- GameFAQs
- Official site - D3 Publisher (Japanese)
- EBGames - Aces of the Air
- PSX Nation review
| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
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Aces of the Air | Agetec | |
| Release: 11/11/2002 | $14.99 | ||
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Simple 1500 Series Vol. 95: The Hikouki (Airplane) | D3 Publisher | |
| Highwaystar | Release: 5/23/2002 | Y1,500 | |
| This is an interesting little flight sim that originated in D3 Publisher's ultra-budget Simple 1500 series. The game focuses on 1930s- and 40s-era propeller-driven craft, with actual aircraft from the era present, as well as more outlandish Battle Garegga-style designs. The presentation is strictly 1996, but hidden under the audiovisual muck there appears to be an enjoyable (if not particularly realistic) flight game. There are plenty of planes to unlock, and the gameplay seems consist of quaint console-style conventions - this isn't MS Flight Simulator 2002. Upon its release, the game garnered mostly favorable impressions on its GameFAQs message board (though those messages have long since been pruned), so it may be worth a shot. | |||
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Links - GameFAQs - Official site - D3 Publisher (Japanese) - EBGames - Aces of the Air - PSX Nation review |
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| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
|
Builder's Block | Jaleco | |
| Release: 8/11/2000 | $19.99 | ||
|
Landmaker | Taito | |
| Taito | Release: 12/9/1999 | Y4,800 | |
| Populous meets Tetris in this Taito puzzler. This was originally a Taito F3 system arcade game, and eventually made its way to the Playstation. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to notice its US release, thanks to Jaleco's awful retitling and cover. It's still widely available though, and you should be able to find it for around $10. | |||
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Links - GameFAQs - KLOV entry for Landmaker - Gamesdomain Preview - Game Rankings entry |
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| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
|
Jigsaw Madness | XS Games | |
| Release: 12/2002 | $9.99 | ||
|
Jigsaw Island: Japan Graffiti | Nippon Ichi | |
| Prism | Release: 9/13/1996 | Y5,800 | |
| Before Nippon Ichi hit it big with Marl, they published games like this. Jigsaw puzzles as a video game? Oh well, I suppose some people might be into it, and the battle mode does look kind of interesting. Cute characters, too. | |||
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Links - GameFAQs - Jigsaw Madness - GameFAQs - Jigsaw World - Reader review - GameFAQs - Official Japanese page - Nippon Ichi - Japanese packaging - front back - EBGames - Jigsaw Madness |
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| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
|
Gekioh: Shooting King | Natsume | |
| Release: 12/10/2002 | $9.99 | ||
|
Geki-Oh Shooting King: Shienryu | Warashi | |
| Warashi | Release: 5/20/1999 | Y1,980 | |
| Gekioh is a Playstation port/remix of the Saturn and ST-V shooter Shienryu. It features extra modes that change the game around to fit themes, like horror and comedy. Unfortunately, this version of the game is riddled with slowdown, and the original Shienryu was never that great to begin with. It's sort of a tepid ripoff of both Truxton and Raiden. One would be better off tracking any of the Raiden games that have been ported to Playstation, as nearly all of them are available for cheap now. Thankfully, though, the name was preserved and the cover art is faithful to the original - a rarity among such PSX budget releases. | |||
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Links - GameFAQs - Trigger Zone - GameStop - Destroy All Monsters review of Shienryu |
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| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
|
Mobile Light Force | XS Games | |
| Release: 3/26/2003 | $9.99 | ||
|
Gunbird | Atlus | |
| Psikyo | Release: 12/15/1995 | Y5,800 | |
|
Gunbird is one of the first shooters Psikyo ever released, right after Sengoku
Ace and before Strikers 1945. It's a fun cute-em-up romp that plays essentially
like any other Psikyo vert shooter. The graphics are nice and the character
stories are funny in a perverted way. XS Games have retitled the game a
rather anonymous "Mobile Light Force" and replaced the cover art
with an awful Charlie's Angels ripoff. Just pretend it's 1991 again, ignore
the bad title and cover art, and enjoy the game. Of course, for shooter fans looking for a TATE mode or the Japanese version's art gallery: stay far, far away. The only screen mode available is the equivalent of "Original 2" in other Psikyo console ports, and the story cutscenes, art gallery, endings, and TATE mode have all been axed. |
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Links - GameFAQs - KLOV entry for Gunbird - EBGames - Mobile Light Force - Japanese packaging - front - insertcredit.com review of Mobile Light Force 1 & 2 |
