Shadow of the Colossus

This is totally off-topic for a horror blog, but I’m going to post it anyway.

Resident Evil 4 was clearly game of the year for me until last month when I started playing Shadow of the Colossus. Colossus isn’t a horror game; if anything, it’s probably closest to a platformer. Created by the team behind ICO (Fumito Ueda et al), Colossus demonstrates that even simple platforming mechanics can become an emotionally substantive experience when put in the correct context. I started this site because I find horror games to be the only genre of video game to consistently focus on emotional manipulation of the player, but Ueda and his team have shown (twice now!) that gripping and emotionally relevant games can come in any package. Tycho from Penny Arcade explained the core of the game’s power extremely well:

  

 

     

… Shadow of the Colossus feels like an indictment of gaming as usual in many ways. There are elements of the story that are ambiguous from the outset, not because the story is being told poorly but because the situation you find yourself in and the powers you come into contact with are not drawn with absolute clarity. So while you go through the ordinary motions that we associate with videogames – discern objective, eradicate opposition, return for reward – you’re engaged in a series of acts whose moral virtue is by no means assured. The supposed hero is assaulting majestic, sometimes docile, sometimes curious, sometimes sleeping creatures. They’re almost all portrayed in a sympathetic light at some point, and it’s hard not to feel disgusted at times for iterating Hollow Game Mechanic X by rote without any sense of the moral spectrum the acts inhabit.

The game needs to be seen by every conscious organism on planet Earth. (source)

The game is epic, unique, and thought provoking. I’m highly recommending it to you, despite it being in no way, shape, or form a horror game.

16bitman’s Guide to Obscure Games: Downloads

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16bitman has graciously included some save files for his favorite import games. These files can be loaded onto your Playstation memory card with a DexDrive or similar device.

Twilight Syndrome Saikai

Hmm, we seem to have been left out of Overblood 2. Curses!

This file will give you a completed file for Twilight Syndrome Saikai. I did not achieve anything close to a 100% rating so there is lots left to find and improve on. Still it will get you in the door and make this import easier. Especially if you only know sushi menu Japanese. The other files are included so you can admire icons from Japan and PAL-land.

Overblood 2

Overblood 2 saves PAL UK version only SLES 01879 Eon
The “Overblood 2 Navarro Silver” save can help you get through freezes. This save will allow you to see important story elements in Level 2. Have Navarro open the door with the Silver Key and then go to the other side of the platform. An armored robot will appear. He is vulnerable to laser pistol fire. After the fight is won, the story graphics will start. If you have imported the 1999 Event version by mistake, you will to use the Level 3 save after having played Level 1 and seen the Level briefing. It freezes in MULTIPLE places on Level 2, even playing with an emulator.

16bitman’s Guide to Obscure Games


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Unfortunately for us gamers in North America, a lot of obscure games from Europe and Japan never make it to our shores. Sometimes these little-known titles are rare gems that should not be missed. Unfortunately, figuring out how to get your hands on such games can be a challenge, and running such games on American systems can be harder still.

I’ve asked 16bitman, our resident import game expert, to weigh in on his favorite import games, both horror and non-horror. He’s also graciously provided a beginners guide to importing, as well as some save files for a few of his favorite games. Check out each of the sections in the table of contents above!

16bitman’s Guide to Obscure Games: Other Genres

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Legend
Playstation
PAL SLES-00730

This game was once planned for North American release under the title Knights of Carnage. It was made the same people that did Burning Road for PSX and later Soul Fighter for Dreamcast. I like Legend because it is rare and it is a beatemup. The graphics are 3D and look old but the action is better.

You choose between three characters to travel through a series of areas kicking the daylights out of any monsters you encounter. Hand to hand combat consists of punch-kick combos with some throwing, while weapons are plentiful but wear out quickly. The magic system is a little difficult, as it requires you to press and hold a number of buttons at the same time and is a little hit-and-miss. When the magic system works, your characters are able to blast foes with fire or turn them into frogs. The monsters in Legend deserve special mention because there are just so many of them. You will battle orcs, dinosaurs, tigers, zombies, snake people,skeletons and many others. Akuma from Street Fighter and Goro from Mortal Kombat even make unpaid appearances. Legend rips off many myths and many games. If you want a brawler no one else has, Legend is for you. Sadly it is hard to find, and typically costs $20 to $25.

