Times change. Only a year prior, the Top 10 PCE Games of 1991 was dominated by HuCARD's (80% of all titles) and the sports genre (60% of all titles). Within the sports category, three were racing games (à la F1 Circus) and two were baseball titles. Now look at 1992's top games…
TOP TEN PCE GAMES 1992
- 01. Tengai Makyou II–Manji Maru (RPG)
- 02. Snatcher (DIGITAL COMIC)
- 03. Dragon Knight II (RPG)
- 04. Dragon Slayer–The Legend of Heroes II (RPG)
- 05. Record of Lodoss War (RPG)
- 06. Parodius Da! (SHOOT-EM-UP)
- 07. Bomberman '93 (ACTION)
- 08. Ranma 1/2–Datou, Gansou Musabetsu Kakutou-ryuu! (ACTION)
- 09. Power League V (SPORTS)
- 10. Gradius II (SHOOT-EM-UP)
NOTE: Look at the third column (genre) and notice that Snatcher defies categorization with "?" as its designation. Gekkan PCE had icons representing a wide array of information, yet, surprisingly, no icon for digital comics, a popular genre on PCE.
Clearly, the CD•ROM format dominates the list (70% of all titles), leaving room for only three HuCARD's: Parodius Da! (Konami's parody of Gradius), Bomberman '93 and Power League V (the most recent entry in Hudson Soft's then-popular baseball series). The incredibly popular racing games of 1991 appear to have been a passing fad, with only one sports game—Power League V—making the Top 10 in 1992. As sports games (and the HuCARD format) became less prominent, what genre ascended the list? Why RPG's (on CD•ROM), of course. Four of the top five games of 1992 fall staunchly into the RPG genre: Tengai Makyou II–Manji Maru, Dragon Knight II, Dragon Slayer–The Legend of Heroes II and Record of Lodoss War.
Continued below…
KONAMI: POWERHOUSE OF '92▲
Three titles from 1992's Top 10 are from Konami. The cyber-punk classic Snatcher (#2) was released on 10.23.1992 and deservedly captures high honors. For fans of shoot-em-ups, it's nice to see two titles—Parodius Da! (#6) and Gradius II (#10)—breaking the Top 10, courtesy of Konami. Recall that only a year prior, the Top 10 PCE Games of 1991 was completely devoid of any shoot-em-ups (shocking, really, since the PCE was renowned for its vast stable of quality shoot-em-ups).
PCE–KONAMI TIMELINE
- 10.30.87 PC-Engine console released in Japan (¥24,800)
- 12.04.88 PCE CD•ROM2 released in Japan (¥57,800)
- 12.26.87 Esteban savors Gradius & Stinger (NES), 1CC'ing both regularly. He is ignorant of all things PCE.
- 12.26.88 Life Force (NES) his bête noir, Esteban barely achieves 1CC. He remains ignorant of all things PCE.
- …
- 08.29.89 TurboGrafx-16 console released in North America ($199.99)
- 12.26.89 Esteban savors Blazing Lazers, promptly 1CC'ing it.
- …
- …
11.15.91 Gradius (HuCARD, ¥6,000)
- 12.06.91 Salamander (HuCARD, ¥6,000)
- 02.21.92 Parodius Da! (HuCARD, ¥9,800)
- 02.28.92 Detana! Twin Bee (HuCARD, ¥6,800)
- 10.23.92 Snatcher (SCD, ¥7,800)
- 12.18.92 Gradius II (SCD, ¥7,800)
- 10.29.93 Akumajou Dracula X (SCD, ¥7,800)
NOTE: Konami's first HuCARD was released four years after the PCE's launch. Similarly, Konami's first CD•ROM was released four years after the PCE CD•ROM hardware debuted.
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FOUR YEARS LATE TO THE PARTY: As you may know, Konami did not initially support the PCE as a third party, but when they finally did—releasing Gradius (HuCARD) and Salamander (HuCARD) at the tail-end of 1991—they continued to delight PCE fans with a glorious succession of shoot-em-ups throughout 1992: Parodius Da! (HuCARD), Detana! Twin Bee (HuCARD) and Gradius II (SCD).
Konami's favored format for 1991-92 was the HuCARD, probably because the format…
(A) worked well with shoot-em-ups,
(B) was compatible with the entire installed user-base of PCE consoles (all PCE-owners were potential customers!) and, arguably,
(C) Konami's developers had less experience working directly with the CD•ROM medium.
The final claim isn't a slight against Konami's developers (whose résumé above is impeccable). It is simply stating the obvious: many software developers had years of experience working with PCE and its HuCARD/CD•ROM formats (indeed, the first CD•ROM2 games—No•Ri•Ko and Street Fighter, under the altered title Fighting Street—were released in December of 1988). Since Konami did not become a third-party until 1991, it had to play catch-up. The shrewdest tactic, then, was to "get their feet wet" by developing HuCARD versions of classic games in their back-catalogue. These were highly-desired titles, especially for shoot-em-up afficianados. If, as expected, these games sold well and were sufficiently profitable, it would then make sense for Konami to spend extra time and resources to develop for the CD•ROM medium as well.
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WHAT IS… NEMURENU MORI NO CHIISANA OHANASHI ???▲
I will admit that my curiousity was piqued by Nemurenu Mori no Chiisana Ohanashi not simply because I had never heard of (nor seen) it before, but because NEC considered it worthy of a full-page advertisement.
Actually, those were not the only reasons I was intrigued, there were at least THREE QUESTIONS I needed answers to: (A) What sort of software was this, since it supported the PCE mouse? (B) What was the identity (and relevance) of the cute man/handsome woman featured in the ad, and, finally (C) Was there a hidden shoot-em-up mini-game buried in this game?
ANSWERS: (A) Yes, as the cute logo indicates, this educational interactive storybook supports the PCE Mouse. (B) Yuko Hara is the singer whose music is featured in this title. (C) Sadly, no. There is no hidden shoot-em-up mini-game with Neko-Kun (or his cute bunny/mouse companions) at the helm of a warship.
As it turns out, Nemurenu Mori no Chiisana Ohanashi is an educational interactive storybook aimed at a young audience. More than a mere storybook, users are allowed to freely explore the story's setting (an island, to be precise) and interact with various elements of this world. Various mini-games are scattered about the island to provide a variety of activities beyond mere "exploration"…
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