Tezuka video games

[madamluna]

Whoa, congrats! I didn't even think of doing that. I'm curious as to what it says, would you mind posting them here if it's not too much trouble?

Also, I'm near the end of Black Jack DS, but I'm finding it really difficult to progress because I blew all my money on buying the bonus content (music, pictures for BJ's house) like a dummy, which means I can't buy Rainbow Parakeet's ridiculous hints, which means I can't unlock more stages. Frustratingly (if understandably), the game flow has progressed from "your patients are lined up around the block, just pick and choose which ones you want to do!" to a more Phoenix Wright-like "move everywhere and hope you trigger something. Good luck."

So I decided to take a break and try out Hi no Tori: Houou Hen for the MSX2.



First of all, I absolutely cannot get over how beautiful this title screen is, you guys. Gorgeous. Good job, Konami.

Second of all, the game is a top down, scrolling, vertical shooter, like Galaga. Admittedly, I haven't read Phoenix yet, but this seems like it'd make a lot of sense if you were actually playing as Phoenix. You're not.



But it's still a pretty interesting game. You can encounter statues of the Phoenix who will give you hints, and killing certain enemies will reward you with feathers, which you can use to buy powerups (which will go away when you die, so be careful!). In that screen up there is another neat thing: the gates.

There are locked gates in this area which you can only unlock if you have the matching symbol. If you just bump up against it then you get smushed against the bottom part of the screen and you die, so you have to take alternate routes--weaving left or right off the screen--in order to find these keys.



At first I actually thought that you had to die in order to restart the level and encounter the gates that you had the keys for, which would be a totally amazing implementation of literal reincarnation in games. Sadly, that's not actually the case: the area seems to loop indefinitely until you explore all the areas and, I assume, get all the keys. I'm not very good at shmups and this one was really hard for me, so I basically just died over and over in the first area. But hey, at least you get infinite continues!

[Dr. Jerk]

[madamluna]

So, one of my friends streamed a bunch of NES games recently while I watched. One of them was the NES version of Astro Boy, which looks kind of punishingly difficult? Either that or the controls are just really hard to puzzle out. I'll probably do a for real post on it eventually, but until then, I just had to post this:



Talk about depressing.

[Skunk-love]

[Discman]

Hi, I just started playing Black Jack: Hi no Tori Hen for the Nintendo DS and I love it but I'm stuck. After completing case no. 26 (Lamp), I can't seem to progress. I have already bought all of Rainbow Parakeet's hints (to be honest I can't read them but I think they're necessary to move the story forward) but still nothing. Is there a special something I have to do to get cases 27 and 28? If anyone can help me I'd appreciate it.

[Discman]

Well, it took a lot of trial and error, backtracking like you wouldn't believe and a bit of google translate, but I've finally finished Black Jack: Hi no Tori Hen for the DS.

It's really a darn shame that I can't read japanese because the story seems quite interesting.

Spoilers heads up:
Nazi involvement
A strange chemical that causes most of the illnesses
and the final villain wants to become a firebird himself.

The cases you really want to focus on if you're stuck are numbers 9, 13, 23. These are essential to replay if you want to unlock the mysteries of the game. You'd have to replay them after operating on Black Jack's father then after Dr. Kiriko later on.
In Case 9: You have to operate on Hamegg without using items.
In Case 13: You have to get an A-Rank on Kiriko's old patient.
In Case 23: You have to get a 20 combo or higher in Dr. Homna/Saruta's operation.
(The last two were a nightmare to get).
Case numbers 5 (U-18/Astro Boy) and 30 (Dr. Kiriko) also need to be replayed.
Case 5 you need to replay after operating on Lamp, and Case 30 after operating on Big X. (Play both as best you can, try to get no misses).

End Spoilers.

Again, it's really a shame that I can't read japanese and have to rely on the pictures for clues on what's going on, but it's still a phenomenal game.

Black Jack: Hi no Tori and Astro Boy: Omega Factor are my absolute favorite Tezuka games by far. Stories and shout-outs to Tezuka's works abound in both and I highly recommend them.

PS. If anyone can clue me in on the specifics on the Black Jack game's story, that would be fantastic.

[Pinnos]

Can't believe there aren't more Tezuka video games. The world is perfect for video games. I would work on something for the Switch if I had any say in these matters.