Game

More PC88! So the PC-88 was NOT made for games, but it has quite a few really famous and popular ones. And they all kinda have a… vibe about them. After having played a lot of PC88, my opinions are that most of them are rough and awkward, held back by the hardware its on. I haven’t played all the most popular PC88 games, of course, I haven’t touched Ys yet. But of all the everything I’ve played? This my favorite. This is my favorite PC88 game. And it’s a random fucking doujin game from 1990.

Game

Made by “Studio 4989”, Puzzle Kana is a very simple puzzle game. It’s a sokoban-style game where you push blocks into the “in” goal. In this game, blocks will slide forever until they hit a wall or another object, so it’s like ice-block puzzles. The first example I can think of with stuff like that is the ice cave in Pokemon Silver and Gold. So think that, but a bit more complex. You can’t push balls into each other, they’ll shatter, and some blocks can be pushed, but others can’t. There are a few other kinds of blocks, like redirection arrows, but its a very simple rules set up.

And yes, this is maybe my favorite game I’ve played on the PC88. It looks good. It SOUNDS fantastic. Every 5 levels you get a cute little cutscene or mini game. You can easily go specific levels using password systems. The little anime girl, Kana I suppose, is cute as hell. This is just a really well made doujin game. It is a tad short, and not very hard as far as sokoban goes, but that’s honestly a good thing, because a lot of PC88 games are fucking impossible.

I’m sure I’ll find SOMETHING I like more than this, but what do I have to compare it to? Super Mario Bros Special? Hydlide??? The Scheme maybe comes close, though I’d rather play Puzzle Kana again than play The Scheme again.

Anyways it’s fun.