Out Run Sega Enterprises NEC Avenue Barrel down the straightaway and bank your way into turns as you master the world's most challenging raceway. Race at top speed towards the finish line. Enjoy such realistic features as acceleration, lane changes, diversified terrain, sudden curves, and much more. Out Run is not just a test of who can drive the fastest, it's also a matter of who can plan the best race strategy and execute it flawlessly. Each race is different and demands a new strategy. Not Rated 1990 3.6 Racing 1 Single Player Japan World Jockey Namco Namco World Jockey is a horseracing game that is part of the World series of sports games developed by Namco for the PC Engine and the Arcade. Rather than the many simulation-heavy games in the genre, which has players managing every aspect of their stable and jockeys between automated races, the player is actively racing a horse themselves. The game can support up to four simultaneous players at once. There is also a "ticket" mode that allows players to instead bet on the outcome of an automated race. Not Rated 1991 1.8 Racing; Sports 1 Single Player Japan World Court Tennis Namco NEC Home Electronics It's your serve. WHOP! The ball clears the net at 100 MPH and raises a little dust just inside the chalkline. An ace? no. WHOP! Your opponent returns with a powerful backhand that kills your plan of charging the net. No matter how you play - with up to 3 friends, singles, doubles, or against the computer - World Court Tennis will tax your endurance and test your skill with action that's fast and furious. Just don't scream at the line judge. He's never wrong. Not Rated 1988 2.9 Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Tsuppari Oozumou: Heisei Ban NAXAT Soft Naxat Soft Tsuppari Oozumou: Heisei Han, or "Shove Sumo: Heisei Edition", is a sumo wrestling game released exclusively for the PC Engine that is a graphically-enhanced version of the original Famicom Tsuppari Oozumou. The Heisei in the title refers to the period of Japanese history that began in 1989 - two years after the original game, which was released during the Showa era. A number of games, movies and other media used "Heisei" during this time to emphasize their newness. Not Rated 1993 2.8 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Valkyrie no Densetsu Namco Namco Overhead action game. Traverse swamps, canyons, castles and caves armed with your sword that fires upgrade able bolts of energy from its tip. The action also includes a few puzzles and there are some original ideas (like the level where you have to catapult yourself from one place to another). The PC Engine version of the game sports a big number of differences that almost make it a new game; the stage design has been changed, new stages have been added, the players are given passwords to save their progress, there is a new extra boss battle before the players fight the last boss (Kamuzu), and the ending is completely different from that of the arcade version (however, like many other Namco PC Engine conversions, the graphics and sound are inferior to that of the arcade version due to the fact that it is an 8-bit console). Not Rated 1990 3.5 Action; Adventure 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Falcon Spectrum Holobyte Turbo Technologies Fly multiple missions with varying skill levels, including both Air-to-Air and Air-to-Ground. Explosive aerial combat action as you intercept enemy aircraft or "take out" strategic ground targets - missile sites, bunkers, airfields, and buildings. View all the action in "first-person" perspective from the cockpit of your F-16 Falcon. Not Rated 1992 3.2 Flight Simulator; Shooter 2 Multiplayer North America Columns Shin-Nihon Laser Soft Telenet Japan Columns is loosely derived from Tetris, as it involves arranging falling blocks in such a way as to clear them. However, in columns they are groups of 3 same-size but varying color blocks, which must be arranged into sequences of 3 or more, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Sequences of 4 or 5 count for double or triple points, and diagonal sequences score the most. The real trick is to set up 'combos' - where one line causes other blocks to drop so as to create other lines. As well as the normal game mode, there is also a 'flash' mode, in which the aim is simply to remove a particular block from the base of the pre-formed pile of bricks. The difficulty of this can be determined by increasing the number of complete rows which are already in place. Not Rated 1991 3.4 Puzzle 2 Multiplayer Japan Deep Blue Pack-In-Video Pack-In-Video You command an A.N.G.E.L. Fish Attack Sub. Your mission: rid the oceans of the evil aliens in their Undersea Palace deep in the ocean depths. On top of the water, all is calm and beautiful. But as you descend toward the Palace, you won't believe your goggles! Scaled creatures snarl. Swarms of mutant fish attack. Power up! Use the Swirl Cutter! Energy Fin full-throttle ... Fire! Fire! Fire! Not Rated 1989 2.5 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Ninja Ryuuken Den Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Ninja Action! The stage is set for conspiracy, mystery and evil in America. Come with Ninja Ryu as he takes you on his fateful journey. Tecmo's unique cinema display system develops the story stage by stage. You piece together the puzzle, while watching the movie-like graphics. Decide what action to take. Use the secret sword and items collected during the action scenes to fight your way to the goal! Not Rated 1992 3.7 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Image Fight Irem Irem Image Fight is an intense vertical shooter by Irem and is the conversion of their own arcade game released back in 1988. The player takes control of the OF-1, a powerful Orbit Fighter ship codenamed Daidalos on a mission to annihilate the Moon defense system which suddenly went out of control. The rather unique feature of Image Fight is the "simulation mode" (called 'Image Fight') that precedes the "real battle" (called 'Real Fight'). The game counts a grand total of eight zones - the first five are Combat Training Stages and happen in a virtual space where the player must at least achieve a whooping 90% destruction ratio. If successful, the Real Combat reveals itself and the player gets launched in outer space and fly through three more stages. Just like with any traditional shooter, the ship can be upgraded by collecting flying capsules. They come in two flavors - the first are colored pods (blue and red) which hang around the ship and either fire straight ahead or in the opposite direction the fighter is facing. Those pods can also be thrown at the enemies to inflict more damage. The other kind are various devices that attach at the front of the ship and greatly improve its fire power - they include Bubble lasers, Homing Lasers, V Lasers or the powerful Drill Laser. Sadly, only one can be collected at the same time and the only way to dispose of them is to get hit. Finally, the speed of the ship can be adjusted anytime during the game and the resulting blast of energy can even be used to damage enemy ships. Not Rated 1990 3.1 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Raiden A.I Hudson Soft Go ballistic with intense arcade action! The year is 2090 and it could be our last. Alien invaders are scorching the earth with vastly superior firepower. Our only hope is Raiden, an untested supersonic fighter built with captured enemy technology, and only you are ace enough to handle it! Power up your laser for deadly accuracy or wide shots of lethal fire! Zero in with your homing missiles. Then nuke those fiends deep into space! You're on their turf now. Blast 'em and return victorious or they'll be back to finish us off! Not Rated 1991 3.6 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Bombaman '94 Hudson Soft Hudson Soft The inhabitants of Planet Bomber lived in peace, protected by five spirits, until the evil Bagulaa and his Robot Army approached via an artificial comet. The Spirit Pictures, the source of the spirits' magical power, were destroyed, splitting Planet Bomber into five pieces. Bomberman must reassemble the Spirit Pictures in each area in order to restore Planet Bomber to the way it was, all the while defeating the Robot Army. This time, Bomberman's companion Louie can provide a helping hand. Not Rated 1993 4.1 Action 5 Multiplayer Japan Alien Crush Compile Naxat Soft Imagine a living pinball machine...with aliens and outlandish worlds to throw at you. And turbo-charged, speed-of-light pinball action. You control the flippers and ball speed to defeat the Slime, the Tentacloid and Scorpion. Go for the eyes! This is full-tilt, out-of-this-world action! Surrealistic graphics plus true-to-life, earsplitting arcade pinball sound. Not Rated 1988 3.8 Pinball 1 Single Player North America Knight Rider Special Pack-In-Video Pack-In-Video Knight Rider Special (ナイトライダースペシャル Naito Raidā Supesharu?) is a video game for the PC-Engine based on the 1980s television series Knight Rider. It was produced by and published by Pack-In Video Co. Ltd, who also developed the NES version. on December 16, 1994 in Japan only. The game features sound bites by KITT's voice actor, Akio Nojima, straight from the show's Japanese dub. Unlike the NES version, Special's game play is featured in third person perspective akin to even the most basic driving games like Out Run and Rad Racer. The action is very similar to that of Chase H.Q. which also features a third person driving perspective. Players will have to navigate KITT through and around various cars, big rig trucks, and other obstacles in order to reach their destination and face each level's boss. However many of the cars on the open road are armed with rear guns and will try and fire at KITT. Jet fighters or propeller planes will also fly by and try fire machine guns or drop missiles on KITT. Not Rated 1989 2.6 Action; Racing 1 Single Player Japan Hatris Bullet-Proof Software Micro Cabin In Hatris, the falling blocks of Tetris are replaced by falling hats which are top hats, cowboy hats, baseball caps, derbys, party hats and crowns. The setting is a hat factory, where hats are dropped down from a conveyor belt two at a time and must be stacked on one of six mannequin heads. Once five hats of the same kind have been stacked on top of each other, they fall down onto another conveyor belt below and are shipped out of the factory, rewarding the player with a cash bonus (the game keeps track of score as money, not simply points). Once you ship out enough hats out of the shop, you go up a level to the next shop. The higher shop number you get to, the more types of hats start appearing to make it more difficult for you to accomplish your task. The game ends when one of your stacks of hats reaches the top of the screen. Not Rated 1991 3.0 Puzzle 1 Single Player Japan Fire Pro Wrestling 3: Legend Bout Human Entertainment Human Entertainment Fire Pro Wrestling 3: Legend Bout is the third game in the long-running Fire Pro Wrestling series. The game is very similar to the first two. There is a significant increase in the amount of wrestlers, however, and there are a few new modes, such as wrestler editing mode and "hidden mode". There are 28 regular wrestlers, and 4 hidden wrestlers. As usual, while fictitious, they are based on real wrestlers, such as Hulk Hogan. This was the last of the series for the PC Engine as a stand-alone console, with one more being released for its Arcade CD-ROM² add-on. Not Rated 1992 2.7 Fighting; Sports 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Neutopia II Hudson Soft Hudson Soft In the previous edition of Neutopia, Jazeta brought peace back to the land. But as long as evil and fear live in the human heart, the dreaded Dirth, Emperor of Darkness, will be plotting his return. The Emperor is stirring under the peaceful surface of Neutopia, bringing suffering to its people. Who will save them? Jazeta, the hero, is lost in a labyrinth in a foreign land. Can his son withstand the powers of the Emperor of Darkness to rescue the good people of Neutopia from fear and despair? Not Rated 1991 3.5 Role-Playing 1 Single Player North America Bull Fight: Ring no Haja Cream Cream Select your boxer, select your manager and duke it out for the championship. Bullfight takes the conventional side view of many boxing games - you shuffle left and right tapping one button for block and another for punch, the height of which is determined by the D-pad. During the action, commentators chatter away at the bottom of the screen until one of you goes down for good. This is fairly standard stuff, although Bullfight also has an extra fighting mode to add variety. In it, you take to the streets in a Vigilante-style scrolling beat 'em up, stopping at shops to buy equipment on the way to the main fights in a proper arena. Not Rated 1989 3 Sports 8 Multiplayer Japan Power Eleven West One Hudson Soft Power Eleven is a top-down soccer game with three playing modes: multiplayer, penalty kicks (shown from the back of the transparent goalkeeper) and a tournament mode. The latter is the main mode for solo players and features twelve national soccer teams. Then the player needs to defeat the other teams with rising difficulty to win the Hudson Cup. Regarding rules, the game features no fouls or off-sides. Each athlete has a rating in the five statistics (run, dribble, kick, technique and power) which influences his performance on the field. The player can also choose between different formations and after successful matches athletes can be substituted. The most unusual aspect of the game is the power rating which is lowered when using the power mode which allows faster movement and forceful shots. However, the power does only get completely refilled after a match so it needs to be used with care. Because the activation of this mode takes up a button, there is no dedicated passing button to be found. The distance of a shot is chosen by pressing the fire button quickly or holding it. Not Rated 1991 3.0 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan World Sports Competition Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Top Athletes Battle for Glory! You create an athlete who runs, jumps, and throws! Aim for the world record...and never give up! With 18 events to choose from... With 6 categories, and a total of 18 exciting events, you'll have a wide choice to train for. Then go on to challenge Olympic Mode in your chose event. you too can be a world record holder! Excitement x 5! Exciting alone, unbelievable with friends! Up to five players can compete at once, for some serious adrenalin action! Not Rated 1992 2.6 Sports 5 Multiplayer North America Formation Armed F Manjyudo Nichibutsu Formation Armed F is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released by Nichibutsu in 1988. The player controls a spacecraft called the Vowger and shoots enemies, collects power-ups and attempts to defeat bosses to advance levels. The Vowger can be changed to shoot in a multitude of formations and directions. Taking place in the future of the space pioneering era, a mysterious point in the galaxy known as Point X1Y7Z94 is accidentally discovered, suddenly opens up and engulfs the stations nearby. All radio transmissions are silenced by the unknown, but violent forces on the other side as the point shows the energy capable of opening a black hole. The Milky Way Federation sends the latest developed star fighter in their fleet, the Vowger RC30, to Point X1Y7Z94 to investigate the area and eliminate the forces responsible for the events. Not Rated 1990 3.2 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Kyuukyoku Tiger A.I Taito A vertically scrolling helicopter shoot 'em up, Kyukyoku Tiger bears more than a passing resemblance to games like Raiden and Daisenpu. The gameplay is familiar enough, with smart bombs and coloured power-ups that give a variety of weapons. Not Rated 1989 3.4 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Lady Sword Games Express Games Express In this game, the player takes control of a young nameless traveler. One day, the hero meets a man who tells him a sad story: monsters have kidnapped his granddaughter, and locked her away in a tower. Apparently, the monsters also took away nine other young girls, and have some evil plans in mind. The hero agrees to venture into the tower's labyrinth and succeed where no other adventurer could... Lady Sword is a first-person solo dungeon crawler. The player navigates the hero through the complex, maze-like corridors of the tower (with an auto-map feature), trying to find the right way to the stairs to the next floor. Fake walls, teleporters, one-way doors, items that must be collected to unlock hidden passages, boss enemies, etc., are there to make this task harder than it looks. Regular enemies pop out randomly, and must be defeated in a very simple turn-based combat. There is no damage feedback for the hero (though the player can see exactly how badly the hero himself is hurt), no weapons, armor, or items for combat usage. The player can heal the hero's wounds by selecting "sleep" from the menu. Sleeping restores the hero to full HP; but if he rests too much, a tough demon will appear and attack. Character growth is handled via direct stat increasing; there are no "levels", and the hero's HP, attack and defense power, as well as agility, increase gradually the more he fights. On each floor, a digitized photo of a young woman will greet the hero and encourage the player to explore further - at the stairs to the next floor, should the hero overcome all the obstacles, the player will be able to see the girl naked. Not Rated 1992 2.7 Role-Playing 1 Single Player Japan Ghost Manor ICOM Simulations Turbo Technologies With an earth-shattering explosion, horror from another dimension grips your once peaceful town. Gristly creatures prey on the innocent. The dead rise to roam the streets. All resistance falls! But hey, no problem, you have a plan! Find the secret passage to their mansion stronghold and battle past the zombies and ghouls. Now get your axe, because it's way full of demons and ghastly surprises! Ride the awesome Skull Slammer and search for their leader, the hideous Orb gamut. Discover his weakness and be a hero. If you don't, you'll be dust. Not Rated 1992 2.4 Action; Platform 1 Single Player North America Power League II Now Production Hudson Soft Taking the formula of the previous game, the player picks a team from a selection of ten fictional baseball teams, selects which member is the pitcher, then controls the pitcher during a strike session, and the fielders while the ball flies. There are five modes in the game: • Versus Mode has two players facing each other in one game. • Open Mode is similar to Versus, but playing against the computer instead of a human player. • Pennant Mode takes the player to the baseball tournament, facing and challenging opposing teams, one after another. • All Star Mode enables the player to pick players for a team based on performance in a single game. • Home Run Mode allows the player to have a go at batting and score a run. The player is also free to edit the All Star team members in any order and change their names. Not Rated 1989 2.8 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Davis Cup Tennis Loriciel NEC Technologies Challenge 32 top-seeded international pros in explosive court action, or take on your friends with tons of real playing options and a true player's view! Command an arsenal of pinpoint serves and powerful baseline passing shots. Attack the net with topspin or dropshot volleys. Then destroy your opponent's lob and morale with your overhead smash. Play singles and doubles on grass, clay, indoors or hard-court in exhibition and worldwide tournaments. Practice against the ball machine to perfect your skills for the ultimate quest, the coveted Davis Cup! Not Rated 1991 3.0 Sports 4 Multiplayer North America Devil's Crush Compile Naxat Soft Play video pinball that will set you on fire! Explosive graphics and demonic sound beckon you to the underworld for a devilish pinball simulation. Rebound off the She-Giant. So beautiful when she sleeps. So evil when she awakens. Burn up in the bonus rounds where dragons will roast you, skeletons will toast you and sorcerers will plan a barbecue around you. Finally, if you flip your way past them all, fight the ultimate Armageddon! Not Rated 1990 4.3 Pinball 1 Single Player North America KiKi KaiKai Pixel Taito KiKi Kai Kai ("Mysterious Ghost World") is a scrolling shooter featuring the shrine maiden Sayo-chan as she fights a horde of youkai and oni in a quest to recover the Gods of Fortune. It is a precursor to the Pocky & Rocky games for the Super Nintendo. Sayo-chan/Pocky makes her way across various levels, changing directions occasionally, and using either a wand or scrolls to exorcise the unruly spirits she meets. She can only get hit once before dying, though some enemies will grab her instead to slow her down. Not Rated 1990 3.2 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Cadash Taito Taito Arise brave warrior, our services are once again needed! Baarogue the Destroyer has kidnapped the King's only daughter, Princess Sarasa, and is now bent on universal dominance! Become a powerful Fighter, a resourceful Mage, a magic-laden Priestess, or an agile Ninja in your quest to return peace to the once-tranquil land of Deerzar! Be wary on the path to your goal! Baarogue has littered it with many foes, from the re-animated Hands of Stone to the Giant Pedra- Pods of Dokra-ri. Enlist the services of a trustworthy friend to aid you, for this quest allows two brave souls to venture forth via the Turbo Tap. You must succeed, for Baarogue's dark power grows by the second, and soon no soul will be able to halt his advance! Not Rated 1991 3.5 Action; Platform; Role-Playing 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Galaga '90 Namco Namco Galaga is a smouldering planet that often erupts with angry mutants and misfits. As Galactic commander of the Federal Army, you have the job of making them dead. Not easy! Because they come at you in clusters like swarms of killer bees. This time, you will be flying the awesome Triple Proton Fighter that warps to new dimensions and increased firepower. Galaga goons, your graveyard awaits. Not Rated 1988 3.9 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Splatterhouse Namco Namco Rick and his girlfriend Jennifer enter West Mansion (known as Splatterhouse) to study Dr. West's parapsychology teachings for a school project. After a flash of lightning and a scream, Jennifer is gone, and Rick is left wearing the Terror Mask, which gives the wearer great strength. Rick must survive seven blood-soaked levels full of corpses, demons, and other disturbing creatures in this arcade side-scrolling beat-em-up. Several weapons are at Rick's disposal throughout the house, such as a meat cleaver, a two by four, and a shotgun. If Rick wants to find Jennifer alive, he must move quickly through the floors of the mansion.... as a happy reunion is not always guaranteed. Not Rated 1990 3.9 Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player North America Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III Taito Working Designs Break out the bandages and get ready for some finger-searing action! Join Bubby on his latest quest to save the universe, this time with a Magic Umbrella. Umbrella!? Yes, Umbrella! This powerful parasol puts the elements themselves at your command! Shock the tonnage out of the whales with Lightning! Fry the feathers off the crazed, beady-eyed birds with Fire! Or, drown the demented dinosaurs with a tidal wave of Raindrops! Need help? Your buddy Bobby is always nearby. Have a friend