Arcade Shmups #29

Ashura Blaster (1990)
By: Visco Corp / Taito Genre: Shooting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 126,000 (one credit)
Also Available For: Nothing

There can't be a huge number of arcade shooters that never left Japan (they were one of the most popular genres in the West, after all), and even fewer that never received any home conversions, but I managed to find one in the fairly splendidly-named Ashura Blaster, developed by Visco Corp and released by the mighty Taito just as that most wonderful of decades had drawn to a close. Due to this somewhat restrictive release I can't tell you too much about its backstory, but I can tell you it's apparently set in the far-flung future of 2020 (chortle). As you may have noticed, it's a vertical scroller, and a very familiar type too. It doesn't take a genius to work out the probable vague outline though - some dictator or heinous regime has threatened national/global peace and only you (and a friend) can save the day for some reason. Better dig out that chopper license!

Splendid Arcade Music #3

Slap Fight (1986)

It has been many moons since I reviewed Slap Fight here but, despite liking it, I have failed to play it since. That is until last week when I got a sudden, unexplained desire to give it another playthrough, and whilst doing so I ultra-remembered just how catchy the first in-game theme is! Not sure how I forgot to be honest, but now I keep playing the game just to hear it and, if anything, I like it even more than I did! It doesn't have a proper name as far as I'm aware - it's merely listed as BGM#1 on the soundtrack - and accordingly it's the first in-game music you'll hear. Enjoy it while it lasts though, which is little more than a minute (unless you keep dying).

(full Slap Fight review here)



Special Note: I didn't record this great tune myself, I'm just an admirer, so all credit goes to the original composer

Retro News - The Console That Never Was!

As I have no doubt mentioned here more than once previously, my favourite period in gaming is definitely the mid-80's to the mid-90's (roughly), with the odd exception. I have many wonderful memories of this era and most of my favourite games and systems (including, or some might say especially, the arcades) come from it, and it's also where much of my focus goes when planning features for this very blog.

One of the most prolific developers at this time, in arcades as well as on home systems, was Taito who had been one of my favourites ever since my parents had bought me the awesome Taito Coin-Op Hits compilation for my Speccy. In fact, I'd even say they were second only to the mighty Sega in my affections in those days; their generally spiffing titles were nearly always worthy of attention, and I remember thinking on more than one occasion about how cool it would be if they had their own home console. It might not sound terribly realistic for a mere software developer to have their own home system but that's exactly what Sega had done with the Master System, as had SNK with their monstrous NeoGeo 'Advanced Entertainment System'. I still never thought it might actually happen though, so it came as a great surprise to discover not too long ago that they very nearly did have one!

Arcade Racing Games #5

Continental Circus (1987)
By: Taito Genre: Racing Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 2,101,460
Also Available For: Amiga, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, ZX Spectrum

There were quite a few racing and driving games in the arcades of the mid-to-late 80's so developers often had to do something to make their game stand out, but Taito managed to do that by accident with this release. It's clearly an F1-style game so what's with the 'circus' in the title, so many of us thought back in the day. It soon transpired that this was actually a translation error with the intended title being Continental Circuit. A few cabs made it to the US with the corrected name on them but for most of us it was a game that was often met by a childish smirk. Was it actually a good game though, or would attempts to play it be met with even more mirth? Well, the Spectrum version wasn't too bad as I recall but I never had the chance to play the arcade original back then. Upon recently being reminded of the game, I decided it was time to find out.

Arcade Fighting Games #4

Violence Fight (1989)
By: Taito Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 918,620
Also Available For: PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC (all as part of compilations)

Quarrelling is a subject that comes up all too infrequently in the world of video games. As far as fighting games are concerned, relations between combatants have usually already moved far beyond the stage where quarrelling might have an impact, but the fighters in this Taito release are competing for that very reason. As the poorly-translated story tells us, Violence Fight takes place in the 1950's and features "Mafia, reckless drivers, and general businessmen", all of whom are vying for not only a substantial wad of cash, but also the prestigious title of "No.1 Quarreller"! If that doesn't whet your appetite and get you fired up to kick all manner of arses, I fear nothing will, and that's a shame as there is a new fighter on the block called 'Bat' who, along with his manager, 'Blinks', apparently "seek for the money eagerly". Better get ready to help them.

