Aoi Blink (PC Engine) - Playthrough
0Keeping the short PC Engine platform train going, we've got Aoi Blink from Hudson Soft & Westone. You might recognize Westone from the Wonder Boy series or recently from Clockwork Aquario. Aoi Blink is based on an anime of the same name which was Osamu Tezuka's last anime. It's about a boy who saves a magical blue pony named Blink. In gratitude, Blink tells the boy that if he's ever in trouble that he can call out Blink's name 3 times and Blink will appear. Of course that means that the Boy's father gets kidnapped by an evil empire and its time for adventure.
The game at first seems like a straight forward platformer but there's a few interesting ideas that adds some sizzle to the steak. For starters, you're always in a squad of 3, with the 2 other characters changing stage by stage. Each character has different jumping heights and attacks making it important to swap around.
Another thing is that there's a world map which connects the stages but it isn't as straightforward as just beating the stage. Stages can have multiple exits which change how you get around the map and there's sometimes people to find that can offer clues as to the location of the hidden red key which is needed to fight the world's boss.
When it's time to fight the boss, you call upon Blink to help you fight. Bosses have a ton of health though and you barely have i-frames so it can lead to getting generated a bit. This one is pretty interesting and just like Dragon Egg also has an English translation.
That translation can be found here: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/504/