Game: Shenmue

This is it folks! my all time favourite game series. I'm going to talk about them both in one fell swoop right now because it's one big plot arc which has unfortunately remained unfinished to this day. That shouldn't stop any of you from playing these games however, and here's why...

The Shenmue series is the brainchild of Yu Suzuki; who brought the world such legendary arcade games as Out Run, After Burner & Virtua Fighter as well as many others. It was originally conceived in 1997 as an RPG addition to the Virtua fighter series that would appear on the Sega Saturn starring a young Akira. But as development progressed, the story & characters moved away from from its Virtua Fighter origins and was eventually scrapped & restarted for the Sega Dreamcast. It was to be an epic sixteen chapter Action RPG with unparalelled attention to detail, actively changing weather & day/night cycles, countless products to buy & collect, full recorded speech & interact with everyone in its multiple full 3d cities, it was to be a flagship title for Sega's console. Because of these it ended up costing aproximately $70 000 000.00 to produce, so even though it sold relatively well, it could never recoup the amount of money that was put into its development & when Sega left the console business behind, so too did it leave Shenmue in its fourth chapter at the end of Shenmue II.

So what is Shenmue about? Well, it's martial arts revenge epic which spans across asia during the 1980s. The game begins with high School Senior Ryo Hazuki returning home one evening to find his father in a confrontation with a mysterious man demanding an ancient Chinese artifact. Ryo's father gives him the location of the artifact in exchange for his son's life only to be then killed by that mysterious man who then departs. Thus begins Ryo's quest to unravel the mystery of his father's death & learn the identity of the mysterious man so that he can exact his revenge.


The game progresses through Ryo travelling within his hometown town, talking to people & piecing together the things he wants to know. There are plenty of distractions however, he can stop to play real 1980s Sega games at the arcade, buy capsule toys, audio cassettes, food, new martial arts technique scrolls & much much more. He'll need to improve his fighting ability, which uses a Virtua fighter system, because frequently he'll get into violent confrontations while in search of his answers. Aside from buying moves scrolls, he'll also learn new moves from various people he meets & can increase their strength by practicing them in fights, select open areas or his father's dojo. Certain confrontations can also be won by successfully passing Quick Time Events. Yes that's right, the idea & name for the now hated QTE comes from this game but it can be forgiven since it was a new idea then & when used appropriately (such as in these games) they can add alot of tension to action scenes.

Throughout the game, you'll really get a sense that this is a living breathing world. As well as the weasther & day/night cycles. Everyone & everything with react to these changes by being at specific places at specific times, wearing appropriate clothing when it rains or snows & give relevant responses to whatever you need to know at the moment. You can also explore the interiors of most buildings, pick up items and examine them in your hand etc. You'll really start to believe that the people you talk to are real & care about their subplots as you get to know them. And as the game progresses the areas which Ryo can explore & meet new people expands further & further until by the end of Chapter 1, Ryo will leave his home town altogether in an effort to chase his father's killer back to China.

The second game begins with Ryo docking in Hong Kong. Since there weren't really any ATMs in the 1980s, he has to take a variet of jobs to make money but there are still many things to buy. The second game streamlines many aspects of the first as well as expanding upon ideas in the first. Aside from taking jobs for money (which you could also do in chapter 1) Ryo can gamble in a number of games pawn things he's bought or even take part in underground street fights. The second game is bigger, deeper & more gorgeous than ever because it has Ryo move from Hong Kong to Kowloon Bay & then eventually further inland to Guilin. It is incredible the amount of detail & variety in all the locations. There is different music for every street which changes from day to night, loads more moves to learn, & even more games to play at the arcades.

Unfortunately, this is where Ryo's adventures end. there is a real cliffhanger ending which i won't spoil for any of you who may be interested in playing it but I had to import the european version of Shenmue II because they didn't even release THAT here & I've been waiting almost a decade for Sega to just release the last game which apparently has been finished for years but they just don't want to release it because they don't feel anyone would buy it. There have been many petitions and outcries from fans but so far there's been no luck. And although these games still look gorgeous to this day because of all the detail and love you can see dripping from every frame, the longer that time passes since the release of Shenmue II, the more resigned I become that I may never learn its conclusion.

