Sega Nerds

ATEI 2007 - Part 3 ‘Something for the Kids’

by Graham on February 8th, 2007

Foreword: Again I apologise for the usless camera and video work you might see in any pictures shown. 

Yesterday we showed you the (only) 2 ‘bad’ Sega games of the show and today we shall bring you 3 top arcade titles designed with kids in mind on display at the show.   I’ll be starting with the ‘worst’ first (because it’s always nice to have some sort of order. Remember we at SegaNerds are not hippies.)

As soon as you approached the Sega stand, all you could see was a large crowd  (unlike other games companies) and a lot of noise.  However when you came to one end of the stand the noise became quieter and the crowds were not as vast.  This was the ‘kids’ section.  But there really weren’t many kids at the show, hence the lack of people milling around.  But there were alot of curious teenagers and adults alike, and two very attractive ‘both babes’ showing off the games, in particular Love and Berry: Dress up and dance.  The 3 titles on display were all card based games.  Where, once you insert some money, you are given a special card.  The card depends on the game, but it helps you to play the game and is also a fun side ‘quest’ - abit like Pokemon- you have to try and collect all the cards possible.  And the more cards you have, the more likely you will do better in each game.

The games are designed with kids in mind, not only for their basic gameplay, but also because the cabinets are tiny.  They are approximately 1.3 meters tall - with the screen centre around 1 meter.  So most teenagers and adults will have to bend down, or kneel - as I did at one point (fortunately the floor was clean and carpeted- whereas most arcades won’t be), in order to play effectively.  This is also possibly why the games are so popular in Japan, not trying to be rude- but as Japanese people tend to be on the shorter side, thiis will no doubt suit them more.

The first (and worst, in my opinion) of these games was;

MushiKing:

This Beetle Card battling game has been around for a little while- even in Europe- but hasn’t had the same popularity as it had in Japan.  I’m not too sure if what was on display is a newer version of the game or not, as I never played the game before.

The gameplay is based around the old game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.  But first you insert your coins (or just press start as I did) and collect your card.  It will either be a ‘Beetle Card’ or a ‘Skill Card’.  You swipe the Beetle Card into the swipe slot in front of you (see right) and you will be given that particular beetle.

 Each beetle has different statistics, which it tells you the cards, they are Stamina, Hitting, Pinching, Throwing and Skill.  You then have the choice of adding a special attack move, using one of your ‘Skill Cards’.  You assign your skill card to one of 3 buttons either Rock, Paper or Scissors (hmmm I wonder how you play the game?)

You are then put into the game where you have two very well animated beetles on screen.  You are given a time limit in which to hit either Rock, Paper or Scissors.  And depending on what the computer chooses you win or lose- just like the old fashioned, non computer generated game- Rock beats Scissors, Scissors beats Paper and Paper beats Rock.  Even if you don’t have a Skill Card, you will always have one attack which is stronger than the rest and this shown on screen with jagged edges around the button symbol.  So you can also see what your opponents best attack will be.  Should you choose a winning attack that has a ‘Skill’ or jagged edges around, you will cause more damage to your opponent and you will also see a rather decent animation on screen.  And if you draw (pick the same button) if someone has the stronger attack, they will cause the other damage.

Each game lasts until one player loses all their life bar- like every fighting game.  Afterwards you go onto the next battle and the next until you lose.  The game is very simple, but very addictive.  It is also alot of fun in two player and the outcome can depend on who has the better cards or who uses the cards to their advantage.  There is some skill required in the game, but not much - as it is designed for kids.  So it may not be best suited for adults.

Display Impression: 7.  Game Originality: 7.  Graphics: 8.  Sounds: 7.  Playability: 9.   Funfactor: 7.  Overall Experience: 7.

     

For more information on MushiKing visit the official site.

 

DinosaurKing:

Next up is a game very similar, in literally every way, to MushiKing, but with Dinosaurs instead of beetles.  You do everything the same, collect a card - either a Dinosaur card or Attack card, then swipe taken card to choose a Dinosaur (if you have a ino card) and then if you have an attack card you can choose an attack.  The battles are exactly the same as MushiKing too.  But I found them to be more fun.  Possibly because Dinosaurs are more interesting than beetles, and the special attacks looked much cooler.  One of the ‘basic’ attacks saw our Dinosaur grabbing the other by the tail and swinging them round into a rock formation, breaking the rock and causing some pain.  Good fun.

Display Impression: 8.  Game Originality: 7.  Graphics: 8.  Sounds: 7.  Playability: 9.   Funfactor: 8.  Overall Experience: 8.

