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button-mash · 1 year

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What I played last week #10

Splatterhouse [Turbografx-16]

I very recently became really interested in buying a PC-Engine/Turbografx-16 (Japanese/Western name) as not only does it have a lot of fantastic games, but it's also a system that has an element of mystique as it never really caught on in the west - I'd genuinely never even heard of it until long after it had came and gone, so it's always been a bit of a blindspot. It's curious because it sat somewhere between the 8-bit and 16bit systems (it was actually marketed as the first 16 bit console, but really it had an 8-bit CPU with a 16-bit GPU, which gives a lot of the games a very distinctive graphical look compared to it's peers. Anyway I almost bought one for an amazing deal (although still very expensive) and decided not to at the very last moment, because I realised it was probably pretty silly to spend more than 250 quid on a system who's games I wasn't even all that familiar with and I had zero nostalgia for. Once I accepted that this was probably a dumdum idea, I decided to actually play some games for the system to get a good feel for what it's about.

I'd always understood the Turbografx-16 version of Splatterhouse to be the best home version of the arcade game, but I didn't actually realise that the very first game never actually came out on the Mega-Drive at all, and in terms of home versions, it only actually came out on PC, Turbografx-16 and FM Towns Marty. It's one of those weird games where it somehow feels so ubiquitous and familiar, but when I really think about it, I don't think I've really ever properly sat down and played any of them for more than a quick couple of goes before bouncing off and doing something else.

Having now played through it, I actually think it's a pretty good game, if not a little basic - I remember 2 and 3 being a little more complex in their game design but this just a simple left to right brawler, although some stages do have sections where you can fall down into different areas you need to get out of, etc. Most surprising about this game is I actually thought it was pretty well balanced - its still pretty difficult, but when you die you start back at the section you were on and it's pretty generous with health and lives, so you get a decent chance at properly learning each section, although you only get 5 continues which go pretty quick. It's one of those games where the first time you play you've burned through all of your continues by the 3rd level boss, but after a few goes, you're suddenly getting back to the same section having not lost a single life. It definitely has it's frustrating moments, but its just one of those games that requires a bit of patience and experimentation to figure out your way through each level. There were a few bosses where I couldn't even figure out how you can possibly hit them without taking damage, and then you'll suddenly figure out a spot to stand that'll bair a certain attack out of them, or where you're harder to hit, etc. It's quite satisfying because it really gives that feeling of getting better and more familiar if you put the time in. There are 7 stages and I think at first I was getting to level 3 or 4 and having to start again, and when I finished it, I think I'd only actually used one continue. I imagine the Arcade version tries a lot harder to take your money, but I actually think the home version is pretty feasible to 1 credit clear if you practiced enough and got familiar with the patterns etc

I'm definitely tempted to play the others now - the first game is pretty basic, but you can still see the hallmarks of what some people love so much about the series - the weapons are really satisfying to use, and the enemy and death animations are really well done and have a lot of detail and personality to them, I can definitely see why that era of Nintendo were too shook to have a game like this on the system. The Turbografx version actually has a fake parental warning

Pretty good

Bonk's Revenge [Turbografx-16]

My apparent odyssey into checking out the Turbografx-16 library continues - kinda amusingly ironic in a way that I didn't buy one because I didn't want to risk spending a lot of money on some tech I might not use, and my solution has been to emulate the TG-16 on the Steam Deck, which until this point was a very expensive piece of tech I had literally not used at all since the week I got it last year...

The Bonk series was one of those games that I'd always seen around but never actually played - it wasn't until playing this and reading about them that although some of the games appeared on PC/NES/etc, the Bonk Series was originally created specifically for the Turbografx-16 and was their attempt at having a mascot franchise akin to Mario or Sonic. Obviously the system as a whole never really caught on in the west like they'd hoped, but I actually think they were pretty successful in making a mascot platformer. I'm not sure why I started with 2 (there are 3 mainline games as far as I am aware), but by all accounts this seems to be the best one, so no regrets really.

