Japanenglish Games
Beat City (DS)
Beat City is a budget title that is a lot of fun. The graphics are all pixelated and very colourful. As you could guess from the name, this is a rhythm game. There are different kinds of levels that get progressively harder as you play through the game. Each level starts with an image with not much colour and nothing going on on-screen. As you play the level and match your stylus movements with the rhymthm of the song, the level starts to light up with many colours and new images pop up, contributing to the final picture.
Opoona (Wii)
I had this game in my collection for a couple of years before I actually decided to pick it up and give it a go. This has to be one of the most unique RPGs I have ever played. The game is about young Opoona and his quest to find his parents after crash-landing on a strange planet. The gameplay involves throwing balls at the enemies - you start out with just Opoona who has the one ball, but then later Opoona's siblings join and have more balls to attack with. You can also customize the balls with elements such as fire and ice. I fell in love with the graphics straight away - I love anything that is cell shaded! This game is actually quite cheap now and easy to find - if you see it and you like RPGs then pick it up!
Warioware: Smooth Moves (Wii)
The Warioware series is taken to a new and awesome level on the Nintendo Wii. The crazy micro games are so much funner to play through when you're actually moving the remote to the action that you are performing. I was a bit sceptical that this new incarnation of Warioware may seem tiresome when I considered how many different types of micro games were already explored in the series and tried to visualise some new ideas; however this game lives up to the level of entertainment and variety that past Warioware games have, and supersedes them. This is a must have for all Nintendo Wii owners whether they like to play single or multiplayer.
Warioware: Twisted (GBA)
With the previous versions of the Warioware games there had been a specific format kept to throughout, which made the release of Warioware: Twisted for the GBA a refreshing change. As you physically tilt your GBA left and right, the action on the screen goes along with you. The micro games kept their wonderful variety and humour, but were spiced up with the new controls. The only negative point I have on this game is that it is not a game that you can keep playing for hours, simply because just tilting the GBA left and right can start to feel mundane.
Warioware: Touched (DS)
With the release of the touch-screen controls used with the Nintendo DS, the creators of Warioware had to come out with a version that took advantage of the new mechanisms. An oppurtunity to introduce Warioware players to a new style of gaming did not go unnoticed. Re-creating old microgames and making completely new ones (inspired by the new controls) made this game a must-have for all Warioware fans.
Katamari Damacy (PS2)
Absolutely everything about this game is "Japanenglish". The concept of rolling up as many objects as possible into one giant ball is just plain wierd. In this game you start off rolling up small household objects such as small dice, push-pins and paper-clips. As the size of your Katamari (the name designated to the huge ball of "stuff") increases, you can pick up larger items starting at small animals such as cats, up to wooden doors, whole houses, skyscrapers, large mammals and eventually small islands. It may sound easy but it really is quite the struggle trying to keep all of the items in your circular mass of objects as you roll up new ones, without any old ones falling out of the pile. The controllers (using both sticks at the samet time) are unique but can be quite frustrating sometimes if you're not 100% familiar with how they work. The graphical presentation of the game is awesome - totally different from the average video game and so very colourful. I loved this game when I first saw it advertised and still love it today after hours of fun.
We Love Katamari (PS2)
This game is the sequel to "Katamari Damacy". It keeps pretty much everything that was in the old game, but adds a few things too. The concept is the same, the controls remain identical (and the difficulty level is not altered), and the graphics are still just as delightful. The main difference in this new version is the layout of the levels. In the first game you progressively went from picking up small household items to eventually picking up entire cities and small islands. In this game there isn't as much of a structure to it. You walk around an interactive little world and choose tasks at your wish. As you complete other tasks, more become available. These scenarios can range from trying to roll up a huge ball of snow without shrinking it by rolling over small fires, to trying to get the highest percentage of a certain animal rolled up compared to other objects (this one I still have not completed!). Overall, an awesome game.
Me and My Katamari (PSP)
Yet another sequel to Katamari Damacy, only this time on the PSP. The one main improvement that I think Beautiful Katamari has over the other games in the series is it's controls. Eliminating the 2 stick of the PS2 controller meant that Konami had to come up with a different way to control the Katamari, and it works a lot better this way. You use the arrow touchpad to move the ball around, making it less frustrating to get that thing to go in the direction that you want it to go in. The graphics and sound are just as crazy and bright as the past Katamari games, keeping the charm throughout the series, and the stages are just as fun to complete. I definitely recommend this to anyone that owns a PSP and loves wacky games.
Katamari Forever (PS3)
I was so glad that they put another Katamari on the PS3. This one had some really cool cell-shaded graphics. It's just as fun (and wacky) as the others. There wasn't really anything new to this game, but I was ok with that because in my opinion it's a tried and true formula.
Elebits (Wii)
When looking at the packaging of this game you may just pass it by, thinking that it's a game for kids, but after playing it for quite some time I have discovered that it can be fun for older players too! The story behind the game isn't really that interesting, and it doesn't really matter because it's all in the gameplay. The aim of the game is to catch as many of these little creatures (called elebits) as possible. They are hidden all around your house, sometimes in the wierdest of places, and it's up to use your wii remote as a laser gun and capture all of them. Catching elebits will empower your gun to lift larger and heavier items around the house so that you can find more elebits, and also turn on power to certain electrical devices that will add even more to fun to the scene. There are plenty of different gameplay modes that can keep you entertained for a long, long time too. I will keep randomly picking up this game and getting addicted to it then eventually putting it down, only to pick it up again a few days later and continue the cycle. Elebits really is quite addictive.
