A pictorial analysis of the latest, craziest Japanese arcade games (56k unfriendly)

johnny_ultimate

I had an hour to kill in Kyoto yesterday. As is the way in many Japanese shopping centres, the Kyoto centre I ended up in had one floor dedicated to an arcade. Now, shopping centre arcades tend to be relatively modest affairs compared to the best in Akihabara, usually just a Taiko no Tatsujin machine and a handful of outdated cabinets, as well as the ever present crane games that consistently prove distressingly popular. However, despite my failure to find anything resembling a retro / schmup section (Hey arcade in Akihabara remains the most glorious celebration of all things Cave and Treasure, photos of which you can find here), I did find a wonderful selection of the most popular current Japanese cabs, once I ignored the Pachinko (Pachinko is the devil) parlour that occupied half the building. Armed with far fewer 100 yen coins than would usually be the case, I gave some of these odd yet strangely compelling games a whirl. What follows is a brief description of some of my findings.

CRANE GAMES:



A quick word on the layout of a Japanese arcade. Contrary to what you may believe, 'proper' games tend to only occupy a relatively modest percentage of the typical Japanese arcade. You are usually greeted by a crane game section and the popular teenage girl and couple orientated photo booths. In multi-storey arcades, you are usually met with floors of extremely popular collectible card games. I do not understand a single word of these games, and they're best ignored, although their popularity far surpasses the more traditionally 'gamey' genres like shooters or fighting games, which are still relatively niche experiences in Japanese arcades - popular, but not that popular.

Anyway, a brief mention on crane games. They are usually filled with popular anime figurines and collectibles. Some are aimed at girls and young kids (such as Rilakumma toys) but the vast majority seem to cater to the fan fiction dreams of Japanese males. The above Evangelion machine, for example, was filled with suggestively posed Rei, Askua and Mari (the new female character introduced in Eva 2.0) figurines. This is pretty par for the course. Crane game sections are always worth a wander out of curiosity, but unless you're willing to spend a lot of money on getting these items, you can safely move along after a quick gander. Occasionally you get the odd gems, like the Earthbound figures in a number of Akihbara arcades. However, for the anime fans you might find a reference or figure that makes you knowingly grin. Like the awesome prize slot on the EVA machines:



ELEVATOR ACTION DEATH PARADE



Perhaps the most visually appealing lightgun game of the moment, for three reasons. First is the name, which I hope you'll agree is probably the best thing ever. Secondly, is the absolutely gorgeous vertical High-Def screen, which tends to be a welcome development in most contemporary arcade games. But most appealing of all is the main gimmick of the game: a huge pair of elevator doors that open and close in front of the screen. It has to be seen in action to appreciate how brilliantly random it is.

The game itself is fairly typical lightgun, but they use their gimmick well. Action when the door is closed plays on a small CCTV esque monitor above the main screen. The door is used brilliantly during actual play, though, if completely gimmicky. Of course, you can choose to go up or down between levels (choosing difficulty in the process). More inventively, O
one boss battle sees a huge monster (why a huge monster? Hell if I know) grabbing the doors, as you desperately aim for his head while hitting the big green 'close door' button as many times as you can. It's intense, random but a lot of fun. In terms of longevity, probably not much, but my 200 yen spent with the game was money well spent.

Odds of it coming westwards? Unlikely. Perhaps a console port will exist some day, but without an actual physical closing door it will lose most of its appeal. And a massive metal door is probably a peripheral too far, even for Activision.

COMPLEX SHOOTER WHOSE NAME I FORGOT TO NOTE:



This is a strange one. Unusually for Japanese shooters, this one comes with two sticks, each loaded with mouse wheels and buttons. It also has foot pedals for crouching and jumping. It's the Japanese arcade take on a PC FPS. Gameplay wise, it's a class based shooter along the lines of Team Fortress 2. You pick a class like scout (or others), and then do battle online. Too scared to play online, I tried a bots match. The bots were ludicrously stupid, even by bot standards, but I got the general point. Basically, what you think a Japanese FPS would be like. It's nicely polished, and it controls well once you get used to it, but the shooting is strange and unengaging: you have to destroy the armour of opponents before you can kill them. It plays like a JRPG mixed with TF2: in other words, a pretty damn uncomfortable mix. Get used to the gameplay quirks, class system and online play, though, and I'm sure there's a lot of depth to be found. A quick 100 yen test, though, isn't favourable.

