Toshi Tensou Keikaku: Eternal City [都市転送計画エターナルシティ] Game Sample -- PC Engine

When you hear of the name "Masamune Shirow" (aka Masanori Ota), the first thing that should come to mind is "Legendary Mangaka and Artist", but another thing (that he is not as well-known for) is his collaborations with video games. This is because not only are most of them Japan-only releases, but many of them are fairly middling (whether he assisted in the production, did the designs or lent the property to another party). While we've covered some of MS' involvement with VG works over the years, he's had a few stand-outs (Such as the PS iteration of "Ghost in the Shell", the PS Light Gun shooter "Project Horned Owl", the PS2 rendition of "Appleseed EX", the intriguing "Sampaguita" visual adventure and support with Nintendo's "Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon") but for every jewel, there was something a little less than stellar (the SFC rendition of "Appleseed", the failed launch of "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - First Assault Online", the lopsided adaptation of the mediocre "Gundress", the unpolished action sequel to Penta Dragon, "Trinea", etc.).

... and then there's this thing, PC Engine's "Toshi Tensou Keikaku: Eternal City".

For all intents and purposes, "Eternal City" is Shirow's first significant video game collaboration. Developed and published by Naxat Soft in 1991 (who were a very prolific supporter of the system and borderline second-party until the mid 90s), the game was a run and gun maze action game where Shirow not only did the main illustrations and many of the mech designs, but also the main character and her mech (Minty Geile and Algideross), six of the main villains and set the foundation for the underlying worldview... all while having no idea exactly what the game was about. Well, he wasn't alone in this regard, because despite the game's subtitle (which roughly translates to Urban Transfer Plan), there is basically zero story in the manual or in the game, and even the ending is basically a nothing burger, so you have no idea why you're really doing anything. The game doesn't even have any credits (this info was data-mined from existing ROM dumps), so the developers really didn't want to be found either.

Be that as it may, the game isn't so bad, fundamentally speaking. The game takes place over eight main zones where players explore vast underground labyrinths in search of bigger weapons to take down tougher enemies. Many areas are sectioned off and can't be accessed until you defeat a certain boss or gain a certain ability and the game draws some comparisons to the original Metroid in this regard. The biggest criticism of this game is that areas look entirely too similar and it's very easy to get lost and enemies also spawn constantly and infinitely, causing the player to take many cheap hits. While the game isn't as tight as the Metroid titles, there were very few PCE titles where the player could run around, backtrack and explore (you could play something like "Energy", but EC is not as egregious as that game) and the fact that the game has optional upgrades (although you'll likely find them at some point while getting lost) was a nice touch.

The player moves and acts kind of like a real robot too... actions are a bit rigid, you can't aim proper and each weapon has a corresponding energy level associated with it that depletes as you shoot and slowly refills when you don't. If your weapon's energy is completely depleted, you will be unable to rapidly fire, so some restrain from spamming is encouraged. The player can also stock up on reserve shield and weapon units and freely swap weapons and boosters from accessing a snappy menu. If the player uses two shield units consecutively, their mech will be temporarily invincible. Lastly, the player gradually levels up by defeating enemies... while the player should theoretically get stronger or more resilient upon leveling, there seems to be minimal to no effect whatsoever.

The graphics and sound aren't particularly great by PCE standards but are pretty serviceable overall. The game is somewhat lacking in enemy variety, but each boss is distinctly designed and each zone sounds pretty cool (as long as you aren't stuck in one place too long). While the game's small six-man team is just referred to as "The Staff", it's fairly easy to ascertain each member's role. Masamune Shirow worked on the designs and illustrations, Yoshinori Hironaka probably managed programming, Kazuhiko Inoue probably handled the game design and production, Toshiharu Tagami and Manabu Sakai likely delivered on the graphics, and Junichi Ueda worked the Sound. In this respect, because Naxat stretched themselves so thin during the 90s, the game is perhaps better than the sum of its parts and Shirow was just the icing on the cake.

This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.

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