Kororinpa: Marble Mania (Wii)
The first thing that I must say is why did they change the cover art for North America?! The European cover art is so cute, but the North American is not even half as much. This game plays similarly to the Super Monkey Ball series in that you must move a ball around platforms with many obstacles in your way and reach the end. Kororinpa has such cute graphics and sound - the balls that you can choose from vary from pandas, to cats, to toy cars in a ball, and when the ball drops it will make such a cute sound such as oinks for pigs or meows for cats. The different types of levels are so unique too, I love the candy themed one. The levels progressively get harder as you complete them, and unfortunately there isn't really that many levels in total. However, the time that I do spend playing this game is well used, a lot of fun can be had.
Mister Mosquito (PS2)
This game was released when the PS1 was starting to become obsolete, and was one of the many games released into the North American market from Japan. In this game you play a mosquito that flies around a japanese family's house trying to drain as much blood from them as possible. It sounds grosse but it's actually not that bad once you're playing it. The main obstacle is trying to start draining blood without them seeing you so they don't get up and start batting you away. The graphics are very basic (well it is early PS2) but the main emphasis is on the gameplay. You can have the most fun with this game when playing it with others watching.
Ribbit King (PS2)
Finally! A golf game with frogs! This game is quite simplistic but so so fun multiplayer. You put a frog on a platform, then you hit the other end of the platform with a hammer of some kind to make the frog go flying. You need to aim for the frog to get as many points as he can on his journey towards the end goal, including popping bubbles, landing in bouncy cobwebs and swimming in water. The characters are odd but mostly cute, except for the judge of the "frolf" tournament whom seems to have quite an odd voice... You can tell that this game is low-budget when you're playing it but all of the fun to be had is in the gameplay, not the presentation. A simple, very fun game in all!
Under The Skin (PS2)
This game is $60 at Superstore, but you can usually find it used for around $15 in any other place - it doesn't make any sense. When I first saw it at Superstore for the crazy price I wanted it so much that I considered saving up a bit to buy it, but then I ended up getting it new from Ebay for around $20. Anyways! The aim of the game is to annoy people. Get the general public so annoyed at you that they release coins for you to collect. Yeah, it doesn't make any sense, but that's why it's on this Japanenglish page! You play as a little alien that can disguise itself as a fellow human, then you must pull pranks on the humans to get them annoyed and collect the coins that they create when in that state. The aim of the level is to collect a set amount of coins in a certain amount of time. The artwork in this game is quite odd but it's so colourful and inventive that it's great to look at. Again, there isn't much to the gameplay but what is there is a challenge and very fun, especially when playing with another person watching.
Hello Kitty's Cube Frenzy (PS)
I managed to get my hands on this game through Ebay for $30 - quite a bit for an old PS1 game, but it is rare. This is a puzzle game that involves you guiding Hello Kitty to certain items that she needs to pick up on that level. Block sets fall from the sky and you must position them so that Hello Kitty can climb up and over the blocks to reach the items she needs. Other Sanrio characters also join Hello Kitty in this game, usually as an obstacle that will either move or remove a block, making it harder for you to complete the level. Hello Kitty's Cube Frenzy does take quite a while to get used to, and it can be frustrating in the first few hours but once you get the hang of it you are going to love watching the cute characters do what they're doing and complete the level to display a big cute Hello Kitty backdrop.
Loco Roco (PSP)
A puzzle game of sorts, Loco Roco involves you moving the level to allow cute singing blobs to traverse the landscape and reach their goal. As your Loco Roco continues through the level, it will combine with more that it finds on it's travels and grow in size. At certain points in the game however you can temporarily break up that connection to reveal a whole bunch of single singing blobs that will go through a certain area seperately - something they could not fit through when they were joined. The graphics in this game are adorable, and so is the sound. Throughout the game you will hear slightly high-pitched singing in the background which at certain points in a level will sinc with the mouths of the Loco Rocos, adding to the overall cuteness of the game. As you progress the levels get harder, and it becomes more of a challenge to successfully collect all of the Loco Rocos and extra items that you can pick up to add to you "Loco Roco House". This a great pick-up-and-play game with lots of replay value.
Work Time Fun (PSP)
If you read any reviews about this game you will notice that it is (quite rightly) compared to the Warioware series more often than not. This game has bad translation written all over it. The aim of the game is to earn as much money as you possibly can in order to waste that money on different priced vending machines and collect the trinkets that they produce. You earn this money by playing a multitude of mini-games from mini-baseball to playing a waitress in a restaurant. Some of the games are extremely tedious such as putting lids on pens in a factory, but the more detailed games like trying to find out the phone number of a girl that you met are more challenging and take longer to complete. The graphics are extremely varied, from simplistic cartoon graphics to almost photo-realistic images, keeping with the randomness of the entire game. Overall a fun albeit wierd game.
Chibi Robo (GC)
There have been quite a few somewhat negative reviews about Chibi Robo for Gamecube, stating that they don't want to play "cleaning the house", but I do not agree with these at all. The main objective of Chibi Robo is to spread happiness in the household that you live in and watch the relationships of it's residents develop as you feed in to their overall happiness. You do this in part by cleaning up their mess but also by running errands for them to make them happier, including completing tasks for the toys that live there. Through the whole game you play as a tiny robot called Chibi Robo that must be charged up frequently in order to continue functioning. This can get quite tedious at the beginning of the game but as you progress you will earn the right to charge up more at one time and therefore be able to accomplish more.
