City Hunter Review (Switch)

For many out there you probably have never heard of the City Hunter Manga. We first became aware of it via the Hong Kong movie featuring Jackie Chan. Even after this though we didn’t realise there was a host of other City Hunter material available and we certainly had no idea that there was an obscure Japanese game released on the PC Engine. Now, like many an obscure retro game before it, it is being brought to a wider audience with a slightly new coat of paint.

Like many action games of the time, City Hunter is a side scrolling mix of shooting and platforming. It has heavy arcade roots but is set out over three chapters. You can choose any chapter you wish but in all honesty they all play very similarly. You move left and right, enemies continually generate and you can also move up and down stairs or go through doors into new rooms. Some rooms will have quest items or people in to talk to. There are some slight variations where sometimes you have to avoid traps but on the whole, you are walking, shooting and looking at identical looking doors.

There are a few additions to the package but nothing that really makes it a must own. Theres a nicely presented representation of the original PC Engine box and a juke box. There are a few filter options and you can also play the original version of the game as well a the more refined one. It is a bit lite overall though and while all these things are nice to have it nots going to make the game essential unless you are already a fan.

Overall, this is going to have a very niche appeal when it comes to players deciding if it’s worth adding to their Switch library. For someone out there I’m sure this will be the easy access to an obscure Japanese game on an obscure console that they have been looking for. For the rest of us though there just isn’t enough here to really warrant the purchase. The game was never that amazing to begin with and this is just a slightly shinier version of that same average game.

Overall 5/10

From Ants To Zombies Review

 

As much as we love the Bitmap Visual Compendium and Box Art books, it’s always nice when one of their more investigative releases appear. In the past we have had a host of great volumes such as The Games That Weren’t, A Gremlin in the Works and A Secret History of Mac Gaming, which aimed to make us all instant experts on overlooked areas of video game history. From Antz to Zombies falls more into this latter category as it aims to take us through the origins and thematic of everything horror, while unearthing a fair few overlooked gems along the way.

As we’ve come to expect the cover art for the book looks absolutely gorgeous. Adorned with various ghosts and beasties, it perfectly captures the feel of early creature features. The pages inside are no different with chibi pixelated monsters used to decorate pages and a good mix of screen shots and text. The consistent and thoughtful colour palette used is also well judged to fit the mood while keeping text easily visible.

Contents wise, the book is exhaustive. There are of course too many horror games for everything to be covered but you are getting over six hundred and sixty pages of curated coverage here. This covers pretty much every system from the Atari 2600 to modern day consoles (Or Atari to ZX Spectrum if you want to keep with the alphabet theme).

With such a wide area to cover the author has taken a creative approach to cataloguing all these games. Instead of by year or system, titles are categorised by their monsters. As a result, you get sections such as ‘Terror of the Abyss’ and ‘Dark Forests’ to go with the more conventional ‘Survival Horror’ tag. It’s an entertaining and effective way of linking games together while also retaining the fun B movie style the book nails perfectly.  

The writing itself is of an exceptionally high standard. The Book opens with an incredibly in depth look at the notion of horror as a genre generally, tracing it back to its origins in film and literature and then goes on to relate that in terms of how it applies to video games. It’s quite a theoretical approach but one we found fascinating, and we couldn’t help but think how useful this book would be for anyone studying game design or even horror as a genre generally.

When moving to the games themselves, the same standard of writing is present, but it changes tack to focus on what within the games acts to trigger the feelings of dread within us and how the mechanics of the games work to further help put this across. As a result, it’s an incredibly interesting read which will likely draw you in even if you have just come to flick through and look at the screen shots or use it as reference material for game hunting.

Overall, Antz to Zombies is a real highlight of the excellent Bitmap books catalogue. We always like it when someone brings a new idea and a new approach to the books and this one feels like something fresh and fun. It’s definitely up there with the constantly sought after Point and Click and JRPG Books and is pretty much essential for anyone interested in video games.

Click here for store link.

*Picture from the Bitmap Books Website

PC Engine: The Box Art Collection Review

 

We’ve covered a number of Bitmap Books visual compendiums before but this the first time we’ve had the chance to look at one of the box art collections. There’s a couple more of these available as at present with both the Gameboy and Super Famicom represented but with the PC Engine not widely available over here it seemed like a far more interesting place to start.

The physical book itself is of unsurprisingly excellent quality. This is always the case with the Bitmap books we’ve looked at and it’s pleasing to see it continue. Paper is heavy and the front and back hard covers are manufactured well. The colours throughout the book are consistent and printed well, meaning each page looks as good as the last. The colour selection is also excellent and well thought out so that it complements the box art on each page.

Across 372 pages you get a well written foreword, a detailed history of the console and an interview with collector Lee Thacker. After that it’s pages and pages of glorious box art, screen shots and descriptions of the games. What is particularly interesting about this book is that it’s not likely to be as nostalgic for most who lived through the SNES Vs. Mega Drive days but if anything, it makes the games even more interesting.

