Popful Mail (PC-98)

Popful Mail is a side-view action-RPG by Nihon Falcom, released on 22 May 1992 after the original PC-88 launch. The PC-98 port redrew every sprite and background at 640 × 400 – literally double the vertical resolution – and upped the colour count, while tweaking a handful of music tracks, yet it preserves the stage layouts and “bump-combat” roots of the earlier release. Mail, a hot-headed elf bounty-hunter, chases a 2 000 000-gold reward on renegade wizard Muttonhead; as the plot unfolds she can tag-team with apprentice mage Tatt and fire-breathing creature Gaw, switching characters at any time from the menu. Stages are selected from a map screen, shopkeeper banter provides both hints and slap-stick humour, and the game can be installed to HDD—unusual for 1992 PC-98 software. The retail box contained three 5-inch (or 3.5-inch 2 HD) floppies and a colour manual.