The name Zipang may not be as familiar to most classic gamers as Solomon’s Key, but trust me when I say they are the EXACT SAME. It was given a reskin and a fresh coat of paint by Pack-In-Video for PC Engine, but it plays just like the Tecmo game most people first experienced on NES. You’re a samurai with a magic sword instead of a wizard with a magic wand, but you’re still making and breaking blocks to solve puzzles and trick monsters into walking off a cliff.

The controls on the NES version feel tighter and the graphics look better to me, and the price for Zipang +starts+ at $45 loose, so I would recommend only playing this in emulation. Subscribe to Mistah MegaManFan (mmf187) for new episodes of The PC Engine Files every Tuesday at 8 PM ET, 7 Central. Your likes, shares and comments are appreciated. As always thanks for watching!