plug into your TurboTap and blast into two player simultaneous play. Be prepared for a quest that will take you to eight amazing planets, forcing you to uncover the secret that will unleash the Parasol Stars! Parasol Stars is the third game in the Bubble Bobble franchise (and is often labeled "Parasol Stars: The Story Bubble Bobble III"), as well as a semi-official sequel to the second Bubble Bobble spin-off, Rainbow Island. Not Rated 1991 3.6 Platform 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Formation Soccer: On J-League Human Entertainment Human Entertainment The game focuses on Japan's top soccer league, the J-League, and features all ten teams active in the 1993-94 season. The game features a standard exhibition mode, a league mode that recreates the 1993-94 J-League, and an All-Stars mode that features two teams comprised of all the best players. The Exhibition and All-Stars modes can be played with up to four human players. The J-League mode allows for two players to be on the same team and take on the CPU-controlled league cooperatively. Not Rated 1994 2.6 Sports 4 Multiplayer Japan Special Criminal Investigation Taito Taito Three girls have been reported missing including the mayor's daughter, and Chase Special Investigations has asked you to track down five vehicles, mentioned in the mission briefing, who are believed to be involved in the kidnapping. Using a heavy-designed machine with a V6 DOHC 3000CC Twin Turbo Engine, five sets of nitro-fuel boosts, and a gun attached to the steering wheel (which you can use to damage the target vehicle), your mission is to patrol the streets and find these vehicles. The gameplay is similar to Chase H.Q., but there are a few differences. For example, cars travel in both directions instead of one, and some of them will catch up to your car and shoot at you. At least once in every stage a helicopter does a fly by and drops you some grenades you can use to further damage the target vehicle. A guy on a motorcycle will catch up to you and throw grenades at your car. And, most importantly, as mentioned earlier, you can shoot at the target vehicle rather than just bumping into it. Have fun driving around, but remember, there is a strict time limit, so I wouldn't waste time or keep crashing into things if I were you. Not Rated 1991 3.5 Racing; Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Moto Roader NCS NCS Moto Roader is a futuristic racing game that allows up to five players to compete against each other. Players use the cash earned when they win a race to power up their machine. Not only can they change the "tire" and "body" of their vehicles, but they also can add "special" parts. Jump over tall obstacles with a "hopper" and blast past rivals at incredible speeds with "nitro." What multiplayer game would be complete without attack items? Use a forward-launching "grenade" or a backward-dropping "bomber" to blow up and knock away rivals. Outmaneuver rivals in all eight heats to become the champion. Not Rated 1989 2.4 Racing 5 Multiplayer North America Kattobi! Takuhai Kun Advance Communication Company Tonkin House Kattobi! Takuhai-kun ("Fury! Delivery Boy") is a top-down action/driving game. The player is a delivery boy who must make a series of increasingly surreal deliveries across town, occasionally leaving the country and getting into trouble with drug trafficking. As the player complete jobs, they can use their earnings to buy better two-wheeled delivery vehicles, upgrading from a pedal bike to a moped to a state-of-the-art motorcycle. Destroying their vehicle (by losing a life) drops them back down to the regular pedal bike. Not Rated 1990 3.1 Action 1 Single Player Japan Darius Alpha Bits Laboratory NEC Avenue One of the rarest games for the PC Engine, Darius Alpha was only offered to those who bought both the CD and HuCard versions of Darius Plus (Which doesn't make much sense, considering how similar the two versions are). People who just couldn't get enough of Darius could now play another variation on the same theme. Darius Alpha is built on the same codebase as Darius Plus, but has been remodeled into a so-called "boss-fight" game, e.g. a game where you only fight the bosses of a game or game series. You start out with an unequipped ship and must take down the boss of the first level, King Fossil. Upon defeating King Fossil, you are granted some slight upgrades and proceed directly to the boss of the next level. Not Rated 1990 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Knight Rider Special Pack-In-Video Pack-In-Video Knight Rider Special (ナイトライダースペシャル Naito Raidā Supesharu?) is a video game for the PC-Engine based on the 1980s television series Knight Rider. It was produced by and published by Pack-In Video Co. Ltd, who also developed the NES version. on December 16, 1994 in Japan only. The game features sound bites by KITT's voice actor, Akio Nojima, straight from the show's Japanese dub. Unlike the NES version, Special's game play is featured in third person perspective akin to even the most basic driving games like Out Run and Rad Racer. The action is very similar to that of Chase H.Q. which also features a third person driving perspective. Players will have to navigate KITT through and around various cars, big rig trucks, and other obstacles in order to reach their destination and face each level's boss. However many of the cars on the open road are armed with rear guns and will try and fire at KITT. Jet fighters or propeller planes will also fly by and try fire machine guns or drop missiles on KITT. Not Rated 1989 2.6 Action; Racing 1 Single Player Japan Air Zonk Red Company Hudson Soft The Evil King Drool has sent forth powerful cyber robots to carry out his evil designs. But a team of cool, sunglass-wearing warriors lead by Zonk have discovered his plot and have risen against him. In hopes of defeating this team, King Drool sends wave after wave of terrible cyber robots. But by combining their power, Zonk and his friends can destroy even the worst of the cyber robots. Get ready! The fight is about to begin! Not Rated 1992 3.9 Shooter 1 Single Player North America J.J. & Jeff Hudson Soft Hudson Soft J.J. & Jeff Detective Agency are assigned the task of locating a missing rich man, and you can choose either J.J. or Jeff to go on the mission. Your partner doesn't like this one bit, so he decides to make a nuisance of himself along the way. Similar to Adventure Island, you must make your way through several levels, destroying wildlife along the way, but instead of using a hammer, you have three different ways to kill them: jump on or kick them, or when they are walking on the ground, blow gas out of them. Not Rated 1987 2.8 Platform 1 Single Player North America F-1 Pilot: Pack-In-Video Pack-In-Video F-1 Pilot is a Formula 1 racing game for the PC Engine, one that depicts the racing from the driver's seat of the vehicle. The player is able to select a car before a race, but they all appear to be functionally identical except for the color. The player can also choose to have engine noises or BGM (Background music), but not both. Selecting either of the BGM modes will disable all sound effects from the game, including tire screeching and crashing noises. Not Rated 1989 2.7 Racing 1 Single Player Japan Klax Tengen Tengen In Klax, you take control of a paddle at the end of a conveyer belt, while colored tiles flip toward you down the conveyer belt. You must collect and arrange the tiles into horizontal, vertical, or diagonal groups of three referred to as klaxes. To a clear a stage, you must meet certain goals, which can include obtaining a certain number of klaxes, creating a particular arrangement of tiles, or collecting a certain number of tiles on your paddle. See how many stages you can get through in Klax. Not Rated 1990 3.1 Puzzle 1 Single Player North America Titan ISCO Naxat Soft Titan is a 2D arcade game / puzzle game hybrid. For some reason, mad professors of the future tend to invent strange entertainment games in which every participant dies. Professor Hybrys’ variant is called Titan and involves a ball, a control unit and 80 labyrinths. Your objective is either to destroy all destructible blocks in each level by hitting them with the sphere, or to pilot it to the exit. The black ball is beyond your control; it will bounce straight or diagonally through the labyrinth with constant speed. You move the control unit, a small box, with you are to position in a way that the ball bounces off it in the desired direction. You can also catch the sphere by quickly moving over it, and then release it in a direction of your choice. The labyrinths not only contain harmless, destructible blocks, but also increasingly difficult hazards. If the sphere or your control unit hit a skull symbol, one of your nine lives is lost. Teleporters exchange the position of you and the ball, wall pieces can be pushed around or destroyed by your unit, floor tiles will grow into walls when you pass over them too often. The high game speed can be slowed down by holding the space key – a very useful option in tricky situations. Titan mixes an arcade game foundation (requiring quick reflexes and good nerves) with puzzle game elements (requiring logical thinking to beat the complex levels). The challenge is to control the sphere accurately, yet indirectly. Not Rated 1991 2.9 Puzzle 1 Single Player Japan New Adventure Island Now Production Hudson Soft On peaceful Adventure Island, the islanders are celebrating the wedding of Master Higgins and Tina, the "Miss Island Queen." Suddenly, the celebration is interrupted by the appearance of Baron Bronsky and his henchmen, who kidnap Tina and the island children. Master Higgins must set out to rescue the children and his beloved Tina in this side-scrolling action game. Throw hatchets and boomerangs, hop on skateboards and guide Master Higgins safely to the goal in each area. New Adventure Island consists of seven exciting stages. Each stage is split into four areas, with a boss waiting at the end of the final area. Defeat all the bosses and release the kidnapped children. And waiting in the castle of the final stage - the wicked Baron Bronsky. Help Master Higgins defeat him and reclaim his bride. Not Rated 1992 3.8 Platform 1 Single Player North America Detana!! TwinBee Konami Konami Detana!! TwinBee introduces for the first time the characters behind the TwinBee & WinBee fighters, Pastel and Light, and chronicles their journey to save Princess Melora from an evil force that threatens the world. Nevertheless its still all about shooting the heck out of surreal and cute enemies through 6 stages of vertically-scrolling action. Power-ups and upgrades can be gained by shooting the colored bells that some enemies leave behind until they stay the color you want them to, with many combinations possible. A new charge-shot feature has been added to your basic arsenal, and the game features single and 2-player cooperative gameplay. Not Rated 1992 3.5 Shooter 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Gunboat The Code Monkeys NEC Technologies Twist down treacherous jungle waters with eight tons of firepower and the threat of a deadly ambush around every bend. Command a Navy River Patrol Boat (PBR) in the most hostile and claustrophobic action -- riverine warfare! First hone your critical combat skills with gunnery, grenade and pilot practice. Then report for duty and equip your boat with the hottest weaponry for the mission. Take out enemy craft with twin armor-piercing .50 caliber machine guns. Blast land-based positions with 40mm grenades or fire your 60mm Mortar Launcher and get ready to hit the deck! Not Rated 1992 2.0 Shooter; Vehicle Simulation 1 Single Player North America Mizubaku Dai Bouken Taito Taito This is a single player platform game that features Hipopo, a platypus (referred to as a hippo) who must fight his way through a large number of enemy-packed levels in search of his missing girlfriend - rescuing other platypuses along the way. Hipopo is armed with water bombs which can be thrown at enemies to soak and damage them. Once soaked, the enemies can then be kicked and destroyed completely. Enemies left unkicked however will dry out and recover after a short period of time. The level design presents moving platforms, collapsible floors, boats and water-wheels all making an appearance. Small plants also appear on certain levels which can be "watered", causing them to grow and creating new platforms. Appropriately enough for a game which features water as the main weapon, many of the enemies and the later levels have a fire thematic. He can also collect cakes and other items to gain more points. Not Rated 1992 3.4 ActionPlatform 1 Single Player Japan Pro Yakyuu World Stadium '91 Namco Namco Pro Yakyuu World Stadium '91 is a baseball game for the PC Engine and the second and last World Stadium game for the console, which spun off Namco's Family Stadium (or Famista) series. "Family" was a common word used in the titles of NES games due to the system's Japanese name of "Family Computer", so Namco dropped it for their non-Nintendo baseball games and used "World Stadium" instead. Subsequent World Stadium games were released for the Arcade and Sony PlayStation. As with the Famista games and its World Stadium predecessor, the game depicts its baseball players as super deformed characters and focuses on Arcade-style gameplay rather than a serious simulation of the sport. The player can still customize teams before games, and there are options for up to four human players to compete. The player can also choose to watch two CPU opponents challenge each other. Not Rated 1991 2.6 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan 1943: Kai Capcom Naxat Soft This is an enhanced version of 1943: The Battle of Midway, with most of the graphics and sounds reworked. There are also changes in the weapons and the inclusion of anachronical items such as laser-firing WWII planes and ships that run on the ground. The player controls a biplane Boeing Stearman E75 N68828 instead of the P-38. The PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 adaptation adds some original levels to those from the arcade version, as well as animated intermissions. Not Rated 1991 3.4 Shooter 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Rastan Saga 2 Taito Taito The "Rastania" was a sacred place, in which the sacred temple, "Skyscraper", soared into the sky. It is said that whoever conquer the "Skyscraper" would rule the "Rastania". A wicked group has invaded the "Skyscraper" and has tried to make it their own. If the situation is left as it is, the place would eventually be controlled by the wicked group. Rastan Saga II is the sequel to Rastan, containing the same hack-em'/slash-'em gameplay as the original. You are a warrior who must get through a number of levels, and trying to collect gems which can only be obtained by defeating the end-of-level bosses. Collecting power-ups along the way awards you with extra life or better weapons. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Platform; Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player Japan Daichi-kun Crisis: Do Natural Salio Salio Daichi-kun Crisis: Do Natural is a 1989 PC Engine game that follows a family of cow anthropomorphs as they cultivate their home of Moo Cow Island. It uses a real-time strategy format where players explore the island and plant various crops. They must also fight off the occasional monster attack from the nearby volcanos, and clear the resulting toxic ash away. The game is thought to be derived from an educational kid's TV show about agriculture shown in the Hokkaido region. Fans have observed the similarity of Daichikun's family and companions and those featured in the TV show, and the similar theme of farming in a harsh climate. The player controls the oldest son of the family, the titular Daichikun, and his family members Hokkaido (grandpa), Suzuran (mama), Oozora (little brother), Marimo (little sister) and their friends Goro the bear and Alice the crow are all AI controlled and will follow the player until they find themselves a task to complete. Daichikun can use the flying "Geiger No" vehicle to move around and clear ash away quickly, though it cannot attack. Additional factors unlock as the player progresses with the game, like a port town and various power-ups. The game is on a fast seasonal cycle - a minute represents a month - and various crops do better (or worse) depending on the time of the year. Not Rated 1989 2.7 Construction and Management Simulation; Strategy 1 Single Player Japan WonderBoy In Monster Land EarokWestone Bit Entertainment EarokWestone Bit Entertainment The original, the fantastic platformer ' Wonder Boy ' was designed by Ryuichi Nishizawa. It started its life as a skateboard rock jumping and axe bashing platformer, that later became the adventure platformer with RPG elements ' Wonderboy in Monster Land ' that many of us know and love to this day. I myself mainly played it on the Amiga and although it was addictive as hell it suffered from being a straight Atari ST port with poor colors and long loading times. Thankfully our good friend Earok was on the case, as now he's released 'Wonderboy in Monster Land SE'; A special edition of that port. As you journey through Monster Land through twelve levels, you will need to find and defeat the dragon MEKA. You will earn gold by defeating enemies which you can spend on buying weapons, armor, shoes, magic and other useful items Not Rated 2018 Unrated Platform 1 Single Player North America Salamander Konami Konami You've saved the innocent people of Gradius from the vile Bacterions. But now an even deadlier plague has slimed into the neighborhood. It's Zelos, an all-engulfing, planet-eating alien who's hungering to take a bite out of you! Only this time you don't have to rescue the millions of Gradians alone. You can call on a starfighter friend from the planet Latis, who'll fight beside you in his RoadBritish space destroyer. You'll both be gunning for max power-ups, with ripple lasers, plutonic missiles and impregnable force fields. But you better be on target. For this isn't your ordinary space scum. And to crush him you've gotta soar through his guts, blast past his death traps and ultimately blow out his heart. Good luck, Commander. The galaxy's counting on you! Not Rated 1991 3.9 Shooter 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Boxyboy Thinking Rabbit NEC Technologies Boxyboy is a Soko-Ban variant, explicitly based on the gameplay of the original version by Thinking Rabbit. The gameplay is unchanged, but the game features 250 new levels. They take place in five different countries with their own graphics set. The basic principle: The player works in a warehouse and needs to clear out the boxes which are spread out over the level. Those boxes have to pushed into certain places of the level which are marked. However, the player character can only push a box; pulling is out of the question. This means it is possible to create a dead end by pushing a box in the wrong way. If that happens, the undo function can be used to take back the last steps. Not Rated 1990 3.1 Puzzle 1 Single Player North America R-Type Irem NEC Home Electronics (U.S.A.) The PC Engine port of the shoot'em up classic R-Type was released in two parts in Japan: R-Type I includes the first four, R-Type II the last four levels. A desperate battle is being fought out in the limitless and unknown dimensions of space which have been contaminated and corrupted by an evil power. The evil power is the Bydo Empire, which is determined to subjugate the world. It is inhabited by weird creatures, whose very sight inspires fear. But mankind is fighting back, and sends you into battle in an incredibly sophisticated plane, the R-9 fighter. Behind the control panel of this fantastic fighting machine, you are Mankind's only defence against the enemy. Not Rated 1988 4.0 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Wonder Momo Namco Namco Wonder Momo is an action game starring a girl named Momo. The game is actually a tokusatsu "hero show", I.E. a stage show with people in costume acting as heroes and villains; such tokusatsu shows were once a popular form of entertainment for children in Japan and generally would feature well-known heroes and villains, such as characters from Kamen Rider. However, based on the appearance of the audience, the "Wonder Momo" show seems to be aimed at a slightly different audience. It is being presented at "Namco Theater". In the game's storyline, Momo is a heroine from space who is fighting the evil "Phantom Warudemon Army" (Kaijin Gundan Warudemon" / ?????????). Not Rated 1989 2.7 Action 1 Single Player Japan Ordyne Namco Namco The evil Kubota has kidnapped Dr. Tomari's fiancee, Kana, and taken the colossal nuclear reactor Ordyne. In order to reclaim them, Dr. Tomari and his assistant Felix take to their battleships and head off in pursuit. Avoid enemies and advance through seven different levels that take place on land, sea, and air. Collect crystals from defeated enemies and use them to buy items or upgrades for your ship at the Space Inn. Do you have what it takes to defeat the boss at the end of each level and ultimately reach Kubota in the final stage, Kubota World? Not Rated 1989 3.2 Shooter 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Silent Debuggers Data East Data East Make your way through a dungeon-like space station and defeat the prowling monsters in this real-time first-person shooter. You're a member of the elite Debuggers, a group of warriors who are jacks-of- all-trades. Assigned to inspect an unmanned space station, you have exactly 100 minutes to get in, destroy the monsters lurking in each block, make your way to the lowest level and deactivate the automatic detonator placed there. With each monster that slips by you, the core block becomes harder to survive in, so speed is key in preserving the facility and each separate block. Experience the thrill of survival as the timer ticks away and you uncover the truth of the events that occurred. Not Rated 1991 3.6 Shooter 1 Single Player North America SideArms: Hyper Dyne Capcom Radiance Software Originating in the arcades, Side Arms is a horizontally scrolling shoot ‘em up in which you control Lieutenant Henry, armed with crude weaponry and protective jump-suits. You must save the earth from the mercenary invaders of Bozon. You must first reach Bozon’s territories, then wipe out its forces hidden in caverns and lurking in underground seas, before destroying the main invasion ship. Lots of extra weapons can be picked up, often with similar tokens to those in 1943 and some other Capcom titles. Most weapons can be shot either to the left or the right, giving you more range to launch attacks. Not Rated 1989 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Vigilante Irem Irem Some New York City punks have kidnapped a girl. Your girl. Throwing your muscle around is not your normal style, but these are mean streets! If it has to be you versus these big city greaseballs and junkyard dudes -- bring them on! They won't come at your one at a time, so it's a good thing you can be quick and mean. Go to it, Vigilante! Or never see her smile again. Not Rated 1989 3.4 Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player North America City Hunter Sunsoft Sunsoft Ryo Saeba - a "Sweeper", bodyguard for hire, handsome, talented and the finest shot in Shinjuku. He's also a monumental lecher who only accepts beautiful female clients and will do anything to get a peek at their bodies. But keeping watch on him is his partner Kaori, sister to his ex-partner who was killed on one fateful night. Kaori has talents herself, being able to produce enormous mallets seemingly from thin air whenever Ryo is acting up around the ladies - and she isn't afraid to use them. City Hunter is based on the very popular manga/anime by Tsukasa Hojo. The game itself is a kind of action/adventure split into several different 'stories', of which you can choose in any order (with the exception of the final chapter). Gameplay mostly involves running around buildings, shooting the bad guys that constantly appear ahead of you and trying out the doorways scattered around. These doors often lead to separate rooms, sometimes with that essential character in that you need to talk to to progress the story. Aside from armed mobsters, you'll also have to navigate around laser beams, crushing machines and spikes that shoot from the ground. Around each level you will also find a nurse to heal you - although stumbling into a room with a semi-naked gal inside has pretty much the same effect. As you progress through the levels, you also gain extra weaponry - the bazooka being particularly useful in a crowded room. Not Rated 1990 3.3 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Ninja Spirit Irem Irem Play as the ninja Moonlight and engage in a fierce battle to avenge his father's death and unlock the secrets of his birth. Select between the original Arcade Mode and PC-Engine MODE, which includes a life gauge. Use four types of weapons: katana, shuriken, bombs and chain and sickles to battle your way through the enemies. Pick up power-up items and switch between weapons to give you the advantage. You'll need to consider the enemy attacks and your weapon's abilities in order to deftly make it through all seven stages. Use your skills and attacks to get through the game's boundless enemies and traps. That's what ninja action is all about. Not Rated 1990 4.1 Action; Platform 2 Multiplayer North America Die Hard Pack-In-Video Nihon Bussan Die Hard is a PC Engine exclusive top-down shooter that plays similarly to Capcom's Commando. As John McClane, it is the player's job to stop the terrorists that have taken over Nakatomi Plaza in downtown LA, as per the plot of the 1988 movie upon which the game is based. The game takes several liberties with the source material, starting McClane off in what appears to be a jungle before moving him to a Vietnamese river full of tall bamboo before finally reaching the basement of Nakatomi Plaza. McClane can fire in eight directions, once he finds a weapon, and can move and jump through each of the game's top-down stages. Occasionally, he'll need to use his jump to avoid obstacles on the ground, such as pitfalls. He can gain extra armor by finding colored vests; once he's low on health, he'll lose the standard white vest to reveal an injured torso. As well as the basic machine gun and shotgun, John can also find weapons with a lot more power but far smaller ammunition counts such as flamethrowers and rocket launchers. