Japan Gaming Guide

Raucous game show Tokyo Friend Park 2 is coming to the Wii this month. The range of crazy events make it perfect mini-game fare and sure enough we’ll be able to enjoy such classics as Wall Crash and Hyper Hockey. Coins earned in the games can be traded for darts to throw at the grand finale prize board.

Like most Japanese game shows, Tokyo Friend Park 2 has celebrity contestants rather than ordinary people, so for fans of the show this is their only chance to hurl themselves onto Velcro walls and play hockey against comedians dressed as fish.

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Strong evidence has turned up that Netflix intend to launch their movie streaming service on the Wii. Nintendo Japan already has its own trailers streaming to the console, so launching this would seem like an obvious move. The US service will require a $10 disc to run. No news yet on a Japanese equivalent, but surely that’s only a matter of time?

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A great month for RPG fans, with several big titles and a couple of novelties. No question about game of the month: the intoxication Zelda:Majora’s Mask is an astonishing game, and worth checking out whether you’re a retro fan or not. If you’ve ever wondered why people are disappointed with games as good as Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, this is one of the reasons.

Elsewhere there’s an early version of Ninja Gaiden and a very overpriced looking Space Invaders.

Famicom (500 points)

Akumajou Densetsu/Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

Super Famicom (800 points)

Der Langrisser
Hoshi no Kabi 3/Kirby’s Dream Land 3

Nintendo 64 (1200 points)

Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Master System (600 points)

Phantasy Star

PC Engine (600 points)

Ninja Ryukenden/Ninja Gaiden

Arcade

Genpei Toma Den/The Genji and the Heike Clans (800 points)
Space Invaders (500 points)

Nintendo are giving us another chance to dust off our balance boards with Rock N Roll Climber. The WiiWare title has you climbing mountains, rewarding you with bursts of Rock N Roll when you reach the top.

The news was revealed at the Game Developers Conference by Satoru Iwata, who also claimed sales figures of 20 million for the balance board – making it almost as popular as the PS3.

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A belated list of games this month. Quite a few quirky and cult titles on offer here. The Famicom gets Clu Clu Land, better known for being included in Gamecube Animal Crossing. Also on Famicom is Takeshi’s Challenge. Co-designed by Japanese movie director (Zatoichi, Dolls, Hana-Bi) and comedian Takeshi Kitano, the game features a range of almost impossible tasks. Many hate the game, but some enjoy its quirky sense of humour. Fans of the similarly impossible gameshow, Takeshi’s Castle, might want to check it out.

The Super Famicom gets a cult pirate game, the Master System gets the familiar Sonic Chaos. Another interesting game for the megadrive: Revenge of Shinobi, which was heavily altered outside of Japan because its bosses rip off a whole host of movie and comic book characters.

Famicom (500 points)

Clu Clu Land
Takeshi’s Challenge

Super Famicom (800 points)

Daikoukai Jidai II/Uncharted Waters: New Horizons

Master System (500 points)

Sonic Chaos

Megadrive/Genesis (600 points)

Za Supa Shinobi/Revenge of Shinobi

The blue hedgehog and plumber extraordinaire will team up once again for a new Olympic game. Mario & Sonic at the Vancouver Olympics will be launched to co-incide with the 2010 event. Excitingly, Nintendo are promising balance board compatibility which could be very interesting indeed.

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If the soundtrack to Let’s Tap is refusing to get out of your head then you might want to head over to iTunes where it will soon be available for purchase. 21 tracks from the game will be included for 2625 yen.

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Here’s this month’s line up:

Famicom (500 points)

Formation Z
Double Dragon

Super Famicom (800 points)

Tactics Ogre

Master System (500 points)

Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars

Megadrive

Galaxy Force II (600 points)
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes (700 points)

PC Engine

L-Dis (800 points)
Dai Makaimura/Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (800 points)
Winning Shot (600 points)
Super Darius 2 (800 points)
Wallaby!! Rabbit land kangaroo race (600 points)

Mario Tennis GC is a Wii remake of the Gamecube title and is coming out on January 15th at 3800 yen. It will be largely identical to the original, but will be controlled with the Wiimote and Nunchuck which could add a lot to the game.

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The sequel to Trace Memory is soon to come out on Wii. Ashley Mizuki Robbins will reprise her role, solving mysterious puzzles and unravelling her past. The videos on Nintendo’s preview site look really nice with a strong art style and an intuitive interface.

Gateway of Memory comes out February 5th at 5800 yen.

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