Daichi Kun Crisis FAQ/Guide…

A tremendous THANK YOU! goes out to Digi.k for taking the time and energy to create this FAQ/Guide. Originally posted at the pcenginefx.com forums, the content has been slightly modified and/or revised, but, rest assured, Digi.k did 99.99% of all the work. Enjoy!

• Background Information: PeekaPika Musical Estate (Children's TV Show)
• The Story (Fortunes Rise & Fall on Moo Cow Island)
• Controls
• Gameplay (Clearing Ash, Sowing & Harvesting Crops, Creating Rivers)
• Geiger No Terraforming Machine
• Menu System
• Purchasing Items
• Port Town (Center of Commerce)
• Growing Cycles (Seasonal Planting, Trees vs. Crops, Sapling vs. Mature Tree)
• Boss Battles
• World Map (Seven Islands)
• Tips & Hints
• Final Thoughts: Daichi Kun Crisis was the original Harvest Moon
• Salio Inc.

Background…  ▲

CHILDREN'S TV SHOW: Apparently, Daichi Kun Crisis: Do Natural is based on a 1988 children's show on agriculture in Hokkaido—PeekaPika Musical Estate. Note the similarity between (1) the TV show's mascots and (2) Daichi Kun's family.

CATTLE FOLK: PeekaPika Musical Estate (watch the video) features a cast of cattle folk called: Kitano earth, who bear a striking resemblance to Daichi Kun's family. Plus, Daichi Kun's companion, Goro the Bear, is similar to the bear in the screenshots above. Based on the similarities in themes (agriculture) and character design, Daichi Kun Crisis: Do Natural is almost certainly based on the PeekaPika Musical Estate television show. ▲

CATCHY TUNE: The cute animal characters on the show gained popularity for singing the song Ya Ren Soran Hokkaido.

TOMATOES & COWS: This short segment from PikkaPikka Muscial Estate features a song about plump, red tomatoes and a visit to a dairy farm. ▲

REAL SCIENCE: It is conceivable, but has yet to be verified, that an episode of the TV show examined the harmful effects of ash fall from volcanic activity. The video game correctly portrays volcanic ash as a detriment to farming (read Volcanic Ash—Effects on Agriculture and Mitigation Strategies). Luckily, Daichi Kun has the Geiger No machine to make ash removal more efficient.

TRIVIA: PeekaPika Musical Estate is owned by TV Asahi. ▲

The Story…  ▲

Daichi Kun Crisis is tellingly set in 1997—the Year of the Ox (Chinese calendar). Daichi Kun, along with his family and companions, has always lived on Moo Cow Island, which was cold and infertile. One day, a witch named Jaren appeared and began making Volcanos. Eventually the land turned green and warm and became rich in cultivation. A "Black Path" was also formed from the Volcanic crater… Monsters, lurking underneath the Volcano, began to surface and spread volcanic ash, thereby destroying the greenery and life on Moo Cow Island.

Meet Daichi Kun's Family: Hokkaido (Grandpa Bull), Oozora (little brother), Daichi Kun (our hero), Marimo (little sister), Suzuran (Mama Cow). NOT PICTURED: Daichi Kun's loyal companions—Alice the Crow and Goro the Bear—were unavailable for the portrait because they were busy harvesting plump tomatoes. ▲

A MYSTERY TO BE SOLVED: Who is this mysterious woman called Jaren? Why did she appear? Where did these Volcanic underground monsters come from? Why are they attacking? What is the purpose of the "Black Path"?

SHROUDED IN MYSTERY: The motives of Jaren the Witch are suspect. ▲

SAVE THE ISLAND: Daichi Kun (and his family) is joined by a Crow called Alice and a Bear called Goro to keep the island's agriculture safe. Armed with their knowledge of agriculture—and a "Geiger No" terraforming machine—Daichi Kun & Company must fight for survival. Together you must save the island!