     

For more information on DinosaurKing visit the official website.

 

Love and Berry: Dress Up and Dance:

We recently reported how popular Sega’s latest franchise is in Japan, not only with the DS games success but also the Love and Berry snowmobile.  Well at the show it was my time to play this (insane) game.

The games display was a bit more impressive than the previous two, although they were lined up together, Love and Berry had more machines and also had a special podium on which the ‘booth babes’ (dressed up as Love and Berry) stood upon and did a dance and explained the game.  During these dances, was the only time this area really became crowded, shows what the power of attractive women really holds over the gaming community.

Right down to the game!  The game itself is very different to that of MushiKing and DinosaurKing, although the cabinets look identical in shape, the game plays differently.  The things that are the same between the 3 games is the card collecting.  You put your money in a are rewarded with a card.  This will either be a ‘Hair and Makeup card’, ‘Dress up card’, ‘Clothes card’ or a ‘Special Item card’.  I shall explain more in a second.

You are told to choose between either Love or Berry (the names of the two girls the game is about).  You then choose one of two courses, either Street Court or Fashion Street.  Once selected you are given a little cutscene which shows either Love or Berry waking the other one up and telling them to get ready for a party. You play the character who has just been woken up, and it is now up to you to swipe your cards into the panel and dress up your girl in an appropriate outfit for the party.  If you don’t have any cards (other than the one you start with) you will dance in your pyjamas.  So if you choose the Street Court you will want to dress up in trainers and items you would expect a girl to wear in the street.  But be warned the girls have different tastes.  Love enjoys cute and girly outfits, whereas Berry prefers to be ‘cool’ and ’stylish’.

You get a certain amount of points to begin with depending on how well you dressed for the occassion.  And the points are compared with your rival (Love or Berry).  The more points, the better your advantage for the next part.  But you also get a chance to gain extra points, as each time you dress up you are given a ‘favourite colour’ so you can try and match your outfit to the colour the girl prefers that day, but it’s not essential.

After the ‘Dress Up’ you go to the ‘Dance’ section of the game- see now why the game is called ‘Love and Berry: Dress Up and Dance’?.  The dance routine is very basic.  You have only one button in front of you, which you tap to the beat.  On screen is a tambourine which helps guide your taps.  The tapping sequence changes as each stage has a different song and also you have different difficulty settings.  Should you win the first round you are then given a choice of 3 more stages, Seaside Stage, Idol Stage and Ball.  The outfits you need for these stages tend to be more complicated.

The music and songs in the game are very fun and catchy, though it was hard to hear over the noise of the show around me.  I’m sure younger gamers in particular will really love the music as well as the dances the girls perform on screen.  The one area the game is let down in is graphics.  DinosaurKing and MushiKing has very realistic graphics (especially MushiKing) and the animation is really good.  But Love and Berry looks more like Nintendo DS graphics, they aren’t terrible, but not as sharp or detailed as the other two titles, which is a shame really.

The game is mainly set for young girls, but to be honest I found it alot of fun.  I doubt I would spend much money in the arcades, but I can really see why the game has been so popular in Japan.  The game is great for non gamers because it’s so darn easy to play and the game idea is simple yet very addictive.  I soon found myself spending a good hour on the machine one day, and then coming back to play more the next day I went to the show.  But I warn you the game isn’t for everyone and boys may prefer to play DinosaurKing because it’s more violent.

Display Impression: 10.  Game Originality: 10.  Graphics: 7.  Sounds: 9.  Playability: 9.   Funfactor: 8.  Overall Experience: 9.

     

  

Want to know more about Love and Berry? Visit the official site now!

So there we have it, the 3 great kiddie titles that Sega had on show, great for beginners, and also gives your kids something to do while not playing games- collecting, trading and playing with the cards.

But that’s not it for the ATEI 2007 round up folks.  The next selection of games are the bigger and more impressive titles Sega had on display, the ones for the true gamers and SegaNerds out there!

 For now I shall leave you with a few videos of the above games.

An Explanation of Love and Berry, by Love and Berry!

[youtube]xyWJpCC7AQE[/youtube]

In order to save space, please follow these links for the rest of the videos;

Love and Berry dancing with some random guys. (prequel to above clip)

A quick video of Love and Berry and DinosaurKing in action.

Love and Berry gameplay footage.

Dinosaurking in action clip 1.

Dinosaurking clip 2

Tags: Exhibition/ Show

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POSTED IN: Arcade, G, Review, Video