Player One Podcast

Ys, the ideal utopia. Once a country so peaceful and prosperous, a country where children were as free as the wind. A country where harmony blew through the hearts of all men.

Ys, a kingdom ruled by the wisdom and charity of its six powerful priests. An empire watched over and blessed by the enchanting aura of its two beautiful goddesses.

Ys, the seemingly tranquil paradise, suddenly pulled from the height of its civilization to the empty abyss of infinite isolation.

How could such a land of promise simply vanish from the face of the planet? How could such prosperity be forgotten?

The legend has been silenced for over seven hundred years. And now the mystery unfolds.

After our Beyond Oasis Game Club, we’ve decided to keep the action-RPG train going with Ys: Book I & II (for the record, it’s pronounced “ease,” not “whys”). This was one of the very first console games to be released on CD in the U.S. back when it came out for the TurboGrafx-16. The series has earned a lot of fans over the years, but will newcomers to the series enjoy the simplistic “run into enemies to damage them” combat system? That’s what we wanna find out.

Since most of you probably don’t have a TurboGrafx to play the original on, your best best is to get the game through the Wii’s Virtual Console (only 800 Wii Points, and you can now play it straight off an SD card!). Atlus also recently released a graphically updated version of the game(s) for the Nintendo DS under the title Legacy of Ys: Book I & II. You won’t get the true old school Ys experience playing this version, but if that’s all you got, then go for it.

We’ll be discussing this game in episode 131. In the meantime, get playing and get us your comments and/or memories. As always, you can post them on this blog, in the forums, drop us an email, or leave a voicemail (713-893-8069).

Ye Olde YouTube Links:
Intro Sequence
Gameplay Footage

Phil Theobald Game Club, Video Games Falcom, game club, RPG, turbografx, Virtual Console, Ys

For Game Club game #6, we have chosen Gate of Thunder for the TurboGrafx-16 CD / TurboDuo. Available for your playing pleasure via the Wii Virtual Console (800 points). Here's a little info on the game:

From Nintendo's Virtual Console page:

The legendary sci-fi shooter is back! Gate of Thunder is a horizontal side-scrolling shooter that places you in control of special undercover agent Hawk, whose mission is to stop the deadly army of Obbellon fighters. Jump into the action as Hawk gets aboard his ship, the Hunting Dog, and heads out toward the enemy. Blast through stages while effectively using all three of the weapons at your disposal and receiving support from ally Wild Cat ships. Switch through equippable power-up options on the fly to change the direction of your attack. You'll have to blast in front of and behind you to survive all seven stages. Hard-core shooting-game fans looking for a challenge can select HARD or DEVIL mode to experience even more intense action!

YouTube gameplay footage - Gate of Thunder

Hudson Soft's Gate of Thunder VC game page



We will be discussing this game on Episode 74. So check it out, reply to this thread with comments and/or call our voicemail line at 713-893-8069. Danke.

Chris Johnston Game Club game club, turbografx