The disc opens innocuously, even comprehensibly, with the arrival of a friendly fairy, whose high-pitched dialogue invites us to open a book and read or perhaps write or perhaps simply enjoy an amazing tale:
And then we are taken to a colorful title screen featuring a host of cartoon characters, some with an Arabian/Hindu theme. If we stick around, we are treated to a brief theme song with vocals, none of which helps us figure out what we're doing here.
We can't do much here but press START, which takes us to a scrollable map -- with only one stop initially accessible, but it's probably safe to assume that others will open up as we satisfy the game by putting some sort of effort into the stop at hand:
Once we enter an available location, we are permitted to scroll through a series of still images depicting a variety of bizarre characters, with what I presume are their names displayed in Japanese:
I have no idea who any of these characters are, but the often-useful Wikipedia informs us that these characters may have originated as collectible stickers associated with a chocolate-and-peanut treat called Super Bikkuriman, a craze in the late 1980s which in turn inspired popular manga and anime series. The closest cultural touchstone I can fumble towards would be the American T&C Surf Designs characters -- interesting cartoon figures, employed for merchandising purposes, with no real backstories or personalities.
The disc is full of them, at any rate:
If we click on the icon in the lower left-hand corner, a couple of additional cards pop up; Wikipedia indicates that the demons were the most common and least valuable, so if the snake-headed, fanged Egyptian creature is one of the demons, that might explain the yellow background color:
We can select any of the three characters displayed to view their details in the main screen:
And... that seems to be about it. There's not really a game here that I could discern; Bikkuriman Daijikai is really just a reference work on CD-ROM, presumably for fans of the series, or kids trying to collect the stickers. I tried to check the manual to see what I was missing, but it's as much a manual as the disc is a game; it's more of a fold-out, with a colorful poster similar to the title screen on one side, and some screenshots similar to the ones above on the "useful" side.
Since I can't be of much help here, I will refer interested readers to the excellent PC Engine Software Bible and its comparatively more informative entry on this game. I was grateful to learn that I haven't missed much beyond the occasional quiz questions that pop up, presumably to befuddle me further with unparseable conundra and colorful penalties. A lot of Bikkuriman titles have been released in Japan over the years, on various platforms including Nintendo's latest handheld, the 3DS.
Really, you don't have to. But if, for some reason, you would like a copy of this one for your very own, you might be able to find it for sale here. The vendor also has many of the other Bikkuriman titles and DVDs for sale.
Posts
This was one of the first PC Engine CD-ROM2 games I ever laid eyes on -- in the pages of Video Games & Computer Entertainment or EGM (I can't remember which). Even then, though, English gamers were warned against the game, which they said was simply an encyclopedia of this series' characters.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, though, that the characters themselves seems rather appealing. Too bad there's nothing to do in this "game" other than look at static images of them!
I can help with a couple of gaijin translations:
ReplyDeleteThe first character with the mask is named "Momotaro Tenshi" or, "Peach Boy Angel." Momotaro (Peach Boy) is a well-known legend about a boy who descended to Earth in a giant peach.
The rodent-looking wrestler is named "God Mongoose," which explains his hatred of snakes (look at his headband and under his boot).
The fellow with the turban is named "Mister Suketto" which translates to "Mister Helper."
Thanks for the translations, Tony! Much appreciated. And Bryan, I agree that the designs are quite attractive -- I think some of the later titles were actual games, but this one was just a reference/quiz collection.
ReplyDelete