Bat 'n' Ball Games #9

Arkanoid - Revenge of Doh a.k.a. Arkanoid II (1987)
By: Taito Genre: Bat 'n' Ball Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade  First Day Score: Not much with a control pad :(
Also Available For: NES, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Commodore 64, MSX, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Apple II

There have been a surprising variety of bat 'n' ball games since Atari's Breakout first appeared but, despite that, it's still Arkanoid that most gamers cite when recalling their favourite examples. Luckily Taito were not ignorant of the joyous reception their fine game had enjoyed and swiftly went about crafting a sequel. As before, it has a nonsensical story which is just an excuse to play the game really. This time, the amusingly-named 'Doh' has come back to life and now inhabits a large spacecraft called 'Xorg'. Using this craft he/it has 'entered our universe from a different dimension'. In response, the 'Mixtec' Arkanoid-type ship has launched 'Vaus 2' to make a pre-emptive strike on Xorg.

Single Screen Platform Games #13

The Fairyland Story (1985)
By: Taito Genre: Platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 58,800
Also Available For: MSX, X68000 (PlayStation 2 and PSP on compilations)

The most famous and beloved of all single-screen platformers may well be Bubble Bobble but, as I discovered a few years ago whilst fooling around with this very blog, it wasn't even Taito's first stab at the genre never mind the first ever example. Three years beforehand they gave us Chack'n Pop which was and remains quite a strange but oddly enjoyable game (once you get used to it!), and then again, the year before the legend itself arrived they graced us with Fairyland Story! Unlike Chack'n's peculiar adventure, however, this particular example has much more in common with Bubble Bobble and could therefore (possibly) even be considered its spiritual predecessor. Both games feature 100 single-screen stages, each consisting of an arrangement of platforms populated by several scary enemies which all need to be vanquished before you can move to the next stage. The only real differences are the characters and how they dispose of the heinous enemy creatures.

Random Game I've Never Heard Of #11

Pu.Li.Ru.La (1991)
By: Taito Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 22,010 (one credit)
Also Available For: Saturn, PlayStation, FM Towns Marty, PlayStation 2 (part of compilation)

Who in the blue blazes came up with this name?

Over time, video games have been based in all manner of fantastical lands with with an equally diverse range of names, but I think I've just discovered my favourite one ever. PuLiRuLa you see, which is an impressive enough name itself, is set in a rather peculiar place called Radishland. The fact that there are apparently very few radishes in Radishland makes it an even more awesome name, but something else there is little of here is time which has stopped. This vital component of everyday life is controlled by a magical 'time key' which has sadly now been stolen by an as-yet unidentified rapscallion. Leading the fight to restore the flow of time (and somehow unaffected by its inactivity) are Zac and Mel (a boy and girl respectively) who are pushed into service by an old man who furnishes each of them with a 'magic stick' with which to... smash stuff.

Hack 'n' Slash Games #2

Rastan (1987)
By: Taito Genre: Platform/Fighting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 119,600 (one credit)
Also Available For: Master System, Game Gear, PC, MSX, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

For most gamers the first hack 'n' slash title that comes to mind is Golden Axe but, splendid as Sega's classic is, the sub-genre arguably started even earlier with Rastan. Granted, it may be more of a platformer than a scrolling fighting game but is still contains a hell of a lot of slashing. A great deal of it is done by the muscular Conan-like barbarian warrior of the title who's on a financially-motivated quest to battle through the harsh, monster-infested land of Semia and rescue the king's daughter, perhaps even earning her gratitude into the bargain! Such grand a reward can only mean the job at hand must be a rather tough one though, and that is indeed the case. There are six side-scrolling stages in total, each with two parts. The first of each generally takes place through an open exterior location and/or dangerous rocky caverns while the second is set within a castle or fortress of some kind, at the end of which lies a terrible boss from the netherworld!

Arcade Shmups #21

Dr. Toppel's Adventure a.k.a. Dr. Toppel Tankentai (1987)
By: Taito Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 55,750
Also Available For: Nothing

In my experience you can quite often tell something about a game just from its name, or at least what genre it probably falls into, so accordingly, when this title first caught my eye I thought I was in store for some sort of amusing, leapy platformer. To my surprise, however, it soon became apparent that Dr. Toppel's Adventure is actually a shoot 'em up, and a rather peculiar one at that, too! It's unclear what kind of doctorate the titular character possesses but he takes the form of a strange green quadrupedal creature with rocket boosters for legs, and it's by making use of these that he flies through seven vertically scrolling rounds with the aim of preserving the beautiful nature of the Kerol River.

