Courtesy of LIPEMCO, the 1st Tengai Makyou is now translated. Tengai Makyou was a huge series for Hudson Soft and Red Entertainment and was one of the premiere reasons to own the CD-ROM². Check it out:
#tengai makyo
NEC was in peril.
With both Nintendo and Sega crushing in from both sides, with their latest CD-based hardwares both powered by their biggest rival Sony, the tiny little[1] TurboGrafx-16 was too frail to stand a chance.
Sure, they also had a CD-ROM as an add-on, and it was the earliest in the industry, too. But the technological advancements didn’t mean much when it had no killer apps to run. SNES had a phenomenal launch with Super Mario World. Mega Drive was selling like hotcakes with Sonic the Hedgehog. TG-16 had not much going on with it, and Hudson Soft (the co-creator of the console) didn’t help much, with all of their major titles being available on other consoles…
…except for one; a risky choice that was on the pipeline.
In Japan, PC Engine was going neck-and-neck against Mega Drive for the close 2nd place next to SNES. And fans and analysts alike consider it wouldn’t have been possible without what was possibly the biggestーboth in terms of its regional popularity and its sheer sizeーRPG of all time, ‘Far East of Eden’.
In Japan, there are currently 26 CD-ROM based games already available for this machine, including Ys I & II (scheduled for Christmas release in the U.S. on one disk) and a truly gigantic game, Ziria, which seems to be about the size of 2 or 3 Ultimas put together. IF NEC can handle the mammoth translating job, Ziria could be the game hit of 1991 on the game machines (unless, of course, Nintendo counters with Zelda III or Dragon Warrior III, and Sega with Phantasy Star III).
- Computer Gaming World, November 1990, “Westward Ho! (Toward Japan, That Is): An Overview of the Evolution of CRPGs on Dedicated Game Machines”
The translation team within Hudson headquarters in Japan, led by John A. Greiner and Sonoko Sato, were at full force to deliver the console’s last chance in the international market in English.
And in the faithful year of 1991, after the aggressive price cut for the TurboGrafx-CD bundle, the game was ready to roll out for presentation at CES 1991…
NEC was still around with TurboGrafx-CD (somehow), they had this game called Tengai Makyo: Ziria which was kinda like Ultima (bummer) but with giant cartoon characters filling up the screen all having quips against you while you battle. It looked and sounded stunning, the art style and the self aware sense of humor reminded me of Samurai Pizza Cats a lot (I think I heard the same guy Saban brought over this game too[3]), and they announced the price drop for TG-CD which was tempting.
Tengai Makyo ends up being a cult classic in the West…which can also describe TurboGrafx-CD’s status in that region as well.
While not a huge success like a hedgehog or a plumber with his ‘ostrich,’[4] it is still well-remembered for its unique aesthetic and the sheer volume, instead of not even being a footnote for the American gaming memory.
And perhaps thanks to its modest success, this may not be the end of the track for the NEC / Hudson train…
[1] ITTL, PC Engine still goes through a name change in the west, but the form factor remains the same, allowing the hardware to get a head start in 1988 with the unnecessary hardware ‘revision’ out of the way.
[2] IOTL, only the first sequel was released for TurboGrafx-CD PC Engine CD-ROM². The second sequel would be in a development hell until 2005, due to uncertainty brewing within RED Company (co-developer of the series), and the subpar sales of PC Engine (outside Japan) and its successor PC-FX (even in Japan).
[3] Even the anime adaptation makes it to the US airwaves on Fox Kids, also imported by Saban. The show fares moderately in the network block, and becomes one of the staples of Toonami schedule back during its launch in ‘97.
[4] See previous chapter ending. I also recommend reading through all of those Usenet posts in the link; They are certainly a...interesting timepiece.
Chapter Epilogue
The year was 1994.
Ouji Hiroi, the mastermind behind the Tengai Makyo series, was celebrating his 40th birthday at the Hudson Soft office. This celebration, however, also served as a farewell party of sorts, as he and his Red Company was departing from overseeing the franchise full-time at Hudson, and was on his way to seek new opportunities.
“Stop getting all moody y'all, I’ll need to come back here for the 3rd game later on anyways[5].”
Hiroi, in his typical mannerisms, attempted to jest the sentimental atmosphere away, but the sense of bittersweetness was catching up to him as well. He was on his way to a new environment, a new corporate partner, a new crew, all for the sake of materializing his dream project. And the idea that he won’t be working with any of his old friends at Hudson was rather…
“Hiroi-san!” One young passionate man in glasses stormed towards Hiroi. “Can I…speak with you for a moment, sir?”
Hiroi knew this ‘kid’. He was an alumnus of Hudson's own staff training school for aspiring developers. And, from Hiroi’s own experience working with him for the 2nd and 3rd Tengai Makyo, aspiring he sure was. Hiroi was very confident with the ‘kid’’s talent, thus the role offered to him grew over time, to the point where he was in charge of all of the NPC dialogues by the time of the 3rd game.
“Uhh…sure, whatever.” Hiroi and ‘his kid’ left the group for a private chit-chat.
“Hiroi-san…can I come along?” The young man asked with all the firmness he could muster.
And he’d need it too; He was just getting his start at Hudson. So his sudden desire for departure was rather…unorthodox.
“Your boss ain’t paying ya or what?” Hiroi lit his cigarette and maintained his jestfulness.
“My pay is alright, sir, but…Hiroi-san, you have a strong passion for projects you work with, and everyone can feel that.”
“It’s what I do.”
“Between you and me, sir…I can’t say the same for the executives at Hudson anymore.”
“Uh oh, I’m telling Katsuki-san![6]”
“Uh…sir?”
“Just messin’ with ya. So what’s your pet peeve with them?”
“Whenever I work on my games, I always view them as something everyone can enjoy. Not just the kids, but their parents too…But I recently found out the executives think otherwise, with one of them outright telling me “Who cares, it’s just for kids anyways.””
“I feel ya…I’ve so far built my whole career off of selling toys to kids[7], but there’s more to the life of a creative mind than just that, y’know?”
Hiroi cut back to the chase before his mid-life wistfulness caught up to him.
“…Tell you what, also between you and me. I have a spot in my project for a writer. I’ve already got Akahori-kun for the main plot, but I’ll try my damndest to convince people at Sega to work with you for side segments and what not.”
“Really? Thank you sir!” the young man couldn’t have been happier. Sega was, after all, the same company that essentially had a successful ‘creative coup d'etat’ in the early 90’s, with their reputation ever-growing with their stellar portfolio. This was the company for the minds like him.
“Now go tell that boss of ya piece of yer mind, uhhh…I’m bad with names, what’s yours again?”
“Yoshida,” the young man said with all of his confidence. “Naoki Yoshida.”
--
[5] Which he would, unlike IOTL…
[6] Producer at Hudson.
[7] He kick-started his career by working on a candy/toy line at Lotte, then made it big with the Wataru series.