Popular games for platform PC-FX
Return to Zork: A mesmerizing interactive adventure of danger, intrigue and cunning.
The game is based on Go Nagai's manga, that was later made into anime TV series. Rather than following the plot of the manga, the game has the player assume the role of a nameless male detective, who is headed to a fictional country called Austral Island in search of a missing girl. When the hero arrives on the island, he soon discovers that there is some sort of a supernatural organization that might be the reason for the girl's disappearance. Then he hooks up with Honey Kisaragi, the heroine of the manga and TV series, who is an android that can assume various combat forms and fight evil creatures. This is an adventure game with simple interaction (point-and-click), the cursor turning blue for looking at objects and yellow for using them or talking to people. At some screens there are multiple dialogue choices. There are no puzzles in the game, but sometimes the player controls Honey in combat sequences, which play like a mini-game that involves pressing a button as many times as possible within a time limit, and choosing vulnerable spots on the enemy's body to execute attacks. There is also a map of the island which the player can navigate the main character on. Unlike many other Japanese adventures, characters are animated on almost every screen in Cutey Honey FX, and a large portion of the game is occupied by anime-style movies.
A strategy game and a visual novel with RPG elements developped by Gimmick House.
Long time ago, the First Mother created the world and blessed it with five magical symbols that would keep it in balance. The symbols were hidden deep in a sacred temple, to protect everything and everyone around them. Many years later, an adventurer named Finn was looking for work in the city of Ambrose. There was indeed much work to do: monsters roamed the country, the threat of war was more real than ever. One night Finn was strolling through the city when he suddenly spotted a young girl attacked by a monster. Naturally, he defeated the monster and saved the girl, who turned out to be a princess hoping to restore her father's kingdom. The two decide to work together and venture to the nearby city, that lies in ruins, overrun by monsters...
This is a platform game similar in style to Bubble Bobble and particularly to Parasol Stars. There are two playable characters, both of which are little girls. There is no difference between them gameplay-wise: both use a large blob-like animal to hit enemies from a short distance in a yo-yo-like fashion. It is possible to choose one of them as a single player, or to use them both cooperatively in the two-player mode.
Tengai Makyou: Dennou Karakuri Kakutouden is a fighting game and the sixth game in the Tengai Makyou series.
A 3D baseball game featuring the Nippon Professional Baseball league.
Kishin Dōji Zenki FX: Vajra Fight is based on the manga Kishin Dōji Zenki by Kikuhide Tani. Once upon a time the Japanese priest Enno has fought and defeated the demon lord Zenki. Zenki was sealed for centuries in the magical bracelet that the Enno family carried through generations. But now, in modern-day Japan, demons called Seeds of Karuma, who worship an ancient evil goddess, began to appear on the Earth, bringing death and destruction. Enno's descendant, a lovely young girl named Chiaki, has no choice but to use her bracelet to summon Zenki! But while being sealed, Zenki has reverted to the form of a nasty, greedy little boy. Chiaki must evoke the power of bracelet to make Zenki fight on her side, and destroy the demons!
PC-FX adventure game based on the Sotsugyou: Graduation series.
Comicroad is a "life simulation" game, starring a young girl (whom the player names themselves) who dreams of becoming a manga artist. In order to become successful, she has to do more than just draw well; it is important to develop other aspects of her personality, and also keep an eye on the finances, otherwise working too much might deteriorate her drawing skills. Social life, physical exercises, reading - everything has consequences! The gameplay consists mainly of making decisions (through menu choices); there is no player character navigation in the game, except shops, which are viewed from first-person perspective. There is a variety of ways to manage the girl's life. The player can make a schedule for a whole month, or decide every day what to do. Every action has an effect on the heroine's parameters. For example, just resting every day reduces physical shape and appeal. Working on the manga increases respective skills. It is possible to call friends and spend time with them, or go shopping. There are many items in the game, all of which influence the heroine's stats in that or another way - for example clothes, drawing accessories, books, or even a PC-FX console, that can be bought in an electronics store for about 20000 yen.
