Youkai Douchuuki

~ YOUKAI DOUCHUUKI ~

Namco

HuCard

1988

My lord, does this thing show its age. Remember that really old guy in the wheelchair in Big Trouble in Little China, the dude who had been cursed to walk the Earth for eternity or whatever? Well, this is the "really old guy in Big Trouble in Little China" of HuCards. It's absolutely ancient.

Not that I necessarily mind ancient visuals. Mystical Fighter on the Genesis is kind of a personal favorite of mine. But Youkai asks a lot here. Not only is it so, so primitive looking (especially since the play field is scrunched down to accomodate a "map" at the top of the screen), but it also doesn't play all that wonderfully. At least it offers some levels with multiple objectives to complete and paths to take, along with a few different ending scenes. And it's dirt cheap--unless, of course, you're looking for the gold version, in which case you're completely nuts.

There's something weird about the game that you might want to note. I first tried it on my Duo-R, and it didn't work. However, when I gave it a go on my SuperGrafx, it worked just fine. My brother Alexei had similar issues with his own copy (or "copies," I should say, as he actually purchased two Youkais, thinking the first was defunct, and neither worked on his US Duo+Kisado or on his TurboGrafx+Kisado or even on his SGX--it wasn't until he tried them on his GT that he realized they were in "working" condition). Now, I haven't heard any other reports regarding this sort of thing, but that's probably because Alexei and I are the only ones who actually play stuff like this. Anyway, Youkai's apparent aversion to certain units is very weird.

And that's not the only thing that's weird about this game...

You run into a hell of a lot of weird demon-folk during your quest. The gameplay is standard run-and-pelt stuff, but the characters are anything but normal. Actually, I've always found the "hero" to be the freakiest-looking one.

Simple platforming sequences can be sort of difficult because your guy slips around a lot and doesn't jump very well.

A boss fight! Pray, little dude, pray. You take control of some spirit fighter as he prays.

Save up cash to buy health restorers and power up your shot. Don't spend too much money in the shops, though; you'll need some dough to hitch a ride on the big turtle.

Said turtle takes you to this nice, sweet princess... who puts on a strip show for you. Catch what you can while the spotlights zip around the screen.

She also gives you a box. It might contain a lot of money. It also might explode in your face and transform you into an old dude.

Before you can be done with this thing, you have to answer a few questions that this guy throws at you. You do know Japanese, right?

The ending you get depends on how many enemies you killed and how many points you earned during the final stage. "Zero" is a great number.

Youkai Douchuuki

This is an odd little platformer that is interesting mainly because half the fucking screen is taken up by your status bar. Literally half. It shows a little map that sort of gives you an idea of where you are in the level, but basically only by telling you how far you are away from the end since its just a crude drawing of the level. The control is decent, and it does everything ok in a 1988 sort of way, but the game as a whole is just archaic and not any fun. First of all you only get one fucking life, and that's IT, no continues or anything (at least not that I could find). You can buy stuff from an old lady in a store, but only health power ups and some status enhancers like new shoes that make you jump *slightly* higher, and other things nearly as worthless. Plus the collision detection is a little odd, it's one of those games where the edge of platforms and enemies isn't precisely defined (like donkey kong country compared to mario bros), so it can be ultimate frustrating. The boss fights are kind of cool though, your character prays at a shrine and his spirit comes out and you get to control it as it flies around and fires projectiles off, all the while your little guy is praying super hard.

Overall the game isn't exactly horrible but it's close enough that they share the same personal space. The few frustrations will over ride any fun you might possibly have; like when you have to stop at a shop (they aren't optional) and the screen takes 10 unbelievably-long seconds to change, you only get one life and no continues, and there are various extremely cheap parts that rival The Addams Family for frustration. I will say, though, it's leagues better than fucking JJ and Jeff or Impossamole, but what game isn't (besides Blodia)?

Genesis game that is better than this game rating- Wardner, by at least 7 Phantasy Star lengths.