A couple of months ago, Japanese publication Famitsu released its 1000th issue. In celebration, they published a list of the top 100-selling Japanese-created games in Japan for each year going back to 1996, and the top ten games going back to '83. Looking at the raw numbers like that is pretty interesting to get an idea of what kinds of games Japan really cares about.
In particular, it gives you a view into how important Pokemon has been to Nintendo over the years. We all know the story about how it breathed new life into the old Brick GameBoy back in the mid-90s. But when confronted by the cold hard stats about the sheer dominance of the Pokemon franchise, like them or hate them, it's hard not to be in awe at the sheer popularity of these games.
So if you're interested in a window into the perspective of the people who create some of your favorite games, check below the cut. We'll have the official top 3 sellers for each year starting in 1996, the total games produced on each system, as well as a little commentary. Some of the results may surprise you!
(PLEASE NOTE: The information given is only for units produced and sold in Japan.)
Dungeon hacks. Dungeon crawlers. Roguelikes. Call them whatever you want; most people hate them. A roguelike is an overhead-view RPG that places you at the top floor of a randomly generated dungeon with no equipment, no skills, and no experience. You're tasked with finding your way to the bottom floor, using whatever randomly generated items you come across to fight monsters and gain experience. The odds are stacked against you, and if you die, you're placed back at the top floor and stripped of all items and experience points.
It sounds like a recipe for frustration, but because of their difficulty, depth, and replayability, roguelikes are greatly enjoyed by the more sadistic gamers among us. Last year's Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja sought to bridge the gap between hardcore roguelike fans and casual players by providing a gentler and more forgiving dungeon crawl. Izuna's recently released Japan-only sequel, Gouma Reifu Den Izuna Ni, brings many new features and improvements to the formula. Is it worth an import?
MTV's Multiplayer blog is excellent, and so I'm quite happy to have a chance to link to it. In this one Stephen Totilo takes on the fiendishly money-obsessed Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland.
It's not the first Nintendo spin-off to make a none-too-heroic character obsessed with gaining cold, hard cash. The earlier Wario Land titles were exactly the same in many respects, right down to coins doubling as Wario's health.
In the blog Totilo mentions putting the game down due to being disheartened, but it seems a lot of other gamers got fed up with disappointing gameplay (to the tune of 67% on Metacritic). Granted, Tingle is primarily being reviewed by European mags... and those guys are harsh.
Check out excerpts from a few reviews behind the cut, along with some videos. If you're interested in purchasing a copy of Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, you can easily order it online from retailers like Amazon UK.
Final Fantasy IV is a great game, and its upcoming 3D DS remake looks like it's going to be utterly mindblowing. One of FFIV's strong points is its incredible soundtrack, and the DS version is promising to have a new arrangement by Junya Nakano and Kenichiro Fukui. While there's no US release date for FFIV yet, a two-disc soundtrack CD of the DS arrangements streets in Japan on 01/30/08. The set comes packages with a promotional DVD that should have some movie goodness for folks with R2 players lying around.
Virtual Console: Alien Soldier
You may notice that when I was talking about Super Mario Bros. 3, I suggested saving your money for games you might not have played before. By that I meant "Maybe you'll want to download Alien Soldier instead." Its appearance on the Virtual Console is only the second time it's been available in the North American market (and the first time it was a SEGA Channel exclusive, which doesn't count). If you dig on Treasure's other run-n-gun shooter masterpiece for the Genesis, Gunstar Heroes, then you probably really want to go download Alien Soldier right this very second.
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