A port of Yokai Tantei Chima Chima
This is an action game released by Bothtec in 1984. Venture forth with explosive fireballs as your weapon! Join the Yokai detective on a mission to rescue Sayuri, who has been abducted by monsters. The player controls the monster detective and engage in battles to rescue Sayuri, who has been lured by a group of monsters. The unique feature of this game is the distinctive attack method. The fireballs can not only be launched but also freely controlled and detonated. However, since the fireballs are linked to the movement of the player's character, it may be challenging until you get used to it. Being caught in the blast of a fireball will also knock down your character, so understanding the stage layout and enemy placements is crucial. Controlling the fireballs becomes a key strategy.
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Yokai Tantei isn't trying to hide anything; it wears its influence on its sleeve, that influence being Hudson's flagship creation, Bomberman.
You control a little Medama-Oyaji lookalike, tasked with clearing out a maze swarming with enemies (you can choose between Japanese yokai or western Universal monsters, which is a nice touch). Unlike Bomberman, your form of attack is a bit more direct, however, and this is where the the main hook of Yokai Tantei comes in.
Potentially taking influence from another Hudson creation, Binary Land, you shoot a fireball which can dart all around the maze, and is controlled contemporaneously with the main character. The two move at different speeds, and —much like Bomberman— the cross-shaped blast radiuses when you activate the fireball will kill you as well, so there's quite a bit to micromanage here.
When I first booted this one up, I didn't really care for it that much, as I thought the mazes were too cramped, and the spawn rates of the enemies were too unrelenting. That is, until I realized that the fireball can actually kill enemies by simply making normal contact with them. Once I got this, the game clicked; it's the classic temptation of risk vs. reward, whether you want to clear out enemies by firing point-blank, or risk trying to get a massive combo by blowing them all up at once for more points. I haven't figured it out completely, but it seems the enemies need to be hit at a specific angle from the fireball to die, so as not to ruin any combo potential.
As for this particular version, much like Relics (another Bothtec creation) the PC-88 version they chose to use isn't the best, but it's not as dire as Relics' 88 port was. It certainly looks better than the MSX version, but lacks the music of the other ports, though it's by no means a dealbreaker. The speed-up feature is perhaps more welcome here than any previous title, as it allows you to plow through the ridiculously slow loading times.
You control a little Medama-Oyaji lookalike, tasked with clearing out a maze swarming with enemies (you can choose between Japanese yokai or western Universal monsters, which is a nice touch). Unlike Bomberman, your form of attack is a bit more direct, however, and this is where the the main hook of Yokai Tantei comes in.
Potentially taking influence from another Hudson creation, Binary Land, you shoot a fireball which can dart all around the maze, and is controlled contemporaneously with the main character. The two move at different speeds, and —much like Bomberman— the cross-shaped blast radiuses when you activate the fireball will kill you as well, so there's quite a bit to micromanage here.
When I first booted this one up, I didn't really care for it that much, as I thought the mazes were too cramped, and the spawn rates of the enemies were too unrelenting. That is, until I realized that the fireball can actually kill enemies by simply making normal contact with them. Once I got this, the game clicked; it's the classic temptation of risk vs. reward, whether you want to clear out enemies by firing point-blank, or risk trying to get a massive combo by blowing them all up at once for more points. I haven't figured it out completely, but it seems the enemies need to be hit at a specific angle from the fireball to die, so as not to ruin any combo potential.
As for this particular version, much like Relics (another Bothtec creation) the PC-88 version they chose to use isn't the best, but it's not as dire as Relics' 88 port was. It certainly looks better than the MSX version, but lacks the music of the other ports, though it's by no means a dealbreaker. The speed-up feature is perhaps more welcome here than any previous title, as it allows you to plow through the ridiculously slow loading times.
“Save the girl, Detective!”
Well I said I would wait to see if more people wanted more of these kinds of reviews but I thought eh I had fun with the other one. If a game is not language barriered, I’ll gladly try to give it a review and I’ll someday do the previous games too when I have time. Anyway, onto the review.
Here’s a game I haven’t heard of at all actually. This is a completely blind experience and I don’t even recognize the name put on this one which is Bothtec. I wonder if they’ve made anything good. When I saw the trailer, I wasn’t expecting a game that looked like one of those maze games like Pac-Man. So, is it any good? Well, time to tell you.
The plot is something you’ll get if you read how to play. It’s about Monster Detective (who I think is named Chima Chima? The game doesn’t say.) who has to save a girl by the name of Saiyuri who has been taken by the monsters. That’s really as simple as it gets.
Unlike Hydlide where I had a lot to say about it, here it’s pretty simple for a game. Reminds me of something you’d find in the Arcades in the early to mid 80s. You first when starting the game get a choice between Japanese ghosts and Western ghosts. Japanese gives you enemies like Kappas and Yokais while Western gives you stuff like Vampires and Zombies. This will also change the layout of the stages so it’s not just a skin swap. So, once you’re ready, it’s time to play the game.
You can move around in the four directions available and can shoot a fireball. You press the A button for this (or whatever you mapped it to). The fireball is a very interesting mechanic as it moves with the direction you’re moving. If you don’t move at all then it’ll just bounce from wall to wall. If you press the button again, it’ll detonate and explode like a Bomberman bomb. You want to use that to get multiple enemy kills for more points and just clearing more threats out. Keep in mind the fireball itself can kill but you need it to be in the middle of the halfway and it gives you the least points. I’m not sure what determines the distance of it though and the explosion works in half steps so be aware of that. The how to play section does let you know it’ll take time getting used to this weapon so don’t feel discouraged if you’re dying a lot in early levels.