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Champions Forever Boxing Distinctive Software NEC Technologies It's Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes and Norton -- five of the world's greatest heavyweight boxing champs! Be them or battle them. Each has his actual physical traits and boxing style. Move and jab, or go toe-to-toe and unleash a flurry of punishing hooks, uppercuts and body shots. Protect yourself by blocking punches or clinching. Taunt opponents with showboat moves if you've got the guts. Fight exhibition matches or an entire 15-year career. Between round close-ups show each boxer's facial damage. Beat these five legends and become a Champion Forever! Not Rated 1991 2.5 Fighting; Sports 2 Multiplayer North America W-Ring: The Double Rings NAXAT Soft Naxat Soft W Ring is a horizontally scrolling shooter in which the player sits in a space ship and shoots a lot of enemies, preferably without being hit by their deadly shots or touch. There are six levels which also scroll slightly up and down and end with a big end boss. Some of those levels are a bit gimmicky, e.g. one level has a lot of water movement in the background which makes it harder to keep an overview and level five is a fast scrolling maze system in which the player needs to take the correct paths to avoid dead ends (and therefore certain death). Of course there are also power ups to collect: depending on their colour, they stand for a different weapon system (overall five) like lasers or rings which circle around the ship and make it harder to crush against the environment. Collecting multiple symbols of the same colour upgrades the current weapon up to two times. The game features three difficulty levels and a rapid fire option. Not Rated 1990 3.2 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Busou Keiji: Cyber Cross ITL FACE Robots and insectoid creatures are trying to take over the world. You play a man who has the ability to turn into Cyber Cross and stop these evil creatures. As you punch and kick your way across the side view scrolling game you can collect colored pods and turn into Cyber Cross. The color of the pod decides which power you have. Red is a sword, blue is a laser gun and a boomerang is green. Hold down a button and releasing it gives you a special attack. Get hit three times as Cyber Cross and you lose your suit. As well as the main playing area you can also see your score, lives, time, health meter and your special weapon meter. Not Rated 1989 3.2 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Momotarou Katsugeki Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Momotaro Katsugeki ("Momotaro Action Movie") is a side-scrolling action-platformer from Hudson that uses their Momotaro character who is better known as the star of the Momotaro Dentetsu and Momotaro Densetsu series. It is a PC Engine exclusive and never saw international releases. Momotaro Katsugeki seems influenced by and plays similarly to Westone's Wonder Boy in Monster Land and the sequels that followed: the goal is to move across a set of 2D stages, and the player can talk to NPCs for hints and to purchase better equipment with the money they find. There is also a world map that links the various stages together. Not Rated 1990 2.9 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan F-1 Dream Capcom NEC Interchannel You take the role of a newcomer race driver. Beginning in the Formula 3000, you will have to prove yourself worthy of being promoted to Formula 1 and challenge the best drivers of the late eighties. F-1 Dream is not one of Capcom's best known games. From a top-down perspective and decorated with cute "deformed" graphics, it may offer a serious challenge. There are essentially two race instances: first you have to beat the clock in a single lap to qualify for a good position in the race, and second you have to beat your opponents. You also have to keep an eye on your car's condition, as the tyres and body wear out, so part of your strategy must consider pit stops. Despite its looks, F-1 Dream is not a parody game. Released in 1988, it's in fact very respectful towards the sport, featuring little details which add realism to it. This includes several real brands advertised in the game, and others which have one or two letters changed in the logo, but are very easy to recognize. So it is with your opponents, featuring the great Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost or Nigel Mansell. The car behavior also features skids when speeding at corners, gears, and damage. Not Rated 1989 3.3 Racing 1 Single Player Japan Naxat Stadium Sting Naxat Soft Taking place in a four fictional stadiums with fourteen fictional teams (depicted by initial letters), Naxat Stadium goes by the traditional rules of Japanese professional baseball, in four different modes including a single one or two player match, a watch mode with two computer opponents, and the pennant mode for a series of matches against all opposing teams, plus options to edit the players and the teams. Not Rated 1990 1.7 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Darkwing Duck Interactive Designs Turbo Technologies The kingpins of crime are at it again! The mysterious criminal organization F.O.W.L. has hatched a plan to take control of the peaceful city of St. Canard. Six of their most heinous henchmen are running rampant through the city and only the daring Darkwing Duck can bring them to justice! Join Darkwing as he explores the woods to weed out Bushroot's evil plan. Search the warehouses along the wharf for Mega Volt and pull the plug on an electrifying scheme. Track down all six of FOWL's crafty criminals and then prepare yourself as Darkwing squares off against the sinister Steelbeak in his fiendish floating fortress! Not Rated 1992 2.4 Action; Platform 1 Single Player North America Super Metal Crusher Make Software Pack-In-Video By the 24th century, humans have picked up on a sport that involves robots battling each other in an arena. There are twelves robots to choose from. Each robot has 4 statistics and 15 character traits. The traits can be modified and allocated by the number of leftover points the player currently has. In the grid-based arena, the player can utilize the robot's powers for attack and defense moves with the goal of beating all eleven robots for the number one rank. Not Rated 1991 2.8 Strategy 2 Multiplayer Japan Skweek Loriciel Victor Entertainment The goal in Skweek, similar to other puzzle games like Q*Bert, is to color in every block on the map from blue to pink. Skweek needs to avoid the various enemies on the map in order to complete his task. He can collect power-ups and point items, as well as finding shortcuts to the next level and a series of four collectible teddy bears which appear randomly around the stage. If Skweek finds all four bears, he can skip to the next stage without completing the one he is on. Not Rated 1991 3.3 Puzzle 1 Single Player Japan Dai Senpu Center Tech NEC Avenue Daisenpu is a vertical shooter by Nec Interchannel and conversion of the arcade game of the same name (also known as Twin Hawk) originally released by Toaplan in 1989. In the year 193X, country R is overwhelmed by hostile enemy forces and the small oasis town 'S' is the main target of the attack. A handful of survivors escape to the jungle and start working on a counter attack - but they are soon discovered and are now running out of time, and they must launch the Daisenpu squadron before it is fully operational. The player takes control of a fighter plane and must fly deep into enemy territory, attack ground targets such as tanks, turrets and warships (the game curiously doesn't feature any flying enemies and no obstacles to fly into, beside enemy bullets). The plane starts equipped with a limited double-shot machine gun that can be slowly upgraded throughout the game by collecting power-pods left behind by small trucks. But the originality of Daisenpu lies elsewhere - the player can call a small squadron of six planes and have them fly in formation, shooting anything in sight and crashing into an enemy unit when defeated. The squadron can also commit a Kamikaze attack at anytime and destroy ground units, or combine to release a devastative bomb-attack. Finally, Daisenpu offers an unusual feature - levels do not pause between them and reveal instead a continuous flow of undisturbed shooting action. Not Rated 1990 3.1 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Takin' it to the Hoop Aicom NEC Technologies You're a high scoring point guard capable of awesome vertical leaps and hangtime. Matter of fact, you can do it all! Dribble. Bouncepass. Fake. Pivot. Jump. Shoot. Play man or zone. Drive the lane and the graphics go MEGA! Is your defender all over you? Give him a move and JAM SLAM IN YOUR FACE! Eight US teams. Play Tournament, League of Exhibition. Lace up those hightops and go for it. Not Rated 1989 2.7 Sports 2 Multiplayer North America Die Hard Pack-In-Video Nihon Bussan Die Hard is a PC Engine exclusive top-down shooter that plays similarly to Capcom's Commando. As John McClane, it is the player's job to stop the terrorists that have taken over Nakatomi Plaza in downtown LA, as per the plot of the 1988 movie upon which the game is based. The game takes several liberties with the source material, starting McClane off in what appears to be a jungle before moving him to a Vietnamese river full of tall bamboo before finally reaching the basement of Nakatomi Plaza. McClane can fire in eight directions, once he finds a weapon, and can move and jump through each of the game's top-down stages. Occasionally, he'll need to use his jump to avoid obstacles on the ground, such as pitfalls. He can gain extra armor by finding colored vests; once he's low on health, he'll lose the standard white vest to reveal an injured torso. As well as the basic machine gun and shotgun, John can also find weapons with a lot more power but far smaller ammunition counts such as flamethrowers and rocket launchers. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Shanghai Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Shanghai is one of the first video game adaptations of the tile-based game played with the Chinese mahjong stones - essentially a puzzle game that has little to do with real mahjong rules. The gameplay involves 144 tiles, each depicting different images, which have to be removed by matching them into pairs. The tiles are arranged in a gridded pattern, which is higher near the center. A tile can only be removed if it has no tile next to it on at least one side. This computer implementation can generate a random board layout to take on and features five preset challenges, some of which have time limits of five or ten minutes, as well as a multiplayer mode. Not Rated 1987 2.8 Board Game 2 Multiplayer Japan Populous AlfaSystem Hudson Soft Ever felt underpowered and lacking in omnipotence? Well now is your chance to live the dream in Populous, Bullfrog's seminal god game. Domination is the aim here - you control a community of cute little guys and must build a population greater than your computer controlled rival. Starting with a house or two, you are at first limited to raising and lowering the ground - the flatter the ground around a domicile, the more advanced it becomes, up to the level of a sturdy fort. But this is not the extent of your power. More houses mean more people, and more people means the higher your little arrow creeps along your power bar, opening up such furious skills to inflict on your opponent like floods, swamps and volcanoes that disrupt the landscape and any city planning therein. Once you feel you have sufficiently dominated the opposition (the display on the top right conveniently gives you a visual guide here) then you release armageddon - all followers gather together and duke it out until there is only one. Depending on your score, you then move forward any number of levels which include diverse scenery such as grasslands, desert, snow and volcanic rock. Not Rated 1991 2.7 Strategy 1 Single Player Japan Ganbare! Golf Boys Dual Masaya Ganbare! Golf Boys ("Do Your Best! Golf Boys") is a PC Engine exclusive golf game that allows for up to four players to compete is a round of golf via the console's multi-tap peripheral. It did not receive a US localization. The game has a permanent top-down view of each hole, zooming in whenever the player is on the green, and has the "hit the sweet spot" power gauge system standard to most golf simulators. It features a total of two courses, with eighteen holes apiece. Ganbare! Golf Boys is notable for being the first project that prominent game musician Atsuhiro Motoyama ever worked on. Not Rated 1989 2.7 Sports 4 Multiplayer Japan Override Sting Entertainment Data East A vertical shoot 'em up with a sci-fi setting that sees brave pilot Kein/Kain Asagiri take on the alien forces that have attacked planet Uranos in his combat hover tank Gigaiasu. The game was initially released on the PC Engine in the January of 1991 and adapted with additional scenes for the Sharp X68000 home computer in the November of that year, where its name was changed to Last Battalion. The goal of the game is to reach the end of each stage, where the player must fight the boss to progress. The game has six stages in total of increasing difficulty. Not Rated 1991 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan TV Sports Football Cinemaware NEC Technologies The crowd's roaring. TV cameras are rolling. You're in a pro football war more real than you've ever played. Digitized sound lets you feel every bone-crunching hit. Call all the plays and audibles. Then control a sophisticated offense and slashing, head-bashing defense as TV announcers broadcast the game. It's fast, furious action for up to 5 players! Battle through a full season schedule to the League Championship! Not Rated 1990 2.6 Sports 2 Multiplayer North America Bonk III: Bonk's Big Adventure A.I Turbo Technologies OH NO!! NOT AGAIN?!! Aaaagh!! What's that Evil King Drool doing back in the Dinosaur Kingdom?! Didn't we get rid of him last time? Guess not, huh? Now it's up to our skull-splitting, head-butting, rock-smashing, monster-bashing prehistoric hero Bonk to put an end to Drool's dastardly deeds once and for all. So go ahead and Bonk your way through the ultimate bash-o-rama .....Bonk 3 ! Not Rated 1993 3.6 Platform 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Genji Tsuushin Agedama Red Company NEC Home Electronics Based on the manga and anime of the same name, the titular hero Agedama goes into action to beat a monster clan led by an evil dragon. Each level works as an auto-runner (with the occasional platformer) that has the player attacking and dodging every monster that comes. Agedama can shoot projectiles, a roll maneuver or perform limited magic attacks. The kind of powers Agedama can use are dependent on the enemy pickups and the position of the indicator on the power gauge. Not Rated 1991 3.4 Platform; Shooter 1 Single Player Japan SonSon II Capcom NEC Avenue In this platformer, loosely based on the classic Chinese novel Xi You Ji, players take control of Son Goku who has to rescue his friends from a mysterious villain. In seven levels, Son Goku has to survive various jumping puzzles, fight off enemies with his staff and collect money in form of fruit. Along the way, he can pick up various helpful items that can either be bought in stores or found hidden within the levels. They include: Medicine that refills Son Goku's health, a magic lamp that allows him to continue after losing a life, keys that open doors, a glove that breaks certain walls and a cloud that Son Goku can use to fly during boss-battles. Additionally, Son Goku can buy longer and more powerful staffs if he finds somebody who sells them. Not Rated 1989 3.4 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Coryoon: Child of Dragon NAXAT Soft Naxat Soft Horizontal shoot 'em up that casts you as a baby dragon out to free a princess from the clutches of an evil....well, you get the idea. Gameplay is traditional, with power-up weapons that include multi-way shot and 'miniature' mode and a sort of reverse R-Type beam where you don't shoot to power it up. Also contains 2 minute and 5 minute time attack modes. Not Rated 1991 3.8 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Eternal City: Toshi Tensou Keikaku NAXAT Soft Naxat Soft Eternal City is a side scrolling action-platformer game. The player takes control of powerful mecha-suit called the Argyderos piloted by the female fighter Minty Geile. She starts her journey armed with a traditional Vulcan gun but numerous weapons can be collected throughout the game. The Argyderos can also later equip a back booster allowing it to fly around the environment or dash forward at high speed. Levels in Eternal City are vast maze-like areas with dead-ends and misleading corridors, each culminating with a boss battle. Not Rated 1991 3.2 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan TaleSpin Interactive Designs NEC Technologies Take off with those high-flying Disney heroes, Captain Baloo and Kit Cloudkicker in the action-packed adventure TaleSpin. Imagine, you're after the lost treasure of Ionia, and the Watusi Witch Doctor is after you! Can you defeat him to go on and defy the dreaded Iron Vulture and make it to the Ice Caves of Thembria? Are you brave enough to challenge Shere Khan for the treasure? Find out by playing TaleSpin, with seven thrilling levels and 150 danger-filled screens! Not Rated 1991 3.1 Action; Platform 1 Single Player North America Rock-On Big Club Big Club You are a buster and you are on a journey to find fortune and the legendary FISA ("mysterious fortune hidden by the ancient people" as the introduction sequence says). Furthermore, the whole world is watching you on TV and looking for your success. Your space ships starts will really low resources, single laser and slow speed. Destroyed enemies will drop icons : 2 (2 ways), 3 (3 ways), 8 (8 ways), S (speed), gun (laser), T (twin lasers), B (Back fire), flame (Fire ball) and infinite (send you back to the beginning of the stage). You can carry up to 3 weapons (items) and they can be selected by pressing Start. Get hit and you will lose all of them. Not Rated 1989 3.0 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Power Golf Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Swing away on 18 lush holes, enter tournaments and compete to win. Keep your head down and concentrate. Release a ton of power coming out of your backswing -- like a coiled spring! Follow through. You'll need a picture-perfect swing, flawless timing and a pro's club selection. Why, you ask? Because this is real. The traps are real, the water is real, the ball is real, and your score is real. Not Rated 1989 2.8 Sports 3 Multiplayer North America Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu Now Production Hudson Soft Jackie and his sister, Josephine, are tough on tyrants. As China's supreme kung fu champs, they guard their country against the Prince of Sorcerers, who lurks just beyond the Great Wall. It comes as no surprise when this fiend and his ghouls try yet again to seize China for themselves. But this time they're clever, casting a spell over Josephine which causes her to vanish into thin air! Jackie is in shock! How can he save his country without his sister? The two have been an unbeatable team! Meanwhile, a demon horde led by the Sorcerer storms the Great Wall and prepares to establish a fierce empire. At the urging of his revered Master, Jackie must now battle the dreaded Sorcerer and rescue Josephine. Maybe he can learn a little magic on his own, because he's going to need all the help he can get! Not Rated 1991 3.5 Action; Platform 1 Single Player North America Power League III Now Production Hudson Soft Power League III is a baseball game from Hudson Soft and the third of six games in their Power League franchise to be released for the PC Engine. It features fictional teams and players and includes All-Star, Pennant and Open modes, as well as a non-competitive Home Run Derby mode. It received various minor enhancements and additions from Power League II, including more realistic and easier to catch flyballs and graphical variation in the batters to help distinguish them from one another. The Power League series would see three more sequels for the PC Engine before jumping ship to the Super Famicom. Only the first game in the series, World Class Baseball, would ever see a US localization. Not Rated 1990 2.4 Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Parodius Da!: Shinwa kara Owarai he Konami Konami Konami's imaginative parody on the Gradius series. It plays just like Gradius, with the same power-up system, but features a far more bizarre and imaginative series of levels and characters. This game was released in Japan for the PC Engine