That shouldn't stop anyone from playing the first two however. It is a triumphant blend of brawling, adventure & RPG elements. They're the real birth of fully realized 3D contemporary worlds years before Grand Theft Auto III. If you like any of those things, classic martial arts films, classic Sega or 80s nostalgia then go pick these up - you won't regret it.

Book: Sam & Max Surfin' the Highway

Now this blog isn't exclusively for video games, it's about all kinda of media so next I would like to tell you about Sam & Max: Surfin' the highway...

Sam & Max are a creation of artist Sam Purcell from the late 1980s, however in a medium filled with self appointed do-gooders, Sam & Max aren't any ordinary vigilanties. Sam is an anthropromorphic dog who wears an ill-fitting suit and fedora while Max is a hyperkinetic rabbity thing who often refers to himself as a lagomorph despite his toothy shark-like grin. Since their creation, Sam & Max have appeared in award winning comics, video games & a televisions series and have maintained a cult following throughout all these years. Surfin' the Highway is then a collection of their comic book adventures which had been out of print for many years but was recently given a reissue by Telltale Games who currently also produce the new episodic Sam & Max point and click adventure game series.

The anthology of Sam & Max comics chronicle their many adventures which take through the comfort of their 1960 DeSoto to around the world, to the moon and even through time. They like to use viiolent tactics whenever possible and in spite of devoting themselves to enforcing the law, seem to only have a vague understanding of how often they themselves break it. The humour in Sam & Max (if you can't tell already) is pretty irreverant. For example, when on the Moon, Sam & Max hitchhike and get picked up by two people dressed as a gorilla and a zebra driving a moon buggy but the only problem Sam has with this is that gorillas and zebras don't normally intermingle in nature. This kind of humour can also be found in the other mediums which Sam & Max have appeared. The original Sam & Max PC game included instructions on how to make your own Max paper-bag puppet in the instruction manual. Sam & Max are just chalked full of silly little things like that.

The art in Sam & Max is also very nice. Most of it is in black & white which is fine within the context of the series being a little film-noir-esque. Steve Purcell makes good use of shadow and texture to give Sam & Max's world a sense of real gritty detail. There are also some stories which are inked in colour which is also well done by Mr. Purcell, who made interesting choices such as the sky often being pink or orange regardless of the time of day. The character models are characters but retain a nice balance between real and cartoony and the backgrounds are also well detailed even if Mr. Purcell admits he had no source for drawing Thailand so it's completely wrong - hilarious.

For many years this collection was difficult and expensive to find. But thanks to Telltale Games, it's available again through their website with the addition of bonus stories and material. It's available in paperback or hardcover for a very reasonable price (especially considering how much copies of this book cost at this time last year). If you're a fan of independant comics, irreverant humour or wild adventurous stories, then head over to their website and get a copy for yourself while you still can.

Game: Killer7

Where do I start when talking about this game? Killer7 is really unlike anything I've played before. So I suppose it would be best to begin by discussing some background information about it. Killer 7 was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Gamecube and the Sony Playstation2 in 2005. If you're unfamiliar with Grasshopper Manufacture, it is the studio directed by celebrated video game auteur Goichi Suda - or as he is also known "Suda51". What makes him such an auteur you ask? Well let's take a look at Killer7 for a few minutes and you'll see what I mean.

