Knight Rider Special (PCE)

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Knight Rider Special
Knight Rider Special - PCE.jpg
Platform: PC Engine
Year: 1989
Developer: Pack-In-Video Co., Ltd.
For other games in the series, see Knight Rider.

Knight Rider Special is an action game developed and published by Pack-In-Video in Japan. Despite its name, and being made by the same company, it is not to be confused with Knight Rider (NES). It is based on the American TV show Knight Rider.

The game plays similar to Taito's Chase H.Q.; the game takes place in a third-person perspective, with the player taking on the role of KITT (or Michael Knight driving KITT). There are a total of six stages in the game. The goal of each stage is to make it to the end within the time limit. The player must then defeat the boss to advance to the next level. A bulk of the stages consist of many hazards such as carz, lampposts, vehicles that shoot at the player, and other dangerous objects. However, the player can jump over them, shoot at them, or dodge them. As the game progresses, KITT gains more upgrades.

The game was only released in Japan. However, besides the cutscenes, most of the game is in English, and can easily be played by non-Japanese speakers.

The game received mixed to positive reviews. However, some of the music and gameplay is weird. For example, in one of the stages, the player must be defeated by the boss in order to progress in the game.

Screenshots

Knight Rider Special - PCE - Title Screen.png

The title screen.

Knight Rider Special - PCE - Gameplay 1.png

Viewing the course before the level.

Knight Rider Special - PCE - Gameplay 2.png

Playing the first stage.

Knight Rider Special - PCE - Gameplay 3.png

Game Over.

Knight Rider Special - PCE - Gameplay 4.png

Fighting the first boss.

Knight Rider Special - PCE - Gameplay 5.png

"That was good, Michael.".

Music

Knight Rider Special consists of twenty songs, though one of them is a short-looping jingle. The music is fast-paced, fitting the action of the game. However, the boss themes have a weird sound to them, as they almost sound more like music with sound effects thrown in. However, the game does have a nice 16-bit rendition of the Knight Rider theme song.

The music was written by Pack-In-Video's main composer Junichi Saito, as well as an unknown composer credited as "Shigehisa.H", which appears to be their only credit in a game. Because Saito was known as the company's NES sound programmer, and has been confirmed for programming a driver for the SNES, he most likely wrote the driver for this game. This can also be supported by the instrument and vibrato design being similar to his NES driver.

The song titles and ordering come from the game's internal sound test. The song Crymax was most likely meant to be spelled Climax.

Recording

# Title ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
01 Title Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 1:32
Download
02 Stage 1 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 1:58
Download
03 Stage 2 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 1:26
Download
04 Stage 3 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 1:52
Download
05 Stage 4 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 1:55
Download
06 Stage 6 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 2:15
Download
07 Boss 1 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:50
Download
08 Boss 2 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:34
Download
09 Boss 3 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:40
Download
10 Boss 4 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:47
Download
11 Boss 5 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:44
Download
12 Boss 6 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:49
Download
13 Message 1 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:33
Download
14 Message 2 Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:41
Download
15 Course Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:10
Download
16 Game Over Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:08
Download
17 Ending Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:14
Download
18 Crymax Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:10
Download
19 Scroll Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 2:36
Download
20 W-Gun Junichi Saito, Shigehisa.HJunichi Saito, Shigehisa.H 0:15
Download

(Source)

The game contains a hidden sound test which can be accessed by holding Down+Select+Run on the title screen.

Credits

(Source)

The game has credits after the ending cutscene; surprising, as most games by Pack-In-Video lack credits.

This is the only game to credit "Shigehisa.H", so their name is unknown. Games like Future Wars: Lios (FC) credit Junichi Saito's full name.

Game Rip

Format

Download

HES.png VGZ.png

N/A


Issue - Incomplete.svg

This rip is missing songs.

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Audio Devices

The game uses the HuC6280 and uses Junichi Saito's sound driver.

Releases

  Japan.svg   Japan
Knight Rider Special - PCE.jpg
Title: ナイトライダースペシャル (Knight Rider Special)
Platform: PCE
Released: 1989-12-??
Publisher: Pack-In-Video Co., Ltd.

Links