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| PS2 | Title | Publisher | |
|
Mobile Light Force 2 | XS Games | |
| Release: 3/26/2003 | $14.99 | ||
|
Shikigami no Shiro | Taito | |
| Alfa System | Release: 6/27/2002 | Y5,800 | |
| Shikigami no Shiro is a fairly enjoyable shooter from Alfa System, the folks who brought us the godly gun-shooter Elemental Gearbolt. The game features a bullet-scraping system that powers up your main shot when your character has near-miss encounters with bullets. The game isn't incredibly difficult, which makes it a bit more friendly to more casual shooter fans. The game's characters are interesting (one is a perennial classic archetype, the female red-wearing shrine maiden), but the game's backgrounds and sprites betray their Taito G-Net arcade system roots. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whether the changes XS Games make bug you), the game has received the dubious honor of becoming the second game in XS Games' Mobile Light Force "series." While this means that you can find the game for $15 or less in the U.S., it also means that the game's TATE mode has been removed, and the characters' formerly Japanese voices have been dubbed over with awful English voice acting. And, hey, gotta love that cover. | |||
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Links - GameFAQs - Official site - Shikigami no Shiro (Japanese) - EBGames - Mobile Light Force 2 - Japanese packaging - front back - insertcredit.com review of Mobile Light Force 1 & 2 |
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| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
|
Rescue Copter | Conspiracy | |
| Release: 12/23/2002 | $9.99 | ||
|
Jet Copter X | Aqua System | |
| Aqua System | Release: 12/27/2001 | Y4,980 | |
| This is a helicopter flight sim that focuses on 'real-life,' non-combat situations such as transporting cargo and putting out fires. It seems to take a less arcadey approach than the similarly-themed PS2 helicopter game City Crisis. Aqua System seem to be one of the few Japanese companies that specialize in simulators (especially flight sims), so that may give further indication of this game's style of play. As for the quality of the game, well...all I was able to find is a Famitsu rating (take that as you will): 28/40. | |||
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Links - GameFAQs - Official site - Aqua System (Japanese) - EBGames - Rescue Copter |
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| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
|
Sorcerer's Maze | XS Games | |
| Release: 12/5/2002 | $9.99 | ||
|
Prism Land Story | D Cruise | |
| D Cruise | Release: 3/19/1998 | Y5,800 | |
| A variation of Arkanoid, this obscure title supports Namco's JogCon and the Playstation mouse. The game has received some positive reader opinions on GameFAQs, so if Arkanoid is your thing, give it a shot. | |||
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Links - GameFAQs - Prism Land Story - GameFAQs - Sorcerer's Maze - NCS - Japanese packaging - Gaming Age forum - Sorcerer's Maze - EBGames |
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| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
|
Superstar Dance Club | XS Games | |
| Release: 12/2002 | $9.99 | ||
|
Love * Para ~ Lovely Tokyo Para-Para Musume | Media Rings | |
| Warashi | Release: 1/11/2001 | Y1,500 | |
| A *very* low-budget rhythm game with very little animation and chip-synthesized music. Apparently there's some fun to be had with it, especially if you enjoy this kind of thing, but don't expect too much. The art style seems very, appealing, though. Warashi made this? I guess this is the kind of of thing you have to make to get by these days, instead of shooters. | |||
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Links - NCS - Love Para description and packaging - Love Para official site (Japanese) - GameFAQs - EBGames |
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| PSX | Title | Publisher | |
|
Turnabout | Natsume | |
| Release: 4/2/2003 | $9.99 | ||
|
U-SA | Artdink | |
| Shinichi Senoo/Artdink | Release: 4/6/2000 | Y3,800 | |
| This menacing-looking puzzler seems to borrow from both Cameltry and Sokoban. The goal of the game is to rotate the playfield ninety degrees at a time in order to maneuver the pieces so that same-colored blocks fall, collide and disappear. The game includes 50 easy to intermediate stages, 50 advanced stages, and 50 slots free for players to create their own maps. Artdink's games have always been unique, though not all of them have been very much fun to play. This game certainly follows in the footsteps of the former, and luckily, it's more fun than most other Artdink games I've played. | |||
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Links - GameFAQs - Official site - U-SA (Japanese) - U-SA WebPage (with Japanese review scores) - EBGames - Turnabout - Japanese packaging - front back |
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