oh wow, someone near me is selling some big box PC games that I've never seen before, because they're not in engilsh!
One's Princess Maker 4, one's Tun Town 2, one's Wind Fantasy 6, and a port of a Xuan-Yuan Sword game, but I'm not sure which one.
One's Princess Maker 4, one's Tun Town 2, one's Wind Fantasy 6, and a port of a Xuan-Yuan Sword game, but I'm not sure which one.
I'm not planning to get these (I don't have the money or the ability to read Mandarin) but if anyone else really wants them, I'd be happy to proxy-buy them and mail 'em your way.
The craigslister is asking 50$ for all 4.
More pics here:
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/vgm/d/tracy-4-new-old-stock-vintage-big-box/7172901872.html
The craigslister is asking 50$ for all 4.
More pics here:
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/vgm/d/tracy-4-new-old-stock-vintage-big-box/7172901872.html
I should look more into Softstar. They started out making DOS games, and naturally they aren't very well known in the US, but a lot of them are plenty playable for english-speakers because they're either textless or have just some menus in english.
Like 1993's Mirage Thunder
Like 1993's Mirage Thunder
The 1990 game Dawn Raider was built on the same engine as Mirage Thunder, and unusually for a DOS 'shmup it lets you do 2-player simultaneous play.
Tun Town isn't one of the games you can play without understanding Mandarin but it's a 1998 DOS (!) RPG that looks like it was designed like an adventure game.
Mo Shen Zhan Ji 2 is another RPG that would require knowing Mandarin but those are some... interesting monster designs.
Xianjian Qixia Zhuan is a 1995 DOS RPG that has a isometric Ultima sort of look. This one was ported to Sega Saturn & Windows (and in recent years, rereleased on iOS)
One thing they use across several games is an interesting kind of manual-based copy protection:
You're given a drawing and a set of colors, and you have to color in the design correctly.
You're given a drawing and a set of colors, and you have to color in the design correctly.
Here's the one from their 1992 sidescrolling shooter, Baoxiao Chuji.
Also, is the guy you're coloring in playing an erotic visual novel on his PC there?
Also, is the guy you're coloring in playing an erotic visual novel on his PC there?
And another one from 1995's Xuanyuan Jian Waizhuan: Feng zhi Wu.
It seems they used this a bunch of times. I guess it worked very well for them... making it color-based would circumvent cheap copying of the manual.
It seems they used this a bunch of times. I guess it worked very well for them... making it color-based would circumvent cheap copying of the manual.
They also published a game in 1990 called Qi Xiao Quan, which was based on Ranma ½. It's a hybrid dungeon crawler/side scrolling beat 'em up:
one of their ongoing serieses is the Richman series, which is a sort of Monopoly-like boardgame.
Here's a screenshot from 1996's Richman 3.
Here's a screenshot from 1996's Richman 3.
They also made a game in 1989 called Poker Relay (or "Happy Solitaire", where you play Patience (a type of solitaire) against assorted anime girls.