The year is 1988, I am 15 years old, year 10 at high school. I have a Commodore 64 with a huge collection of games (mostly pirated) and a Sega Master System with a decent library of arcade conversions and original releases. Magazines were pretty much the only source of gaming news and reviews. Publications such as The Games Machine, ACE and Computer & Video Games dominated the shelves.
So, when the May 1988 issue of C&VG revealed to the western world this little white box called PC Engine, it blew gamers away. Three games were covered – Victory Run, The Kung Fu and Necromancer. Victory Run is an homage to Out Run with attractive graphics and a great soundtrack, and The Kung Fu is a side-scrolling Kung-Fu Master-style fighting game with large sprites.
Gradius II: Gofer No Yabou
The screenshots conveyed a machine capable of large, colourful, flicker-free sprites that wouldn’t look out of place in an arcade. Where did NEC conjure this up?! And more importantly, how can a 15-year-old earning $20 a week of pocket money able to afford one?
Throughout the coming months, there was increased coverage and reviews trickling out of Japan and into the various gaming magazines. Well-known arcade manufacturers such as Namco, Irem, Konami, and Taito were throwing their support behind it. Unfortunately, it was too expensive to buy a PC Engine and invest in a decent games library.
The History of the PC Engine
Fast forward to 1992, I was working at a video game store that sold grey imports. I finally purchased one with three games – Parodius Da!, Don Doko Don, and Legendary Axe. I was in gaming heaven. I won't go into detail about each game but suffice to say I had heaps of fun with each one.
Unfortunately, I stupidly sold the PC Engine and the games a couple of years after that. Now I have a Core II with the Terraonion Super HD System3 Pro and have access to pretty much the entire library. The library is huge, so having reference books like the PC Engine The Box Art Collection from Bitmap Books is a great way to discover titles that you may not know or give a chance to.
Garou Densetsu Special
This is my 18th Bitmap Books publication, and in my humble opinion, they produce the best video game books using high-quality paper materials. Written contents are well-researched and pleasing to read, and the photography of the game boxes, manuals and screenshots are meticulous.
Spanning across 372 pages and weighing just a little over 2kgs, PC Engine The Box Art Collection has a very pleasing layout. Each page presents the game's cover art as well as three screenshots showing the title screen and in-game action. The text is all white on a colour background with an easy-to-read font size. The first paragraph explains the origin of the game, while the second has a cover art description. Also included is the year of release, software developer, genre and media format. Games are listed alphabetically.
Bookending the box art is a foreword by The PC Engine Software Bible founder Paul Weller, a history of the PC Engine, a collector interview, and a games index.
As always with Bitmap Books, the quality is fantastic. From the simple but beautifully designed cover, the print quality, the photography and the design layout, it’s a book highly recommended for fans of the platform. As the library is quite substantial, these types of books are a great reference guide to discover its many different releases on HUCARD and CD-ROM.
Visit this link to purchase it directly from Bitmap Books.