The story of Killer7 is strange, very strange. You play as Harman Smith, an assassin who has the ability to take the form of seven other assassins. Harman may be old and confined to a wheelchair but through his seven other personalities he is able to take missions to destroy the Heaven's Smile. The Heaven's Smile are invisible, inside out, giggling suicide bombing zombies and only the Killer7 are able to see them and have the skill required to destroy them. Yes that's right - invisible, inside out, giggling, suicide bombing zombies. If they sound insane, then it would take equally insane characters to fight them and that's exactly what Killer7 delivers. Including Harman Smith, you will also be able to control seven other personalities which include; a magnum toting tough guy, a dual pistol weilding blind teenager, a mexican wrestler, an ex-criminal, a woman who has the power to absorb blood by slitting her wrists, a shirtless knife throwing homosexual and Garcian Smith - the Cleaner. You will also have the aide of Iwazaru (Harman's bondage loving subservient) and the ghost of Travis Bell (the first person Harman killed). By playing through the game, more clues will reveal themselves about the histories of the characters and how they came to be the Killer7 amidst an alternate universe backdrop where political tensions are rising between the United States and Japan. Crazy, no?

The gameplay of Killer7 is sort of a rail shooter where the character is controlled by pressing A to run forward and then pressing R to enter a first-person view when attacking. The player then has to scan to reveal any invisible Heaven's Smile. Once a Heaven's Smile has been detected, the player has to kill it before it rushes at you and explodes. You can kill them by either shooting them repeatedly anywhere on their body until they die or by targeting a specific glowing spot that will cause instant death. For killing a Heaven's Smile you then recieve blood in return. White Blood can be used to restore your character's health or red blood which can be used to upgrade you character's abilities. Unlike other rail shooters like Panzer Dragoon or House of the Dead however, Killer7 allows for full exploration of the levels by having branching paths that the player can explore and return to at their leisure. You will in fact need to do this because as you go through levels killing Heaven's Smile you will also collect items and use them for many of the puzzles that riddle each level.

The graphics in this game are just gorgeous. Killer7 uses flat-shading to make the game look like some early CGI. The art direction also makes good use of light and darkness to add visual contrast within the characters and scenery. When running around in 3rd person mode, the camera angles are set up to look as though you're seeing the game from the perspective of a number of security cameras. This I find all very aesthetically pleasing but my favourite graphical addition is whenever you switch between characters. Switchng is visually represented by the character you're already playing as atomizing in an explosion of blood which then recollects back together in the form of the new character. I swear, I never get tired of seeing it. I would recommend the Gamecube version over the Playstation2 version in regards to the visuals however, because the Playstation2 version's colours are a little washed out looking, the frame rate drops sometimes and there's a noticable load time when switching between characters.

The music is just as surreal as the rest of the game. Sometimes it can be chill downtempo or pounding house music. othertimes the music can be eerie ambient sounds or nothing at all. It just adds an extra level of absurdity to Killer7 when you're killing Heaven's Smile while listening to loungt jazz or something equally bizarre. The voice acting is also quite good in the cut scenes, however the rest of the game uses this unsettling garbled sound for dialogue which you can occassionally make out English words in. I have no idea what sort of filter would have been used to make that effect but it is really fucking creepy.

So that is really only scratching the surface of what Killer7 is. It needs to be played to really be understood - and even then you won't understand very much. However, Killer7 is a wild, weird, visually striking and unique game that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan anime, zombies, shooters, puzzles or post-modern narrative. I would not recommend this game for kids however, because of it's frequent use of disturbing gore, violence and sexual scenarios. (Did I mention Harman spends his free time having masochistic sex with his home care nurse?). If you're an adult who can't stomach these things then you may want to avoid this game as well. Otherwise get out there and play this game because it's like nothing else you've experienced.

Game: Flashback

Flashback: The Quest for Identity was a game created by French developer Delphine Software for the Amiga series of Computers in 1992 as a spiritual successor to their previous hit "Out of This World". I however don't own an Amiga so instead I'll be talking about the version for the Sega Genesis which was published by U.S. Gold a year later in 1993. As much as I love Snatcher, which you can see me talk about below, I feel Flashback: The Quest for Identity is the definitive cyberpunk adventure of the 16 bit era.