and is a port of the Arcade original with a couple of differences: it doesn't have the arcade Stages 5 and 8, but features a stage titled SPECIAL and a new introduction that features several strange-looking Japanese characters. This is in contrast to the arcade intro, which chronicles the Gradius legacy up until the time of release. Not Rated 1992 3.4 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Legend of Hero Tonma Irem Turbo Technologies Legend of Hero Tonma is an action game that puts players in control of the magic-user Tonma, whose role – as was typical for game heroes of the day – is to travel to another world and save the princess. Fight your way through seven stages using Tonma’s jump ability and shot power. Collect power-ups and barriers to grow in strength and pummel your enemies. Bring that strength to the end of each stage to face off against and defeat the menacing bosses that aim to keep you from the princess. Not Rated 1991 3.6 Action; Platform 2 Multiplayer North America Pro Yakyuu World Stadium Namco Namco Pro Yakyuu World Stadium is the first baseball game released for the PC-Engine. The general gameplay as well as the graphics style closely resembles that of Namco's own "Family Stadium/Famista" baseball series for the Nintendo NES/Famicom. Game options include a one or two-player mode as well as watching two computer opponents play against each other. Players can choose from one of ten non-licensed teams. The game itself follows the standard formula of nearly all baseball games of its time, with having a 3rd-person view from behind the batter during the pitching/batting scenes and an overhead view of the field once the player hits the ball. Progress is saved via passwords given after each match. Not Rated 1988 2.4 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Bari Bari Densetsu Taito Taito Based on a manga, Bari Bari Densetsu is something of a rare breed on the Engine - a motorcycle racing game. You can pretty much guess how it works - there's a World GP mode where you have to compete in a variety of races in order and a Travel mode that let's you pick a track of your choice. Also to consider is the gubbins that make up your bike, such as tyres, engine, brakes etc as these have an effect depending on the type of course and the weather conditions. Races are started with a qualifying lap that lets you get the feel of the track, followed by the race proper. You are then placed and can hopefully move on to the next country. Not Rated 1989 3.0 Racing 1 Single Player Japan Jack Nicklaus: Turbo Golf Beam Software Accolade Jack Nicklaus: Turbo Golf is a 3D golf simulation featuring an 18 Hole course created by Jack Nicklaus himself. Each of the 18 holes are from famous courses around the world and include number 8 at Pebble Beach, number 18 from Muirfield, number 12 from St. Andrews, number 12 from Augusta, number 10 at Riviera, and more. Gameplay is for one to four players and can be either stroke play or a skins game. Not Rated 1989 2.0 Sports 4 Multiplayer North America Fire Pro Wrestling: Combination Tag Human Entertainment Human Entertainment The first in the critically acclaimed Fire Pro Wrestling series, allowing for rapid wrestling action with unprecedented number of moves and a large roster inspired by wrestling legends from around the world. Not Rated 1989 3.0 Fighting; Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Obocchamakun Pack-In-Video Namcot Obocchama Kun is a wacky side scrolling platform game based on a famous japanese manga by Yoshinori Kobayashi and which later became an animation series aired at the end of the 1980s by TV Asahi. The player takes control of a weird kid with strange powers. The greatest being the ability to tranform into all sort of things, from a slow blind man walking with a stick to a four legged and fast dog or a big pink plum. Special items can be collected and trigger even more weird transformations, but also help the player by upgrading the small projectiles he uses to defend himself. Secondary characters can be called during the game. Sort of turtle shells can be found in each area and they can be used to call them (stand on them and sing by pushing up, the nearest item should turn into a special item). They can be in a shape of a beefy dude who will protect our hero, a bearded helicopter shooting down every enemies on screen and a crying kind throwing sorts of hammers in the air. Not Rated 1991 3.5 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Operation Wolf NEC Avenue NEC Avenue Being a one-man army is a difficult business - just ask that bloke Rambo. But you have taken on the hard task of mowing down whole platoons of enemy forces single handed, all to rescue hostages from a rather nasty concentration camp. Choosing from one of four stages, you have a first person view of the action and have to carefully aim your on-screen crosshair to take out the bad guys - but don't get too trigger happy, as there are many civilians and innocents who have chosen just this moment to go for a stroll in the middle of a raging firefight. You have limited ammunition, which can be replenished by shooting the spare clips lying around (which are also dropped from objects such as coconuts and birds), and also a small supply of extra powerful rockets which make short work of armoured vehicles or helicopters that have you in their sights. Occasionally you will see a pile of dynamite that serves as a smart bomb, and a nice energy drink which increases your health slightly - which is essential as it does not recover between levels. (from The PC Engine Software Bible) Not Rated 1990 2.9 Shooter 2 Multiplayer Japan Volfied Taito Taito The space ship Monotros has returned after receiving an SOS call to save his home world (Volfied) from alien invaders and has to defeat a different boss and his minions in each level. Volfied is very similar to Qix -- the player takes control of an ship/object whose purpose is to roam the screen, forming shapes and removing them from the play field. By way of reward, a picture is gradually revealed in the removed areas of the screen. The borders of the area which the player has not cleared become the border of the area the player's pointer can move along. When not cutting the ship is protected by a shield the shield decreases over time and when it hits zero the enemies can also kill you when not cutting. The player's object must avoid contact with any of the enemies which float around the screen, as this will weaken and eventually destroy it. Barriers limit which parts of the border boxes can be formed through. The goal is to clear 80% or more of the screen, and each additional percent adds bonus points. Most levels contain power-up blocks these power-ups can be claimed when the area around it is removed. Possible power-ups are increased speed (S), time frees for the enemies (T), pause you shield from counting down (P), a laser to shoot the smaller enemies (L), all smaller enemies are killed instantly (C) and a weapon to kill the boss (a red tomato only found in blocks with the red light). This game allows for one or two player games in three difficulty levels, but offers no passwords or saved games across its numerous levels. Not Rated 1989 3.4 Action 1 Single Player Japan Bloody Wolf Data East Data East Snake and Eagle, two commandos of the Bloody Wolf special forces, receive instructions from their commander to destroy the enemy's heavily armed base to rescue the President and any allies who have been reported as MIA. Based off the 1988 arcade game, this single-player, top-down, run and gun shooter takes a nod to Contra-style gameplay, allowing one of the two mercenaries to blast their way through eight levels of enemy opposition armed with only a knife and a machine gun. Along the way, new weapons such as shotguns, bazookas, flash bombs and grenades grenades can be added to the arsenal, as well as health and defensive power-ups. Players can even find a motorcycle to ride in some areas, or swim through certain parts of a level. The President and your fellow soldiers need you! Not Rated 1989 3.5 Shooter 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Taito Chase H.Q. Daiei Seisakusho Taito The fastest, most thrilling, 3D driving game yet! Take the wheel of your turbo-charged Porsche as you and your partner go in pursuit of dangerous criminals all driving an evil array of souped-up roadsters. TURBO BOOST! Need to catch up in a hurry? Well, just one press of your Turbo Button will leave your eyes in the back of your head! Barrelling through the city streets, along the roughest of dirt tracks and through busy tunnels - if you can hold the line! The low-life can run, but they can't hide... Not Rated 1990 2.8 Racing 1 Single Player North America Fushigi no Yume no Alice Sankindo FACE Obviously based on Alice in Wonderland, Fushigi no Yume no Alice is a cute and colourful platform romp. You adventure through forests, caves, castles and such, defeating the many enemies by letting out a loud scream that shoots across the screen. The scream can be powered up by holding down the button, but leave it too long and you'll get out of breath and stand there panting, defenseless for a few moments. Aside from your voice, you can also jump on enemies to dispatch them. As you progress through the stages (each with a boss at the end of course) you also gain magic powers in the form of books. By pushing RUN then selecting your power with BUTTON I, you get the chance to do such things as show hidden power-ups and become invincible for a short time. Not Rated 1990 3.1 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Gekisha Boy Tomcat System Irem Gekibo: Gekisha Boy is a 2D side-scrolling game in which you play the part as a camera man who is out to snap some high paying photos to please their contractor. You control the movement of the shutter aim and you have slight control over the character as well (using the same style of control as such games as Cabal). You walk along a side-scrolling street and you have to snap unusual/tragic/funny or simply weird photos to rack up the points. It can be anything from crashing airplanes to Marilyn Monroe lookalikes and UFOs abducting cars. Every stage has a set score you need to reach to progress to the next one or you have to start it over again. Not Rated 1992 3.4 Action 1 Single Player Japan Dungeon Explorer Atlus Hudson Soft You, brave soldier, are the last hope of a once-peaceful Oddesia. Yours is a strange world full of magic, hidden dangers and potions. But you have powerful friends. Use them to recover the ORA Stone which was hidden from the conquering evil king, Natas. Deep within the ancient dungeons lies the Stone with powers of life, light, happiness. But where? Not Rated 1989 3.6 Action; Role-Playing 5 Multiplayer North America Juuouki Sega NEC Avenue Zeus has called upon you! Only a brave and fearless warrior can save his beloved daughter, Athena, from the cunning clutches of Nelf, evil Lord of the Underworld. Risen from the grave, you are presented with supernatural powers beyond this world. Collect the mystical spirit balls and transform into an awesome array of creatures - as Strongman, punch and kick harder than ever before, as WereWolf and WereTiger, rip the flesh of the demons of hell, and as Bear, knock out your enemies with one bad breath! You hear the distant cries of the beautiful Athena and as the terrors of the Underworld tighten their grasp, the beast within you rises to face the final battle! This game was released only for the japanese NEC PC Engine. Not Rated 1989 3.4 Action; Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player Japan Shiryou Sensen: War of the Dead Fun Project Victor Musical Industries Shiryou Sensen: War of the Dead (1987) is considered by many to be the first true survival horror game. Designed by Katsuya Iwamoto, it was developed by Fun Project and published by Victor Music Industries for the MSX2, PC-88 and PC Engine platforms. It also featured open-world gameplay and RPG elements. This horror action RPG revolves around a female SWAT member named Lila who must rescue survivors in an isolated monster-infested town. As the plot unfolds, it is later revealed that the monsters have come from a portal to another world and the family that has secretly protected it for generations. Not Rated 1989 3.2 Action; Role-Playing 1 Single Player Japan Night Creatures Manley & Associates NEC Technologies Hecate, the Queen of Darkness, has feasted on your blood. Now you must destroy her or be hers forever, one of the Walking Undead. Hecate's bite has given you the power to change into a wolf, a bear, and other animals to battle hordes of monsters and ghouls who protect her. You must search for the one correct route through level after level of unspeakable terror to find her. Choose the most devastating weapons and become the animal best able to fight each fiend. Will you defeat Hecate or become her grotesque slave for eternity? Either way, the Queen of Darkness waits for you! Not Rated 1991 2.5 Action 1 Single Player North America Tenseiryuu: Saint Dragon NMK Aicom Cyborg Monsters have taken over the galaxy, reducing race after race into slavery. Being designed by man these beings have superior firepower and attack capabilities, and can only really be beaten by one of their own. St. Dragon the Cyborg Warrior chooses to fight back against this tyranny, and that is the role you take in this horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up. Five R-Type-style levels await, with a wide variety of weapons on offer. When you lose a life (even your last life; there are continues on offer as well) you don't lose any of your power-up weaponry, but the restart points are quite far apart. The game's main unique feature is the armoured tail you have, which can be used to ward off attackers and can do considerable damage on its own if well-used. Not Rated 1990 3.3 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan F1 Triple Battle Human Entertainment Human Entertainment A Formula One racing game. The game includes a world championship mode, where the player must start from the lowest rankings and win races to become the F1 world champion. There is also a split screen battle mode where one or two players can race each other or against computer opponents, as well as a test run mode where the player can learn each course and try to set course records. There are a total of 16 different courses, which can be played in either dry, wet, or half-wet conditions, as well as a wide variety of vehicle settings that can be tweaked. Not Rated 1989 3.2 Racing 2 Multiplayer Japan Gomola Speed: Gomora Supīdo UPL UPL You play a segmented caterpillar-like creature that has to surround food to open the exit to each level. As you work your way around each area, you pick up new body segments which make you longer, and have the ability drop little bombs that attract the enemy bugs. There is a password system to avoid replaying all the levels every time. Not Rated 1990 3.2 Action 1 Single Player Japan Gaia no Monshō NCS NCS Gaia no Monshō (also known as the 'Crest of Gaia') is a fantasy round-based strategy game by NCS and conversion of a game originally released for the NEC PC-8801 in 1987. The Light and Dark forces are engaged in a fierce war and Böser, leader of the Dark Army, is now ready to capture the Rall Tower, source of the world's energy. Sieghart, leader of the Light army, is the only one who stands between the evil Böser and the complete decimation of the kingdom. Gaia no Monshō is a turn-based strategy game at heart - the player moves troops around a battlefield and attacks nearby enemy units. An Auto Battle mode is also available and gives the option to let the AI figure out of the player's next move. The game offers several play modes - the first one (Scenario Mode) gives the player the chance to jump straight into battle using predefined troops. The second (Construction Mode) allows him to build his own army using unit points. The last one (Campaign Mode) conveys story plot elements and starts in the siege town of Dirl, where king Sieghart battles the fierce Böser. This mode requires more complex strategy and the player must assemble his own troops using unit points and units lost in battle don't come back during the campaign. Unlike the other two modes, it offers a password system to save the player's progress through the game. Not Rated 1988 3.3 Strategy 1 Single Player Japan Druaga no Tou Game Studio Namco This is a remake of the original game. The story still's the same: Ishtar sends Gilgamesh up the 60 maze levels of the Druaga's tower to rescue Ki and retrieve the Blue Crystal Rod. He must find each level's key to proceed to the next one. Besides the updated graphics, this remake features a 3/4 view instead of the original top-down one. It also bears some RPG elements, as Gilgamesh gathers experience points for killing enemies, which are spent at the end of each level, to improve his stats (such as speed, health, etc.). He'll also find equipment such as swords, helmets, armors, shields, gauntlets and boots, which can be changed to better his stats, and will also find special items in hidden chests. The way to find theses chests is different for each floor. There are new treasures and new enemies. The game also features four different difficulty levels (easy, normal, hard and pro), as well as a password feature. Not Rated 1992 3.6 Action; Role-Playing 1 Single Player Japan Strip Fighter II Games Express Games Express Strip Fighter II is similar to Street Fighter II, but has a distinguishing feature: in this fighting game all the participants are attractive women. Players can choose one of six female characters. The player-controlled character must use her fighting and combat strengths to defeat the other five girls and a palette-swap of herself. The game has some fairly explicit content: during some moves the fighters would take their clothes off; after each fight the player is presented with a picture of female stripper. Not Rated 1993 2.9 Fighting 2 Multiplayer Japan Spin Pair Media Rings Media Rings This might look like a typical drop-the-block puzzle game, but there’s a twist (or spin) to it. Instead of just matching block colours, you also have to fill in the blocks by rotating their ‘full’ half so it matches the ‘empty’ half of the shape below. As levels progress, blocks represent different things like plants, animals etc to give some variety. There are several modes of play, including a story mode and link-up. Not Rated 1990 2.5 Puzzle 2 Multiplayer Japan Bomberman: Users Battle Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Users Battle is a Bomberman game for the PC Engine, released only in Japan. It bears a 1990 copyright, just like the original release of Bomberman for the platform. Additionally, it plays the same title screen music upon boot, but it has a different title screen, only allowing for multiplayer play for two to five players. It lacks the skull mode option of the full Bomberman release, but otherwise shows similar menus and styles to Bomberman's multiplayer mode. It is believed that Users Battle was created in extremely limited quantities for use at tournaments, demo kiosks, or both. Some online sources estimate the number of cards produced at around 1,000. Not Rated 1990 3.3 Action 5 Multiplayer Japan KickBall Dual Masaya Kickball is a comedic sports game exclusively for the Japanese PC Engine. It resembles baseball, complete with a diamond of bases to around, but the "batting" player is actually kicking the ball. The rest of the game plays like a normal round of baseball. It features seven characters - each of which represents a team of identical athletes - each with their own special pitch/kick move. These characters also include the two protagonists from the Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman series: Tasuke and Kyapiko (or Arnold and Sonia, as they're known in Shockman). Each team also has an assigned stadium that fits their theme: the seal team, for instance, have a stadium with an ice-like floor. Not Rated 1990 2.5 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Tatsujin Sting Taito The evil Dogurava, commander of an alien army known as the Gidans, is attacking the planet Borogo. The army uses five giant asteroids as fortresses for the invasion. After surviving an attack on an orbiting cargo barge, a lone pilot takes the only remaining fighter craft and embarks on a suicide mission: draw the Gidans' fire to himself, while attempting to bypass their fighters on the way to the fortresses. Originating in the arcades, Truxton is a vertically scrolling shooter. The player controls a fighter craft that has to eliminate the enemies with primary weapons or bombs. The basic weapon comes in three varieties: Power Shot (small spreading projectiles), Sun Laser (a powerful, fast-moving straight laser beam, and Truxton Beam (an electric beam that spreads in all directions if the player is holding down the fire button). Each one of these weapons can be upgraded to a more powerful variant by collecting power-ups (up to four power levels). Beside increased attack power, the weapons also may gain additional properties when powering up (e.g. the Power Shot creates a shield around the player-controlled aircraft). Other power-up effects include increasing the ship's maneuvering speed up to four times, increasing the number of bombs, and gaining additional lives. Not Rated 1992 3.9 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Double Dungeons: W NCS NCS Summoned by the King, you are the last hope of a once peaceful land. Journey deep within the earth on your quest to destroy a strange, unnatural force. With new "split screen" action you and a partner can work together to uncover the mysteries of the eerie underground labyrinth and its evil inhabitants. Face the Death Crow, Pumpkin Head, and Savage Elf in over 22 levels of chilling adventure. You won't want to travel alone - and you don't have to! Not Rated 1989 1.9 Role-Playing 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Honoo no Toukyuuji: Dodge Danpei AIM Hudson Soft Danpei Ichigeki is a practiced elementary school dodgeball player for the Tamagawa Team, who are about to challenge seven other dodgeball teams in the upcoming tournament. The dodgeball mechanics consist of moving a selected player around the field and making a charged ball throw, followed by dynamic cutscenes that require the opposing player to move and interact during a ball launch, while the cutscene is playing. The game can be played in story mode, in which the player does an adventure driven game in control of Danpei or in versus mode, in which the player can be any one of the eight teams. Not Rated 1992 3.0 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan World Class Baseball Hudson Soft Hudson Soft This game belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nothing takes you out to the ballgame like World Class Baseball! It tests all your baseball knowledge and skills. Bunt. Throw a slider. A change-u. Pick runners off base. Call in a relief pitcher. Hear the roar of the crowd and the crack of the bat. Play another player. Play against the computer. Play the Turbo Champs. Knock the dirt from your spikes. You're up! Not Rated 1988 2.7 Sports 2 Multiplayer North America King of Casino Algorithm Institute NEC Technologies The chips are down as you and your buddies travel to Vegas in this high stakes adventure. Match wits (and luck!) against the house or up to four of your friends in a game with all the glitz and glamor of a real casino. Play Poker, Blackjack, slot machines, Keno or Roulette. Choose one of 15 different casinos. You're the odds-on favorite in this high-rolling gambling simulation. Not Rated 1990 2.8 Casino 5 Multiplayer North America Toy