Game Market 1983

Chapter 44: Case by Case

"Rotate the D-pad while pressing the B button."

"W-what... Rotate the D-pad?"

That's right. Psykick Battle was the very first command input shooting game.

Following my advice, Junhyuk completed the command input. Ka-boom! A cheerful sound effect burst forth, and a blue barrier formed around the character, beginning to block the barrage of enemy bullets.

"Wow!"

More applause than expected flowed from the spectators watching the game. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Junhyuk quickly escaped to an empty space and immersed himself in the game once more.

However, it didn't last long. Surrounded by another wave of bullets, Junhyuk started making strange groaning noises as he tried to dodge the bullets.

In Psykick Battle's first stage, there were two types of bullets coming at the player, small and round ones, and long and thin ones, each with different speeds. Since Junhyuk was new to playing, he couldn't avoid all the bullets, so he tried to block some of them with his body.

At that moment, one of the employees watching the game commented, "You don't seem to die easily from enemy attacks, do you? Is that the health display at the top of the screen?"

"Psykick Battle is different from typical shooting games. Getting hit by an enemy's attack doesn't result in instant death. It has HP, like in fighting games, and an SP gauge for using special attacks. You can recover HP by defeating enemies or consuming items. Junhyuk, try moving back and forth with the D-pad and press the B button after."

Following my advice, Junhyuk moved his character back and forth and then pressed the B button. Suddenly, multiple laser beams shot out from his character, annihilating the enemies in an instant.

"Wow! That's amazing!"

"Next, press the D-pad up, down, up, down, and then the B button!"

Shwoong! Along with a burst of light from the character, the screen that had been filled with bullets disappeared in an instant. Even the spectators watching Junhyuk's play heaved a sigh of relief.

After getting used to the gameplay mechanics, Junhyuk proficiently filled up his SP gauge and confronted the first colossal insect-like boss of the stage.

In a bullet-dodging shooting game, the intimidation factor of a massive boss was beyond comparison with other games. As the boss's size increased, the space for the player to evade diminished.

This particular boss was quite ruthless.

"Cough! What is this!?"

Missiles hatching from eggs...

At first, the massive barrage slowly tightened around the player, but it was designed to expand in all directions at a certain point.

Then, at that moment, as the demonstration overwhelmed the computer's CPU, the gameplay began to slow down rapidly.

Even though they were just small bullets, setting their trajectories and calculating the damage when they hit the player took a heavy toll on the system.

Junhyuk started to weave through the barrage meticulously, a thrilling sight that made the spectators feel both stifled and exhilarated.

"Oh... it's like slow motion."

And when the number of bullets reached the limit where further expression was impossible, I had prepared one device as a countermeasure. The giant insect-like boss's mouth suddenly opened wide.

"What's this!?"

Kwaaang! A massive laser beam that engulfed more than half of the screen made the bullets disappear completely. Junhyuk's character, who had maintained some HP until then, vanished without a trace along with his screams.

"Aaaargh!"

Game over. Junhyuk ultimately couldn't clear the first boss and the game ended. In this game, having HP meant that losing a life was the end.

"I can't believe I couldn't even clear the first stage of a shooting game..."

Junhyuk was quite shocked and had a dejected expression as he stared at the TV. I patted his shoulder and smiled.

"You did really well. Honestly, it would have been quite awkward if you had defeated the boss. We're still in the early stages of development, and I was even nervous about clearing it myself."

However, despite the presentation coming to an end, it was strangely quiet. I had expected some applause or cheers, but when I turned my head to look at the attendees, they all had the same dazed expressions.

"Uh... then, that concludes the Psykick Battle presentation..."

"Woahhhhh!"

As if time had been frozen, an immense cheer erupted. Junhyuk, who had been sitting in the front row, was applauding proudly.

"I can't believe this is the first game he's made!"

"It felt like a completely new shooting game!"

Even Gunpei, who was watching from the side, came up to me, patting my shoulder and said, "I knew if Kang Junhyuk was involved, something amazing would come out. Impressive. You surprised me!"

"Haha... thank you, Gunpei."

However, amidst all the cheering, one person was not smiling. Sitting in his chair and staring at me with a sullen expression, Shige left the presentation room shortly after.

The presentation of MinTendo's new games was a great success. President Kamauzuchi was very satisfied with the reactions of the attendees to Super Marigi 3 and Psykick Battle.

Afterward, the attendees had the opportunity to try out the new games themselves. Interestingly, more people were drawn to Psykick Battle than to Super Marigi 3, even though the latter had received a great initial response.

It seemed that the challenging bullet-hell shooting gameplay of Psykick Battle was stimulating the players' competitive spirit.

However, most of the players couldn't even make it past the first stage of Psykick Battle and ended up with a game over.

"Look at this! It's not that I'm bad, right? This game is just insanely difficult..."

Junhyuk came over to me, grumbling and proud of his performance, while watching the defeated players.

"That's why I asked you to demonstrate. If players were dying too easily, the mood would be ruined before it even started."

"You... you used me for that, didn't you?"

"What? Friends help each other out. Why do you think I used you? You had fun too, didn't you?"

"Well, I have to admit it was thrilling. People's reactions were good... I think, compared to Super Marigi 3, the initial reception was better."

At that moment, a few MinTendo employees nearby turned their attention to Junhyuk. It couldn't be helped since within MinTendo, Kumamoto Shige was practically a godlike figure to the developers.

Junhyuk looked away from their piercing glances and said to me, "Should we go outside for some fresh air? Maybe have a coffee too?"

"Sure, let's do that."

A little later, as we stepped outside the company building, Junhyuk finally exhaled as if he could breathe.

"Huff~ The atmosphere inside is so tense."

"True, why did you make such a comment back there?"

"Come on, don't act like you didn't notice. It was quite obvious. It's not like I have a hole in my eye; anyone could tell."

"Enough of that. Who would listen?"

After getting some coffee from a vending machine, Junhyuk lit a cigarette with a sigh.

"By the way, Junhyuk, you introduced Psykick Battle as a versus action game, but the gameplay style doesn't seem much different from a regular shooting game. The command element is intriguing, though..."

"Oh, that's... it's still in development, but I'm planning to make it possible for two characters to battle against each other."

"Ah, I see. But doesn't that limit the number of characters too much? There are only three characters at the moment."

"From the second stage onwards, I'm going to place boss characters that are as powerful as the main characters, so players can use them when they clear the stage. In the end, there will be up to six characters."

"So, the clear condition is to increase the number of playable characters? Interesting!"

Junhyuk seemed satisfied with my response, nodding and smiling. Just then, a familiar voice came from behind the vending machine. The voice belonged to Shige.

"Kang, game developers shouldn't lie to the players."

"Ah, Shige. But have I been lying?"

"Your Psykick Battle... the level of bullet hell implementation you're talking about won't run on current family hardware, will it?"

Junhyuk was suddenly startled by Shige's unexpected appearance and nearly burned his mouth with a cigarette. Look at that. Didn't they say, "A bird listens to the old man's words during the day, and a mouse listens at night"?

Shige, unlike his usual self, had a rather serious expression. It seemed that he was a bit uneasy about the reactions of the attendees at the demonstration.

"It can be done."

"What did you say?"

"It might take some time, but it can be done."

"How would you...?"

"Well... I can't reveal it right now, but I'll try to make it work on the family console."

"Really? Then how about we make a bet?"

"What kind of bet?"

"A bet on which game will sell more, your Psykick Battle or my Super Marigi 3."

Oh... What's this, another family feud?

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