You need to kill enough enemies to move on to the next level which means using that fireball for all of the help. There is a Monster Car that you can drive to lure in monsters to you leading to a possible good combo of death. Sadly at least for me it’s hard for me to notice the car most of the time as it will drive away if you wait too long. There’s also an orange flame you can pick up that gives you 1,000 points which is good as every 10,000 rewards you with a 1-up. Now while this sounds all great and good, it has issues. One big problem this game has is the enemy AI. They seem to have really awful pathing getting them stuck in awful loops or just walking into walls trying to go after you. It can make it easy to rack up good scores because of this. I’m not even sure if enemies have unique behaviors as they all felt pretty similar to me. Also if you’re worried of an enemy spawning near you, pay attention to the graves moving.
Honestly that’s about all you need to know as there are nine stages in total and while there are bosses, it’s just one unique looking enemy that dies in one hit and gives 5,000 points. Once you beat one after stage nine then you will save Saiyuri and say something I can’t read, sorry. The game will loop after this, it might get harder but I didn’t check and see, maybe you’ll find out yourself!
The features I mentioned in Hydlide are all here too like the gallery showing the box and manual. The scene select lets you see Stage 7-9 for both the Japanese and Western options and will also let you watch the Saiyuri being saved cutscene. The speed up in this release is pretty helpful for a lot of the loading presented here.
The game graphically looks pretty cool and I like how it tries to differentiate the Western and Japanese settings. They even went as far as giving them both different title screens. The game runs pretty good too but there’s not too much sound here sadly and the music on the title screen is kind of haunting but otherwise it just plays some sound when you die or beat a level.
Apologies for the short paragraphs here. Yokai Tantei is still a fun time even if it’s just decent at best. It could use some room for improvement but it can feel nice to learn the controls. I just wish the enemies didn’t feel rockstupid a lot of the time. I think if the enemies were better, I’d appreciate the victories more. It was fun to experience a pretty unknown game to me and hopefully there’s more to come. It’s not a must play but it’s a neat little curiosity.
Well I said I would wait to see if more people wanted more of these kinds of reviews but I thought eh I had fun with the other one. If a game is not language barriered, I’ll gladly try to give it a review and I’ll someday do the previous games too when I have time. Anyway, onto the review.
Here’s a game I haven’t heard of at all actually. This is a completely blind experience and I don’t even recognize the name put on this one which is Bothtec. I wonder if they’ve made anything good. When I saw the trailer, I wasn’t expecting a game that looked like one of those maze games like Pac-Man. So, is it any good? Well, time to tell you.
The plot is something you’ll get if you read how to play. It’s about Monster Detective (who I think is named Chima Chima? The game doesn’t say.) who has to save a girl by the name of Saiyuri who has been taken by the monsters. That’s really as simple as it gets.
Unlike Hydlide where I had a lot to say about it, here it’s pretty simple for a game. Reminds me of something you’d find in the Arcades in the early to mid 80s. You first when starting the game get a choice between Japanese ghosts and Western ghosts. Japanese gives you enemies like Kappas and Yokais while Western gives you stuff like Vampires and Zombies. This will also change the layout of the stages so it’s not just a skin swap. So, once you’re ready, it’s time to play the game.
You can move around in the four directions available and can shoot a fireball. You press the A button for this (or whatever you mapped it to). The fireball is a very interesting mechanic as it moves with the direction you’re moving. If you don’t move at all then it’ll just bounce from wall to wall. If you press the button again, it’ll detonate and explode like a Bomberman bomb. You want to use that to get multiple enemy kills for more points and just clearing more threats out. Keep in mind the fireball itself can kill but you need it to be in the middle of the halfway and it gives you the least points. I’m not sure what determines the distance of it though and the explosion works in half steps so be aware of that. The how to play section does let you know it’ll take time getting used to this weapon so don’t feel discouraged if you’re dying a lot in early levels.
You need to kill enough enemies to move on to the next level which means using that fireball for all of the help. There is a Monster Car that you can drive to lure in monsters to you leading to a possible good combo of death. Sadly at least for me it’s hard for me to notice the car most of the time as it will drive away if you wait too long. There’s also an orange flame you can pick up that gives you 1,000 points which is good as every 10,000 rewards you with a 1-up. Now while this sounds all great and good, it has issues. One big problem this game has is the enemy AI. They seem to have really awful pathing getting them stuck in awful loops or just walking into walls trying to go after you. It can make it easy to rack up good scores because of this. I’m not even sure if enemies have unique behaviors as they all felt pretty similar to me. Also if you’re worried of an enemy spawning near you, pay attention to the graves moving.
Honestly that’s about all you need to know as there are nine stages in total and while there are bosses, it’s just one unique looking enemy that dies in one hit and gives 5,000 points. Once you beat one after stage nine then you will save Saiyuri and say something I can’t read, sorry. The game will loop after this, it might get harder but I didn’t check and see, maybe you’ll find out yourself!
The features I mentioned in Hydlide are all here too like the gallery showing the box and manual. The scene select lets you see Stage 7-9 for both the Japanese and Western options and will also let you watch the Saiyuri being saved cutscene. The speed up in this release is pretty helpful for a lot of the loading presented here.
The game graphically looks pretty cool and I like how it tries to differentiate the Western and Japanese settings. They even went as far as giving them both different title screens. The game runs pretty good too but there’s not too much sound here sadly and the music on the title screen is kind of haunting but otherwise it just plays some sound when you die or beat a level.
Apologies for the short paragraphs here. Yokai Tantei is still a fun time even if it’s just decent at best. It could use some room for improvement but it can feel nice to learn the controls. I just wish the enemies didn’t feel rockstupid a lot of the time. I think if the enemies were better, I’d appreciate the victories more. It was fun to experience a pretty unknown game to me and hopefully there’s more to come. It’s not a must play but it’s a neat little curiosity.