Shop Boys Mutech Victor Entertainment Toy Shop Boys is a vertical shooter by Victor. The evil Gamma has stolen all the toys and keeps them in his protected castle. The player takes control of a group of three flying kids. They have decided to defeat the baddies and get to Gamma's fortress. Only one kid can be used at the same time though and each one of the has his own set of weapons and skills which include rotating sword, vulcan gun and Boomerangs. As usual, special items can be collected on the way, enhancing they weaponary or activating special features such as short invulnerability or smart-bombs capable of destroying everything on the screen. Enemies are, as you would have guessed, evil toys varying from plastic ducks to electric trains and flying saucers. The game counts five long levels and a two (sadly non-simulataneous) player mode is available. Not Rated 1990 3.4 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Moto Roader II JTS Masaya Moto Roader II is a racing game shown in a top-down perspective. Five vehicles compete on a course with the goal to finish first. However, the screen always follows the leading vehicle and if a vehicle is left behind, it gets replaced on the current screen. Every vehicle has a fuel counter which gets a penalty if the vehicle is hit or needs to be replaced. Reaching zero ends the race. Players can choose between three vehicles which drive differently (car, tank or hovercraft) and, if they have gathered enough prize money, can upgrade it between races (including weapons). In contrast to the predecessor, the game has a futuristic look. Not Rated 1991 3.0 Racing 5 Multiplayer Japan Gokuraku! Chuuka Taisen Daiei Seisakusho Taito Based on the legend of the Monkey King, this takes the shoot 'em up genre and puts it into a fantastical ancient Chinese setting. Riding on your cloud, you have to fend off oriental spirits and monsters that seem to have taken a dislike for you. Take care though, as one hit and you are dead - sending you back to the last restart point in the level. Helping you on your travels are, of course, the obligatory power-up pods and also an occasional shop where you can purchase such useful powers as a ring of fire and 3-way reverse shots. Also handy is the fact that you can spin around at any time to shoot whatever is creeping up from behind. At varying stages throughout each level you face a boss which must be dispatched to move on. Not Rated 1992 2.9 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Power League 5 Now Production Hudson Soft Power League 5, or V, is the fifth game in Hudson's Power League series of baseball sims originally created especially for the PC Engine. The first of these games was localized in North America as World Class Baseball, which is also the alternate name for the series. It was followed by Super Power League and Power League '93, both released in 1993. The game focuses on graphical improvements and tweaking the gameplay features introduced in the previous entries. As a result, the athletes have larger sprites and have more personality - batters will often collapse in despair when striking out. When a homerun is hit, the camera dramatically pans upwards to follow the ball before switching to the standard overhead fielding view. Not Rated 1992 0.8 Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Ryuukyuu ASCII FACE Ryukyu is an unusual puzzle game produced by Ascii Corporation and published by Face. Decorated in a Hawaiian theme (actually, the game is probably based on the Japanese Ryukyu Islands), the game mixes together elements from various classic features with new ones - the most obvious being traditionnal Poker and Tetris. The game field is made of a uniform "five by five" grid. Playing cards are dropped from the top of the field and fill up these empty spaces. When a row, a column or a diagonal of five cards is filled, the game awards the player points for creating poker hands (card combinations) such as pairs, straights or flushes. The goal of the game is to gain the maximum amount of points and maybe achieve a perfect Clear. Ryukyu offers different play modes - solo modes often give the player an opportunity to reveal a picture with a cute girl in bikini made of mosaic tiles (if only they can manage to cleanup the field and unlock them all). Not Rated 1990 2.7 Puzzle 1 Single Player Japan Blazing Lazers Hudson Soft NEC Home Electronics (U.S.A.) Seated at the helm of 80 tons of awesome firepower-a Gunhead Star Fighter-you've just run into the ruthless Dark Squadron. Dangerously close to the Earth, they threaten to destroy the world with 8 Super Weapons. Only you and your Star Fighter's blazing lazers and bombs stand between them and certain destruction. Plan your strategy and power up with the 8 diffrent enhancements that appear-you'll need more than straight shooting to fight your way out of this one! Not Rated 1989 4.0 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Tatsunoko Fighter Advance Communication Company Tonkin House Tatsu no Ko Fighter (or Tatsunoko Fighter) is a side-scrolling platformer exclusively for the PC Engine. The player is a farmer with a staff weapon who makes his way across a land filled with odd creatures and goofy-looking warriors. He is encouraged by a facsimile of the game's artistic lead, manga artist Akira Miyashita, and can learn new spells as the game continues. These spells can greatly help in defeating tougher enemies and preserving the player character's health. When the player reaches the boss, the character switches from a farmer boy in a straw hat to a burly shirtless dude, and the game at this point becomes closer to a brawler. All boss fights are fought in this form, after which the player moves onto the next world as the straw hat boy again. Not Rated 1989 2.6 Platform 1 Single Player Japan Keith Courage in Alpha Zones Advance Communication Company Hudson Soft Now the Battle is in Your Hands You are Keith Courage. Struck by a giant meteor, the world has been invaded by strange creatures from another planet. Burrowing deep within the Earth's surface, the Planet of B.A.D. (Beastly Alien Dudes) seeks to take over the world. As a member of N.I.C.E. (Nations of International Citizens for Earth), your mission is to defeat B.A.D. and bring peace back to the world. Armed only with a sword, you must first defeat the outpost guards. Then, enter the Underworld. Here you activate the awesome Nova Suit. A secret force left to you by your fallen father, you are half man, half mechanical monster. Nearly invincible, your sword cracks with the power of lightning, as you wreak havoc on the fearsome Dudes. Your goal is to reach the Robo Zone (the seventh Alpha Zone), headquarters of B.A.D. Succeed here and you will have won the game, recapturing the Earth and restoring humanity's place in the universe. You have help along the way. Four friends offer you advice, swords, bombs, and extra lives. Collect the stolen riches left behind by the invaders and buy your way out of trouble with money. Not Rated 1989 3.3 Platform 1 Single Player North America Doraemon: Nobita no Dorabian Night Now Production Hudson Soft Taking a different route to its maze-based predecessor, this Doraemon game is a side scrolling platformer with a simple, colourful look. You have to rescue your friends who have dived into various books and are pursued by the inhabitants within. You start off having to avoid the wandering beasties, but eventually get hold of such items as a gun that freezes anything in your path for a moment. Along the way you get to ride on dinosaurs, crawl under moving stone blocks, creep along precarious ledges and slide down water chutes. Not Rated 1991 3.2 Platform 1 Single Player Japan Lode Runner: Lost Labyrinth Brøderbund Software Pack-In-Video Lode Runner: Lost Labyrinth is an exact conversion of the original Lode Runner. However, this version features one hundred levels which mostly differ from the original ones. Another difference is that the levels scroll. This is a platformer in which the protagonist needs to collect all gold which is spread out over the levels. Unfortunately there are a lot of enemies roaming around which should be avoided. The protagonist can't jump and so he needs to resort to ladders and horizontal ropes for dodging. The only way to temporarily get rid of a guard is to make a hole in the ground where they can't get out when falling in. After a certain amount of time a hole is filled up and a trapped guard respawns. Not Rated 1990 2.6 Platform 1 Single Player Japan Monster Pro Wres Lenar ASK Kodansha Monster Pro Wrestling is a 1991 wrestling game exclusive to the PC Engine. It features various monster wrestlers, some of which are based on classical monsters like zombies, werewolves and mummies. The story of the game involves monster wrestlers summoned by a demon to conquer the Earth, and a human scientist who creates his own mutant wrestler to combat them in the ring. Rather than an action game, the player hits a button to stop a rolling dice and their opponent does the same. This determines the initial balance of power between the two, and then both players have to spam the attack button to move a gauge closer in their favor. Shortly thereafter, a cutscene plays to show the result of the face off, usually with one opponent taking a lot of damage. The player is able to distribute points to their wrestler's stats between bouts to boost their chances of winning. Not Rated 1991 2.5 Fighting; Strategy 2 Multiplayer Japan Batman Sunsoft Sunsoft The TurboGrafx-16 version of Batman: The Video Game is a top-down maze-like game, somewhat similar to Pac-Man or Bomberman. The game consists of five stages based on the movie: the Streets of Gotham, Flugelheim Museum, AXIS Chemical Factory, the Parade and the Cathedral, where Batman finally faces the Joker. The first four stages are divided into 12 sub-stages or mazes. Each main level has its own objective, which basically consists of finding items in the mazes: collecting "smilex" components in the streets of Gotham, cleaning paintings at the museum, planting bombs at the factory and cutting off the ropes of Joker's balloons at the parade. Before each level, a cutscene with scenes from the movie is displayed. Batman can attack his enemies with his Batarang. Through the levels, he will collect items which will upgrade his speed and give his Batarang a longer range and multiple shots. Not Rated 1990 3.4 Action 1 Single Player Japan Aoi Blink Westone Hudson Soft Based on a TV anime series (from the grandfather of manga Osamu Tezuka), Blue Blink is a cute platformer that manages to find its place among the crowd. The game is divided up into different areas, each represented by a map screen. Within these areas, you can choose your route to the end (by exiting levels at certain points). Throughout each area you have to find a 'master key' allowing you access to the boss - this can be hard to locate at times and requires lots of shooting at blank areas of screen just in case. Control of your character is original - on each stage you have three characters which you can choose between, with the CPU controlled ones following behind you like some bizarre congo line. The characters are preset and vary from stage to stage, and each one has different attributes. For example, some have very high jumping ability, whereas others are poor at jumping but have spread-shot weapons. Once you have found the master key and reached the final level in the area, you are entered into a boss battle, where you sit astride the titular donkey and attempt to fight your way to the next area. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Barunba Zap Namco Barunba is a shooter in comic style. You control a spacecraft that has a weapons ring around it and therefore can shoot in various directions. Weapons can be upgraded by shooting enemies and picking up the pods they might change in. The levels automatically scroll and move in all directions. Each level has its own theme and is quite long and has two bosses: a mid-level boss and an end boss. Both bosses have to be defeated before you can continue to finish the level or go to the next. A status bar at the bottom of the screen shows the energy bar of your ship and it's game over when that bar has depleted. Not Rated 1990 2.6 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Winning Shot Data East Data East Winning Shot is a golf game which is completely played from a top-down perspective. The hitting mechanics are based on a menu in which the player can set the used club (out of 14), the hitting strength and the location where the ball is hit. The courses feature many obstacles which should be avoided and wind which should be calculated in. Besides the single-player mode in which the player participates in tournaments there are also two multiplayer modes: one for two players and another one for up to four players. The basic goal for both is to have the lowest amount of hits after 18 holes, but in the second mode there are penalty points assigned for every hit above the hole's limit. Not Rated 1989 2.8 Sports 4 Multiplayer Japan Dragon Saber: After Story of Dragon Spirit Now Production Namco Whereas Dragon Spirit was a multi-format conversion, only Turbo-Grafx / PC Engine users initially got to play the lesser-known sequel at home. Gameplay-wise, little has changed from the original, as both games are vertically-scrolling shoot 'em ups putting you in control of a dragon. You are flying over built-up land, complete with rivers and their banks. The enemies and waves can be shot or avoided - shooting them reveals extra points as well as the occasional power-up. Ground units are shooting at you but can't be shot back, so be careful which parts of the screen you occupy at which times. The game now supports two-player simultaneous gameplay: Huey, the blue dragon, and Siria, the red dragon, are player one and player two respectively. Not Rated 1991 3.5 Shooter 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Somer Assault Atlus Atlus Somer Assault is a difficult to describe game. In it you control a pink slinky character with guns attached to it. You move around mazes, climbing on walls, on the ceiling, through shortcuts, and attempt to find your way to the end. Along the way, you have to shoot out many, many enemies. And at the end, you will find a nasty boss surprise. The story is bizarre, which fits the concept of the game. A sorceress has plans to rule the world. To do so, she has summoned 12 beasts, each based on a sign of the zodiac. It's up to you, pink slinky, to defeat the 12 astrological signs. Not Rated 1991 3.1 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Bomberman '93 Hudson Soft Turbo Technologies Tension, strategy, action, excitement - Bomberman's back! You can now battle against up to four computer-controlled maniacs by yourself for the ultimate five bomberman mode. Choose from seven exciting new stages with loads of new power-up items like werps, conveyer belts, revolving doors and even kicking bombs! Or for portable thrills, go head-to-head against a friend using TurboExpress for non-stop action. The best competitive game is back, and it's more intense than ever! Not Rated 1992 3.8 Action 5 Multiplayer North America Street Fighter II': Champion Edition Capcom NEC Home Electronics From the corners of the globe come twelve of the toughest fighters to ever prowl the streets. Choose your champion and step into the arena as one of the eight original challengers or as one of the four Grand Masters! Pound your opponent as Balrog and knock them out for the count. Tower over your prey as Sagat and daze them with your awesome Tiger Shot. Slash your opponent with Bison's claw and send them running for cover. Or strike fear into your enemies as Vega, the greatest Grand Master of them all! Not Rated 1993 4.4 Fighting 2 Multiplayer Japan Burning Angels NAXAT Soft Naxat Soft Evil forces have kidnapped the leader of the Burning Project! It's up to the Burning Angels to rescue her! And so starts another vertically scrolling shooter on the PC Engine. There are no surprises in the gameplay here - choose one of two ships, shoot down enemies and collect power upgrades and energy pods. Levels range from the city to the desert and the obligatory sci-fi enemy base. At the end of each level, defeat the large boss craft to move on. Not Rated 1990 3.3 Shooter 2 Multiplayer Japan Power League IV Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Power League 4 is the fourth of five Power League games for the PC Engine, published by Hudson Soft. Originally released in 1991, the PC Engine version would later be added to two digital storefronts: the Wii's Virtual Console library in 2007 and PSN's "PC Engine Classics" range in 2009. Power League 4 adds mostly cosmetic changes to the series. These include new animations for the scoreboards and nighttime variants of its four baseball stadiums. The pitching was modified slightly as well. Not Rated 1991 3.3 Sports 4 Multiplayer Japan Aero Blasters Inter State Hudson Soft The player controls a small craft through different levels with many enemies. Every level ends with a boss and some section speed up the gameplay, offering fast obstacle courses both horizontally and vertically scrolling. Flying orange pods release many power-ups at once, enhancing the ships with new or more powerful lasers, wing men and shields. The player can also hold the fire key to charge a blast that removes all enemy bullets from the screen and deals damage to all enemies. With an unforgiving difficulty, every hit is fatal, but the game can be continued from any points as long as there are lives and credits left. The game can be played with two players cooperatively. Not Rated 1990 3.3 Shooter 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Battle Royale Incredible Technologies NEC Technologies It's wrestling mayhem out of control! Five maniacs hit the mat in a no-holds-barred, free-for-all brawl with no rules, no refs and absolutely no mercy! Team up with friends to nail opponents. Now look out! They're coming after you! Smash 'em, bash 'em and throw 'em over the ropes! The sound is so intense you'll feel every crushing hit, every cracking bone. It's furious, non-stop action for up to five players ... a winner-take-all gang fight for survival! Not Rated 1990 2.8 Sports 5 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America F1 Circus '91: World Championship Nihon Bussan Nihon Bussan F1 Circus '91 is a Formula 1 simulation racing game. The series did not yet feature an official license, and so just like the first game it only features generic team and driver names. The game itself plays much the same, with the overhead race view and focus on car tuning and damage. The World Championship mode has of course returned, though the managerial Constructors mode is no longer present. There is also a Free Attack mode, where any course can be freely practiced; a Training mode, where special training courses can be raced on to learn the ins and outs of the game; and a Watch mode, where the player can choose a course and watch a demonstration race. Not Rated 1991 3.2 Racing 1 Single Player Japan Don Doko Don ITL Taito Very much in the mould of Bubble Bobble, Don Doko Don features a couple of what look like garden gnomes wielding hammers to club their enemies into submission. Once you stun a baddie, walk into them to pick them up. You can then toss them across the screen (into other baddies to dispatch them also) to destroy them and create some bonus fruit or sweeties. Clear a screen of the allocated number and it's on to the next one, leading up to a boss at the end of the section. Not Rated 1990 3.4 Platform 1 Single Player Japan Power Gate Make Software Pack-In-Video Power Gate is a horizontal shoot 'em up developed by Make and published by Pack-in-Video. The game is a fairly standard example of its genre, with a handful of power-ups that include bombs for attacking ground targets, as well as more powerful weapons that can only be used once apiece. The player's fighter has three shield bars that lets them take three hits before being destroyed. These shield bars can be restored with certain power-ups as well. Not Rated 1991 2.4 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Download AlfaSystem NEC Avenue Download is a side-scrolling shooter. The player controls Syd on his flying bike, which acts, for all purposes, like other aircrafts in comparable games. Before each mission, the player selects one of the two available main weapons: vulcan cannon (spreading fire, up to five directions if powered-up), and laser beam (powerful, focused fire; beams are added with power-ups). The secondary weapons include homing missiles, a bomb-like gadget, and a shield - all with limited ammunition/energy. The stages include real-world locations as well as abstract "computer-like" virtual reality worlds, with geometrical figures and computer-related objects as enemies. Boss enemies usually guard the exit to each level, and utilize a variety of shooting patterns to stop the hero. Anime-style cut scenes advance the story between the missions. Not Rated 1990 3.2 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan After Burner II Bits Laboratory NEC Avenue One of Sega's big arcade hits using their 'super scaler' technology, it was a bold move to try and convert this to any home machine. After Burner II is, quite simply, one of the most mindless shooters that you're ever likely to play: simply fly your F-14 into the screen, dodging missiles like crazy and letting all hell loose with your vulcan cannon. There is precious little strategy - even less than Space Harrier, and often luck plays more of a part than skill. The action is split up by the occasional bonus stage - a run through a canyon blowing up anything that dares to exist in front of you. Fuelling planes and landing strips also make a regular appearance. Not Rated 1990 3.3 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan AV Poker: World Gambler Games Express Games Express Unlicensed PC Engine release by Games Express. AV Poker is not a full poker simulator, but a simple gambling game. You choose from Normal, which is a standard game or Special Mode, where you travel around the world to show off your gambling skills. The poker part of the game is extremely simple. You place a bet, get a hand dealt to you, choose which cards to hold, and get a second deal to fill in the discards. If you match any of the standard poker hands, you win. You then get the options of taking the cash or playing a higher-lower game to increase your winnings significantly. Occasionally, you also get a fruit machine style mini-game which gives you the chance of winning 'special' cards that can be used during the game. Not Rated 1992 2.4 Casino 2 Multiplayer Japan Space Harrier Dempa Shimbunsha NEC Technologies You are Harrier, the resourceful extra-terrestrial warrior. And space is your battlefield. Your mission is to save the Land of the Dragons from vicious creatures led by the vile and crafty One-Eyed Mammoth. Aided by your only friends, the Dragons, you find yourself attacked again and again. Armed only with an Autolock Energy Launcher and your wits, you must fight off one heavily-armed alien after another. You must use every trick in the book. Every skill at your command. The clashes are thrilling and demanding. The combat scenes are powerful. Can you survive the intense fighting? For your sake, for the sake of the Land of the Dragons, you must! Not Rated 1988 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Legendary Axe II Atlus NEC Technologies The Axe is back... with twice the force and twice the fury of 1988's classic TurboGrafx-16 videogame. This time it's brother against brother, locked in deadly combat. Your older brother has summoned forces of unspeakable evil to take control of the kingdom. Treachery rules! Your only hope is the legendary royal sword. But will its power be enough to overcome the Cliffs of Chaos? The Skull Dungeon? And the treacherous Crypts of Slime? Only your courage, your fighting skill, and the Legendary Axe can answer! Not Rated 1990 3.8 Action; Platform 1 Single Player North America TV Sports Hockey Cinemaware NEC Technologies The stadium organ is pumping as you faceoff against international competition. Play any position, even goalie, with total control. Experience all the stick handling, slap shots, body checks and fisticuffs of world class hockey. Make strategic goalie and line changes. If their goon slams you into the boards, drop your gloves and duke it out. Now you're flying down the ice on a power play. You wind up and crank a high, blazing slap shot, but their goalie's reaching up and...Welcome to World War III, hockey style! Not Rated 1991 2.8 Sports 4 Multiplayer North America Yo, Bro ICOM Simulations NEC Technologies Ratz attack! Ratz attack! The city of Los Angeles is being invaded! Only Lil Bro', Camp California's rad skateboarding dude, can save it. The evil Ratz gang is unleashing a barrage of killer creatures and devices. Find incredibly cool weapons to fight back. Wipe out their earthquake machines and nasty man-eating plants with rocket grenades. Fight off wicked space aliens and launch your bonus attacks. It'll take everything you've got to send the Ratz packing. Not Rated 1991 2.4 Action 1 Single Player North America Chanpion Resuraa Taito Taito Champion Wrestler is a wrestling game where you have the choice of eight fighters to become champion. You have various moves to use to beat your opponent into submission including kicks, punches and throws. The action is viewed from the side at an elevated angle showing the whole ring. If you leave the ring you have a small time limit to get back into the ring or it's fight over. Up to four players can play and the multi-player options are one player versus the computer, two players fighting each other, two players fighting together against the computer or four players split into two teams fighting each other. Not Rated 1990 2.5 Fighting; Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Formation Soccer: Human Cup '90 Human Entertainment Human Entertainment The first of the Formation Soccer games from Human Entertainment. Formation Soccer Human Cup '90, uses a vertical-scrolling view of the pitch. The game was designed and released to coincide with the 1990 World Cup event set in Italy. It features sixteen teams, though only eleven of those actually qualified for the World Cup. The player can choose between a single game Exhibition mode and a tournament "Human Cup" mode to choose between. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Sports 1 Single Player Japan Sinistron AlfaSystem Information Global Service Sinistron is a side scrolling shooter similar to R-Type, but has a unique weapons system in which you can open and close your shields to improve your fire power at the expense of making your ship vulnerable. There are also several different powerups you can pick up such as missiles and different types of lasers. The plot in the game is not real clear according to the instruction booklet. Apparently something called a "Sinistron" has invaded your quadrant of the galaxy and you have to blow it up, just because. This game has large enemy sprites and large boss characters. The levels take place mostly in outer space and alien environments. Some of the sprites are Macross-like mechs. The Japanese version, "Violent Soldier", had slightly different graphics. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Turrican The Code Monkeys Ballistic From beyond the edge of darkness, evil incarnate is back. He is Morgul, master of all the fears and nightmares of mankind. As a world trembles in sleepless terror, a single warrior emerges - you are Turrican! Battle through the five worlds of darkness encountering thunder and storm, mechanical monsters, hidden rooms, awesome end of level guardians, reptillian beasts, and anywhere... the unexpected! Featuring 13 levels with over 1,300 screens, 10 hi-tech weapons systems, multi-directional scrolling, 20 musically excellent soundtracks, countless special effects and bonus features, and 50 different aliens and 8 gigantic end-level monsters. Not Rated 1991 3.0 Platform; Shooter 1 Single Player North America The NewZealand Story Aisystem Tokyo Taito Platformer in which you play Tiki the Kiwi, out to rescue your kiwi friends from the nasty animals that have taken them captive. The platforming action requires you to navigate through sets of levels to reach your goals armed with a long-range bow and arrow to defend yourself. You can gain various upgrade items along the way such as a laser gun, fast running shoes and plenty of floating transport like hot air balloons or inflatable ducks to ride around on. But take care as these pop easily, and you yourself can only take a single hit before expiring Not Rated 1990 2.9 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Break In Hudson Soft Naxat Soft Break In is a pool simulator for the PC Engine that was developed and published by Naxat Soft. The game allows for multiple human players (up to four) and has six different modes, including 8-ball, 9-ball, Rotation and Bowlliards variations among others. The player can either play against a CPU opponent, a human opponent or play a single-player story mode in which they have to beat 14 NPCs of increasing difficulty. There is also a challenge mode for trick shots and other difficult pots. Not Rated 1989 2.0 Sports 4 Multiplayer Japan Shockman Winds NCS It's been two years since Arnold and Sonya were made into Shockmen. A message from the professor to return to their bodies has them head to his laboratory, but they are ambushed by a mysterious enemy along the way. After narrowly defeating the enemy, they catch a TV news flash announcing the Ryo Empire invasion. They find that the professor has been abducted and set out to rescue him. Shockman is a side-view action shooter that has eight stages, including Action Stages, where you jump and use special techniques, and side-scrolling Shooting Stages. This game expands on the well-paced story from the previous version and contains cooperative elements like shared life and a powerful Team Shockbeam that can be used during two-player simultaneous play. Not Rated 1991 2.5 Platform; Shooter 2 Multiplayer North America Dragon Egg! Tenky NCS A girl and her egg, all alone in the cruel world. But this is not just an ordinary egg, collect or buy power-ups (from handy local stores) and out pops a little dragon's head, ready to swing round and breathe fire at anything that dares to get in your way. Collect enough of them and the dragon hatches fully, allowing you to ride on its back, spraying enemies with fire balls. All this is done over scenery ranging from woodlands to strangely un-fantasy like hi-tech fortresses. Not Rated 1991 3.5 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Atomic Robo-Kid Special UPL UPL More of an explorative shooter than the standard blasting affairs, Atomic Robo-Kid Special takes all the elements from the arcade version and jiggles around with them a bit for the PC Engine. The control method takes a little getting used to - pressing button I selects from one of four weapons collected along the way, whereas holding down button I will lock you to the direction you are facing, making backing-away and firing easier. It can be fiddly at first, but it's essential that you master it. The four weapons available are variable in quality. The forward shot and diagonal shot are both only useful when you've lost the other weapons, as the missile and full-fire are the ones that you will utilise most often. The missile is particularly useful as in some levels you are required to blast away areas of wall to progress. Levels are varied - some are horizontal, some are more like mazes and there are also two types of boss area: one with a small enemy over the opposite side of the screen protected by a barrier you have to destroy, and another with a huge mechanical monster that follows you relentlessly around an arena. Not Rated 1990 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan TV Sports Basketball Cinemaware Victor Musical Industries The arena's rockin'. Network cameras are rollin'. It's showtime! Here's ultra-real pro roundball that puts you right on the floor with an awesome on-the-court view and total control. Set your offense. Use your screen to nail a three-pointer. Roll off your pick to hit the jumper. Or post up in the paint and power slam with one second left on the shot clock! Now turn up the heat on defense. Trap and go for the steal! Do it all in the only game for up to five players with action more real than you've ever seen! Not Rated 1991 3.0 Sports 4 Multiplayer North America Heavy Unit Inter State Taito The human colony "Le Tau" is under attack by some strange aliens. It is the player's job to use a special starship and destroy everything which moves. Heavy Unit is a typical side-scrolling shooter with six levels filled with enemies, mid and end bosses. Destroyed enemies may leave behind items which have beneficial effects when collected: increased speed, better weapon power, a shield, extra lives or transformation into a robot. The robot has a more powerful weapons system (laser beam and homing energy balls instead of a vulcan gun), but also a downside: its large size makes it easier to be hit by enemies or crash into the environment. If that happens, a life and all collected upgrades are lost and the ship is reset at the last checkpoint. While the level layouts are identical in all versions, there are some minor differences in enemy placement, graphics (e.g. the Genesis version has more colors and bigger enemies) and sound. Not Rated 1989 2.5 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Fantasy Zone Bits Laboratory NEC Home Electronics An evil force has overcome this beautiful land of awesome colors and peaceful people. Plundering Golden Rubicom coins, your enemy is an intergalactic band of thieves. Armed with cannon and bombs, you must recover the stolen coins to buy expanded powers. But be careful! The alien Super Boss waits in ambush. Restore order for the Federation or kiss the galaxy's favorite vacation place good-bye! Not Rated 1988 3.5 Shooter 2 Multiplayer North America Shinobi Dual Asmik It's Japanese for stealth, the perfect description of a Master Ninja. And that's exactly what you are! Armed with throwing stars and finely-honed battle skills, you must defeat the Ring of Five. Fight your way past mercenaries and karate thugs. Take out the meanest martial artists and rescue hostages. But these dangers pale in comparison to your ultimate challenge: A fight to the death against five evil Ninja Assassins whose mastery of the deadly ancient arts may well surpass your own! Not Rated 1989 3.8 Platform; Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player Japan Mr. Heli no Daibouken Irem Irem Mr. Heli takes place in the year 2999 and Mr. Muddy is threatening the planet. Fortunately the player has a fully armed large helicopter with which to attack his sadistic minions. The helicopter will fly through four side-view levels, primarily scrolling left to right but with some variant, each of which ends with a boss. As well as enemies, there are many blocks on the levels. The weapon upgrade system is build into these, which function in two different ways. Most will drop crystals, which if collected are added to a cash total. The others reveal a picture of a weapon with a price - make contact with it while carrying enough credits and the weapon will be bought. When the energy bar runs out the player loses a life. When this happens the player loses all money. Not Rated 1989 3.3 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Puzznic Taito Taito The player has to manage gem blocks which fall to the bottom of the screen when unsupported. Gems disappear when one or more gems of the same color are touching them; however, if a single gem of a specific color is left behind, the puzzle becomes impossible to complete. The same is true when two or more gems cannot reach each other due to obstructions. In this sense, the game is deeply strategic in the same manner as a game like Sokoban where the player always needs to consider their next few moves. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Puzzle 1 Single Player Japan Impossamole Core Design NEC Technologies For Monty Mole, a day at the beach turns into the adventure of his life when he's beamed aboard an alien spacecraft. He's transformed into Impossamole, with super powers to save their planet from the evil Vlarg! Now you're up to your cape in Vlarg's monster bosses with crack-up creatures ready to nail your tail! Power up your laser to blast the Dragon Boss. Bomb the Abominable Snowman. Then trash the Venus Moletrap before he has you for lunch. Swim, fly and blast through five wacky action-packed worlds. The fiendish Vlarg awaits your final desperate battle! Not Rated 1991 2.2 Action; Platform 1 Single Player North America Metal Stoker Sankindo FACE An overhead multi-directional action shooter, you control a craft that has to destroy all the enemies in various locations to progress. Your ship fires in any of the eight directions that you face, and you can also lock the direction of fire for more accuracy. Scattered around are various power-up pods that allow you to chose another ship from the pause menu, each having differing offensive or defensive abilities. Not Rated 1991 3.3 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Dungeons & Dragons: Order of the Griffon Westwood Associates Turbo Technologies The Vampire has escaped and has arisen again just as the Ancient Ones predicted. The Vampire controls bands of monsters who do his destructive bidding. Using the evil Iron Ring, he bends the will of the common people in an attempt to take over the world. Even the great Radlebb Keep has been conquered by the Dark Once and been bent to his evil will. Now, with your character in the Order of the Griffon, we have a chance to defeat the evil Vampire! World peace can be restored! Not Rated 1992 2.9 Role-Playing 1 Single Player North America Cratermaze Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Cratermaze is an action puzzle game viewed from an overhead perspective. Each stage consists of a maze filled with various enemies and items. You must collect all of the keys on the stage to open the exit door while avoiding or eliminating enemies. Your primary method of dealing with enemies is to dig holes; if an enemy walks into a hole, they are momentarily trapped and you can then fill the hole to kill the enemy. You can also obtain temporary weapon powerups such as rayguns and yo-yos, as well as extend your digging reach to dig multiple holes at once. There are also several bosses encountered throughout the game. The Japanese release, Doraemon: Meikyu Daisakusen, features popular children's character Doraemon and his friends. The game is a conversion of the 1987 Nichibutsu coin-op Kid no Hore Hore Daisakusen, which also saw a modified Famicom version called Booby Kids. Not Rated 1989 3.0 Action; Puzzle 1 Single Player North America Bouken Danshaku Don: The Lost Sunheart Manjyudo I'Max Bouken Danshaku Don: The Lost Sunheart ("Adventures of Don Baron: The Lost Sunheart", roughly) is a horizontal shoot 'em up exclusive to the PC Engine. The game's plot concerns the titular Sunheart device, which is broken into several pieces and spirited away by a group of malicious eyeball enemies. The hero, in a series of vehicles, takes down each of the boss creatures that are protecting a piece of the stolen Sunheart. The game is distinct among shoot 'em ups for allowing players to keep their power-ups after dying. Not Rated 1992 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Energy Quasar Soft Masaya Energy is a side scrolling platform game by NCS/Masaya. It is based on Ashe, an obscure PC-8801 Japanese game originally released by Quasar Soft in 1988. A powerful earthquake has released an army of mutant monsters all over the city of Tokyo. A small group of humans survived and from their underground hideout they decide to send a team to investigate and fight the threat. The player takes control of a young fighter with psionic powers (called 'ESP'), the only known of his kind. He can use these unique phsychic powers to also fire balls of energy, his only means of defense against the various mutants and monsters that crawl around the levels. The player also meets many supportive characters throughout the game that offer clues about the overall story. Not Rated 1989 2.1 Platform; Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Maniac Pro-Wrestling: Ashita e no Tatakai Hudson Soft Hudson Soft A strategic wrestling games which allows the player to set up their own moveset to diversify and strategically approach each match. Not Rated 1990 1.7 Fighting; Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Youkai Douchuuki TOSE Namco Tarosuke has died and now must cross the purgatory as depicted in Buddhist lore, fighting enemies and advancing in his path towards ultimate redemption. Depending on just how well he behaves in this afterlife you can see up to 5 different endings, which involve everything from re-incarnation to eternal damnation in hell. Yōkai Dōchūki plays as a side-scrolling action platformer, in which you control Tarosuke as he jumps around the game world, avoiding pitfalls and other traps. Enemies can be defeated by the use of a ki-based projectile attack and, once defeated, monsters leave behind money which can be exchanged in-game for health and other unique power-ups. Bosses are based on several Buddhist tales; being much too powerful for Tarosuke, he must invoke his guardian spirit to defeat such demons, which involves finding a shrine and praying until it is summoned. Not Rated 1988 3.1 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Soldier Blade Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Destroy the enemy, Zeograde Army!! Searching for new resources, the Reconnaisance Fleet goes into the deep space. But four months after their mission begins, all contact is lost. Suddenly, three years later.... the Fleet returns, but they have been consumed by alien life forms. Now they have come to attack the earth. But no need to be flurried. Now the time has come to "Solider Blade." Equipped with a miniature Bias Drive, the fight goes on! You become a member of the team "Super Interception Airforce", and destroy the enemy! Not Rated 1992 3.9 Shooter 1 Single Player North America NHK Okaasan to Issho: Niko Niko Pun ISCO NHK Software Niko Niko Pun ("niko niko" means "smile") is a platformer game for the PC Engine. It is intended for a younger audience, and has simplified gameplay. The goal of the game is to collect certain types of fruit to feed the trio's dragon friend at the end of each stage. Players can collect other fruit types for additional points. Some require some platforming to collect, such as jumping off a tortoise to grab fruit too high to reach normally. The player can enter doors to listen to NPCs or play a sliding-block mini-game. The game has no health bar, just a generous timer: getting hit too frequently will stun the player temporarily instead. They can select one of the three characters at the start of each level, and each plays the same. Not Rated 1991 2.8 Platform 1 Single Player Japan The Ninja Warriors Taito Taito Conversion of Taito's scrolling ninja slash 'em up. Playing as a choice of male or female robot ninja, you make your way across the horizontally scrolling play area slashing enemies and throwing shurikens from a limited supply. As you take hits your robot form is slowly revealed until you explode - then it's Game Over. Not Rated 1989 3.1 Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player Japan Dragon Spirit Namco Namco Amur, the spirit of the dragon, lives within you. As the winged creature that breathes mega-tons of fire, your mission is revealed. Rescue Princess Alicia from Zowel, Demon of Darkness. So take to the skies and destroy enemy creatures with breath and fireballs. Add dragon heads and incredible power-ups. Confront Zowel in a Super Battle of Beasts! (Careful not to breathe on Alicia). Not Rated 1988 3.6 Shooter 1 Single Player North America The Legendary Axe Victor Musical Industries Victor Musical Industries You are Gogan, a muscular powerhouse with enough guts to enter the Pits of Madness. Your mission: rescue the beautiful red-haired Flare. You are strong, but you also have Sting, a sacred axe to help you battle strange creatures and the savage cult of Jagu, fighting through mountain, jungle and cave environments to reach the lovely maiden. Not Rated 1988 3.7 Platform; Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player North America Batoru Rodo Ranna Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Originally released only in Japan on the PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16), Battle Lode Runner is a sequel to Lode Runner and its major draw is a 5 player mode. Players move around several platforms collecting gold. Various enemies inhabit the levels, and the player, armed with a drill, attempts to drill holes to capture the enemies. Unfortunately, this does not defeat the enemies, only disables them for a short time. After a few seconds, the enemies respawn and resume their chase of the player. The five-player option was new to any incarnation of Lode Runner, and operates in a very similar manner to Bomberman, except with hole drilling instead of bombing. Not Rated 1993 3.2 Action; Platform; Puzzle 5 Multiplayer Japan Final Blaster Aisystem Tokyo Namco Final Blaster is a vertically scrolling shooter with seven levels. As usual, the player mans a space ship, has to kill the enemy opposition and a powerful boss enemy at the end of each level. A speciality is the dynamic difficulty: if the player offers a good performance in a level, he gets ranked up which affects the difficulty of the next. There are four of those ranks. The game features two power ups which are represented with different colours: weapon upgrades and drones which accompany the player. If the player dies, the extras are evacuated into a green capsule. It can be then picked up when using the next life. Not Rated 1990 3.2 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Tricky Kick AlfaSystem Information Global Service Flex your thumbs and tease your brain! TRICKY KICK takes brain teasing puzzle gaming into the next dimension. Six different Heroes, trapped in a mixed-up, matched-up world of obstacles, baffle their way through hostile hazards. Weave your way through 120 levels of mind-bending possibilities where wild animals, robots, spooks, and trolls try to keep you from your goal. Designed for puzzlers of all ages, TRICKY KICK will quickly become a game you'll find hard to quit. Not Rated 1991 3.2 Puzzle 1 Single Player North America Power Drift Copya System Asmik Ace Entertainment Choose from wacky drivers, like Jason the Skinhead or Jeronimo the Mohican and rev your way through all the stomach-churning circuits! Watch the dust fly and the wheels spin as you screech over a roller coaster track and wave goodbye to your opponents. Roar over mounds of mud, drive through the desert, slip 'n' slide on snow-covered tarmac and race your way through the night to face the final lap! CAREFUL! Power Drift is no easy ride! If you're heading for a collision hold on to your seat and enjoy those 360 degree spins before you bump back down to earth! Not Rated 1990 3.2 Racing 1 Single Player Japan Final