Comments on: [I ♥ The PC Engine] Alien Crush

By: John H.

John H. — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 23:24:27 +0000

1. The Compile connection is great. Although I never saw their name on the game, the distinctive Compile font is all over the place and if you do well in one of the bonus stages the unmistakable Compile extra-life song from ZANAC will play.

2. I got Taxan’s newsletter in the US back in the NES days, and remember it going on about how awesome Burai Fighter and Mystery Quest would be. Burai Fighter was awesome, yes, but Mystery Quest? I remember them making a big deal about getting to 10,000,000 points in that damn thing, like there was some kind of ending. Did they not know that, since the game contains several store doubling items and loops upon finishing, it really wasn’t that hard to get that high? The cruel joke was that the score stops just before that many points.

But yeah, that newsletter was apparently written by a young Ken Lobb, long before he joined with Nintendo or Microsoft.

By: [I ♥ The PC Engine] Gaia no Monshou @ Magweasel

[I ♥ The PC Engine] Gaia no Monshou @ Magweasel — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:25:55 +0000

[...] contributions to Japan game-dom, and while they didn’t produce nearly as much PCE quantity as Naxat Soft, those three series cemented the PCE as the firm’s preferred platform in gamers’ eyes. [...]

By: BUNNZ

BUNNZ — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:24:18 +0000

God, I remember going to the Wiz with my grandmother shortly after the TG16 was released. They had Alien Crush running on one of the display TVs. I stood staring at it for like half an hour, trying to look as sad as possible. My grandmother was supposed to notice my frowns. She was supposed to ask “What’s wrong? Do you want that video game?” And I’d say yes, and she would buy it, and I’d be happy. But she didn’t buy it for me. My fake frown turned legit. So sad!

She did end up buying me a Genesis that Christmas, which was very nice. There was a brief period in 1989 where my ultimate dream was to own an Altered Beast arcade cabinet, so you’d think I would have been overjoyed by this gift, but by the time Christmas came along I’d smartened up. I’d seen Alien Crush. I wanted THAT. And Keith Courage. (Shut up I thought it looked cool ok? And I still think the enemy designs are kinda neat.) So I pouted briefly, got yelled at (which was totally warranted), then ran up to my room to play Altered Beast with my cousins for the rest of the day. It was great, because it was a new video game system, but my heart still longed for a Turbo. Even after getting Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and Phantasy Star 2 I was wishing I had a TG16 instead. It looked so AWESOME.

And I did get the TG16 not too long after. I was spoiled! And I was right. It was awesome, with the Naxat pinball games being the most awesome of all. And why am I spamming your blog comments with my stupid reminiscences? I think I’m just overwhelmed that you’re blogging again! I absolutely loved video-fenky/senki, and these PCE posts have been wonderful. Especially the MP3s! Thank you for all the good times! And please do that Compile write-up!

By: Dais

Dais — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:54:12 +0000

Desperately looking forward to “The (extremely brief) Rise and Fall of Spike McFang”

By: Quick Shot II Turbo

Quick Shot II Turbo — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:56:58 +0000

Big electronics company > Off-shoot game company in the 80s > Good or at least passable games > The 90s arrive and 2D games die off > Off-shoot game company severs ties with head company (or vice versa) > Jumps into porn games > possible death

I’ve seen this before.

By: Esteban

Esteban — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:52:52 +0000

This game, as you pointed out, simply oozes a wonderfully eerie, dark atmosphere. The attention to detail (everything is so well-polished, especially considering the console games during this period), the gruesome aesthetics that seem more of an homage than merely a rip-off, the genuinely addictive game itself… This was one game I kept going back to, even after I bought Devil’s Crush.

Of course, it’s the goddamned music that was the icing on the cupcake. You guys dug the bonus stage music? Well, for me, I just couldn’t get enough of the High Score screen. I would purposefully not enter my last initial, simply to listen to the music. Thankfully, the song went on for a bit before you were dumped back at the title screen. Everything song is divine, though.

I wish there were more songs, though. The more to cherish.

Later, Alien Crush was used in promotions for the TurboExpress, where NEC offered it, along with other older titles, to folks who bought the handheld.

By: Kid Fenris

Kid Fenris — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:06:22 +0000

“I could write an MBA thesis about Compile”

I hope you will, because they’re one of my favorite lesser-known developers.

By: ferricide

ferricide — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:53:43 +0000

1. this was the sole video game i could get my father to play with me more than once. i have fantastic memories of our month-or-so-long alien crush sessions.

2. this was the game that first got me interested in the TG16 — the first ad (that i remember) for the system had these weird “shards” of screenshots and one of them was alien crush graphics. they looked so damn good.

3. about the bonus stage music: i know rite? i can listen to that on endless loop for like ever.