Gokuraku Chuka Taisen (Cloud Master)

~ CLOUD MASTER ~

Taito

HuCard

1992

Growing up an NES owner in a community of NES owners, I didn't enjoy much early exposure to the Sega Master System's library. Sure, there was one guy who owned an SMS, but my pals and I never played at his house; we stuck with our Castlevania and Zelda carts instead. Aside from a Golvellius here and a Miracle Warriors there, I never really felt like I was missing out on anything noteworthy; but Cloud Master was one title that had intrigued me from the start. Finally obtaining the HuCard version many years later was more than just a meager delight for me, especially since I'd learned the game had been altered and "souped up" during its transition to the PCE, ending up even more awesome than it was originally (not that anyone had ever called Cloud Master awesome to begin with, but whatever...). It reminded me right off the bat of another Taito shooter (of sorts), KiKi KaiKai, with its Far East-flavored soundtrack and area designs, bands of tiny enemies, dinky weaponry, and 8-bit-caliber "ping-ping" sound effects.

The visuals are what I like most about Cloud Master--the color choices, specifically. It seems as if everything had been drawn with pastels and then dulled down to the point where the hues appear reticent (but never washed out). CM achieves a cartoony look with an aspect of grit, which I think is pretty damn cool and not very typical. But most players will probably be more impressed by the parallax effects employed during boss battles.

The bosses are tough customers, as are their small-but-strong henchmen. To take down the lot of 'em, you'll need to make smart decisions in the weapon-selection chambers, which you gain access to after defeating lightning-bolt-hurling mini-bosses.

Even if your main shot is all powered up and you've got some nice auxiliary firepower in tow, you'll find that many of your foes can withstand severe beatings and keep on marching forward. This is where Cloud Master will prove annoying for some players. If you die late in the game (which you almost certainly will, considering the stoutness of your enemies, the abundance of incoming projectiles, and the relative largeness of your hitbox) and find yourself stripped of whatever powers you'd been wielding, your chances of advancing further may prove slim, as the monsters will shrug off your pellet fire without even a grimace. A one-life run is your best bet for winning and having fun while doing so, and to that end, I suggest acquiring the mini-cloud-guy option buddies as soon as possible. They may not provide the same level of protection as the wheel of flame or seem as cool as some of the flashier secondary shots, but their little red bullets actually pack quite a punch and can help you clear out areas quickly.

Cloud Master can be a bit irritating at times, but it ends up being a decent shooter thanks to its unusual visual elements, worthy bosses, and solid stage action. Even at its most frustrating power-stripping points, it never comes close to projecting an aura of indomitableness. The level of proficiency required for that single-try clear should be attainable for most competent players, and the enjoyment to be had when said level is reached makes those early bouts of frustration seem not so bad in retrospect.

Deep Blue

~ DEEP BLUE ~

Pack-in Video

HuCard

1989

Prerelease Deep Blue screen caps were so appealing to my NES-weary eyes that I fell in love with the shooter and its gorgeous underwater visuals long before I bought a TurboGrafx-16. One of those amazing shots accompanied an EGM "upcoming game" capsule report--you know, the type of blurb that typically contained nothing but general positivity concerning the title being previewed. But this particular paragraph lambasted the chip for overloading its playfield with brutal sea creatures. I shrugged off the crybaby barbs and proceeded to buy, beat, and love the game.

I still love it and frequently return to it, while most folks still rip on it and claim it's too difficult. For crying out loud, people, it's not that hard. Acquire and power up the green cutter weapon and you'll be able to slice right through the enemy waves. The purple bubble beam is quite lengthy, powerful, and effective itself (but make sure your turbo switch is in the "off" position while you're wielding it). Capture a single speed-up and your vessel will be good to go, and it comes ready to endure plenty of hits before finally sputtering out.

Let's take a detailed look at the beautiful trip the game takes us on.

Stage 1 - This gorgeous level acquaints you with some of Deep Blue's signature elements: front-line assault groups consisting of baby creatures precede the onslaught carried out by furious parents; and blaring, terrifying midlevel music alerts you to the advancement of the most serious threats. Enjoy the peaceful, relaxing melody that plays prior to the abrupt transition into undersea hell.

Stage 2 - This is a dark, scary stage with dark, scary music, but its neon inhabitants are actually very pretty.

Stage 3 - An underwater snowfall lends beauty to a level featuring awesome creatures such as stingrays, tiger fish, hammerhead sharks, and swordfish that streak forward like self-launching missiles. The only problem is the carnival music.

Stage 4 - Your final destination is an elegant but danger-ridden sea palace. Pray for the best when the urchin downpour begins. Your enemies here, particularly the octopi, are fast and relentless.

And here is the Deep Blue enemy-leader contingent, a wonderful group of aquatic giants that ranks among my favorite PCE-shooter boss casts. These guys really don't do all that much aside from drifting about and sending smaller beasts your way, but they look very cool (with the possible exception of the strangely sad-faced sea horse). Prepare for a nasty surprise if you manage to defeat the mollusc lord at the "end."

China Warrior

~ CHINA WARRIOR ~

Hudson Soft / NEC

HuCard

1989

I didn't bother to acquire China Warrior for a very long time, as it had always looked like trash to me, and just about everyone had said it was trash. Only when I found it cheap in a local shop did I feel compelled to give it a try. When I finally started playing it, I immediately thought to myself that everyone's right: it seemed utterly awful, like a faster-paced, punch-and-kick-based Sword of Sodan but boringly terrible rather than amusingly terrible. But as my avatar chugged along and I familiarized myself with the level layouts, I started to appreciate the game for the short-term fun that can be had with it (and I do mean short-term, as it's quickly conquered). It's not a high-quality product by any means, but it's not worthless either.