Soldier: Special Version Hudson Soft Hudson Soft On Earth in the 23rd century, a space time warp opens up over the Atlantic Ocean. From it comes an enormous invasion force analyzed to come from the 25th century. As Earth is attacked by the alien war machines, it is revealed that the culprits are identified as the Gader'el, a race of large bio-mechanic creatures, who have the ability to freely manipulate space and time; after conquering the future Earth in the 25th century, the Gader'el decided to ensure their influence on mankind by traveling back in time to the 23rd century, conquering that time and then going further into Earth's past. As the armed forces of every country on Earth combats the Gader'el, each scientific academy collaborates on making a weapon capable of destroying the Gader'el's strongest weapons. The result is the Dryad, a single-fighter spaceship capable of wielding several types of futuristic weapons. The Dryad's flight path and mission is to warp into the Future Zone in order to reach the Gader'el headquarters and destroy their leader. Not Rated 1991 3.9 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Veigues: Tactical Gladiator Bits Laboratory Victor Musical Industries For 3 years, alien invaders have been pounding the earth into a smoldering ruin. There isn't a man alive who can stop them. But now, there's Veigues, a devastating fighting machine! Built with captured enemy technology, he's our last desperate hope for survival ... and you're in control! Trash the invaders with the Plazma Cannon! Just keep your firepower hot and fight like there's no tomorrow. Destroy the aliens or there won't be!. Not Rated 1990 2.5 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Takeda Shingen Aicom Aicom Takeda Shingen is a 2D beat 'em up set in feudal Japan. The action takes place in Sengoku period. The player takes the role of the daimyō Takeda Shingen, who must defeat his adversary Uesugi Kenshin. Gameplay is typical of the genre, similar to King of Dragons or Knights of the Round. Takeda wields a Japanese sword (katana) and dons red armor. He must proceed from left to right and eliminate all enemies and bosses. Sometimes, the daimyō can visit some shops to buy various items. Not Rated 1989 2.0 Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player Japan Magical Chase Quest Turbo Technologies Ripple is a student of magic, and her teacher is a terrifying witch. Ripple is particularly afraid of her teacher right now, because she's just broken a promise she made to the witch: Ripple took a peek inside the forbidden book Sleeping Demons! No sooner had she opened the cover then out jumped six demons, all of which raced away! Unless she can catch all six demons and get them back inside the book, the witch will turn Ripple into a frog for breaking her promise! So Ripple sets off on her quest with her two Elf-Star friends, Topsy and Turvy. Good luck, Ripple! Not Rated 1991 3.7 Shooter 1 Single Player North America André Panza Kick Boxing Futura NEC Technologies Forget the movies. Forget the make-believe. This is the master, 3 time World Kick Boxing Champion André Panza, and the reality will stun you! His every move was filmed and digitized over 2 years for a devastating arsenal of kick boxing combat. Train until you're good enough. Then go to war against a friend or battle through the ranks of 8 international champions! Over 50 whirlwind punches and kicks let you customize your attack. Master new techniques during hundreds of ever-changing battles. Then put your body on the line against Panza himself for the ultimate Kick Boxing Championship! Not Rated 1991 3.2 Fighting; Sports 2 Multiplayer North America Gradius Konami Industry Konami Industry The people of Gradius are in trouble. The ameoboid Bacterions have launched an all out attack against the planet, and it's up to you to fly into battle and save them. Along the way you'll be able to power up your ship with hyper speed, force fields, lasers, missiles, double beam cannons and more to help you battle. Gradius is a side-scrolling shooter. Shooting certain enemies will leave a power up pod behind which can be collected to add more power to your ship. Each level features a wide variety of enemies trying to stop you, with a large boss at the end. Gameplay is for one player or two players alternating. Not Rated 1991 3.7 Shooter 2 Multiplayer Japan Zero 4 Champ Media Rings Media Rings Zero4 Champ is a racing simulation game inspired by Japanese urban street racing, its name derived from the traditional racing distance (0 to 400 meters). A versus mode allows players to compete against each other or computer AI in first-person-view races; however, the game's main mode is the Story Mode, which has strong simulation elements. The player takes the role of a young racer, competing in tournaments and gradually advancing in rank. It is possible to buy car parts or whole vehicles, as well as customize cars. Money is obtained from prizes or by doing part-time jobs. These jobs are sometimes designed as mini-games; for example, working as a security guard involves inspecting rooms in a first-person environment. It is also possible to play simple arcade games such as UFO catcher or Turbo Racing. Not Rated 1991 2.6 Racing 2 Multiplayer Japan F1 Circus '92: The Speed of Sound Nihon Bussan Nihon Bussan F1 Circus '92, sometimes known as F1 Circus '92: The Speed of Sound, is a racing game for the PC Engine and part of Nichibutsu's F1 Circus series. It is officially licensed by the distributors of Formula One in Japan, and also has the rights to use the real names of teams/drivers. The game again focuses on top-down races that move at great speed and require a lot of memorization and careful driving. The player can easily be forced to retire from the race early if they take too much damage from collisions with the walls or other drivers. There's a strong customization element as well, and the player can choose to play a Special mode that includes dialogue with NPCs between races. Not Rated 1992 3.4 Racing; Sports 1 Single Player Japan Makai Prince Dorabocchan Red Company Kaga Create Makai Prince Dorabocchan ("Demon Prince Dorabo") is a 2D platformer for the PC Engine. The player controls the titular character who is on a quest to rescue his master and defeat the evil demons that have invaded the kingdom. As well as his own magical powers, he can be upgraded by finding suits of armor which boost his abilities as well as temporary power-ups that provide double-jumping, a syringe weapon that stuns enemies and cleats that allow him to jump on enemies to defeat them. If he finds a bat with a bell, he can summon his burly Moai guardians who use their stone bodies to create bridges that allow Dorabo to move forward or find secret areas. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Platform 1 Single Player Japan Final Lap Twin Namco NEC Technologies Final Lap Twin is a hybrid racing/role-playing game released for the PC Engine in 1989 and the TurboGrafx-16 in 1990, as a spin-off to the 1987 arcade game Final Lap. The protagonist is on a quest to live up to the reputation of his racing-champion dad. He travels over the map, meeting small-time racers, and must race his car to earn money that he spends on upgrading his car, eventually facing the local racing champion. After beating the rest of the local racing champions in the various cities, the protagonist must go through a maze to find the final upgrades of the different parts of his car, and then face the world racing champion. Not Rated 1989 3.9 Racing 2 Multiplayer North America Sonic Spike International Games System International Games System The action sizzles in Sonic Spike, on the front line of the world's most brutal volleyball game. Blast the ball over the net -- bump, spike, dig, jump, and even quick-fake a return. Orbital lobs soar to the sun; earth-pounding spikes vibrate the ground. Score ... or eat sand! Select and create your own teams from 24 athletes pulled from six nations. Pit gals against guys in a battle of the sexes, or fight the competition of the century with Japan, Australia, Brazil, USA or USSR. Not Rated 1990 2.7 Sports 2 Multiplayer North America Cyber Dodge Compile Tonkin House Futuristic dodgeball game with a choice of fantastical teams and a varied collection of themed courts. The game that has 3 play modes. The one player tournament, and a one and two player Free Battle modes. The one player tournament consists of 6 stages each harder than the last which take your team to the championship. The object of this game is to strike opponent players until all of their armor is gone, and strike them once more to eliminate them from the game. Not Rated 1992 3.0 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Military Madness Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Space on Earth has become limited, and mankind has looked to colonize the moon. A group known as the Axis Powers has seized control over most of the lunar surface, and it's up to you as a member of the Allied Powers to fight against them. As you move around the map (shown in a top-down 2D perspective), enemy combatants will try and stop you from achieving your goal. Once encountered, the screen shifts view points to a close-up view of the skirmish at hand. Not Rated 1989 3.6 Strategy 2 Multiplayer North America Super Volleyball Video System Video System Command your team against the best in the world with Super Volleyball, the simulation that gives you ultimate control. You choose the teams, the players and the moves. Keep their defense off balance with a variety of serves, lightning spikes, well-placed slams and player rotations. Be ready to strike back with power blocks and acrobatic saves. You can even create your own team of super players and take them through league competition to become the international champs. For a professional challenge -- and not a walk on the beach -- get set for Super Volleyball. Not Rated 1990 2.8 Sports 2 Multiplayer North America Dead Moon Zap Natsume Alpha 27, the one planet in the galaxy that is fit for human habitation. For many years, the space observation system here was used for a wide range of research. One day, horrifying news arrived- a giant comet was hurtling toward the solar system, on its present course, it was going to colide with the moon. and then….Nothing! For some strange reason the humans and the moon seemed completely unaffected. The humans were unaware that a new nightmare had already begun. The giant comet had changed shape- it was not a comet at all, it was an alien mothership! Not Rated 1991 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Cyber Core AlfaSystem NEC Technologies Cyber-core is a vertically scrolling shooter in which the player fights insects. The basic idea is traditional: shooting everything before they can shoot/touch the player: after three hits the chitin armor breaks and a life is lost. Besides flying enemies which are disposed of with the standard gun, the player also has to deal with enemies on the ground which need to be hit with one of the unlimited bomb. The player has the choice between four insect forms which are changed by collecting the associated extra symbols. Collecting more of the same symbol upgrades the insect, but this also rises the difficulty level. Other extras include smart bombs, extra lives, armor refreshments or a protection shield. The game features the possibility to turn on rapid fire or to slow down the speed as well as big boss enemies at the end and within the levels. Not Rated 1990 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Bikkuriman World Escape Hudson Soft Despite being Hudson’s Vol.2, this was in fact released almost a month before The Kung Fu. It’s a conversion of what most people know as Wonder Boy in Monster Land. This game takes a different pace from the first Wonder Boy game, being more of an adventure with a slower pace and more strategy. You start the game with barely a thread on and are given a sword by some wise looking dude who lives in a tree. It is then your task to travel through the various platform-based levels defeating monsters and evil bosses along the way. Each enemy you kill leaves behind a coin or money bag (these are also at various hidden locations if you jump at the right spot) and shops will offer you armour, shields, weaponry and go-faster shoes. You can also pop into a bar and top up your energy if you can afford it. Levels are time limited (shown by an egg-timer on the left) so you need to be quick, or energy is taken away from your heart meter. Not Rated 1987 3.4 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Fire Pro Wrestling 2: 2nd Bout Human Entertainment Human Entertainment The follow-up to the revolutionary wrestling game from 1989. This sequel features more wrestlers, more distinctive moves and a much larger roster with hidden wrestlers to be discovered. Not Rated 1991 2.7 Fighting; Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Puzzle Boy Renovation Game Telenet Japan Puzzle Boy is a block-pushing puzzle game. Your goal is to guide a potato through several floors filled with blocks, pits, and revolving doors to reach the exit. You can either challenge the 80-floor Puzzle Challenge, or play the Trial Mode, where you attempt to solve ten small, randomly-selected puzzles within five minutes. You can race the clock or another player in this mode. Not Rated 1991 2.9 Puzzle 2 Multiplayer Japan Genpei Toumaden Now Production Namco Multi-style game in which you play a Japanese demon warrior with flowing red hair. It is divided into overhead areas, platform areas with small sprites and walk along hack ‘n’ slash bits with much larger characters. Not Rated 1990 2.9 Action 1 Single Player Japan Digital Champ: Battle Boxing NAXAT Soft Naxat Soft Take to the ring and fight against strangely familiar looking opponents in this first-person boxing game. Block and dodge with the D-Pad while using the buttons to punch with either left or right fists. Hold the button down and you get a more powerful hit, but it requires more timing and accuracy to be effective. Not Rated 1989 3.3 Fighting; Sports 1 Single Player Japan Bomberman Hudson Soft Hudson Soft It's the ultimate blast for up to 5 players! You're Bomberman, battling in a maze, blowing the walls and each other to bits. There's danger around every corner. Destruction behind every wall. And 8 worlds of enemies to waste all of you! So plan your moves and fire up your fuse...only one of you gets out alive! And now, with the TurboExpress Communication Link, explosive two player competitions goes right along with you. The action will blow you away! Not Rated 1990 3.8 Action 5 Multiplayer North America Pac-Land Namco Namco In Pac-Land, our friend Pac-Man is facing more daring adventures than ever before! In his new contest, Pac-Man comes face-to-face with ghosts on their own turf. In this 2D platforming adventure, his quiet day at home is disturbed by those nasty specters. A fairy princess has been kidnapped, and Pac-Man must leap over rivers, avoid dangerous water spouts, fly in magic shoes, dodge the Hoppers from the bushes, skip past the skulls aiming to drag you to Sand Prison -- all in the aims of reaching Monster Mansion and rescuing the princess to restore peace in Pac-Land! Not Rated 1989 3.0 Platform 1 Single Player North America Jinmu Denshou Manjyudo Big Club Take control of a skilled samurai warrior as you confront all manner of evil spirits in an oriental setting. The gameplay involves running into the screen, much like Space Harrier, but with the freedom to stop and run back. But it isn't just running and slashing wildly with your sword - there are also sections where you can (or must) jump onto floating platforms as you progress (particularly stage three where contact with the water below diminishes your health. Along the way there are various statues to destroy, each leaving a present behind which gives you health or those essential shurikens that allow you to hit enemies from a distance. Not Rated 1989 2.4 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Power Tennis Now Production Hudson Soft Power Tennis is a tennis game for the PC Engine that supports up to four human players in its doubles mode. The game has options for singles and doubles with various options for players including an option to watch CPU opponents compete, three possible court types, and a World Tour mode that allows to player to create their own tennis star - male or female - and compete in Open competitions across the globe. Not Rated 1993 3.0 Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Bravoman Namco NEC Avenue The village of Nitta has been invaded by the army of Dr. Bomb, an evil scientist who is plotting to take over the world. Facing this crisis is Bravoman, who received his powers from Alpha Man to stand up against Dr. Bomb in the name of justice. The village of Nitta consists of 22 stages -- action stages that take place on the ground and shooting stages that take place underwater. Action stages use a unique control system in which the height of a jump and the distance of an attack changes depending on how long players hold down the button. Players collect the Luck Symbols that appear when they defeat enemies and give them to Lottery Man to get recovery and power-up items. Stop Dr. Bomb and bring peace to the village of Nitta and the rest of the world. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Action 1 Single Player North America Dragon's Curse Westone Hudson Soft Poor Hu-Man! he just isn't his old self. Trying to escape from the evil dragon Mecha, he's transformed into the horrific Lizard Man! Get ready to kick some serious dragon tail, because 5 more are waiting to stop you. Each is more vicious than the last. And each turns Hu-Man into a different kind of total gross out! Slash 'em, burn 'em, and blow 'em away! Then capture the Salamander Cross to break the DRAGON'S CURSE. Not Rated 1991 4.0 Action; Adventure; Platform 1 Single Player North America Super Star Soldier Inter State Hudson Soft The special attack squad, lead by the Mother Brain, has launched an all out invasion on Earth. Take your small-scale fighter, the Neo Caesar, with its arsenal of 4 regular weapons and 2 special weapons, and send them back where they belong! In addition to the Normal Game mode in this vertical-scrolling shooting game, there are 2-minute and 5-minute Time Attack modes and a mode where high-scores can be checked. Normal Game is made up of 8 different stages, and in each stage (except Stage 7), a boss awaits you at the end. Not Rated 1990 4.0 Shooter 1 Single Player North America China Warrior Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Boss Kara and his evil horde has captured the entire kungfu province. You are summoned - You obediently go knowing full any of Kara's bullies could no doubt put out your lights. You must face them and their specialties one by one .. then finally Kara himself. A sip of a sacred tea releases hidden powers, but will it be enough? Play it so .... a hundred million Chinese are counting on it. Not Rated 1987 2.6 Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player North America Racing Spirits Irem Irem Racing Damashii is a motorcycle racing game with six courses. It is basically action-oriented, but the player needs to watch the damage of the motorcycle (decreases with crashes) and the tire condition (decreases when leaving the road). If one of the two bars runs out, the race is over, but repairs are conducted during pit stops. The two playing modes for single-player are training races and a championship in which points are awarded for good end positions. Those can be reinvested into motorcycle upgrades. The perspective is 3D with the camera fixed behind the player's vehicle. Not Rated 1991 2.6 Racing 2 Multiplayer Japan Marchen Maze Nihon System Namco The player must take control of Alice, as she makes her way through nine different isometric worlds, blowing bubbles at enemies to knock them off the platforms and collecting various powerups along the way; holding the fire button down generates bigger bubbles, but if it's held down for too long, it will burst and she will start blowing a new one. The enemies, not to be outdone by a ten-year-old girl, shall retaliate by firing marbles at her (which can cause her to fall over the edge of the platforms unless they are avoided or jumped over) - and though the game credits E. Shitara as Alice's voice, the only time you hear her voice is when she says "OW!" after taking a hit. The seventh, eighth and ninth worlds are also palette-swapped versions of the second, fourth and first ones respectively which suggests that they must have been added later in the game's development to pad it out a bit; however, they feature different enemy types (and bosses). In 1998, the Naniwa (the game's equivalents of Tweedledee and Tweedledum) went on to lend their name to one of the new stadiums (the Naniwa Dome), for the Namco System 12-era World Stadium games - however, they did not appear in the Namco All Stars' lineup. Not Rated 1990 3.3 Platform; Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Final Match Tennis Human Entertainment Human Entertainment Final Match Tennis is by far the deepest tennis game in terms of gameplay on the PC Engine. In fact, its play controls are among the most sophisticated in a PC Engine game and in general, in a tennis game (what still counts to this very day). Don't get fooled by its simple graphics. There is everything in this game that tennis is about. Smashes, stop balls, volleys, back and forehand spins or lobs. At the top of it all, you can play it in every thinkable player combination (training, tournament, 1-4 players). By the way: in addition, its one of the best multiplayer games ever. Not Rated 1991 3.8 Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Time Cruise Sankindo FACE Time Cruise is a pinball game from FACE with a sci-fi theme and multiple tables. Unlike most pinball games with extended play zones, these tables are to the left and right of the core table, and the pinball can switch between them by passing through connecting tunnels. In addition, the player can power up time machines by hitting several levers with the pinball. Entering a time machine takes the pinball to a number of different time zones, each providing a possible score boost or extra ball. Not Rated 1991 3.8 Pinball 1 Single Player North America Chew-Man-Fu Now Production NEC Technologies Chew-Man-Fu has gone too far! His evil curse deprives you, (and everyone else), of your beloved egg rolls and fried rice. To break his spell, roll 4 magic balls through a maze to matching colored squares. Sound easy? Hah! Chew's whole zoo is out to stop you. Prickly porcupines, wily penguins, rowdy apes and more! Use those balls to clobber 'em and smash through the walls. With 5 worlds and 550 wild rounds, the fun never stops. