Yeah, I'm reviewing these out of order. Then again I don't put dates on articles so the 5-6 people that read this won't know the difference. The sequence of these Hyper Catalog reviews is based on when they show-up on eBay for a reasonable price.. except for one I'm saving until Xmas season.
This is the second in the series, which is subtitled "Spring 1993" so it likely came out in early 1993. This was a good year for PC Engine CD games, not in the US obviously which is the source of my fascination with games of that time.
Intro & Menu
This sampler opens up with a Bomberman-themed magic show. This settles the debate about whether the hosts who appear in parts 3 & 4 were introduced in this installment.
Catalog
The catalog sports a pink theme which is appropriate for springtime.
Bonk 3 Demo
Bonk's Revenge is one of my favorite platformers but I never got into Bonk 3. Maybe I thought giant Bonk was too goofy. Whatever the case, playing it again changed my opinion. Now I'll concede it's a good follow-up. This demo is playable up to the first boss.
Dynastic Hero Demo
Dynastic Hero used to be a really cheap game to import, I picked it up for ~$10 several years ago. Now it's up over $50 it looks like. I wonder if it was cheap during the window of time when it was available on Wii Virtual Console? Like Bonk 3 this is playable up to the first boss. Instead of an ending screen, the tunnel that's supposed to open after the boss fight just isn't there (see the last screenshot).
GunBuster Vol.2 Trailer
This is just a short trailer, not much to see here.
Monster Maker Trailer
This trailer is a little longer but also not playable.
Quiz Caravan: Cult Q Demo
This demo is playable but I stood no chance.
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Vol. 2 Trailer
This is the strangest thing on the sampler. It's a demo that plays itself. It shows the basic controls of the game and then a couple scenes from the first mystery. At the end it goes through the trial mechanics. Maybe calling this a "tutorial" would have been more accurate.
Also the resolution is all funky.
Here's something else weird - when I try to play the US version of this game on the same emulator the video is all distorted. Strange how it's fine on the demo. I should import a Japanese copy of the game (I'm sure it's cheap) to see how that works.
Winds of Thunder Demo
Winds of Thunder was on the first Hyper Catalog too but it was a different level. It ended exactly the same for me though. It would be funny if you could assemble the entire game just from sampler discs. I'm positive a stack of sampler discs is cheaper than the full game.
Final Word
Now for the important question is this CD worth it? There are two demos you can play without needing to know Japanese. The Dynastic Hero demo is also playable if you're familiar with the Genesis version of the game. You probably have it on 30 different Genesis collections so maybe that demo isn't a selling point for you. The Bonk 3 demo was surprisingly long and, if you're like me, one stage of Winds of Thunder is plenty. Of the three Hyper Catalogs I've looked at I think this has the most playable content so for the moment I'll call it my favorite in the series. I hear good things about Hyper Catalog 4 though and just maybe I'll write about it this December.
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