Sakura Note trailer elicits tears of nostalgia

The trailer for Audio Inc.'s new DS game Sakura Note leans heavily on the "nostalgia" angle, showing images of Japanese kids on summer vacation, running around town to the sounds of cicadas and a somber Nobuo Uematsu piece. Even the gameplay description, which refers to "simple action buttons," is a callback to the Famicom era.

The in-game footage, with its combination of lush, hand-drawn backgrounds and pixelated sprites, makes us nostalgic — for Audio's last game, Contact. This is the first real look we've had at the new game, and we're glad to see it's as lovely as the artwork.

As for the gameplay itself, it features segments in which you control a cat or a dog, and includes some mechanic involving collecting a boss's tears.