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.