The story of Flashback is that you play as Conrad Hart, a cadet at the academy for the Galactic Bureau of Investigation. His senior year thesis project is to make a headset with a lense over one eye that can measure density for the purpose of detecting smuggled goods. Once Conrad tests his headset at a public gathering he notices that several people there have densities that don't match that of other humans. After investigating further, he discovers that aliens have infiltrated human society and even the highest levels of public office. Fearing the worst, Conrad records a copy of his memory and mails it to his friend living offworld as well as a message to himself telling him how to get to his memories and recover them. Not long afterwards Conrad is kidnapped by the aliens and is scheduled for execution but manages to escape to the moon Titan where he is shot down, this is where the game begins. Lost amid the jungles of the terraformed moon, Conrad must get his memories back and stop the aliens from conqouring the human race.

Flashback's gameplay is a puzzle-platformer similar to the original Prince of Persia games. Using a series of button presses, the main character Connor can walk, run, roll, hop, vertically jump, long jump, or high jump. He can also pull himself up ledges or hang from them if need be. Jumping and climing aren't his only mechanics however, Conrad starts with a gun and a shield but will soon make use of many other items that include rocks, keys, force fields, a teleporter and more. Mastering these skills and items will be vital in your quest which will take you from jungles to cities on a Running Man-esque game show, and alien planets. The gameplay is often varied, especially in the second level's underground city where you has you earn money by taking jobs that can involve delivering packages to fighting rogue cyborgs or running a gauntlet to fix a computer before it explodes. Other levels have you often using the environment to solve puzzles that allow you to progress further. All of this is complimented by having very tight controls, even now it brings a smile to my face to run around dropping from ledges and firing a few rounds into enemies.

The graphics are also hold up very well. Just like "Out of This World" Flashback uses rotoscoped flat polygons to achieve very fluidly animated sprites and cutscenes. The backgrounds are also very rich and detailed from the foliage of the jungle to the strange techno organic look of the alien world. Little details like dripping water or cracks in the foundations of buildings are also a nice touch. The game also makes good use of the Genesis colour palette and like I said it still looks great 15 years later. One thing you may notice if you compare this version to the original Amiga version is that when moving from screen to screen on the Genesis version, there is a slight half-second delay. I'm so used to compensating for it that it's ingrained in my head and I don't see it as a problem but it's a slight visual erm.. idiosynchracy that I felt obligated to point out.

The sound for the Sega Genesis version is also great. Other than in cutscenes, music doesn't play all the time, rather it plays only in certain instances to heighten the feeling of tension. It's very eerie sounding and when it plays over the otherwise ambient sounds it gives a real dramatic impact. I actually prefer this to say the SegaCD version which had redbook audio going all the time in the background and served only to make the game seem cheesy is some way. Music and how it is used are very important for setting the mood of any film or television show or game.

So, to all of you people out there I would highly reccomend this game. It's available for the Amiga, DOS, Genesis, SegaCD, SNES, Apple, 3D0, CD-i, Jaguar and more. Whatever you can track this game down for - track it down. Flashback: The Quest for Identity is a pure slice of 16-bit era platforming heaven. Who wouldn't like this game? I don't know, if for whatever reason science fiction isn't your thing or you prefer straight action and aren't interested in puzzles so much then ..Oh hell, just play it.

Game: Air Zonk

Air Zonk was made by Hudson Soft for the Turbografx-16 (PC Engine for you purists) and released in North America in 1992. The game centres around the cybornetic decendant of former Turbografx mascot Bonk. Unlike his predeccesor however, Air Zonk is not a platformer. Instead, Air zonk is a game in the scrolling shoot 'em up or "shmup" genre. Levels consist of scrolling from left to right and shooting down any enemies that get in your way - similarily to other games you may be familiar with such as R-type or Gradius. There are many times many games of this particular genre for the Turbografx-16, for this one to truely stand out it has the hook of being able to choose a partner character at the beginning of each level which will aide Zonk when he gets a particular power-up and if Zonk finds that particular power-up again Zonk and his partner will merge into a third character - each with their own new special attack. Aside from this power-up, Zonk can also collect new weapons such as boxing gloves, playing cards and metal jaws.

the graphics in this game are bright colourful and have that uniquely zany japanese pixel art that so many fans of retro games love. Backgrounds and foregrounds scale across the screen to good effect for giving the game a quasi 3D feeling. The characters are largely updated versions of the Bonk enemies but rather than being robots they're dinosaurs and rather than wearing eggshells on their heads they wear buckets.