This was a game I really came to appreciate the more I played it - the stages and enemies have a lot of personality (as does Bonk himself) and it's a really nice looking platformer. You can hurt most enemies by 'Bonking' them with your head, either by doing a jump from underneath, a standing headbut with a very short range, or a diving midair attack you can also use to propel yourself higher into the air. You can also do more situations things like a wall-jump, as well as find power-ups, although these are mostly neglisible - they're more akin to something like Sonic where it's a temporary power boost that gives you an advantage, rather than something like Mario where it might be something that changes up how you fundamentally approach the level.

When I first played through the game I found it became quite difficult quite quickly and burned through my continues, but on the second time around I realised the game actually wants you to explore and use all your platforming abilities to reach and find hidden areas where you will gain items to win more health, bonus levels (some of which are genuinely very fun), and extra lives, which make the pathway ahead much easier. It made me realise that blitzing along the first time through I'd overlooked a few layers of complexity to the mechanics and level design I'd missed, and I came to really appreciate the game for trying to keep things so varied. It's actually a pretty long game too - at the start you can choose Beginner, Intermediate or Expert which I think essentially just chooses how many stages you complete rather than inherently adding any difficulty, but the 'Expert' full game had 8 worlds witch each one having 4 or 5 stages it seemed. Id argue that if anything it maybe begins to outstay it's welcome a little bit, but when looking at the individual stages all of them are pretty strong and it does a fairly good job of trying to change up what you're doing from level to level, whether that's focusing on a particular platform mechanic, making it more enemy focused, etc. It's not too hard of a game, but it definitely demands that you get to grips with most of it's moveset by the end

One gripe I had was that about halfway through I seemed to encounter a lot of bosses where I just couldn't figure out how to hurt them without taking damage myself, and essentially winning through a war of attrition and burning a few lives - it was a shame because what felt like pretty tight, consistent and fair platforming suddenly felt a bit clumsy and janky. I am actually fairly sure this was maybe an issue with the emulation as it wasn't something I noticed once the first time I played the game, and watching videos of one of the bosses I was struggling with, nobody seemed to have this issue despite doing the exact same thing as me, so I suspect maybe there is some weird issue with an emulator gamespeed causing some collission fuckery or something. Willing to give the game the benefit of the doubt because it seemed so jarring compared to the other 95% of the time with the game. I'd say the music is pretty forgettable too, which is a shame because I think it had so much personality that a killer soundtrack would have really sent this one over the edge.

This felt like a proper treat getting to discover a top tier platformer I'd literally never tried before, but I think genuinely holds its own against other stuff on the big platforms. It looks great, it's super colourful and fun, the bosses are really imaginative and it has decent difficulty curve with a lot of variance in the levels and lots of secrets to find and explore. Most of all it just has a lot of personality, with some fun animation and sprite-work. Bonk himself seems to have so many different sprites and animations - actually way more than something like Sonic or Mario have, which gives him loads of personalith and it really adds to the game a lot. I said earlier I thought they were really successful in making a Mascot Platfomer and the animation and personality he has is exactly why. I've no idea if 1 and 3 are on the same level as this (or even the same style of platformer), but I'll definitely check them out now.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood [Turbografx-CD] I did also play some probably the most famous game on the Turbografx-CD. Again I thought it was really impressive but I really didn't play loads to form some huge opinion beyond I can totally see why it's so beloved - it straddles that line between the original Castlevainia games and what it became with Sympthony of the Night, and some of the graphical flourises it has look amazing, particularly the parrallax backgrounds.

I had a little go on a few more Turbografx-16 games also - namely both Alien Crush and Devil's Crush, which are some very beloved pinball games for the system, as well as Blazing Lazers, another Turbografx staple - although to be honest I didn't really play any of them for long enough to have much to say about them. I'd been really impressed with the TG-16 so far to be honest - annoyingly so, since I regret not pulling the trigger even more now. Ideally next time I jump onto the system the next lot of games are dogshit

#turbografx 16 #turbografx cd #pc engine #bonks #splatterhouse #castlevania #retro gaming #retrogaming #video game #video games #90s games #90s #game collection #gamecollector

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