SUCCESS ON FARM = SUCCESS ON BATTLEFIELD: Build and make yourself stronger by planting crops. Learn to harvest these crops at the right time, then sell them to make money. Use this money wisely! Keep yourselves fit and healthy. Build your defences (think strategically)! Upgrade your machinery! Fight to save the island (Be Bull-ish! ho! ho!)!! Daichi Kun Crisis! ▲

Controls…  ▲

NOTE: Turbo switches should be in the OFF position for this game. Otherwise, you risk making mistakes. You have been warned.

SELECT BUTTON: Select the type of crop (tomatoes, corn, trees) to plant. In main menu, press SELECT on an icon to display a brief description of the command.

RUN BUTTON: Pauses the game, which brings up the status screen. Clicking on Daichi Kun avatar will display the Main Menu. NOTE: You cannot pause the game when possessing the Geiger No machine!

BUTTON I: Pick up volcanic ash, plant crops, select items in menu, select an item/option in town. When holding the Geiger No machine, press BUTTON I to vacuum up volcanic ash.

BUTTON II: Attack monsters. Cancel selection in menu. Pick up/put down Geiger No machine. ▲

…

Gameplay…  ▲

The main aim of the game is to grow crops and sell them to earn money. In order to achieve this goal, you will have to clear the island of the monsters and the ash they leave behind. The monsters and volcanic ash are toxic and will destroy your crops.

VOLCANIC ASH CRISIS: Deposits of toxic gray volcanic ash, visible at the bottom of the screen, threaten to destroy Daichi Kun's fertile farmland! ▲

SOWING SEEDS: Playing as Daichi Kun, you begin the game with 200 Tomato Seeds and 200 Corn Seeds. Press SELECT to alternate between the seeds you currently possess (the seed type—tomato, corn, tree—will be displayed in the top-right corner of the screen). Press BUTTON I to sow seeds anywhere on the island (provided there is no volcanic ash). HINT: Be careful where you plant your seeds. Seeds don't grow very well during the colder months. Also crops do not like the sea air so keep them away from the island's borders.

REMOVING VOLCANIC ASH: To remove ash, simply stand over it and press BUTTON I (x3) to clear one square unit of land (imagine the island is made up of an invisible grid of squares). NOTE: Volcanic ash will eventually harden into a square block, which requires a bit more time to remove. Whenever the land is clear of ash, pressing BUTTON I will sow whatever seed is currently displayed on the top right of the game screen. Be careful where you plant seeds, since the seeds will die in certain types of terrain.

YOUR COMPANIONS: Your companions, for most of their part, automatically follow you around and automatically pick up the ash. When monsters appear, Alice the Crow acts as a lookout (since she is always flying) and will signal with her crowing sounds to warn you of oncoming danger. Your companions automatically fight.

COMBAT: You can join the fight against your enemies by pressing BUTTON II. Getting hit will knock you unconscious, however, so you will have to find a way to attack strategically (the best tactic is to approach enemies off-center—like you do when controlling Adol in Ys I & II and Ys IV). Rather than attack enemies head-on, you must approach enemies at a certain angle and attack by pressing BUTTON II. NOTE: There are certain enemies that cannot be attacked!

TIME SCALE: One in-game month lasts 1 minute of real-life time. So, 12 in-game months are basically 12 real-life minutes. Then, the cycle repeats: the in-game year will start over again and you will have to plant certain crops during certain seasons in order for them to grow and be harvested. ▲

Geiger No Terraforming Machine…  ▲

OPERATION: Press BUTTON II to pick up or put down the Geiger No machine.

PURPOSE: The Geiger No Machine is vital for achieving agricultural success on your farm. Although clearly inspired by the Geiger Counter, the Geiger No Machine effortlessly performs massive terraforming tasks.

CLEARING VOLCANIC ASH: Press BUTTON II to pick up or put down the Geiger No. Once you are carrying it you can use BUTTON I to suck up all the ash. This speeds up volcanic ash collecting considerably. The only problem is that Daichi Kun cannot attack monsters while possessing the Geiger No.