Aconcagua
Playstation
Japan (NTSC)

Aconcagua is a point and click adventure game. Before you cringe, it is very smooth and the action looks like Silent Hill or Resident Evil. Instead of directly controlling the character, you just direct him or her on where to go and what to do. The key to Aconcagua is having the right person, with the right item, doing the right things at the right time. Your group of plane crash survivors must band together and stay alive, and every member of the group has an important role in the game. What starts as a simple battle against the elements in the high Andes grows into story of politics and deception.

I liked the continuity of this game: all of the cinema was made using in-game graphics, the menus have a lot of English and pictures in them, and the voice acting is 75% English with the remainder being Spanish. This game is rare on the import market and generally overpriced. A good price would be $10 but it is often $30 or $40. Shop carefully. I enjoyed this game a lot. It has a good story to tell.

Warning. This is a MOD protected game. The code to bypass this is D0027756 1040, 80027756 1000 (credit ar.zone)

Rally De Europe
Playstation
Japan (NTSC)


The Rally De series started with Rally De Africa in 1998. It was an arcade-style rally racer that successfully managed to capture the feel and fun of Sega Rally on the Saturn. However, Rally De Africa lacked the a Time Attack mode. Rally De Europe was released in 2000, and while I’m still waiting for them to add Time Attack, the graphics and car handling are much improved over the Africa version. The game lacks any official World Rally Championship cars but it uses convincing clones with fake names. The track design isn’t as well done as the classic tracks of Sega Rally, but the races are still fast and challenging.

The best part of Rally De Europe is the Zen-like control system. Gravel feels like gravel, tarmac acts like tarmac, and the powerslides and skids are dream-like. Diehard racers and beginners will both be pleased. After you complete all the Europe rallies (or cheat past them), a second game opens up: Rally De Africa 2000. This mode allows you to race on the old 1998 tracks with the 2000 game cars. In all that gives you 10 tracks and over a dozen cars. The game also has an exclusive feature called Memory Card Battle. It appears that you record a race on your card and then you email it to a friend via a Dexdrive file, sort of like a low-tech online challenge. Once you have your chum’s save, you can race against their ghost car.

Rally De Europe is rare on the import market. I suspect that there are many in Asia though. Increased demand for this game would probably make it more common. From an online store new it is $23. Secondhand on Ebay it should be under $10, if you can find it. If you really needed to get your racing fix and you can’t track down Rally De Europe, another option is WRC Arcade (PAL2NTSC code: D008 36C4 0001, 8008 36C4 0000), which is similar.

Overblood 2
Playstation
Europe (PAL, UK version SLES 01879)

The original Overblood was a rough-around-the-edges (both in terms of graphics and gameplay) title that really wanted to be good. The team at Riverhillsoft really tried. Learning from the mistakes of the original and borrowing elements from games like Final Fantasy VII and Tomb Raider, the developer did the Overblood universe justice in the sequel.

Overblood 2 is a self-described 3D Action RPG. It has three playable characters and many NPCs. The charm of O2 is in the characters and varied game play. The British voice cast is very talented and often rises above the many clunky and cluttered moments in the translated script. The gameplay is awesome and appeals to players of many styles and skill levels. For example, at one point in the game you have to cross can electrified floor in an engine room. Depending on how you like to play, this puzzle can be solved in a variety of ways. If you like hunting for items, you could run around find shock proof boots. Dexterous players can try their luck on the moving clockwork over the dangerous floor. Alternatively, one could buy some cheap rubber boots in town and take some minor shocks, then use a health item. And players who like living dangerously could set a number of explosives behind their character and try to ride the blast over.

O2 has a lot of gadgets and game mechanics that are unique. One good example are the heat and freeze tabs you can collect throughout the game. Say you are surrounded by a pool of sharks. You could dive directly into the water and try to knife-fight them, or for 100 credits you could toss a heat tab in their pool and cause the water to boil and evaporate. A shark flopping on dry concrete isn’t going to swim up and bite anyone! Perhaps you being drawn by strong winds toward a moat of lava. By using a freeze tab, you can change the lava into a pane of cold glass, making it a lot easier to figure out how to turn off those pesky wind fans.

The graphics in Overblood 2 are plain but clear. The levels themselves are huge and heavily reward exploration. The controls are also good: jumping, running, shooting, swimming etc. can all be done with ease. When you are required to do a new activity, hints often pop up on screen, making the learning curve very gentle. The difficulty in Overblood 2 also adjusts itself as you play. No matter how many times you die, the game allows you to try again. If you keep screwing up a challenge like a boss fight or a junk blade race, the game will notice and make the challenge easier. Though such an adjustment will affect your score, it makes the game a much less frustrating experience.