As clunky and unrefined as China Warrior may initially seem, its gameplay is based on timing and memorization, and it actually succeeds with the formula--to an extent. Once you've figured out how to dodge or deflect whatever comes running, rolling, or fluttering your way, you may find yourself in a zone where the action is very satisfying.

Unfortunately, after just a few plays, I found that I really didn't need to be in much of a zone to breeze through the first three stages (of four total). They're just not challenging enough to demand much in the way of tactics or reflexes. It isn't until the final stage that I actually have to implement some strategy, and since that strategy basically involves holding back and slowing things down, the rhythm element is sacrificed.

My opinion of China Warrior fluctuated quite a bit. I hated it at once but started to like it during the "in the zone" phase and then felt it was just okay when I reached the point where I was zombie-walking through most of it. In the end, it did rise well above my trash-level expectations for it, and it does have decent replay value, as it's a good game to bide time with.

Cosmic Fantasy 4 Chapter 1

~ COSMIC FANTASY 4 CHAPTER 1 ~

Telenet

Super CD-ROM

1994

I'm a huge Cosmic Fantasy fan. I'm fond of every game in the series except for this one, which is repugnant dreck. Nonetheless, I must concede that there are some positives to cite in its favor, namely...

...the characters. You can't go wrong with CF stalwarts Yuu and Saya, and there are a number of cool new good guys on the scene. A few of the villains (the ones who show up during the first half of the adventure) are witty, crafty, and funny.

Well... that's the good stuff. Here's the bad:

The digital-comic scenes. Starting a traditional-style RPG off with a stretch of comic-style play is an interesting concept, but watching Yuu blow off Saya to flirt with an idiot and talk to tech guys isn't much fun.

The story. There are very few cinemas, and the ones that're actually included are wasted on stupid stuff like a goofy cat's song-and-dance shtick. Other Cosmic Fantasy games are known for being dramatic, touching, and humorous, but this peculiar episode is largely devoid of such virtues.

The battle system. CF3 kept things quick and relatively simple, but 4-1 gives us "filling bars"-based nonsense. Combat proceedings feel very slow and tedious when you're using just one character, which you will be for a long while. Once you put together a competent band, the system begins to lend itself to fast, enjoyable play, but it still feels sloppy.

The dungeon design. The labyrinth-crawling stretches last longer than they really should, as Telenet decided to utilize annoying ploys like concealed pits and switches that reveal pathways all the way on the other side of their respective floors, not to mention that there are lots of irritating, multi-monster random battles (and I say this as someone who doesn't mind the encounter rates in the earlier episodes).

The length. The epic adventuring of CF2 is a distant memory. You'll be beating the tar out of CF4C1's weak final boss before you know it. Just imagine how short the game would be without the time-wasting dungeon nonsense and the frequent fighting. And I'm not going to let its status as a single chapter get it off the hook, as CF4C2 would fare well as a standalone effort.

Saya molestation. Now here's a brilliant idea. Let's have a salivating fire demon use its tentacles to tie up and sexually assault one of the sweetest and most endearing characters in the series. That'll please the fans. Remember CF2's amazing ending? It's hard to believe that the series went from that to this.

The music isn't bad, but it's completely forgettable, while the graphics are decent on the whole but occasionally get sliced up by gratuitous "SNES-type" effects. In fact, instead of doing things the CF way, this game seems to have been striving to be like other RPGs that were making names for themselves at the time of its release. It's too bad... but don't lose faith in the series here. Things start looking up again in Chapter 2.

Time Cruise

~ TIME CRUISE ~

Face

HuCard

1992

You'd think game designers would've realized that a Turbo pinball title couldn't afford to seem bland, not when arriving on the heels of the thematically compelling Crush games. Actually, many PCE development teams probably believed that taking on a pinball project would've been a wasteful endeavor, futile in the face of a series that is considered by many even today to be the paradigm of its mini-genre. Well, Face's intrepid programmers accepted the challenge but missed the notice regarding the unacceptability of blandness, producing a sim that I'd always thought would be unenjoyable due to its dull brown-brick surface architecture. But Time Cruise proves itself worthwhile, even when pitted against the Crush brothers, with its fast and lively soundtrack; its competent manipulation of physics; and its massive (if brown-bricked) playfield, which hosts plenty of passageways, bumpers, and ball-gulping time machines.

Aforesaid time machines transport you to bonus rounds, where TC really earns its keep. Some of these side-screens feature typical pinball play but actually emerge as the package's most enticing assets thanks to wonderful music (the sword-stocked medieval chamber) or impressive visuals (the parallax-sporting prehistoric riverbed).

Other bonus opportunities present themselves in the forms of ball-rolling mini-games that shun pinball's traditional whack-with-a-flipper arrangement. You have to force the orb into specified openings by toying with gravity effects, tipping ramps, or playing a round of caveman golf. In truth, these aren't the most enjoyable side-events in gaming history, but they're interesting enough in theme and clever enough in construction to hold appeal as novelties.

Dull surface visual work doesn't offset the heart and creativity that went into most aspects of Time Cruise's design. It has more to offer than Alien Crush in the way of main-field elements, and it provides more variety than Devil's with its enormous play-area and wacky bonus segments. Truthfully, all of that may not be enough to propel it to the Turbo pinball pinnacle; cool demons go a long way. But it's worth a purchase (and more than just a few plays) nonetheless.