CREATING RIVERS: The Geiger No can also be used to create rivers. While in possession of the Geiger No: (1) find a lake, (2) walk towards the edge of the lake. By pressing BUTTON I you can (3) dig up the ground around the lake and (4) the water will eventually flow into the excavated ground. Be careful, however! If you use the Geiger No over your recently made river, you will revert the grid you are standing on back to its original state, thereby cutting off the river flow.

FLOODING: Rivers once fully flowing will slow both you, your companions and enemies down when you are trying to cross to the other side. Be careful, though, as river banks tend to flood over, so they can get get larger over time. Particularly from October 9 up til around December 12. HINT: You can use the Geiger No to reduce the size of these flooded lakes and rivers.

DEADLY RIVERS: Rivers can slow down enemies and they will perish if they wander too much in the river. Any flying enemies which cannot be attacked will also perish quickly while flying over rivers that you have created.

HARVEST CROPS: You can also use the Geiger No to harvest your crops. Watch out because when left alone enemies will also try and destroy it.

FUEL & UPGRADES: The Geiger No will also need fuel and upgrades. The top right of the game map (just under the seed icon) will show you the level of fuel in your Geiger. When the fuel is depleted the Geiger will be very slow to move around. You can refuel and upgrade the Geiger when Port Town is open.

Menu System…  ▲

RUN BUTTON: The RUN button will pause the game and bring up a status menu (displaying the date and money at your disposal). If you click on Daichi Kun's avatar, you will access the "Main Menu"… ▲

MAIN MENU:

1. CHECK: "CHECK" brings up the status of (a) your crops and (b) everyone in the field, plus (c) items in their possession.
2. WRENCH: Use items purchased in Port Town.
3. GIFT: The gift icon allows you to give/take items purchased in town to and from your companions.
4. BUTTERFLY: Give set instructions (such as: concetrate on removing ash, attack enemies) to your companions individually, or as a team.
5. GRANDPA: Grandpa Hokkaido gives you hints (in hiragana, of course).
6. BACK-UP: Save game progress by (a) backing-up save file to RAM, or (b) writing down the the password. NOTE: The back-up RAM does not seem to save the current state!? SPECULATION: Can you only save progress after defeating an island boss? If so, then each island campaign would have to be completed in a single session.

NOTE: Pressing SELECT on an icon in the menu will display a brief description of the command. ▲

Purchasing Items…  ▲

LIMITS: Each character, apart from Suzuran, can carry up to 4 items each.

ITEMS:

1. TOMATO: Harvested tomatoes sell for ¥80 each. Plant during March 3 through August 8.
2. CORN: Harvested corn sells for ¥50 each. Plant during September 9 through November 11.
3. TREE: Can be planted at any time. Saplings can be destroyed by volcanic ash, but mature trees (it takes 12 months to reach maturity) cannot be destroyed by ash. When 75% of island is covered with trees, you can fight the boss.
4. SHOVEL A/B: Digging a hole is restricted to certain types of terrain. You must be careful with shovels. They are used for digging holes and are great for eliminating monsters/flooded river banks. However, your companions can injure themselves if they fall into these holes.
5. MIL 9: Medicine. Purchase MIL 9 from the pharmacy for ¥100 apiece. You will need MIL 9 to replenish your HP after fighting and your HP is low. Otherwise you, or your companions, will collapse and be incapacitated for a few months. Check status screen to see HP levels of companions.
6. PUNCH FORCE: …
7. SPEED+: …
8. NAMING: …
9. POWER UP: Upgrade the power of Geiger No. This item makes the machine stronger in sucking up ash, etc.
10. FUEL: Fuel for Geiger No Machine.
11. BUY NEW GEIGER NO MACHINE: If enemies destroy your unattended Geiger No, you can purchase a new one.

NOTE: Each character can carry up to 4 items each (except for Suzaran). ▲

Port Town…  ▲

SEASONAL MARKETS: During certain times of the year—particularly on January 1, March 3, July 7 and October 10—the game will chime a "moo moo" sound. This mooing sound announces that Port Town is open for trade. At Port Town, you can sell your crop and use that money to buy food, medicine, fuel for the Geiger No machine, increase your strength, buy a better hoe (shovel), and most importantly… buy more seeds (tomato, corn and tree seeds).