Despite all of its cool features, Overblood 2 isn’t for everyone. The pacing is uneven and spots of the game are very slow. The PAL discs also have features that prevent them from being fully played on a NTSC console. Having a PC emulator with a good PSX clone controller is recommended. The game is common and can be found cheaply on UK Ebay. Download a save file for Overblood 2.

The Sniper Simple 1500 Volume 56
Playstation
Japan

Most Simple 1500 games are terrible. This series is home to a large number of low-budget, low-fun titles. The Sniper is an exception. Though it was clearly made on the cheap, it offers a good concept and story with interesting gameplay.

In The Sniper you play Harry C Spencer, a hard boiled gunman. You have received a stack of contracts from a mysterious client only known to you as CA. The yen is good so you start assassinating key figures in the local crime gangs. After a briefing you pick a roof to shoot from and then wait for your victim. Your job is to find your target, aim carefully, and take them out. Though the premise is simple, some of the later missions become very hard. A fun training game is also available to help hone your skills. However, some of the gameplay assumes that you can understand Japanese, which means you’ll have to solve some missions by trial and error. Cheats for extra time and ammunition can be helpful if you are stuck. The Sniper is a great break from flashy, expensive import games. The steady pace and clear objectives mixed with a Hong Kong movie atmosphere make it an easy pick for me. The game is uncommon but shouldn’t cost more than $8, $10 max.

16bitman’s Guide to Obscure Games: Horror

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Deep Fear
Sega Saturn
Japan and Europe (NTSC or PAL)

When will people learn that strange microbes and underwater research stations don’t mix? Deep Fear is a well-executed Resident Evil clone for the Sega Saturn. While it was only released in Japan and Europe, the menus and all of the voice acting are in English. There is also a very complete FAQ for it over at GameFaqs.com. Anyone who enjoyed the original Resident Evil will like this game.
Deep Fear’s greatest strength is its presentation. The top notch music is provided by veteran composer Kenji Kawai (Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell etc.). The voice acting is superior by survival horror standards, and the plot is an interesting tale of sickness, corruption, and tragedy. The only drawback to this game is the lack of extra features and low replay value. Still, it is the best horror game on the Saturn and deserves your time. It is fairly common and shouldn’t cost more than $15.

The Note
Playstation
Japan or Europe (NTSC or PAL, PAL recommended for game fixes and language)

Like Hellnight, The Note started as a Japan-only release before being translated and edited for the European market. The final product is a little more choppy than the original version but it is infinitely more playable. The menus are selectable in a number of Western languages, the difficulty was reduced and the control was improved. God bless strafing. The Note is not a great game. The voice acting is terrible and the first person gameplay lacks targeting crosshairs. Still, it is a unique experience. Monsters are kept at bay by light, so to prevent zombie respawning you must always maintain a good supply of matches and oil to keep the fires burning. My only other tip would be to lie on the brightness test at the start of the game. The default setting is far too dark. Being eaten by unseen wolves in not fun! The Note is a good game for the fan of the unusual who gets a kick out of exploration. The Note is rare but cheap; keep an eye out for it and you should get it for $15 to $20.

Hellnight
Playstation
Japan and Europe (NTSC or PAL, PAL recommended for language)


Hellnight may be the best reason to learn how to import PAL PS One games, as there is nothing quite like it in the world. Hellnight is the European name for Atlus’ Dark Messiah, which unfortunately never saw a North American release. The game is a first person adventure that begins as you, a nameless everyman, are chased onto a subway train by bizarre cult members. From there you run for your life, relentlessly pursued by an unkillable beast. You will make allies, solve problems and find keys, but the over-riding goal in Hellnight is to escape from the strange underground world you are trapped in before you are destroyed by the beast.

Though you can complete the game without any allies, many of the paths in the game will are determined by who you choose for your partners and how long they survive. Will you keep Naomi, a schoolgirl with the uncanny ability to sense of the monster’s location? How about the crazed serial killer Kamiya, the stoic soldier Ivanoff, or the machine gun toting reporter Renee? It is unlikely any two sessions of Hellnight will turn out the same.

Hellnight is challenging but fair. The developers are good at throwing you a bone just when you feel the most alone and doomed. Though Hellnight will not please fans of graphics and glitz, those who favor a good story and great game design will really enjoy it. Hellnight is uncommon to rare. It shouldn’t cost you more than $20. Look for it in the British and Australian Ebay sites.

