Date cute schoolgirls while scheduling daily teenage-appropriate activities designed to boost your personal attributes in several key areas? Now then, where have we seen that before? Of course Konami can hardly be faulted for taking their inspiration from Konami, and in many ways Love Plus+ (yep, Love Plus Plus), an expanded version of what was at the time the … Continue reading Together we sail out to the sea of love… LOVEPLUS
Category: Konami
Dancing with digits
OhaSta Dance Dance Revolution GB is just one of an astonishing five DDR games made for the Game Boy Color, and those are just one part of a wider range of BeatManias and Pop'n Musics Konami made for the same format. That's not a bad showing at all for a genre that thrives on combining physical interaction with catchy tunes, especially … Continue reading Dancing with digits
A non-sense fantasy
The back of Parodius Da!'s box promises 1991's idea of gaming perfection - the arcade experience at home. This was always an eye-catching boast thirty years ago (if not necessarily as accurate as the excitable text implied), but it was even more so here as this particular release appeared on computer shop selves only about a … Continue reading A non-sense fantasy
Rewriting the romantic rulebook
There are just a few weeks of school left before the main cast of this Tokimeki Memorial spinoff graduate, and no doubt more than a few of them hope the classmate they've spent the past few years awkwardly blushing at will be waiting for them under the school's very special tree - the one that promises … Continue reading Rewriting the romantic rulebook
Pop’n RPG!
TwinBee RPG is the straightforward name of a straightforward game; one where you, the player, are sucked through your TV during the intro sequence to help out the cast of your favourite show (spoilers: It's TwinBee) after things suddenly take a turn for the worse for Light, Pastel, and Mint. As with any other playable self-insert experience your … Continue reading Pop’n RPG!
Shoot the core!
Gradius V's staff roll reads like a fan's happy daydream, bringing Treasure, G.rev, and Konami (with none other than Hitoshi Sakimoto on soundtrack duties to boot) together to work on an all-new entry in the legendary shmup series. As far as the genre's concerned this melting pot of talent is easily on a par with Sega's sublime … Continue reading Shoot the core!
Konami’s second go at first love
Tokimeki Memorial 2 is a lavish PlayStation exclusive experience, one where every event and cutscene has been crafted to the highest standards using vast quantities of spoken dialogue and premium quality artwork - no wonder it spans a frankly absurd five CDs. That's more than any of Squaresoft's chart-topping RPGs released around the same time, and … Continue reading Konami’s second go at first love
Happy days at Kirameki High
I know I've definitely played Konami's groundbreaking dating sim Tokimeki Memorial before, although that happened so long ago I honestly can't tell you which version of the game that involved other than that it was definitely on a disc (I went through the Saturn port this time around). I can't recall the details but I think it's … Continue reading Happy days at Kirameki High
Cart-sized caving
Konami's Cave Noire is a wonderful Game Boy-sized roguelite, just the sort of thing for those moments when you're short on time but would still like to do something other than play another round of Tetris or whatever game the entire internet's fixated with this week. Much like the equally brilliant Shiren this is a turn-based adventure; every enemy movement, every … Continue reading Cart-sized caving
Rocket-powered platforming
Thanks to the incredible influence of a certain blue hedgehog every company - every company - that wasn't Nintendo back in the Nineties was desperate to have a platforming mascot animal-ish character of their very own, usually a [Something] the [Something]. With attitude. And Konami's was Sparkster, the armour plated, rocket powered, tail swinging, opossum star of Rocket Knight Adventures. … Continue reading Rocket-powered platforming