PORT TOWN (starting from upper right-hand corner, going clockwise):

1. FLORIST MERCHANT: Buy seeds. Sell your crops to the merchant. Harvested tomatoes sell for ¥80 each. Harvested corn sells for ¥50 each.
2. PHARMACY: Purchase MIL 9 medicine from the pharmacy for ¥100 apiece. You will need MIL 9 to replenish your HP after fighting and your HP is low. Otherwise you, or your companions, will collapse and be incapacitated for a few months. Check status screen to see HP levels of companions.
3. GAS STATION/GEIGER NO DEALER: Purchase fuel for Geiger No (you can also upgrade the machine to make it more efficient and powerful). Buy a new Geiger No if you foolishly allowed enemies to destroy it. NOTE: This is the only authorized Geiger No dealer found on the entire archipelago—be wary of anyone else.
4. FIST OF POWER: Buy/upgrade shovels/hoes?
5. SNACK SHACK: Buy food. Increase character's strength (achieved via vigorous yoga + a cocktail of Performance Enhancing Drugs).

NOTE: Each character can carry up to 4 items each (except for Suzaran). ▲

Growing Cycles…  ▲

SEASONAL PLANTING: Tomatoes should be planted around March 3 up till the end of August 8 (tomatoes take X months to mature). Corn should be planted from September 9 till around November 11 (corn take X months to mature). Trees can be planted at any time (and take 12 months to mature).

RIPE FOR THE PICKING: Look at the HEARTY corn and PLUMP tomatoes. DAMN, THOSE TOMATOES ARE PLUMP.

NOTE: Daichi Kun only makes ¥80 for a juicy, plump organic tomato like that? Our poor bovine bastard is getting ripped off by the merchant on Port Island. Damn. ▲

TREES VS. CROPS: Those tree seeds play a very important aspect of the game! Trees have a way of spawning/spreading so you do not have to buy many tree seeds (thus, you do not need to plant trees so close to each other). REMEMBER: Tree, tomato, and corn seeds will not grow on certain areas of the island.

MATURE TREES COUNTERACT VOLCANIC ASH: Trees can be sown all year round. Trees take a full in-game year (12 months) to mature. Once a tree has fully grown, volcanic ash cannot settle on them and be destroyed (unlike the younger saplings, which can be destroyed).

SPROUT VS. SAPLING VS. MATURE TREES: Trees should be planted strategically where the volcanic monsters won't destroy any new tree buds the island will eventually turn green.

NOTE: You must protect the vulnerable sprouts and saplings! ▲

Boss Battles…  ▲

YOU GOTTA EARN IT: Successfully cover the island with at least 75% fully matured trees and you will… confront the boss of that island! Beat it and you will advance to the next island. Rinse and repeat.

FIRST VOLCANO BOSS: Avoid boss's projectiles and any toxic droplets from the ceiling.

BUTTON I = Jump.

BUTTON II= Attack. Hold BUTTON II down to power up and unleash a Street Fighter-esque surging-hoof. ▲

HINT: (1) You CANNOT PAUSE during boss battles. (2) You CANNOT MOVE while powering up (for the "surging hoof" move)!

World Map…  ▲

NEW ISLANDS TO CONQUER: After you beat an Island Boss, it's time for new adventures. You can sail to any island you desire (there is no set order of progression) and continue your agricultural conquests!

