Those Unforgettable Days - Getting to Know the Nadesico!

Introduction

When talking about mecha anime, it’s hard to overstate its popularity and impact in Japan. The late 70s and early 80s gave birth to several influential mecha series that fundamentally shaped not only the genre but anime as a whole during that time. Even in the West, series like Code Geass, Voltron, and Neon Genesis Evangelion have become cultural mainstays in many anime communities, remaining popular among fan artists, general anime discussions, and cosplayers to this day. While it might be fun to dive into a deep discussion about my opinions on some of these more well-known series, I instead want to shine a light on a slightly more underrated series from the late 90s. Today, I’m going to talk about a particular series I watched a few years ago that I’ve come to deeply appreciate: a quirky, authentic, and unique hidden gem known as Martian Successor Nadesico!

The Graphical Graces of Bishōjo: Why you should check out 16bit Sensation

Layer 01: 「Introduction」

Happy New Year everyone! To start the year, I wanted to do something that’s actually a bit different. When I first created this site, I wanted to write reviews on anime and manga in addition to video games, but since it’s much easier for me to talk about video games, that’s mostly all I’ve stuck to thus far. The one anime review I did, I was so displeased with it, that I took it down and I’m still in the process of rewriting it. Nevertheless, the topic I’m bringing forth today is technically still in the realm of video games, though it’s more in-line video game development. So, if your interests are, in any way, similar to mine, I greatly recommend you check out today’s manga of discussion: 16bit Sensation.  

❤MS Girls, Ojōsamas, and the Prowess of the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² - Galaxy Fräulein Yuna❤

 Introduction

Today, I wanted to do something a little bit different and talk about a visual novel. Well, okay, I guess visual novels aren’t exactly anything different—my last post was literally about Danganronpa. Before that, I talked about Sakura Taisen. Coincidentally, the company that developed Sakura Taisen, Red Company, is the same company that developed the game I have in mind to discuss today.

Rewinding a few months ago, as a fan of obscure retro Japanese games, I frequently browsed blog sites, forum posts, niche YouTube channels, and online threads that discussed these lesser-known titles. Since many people my age don’t seem to care much about retro games, browsing these pages for hours was one of my only ways to really learn anything new. One site I enjoyed visiting was HardcoreGaming101, which hosts thousands of articles and regular podcasts about retro games, even to this day. While they also cover some modern games, I mostly tend to avoid that stuff.

That site is where I first found lore information about XZR 1, Popful Mail, and Langrisser. Eventually, I purchased one of their books, Japanese Video Game Obscurities, written by Kurt Kalata, the founder of HG101. The book discusses several obscure, mostly Japan-exclusive retro games, ranging from more well-known games like Sakura Taisen, Der Langrisser, Tokimeki Memorial, and Bulk Slash, to more niche titles like Hanjuku Hero, Maka Maka, Sa-Zi-Ri, Emerald Dragon, and Bokosuka Wars. Of the titles discussed in the book, the one I wish to talk about today is a humble PC Engine game called Galaxy Fräulein Yuna!

A Super High School Level Look at the Localization of Danganronpa

 Introduction

Danganronpa is a series that I really like. I know, stop the presses: “A guy on the internet likes Danganronpa!” But for a while, it used to just be a guilty pleasure of mine. As I’ve gotten older though, and started caring less about what others think of me, it's grown into a series I can openly express my enjoyment for.

When I look at the games as a complete package, they embody many of the reasons why I enjoy Japanese media so much. One of those reasons is how experimental the series was. It tries several new things that no one else was doing at the time. Sure, visual novels and murder mysteries are a dime-a-dozen, but how many visual novel series have tried to immerse the player by incorporating elements from first-person shooters of all things? Then using that bullet motif as the central visual theme of the game. 

