Friday, June 29, 2012

Manual Stimulation: Hany in the Sky (PC Engine)

For the longest time, I completely ignored this peculiar PC Engine shoot 'em up and its similarly titled (not to mention similarly odd) companion, Hany on the Road. Why? Honestly, it's because I found the protagonist of this pair of games--who looks to me like a condom with eyes and arms--to be on the wrong side of the creepy line.

As for what prompted me to have a change of heart and to give them the attention they deserve: Why, it was the art that graced the covers of their instruction manuals, of course.

I'm not sure which piece of cover art I prefer between Hany in the Sky and Hany on the Road, to tell you the truth. Although I consider both to be wonderfully creative, I'm tempted to give the nod to Hany in the Sky's cover illustration (below) due to its cotton-candy cloudscape.



Are the interior pages of Hany in the Sky's instruction manual similarly delicious? Overall, I'd have to answer in the negative, although things start off delectably enough.

For instance, there's the left-hand page below, which replaces the typical series of images warning boys and girls to not abuse their HuCards and such with images of ... actually, I'm not sure what the images on the page in question are supposed to depict. Regardless, I like them quite a bit.



Next up: A four-page comic that I'm guessing clues in readers to this game's completely wacky backstory. Again, I have no idea what's going on in the panels below, but who really cares when they're illustrated as well as these are?





From here on out, things are decidedly less appealing, at least in my humble opinion. Sure, an interesting drawing pops up here and there, but for the most part it's all screenshots and text.



That said, I do have a soft spot for the little professor dude included in the page above. Is he the same Buddha-like character who sells you weapon upgrades and other items during the game? I have a feeling he is.



Mr. Buddha Dude makes a return appearance in the page below--along with a slew of screenshots and text, of course. You know, I wonder if all of this would be a smidge more thrilling if I actually understood Japanese? (My guess: Nah.)



The next few pages of Hany in the Sky's manual are devoted to showing off (barely) a few of this shmup's stages and enemies. Again, it's all a bit ho-hum, but it could be worse, I guess. Still, I wish we got to see a bit more of Mr. Buddha Dude (or even the condom-y main character).





That's where the main part of this particular instruction manual ends, surprisingly enough (what, no illustrations of the game's bosses?), although things continue on for a few more pages in order to shine a light on the "FACE Scramble Club." (FYI: FACE is the developer and publisher of Hany in the Sky.)





I don't know about you, but I'm devastated that I missed out on the opportunity to win (or is it buy?) the "Kooler Bag" shown in the page below. All kidding aside, I probably would have loved to have owned the blue, FACE-branded sweatshirt (also below), especially if it bore an image of Hany in the Sky's condom-esque protagonist.



See also: 'Manual Stimulation: Hany on the Road (PC Engine)'

16 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

He looks sorta like one of Animal Crossing's Gyroids. Cute!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ah, you're right! I wonder if they're supposed to be similar, actually? Despite the fact that I keep calling the protagonist of this game a condom, he is supposed to be an actual 'thing' in Japan. Sadly, I can't remember what that thing is. Anyway, maybe the Gyroids in Animal Crossing are/were based on the same thing?

Man, I just said 'thing' way too many times...

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Thing.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ha! You jerk :P

Just for that, the headline of my next post is going to be "Thing Thing Thing" and the content/text of the post will be "Thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing. Thing thing thing thing. Thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing."

madamluna said...

Actually yeah, Hany is supposed to be a haniwa, which is a type of Japanese funerary statue. (the round hollow eyes and mouth are often adapted to cacti in anime/video games as a sort of visual pun, eg cactuars from Final Fantasy and Togemon from Digimon) And yeah, gyroids are also modeled after haniwa as well!

THE MORE YOU KNOW~*

Motherplayer said...

I do like it when Japanese game manuals have little things like comics. The manual for "The story of Thor" had some 4 panel comics that comically talked about the dietys you would obtain throughout the game. They were pretty funny, even if you can't read the words.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thank you for the education, maadmluna! Question for you, if you don't mind: Why do the Japanese like to include funerary statues -- or likenesses of them -- in so many games? Is it simply because they're cute or look interesting, or are there other reasons? No worries if you have no idea. I just had to ask, as I'm curious.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ah, yes, I agree, Motherplayer! I've come across a number of PCE manuals that include comics, BTW. A few examples: Mizubaku Daibouken, New Zealand Story, PC Denjin, the PC Genjin games, etc. I guess it was a "thing" back then, eh?

Sean said...

All I can say is:

Whatever `Face Press Volume 1` is, I really want it!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ha! You know what, Sean? I was actually going to make a joke about 'Face Press,' but decided against it for some dumb reason. So, I'm glad you brought it up :)

Viewtiful_Justin said...

That would be the perfect thing!

Bryan Ochalla said...

But what would I use as art for the post, Justin? Maybe the word thing written over and over in different fonts?

warp said...

Oh wow, another Hany game! Definitely gonna dig this up. Hopefully it's not as brutal as Hany on the Road.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Actually, warp, I'd say it's *more* brutal! Regardless, it ain't easy. I much prefer playing Hany on the Road, by the way. Hany in the Sky presents some interesting ideas, but the end product isn't as interesting as it could/should be, IMO.

warp said...

Bryan, I'm curious -- how much of Hany in the Sky did you get through? According to this article I found, it starts out kinda boring, but gets a lot better.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Not terribly far yet, I'm afraid. It's *tough*. As for the review you pointed to -- well, just know that reviews on this game are a hugely mixed bag. Some folks love it, some hate it. I'd say try it yourself sometime soon and see what you think!