The sound is all solid and catchy and make good use of the Turbografx-16 chipset. Largely its all very cheery and upbeat but that fits well with the colourful visuals found within the game.

If you're a fan of shmups or games with that zany Japanese "Je ne c'est qois" then you may enjoy this game. If you're looking for a real challenge then you may not. It gets pretty tough in parts while playing in "Spicy" mode but this isn't the bullet hell you'll find in the more hardcore shmups like Ikaruga. To find this game your best bet is either eBay or to download it on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console. There are many shmups for the TG-16 but I feel this is one of the finest.

Book: The Push Man and other stories

With the flood of terrible manga & anime that has swept across the western world in the past ten years, it's easy to forget that there is anything to be found in that artistic style that doesn't involve teenagers who secretly have giant robots or ninja powers while being too shy to to talk to their junior high school crush. There is however a growing market in the west for "gekiga", which translates as "dramatic pictures" and is a style of graphic novel in Japan that's aimed at a more adult audience. Now I know what you're thinking but when I say "Japanese graphic novel for an adult audience", I don't necessarily mean tentacle rape stories. Gekiga is more about complex ideas and themes that would appeal to more mature readers and was coined to separate itself from the more commonly known "manga" by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Tatsumi's work is now available in North America in annual volumes - the first of which is The Push Man and other stories.

The Push Man collects some of the best examples of Tatsumi's work form the years of 1969-1970 into one hardbound volume decorated only by the high contrast drawing, which is why it caught my eye in the first place. The collection is full of sixteen short stories that involve such dark topics as urban alienation, sexual deviancy, abortion, mental illness, etc. I found it to be mildly disturbing at times but couldn't stop myself from reading just one more story and finished the whole collection in one afternoon. It was certainly a refreshing change from Narutos and Inuyashas clogging book stores as of late.

the artwork is comprised of wonderful pen & ink drawings that really exude the feeling of the city closing in around the characters. The dirt and smog clings to every panel. The characters are often archetypes who you'll see again and again in the stories but not as the same person, just a similar one. The Aging Salary Man, the Geisha & the Faceless Man are some of the reoccurring characters found in these stories, similar in fashion to the Tezuka Universe. Tatsumi does this because the unrelated but identical reoccurring characters could easily melt into a crowd of people who are on the surface exactly the same. It is only upon closer examination that we can see the intimate stories that can exist in anyone - even ourselves. That is what I think makes these stories so fascinating.

along with the 16 short stories, The Push Man includes an interview with the artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi himself, which is also a fascinating read. This is because the stories are often somewhat ambiguous so it's nice to be able to hear the creator's perspective in regards to the themes and characters.

That's about all there is to say about The Push Man and other stories. If you would be interested in a slice of the psyche of a post WWII Japanese person you can't go wrong with this. If you are a lover of manga but want something a little less childish or trite, then give this a read. I would like to warn you however that if you're squeamish about sensitive topics then this might be too much to handle. The stories included here floated about in the back of my head for days and I'm no slouch when it comes to controversial subjects. It's gritty, beautiful and thought provoking, it's available from Drawn & Quarterly Publications, It's The Push Man.

Game: Okami

Recently having a read on video game blog Kotaku that the game Okami (which was originally for the PS2) is still not selling well despite its re-release on the extremely popular Nintendo Wii. I was going to discuss the game Chibi Robo next but instead I've decided to talk about this game because I bought it on day one of its release. It is one of the most rewarding games I've played in a long time & I can not stress enough people need to give this game a try.