One of the things I really love is that they take the concept of a typical slice-of-life high school anime, parody it and exaggerate those elements. Even the most basic character tropes are ramped up to 11. When playing the games, you really feel like they were made with a lot of heart and soul, as if you’re witnessing Kazutaka Kodaka’s own thoughts, passions, and creativity bloom into an entertaining story that only he could tell. The game very much wears all of its intentions on its sleeves and is unapologetic about it. Even with all the flaws the games have, those flaws stem from the creator’s imperfections, rather than from a lazy corporation trying—and failing—to appeal to a broader audience.   

All of this, combined with Rui Komatsuzaki’s iconic art style which sets the visuals of this game apart from anything seen before, and music from Masafumi Takada, adding a unique psycho-pop vibe makes this game stand out a lot to me.

Now, I know no one will care to listen to me suck Danganronpa’s cock for fifty paragraphs, so let me just cut right to the chase. The chase in question is a discussion regarding the first game’s localization and looking into what was changed about the game when it was brought into English. Despite several changes being made to the game’s localization script, I was surprised that there wasn’t much comprehensive documentation regarding these changes. I mean, there are some isolated discussions, comments on forums, and blogs here and there talking about specific aspects, but there aren’t any that cover the whole game in relative depth. So, back by unpopular demand, I’m here today to compile these changes and discuss them in this one blog post!

The Girl Who's Right on the Money: A Review of Money Idol Exchanger (PSX)

 💰Introduction💰

Last time, when talking about Magical Drop, I mentioned how I wasn’t too big into puzzlers. While I’m still not someone who actively plays puzzlers outside of casually killing time, my love for Magical Drop possessed me to check out some other games in the genre. While browsing the internet, I found a cute-looking puzzle game that almost instantly caught my attention. This game was called Money Idol Exchanger.

From a cursory glance, the game looked like something right up my alley. It was a puzzle game with gameplay similar to Magical Drop with a focus on exchanging coins into bills. The game was originally released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system, and since I couldn’t get the Neo Geo emulator to work properly on my PC, the only way I could play the game for a while was to visit the local retro game arcade...which is an hour-long drive from my house.

It wasn’t until a bit later that I learned the game was also ported to home consoles and systems. So, I downloaded the PlayStation 1 version, booted it up on an emulator, and played it a considerable amount. The only real caveat was the fact that the PSX version was never translated into English, so I had to play the game in Japanese. That said though, while the game was quite simple, I still had a lot of fun with it and have a lot I wish to discuss and preach to the choir about. So, without further ado, Let’s Exchanging to Cash!! 

Steeling the Will to Fight: A Review of Vanguard Bandits (PSX)

Introduction

Robots! There, now that I have your attention, I wanted to briefly talk about a game I enjoy called Vanguard Bandits. It’s a humble game. It’s not Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Tactics Ogre, it’s just Vanguard Bandits. I first discovered this game a few years ago, after I first played Popful Mail. I enjoyed Popful Mail a lot and wanted to play through more of the titles that Working Designs had brought over to the West. I had briefly heard some of Vanguard Bandits' OST online and was already into SRPG-type games, so I checked it out. My initial run was quite short, only playing until Chapter 5 before I got distracted with other stuff.

I came back to this game about a year or so later when I was in a Discord server that was for SRPGs. They had monthly events where there’d be two Games of the Month, and anyone who beat any of the two games would be awarded a cool role in the server and bragging rights. It was a fun little event, I wish more servers did stuff like that. Anyway, the two games for that month were Vanguard Bandits and La Pucelle: Tactics.

Since I had already planned on restarting my run of Vanguard Bandits, I saw this as the perfect opportunity. And by the time I beat it, I had really found myself enjoying the game a lot. I didn’t have a blog site back then to really summarize my thoughts, give my opinions, or talk about minor details that I found interesting. So that’s why I’m here today. So, I hope you enjoy it!

New Super Update Post!! - 9/14/2024

 Introduction

Hello, welcome, greetings, salutations, and... um... felicitations. Today, rather than talking about a specific game, I just wanted to briefly speak my mind on a few things and give some updates for this site and a couple of previous articles, since a few days ago, on September 11th marked one year since I made this site and published the initial draft of my Popful Mail review.

