Thursday, May 24, 2012

Acquisition #132: Engacho! (WonderSwan)

Just over a month ago, I mentioned in this post that I recently developed a bit of an obsession with the Bandai WonderSwan. I also mentioned that I've already picked up a few games for this Japan-only handheld, which was first released in 1999.

One of those games, as I'm sure you surmised after reading the headline above, is the WonderSwan version of NAC Geographic Products' amusingly gross puzzler, Engacho!



I've owned the PlayStation version of this title, which tasks players with leading a frightened boy through tile-based stages while avoiding the putrid characters that can be seen on the box above, for some time now (read a brief review of it here) and I've enjoyed what I've played of it, so when I saw this portable port pop up on eBay I couldn't help but pick it up.



I haven't played it yet--I'm still waiting for the perfect SwanCrystal to appear on eBay--but I like what I've seen of its black-and-white graphics so I'm looking forward to doing so soon.

In the meantime, I'll just stare at the game's packaging, which is pretty swell, don't you think?



I also quite like the little cartridges (above) on which WonderSwan games appear, and the plastic sleeves that protect them. The cartridges are about the size of GameBoy Advance cartridges, by the way--in case any of you were wondering.

To see a few more snapshots of this particular pick-up, check out my Flickr photostream.

See also: previous 'Acquisition #123' posts

8 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I love the cartridge and the sleeve! So neat! But I still can't stare directly at the box art.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ha! I understand being a bit turned off by the box art, Justin. It's so colorful, though, that I can't help but like it myself.

I also like the little sleeve the cart fits into, BTW. It's very practical, plus it's a bit easier to use (open) than those old GameBoy or GameGear cart cases.

warp said...

The cover art is amazing! I'll have to figure out how to emulate this.

I know you're not ready for a full review, but can you give us some hints about what kind of gross-ness we can expect?

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, warp! There are a few WonderSwan emulators, by the way. I know one of them is OSwan. I can't remember the name of the other one that's on my computer, though. Both seem to work well enough, although I have to admit i've barely used them. (I don't like playing games on our computer.)

As for what kind of gross-ness you can expect from this game: It's pretty tame, to tell you the truth, but also pretty funny. Basically, you move your character (a little boy) around tiled stages that kind of look like stages you'd see in, say, Kickle Cubicle. (Weird reference, I know.) Populating these same stages are the four ghouls you see on the box art. Each of them moves in a different way in relation to how the little boy moves. For instance, one of the baddies will move opposite of your movements, while one will imitate you exactly, etc. Make a wrong move and collide with one of them and you get annihilated by their gross-ness (ex: the one that looks like a butt poops on you, the one with the armpit hair shoves his pits in your face).

It's pretty childish, but funny, too. That's not really the reason to play the game, though. The real reason is that the game itself is unique and requires a lot of brain power. Oh, and I think the graphics are nice, too.

Does that help at all?

Adam said...

well that tops off my list of wacky boxarts

warp said...

Sounds pretty cool. The PSX ISO appears to be unavailable right now, but I was able to get the WonderSwan version working -- except it doesn't seem to recognize my 360 gamepad for some reason. The controls don't make sense to me, and the Japanese tutorial doesn't help, but I'm going to keep playing with it. I admit it -- I want to see the poop scene. So far I've only got the armpit one.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Adam: Ha! Yes, I can see why you'd say that :) The game's even wackier, if you can believe it.

Bryan Ochalla said...

warp: The controls don't make sense to you? Hmm, I thought they were pretty straightforward in the PS1 version. Each of the four characters moves a certain way depending on how you move. All of the flying butts, for instance, take a step in the opposite direction every time you take a step ... and so on and so forth. Some of the other characters mirror your steps, or take a step that's 90 degrees to the one you took. Not sure that helps, but I'm not sure how else to explain it. Anyway, just keep with it and be patient. This isn't a game to run through; you have to take it slowly.