SEVEN ISLANDS: A total of seven islands are available to explore and save from Jaren the Witch…Hokkaitou, Ottou, Shitou, Omedetou, Sayaentou and Shishitou. ▲

FARM NOIR: If you closely examine the social, political and economic aspects of Daichi Kun's world, he (and Jaren) become morally ambiguous. Is Daichi Kun a hero or a conquistador? He mercilessly kills his "enemies", but what is their crime? Sabotaging some farmland? Does this warrant a death sentence? For all we know, the "monsters" may simply be the indigenous creatures who have always inhabited the island. Circumstances (such as Jaren's meddling) may have forced them to the surface. Also: upon defeating his enemies on Hokkaitou, Daichi Kun does not rest, but immediately sets sail to impose his will on the other islands! Is Daichi Kun imposing a corporate-farming tyranny of monoculture on the islands? At least some of the farming techniques appear to be organic (the only fertilizer used, for example, is a small amount of crow/cow/bear manure that is deposited directly on the soil). Jaren is a morally ambiguous character, as well. Jaren giveth: All of the islands would have remained barren wastelands if Jaren had not transformed the land via volcanoes. Jaren taketh: Then again, Jaren's meddling also introduced the volcanic ash that destroys every square inch of fertile soil… Jaren can easily be interpreted as a personification of nature, thus ending our conversation about morality (nature is amoral). Daichi Kun, however, is a creature who makes decisions. His questionable actions are not as easily dismissed.

Tips & Hints…  ▲

SAVE YOUR PROGRESS: This can be a very long, drawn-out game. I think it is a necessity to have a memory back up unit in order to save your progress. There is a password feature where you write down a lot of Hiragana characters, but good luck with that. HINT: Take a photo of the password to (hopefully) prevent making mistakes copying password.

SKIP INTRO: Unfortunately, Daichi Kun Crisis is one of those games that seems to play the intro everytime you boot up the game. Fortunately, it can be skipped. Just press the RUN BUTTON and tap BUTTON I a few times after the publishing names fade away ("Presented by Salio"). ▲

More tips & hints forthcoming…

Final Thoughts…  ▲

HARVEST MOON: It is quite possibe this game was a huge influence on the the creation of Yashushiro Wada's Harvest Moon series. The similarities seem more than mere coincidence. Purchase seeds, grow your own vegetables, sell them to make a profit. Manage your money and manage your companions. I don't know why NEC/TTi passed this up. An all-in-one fantasy farm simulation meets RPG meets real time strategy, with some arcade action boss fights. This could have had a cult following in North America (or even globally). If you are one of those patient souls that enjoys spending hours creating things…then Daichi Kin Crisis: Do Natural is for you. It can be quite slow, at times. for example, the monster battles—which occur every few minutes—are a minor irritation (and distraction to the growing and harvesting of crops).

REAL VS. MOCK-UP: The January 1990 issue of Gekkan PC Engine magazine featured the advertisement above. Sadly, I have no data on how Daichi Kun Crisis: Go Natural was received by Japanese players or critics. Regardless, NEC—or, later, TTi—could have been a pioneer by introducing this unique title to North America. ▲

ENIGMATIC PUBLISHER: Salio Inc. was a video game publishing company (the first third-party publisher to support a Sega console in Japan, in fact). Situated near Tecmo's headquarters, Salio published only three games: (1) Argos no Juujiken (a 1988 SMS port of the arcade version of Rygar), (2) Solomon no Kagi: Oujo Rihita no Namida (a 1988 SMS game, Solomon's Key) and (3) Daichikun Crisis: Do Natural (1989 HuCARD for PC-Engine). Salio then stopped publishing games. Therefore, Daichi Kun Crisis is probably their first and only PC-Engine release.

THE SEASONS MARCH ON: Over the past 25 years, a handful of curious PCE fans (outside of Japan) attempted to play Daichi Kun Crisis: Do Natural, but were stumped. Patiently, they waited for a gracious soul to explain the game's mechanics. With the basics laid bare, folks who had initially scoffed at Daichi Kun Crisis suddenly found the story, characters and objectives endearing. Who would have guessed that this seemingly juvenile, goofy HuCARD from 1989 would be so genuinely entertaining to today's jaded audience? Not I.

This page is a WORK IN PROGRESS…  ▲

For the most up-to-date information, please consult the Any info about Daichi Kun Crisis: Do Natural? discussion at pcenginefx.com. Thank you for visiting!