Tezuka video games

by **madamluna** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:39 pm

So, I grabbed a copy of Black Jack: Hi no Tori Hen for DS and decided to give it a quick spin. Impressions:

Holy cow the art style in this is really nice. Characters like Black Jack and Midnight look a tiny bit softer/younger, but not so much that it's distracting. Everyone else is drawn spot on model and it's really appealing! Here, I took a couple of photos from the first cutscene of the game (traffic's held up by a car accident involving poor Higeoyaji). These are kinda big, so click click:

The gameplay plays a little bit like a dumbed-down Elite Beat Agents for the DS. Then again, I've only played the first karte, which is really clearly a tutorial. Manga panels will pop up on the touchscreen with a dot (to tap) or an arrow (to slide). There's also a heart stylus icon, which you can activate, but I haven't actually figured out what it does, and some dramatic slashing moments at the end of the karte which will multiply your score.

I actually decided to go ahead and take a gameplay video (on emulator--if that's not kosher here, then let me know and I'll remove it from this post), since it illustrates what I'm talking about and also shows off the pretty cool music. You can see the video I miss one of the slashes at the end because I'm a dip, though.

I am totally going to finish this game if I can, since it's pretty fun and seems to be relatively easy to play. The only problem is that I haven't figured out how the game saves! Normally games like this (and Elite Beat Agents, Rhythm Tengoku etc) autosave after every level, but it didn't do that when I beat the stage earlier.

[edit: oh okay, you can save when you get to the cabin after karte 02.]

by **Dr. Jerk** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:45 pm

I was a bit weary about watching, since I can't really stomach medical gore. (It's one of the reasons why I won't read Black Jack, shame on me), but that wasn't too, too bad.

And thank god that it's nothing like Trauma Center, if it were anything like that, I most certainly would not even think about playing it. I can't play well under pressure. <_<

Some of the expressions were pretty hilarious though. And seeing Dr. Tezuka at the end made me smile.

Edit: Also, I wouldn't really consider this title to be called "Phoenix Version", as there really isn't two versions of this title. 'Hen' more closely means 'chapter'. Of course I have no idea how Hi no Tori ties into this, but I guess it would be something of a spoiler.

by **madamluna** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:42 am

Hey guys, remember that part in Black Jack where he had to locate the five busts of Wagner so that he could find hidden documents that reveal Hitler's terrible secret?

Yeah, that was my favorite part too.

I'm up to case 18 or something (I've been burning through this game today, but in my defense it really doesn't take very long--each stage is maybe two or three minutes long) and this game is seriously giving Omega Factor a run for its money in the Most Tezuka Plots Shoehorned In Department. Not that this is a bad thing, I mean. It's pretty exhilarating. I can just imagine the writers for this sitting around a table and concentrating SO HARD to find a way to tie Adolf into this, like their jobs depend on it.

One thing that's really pretty cool is how each of the patient's quirks are tied into their levels and gameplay. Midnight and Melmo's levels both involve the player being forced to deal with "bumps" (really quick prompts that are almost impossible to get, ugh), but they make thematic sense since Midnight's level is in a car and Melmo's level involves her changing uncontrollably from girl to woman.

I've been taking notes on which characters are in the game and I can recognize about all of them so far, but I'm not going to post the list yet because spoilers. Once I'm done I'll probably put it up somewhere offsite and link to it, though. (Also, I really have no idea what the deal is with the Wagner busts so far. I really doubt this is going to suddenly turn into Adolf, so hopefully I haven't inadvertently spoiled anything.)

Also, apologies for posting so much today. But I figure better to post too much original content than not enough, right?

[edit: Also also: about gore, some of these stages are better than others. Emiya Tachi's doesn't even break the skin. But if I make any more gameplay videos, I'll keep that in mind and warn for gore if there's a lot of it!]

by **Dr. Jerk** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:15 am

Well, given that I obviously cannot read Japanese and that a fan-translation patch of the rom does not exist (would be nice though), well I can't really agree or not whether it's story is better than Omega Factor's.

So I'll continue to consider Omega Factor to be the best Tezuka-related game in existence.

And if not for the story, then for the gameplay.

And I'll appreciate that, in regards to the videos.

Oh that reminds me, these past few months or so, I was in the process of writing down a Game Script guide for Omega Factor, simply because of how massive its dialogue is for such a simple game and because I literally fell in love with its story. Unfortunately I'm missing a couple of events, and they're practically puzzles to figure out. <_<

by **madamluna** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:40 am

Oh yeah, at this point it's impossible to tell whose story is better. Just from what I've picked up I think Omega Factor's is more cohesive (and I'm leaning in favor of it, not that this is a competition or anything), but I'm kind of enjoying the endless "WHAT? WHAT? WHAT. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? WHAT'S GOING ON" in Hi no Tori Hen. I think this is also what drove me to watch Marine Express four times, even though I think it's a pretty weak movie--these kinds of rollercoaster plots have to be seen to be believed.

Which events are you missing, Dr. Jerk? I recently LPed the game and I have videos of all the events (except I think for Ochanomizu spilling the beans about the location of Tenma's house).

by **Dr. Jerk** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:08 am

These are the numbered events I'm missing,

27.
81.
169. (I do know that this one was Unico-related, which I once activated, but because I didn't properly saved, it wasn't recorded in the event menu. Don't mind this one. I'll get back to it on my own eventually.)
222. (This one HAS to be in BJ's House, but I can never figure out how to activate it. I've activated every other obvious BJ House event, this one is the most puzzling.)

And that's about it. Just 27, 81, and 222 left. Next to the event numbers are more numbers and letters that help indicate what area they are to be activated, and I guess the rest dictates in what order they can be activated. But so far, the only clues I've been able to gather was what areas I have to go in, albeit not sure when.

If you're able to help me find these, and find the requirements in order to activate these, I'll do everything I can to repay you.

by **madamluna** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:01 am

by **Dr. Jerk** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 1:02 am

by **Dr. Jerk** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:16 am

by **Manetoys** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 10:47 pm

I demand a Princess Sapphire game!

by **Dr. Jerk** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 1:42 am

I apologize for posting here so many times but,

I managed to find Events 80 and 81. You get them by revisiting 2-6 (where you fight Pook) after rescuing Pinoko. Yeah, I feel a bit dumb that I never bothered to try that before. Although I could have sworn that I tried revisiting the are after rescuing Pinoko, but I guess I never did.

So! The very last event...!! 222! How you are the bane of me...

Once I find it, with some help of course, then I and my Game Script guide shall finally be victorious!

...Yeeeaaahhhh, it's driving me nuts...

Edit: I posted a detailed thread about this over at ABO. http://www.astroboy-online.com/forums/s ... php?t=6269

Tezuka video games

Tezuka video games

Black Jack: Hi no Tori Hen impressions

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