All Our Hidden Gems: A Review of Magical Drop III (PSX)

 🟢 Introduction 🟢

I’ve never been someone who’s been very interested in puzzler games; I’ll play a few rounds of Tetris or Puyo Puyo with friends in a casual setting, but aside from that, I’ve never cared much for the genre. That actually changed a few months ago when I was with a friend at an arcade. I was walking around looking for games to play and there was one small cabinet in the corner of the arcade which looked to be one of those SNK Arcade Candy Cab Machines. I don’t know the exact model, but this machine had three different games to choose from. I don’t remember the other two games, but the third one—Magical Drop III—drew me in because the art style was really cute. 

I played a few games against CPU players and found the game to be quite addicting. My friend was waiting on me though, so I only played for a bit but I remembered what the game was called. So, when I got home, I did some research on the game and downloaded a ROM for the PlayStation version. I was hooked. I was so hooked that I devolved into researching the history and lore of the series, checking out the competitive scene, looking up supplemental media, and drawing fan art. And because of that, you’re going to be subjected to another one of my schizophrenic rants— I mean reviews. So I hope you enjoy listening to me talk about my current favorite puzzler game, Data East’s Magical Drop III.

Toki wo Koete: A Triple Feature Review of Super Robot Wars 1, 2, and 3 (GB/FC/SFC)

 Introduction

From the outside looking in, the Super Robot Wars series may seem rather intimidating, and well, it is. The series has been ongoing since April 20th, 1991, with 48 entries and 10 spinoffs, and the games have their own respective timelines and lore; some are isolated entries, while others have two or three sequels. I swear, if you want to give yourself an aneurysm, I’d recommend searching up and trying to follow some of the full series timelines that fans post online. And that’s not even mentioning the references and appearances of the individual mecha anime series that appear in these games, some of which are very niche.

That said, as a series that I consider one of my favorites, I wanted to take it upon myself to review the lesser-discussed games that started said series. I see very little discussion of these first three games online, let alone reviews of them, so I prepared a special triple-feature blog post to shed some light on the unique mechanics of these games, talk about their significance to the overall series, and talk about how they laid the groundwork for the series we know and love today! 

A Fantasy of Cosmic Proportions: A Review of Cosmic Fantasy 2 (TurboGrafx CD)

 Introduction

From being one of the first RPGs to feature fully animated cinematic cutscenes, to being the game that initially put Working Designs on the map, to being labeled as Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Best RPG of the Year in 1993: it's Cosmic Fantasy 2. Developed by Nihon Telenet, Cosmic Fantasy 2 is an RPG for the TurboGrafx CD and is seen as a cult classic in the niche gaming market. It was one of the best-selling games on the console and was popular enough for NEC to consider making the game a pack-in title for the TurboGrafx CD.

In addition to everything else I just mentioned, it also recently received the honor of being played by me. And while I can see why it was very well-received back in the day, my thoughts on the game as a complete package are a little more complicated. So let’s not waste any more time and start talking about Cosmic Fantasy 2!

Floral Fantasy: The Adventures of Sakura Taisen (Part 1)

 🌸Introduction🌸

Sakura Wars, also known as Sakura Taisen, is a game series that’s lingered on my radar for a few years. The game's name surfaced occasionally in casual conversations, but my knowledge of it was fairly limited. It wasn't until much later when I heard that Sakura Taisen's characters and mechs were featured as DLC in Super Robot Wars 30, which brought my attention back to the series.

Furthermore, last summer, since I had just graduated from college and had a lot more time on my hands, I had been catching up on a lot of anime. In particular, I was watching a lot of older mecha series, and over time I decided it was time for me to try out this Sakura Taisen game. So, I downloaded a Sega Saturn emulator, the two disk files necessary to actually play the game, and the fan translation. Once, I got everything set up, I went right into the game. And as such, I wish to share my playthrough with all of you in a two-part blog post.