Hana Tāka Daka!?

In addition to conventional shooting mechanics, the game features a chargeable weapon, a health system that changes the size of the player character, branching stage routes, hidden bonus areas and collectible pieces of a magical seal.

• Title — Hana Tāka Daka!? • Developer — Natsume • Publisher — Taito • Composer — Kinuyo Yamashita • Platforms — PC Engine • Released — August 9, 1991 • Genre — Shoot 'em up • Modes — Single-player

• Illustration — Gameplay screenshot Hana Tāka Daka!? is a horizontally scrolling shooter in which the player controls a winged, long-nosed tengu. The story begins when two kitsune, Konta and Inari, discover a cave in which a group of tanuki have been imprisoned behind a magical seal. After the foxes accidentally break the seal, the tanuki leader Jikanda kidnaps Inari, prompting Konta to seek the tengu's help. The game consists of six main stages with automatically scrolling environments. Although movement is primarily horizontal, stages contain vertical sections and branching routes that can lead to secrets and alternate paths. Unlike in many scrolling shooters, touching the scenery does not damage the player. Certain obstacles, however, must be destroyed before the advancing screen pushes the tengu into them. The tengu's standard attack can be fired repeatedly, while holding the fire button fills a gauge and produces a more powerful charged shot when released. Charged attacks are important for defeating stronger enemies and destroying obstacles. Four power-ups alter the charged attack, replacing it with attacks based on spinning tops, a group of smaller karasu tengu, kamaitachi, or a magical attack called the "white dragon". A central mechanic links the tengu's health to his physical size. Collecting scrolls increases his health to a maximum of three hit points while simultaneously making his sprite and hitbox larger. Taking damage causes him to shrink. A smaller tengu is easier to maneuver through enemy fire but can withstand fewer hits, creating a trade-off between durability and maneuverability. Contemporary magazine Joypad also highlighted the three character sizes and the effect that changing size has on navigating different sections of a stage. Other items include several types of bombs, which use the controller's second button, and miniature tengu that act as satellite-like companions, with up to three following the player at once. Additional pickups provide a temporary shield, increase movement speed or grant invincibility. Some weapon power-ups can only be collected while the tengu is at the appropriate size; otherwise, the item is converted into money. The player loses bombs and companion tengu upon being reduced to the final hit point. Extra lives can be awarded through scoring, while checkpoints limit how far the player is sent back after losing a life. A password system allows progress to be resumed at later stages. Enemies are presented as transformations of the escaped tanuki and draw heavily from Japanese folklore and popular culture. When many enemies are defeated, their tanuki form is revealed. The game's humorous presentation includes creatures based on kappa, daruma, witches, and other supernatural or exaggerated figures. In addition to reaching the end of each stage, the player can search for twelve fragments of the magical seal, with two located in each stage. One fragment is obtained by defeating the stage boss, while the other is held by a hidden tanuki disguised as an object. Discovering the disguised tanuki sends the player to a continuously scrolling bonus area in which another disguised object must be located to return to the main stage. Obtaining all twelve fragments produces the complete ending; if fragments are missing, portions of the ending screens are obscured.

Hana Tāka Daka!? was developed by Natsume and published by Taito as a HuCard title for the PC Engine. It was released in Japan on August 9, 1991, at a retail price of ¥7,200. The game's title contains Japanese wordplay. According to Daniel Brink of Hardcore Gaming 101, hana takadaka (鼻高々) is an idiom conveying pride or boasting, while also literally referring to a high or long nose. The joke also refers to the protagonist being a long-nosed form of tengu. The game has consequently sometimes been referred to in English-language coverage as Long-Nosed Goblin or Super Long Nose Goblin. The soundtrack was composed by Kinuyo Yamashita, whose official credits list her as responsible for all of the game's compositions. Yamashita had previously worked at Konami before becoming a freelance composer. In a later account of the game's music, she said she approached the soundtrack more freely than some of her other work, composing according to her impressions rather than maintaining a single musical style throughout the game. On July 26, 2017, City Connection's Clarice Disc label released the two-CD compilation HuCARD Disc In TAITO Vol.2. The album contains newly digitally recorded music from six Taito PC Engine releases, including Hana Tāka Daka!?, The Ninja Warriors, Space Invaders: Fukkatsu no Hi, Volfied, Mizubaku Daibōken, and Gokuraku! Chūka Taisen.

Hana Tāka Daka!? received generally favorable reviews from Japanese and European video game publications. Japanese magazine Gekkan PC Engine gave it individual scores ranging from 75 to 80 out of 100, while the four reviewers for Marukatsu PC Engine scored it between 6 and 9 out of 10. The five reviewers for Game Boy magazine gave scores of either three or four stars out of five, and Hippon Super! awarded it 7 out of 10. French publications were particularly positive. Joypad and Génération 4 both gave the game 90%, Player One (magazine) rated it 92%, Consoles + gave it 87%, and Joystick gave it 85%. Electric Brain was somewhat less enthusiastic, awarding the game 77%. The game also achieved some popularity among PC Engine players in Japan. Micom BASIC Magazine ranked it fifth in its monthly PC Engine popularity chart in the magazine's November 1991 issue. Writing in TurboPlay, Victor Ireland drew attention to the game's whimsical characters and unusual Japanese presentation. In a retrospective review for Hardcore Gaming 101, Daniel Brink praised the colorful graphics, branching stage design, size-based health mechanic and humor. He criticized instances in which enemy projectiles can become difficult to distinguish from the background and considered some of the later hidden bonus stages unnecessarily obscure. Brink ultimately described the game as one of the more charming shooters available for the PC Engine, noting that its normal stages are comparatively approachable while finding every seal fragment presents a greater challenge.

The game's Japanese folklore-inspired presentation later influenced other independent shooters. A 2015 article by 4Gamer.net reported that the visuals and story of Tchagata Games' Nandeyanen!? – The 1st Sūtra, a horizontal shooter also starring a tengu, were influenced by Hana Tāka Daka!?.