Arcade Shmups #19

Tiger Heli (1985)
By: Toaplan / Taito Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 45,830 (one credit)
Also Available For: NES

Shoot 'em ups have long been one of my favourite genres and one of the reasons for this must surely be down to the sheer number of them available which means even the pickiest gamer will be able to find some they like. The vast majority of them fall into one of a handful of sub-genres and as I cover more and more games here at Red Parsley I'm starting to think the most numerous one of these is what I've come to call the 'Flying Shark' game - vertical scrollers set over earth-like landscapes (usually rural scenarios) and featuring non-futuristic enemies including as many ground-based examples as airborne, or often even more, and most commonly various sized tanks that often appear from hidden locations.

Maze Games #11

The Pit (1982)
By: Zilec / Centuri Genre: Maze / Strategy Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 24,000
Also Available For: Commodore 64

I'd like to think I'm fairly knowledgeable on the subject of video games but the earliest days are not really my speciality. Just this past weekend I was preparing to start the review process for a classic game that I have little experience of (yes, another one!) when I discovered that it was actually based on a game I have even less experience with - The Pit. Therefore, in typically OCD-ish Red Parsley tradition, I figured I should first take a look at this game. It casts you as an unnamed 'astronaut/explorer' who, upon starting the game, lands on the upper-left corner of the single-screen stage in his flying saucer. From there he has to tunnel down to the bottom of the stage to retrieve precious gems, then make his way back up to his ship, by way of the titular pit, before it's destroyed by the catchily-named 'Zonker', a hostile tank located in the top-right of the screen which gradually shoots away at the mountain that separates the two vehicles. As well as this 'time limit', there are many dangers lurking in the subterranean world as well, including enemies, lots of rocks and stalactites, as well as the pit itself. As you may have already guessed, The Pit therefore bears a passing resemblance to Dig Dug, released by Namco around the same time, and was also the inspiration behind multi-platform hit, Boulder Dash.

Scrolling Fighting Games #10

China Gate (1988)
By: Taito Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 511,380 (one credit)
Also Available For: Nothing

Sometimes I forget how prolific Taito have been over the many years, actually decades, since their inception. So many of their fantastic titles are now household names (in my household at least!) that it's easy to forget there are dozens of less well-known titles that bear their name as well. The example featured here is one I'd barely heard of and never played until recently - perhaps since it received no conversions - but it caught my eye immediately once I investigated it for this feature. Details of its story are scant but it seems that it's set in some sort of fantastical realm or another where the sacred Book of Sanzo has been stolen. Charged with returning it to its rightful place are three brave heroes - Gocoo (a monkey), Hakai (a pig), and Gojoe (a hawk, or some sort of bird of prey), who are armed with a staff, a trident, and an axe respectively. As these weapons (and the post title, I guess) may indicate, that means China Gate is a fighting game, and there are many enemies to fight before the mysterious book can be reclaimed and all that is good is restored.

Maze Games #9

Raimais (1988)
By: Taito Genre: Maze Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 82,620
Also Available For: Various Compilations for PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox

I wonder how the name is pronounced...

Good old Taito, they sure know how to rip a game off don't they? Take Breakout as an example - released way back in the 70's to great acclaim and popularity, but by the 80's it was starting to look and feel rather dated, so what did Taito do? Around ten years after the original appeared they made their own version, gave it a sci-fi theme and basic back-story, tarted up the graphics, chucked in a load of power-ups, and released it as Arkanoid, which... also received great acclaim and popularity, and is in fact still generally regarded as the pinncale of the genre. Next move? A couple of years later, they worked their magic on another early classic in pretty much the same way, and the result is Raimais. As you may have already noticed from the screenshots, it's based on Pac-Man, but what have Taito done to moderise it? That's right - given it a sci-fi theme and basic back-story, tarted up the graphics, and chucked in a load of power-ups!

Random Game I've Never Heard Of #8

Robocco Wars (1991)
By: IGS / Taito Genre: Platform / Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo NES First Day Score: 110,950
Also Available For: Nothing

As any keen gamer from my era (and hemisphere) will tell you, the number of games officially available for whichever system we might call our favourite can be important but is usually only half the story. The number of quality titles available to import from other territories can usually boost the range significantly and can include all sorts of weird, great, and no so great titles. I was a fairly regular importer in the early 90's but one system I know very little about is the Famicom. Being as popular as it was, I have little doubt there are probably hundreds of games for it that never saw release in the West, and it was one of these that I discovered by accident when randomly selecting from the immense combined NES/Famicom release list for the latest post in this series of features. Since it is exclusively Japanese, the story or even basic premise behind the intriguingly-named Robocco Wars is not immediately forthcoming but it is a game that proved mighty appealing on first impressions.

