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Bari
Bari Densetsu
バリバリ伝説
29 Nov 1989 |
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Chances
are you won't have heard of the Bari Bari
Densetsu manga. It's your average 'Japanese
sporting underdog does good' fare, set in the
hot-headed world of superbike racing. Authored
by Shuichi Shigeno (who would later pen the Initial
D series) the 38-volume manga was published
between 1983 and 1991, and a two-part
animation was broadcast in 1986.
Taito's 1989 Bari Bari Densetsu video game made a small name for itself back in the
PC Engine's early days. It's a quality motorbike
game very much in the same spirit as Sega's iconic Hang-On (1985) with plenty of nice touches of its own. In fact, after a couple of games it turns out
that Taito have come up with a surprisingly
good game, hands down one of the best racers on the
PC Engine.
Get on that bike, qualify, and off you go to
score some championship points. One of the first
things you'll notice is that most courses can
be taken full speed, and the weather is completely
haphazard. Regardless of whether you are racing
in Brazil or the UK, it always tends to burst
into torrential rain in mid-race, for no good
reason at all. And since
you can't pit to change tires the focus falls on accurate tuning, careful tire selection
and good old-fashioned luck.
The other catch is
that during the 16-round WGP mode, passwords are only
given every 4 races. Each grand prix is long,
coarse, and taxing on the nerves... Course memorisation
is key, along with some pure and undiluted racing
guffaw.
Taito did surprisingly well with this one:
the gameplay can be a little too quick at times,
yet considering its age it is a remarkably
tight motorbike game
with a polished front end, Zuntata soundtrack,
and a lot of do-or-dare tension.
Rating:  |
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Bari
Bari Densetsu
バリバリ伝説
PC ENGINE |
DETAILS
| Format |
PC
Engine |
| Released |
29
Nov 1989 |
| Publisher |
Taito |
| Product
ID |
TP01003 |
| Size
(cm) |
14.2
x 12.4 x 1 |
| Weight
(kg) |
0.10 |
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Taito's
arcade-style superbike game slipped
by completely unnoticed
back in late '89.
A crying shame: until
the PC Engine version of Out
Run (21 Dec 1990) this was the best racing game on the
format.
Standard PCE case, 2Mbit HuCard,
monochrome booklet. |
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TACTICS |
Strange
'Night Time' demo:
During the Taito boot-up screen, hold  + I + SELECT (press II to exit)
Play as Sachiko Yamana:
On the title screen, hold  ,
and input I, II, I, II, II, I, RUN
Passwords: |
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'Bari
Bari Densetsu' and 'Taito' are registered trademarks of Taito Corporation
'PC Engine' and 'NEC' are registered trademarks os NEC Corporation
Bari Bari Densetsu TM & © 1989 Taito All Rights Reserved
Page content, design & layout © 2012 Arcade Gear |
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