Thursday, April 29, 2010

It's that time of month again...

No, it's not that time of month, silly; it's the time of the month where I obsess over a game--or, more likely, a system--I wish I owned.

Which piece of gaming equipment is the object of my obsession this month? The PC Engine.

Sadly, this isn't the first time I've spent an unhealthy amount of time thinking about NEC's little white wonder; in fact, I've  done it a number of times since I first became aware of the pocket-sized system in the late 1980s.

This is one of the best photos of a PC Engine I could find on line.

How exactly am I obsessing about the PC Engine? Oh, reading reviews of its games (TheBrothersDuomazov.com is current fave), searching for images of the system and its games on Flickr--that kind of (bat-shit crazy) thing.

Ironically, I bought a PC Engine CoreGrafx II and a slew of games on eBay a few years ago--only to turn around and sell the whole shebang when my husband and I moved to Seattle. It's just as well, I guess, since I've always preferred--and, as a result, wanted--the alabaster original.

See also: 'I hereby declare March 15 Hug Your PC Engine (or TurboGrafx-16) Day'

8 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

What's so good about it...or...what's so desirable about it.

Bryan Ochalla said...

The PC Engine? Well, to tell you the truth, the thing that initially drew me to it was its size -- it's basically the size of three or four CDs stacked on top of each other. Also, I'm just a sucker for Japanese games (platformers and shooters, especially) from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, and the PC Engine was home to a *lot* of them.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Cool. I do love a good platformer, even if I can't understand it. Because really...who ever bought a platformer for its story?

Bryan Ochalla said...

The best part of it, Justin, is that few of the best PC Engine platformers are SMB clones. Sure, you've got the Bonk/PC Genjin games, but you've also got Honey on the Road, Mizubaku Daibouken (Liquid Kids), New Zealand Story, Obocchamakun, Parasol Stars, etc.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Well, it certainly sounds promising. It's too bad they're so hard to come by.

IvaNEC said...

Thanks for checking out Duomazov, and keep up the great work on your site.

I agree, the PC Engine has lots of good shooters and platformers, and it's also very rich in RPGs. Sadly, most of them never made it to the US, so they're available only in Japanese; but sometimes people are surprised by how much they can enjoy them even without understanding the scripts.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, you're welcome, IvaNEC! And thank *you* for the kind words about this site. Thank you, too, for all the hard work you've put into your site. Honestly, in the last week or so I've read about 75 percent of the reviews you guys have posted on your site. You do a *great* job -- keep it up!

RE: PC Engine RPGs -- I'm hoping to pick up a PC Engine CD-ROM2 system soon (I recently bought a white PC Engine system - eek!) and after I do that I'm planning to buy copies of all three Tengai Makyo games. I don't know a lick of Japanese, but I don't care. I've wanted to play these games since I was a kid, and your reviews of them put me over the edge :)

IvaNEC said...

That's awesome that you're going to pick up the TM games. It's great when people are willing to give the Japanese RPGs a chance, and the TMs are among the best. They're cheap too.

Justin Cheer, a net bud of mine who actually hooked me up with TM Ziria ages ago, has great walkthroughs for all three games up on GameFAQs, and those should be very helpful if you get stuck.