Gokuraku! Chuuka Taisen (PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16) Playthrough

Gokuraku! Chuuka Taisen is a horizontal shooter published by Taito for the Japanese PC Engine in 1992. A substantial reworking of the arcade game known internationally as Cloud Master, it replaces familiar spacecraft and alien fleets with a cloud-riding hero, flying food and creatures inspired by Chinese mythology. Its unusual setting immediately gives it personality, although the shooting underneath is more conventional than its eccentric appearance suggests. Rating: 7/10 The most important addition is the ability to turn around and fire in either direction. Enemies approach from behind as well as ahead, and the scrolling sometimes reverses, making this essential rather than a minor convenience. It also adds interest to boss encounters, where opponents move around the screen and force you to reconsider both your position and firing direction. The controls are straightforward, leaving you free to concentrate on clearing threats and finding room to manoeuvre. Weapon selection provides another welcome layer. Defeating certain mid-stage enemies reveals doors leading to rooms where you can choose a secondary attack. These resemble shops, but everything is free. Options include attacks that spread across several directions, strike ground targets or send fiery creatures around the screen. You can carry only one secondary weapon at a time, so each visit offers a useful opportunity to change your approach. Difficulty depends heavily on keeping your equipment. With stronger firepower and a useful magical attack, you can clear enemies before they become dangerous. One mistake, however, costs a life, removes your upgrades and returns you to a checkpoint. Recovering with weaker attacks can be considerably harder than reaching that section fully powered. The hero also feels rather bulky when navigating crowded passages, making careful positioning and familiarity with enemy entrances valuable. The presentation is the main attraction. Soft colours and cartoon artwork give the scenery an appealing storybook quality, while the bizarre enemies keep the journey entertaining. Bosses contribute some particularly memorable imagery, including a sunglasses-wearing, cigarette-smoking Buddha. These touches give the game a sense of humour that distinguishes it from the system’s many science-fiction shooters. The music supports the atmosphere adequately, although the insistent shooting effects can compete with it for attention. Across six stages, the game maintains a compact structure, but its encounters do not always develop enough variety. Reversing direction changes how you approach a section without fundamentally transforming the action, and some stretches settle into a familiar sequence of enemy waves and obstacle avoidance. Its short length keeps that repetition manageable, though players looking for elaborate scoring systems or substantial mechanical depth may find limited reasons to return. Gokuraku! Chuuka Taisen is a good shooter with an especially likeable identity. The turning mechanic, varied secondary weapons and strange bosses give it more appeal than its basic structure might suggest. Harsh recovery and occasionally repetitive stages hold it back, but its playful fantasy world makes it an enjoyable diversion within the PC Engine’s exceptionally strong shooter library.