evil aliens.
Manufacturer: Sega
Released: 1987
Genre: Labyrinth/Maze (top down isometric shooter)