Twilight Syndrome Saikai
Playstation
Japan (NTSC)

For far too long this game has been denied its due. The Twilight Syndrome series was started by Human (creators of the Clock Tower series) in the mid nineties. By my count there have been six Syndrome titles, but Saikai is the best and the only one worth importing. The others are plagued with heavy text and have serious pacing issues. I do not know a lot of Japanese beyond yes and no, so the true story of this game is a bit of a mystery to me. But I can keep track of names and read images and emotion well enough to get a lot of enjoyment out of this game.

A group of teenagers in a boarding school meddle with the supernatural and are gifted with the Twilight Syndrome, the ability to hear and see the dead. From this point your group is sent off to solve a variety of ghostly matters in a series of chapters. As an added bonus there is an exploration mode, which I think is the best part of the game. It allows Yuuri, the main character, to check out the dark corners of her school at night and get important clues for the main adventures. Armed with a camera, the best plan is to wander around until you find spirits willing to speak, then snap some pictures of the area. After you are done exploring you can develop your film and get some kick ass ghost pictures.

The more Japanese you understand the better this game will be. Saikai was published by Spike at least twice and is common in Japan. The only problem is finding a vendor that carries it. The demand is currently very low in the import market. $10 or $15 seems to be the going rate. Download a save file for Twilight Syndrome.

Virus – It Is Aware
Playstation
Europe (PAL)

Once upon a time there was a company called Cryo Interactive. They made games that sucked. Even though their games were awful, Cryo often included promising and unique features. Virus is a Cryo game based off of a movie and comic book license. It borrows a lot from Resident Evil but is of much lower quality. However, I still feel compelled to recommend it because of its unique premise and cheesy horror plot.

The biggest problem with Virus that it is nearly unplayable without cheat codes. This could have been remedied by

  • removing the magazine limits of weapons (firing rate and power would be enough incentive for the player to change them),
  • cutting the damage (a lot) dealt by enemy projectile attacks,
  • fixing the collision bugs which allow projectile attacks to travel straight through walls and into the player,
  • speeding up the Taser recharging,
  • making special weapons more special (increase the damage radius and make them look decent),
  • removing the UZI and replacing it with a shotgun that does more widespread damage,
  • and finally leaving some health items around for the player to pickup. Hell, just put the some first aid kits on the walls.

Sadly, there was apparently no one at Cryo willing to listen to play testers. My proposed fixes might have made the game easier, but people could still enjoy it as good horror cheese. So in light of all these problems, my suggestion is to cheat. Cheat, and feel no shame in doing so, because cheating actually improves the quality of this game.

Virus’ strength is its silly story and straight up cyber-zombie blasting. The “puzzles” involve finding the next green button that will open a locked door. The game music is quite good and haunting, and Cryo did a good job with the CG movies and music. Playing the game on a North American console will likely cause music playback problems, so just rip the red book audio and listen to it on a nearby CD player.

I hear that Virus is extremely cheap second hand in Europe. Pay less than $10 for it. It is common but vendors might not be carrying it all the time.

Go on to Page 3, Other Import Games

16bitman’s Guide to Obscure Games: Playing Import Games 101

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Many moons ago I got a Playstation, and before long I came upon Metal Gear Solid. This game amazed me. I didn’t just finish it; I collected my stealth camo and went back for my bandanna, and then I wanted lots of ghost pictures. And a tuxedo. Got my Spiderman Ninja save icon. One of the tantalizing bits in MGS was the reference to an earlier Kojima game, Policenauts, which I instantly I wanted to play. I had a friend solder a chip in my PSX and the rest is history.

I’ve played a lot of imported games since then. So when Chris raised the idea of an article for an oddball import “top ten” I cheerfully volunteered.

Hardware

Cartridge systems
These are the easiest imports to play. In the case of Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64, the territory protection is mostly physical. A Super Famicon cart is bigger than a SNES cart and it lacks the grooves on the side to fit in your Super Nintendo. To defeat this you can use a pass-thru cart like a Game Genie or Game Shark. Sometimes you can just remove offending plastic fins that prevent the import cartridge from fitting. Carts can have lock out chips that need to be defeated with PAR codes, but such games are rare.

Sega Saturn
Though I was able to physically modify my Playstation to play import games, I don’t like that approach very much. On the Saturn, I prefer 4 in 1 carts from companies like Satellite or EMS. It works like a Gameshark with some extra features: memory management, a huge memory cache you can save games on, as well as an extra 1 to 4Mb of RAM needed for some Japanese Saturn titles. Plus comes with PAR codes and can be programmed to hold more. Did I mention it plays imported games too? The only downside to these carts is that not all games are supported. Fortunately, the list of unsupported games is very short; you can skip King of the Fighters 95 and live with KOF 96 and 97 just fine.

