Land of the Rising Thumb
Wario returns to DS, and PS2 and Xbox 360 games go mobile
Welcome to 'Land of the Rising Thumb', Pocket Gamer's new weekly look at handheld gaming in Japan. (Do you see what we've done there?)
My name's Jonti and I live in Kyoto, Japan; I have a PSP, a DS Lite, and a Samsung 705SC. And I play games for a living – it's a tough slog! Now that we've been introduced, let's talk games.
The biggest handheld game in Japan this past week was Nintendo's Wario the Seven. It's ostensibly a platformer for the DS, but its use of the touch pen is ingenious: there are seven special powers that Wario can be imbued with (the game's title gives it away), and these can be effected at any time simply by drawing patterns on the DS' touchscreen.
Wario the Seven's first boss reminded me of Sonic's Dr. Robotnik (or Eggman, as he was always known in Japan), which can only be a Good Thing. The level design is generally excellent – the top screen is used to display a map that's as helpful in Wario as it is in Nintendo's Metroid games. (Seven will be released in the UK on March 5th, masquerading as Wario: Master of Disguise.)
On the mobile phone front, D3 Publisher, which in brand terms is probably the Tesco Value of Japanese game development, has just launched its first wave of i-mode phone games after enjoying million-seller successes on Sony's PlayStation and PlayStation 2 formats. The three games it launched here last week are ambitious mobile ports of PS2 and Xbox 360 games.
One-chan Bara is a slightly clichéd (but nevertheless fun, in a silly way) game of girl versus monsters. With much blood.
Love Uppers seems to be hinting at a passion for cleavage, and the game doesn't disappoint – it's a girl-on-girl boxing game that originally was a PlayStation 2 title and owes a debt of political incorrectness to Tecmo's Dead or Alive series.
Finally, there's Earth Defence Force (pictured), a port of a recent Japan-only Xbox 360 hit, which is a game of a B-movie sci-fi flick. Think Ed Wood with hi-scores and massive insects from outer space.
At Y525 (less than £2.50) per game, they're all worthy of a quick download if you happen to be in Japan. It's a shame that there's no chance of these games coming to the UK until D3 Publisher sets up shop over there.
Until next week, then. (またらいしゅうね！Mata raishuu ne!)