This Month’s Pickup
(left)
Spelunker
Company: Irem
Release Date: December 6, 1985
Console: Famicon [**Translation note– known as NES outside of Japan]
(middle)
Mansion of Hidden Souls
Company: Sega
Release Date: December 10, 1993
Console: Mega CD
(right)
Wonder Mega M2 [** Translation note– known in North America as X’eye]
Company: Victor Company of Japan
Release Date: July 2, 1993
Retail Price: 59,800 yen
A recollection of titles that gave me an sensation of expedition
I have changed the title of this series to “Deep Game inferno”!
As I mentioned previously, rather than focusing on consoles, this time forward I want to touch on the extensive world of games that have left a deep impression on me. So then, without further ado, as part one of the renewal, let’s introduce my most favorite games now.
This work was not a terrible game!
The full appeal of Spelunker
It might seem surprising, but that game was “Spelunker” for the Family ComputerThere are probably also quite a few people to whom the LED light that lit up on the game cartridge left an impression on.
There are many things that put “Spelunker” in the position of being a terrible game to the world. Certainly, when the poor main character would die just by falling from a different level, it caused a little bit of frustration. However, the true nature of the game was being in the depths of the earth, so for men who have yearned to do so before, its an appealing implementation.
Now as for the game itself, when you overcome figuring out how to operate the main character, it suddenly becomes interesting. That was a setback for many people who couldn’t arrivate at that point, but if you were good at operating the cross-key, it was feasible to guide the character smoothly with the controller. The graphics had quite a bit of beauty for a famicon game at that time. The visuals of the levels and the depths of the earth presented in a side view format were easy to grasp, and
seeing where you were to go next clearly was an advantage.
In this way, you had search for treasure inside the depths of the earth while facing various enemies and obstacles. It was fun and enjoyable wondering “When am I going to get to the treasure,” — the excitement didnd’t stop. Then when I finally managed to get to the treasure, I felt like I had a taste of what it would really be like to explore the depths of the earth. However, the volume of the treasure was so compact it was a little sad……
Moving me to tears……
My encounter with Mansion of Hidden Souls
I know I said in the beginning “I’m not going to be fixated on consoles,” but I want to introduce Sega’s legendary Wonder Mega here [**Translation note, this system is better known as the X’eye in North America upon its release outside of Japan].
This was like a hybrid unified system of the Mega Drive and Mega CD, but was sold by Victor. When it was first released in April 1992 it was more than 80,000 yen, so it felt as though its popularity among average [people] was rigid, but later on it was changed to a smaller light weight version known as the Wonder Mega M2 (M2 for short) was popularized in its release. However, on the M2 the game pad was changed to a cordless version! It became a next generation machine in its present day.
Why am I suddenly hurrying to introduce this console? The answer is because I remember being held captive to a game on it just like “Spelunker”. It was “Mansion of the Hidden Souls” used for the Mega CD.
The amazing thing about this game was that it freely used the latest 3D graphics of its time and you could walk around in the middle of the mansion. Although thats normal now, at that time it was extremely ground breaking, popularizing the new “virtual cinema” genre. Furthermore, since it was supplied via CD-ROM the sound was beautiful and the mysterious world of the mansion was depicted very well.
As you break through various traps set inside the mansion you advance through the story. When you go down stairs to the basement in the last part, a fantastic scene is spread out right before your eyes. Even now its burned into my mind. I became dazed in extreme emotion, and noticed tears were suddenly flowing from my eyes.
However, its because I played in real time all the way to the end. If gamers now days who are used to seeing super high quality graphics were to play this game, they probably wouldn’t have the same kind of emotions over it as I remember having.
However, there is no mistaking one of the points that the game aimed for even after it was done in the Mega CD version of “Mansion of Hidden Souls”. It was that I would still loiter the estates every day and [continue to] be completely immersed in the world of “Mansion of Hidden Souls”.
Although I had such a hot talk on it, at that time this game was not for the Wonder Mega, but I did play it on a combination console of the mega drive 2 and Mega CD (laughs).
By the way, later on on there a sequel release on the Sega Saturn called “True Teachings of the Dream Mansion Somebody’s at the door…” I had really been looking forward to this title. However, when I tried to play it when it first came out, it felt like something was missing in comparison to the Mega CD version, because although it was only a 32 bit console the graphics were remarkably beautiful. As a result the world of “Mansion of Hidden souls” was destroyed by cramming in various unnecessary components that were made to improve the console performance. I’m afraid to say it, but in the end it was a sad sequel.
Mana-Sama
(Translated by ManaSamaDotNet)