Kishin Douji Zenki FX: Vajra Fight is based on the manga Kishin Douji Zenki by Kikuhide Tani. Once upon a time the Japanese priest Enno has fought and defeated the demon lord Zenki. Zenki was sealed for centuries in the magical bracelet that the Enno family carried through generations. But now, in modern-day Japan, demons called Seeds of Karuma, who worship an ancient evil goddess, began to appear on the Earth, bringing death and destruction. Enno's descendant, a lovely young girl named Chiaki, has no choice but to use her bracelet to summon Zenki! But while being sealed, Zenki has reverted to the form of a nasty, greedy little boy. Chiaki must evoke the power of bracelet to make Zenki fight on her side, and destroy the demons! Vajra Fight is what is commonly called a beat-em-up game, similar to games like Final Fight and others. Controlling either Zenki or Chiaki (or both in two player mode), the player must typically eliminate a number of enemies on a screen until he/she is allowed to proceed. Zenki fights melee-style, while Chiaki uses ranged energy balls; she can also summon Zenki with the bracelet power-up to inflict massive damage. Zenki and Chiaki can also execute various special attacks, which can be mapped to the controller for quicker access. There are many boss fights in the game, some stages consisting of one large-scale boss battle.
Long time ago, there was a happy country called the Eternal Feather Kingdom. Protected by benevolent deities, it flourished until a disaster came: a demon destroyed the kingdom, and it disappeared off the face of the earth. But a few chosen ones, called "Feathers", continued to keep sacred gemstones, which allowed them to use unique powers in the fight against the demonic army. Each Feather protects a gem, and the protector of the Ruby gem is the protagonist of the game - an ordinary high school boy from our modern world who at first wants nothing to do with ancient prophecies and heroic deeds. But as he receives new power from the leader of the Feathers, he understands that his destiny is to fight evil, and perhaps restore Eternal Feather to its former glory.
Basically, it alternates between the adventure part, which depicts the interaction with fellow crew members, and the battle part, which controls the humanoid deformable fighter Grywurm (Glühwurm) and shoots down enemy planes. It's easy to imagine a flight simulator or a 3D shooter as a fighter, but in reality it's a command line plus real-time. The depiction is 3D, but PC-FX does not have polygon function, so it is represented by sprites used in FC and SFC and pseudo 3D expressed in BG.
Zoku Hatsukoi Monogatari: Shūgaku Ryokō is a mixture of adventure and "love simulation" - more specifically, first love. The player takes the role of a male student and can choose any time period between ground school to college. Every time period has four different girls that the hero can fall in love with. The player must choose one of those girls as the main love object. The setting is the same in every time period: the class goes on vacation to different places in Japan. Most of the game consists of traveling from place to place, trying to be at the right place the right time and make the right decision. The player must assemble a schedule for each location. It is possible to manage the player character's finances, as well as buy items that can be given to the girls.
The hero comes to Shirosagi High School as a first, second, or third-year exchange student and on his first day sees a bully picking on a girl. When he tries to help, he is beaten and saved by a trio of girls from the school's Matoi-gumi club. They are all really good at martial arts and he decides to join their club with the intent of winning their hearts by saving people in trouble.
Choujin Heiki Zeroigar is an action shooter. The player controls Zeroigar as a plane and as a robot. The player is awarded experience points, depending on his performance during a stage. The Galactic Emperor Zemu is conquering one planet after the other, planning to expand his empire to the known limits of the galaxy. The reason for his success are huge robots who fight in his armies, developed with the technology invented by the genius scientist Dr. Lulu. But the doctor understands herself that her inventions have caused misery and destruction to other nations. She runs away, taking design plans for the giant robots with her. She arrives on the Earth (Japan, to be exact) shortly after World War II, and with the help of local scientists, develops a powerful robot, that alone can protect Earth from Zemu's attacks: Super God Trooper Zeroigar! Zeroigar is the only shooter for the PC-FX system, continuing the legacy of vertically scrolling shooters from the PC Engine (TurboGrafx) era. The player controls Zeroigar as a plane and as a robot (for boss battles). As in most shooters, power-ups appear frequently. Every level starts with the default weapon, which can be enhanced with these power-ups. Secondary weapons (bombs, torpedoes, etc.) can also be found. A somewhat unusual feature of "Zeroigar" is its leveling-up system. The player is awarded experience points, depending on his performance during a stage. After completing a stage (or after a Game Over screen), the player is able to use those points to increase Zeroigar's parameters (health, defense, weapon power, etc.). The player is given unlimited continues, but he has to begin the level from the first screen each time. Anime-style movies advance the story between levels.