Arcade Shmups #16

Truxton a.k.a. Tatsujin (1988)
By: Toaplan / Taito Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 80,720 (one credit)
Also Available For: MegaDrive, PC Engine

Although quite a few of Toaplan's games saw releases in the West, there aren't really that many that remain celebrated today for some reason. Of the ones that are, most are of course shoot 'em ups and one of the most acclaimed of these is also among those that I've played the least. Despite being a feature title all the way back at the Mega Drive's launch, I still somehow missed it for my entire tenure as an owner of Sega's console. Before rectifying that embarrassing error, however, I figured I may as well take a look at the arcade version first! The back-story could be taken from any number of shmups of the time but does feature some pretty good names. The planet being preyed upon on this occasion is called 'Borogo' and the evil aliens doing the preying, known as 'Gidans', are led by the evil 'Dogurava'.

Scrolling Fighting Games #9

Renegade (1986)
By: Technos / Taito Genre: Fighting Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 29,800
Also Available For: Master System, NES, PC, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Apple II
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

Poor old RKS has a tough life as a gamer. Despite being relatively normal in most ways, I only have few friends who share my interest in this particular subject and only one who also likes retro games, and he lives far enough away that I don’t see him often. When we do meet up, one type of game we nearly always play is scrolling fighting games, but it only occurred to me recently that we always play the same few: Double Dragon, Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, etc. Upon realisation of this, I decided to give a few other examples a try to vary our rare gaming sessions a little. One of the first games I thought of was Renegade – one of the first such examples of the genre and supposedly also one of the best which, alarmingly, is yet another title I’ve never gotten around to trying. Playing it for the first time for this feature, however, revealed that it’s not strictly speaking a scrolling fighting game at all. Hmmm.

Arcade Shmups #15

Insector X (1989)
By: Taito Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 259,300 (one credit)
Also Available For: MegaDrive, NES

The differences between the gaming cultures in Japan and the 'West' really are quite amazing sometimes. Obviously certain genres are more popular in certain parts of the world but even some that are universally popular, such as shoot 'em ups, can be quite different. The Japanese like bright, cute, and often very weird games while us Western gamers apparently have darker, more realistic, and often more violent tastes. A great example of this peculiar trend is Insector X by frequent purveyors of cuteness, Taito. Accordingly, this original is colourful and full of cute characters. Most Western gamers know it as a MegaDrive release, however, and this version features much more realistic graphics devoid of cuteness. When I recently decided to reacquaint myself with the game, this time by sampling the arcade version, it was this kind of game that I was expecting, but as you've probably already determined, it's not the type of game I found.

Almost 3D Shmups #1

Aqua Jack (1990)
By: Taito Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 28,650 (one credit)
Also Available For: Nothing

Whilst the question of when 3D videogames first appeared is an oft-asked and seldom answered one, I don't think anyone would disagree that true 3D games had to wait for systems to become powerful enough and for game media to offer sufficient storage space for them - i.e. the CD-ROM era. However, programmers have been using hardware and software tricks to achieve a similar effect since pretty much the dawn of gaming itself. Some systems were better at it than others of course - the SNES's Mode 7 being an obvious example - but some simple scaling techniques could achieve good results on near enough anything. In this new feature at Red Parsley, I'll start taking a look at some of them, specifically shoot 'em ups (for now). However, rather than start with an old favourite that I already know well, I thought I'd start with a game I'd never heard of until recently and which I discovered by accident!

Arcade Platform Games #2

Wardner (1987)
By: Taito Genre: Platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 61,440
Also Available For: MegaDrive, Famicom Disk System

I think it's safe to say Taito have introduced a good few memorable games and characters over the years but Wardner must be considered one of their more obscure offerings. It's a side-scrolling platform adventure and stars a portly young chap who goes by the name of Dover who's out for a stroll with his girlfriend when a mysterious cloaked fellow appears and beckons them to follow him with stories of an awaiting 'fantasia'. Sure enough, the rapscallion has tricked them and swiftly kidnaps Dover's better half (but not before turning her into a crystal ball for some reason) and whisks her off to the evil wizard, Wardner. Predictably enough, it's now up to the girl's porky boyfriend to pursue the foul creatures responsible and rescue her (and hopefully turn her back into a human again too).