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Action; Puzzle 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Power League '93 Now Production Hudson Soft Power League '93 is a baseball game from Hudson Entertainment and is the sixth game in their Power League series, which began as part of the Power Sports franchise, and the seventh game in the series overall - the first Super Famicom game, Super Power League, was released a few months earlier. After Power League '93, Hudson would continue to focus on creating Super Famicom entries. Staying mainly the same as the previous two games, this seventh installment of the Power League series now includes real-life Nippon Professional Baseball teams from the 1993 baseball season, and minor improvements to the game mechanics. Not Rated 1993 2.1 Sports 4 Multiplayer Japan Psycho Chaser Sting Naxat Soft Psycho Chaser is a vertically-scrolling sci-fi shooter. The player takes control of the titular battle android. There are multiple weapons which can be picked up and freely switched between, and also power-ups which allow for weapon and energy upgrades between stages. Not Rated 1990 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan J-League Greatest Eleven Cream Nichibutsu The game features the Japanese soccer league's ten teams from its inaugural 1993 season. There's an exhibition mode with support for four players and a league mode where 1 or 2 players can face off against the computer. The game also offers an option to play with four human players, but only in the exhibition mode. Not Rated 1993 3.3 Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Rabio Lepus Special Video System Video System Rabio Lepus Special is a home version of Rabbit Punch, the Arcade horizontal shoot 'em up from Video System, which was released to the PC Engine exclusively. It features numerous changes to accommodate the console, including the lack of a two-player mode. Therefore, despite the title, Lepus is not playable as this is a one player affair. The original Rabbit Punch Arcade game has been ported a few times - specifically by Hamster for their PS2 "Oretachi Geesen Zoku Sono" Arcade collection and later Arcade Archives series for PS4's PSN - yet this particular version has yet to see a rerelease. Not Rated 1990 3.2 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu: Soccer PC Hen NAXAT Soft Naxat Soft While Kunio and Shinichi were practicing dodge ball, soccer manager Misako approached the two on the court. "Please! Instead of dodgeball, join me and play soccer in the national convention!" Nekketsu High Soccer Club has come down with food poisoning, and Kunio must lead his dodgeball team into the soccer competition and go for the goal! Only through winning the championship can Kunio convince his whole team to join him. The classic soccer game is now presented with high resolution graphics and enchanting sounds! Not Rated 1992 2.4 Construction and Management Simulation; Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Thunder Blade Sega Enterprises NEC Home Electronics Ambitious arcade conversion of Sega’s 3D helicopter game. The game is divided into two styles, firstly a familiar vertically scrolling overhead viewpoint which switches to an into-the-screen, Space Harrier style at certain points in the level. Your weaponry is limited to guns and air-to-ground missiles, which must be aimed with care to hit their target. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Circus Lido Uni Post Company Uni Post Company Puzzle games come in all shapes and sizes. There are ones that rely purely on your mental abilities and there are others that throw in an arcade element to them. Circus Lido is more the latter, looking like some strange insectoid son of Bubble Bobble. You play a squat green lizard and your aim is to clear the screen of bugs. To do this, you have a long pink tongue that shoots out to swallow any critters in your way, you then have to spit them out into the gaping maws of hungry plants dotted around the level. But being a lizard, you are seemingly unable to jump, so to navigate your way around, you have a tail that shoots upwards to catch on to any grippable areas of platform above. And to make things harder, there are certain sections of floor that can be slid left or right by pushing up when over the appropriate arrowed block. Not Rated 1991 2.5 Action; Puzzle 1 Single Player Japan P-47: The Freedom Fighter NMK Aicom The P-47 was one of the toughest planes in use in World War 2, and this side-scrolling shoot 'em up puts you in control of one as you take on hordes of Nazis. 16-bit versions have a simultaneous 2-player mode, as well as the ability to wrap-around the game with increased difficulty up to 4 times. You are initially armed with a machine gun, but can also pick up bombs, spray missiles and multi-missiles by picking up the appropriate letter. Each weapon can be upgraded by picking up further tokens of the same type. Tokens offering extra lives and speed-ups are also on offer. Not Rated 1989 3.2 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman NCS Masaya The evil robot Dark Skull has escaped Doc's control and now threatens to destroy the city with his army of evil robots, now only Doc's newest creations: the cyborgs Tasuke and Kyapiko can put an end to his plans. Shubibinman is a 2D side-scrolling action platformer, in which you play as either of the Shubibinmen (or both in the cooperative 2-player mode) and try to defeat Dark Skull's forces using your blade and your cyborg-powers. The game starts in a city-map from which you select which stage to tackle next, each stage features a hostage and a boss cyborg that must be defeated. Successful completion of these objectives rewards you with money that you can take back to "Doc" for upgrades that augment your existing powers or add new ones, which you'll surely need for the final battle. Not Rated 1989 3.1 Action; Platform 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Hany on the Road FACE FACE Hanii on the Road (aka Hany on the Road or Honey on the Road) is a side scrolling action game by Face. After Hanii's exploits in Hanii in the Sky, the little Haniwa clay doll is back on a new mission. This time around, our cute friend must free the world from all the demons and other evil creatures that escaped from the Gods' realm. But this time around he's not flying or shooting balls of energy - instead, he must run along a roadway divided into four lanes, each moving at different speeds. And things are just not as easy as it may sound - Hanii has to jump over various enemies and try not to fall into deep holes dug into the ground, without forgetting the occasional change in scrolling direction and the myriad of other exciting, and often lethal, effects. A time limit also urges him to hurry and to quickly reach the end of each stage. Every little helps, and tiny wood signs scattered around every road tell Hany how far the next exit is. Additionally, special items can be collected along the way, such as Blue jars giving Hanii extra lives (twenty five of them need to be collected though), Mystery Jars giving from 100 to 1000 points, Extra Lives, Time Clocks, Rockets, Trampolines and other unique and often bizarre super powers (he can turn into a race-car or an almighty warrior in some stages!). Hanii on the Road consists of many levels and features a non-linear structure with interconnected paths to follow, as well as bosses. The game also offers a two simultaneous player mode where Lemon, a yellow version of Hanii, comes to the rescue. Not Rated 1990 2.6 Platform 2 Multiplayer Japan Space Invaders: Fukkatsu no Hi Taito Taito Space Invaders: Fukkatsu no Hi ("Space Invaders: Day of Resurrection") is a PC Engine exclusive variant of Taito's classic 1978 space shoot 'em up. As well as including an "original mode", which plays identically to the original Arcade version and includes a hidden setting that plays the game in black and white monochrome, Fukkatsu no Hi also includes a "Space Invaders Plus" mode which includes more contemporary 16-bit graphics and power-ups earned from destroying UFOs. The player's ship can also take several hits before being destroyed, but generally has less cover to hide behind. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Terra Cresta II: Mandoraa no Gyakushuu Make Software Nihon Bussan Terra Cresta II: Mandler no Gyakushuu ("Terra Cresta II: Mandler Strikes Back"), is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up and the sequel to Nichibutsu's earlier Terra Cresta, which in turn was a sequel to Moon Cresta. Unlike the original, Terra Cresta II skipped the Arcade and was released on the PC Engine. The game uses a distinct power-up system where the player is acquiring additional modules for their spaceship. These modules can be configured in two ways: one configuration has them connected directly to the ship, increasing its firepower, where the second has them separate from the central ship to increase their coverage. Before starting, the player can choose which direction the ship modules will fire in and the positions they take around the central ship when separated. Through this system, the player can fine-tune the amount of coverage their bullets will reach. Not Rated 1992 4.0 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Naxat Open NAXAT Soft Naxat Soft Naxat Open is a golf simulator from Naxat Soft. Naxat Soft hired contract developers TOSE to develop the game. Released the same week as Power Golf, Naxat Open aimed for the more serious simulation crowd whereas Power Golf appealed more to those looking for a more casual golfing video game experience. Besides a harsher level of challenge - the acceptable window of error is greatly diminished - Naxat Open plays much like other golf sims for console games: the gameplay chiefly focuses on hitting a power gauge just right to maximize the effect of each swing. Not Rated 1989 2.1 Sports 4 Multiplayer Japan Hit the Ice: VHL: The Official Video Hockey League Taito Taito If you've ever heard the joke, "The other night I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out," then you already know what Hit the Ice is all about. This is rough and tumble, no holds barred hockey action that will challenge your stick-handling skills as well as your head-bashing abilities. While the traditional rules of hockey apply, that doesn't mean you can't throw an elbow or a high stick when the ref isn't looking. And since this is two-on-two hockey, the action is fast and furious as you try to outscore and outslug your opponent in four-player hockey action. Not Rated 1991 3.0 Sports 4 Cooperative; Multiplayer North America Ballistix Reflections Interactive NEC Technologies It's chaos in the Ballistix Stadium! You're a techno-gladiator in the wildest ballgame in the galaxy. The alien claw drops the puck. You fire balls at warp-speed, blasting it towards the enemy goal. Ricochet it off walls and bumpers. Hit a splitter and balls explode in a swarming barrage! The field changes to make each level more intense. Acid pools swallow the puck. Pitch arrows propel it. Your enemy cannons it into a tunnel and it shoots out towards your goal! Get a shield to save it! Score big to enter your name in the Hall of Fame in a nonstop Ballistix frenzy. Not Rated 1991 2.5 Action 2 Multiplayer North America Victory Run Hudson Soft Hudson Soft Strap on this red turbo-charged beauty and punch it. Barrel through the streets of night-time Paris. Lean into the rolling countryside curves. Sweat the hot Sahara straightaway. The famous Paris to Dakar Road Rally tests driving skills, reaction time and your knowledge of the needs of your machine in various conditions. Great sights! Great sounds! If you've got the skills-hit the road, Jack. The best time wins! Not Rated 1987 3.2 Racing 1 Single Player North America F1 Circus Nihon Bussan Nichibutsu F1 Circus is a Formula 1 simulation racing game. This version does not feature an official license, and so only features generic teams and drivers. Races are viewed from a top-down perspective, and there are a variety of machine settings as well as basic vehicle damage. A total of 15 courses are on offer, and there is a World Championship mode, as well as a "Constructors" mode for one or two players where the player can take the role of team manager while the computer does the actual racing. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Racing 1 Single Player Japan Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball Bu: PC Bangai-hen Kid Naxat Soft Kunio was waiting for after school by the gates to meet Kumiko. Suddenly, Aliens ambushes Kunio! "Kunio, fight or die!" Players on Nekketsu High Dodgeball club have gone missing. The National High School Dodgeball Tournament will take place at Sakuragaoka park of Shizuoka Prefecture, with Mount Fuji visible in the distance. Nekketsu High Dodgeball Club is led by Kunio to lead his team to battle against the world! If Kunio wins the National championship, the World League is waiting. Will he find the aliens out in the world?! Not Rated 1990 3.1 Sports 2 Multiplayer Japan Tiger Road Advance Communication Company Victor Musical Industries This arcade conversion is a beat 'em up in which you (as Lee Wong) must rescue the village children from the evil Ryo Ken Oh. Many levels are horizontally scrolling, although with high ledges to jump onto and follow for a slightly different path. Magic urns containing improved weapons appear frequently. Most enemies are easy to attack and only need one hit to kill, although they come at you in large hordes. Once you get to the indoor sections you will find big enemies with the ability to kill you with one hit, in sections set on multiple levels complete with stairways. Not Rated 1990 3.3 Beat 'em Up 1 Single Player North America Psychosis Dual Naxat Soft This is a side-scrolling shooter played in a world created from the mind of a twisted demon. Your soul has suddenly wandered into that evil world that exists in every person's heart. The only way out is to blast your way past the grotesque creatures that block your path in five "causes" (stages). You must face the dangers of this psychedelic world by making full use of three shot types and the satellite option. With power-ups, you can change your shots to a wide-coverage beam, a satellite-generated laser and more. Each shot type can be powered up to three levels. You can also block enemy fire by rotating the satellites to a desired position. How you use these features will be the key to successfully escaping this strange and surreal world Not Rated 1990 3.1 Shooter 1 Single Player North America Bonk's Revenge Red Company Hudson Soft Bonk is back! Last year's video smash is bashing his way through a totally awesome new adventure! Help that radical cave dude save the Dinosaur Kingdom from the heinous King Drool III. Bigger, badder bosses. More powerful power-ups. More excellent hidden secrets. And more worlds of pre-hysterical action that'll have you cracking up while you're out cracking heads. Blast back to the Bonk Age, mankind's coolest era, and Bonk yourself out! Not Rated 1991 4.0 Platform 1 Single Player North America Xevious: Fardraut Densetsu Namco Namco Xevious: Fardraut Densetsu, despite sharing its name with Xevious: Fardraut Saga (Fardraut Densetsu in Japanese), can be considered a sequel to that game. The humans' battle against the bio-computer GAMP continues, with new pilots rising to the challenge and doing their best to protect the Earth. The game consists of two modes, entitled Arcade and Fardraut. The Arcade mode is the same as the Recon mode in Xevious: Fardraut Saga, being a port of the original arcade Xevious. The Fardraut mode is composed of four stages, featuring familiar South American backgrounds. Unlike most Xevious games, the player takes control of the aircraft Solvalou only in the third stage; the first two ones are played controlling two different, smaller ships, each possessing properties similar to the Solvalou: rapid fire against air enemies, and bombs dropped on ground structures. Not Rated 1990 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Fighting Run Nihon Bussan Nihon Bussan Fighting Run is an action Mecha-based game that features an unusal mix of racing and fighting. The player takes control of a humanoid biped robot engaged in a series of deadly races against other opponents. But these races have a twist - each racer can attack the opposing player in order to win the race and score points. Each racer can freely move around the track, hit each other or use special attacks collected along the way. The game features a versus-mode where two players, or two AI controlled opponents, can race against each other, as well as a tournament-mode where eight robots and their pilots race (two at the time) for a golden trophy. Not Rated 1991 2.9 Fighting; Racing 2 Multiplayer Japan Jigoku Meguri Taito Taito In this cute but spooky platformer, the player takes control of a small and completely bald Buddhist monk, the high priest bonze Kackremboh, who is on a perilous journey through the depths of Hell. Emma, the king of the underworld, has gone mad and our hero's mission is to stop him and his minions. The monk can use his magical powers and shoot bouncing marbles which curiously look like large Malas (traditional Hindu and Buddhist prayer beads). They come in different colors, each of which represents a specific power - red for fire, purple for lightening and so forth. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Honey in the Sky Sankindo FACE One day, Hani (sometimes known as Honey), who is a phallic objet d'art from stoneage Japan, is summoned by the god Izanaki. Izanaki is worried because his wife Izanami's heart has been invaded by a demon. His once peaceful wife now kills thousands of humans each day and threatens to destroy the world that she once created together with her husband. Hani must fly into Izanami's heart and destroy the demon. Once Hani has entered Izanami's heart, and you are put in control, it turns into a vertically-scrolling shoot'em up. One button fire the gun, but the other one rotates the gun clockwise, so that you may shoot at enemies coming from any direction. Hani is thus reminiscent of a flying tank. Hani starts out with only one life to spare and a weak weapon, usually giving few minutes of play before game over. However, each enemy shot gives spiritual power to Hani. Pressing the run button puts you in contact with Izanaki, who will let you trade in those power points in exchange for the usual assortment of power-ups, such as multiple shots. Izanaki will also grant you teleportation abilities, so that you may travel back and forth between levels. Not Rated 1989 2.4 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Zipang Arc System Works Pack-In-Video Action block puzzle game, known in another guise as Solomon's Key. You have to obtain the key and get to the exit by creating and destroying blocks and avoiding various monsters and obstacles. A password save allows ease of continuing. Not Rated 1990 3.5 Action; Puzzle 1 Single Player Japan Hana Taaka Daka!? Natsume Taito Konta the little fox is in trouble - while on a walk with his girlfriend Inari, he "accidentally" broke the magical seal that held the evil tanuki raccoon Jikanda and his minions prisoner. They have abducted Inari and Konta is in great despair. He decides to seek assistance from the gods and ask them for help. A flying Tengu answers to his desperate plea. Not Rated 1991 3.1 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan Cross Wiber: Cyber Combat Police FACE Sankindo Cross Wiber: Cyber-Combat-Police is a sequel to Cyber Cross and follows the adventures of Cross Wiber, an special inspector of the cyber combat police. Several years after the happenings in Cyber Cross, a new threat threatens Earth: Duma and his alien forces. Wiber now starts his counter-attack on Duma. This game is a side-scrolling action game with emphasis on combat, but also with some platforming sequences. The player has the ability to switch between four forms: human and three robot suits. All those forms have different abilities, e.g. one robot has a special gun and the human can only kick to attack but is the only form which has a special attack taking up a bit of life energy. The power-ups which can be collected during play have different effects depending on the used form, e.g. as human everything gives life energy and as robots there are weapon and armor upgrades as well as ammo. Not Rated 1990 3.0 Action; Platform 1 Single Player Japan Samurai-Ghost Now Production Namco This action platformer features a samurai ghost from the depths of the underworld. In a past war, Kagekiyo managed to defeat the shogun Yoritomo and his clan. However, their evil spirits were not completely destroyed, and now, in the world known as Dark Side, they seek the time of their rebirth. In order to shatter those ambitions, Kagekiyo must make his way across seven zones and head for "The Heart of the Darkside" where Yoritomo lies in wait. Use spirit weapons to power up your sword, or other items, such as candles to recover health, and defeat the endless hordes of enemies. Each zone is not only protected by a boss but also includes demons as well as real samurai from 12th-century Japan. Get ready for some intense one-on-one combat action. Not Rated 1992 3.5 Action; Platform 1 Single Player North America Drop.Off Data East Data East There's no waking up from this nightmare! You'll need all your nerve and strategy to get out alive! A dream of giant apples and diamonds goes berserk when they turn into deadly demons raining down on your head! You have to shoot 'em down with a steel ball. Ricochet your shots to knock 'em off in bunches! They're coming fast, and each level is more threatening than the last! Why are those skulls laughing? Shoot first and ask questions later! Not Rated 1990 2.8 Action 1 Single Player North America Bonk's Adventure Atlus Hudson Soft Evil King Drool is up to it again! This time he's kidnapped Princess Za, and hidden her away. The year is 10,000 B.C., and as Bonk the Caveman, it's your job to get her back. Unfortunately there are not a lot of weapons around, so you'll just have to use your head-literally! Not Rated 1989 3.9 Platform 1 Single Player North America Timeball Hudson Soft NEC Technologies Get wrapped up in this mind-bending game that will test your mental agility. The action seems simple -- just keep a ball rolling through a winding maze by shifting around pieces of tubing. But the action is intense! Race against time and the track to keep the ball from crashing. There are 100 challenging levels -- plus the unique edit feature lets you build your own puzzles! Not Rated 1990 3.0 Puzzle 1 Single Player North America Toilet Kids Bits Laboratory Media Rings One night, while visiting the bathroom, the protagonist suddenly finds himself flushed down the toilet and transported to a mysterious realm filled with strange monsters. Piloting a flying vehicle, the protagonist is tasked to defeat the the inhabitants of the mysterious world and find a way to return home. Toilet Kids is an Japanese exclusive PC Engine vertical-scrolling shooter very similar in gameplay to Xevious. The game has only four stages and makes heavy use of toilet humor and scatological references. Not Rated 1992 2.6 Shooter 2 Cooperative; Multiplayer Japan Neutopia Hudson Soft Hudson Soft You are Jazeta, a berserker warrior, fearless in combat. Now you face your greatest quest: to rescue Princess Aurora from the evil Boss Dirth. Conquer a dangerous land of dungeons and demons, magic and monks. Choose which armor, what spell, which weapon you will use to capture each of the 8 medallions that bring you closer and closer to your final battle with demonic Dirth. Not Rated 1989 3.8 Action; Adventure 1 Single Player North America Darius Plus Bits Laboratory NEC Avenue Darius Plus was released in Japan on September 21, 1990 for the PC Engine, and was developed by Bits Laboratory and published by NEC Avenue. The Darius series went up against the big guns of R-Type and Gradius as another side-scrolling shoot 'em up with a player-directed power-up system. Darius Plus is essentially Super Darius, the TurboGrafx-CD version which is the closest to Arcade perfect, but with fewer bosses. The same version could also be played on the SuperGrafx and had special features that would enhance the experience when played on that system in particular - similar to how certain Game Boy games would be enhanced when used with the Super Game Boy peripheral. Darius Plus shares this bonus aspect with its much rarer sister product Darius Alpha. Not Rated 1990 3.5 Shooter 1 Single Player Japan