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VC Tuesday: Reopening the case
Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles on the DS didn't really set the American gaming community on fire, in terms of sales or critical response. The American debut of Workjam's detective series was marred by text errors and omitted content that caused the game to lose points with reviewers, and it just flew too far under the radar for even the Phoenix Wright audience to hear much about it. All of that is just a roundabout way of saying this: the third Tantei Jinguuji Saburo game, with a scenario by Final Fantasy VII/VIII/X and Super Smash Bros. Brawl scenario writer Kazushige Nojima is out in Japan today, and we shouldn't expect Aksys to pay to translate it for the few people who would drop $5. Prospects are significantly better for Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair -- so much better, in fact, that it's already out in the US and Europe, albeit on a different console. Rastan Saga 2, an awkward-looking Taito action-platformer about a big barbarian dude, is pretty much a lock as well, because Hudson is nice. As for WiiWare, judging by Nintendo of Japan's WiiWare page at the time of writing ... nothin'. Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Kiken na Futari Zengo-hen (Famicom Disk System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Rastan Saga 2 (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Metareview: Jake Hunter
Well folks, it would seem that all of our excitement over Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles might have been wasted. What little in the way of reviews for the game online say it's kind of, well ... below mediocre. They aren't too kind to the game, but we can't say we blame them. The North American release only has three cases, where the Japanese release has six! Game Informer (65/100) says "This is a brief and functional title, but it lacks the flair and intrigue to pull off the film noir aesthetic. It's also hard to get over the fact that Jake Hunter looks like he should be ordering Jägerbombs and hitting on your sister instead of solving cases." Nintendo Power (50/100) thinks "The game would have benefited from some compelling touch-screen use (for puzzles or combat, perhaps), but as is, it barely puts the 'interactive' in 'interactive novel.'" [June 2008, p.89] 1UP (D-) is of the mind that this game isn't even qualified to be in the bargain bin: "Each case is stupidly linear (to the point where you cannot leave an area until you perform the game-moving action), the script is riddled with typos (at one point, a character refers to a mobile phone as a "sell phone"), and the static character art exemplifies the cheapness of the entire package."
Jake Hunter gets busy boxart
Thanks to a sweet thread over at GAF, we've got a look at the boxart for upcoming Aksys title Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles. Regular readers of the site will know that we're pretty darn anxious to get our hands on this game and give it a try. If there's one thing we'll say about the boxart, it sure is busy. There are tons of characters crammed onto the boxart, but none is so prominently displayed as the lead man, Jake Hunter himself. And, because of this, we consider the boxart a great success. What about you all?See also: 2008 Blips - Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles%Gallery-9685%
2008's Biggest Blips: Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles
Developer: Arc System WorksPublisher: Aksys GamesRelease: May If your law-and-order interest leans more towards the law side, you'll want to take a break from the Ace Attorney series and try out Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles. As with Phoenix Wright, most of this adventure title relies on menu interaction to move the plot along, but you'll spend more time on the streets interrogating suspects, following leads, and digging up clues from crime scenes. Aksys plans to publish the game in the US with a budget price of $19.99, promising 4-to-5 hours worth of playtime for each of the game's three cases.Those of you who've followed our coverage of Jake Hunter (Tantei Jinguuji Saburou) already know that it's an established series in Japan, boasting two decades-worth of releases for nearly every video game platform since the Famicom Disk System. But were you aware that before he ever hit the screen, our chain-smoking gumshoe had dozens of hardboiled crime novels to his credit? It's true! We've collected quite a few of the paperbacks, scanning and posting them below for your viewing pleasure: %Gallery-9685% placeholder text placeholder text Back He'll never settle
Hardboiled detective title coming to the US after all
Aksys Games is quickly becoming our favorite publisher of niche DS titles. Just last month, the small studio announced that it would localize Super Dodgeball Brawlers, blowing kisses in our direction. Then earlier today, Aksys revealed its plans to rebrand Tantei Jinguji Saburo (Detective Saburo Jinguji) as Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles and bring the adventure title to North America next spring. Despite having appeared on a variety of consoles since his debut on the Famicom Disk System 20 years ago, this will be the gumshoe's first visit to the states.Like with the Phoenix Wright series, you'll progress through the noir-ish plots with menu-based interrogations and clues you've found during your investigations. With Jake Hunter, however, you'll solve your cases with a Guile-styled haircut and a bebop jazz soundtrack. How wicked is that? We're not sure yet whether or not Aksys Games will leave in the Shinjuku setting and chain-smoking scenes, but we do know that Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles will be budget-priced at $19.99. Hit the gallery for five screenshots from the Japanese release.%Gallery-9685%
