"Youkai Douchuuki" - Turbografx-16/PC-Engine

AKA - 妖怪道中記

Time for another arcade game port! This one's a Namco special, from 1987-- we're seeing the port for PC Engine in only 1988, a little under a year later. The point of the game in this case is to help a boy named Tarosuke navigate his way out of hell. Light stuff.

By the way, "Youkai" means "Demon" (or something like it), and "Douchuuki" means "travel journal". I'm going to assume you know how to put those two words together. I assume the implication is that of Tarosuke's traveling through hell.

This was Namco's first 16-bit arcade game, by the way! It also got a Famicom port, which I'll eventually get to if I manage to review Famicom games that long (yeesh). Namco developed all three version themselves instead of sourcing it out, which seems to have been the method that produced the best results on most of these arcade ports so far.

This is a pretty early example of a game that has multiple endings depending on how you play through the game, by the way, which is neat. It seems unlikely to be honest that I'll beat it and see any ending at all, based on my PC-Engine track record so far (1/6), but I'm excited to see how it plays.

So let's do it!

An animated title screen!? This is definitely the future.

----- Playthrough -----

The main idea behind Yoogie Dajoogie is what I said above, you're traveling through hell as Tarosuke. It's a side-scrolling platformer, and with it come most of those trappings-- you move with the d-pad, jump with the 1 button, and shoot a fireball (or something) with the 2 button. You can also hold down on the d-pad to charge up your ki, and if you time it correctly, fire a big shot which penetrates enemy. If you charge too long, Tarosuke gets worn out and freezes in place for a second or two.

Why, I'm having fun already!

Each level that I played featured a host of different types of traps, but for the most part you can pretty much expect moving platforms and enemies that either walk towards you or shoot at you. When you kill enemies, they'll drop money, which you'd do well to pick up-- but more on that later.

Once you finish the first level, you'll encounter your first boss and encounter your first decision. He wants you to give him all your money or he'll beat you up, essentially. You can give it to him or not, but in my trials with different sums, he's never very impressed and tries to beat you up regardless.

And so Tarosuke runs over to the conveniently placed altar and begins praying his brains out, and that's when a ghost shows up to help you fight off the demon. You take control of the ghost: the d-pad moves you on the screen and the 1 and 2 buttons shoot homing fireballs.

Tarosuke, I hope you're also praying I'm gonna get better at this game...

The rest of the game has choices similar to this one that supposedly effect the type of ending you get in the game. Towards the end of the first level, you'll be given a choice to buy a dango for 10,000... money. At the beginning of the second level, a cat will approach you and ask if you'll give him your dango. If you say yes, he'll follow you through the level attacking enemies and help out. If you say no, he'll just dejectedly walk around and leave you alone.

This whole "choice" mechanic is pretty much the core of Tarosuke's adventure and what you can get out of this game as a player. Each time you play it's fun to experiment with different decisions just to see what will happen. Some of them can supposedly change your path through the game.

How could this treasure box from hell possibly contain anything bad?

The only other consideration is that because many of the choices have to do with money, if you want to see what happens when you pay the money, you'll probably end up having to plan for them ahead of time. Tarosuke also has access to shops throughout the game where he can buy upgrades and life items. such as a speed up or an upgrade to throw more fireballs at once:

Give me some piping hot noodles and a webbed fish foot, granny.

However, if you give into the temptation of these luxuries, you'll likely be running low on funds when key decisions come up, so it's sometimes wiser to abstain, if you're looking to see what happens when the blue oni, who claims no relation to the red oni, asks if you can spare him 20,000, for instance.

Ultimately, you presumably have to make some combination of the right choices to get the best ending. There are 5 endings available, ranging from being sent to hell permanently to going to heaven, that depend on your actions in the game. I imagine you'd probably need a guide to get them all unless you're very patient.

Though once you get the strip dance scene, you're basically done with the game.

----- Review -----

How long did I play?
About 3 hours.

Did I beat the game?

No. I beat 3/5 stages.

Intuitive Design: 

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

The game's not hard to understand or play, the only complexity/confusion will be in uncovering secrets and figuring out how your decisions influence your run, but that's as it should be, if you ask me.

Gameplay / Difficulty: 

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

The platforming controls are a little bit slidey, and Tarosuke feels pretty weak, but his charge shot which requires timing is satisfying to pull off, and the window is just narrow enough that it requires some skill which makes it even more satisfying.

The game's definitely tough insofar as I played, but playing through up to where I got stopped was sufficiently quick that it wasn't hurting my feelings a lot. I'll probably continue playing the game/try to finish it after I put this up.

Depth: 

How deep/long is the game?

Five levels isn't an absurd amount of content, but there's no way you'll make it through in one try, and if you want to see the different endings or at least experiment with the choices, it will take more tries than that. I definitely think you can at least get an afternoon or two out of the game of solid entertainment.

When you finally do reach the point where you're ready to beat the game in one run, Youtube tells me it'll probably take you around 20 minutes.

Sound / Graphics: 

How's the sound? How are the graphics?

I think this game is probably a contender with Jaseiken Necromancer for best looking PC Engine game we've seen so far. Most of the sprites are sizable and expressive, and in general the character designs are pretty interesting. Some of the enemies are even pretty non-generic and surprising the first time you see them, which is normally a lot to ask for 80s games.

This is most certainly not my happy place.

The music is all pretty good and has a distinct Japanese sound to it. I find it fun and catchy for the most part, but it's not mind-blowing stuff.

Personal Chord: 

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

I like weird, very Japanese stuff, and I think Youkai Douchuuki fits the bill in that regard. I think it's also cool that it seems relatively obscure for American audiences, though I think it's probably known well enough in Japan as one of Namco's arcade titles. I'm definitely going to play it some more, as I'd like to at least beat it once.

Should You Play: 

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

I think so, but it might be tough if you don't speak Japanese. There is a ROM translation patch floating around out there if you need it. Most of the choices are just yes/no choices anyway though, so if you try them out you'll probably get the gist of what they do on your own.

It's certainly a unique game, and worth at least checking out, I think.

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