Okami was developed by Capcom internal studio Clover, the same studio who brought us games such as Viewtiful Joe 2 & Godhand. It was released in 2006 for the Sony Playstation 2 just before the launch of the Playstation 3. It received extremely high acclaim from critics & received many awards as a result. In spite of this however, Okami sold poorly and Capcom closed Clover as a result.

Okami takes place during an indeterminate period of feudal Japan where the player takes control of the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu in the form of a white wolf. As Amaterasu, the player sets out on a journey to restore the beauty of nature across the islands of Japan which have been cursed by evil forces. The game is an adventure RPG similar in structure to The Legend of Zelda games. As such, it includes familiar elements such as overworlds, towns, dungeons, health containers, side-quests, etc. The gameplay, although done very well, is nothing new. Where the game really shines is in its presentation.

Okami uses a special cell-shading technique and stylized aesthetic to make the world which the player explores look like an old Japanese wood block & water colour painting. Rich colours and thick black lines gives the impression of brush strokes having been used to create everything within the game, giving Okami a very two-dimensional look. This 2D look is an illusion however, because the strokes and colours will flow and change with Amaterasu's movements around objects to always make it look as much like a flat painting from whatever angle the player is looking. It's a really trippy thing to see for the first time.

That Okami looks like a painting also plays a very important role in the mechanics of the game because unlike Zelda games where the player receives a new piece of equipment to aide in the adventure, Okami gives the player new spells which are executed by painting brush strokes on screen. With Amaterasu's "celestial brush" the player can attack enemies, change the weather, change the time, create special items, create plants, reach new locations and much more. This mechanic was a bit slow although still easy enough to perform on the Sony PS2 but the brush mechanic seemed like such a natural fit on the the Nintendo Wii's motion sensitive controller that it seemed like only a matter of time before it received a port of the original. In 2008 the Wii got its port which was handled by Ready at Dawn Studios who are the experts in recreating games by other teams such as the Ratchet & Clank and God of War games for the PSP.

The music is also excellent. Making use of alot of flutes, drums, shamisens and other traditional Japanese instruments it further creates the illusion that a classical Japanese painting has come to life. The peaceful melodies & ambient tunes of the fields & forests will quickly change into pounding rhythms when Amaterasu encounters a demon scroll floating around - triggering a fight sequence. There's no voice acting in Okami, rather it uses a sort of gibberish sound for the voices of the characters. Each character has their own unique voice so it really doesn't bother me that there's no voice acting. There's been many times that an otherwise great game has been ruined by horrible English dubbing (Shenmue II Xbox, I'm looking at you), so I'm fine with just reading even if it is a text heavy game like this.

The story is also very well crafted. There's too many plot threads to go into detail about any particular one of them but it includes romance, redemption, prophecies, conspiracies and even some aliens thrown in for good measure. By the end of the game, I really felt that I cared about the characters. Aside from the main storylines there is of course, many sidequests and subplots to explore as well. The game is supposed to be only 30 hours or so but I spent twice that amount of time finding everything I could. Every time a plot thread is completed, the player will recieve praise from the people of Japan which can be used to upgrade Amaterasu's powers. There's lots of other ways to collect praise as well, such as casting spells on trees to make them bloom or clearing an area of a curse, so be sure to collect as much praise as possible.

If you are a fan of adventure RPGs, Japanese folklore or are just looking looking for something different and you own a PS2 or Wii, then there is no excuse for you not to own this game. If people continue to ignore brilliant games like this then video game companies will stop making them. They're businesses and they need to make money, so cough it up or more companies like Clover will disappear. Oh, if you're wondering what ever happened to the people who worked for Clover, a bunch of them started an independent studio and named it Seeds which has been renamed Platnium Games and is set to release the amazing looking black and white brawler Madworld for the Nintendo Wii - which I suggest you look up as well.