Some Games We Cannot Play (Dark Age of JRPGs)

Alright, before we can go on with the regular program, here is one issue that we need to deal with first, cause it more or less affects already the next three releases following after The Dragon & Princess: The obscure nature of the subject brings with it that some games still left we simply can’t access at all yet, and this is just a quick look at what they are from the information we could gather:

 

Spy Daisakusen (スパイ大作戦) – PC-80 (1982)

 

Different to the other games in this post, an image for Spy Daisakusen was actually findable, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how to properly play this game, not even with a Japanese guide from the web. It’s by the license masters PonyCa(nyon), so it doesn’t surprise that Spy Daisakusen is actually the Japanese title for Mission: Impossible.

 

 

While The Dragon & Princess still is presented as part of the “KOEI adventure game series,” this one is proudly proclaimed as a “Role Playing Adventure Game.” It starts with this nice scene of the tape player, playing the typical kind of message for the series. “Good morning Mister Phelbs…”

 

 

The stats are actually completely random with no means to take influence, other than restarting the computer. After that you can chose the loadout for the mission, including weapons like a pistol, grenades or a submachine gun, and some miscellaneous items like a bag, the famous disguide kit from the series, and so on.

 

 

The game is played in this 3d view, but for some reason the scene is only visible for like a second after walking a step or turning around.

 

 

Trying to access the elevator at the end of the hall gets me killed at once, so I can only try to open the doors to both sides, which opens up this screen:

 

 

I guess the white spots are supposed to be enemies. One can chose an equipment item, and when I chose a gun the game asks whether I want to fire blindly or take aim. I always lose. I think. Next!

Genma Taisen (幻魔大戦) – PC-88, FM-7 (1983)

 

 

Based on a manga series with the same name, Genma Taisen is also by PonyCanyon. There has got to be a disk image floating around somewhere, as the Japanese retro gamers got perfect emulator screenshots for it, but we couldn’t find it in English-speaking circles.

 

 

Like Dragon & Princess, it is mostly played in a text adventure-like mode, although this time there are some graphics in the upper right window. The monster designs are hilarious:

 

Khufu-ou no Himitsu (クフ王の秘密) – PC-80, FM-7 (1983)

 

 

Published once again by Koei, the title translates to “King Khufu’s Treasure,” and finding that is the goal of the game, which is a dungeon crawler through an Egyptian pyramid. Once again, the disk image has got to be somewhere out there, but it couldn’t be found…

 

 

 

This seems to be what the FM-7 version looks like:

 

 

The (unfortunately marked) cover scans are from the PC88 Game Libary.

More screenshots of Khufu-ou no Himitsu.