Hard to believe now, but Sorcerian was one of the PC-88's most advanced games when it released:

-Smooth-ish side-scrolling action
-Meaningful party growth & management
-Custom spellmaking with around ~100 possibilities
-15 lengthy campaigns
-One of Falcom's best-ever soundtracks

https://twitter.com/gematsu/status/1604856283059720192

On a technical level, Sorcerian is still impressive for such limited hardware. PC-88 scrolling is no joke!

This article from the doujin disk PC88 Game World (preserved by @gamepres) goes into further detail about every known trick Yoshio Kiya & co. used: gamepres.org/pc88/library/1…

This #PasokonSunday, it's a PC-88 golf game couple: Computer the Golf & Golf Island!

With the former's English fan patch from @GeofrontTeam, it's never been easier to experience Falcom's pre-Ys/-RPG period, let alone Tecno Soft's early PC games. It's digital golf for the masses! I know, neither look as exciting as Shin Sex 2: The Sequel to the Motion Picture, but look at it this way:

Falcom & Tecno Soft got folks skipping the golf club a year before Nintendo. Why spend possibly *millions* of yen on a club membership when a PC & game went for way less?

Very cool video as expected. I knew Possessioner was underwhelming vs. its Western reception based entirely on said GIFs & music, but I didn't think it was *this* flawed.

If anyone asks why I'm so picky with covering ADVs/proto-VNs for any J-PC...well, this kind of game is why.

https://twitter.com/speedynoelle/status/1558610454590771201

The differences between titles like Risky Jewel & Possessioner are many, but I think how they handle sex appeal stands out

Jewel's heroines have some Sailor Moon-style ecchi moments, mainly the transformation CGs centered around the girls' agency/maturity

https://twitter.com/DragEnRegalia/status/1556436439000293378

NHK recently aired a feature about Brother's '80s & '90s "black company" years, starring subjects like their iconic Takeru floppy software vending machines.

It's funny that Brother considers this era their "black" period, as if legally rewriting user floppies was/is dubious.

https://twitter.com/BrotherBrandJp/status/1556830123307008003

Brother's R&D team came up with Takeru in the early-'80s as a way to reuse excess disk stock from other products. It never made as much profit as the company desired, but Takeru ATMs remained in operation well into the '90s. They were home to many doujin/eroge titles as a result.

So, whenever talk about Tower of Druaga's community guides from the '80s comes up, I struggle to find good primary sources for that trend. After all, either arcades trashed those books/boards years after Druaga's peak, or they became private heirlooms.

Then comes this tweet!

https://twitter.com/chirisi2015/status/1533004679734448133

Another example, this time for the console ports. It's neat how this game, with all its inscrutable traps & tricks, spawned a grassroots strategy guide scene. (Arguably less cool how it heralded an age of games only fun when using said strategy guides.)

https://twitter.com/Aran_Saijo/status/1533281111538749440

This #PasokonSunday, it's time for PC-98 recommendations charts!

It's been forever since I promised these, but they're finally happening. 5 infographics, 84 selections, 12700069420 hours in MS Paint.

So many games you can pick up & try right now, listed with icons & quick info! Pt 2: action, xRPGs, and shooters!

Quick facts on these reccographics:
•Nearly all games are SFW
•Most games require relatively little set-up thanks to pre-made images/emulators
•Twitter's crop changes probably messed up how these look—apologies in advance

Spread 'em around!

This #PasokonSunday, let's de-stress with some Metal Force on PC-98!

This vertical STG from CHIME nails the bread-and-butter aspects of J-PC doujin shooters--more polished than usual.

-Great BGM from KID (of Final Crisis fame)
-Fun boost/weapon systems
-Smooth difficulty curve YouTube longplay for Metal Force butchers its resolution/video quality, so I'll upload the lengthy intro here for now.

Though published by eroge firm Youentai, Metal Force's the work of a rather unknown studio called CHIME; its developers might have helped develop Final Crisis.