Team Innocent: The Point of No Return is an adventure game with action elements. The game consists of three missions. The player controls Saki most of the time, but other girls temporarily become available as playable characters as well. The heroine must explore a large location, collecting items and solving a few puzzles on the way. The young women can also find and equip various weapons, from pistols to axes. The player can choose one of the four action modes: punching, kicking, shooting, and (in specific instances only) jumping. The girls are navigated from third-person perspective on pre-rendered backgrounds with constantly changing camera angles, similarly to Alone in the Dark games, except for the protagonists being sprites and not 3D models. The game has a few anime-style cutscenes and voice-overs for dialogues.
A role-playing game in the Lunatic Dawn series from Artdink, released for PC-FX in 1995. In spite of its Japanese origin, Lunatic Dawn is in fact much more similar to very old-school Western RPGs than to its Japanese brethren. It has virtually no story and relies entirely on exploration and strategic combat. Set in a medieval world with little to no distinguishing characteristics, "Lunatic Dawn" throws the player immediately into the game world, which is open for him to explore. The player is able to choose the main character's gender, race (human, elf, etc.), class, and even age - older characters are more powerful, but have a more limited play time. Indeed, the entire gameplay process is timed. Traveling to a remote city or dungeon can take up to several game days. The player has to provide sufficient food for his party during this time. Player party consists of pre-generated characters, who have different names and belong to different races and classes, but have virtually no personality. Food and other supplies can be acquired in towns, through which the player moves in a Wizardry-like fashion - viewing locations from first-person perspective and selecting menu commands. When the party enters a dungeon, the view switches to isometric. The dungeons are large and maze-like, with enemies visible on screen. Upon contact with an enemy, a battle initiates. The battles are turn-based but fast-paced, reminding somewhat the Infinity Engine battles from Baldur's Gate series. The participants can freely move on the battle field. The player directly controls only the main characters, but can assign general commands to the party members.
The official mascot of the PC-FX console is now the star of her own game. Rolfee is a princess of a magical land which is threatened by demons. So Rolfee and her family - including a cute little animal called Nyai - move to Japan. Rolfee has to go to high school, and she hopes to study well and make friends. Will she have success in the school? Will she be liked by her classmates? Will she not quarrel too much with her family? It all depends on the player!
Tekipaki: Working Love FX is essentially an upgraded version of Tekipaki: Working Love for Turbo CD. It adds several scenarios to the main game, which play mostly like a Japanese-style adventure - the player can choose dialogue options or a location to go to. Those scenarios add more background to the personalities of Naomi, Hikaru, and Edalt, the three extra-terrestrial heroines of the game (for example, in one of the scenarios Hikaru's Martian cat escapes from the zoo, and it's the player's job to find him). The PC-FX version of the game also adds an "omake" option, where it is possible to view pictures of the girls.
Megami Paradise 2 is a sequel to Megami Paradise released by PC Engine in 1994. Megami Paradise was an RPG game, but Megami Paradise 2 is a battle simulation game.
The game is a remake of the computer game of the same name. It adds an animated intro, voice-overs, and two mini-games. The story is based on the manga/anime series Ah! My Goddess, depicting the adventures of Keiichi, a Japanese teenager who accidentally summoned the Norse goddess Verdandi (misspelled "Belldandy" in the romanization) and made a wish for her to stay with him forever, which led to all kinds of troubles. What's more, other powerful beings out there are seeking to harm Keiichi's divine girlfriend, so a simple date ends in an unexpected way... The game is a "digital comic", meaning that the adventure elements are reduced to the bare minimum: being able to choose dialogue lines or make other decisions from time to time. The mini-games are a timed exercise of putting puzzle pieces together, and a card-matching game against two female opponents.
When an army of monsters attacked the castle Camelot and forced the Emperor to resign, the whole country fell under their rule, and the Emperor's son Radius had to flee. But in his heart, the young prince still hopes to reclaim the land that is rightfully his, and to defeat the monstrous conquerors. With the aid of his best friend, the wandering monk Nova, and a female fighter Mirion, Radius begins his quest.