Each page of box art follows the same layout. You get the cover shot of the game, a selection of smaller screen shots underneath and then an explanation of the game followed by a short breakdown of how the artwork is set out. You also get information such as the year the game released, developer and the type of PC Engine game it was such as CD or card. It’s everything you need to set you off on a journey looking for hundreds of games you’ve probably not played before. There’s a very handy index at back which helpfully lists every title covered as well to aid in this process.

As most of the book is full of the box art you aren’t getting the level of history and analysis present in some of Bitmaps other books but then it’s pretty clear from the title what the aim is. What is clear though is that every single game has been given the respect and care it deserves. With books like this it’s vital to spark a curiosity in the reader and in that respect, it can’t really do anything more. Just try to keep off eBay for a few days after reading it at least.

Overall, the PC Engine: Box Art Collection is a great new addition to Bitmap Books already impressive lineup. In many ways it’s the perfect console to pick as it will draw in a crowd who will likely be looking to discover something new. The start of the book gives enough background to give you an understanding of the systems place and the presentation of everything else is consistently excellent. In terms of the box art and visual compendium releases from Bitmap, this is undoubtedly one of the best and highly recommended.

 Click here for store link. 

*Picture from Bitmap Books website.

Moto Roader MC Review (Switch)

 

Of all the retro games we thought might make it to Switch, Moto Roader would not have been one we would have guessed at. But here we are some thirty years later experiencing the crazy car madness once again and to be honest, the more PC Engine games that make a comeback the better.

Moto Roader is a simple game. It’s not unlike a five-player version of Micro Machines set on one screen. There is a wide range of different themed tracks which are categorised by different types of environments such as city or jungle. There are also some more fantasy designed tracks and the final ‘dungeon’ track is a completely different type of crazy.

Playing the game is simple. You have your accelerate button and can also fire missiles and drop explosive barrels. There are two types of control method to decide how your car drives as well but apart from that it’s simply about getting around the course faster than your opponents. Very few updates have been made to the core game so you are basically getting the same title as was released on the PC Engine 30 years ago.

It’s fair to say that the single player mode will not last you much time at all. There is a decent selection of cups to try out but races generally last less than a minute so getting through a five track sequence breezes by. The opponent AI is also difficult to deal with at times as with races that last such a short time there is very little room to catch up if you make a mistake. There is no online mode included which is a shame but with this kind of game it is all about local multiplayer and that is where the game is likely to find its long-term appeal.

Overall, Moto Roader MC will perhaps be too simple for some. However, it comes at a very cheap price and there is certainly some chaotic fun to be had if you are using the Switch for regular bouts of local multiplayer action. If you are into retro racing games there is a retro charm here and it is certainly worth a look but don’t be expecting serious depth or single player longevity.

Overall 6/10

Akumajo Dracula X: Chi No Rondo Review (PC Engine CD)

The now almost mythical Castlevania title was released in 1993 on PC Engine CD. Unluckily for the west the console was dying a death in America and so the game never made it out of Japan. Legal issues also meant that it was difficult to port it to any other systems . Eventually an altered and watered down SNES version did appear but it is far from the game it should be.

This time a dark priest named Shaft sacrifices a girl in order to resurrect Dracula. Shaft wishes to control the world and knows he needs the dark lords help to fight the powers of good. The forces of evil attack Richter Belmont's Village and capture four women, including his girlfriend Annette Renard and her sister Maria. Thus the stage is set and off our hero goes to save the world.

Chi No Rondo really is a master class in level design. Each stage is unique, with most having multiple routes. The fun comes in finding the secret exits, which take you on a completely different journey to Dracula's castle. Along the way, if you look hard enough, you can rescue Maria from sacrifice. Once you have done this she becomes a playable character and brings a different approach to how levels must be tackled.

Richter handles a little different from Simon Belmont. You are no longer able to attack diagonally and the whip always stays in chain form. To compensate for the lack of whip flexibility the sub weapons you pick up can be super charged to cause massive damage across the screen. A back flip move has also been added and you will need it if you are to progress in the later levels.

The level design may be excellent but there is no escaping that this game is hardcore when it comes to difficulty. The new moves are all welcome but removing the diagonal attack can create console-smashing levels of frustration as enemies taunt you from unreachable positions.

Of course in order to play the game you are going to need to be pretty hardcore as well. It certainly isn't a player afraid of a challenge that imports a Japanese console and pays a three-figure sum for an old two-dimensional platformer. Once the new moves have been mastered it is possible to make progress but you must be patient. At least the excellent electronic orchestral score will keep you amused as you plummet to your doom continually.

It was a real travesty that a game of this quality remainws so elusive for many fans. There is a PSP port but it simply is not the same and the PSP is hardly the perfect platform to take the game to a mass audience. However, there is now an much easier way to play the game in the form of the Wii virtual console. Chi No Rondo deserves its excellent reputation and we can only hope it makes it's way onto more consoles in the future.

8/10