Sega Dreamcast
‘Casts can be chipped but I prefer to use boot discs. Fan or hacker made discs like Utopia can be burned from downloaded files, and there are also commercial boot discs available. Run the boot disc and then insert the import GD-ROM when cued to do so. Voila.

Playstation

The original Playstation is one the most hacked systems available. This gives you many choices for your importing pleasure. Installing MOD and Stealth chips is one way to go, but in recent years a number of solder free methods have also become available.

  • Game Enhancer. This hardware mod fits in the parallel port of an old model Playstation. It works much like the 4 in 1 cart for Saturn but it requires you to start the process with an original game from the same region as your machine. Then you swap it (like you were changing discs on an RPG game) to play your import game. Cheat codes are also supported.
  • CD-X Change 2 Boot Disc. My current favorite. It will run on any PSX or PSone. You boot the system with the CD-X disc and then insert the import. It also has a PAR code engine.
  • Emulation. Programs like VGS or ePSXe will allow you to play imported Playstation games on your home computer. While it is never exactly the same as playing on a real console it is often good enough to get a sense of your game. Combine this with a Playstation-to-PC adaptor and you can even use the original Playstation controller.
  • PAL Playstation One. European gamers have a nasty habit of getting Japanese games translated for their market. Then for what ever reason, these games don’t come to North America. Games like Hellnight! This injustice can be corrected however.
    • PAL2NTSC codes. These are codes that fix the color of a PAL game to display on a NTSC US television. They work like any Gameshark cheat code. These codes can be found online or generated using a program called Palpar. Palpar 1 finds 16bit codes that will run on a standard cheat engine. Palpar 2 builds 32 bit codes that will only work on a Game Enhancer kind of device.
    • The import player boot disc. A hacker group built this disc to defeat anti-MOD games and automatically fix PAL games to NTSC and vice versa. The CDRWin files needed are common online.
    • Zapper 2. Another game hacking tool. To use this I rip the ISOs from PAL games with Easy CD 95. This will result in a reading error but you can safely ignore it. You don’t need the last chunk of image. Zapper then reads the ISO, generates a patch, and will even apply it for you. Reburn the game and it is fixed for your NTSC TV. It works best for games that are data track only. A Zappered backup still needs to be played on a modified system of course.
    • A VGA Magic Box- I want one for Christmas! Hook your S or composite cables to this box. Connect the box to your computer’s monitor. They vary in quality and features but they should read and display any PAL or NTSC signal properly. If you can boot it, you can see it and thus play it.

Frequently Asked Importing Questions

Q: My game has no music (or just the first track).

A: This is a common problem with imported Playstation games that have redbook audio. I have had it happen with games like Destruction Derby 2 from Japan and Tank Racer from Europe. The only “solution” is to live without the music or rip the game disc and play the music on a CD or MP3 player while you are using the game.

Q: I can’t get a working PAL2NTSC code!!

A: Not every game can be cracked. I’m still working on the problems with games like Three-Sixty (a PAL racer), Formula One Arcade (PAL Sony 2002) and Lone Soldier (PAL). I can only suggest you research your import game before you buy it. Find out if other people have got it to work. Track down some codes and reviews.

Q: I want to start importing games. What is the easiest place to start?

A: Japanese games for a cartridge system. Alternatively, most older PS1 titles from Japan will work well with MOD or boot-swap system. You can’t go wrong with a Sega Saturn and a 4 in 1 cart either. Once you get into Dreamcast games or PAL games things are more complex. Try checking out some of these helpful links.

Now you know the tricks, it is time for the treats.

Go on to Page 2, Import Horror Games

Cthulhu Called, Fatal Frame Tormented

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is finally out, and the reviewers seem to like what they see. Fatal Frame 3 is also out, but is so far fairing a little worse (though there are still very few reviews–I’ll update the world score here when there are at least 10). Both look like awesome games to me.

I’m struggling to come up with the motivation to finish Kuon. Forcing you to play as two people is fine, but what is the point if the game is exactly the same the second time around?

Rule of Rose

Thanks to forum member Grace Saunders for the heads up about Sony’s upcoming adventure title Rule of Rose. The official trailer (horrible Windows Media format, beware) certainly makes it look like horror, but since there is absolutely no other information available about this game, it’s hard to say for certain. Keep an eye on this one.