The NEC PC-9801 is a Japanese computer, originally released in 1982. While the PC-98 series had various models that released up until the 1990's, it's common for people to refer only to the first one as a catch-all. From what I know, it was a pretty popular choice at the time, and boasted much more advanced technology for its time. Gaming-wise, it seems like it was a pretty pointless system for a while, since the earliest PC-98 games were ports from the PC-88, and by the time it managed to overtake its predecessor, the console was winning over the Japanese gaming market. Despite this, there are tons of games (some you may have even heard of) for the PC-98, and it still has a pretty thriving community of fans.
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The most well-known series to get its start on the PC-98 is the Touhou Project—the first five installments of the series were on the PC-98 only, and many popular characters from it still appear in the Windows-era games (Reimu, Marisa, Alice...). My personal favourite is 東方靈異伝 ～ The Highly Responsive to Prayers, which plays more like an Arkanoid clone than your traditional bullet hell. I totally recommend checking it out, but its difficulty curve is pretty steep!
Many early PC-98 games were (rather direct) ports from the PC-88. The PC-98 could run N88-BASIC, so as far as I can tell it doesn't seem like much change was necessary to get them working. Most PC-98 emulators appear to be able to read .D88 files, which is the primary file type for PC-88 images. A lot of older games (regardless of port status) also lack a CPU cap, meaning that you'll need to make your emulator run on weaker settings if you plan on playing them. For most visual novels it will only result in small graphical errors (or hilariously fast animations), but if you're playing a game that requires more action, it may be difficult to get anywhere. I've had this problem with some MS-DOS games for IBM PC-compatibles.
An interesting way to tell the difference between a direct port and a game more likely made for the PC-98 is by its colouring. While a lot of older PC-98 games may employ the same style, it was the only way to make detailed colour for the PC-88 due to its 8-bit CPU. Older games and ports tend to have a flatter, more dithered style, while games made specifically for the PC-98 often took more advantage of the 16-bit processor, allowing for more detailed shading.
The Screamer, MagicalZoo 1985
Words Worth, Elf Co., Ltd. 1993
More detailed graphics were possible on the PC-98 as well. While I'm not sure of too many examples of this, HappySoft's game Story of Kamikuishiki Village features lots of real footage and photography, in both monochrome and colour. More on that on another page, since the game is something special...
The PC-98 sported a beeper, like most computers. In the mid-80's, there was an optional sound card you could install that would allow for FM synthesis (though it was sometimes preinstalled). The soundchip it used was the YM2203 (OPN), which is used in a lot of other computers and arcade games. Also available was the YM2608 (OPNA). There also appear to be multiple sound formats available on the software side—most games I've personally interacted with come with a driver of some sort that sets itself up before the game even begins. If you have YAHDI, you're probably aware of this, since the music section comes with multiple drivers to install and uninstall depending on the music you want to play.
If you've snooped around in the files of some programs, you've probably noticed a few file types for the soundtrack. The format Touhou uses is the PMD—the file extension for this is .M . If I recall correctly, PMD is an MML (music macro language) format, which means the music is often typed in manually, rather than sequenced like MIDI. This era of MML was likely written in BASIC, though you may be familiar with another kind of MML through the MMORPG Mabinogi.
The PC-98 has a lot of games! It seems the most popular type of game for the system was visual novels, though there are multiple RPGs and even some other games, too. The two companies I see mentioned the most when looking through games are Himeya Soft (Elf) and Silence (Sogna). These groups often published under different names, so it may seem like there are a lot more companies out there than there really are. Of course, there are other, smaller groups, and even some doujin groups (that's how Sogna started). Another group I see mentioned sometimes is Bolze, but it seems they specifically made lower quality products, because I haven't seen them mentioned in a good light before.
Sogna is likely most known for Animahjong and VIPER. Animahjong is a strip mahjong game, though I'm not actually sure how it's played (I've only ever played solo mahjong). There weren't many entries into the series, but it seems like people enjoyed the art and gameplay enough that I see it often (and one of the games recently got an English fan-translation). VIPER, on the other hand, was a pretty popular visual novel series that had a lot of entries, and even made it to Windows and the new millennium.
Elf's first game seems to have been Dragon Knight, which was originally either for the MSX or PC-88 before being ported over. They are most well known for their visual novels, with YU-NO being the one to help make a name for themselves. They are also responsible for Eimmy to Yobanaide, most known in English circles as Amy's Fantasies. The game was released later for Windows with an official English translation, not that anyone would've wanted that...
Mind you, the vast majority of titles for this computer are adult content. Even in games where sex may not be the focus, it wouldn't be surprising to see naked people or encounter a sex scene. Luckily, some games like Marble Cooking have ways to play the game without seeing boobs or pussy, so just make sure you know what you're getting into. Some of the games I'll be talking about in this section of the site may have sexual content in them, so beware!