PIRATE GAME WHOSE JAPANESE TITLE I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND:



This one's pretty cool. If anyone has played Let's Go Jungle (which is fairly common in Irish arcades that are left), you'll be familiar with the basic idea: you sit in a cab with two guns, each on a fully rotateble hinge, giving you fast and engaging shooting and aiming abilities. The gun itself is a machine gun, and the gameplay - while typical light gun fare, with added pirates and **** - is fast and fun. The one twist this game has though, is a pirate wheel. The level I played with has you frantically spinning the wheel as the level starts to avoid crashing with a ghost ship that has suddenly appeared. It's yet another gimmick, but it's one that adds an extra layer of intensity and fun.



It may be Let's go Jungle with pirates, but this is worthy of your 100 yen coin.

OK, that's all the typing time I have for the moment, but shall update this thread over the next day or two with more photos and descriptions. Next time: fighting games and the brilliant & varied world of Japanese arcade music games.

johnny_ultimate

PART TWO: RYTHYM IS GOING TO GET YA'

One of the few genres that seem continually popular in Japan are rythym and music games. Naturally, this being Japan, they're all a wee bit quirky...

JUBEAT



This is basically a high definition cube. First impressions are that it looks like, well, nothing else. The controller and screen is the cube, or namely sixteen little squares that are also monitors. After you choose a song (with more Western titles than would be usual) your goal is to press the 16 buttons as they light up in tune with the music.

It looks absolutely hypnotic, but my brief time with the game came more down to luck as opposed to following any sort of beat, as the movement of the cubes can be unpredictable on occasion. Still, of all the 'press coloured buttons' games, it's certainly the most technically impressive, the machine a fine piece of kit. As is the way with most arcade games, it's easy enough to play, but actually becoming good would require more 100 yen coins and time than most could afford. That doesn't stop the Japanese players kicking serious ass, of course.

RB (?)



Actually, I have no idea what the **** this does.

GUITAR FREAKS / DRUMMANIA / BEATMANIA (VERSIONS 7)



An old school one that continues to be popular. I'm fairly sure these have made the journey west, but there are constantly new versions being released in Japan. The instruments themselves are very similar to the ones from Guitar Hero / Rock Band / DJ Hero, and can also claim to predate these more popular games (in the West anyway). The guitar is chunky, the drums look awesome (and include two cymbals), while Beatmania is one hell of an interface, turntables and all.

However, they can't claim to be better. As is, once again, the Japanese way, these games are designed to keep you pumping in coins. Cue uber high difficulty. The interface seems designed to challenge, and the thin note displays really show how effective the interfaces of Harmonix games actually are. Again, more time may provide more favourable impressions, as the players nailing ludicrously complicated note patterns lay testament to. The Japanese, they are skilled gamers. For the rest of us, they put us in our place, and the comparable user friendliness of Rock Band will provide solace.

TAIKO NO TATSUJIN (VERSION 14, BUT COULD ONLY GRAB A PICTURE OF 13 BECAUSE THE MAIN CABINETS WERE OCCUPIED)



The daddy of arcade music games, and the game I have pumped countless 100 yen coins into (Death Smiles is a distant second in comparison). The bright coloured cabs, massive Taiko drum controllers, adorable mascots, and hyperactive soundtrack drag gamers of all abilities to Taiko again and again, and mere seconds with it will show why.

It plays like Donkey Konga but less crap. Red notes require you to hit the middle of the drum, blue notes the edge. There are some minor complications (mainly involving hitting the drums really fast) but that's about it. And the simplicity is this game's strong point. With five well judged difficulty levels (the 'oni' devil difficulty only unlocking after you beat a song or two on the second hardest) this game - shocker! - actually has a learning curve, and will provide joy to both the casual and hardcore player (me, I'm inbetween). The Oni note patterns will destroy your hands, while the lower levels will allow newbies to bash along successfully too.

The soundtrack is mostly Japanese stuff, but loaded with awesome game music (from Mario to Soul Calibur) and anime theme tunes (Cruel Angel's Thesis is an old reliable). The J-Pop is cool too, Linda Linda being a particular favourite of mine. There's just so many songs on here, the 90 second song selection time is barely enough. And it only increases with each iteration.

In short, Taiko no Tatsujin is a bag of win, and of all the arcade games I'd love to see in Dr Quirkey's this is the highest priority. The DS and console versions are cool, but it ain't the same if you're not banging a giant drum.

And finally, at a later date: giant robots and half-rotations.