Shanghai (PCE)
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- For other games in the series, see Shanghai.
Shanghai is a puzzle game originally developed by Brodie Lockard for Activision. It has since been adapted into multiple ports and games, which still continue on to this day. This version was developed and published for the PC Engine in Japan by Hudson Soft in 1987.
The goal of the game is simple; match all of the mahjong tiles to clear the stage. To do this, you must match two like tiles that have an open space, not surrounded by any other tiles. There are a total of 144 tiles on each stage, and four of each.
The PC Engine port isn't anything spectacular, which probably explains why it failed to release in North America. However, the game does have a few interesting features. The player can select one of three background themes to accompany their playing. The player can also choose the starting tile on the top of the puzzle. In addition, there is also a two-player mode, in which players are given a set time limit and must clear tiles before the timer runs out. Whoever clears the most amount of tiles wins the game.
Contents
Screenshots
Music
Shanghai consists of six tunes composed by Tomotsune Maeno. You may know of his work for Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES).
Since it's an early game, the music leaves something to be desired. The music consists of rock themes with oriental themes thrown in for good measure. There are three in-game songs (called Melodies by the game) that the player can choose from. However, it is recommended the player choose a song other than the first tune, as the first song has a droning C5 throughout the entirety of the song, and is also the shortest tune out of the three. The player can also choose to turn the music off if they wish.
It is unknown how Tomotsune Maeno wrote music for the PC Engine. Toshiyuki Sasagawa most likely arranged Maeno's music into Takayuki Iwabuchi's sound driver to play in the game, but confirmation should be made with Sasagawa. The driver's frequency registers are programmed approximately a ¼ step sharp.
The song titles are taken from the VGM rip, which the recording is taken from. The VGM rip also fixes a looping issue with the drum track in BGM 2, where it loops a quarter note too early and de-synchronizing from the rest of the song. However, since the drum track is simplistic in its scope, it doesn't make for a too unpleasant listening experience.
The song Time Out doesn't appear to be used in the game.
Recording
| # | Title | Composer | Arranger | Length | Listen | Download |
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| 01 | Title Screen | Tomotsune Maeno | Unknown | 0:22 | Download | |
| 02 | BGM 1 | Tomotsune Maeno | Unknown | 1:32 | Download | |
| 03 | BGM 2 | Tomotsune Maeno | Unknown | 2:30 | Download | |
| 04 | BGM 3 | Tomotsune Maeno | Unknown | 1:17 | Download | |
| 05 | Time Out | Tomotsune Maeno | Unknown | 0:14 | Download | |
| 06 | Ending | Tomotsune Maeno | Unknown | 0:43 | Download |
Credits
- Ripper: Sonic of 8! (VGZ)
- Recorder: Doommaster1994
- Game Credits:
- Uncredited Composer: Tomotsune Maeno
- Unknown Arranger: Unknown
- Uncredited Sound Driver: Takayuki Iwabuchi
(Source: Verification from staff; Game lacks credits.)
The game does not have credits neither in the game nor the manual. We have contacted Keita Hoshi who confirmed the game's soundtrack was written by Tomotsune Maeno, and the sound driver was programmed by Takayuki Iwabuchi.
Game Rip
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Ripping TurboGrafx-16 music is an arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site. The music was recorded using in_vgm for Winamp.
Audio Devices
The game uses the TurboGrafx-16's HuC6280. It uses Takayuki Iwabuchi's sound driver.
Releases
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Links
- gamefaqs.gamespot.com/tg16/589100-shanghai - GameFAQs.
- mobygames.com/game/turbo-grafx/shanghai - MobyGames.
