Taro Omiya

Taro Omiya

Software Engineer, Game Designer

  • Weekly Game Music: Dr. Crygor’s Theme (Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Party Game$)

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    New week, new music. I typically talk about lesser-known games in this series of posts, but here’s a more mainstream game I’m sure you’ve heard about. Here’s the Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Party Game$ (shortened toWario Ware) remix of Dr. Crygor’s Theme. It’s a jazzy pop-music by Ryoji Yoshitomi and Kyoko Miyamoto. The random but well-placed voices helps emphasize the bizarre nature of this game.

    Wario Ware has a story…and it has nothing to do with the game. It is thatbizarre.

    Fortunately, Wario Ware‘s gameplay is easier to describe. Like the Mario Party series, the game involves up to 4 players taking turns playing a randomized 4-seconds single-player minigame. After that game is done, it moves back to a single multiplayer minigame that involves outperforming other the player. The single-player minigames are all strange and funny by nature. Examples includes inserting a finger into a person’s nostrils, scaring away butterflies, and keeping a beach ball afloat by using a human body as a paddle. The multiplayer games are a little more tame, including a balancing game where if you lose on a single-player game, the stack of turtles you balance on grows taller. Another involves obscuring the player’s screen while they’re playing a minigame. It’s a decent minigame compilation that’s bound to make someone laugh.

    Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Party Game$ was released by Nintendo in 2004. It’s only available on the Gamecube.

    Extra!

    Title: Wario Ware Inc.
    Game: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
    Composer: Keigo Ozaki


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  • Strange Free Games: Cave Story

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    Ah, yes. Here’s the game that inspired me to create this entire blog series. It’s a game that inspired countless independent game developers. It’s an epic, a mystery, and a tragedy. And it was made by one man, in Japan. Here’s Cave Story, a cute Megaman-inspired platform-shooter, with an excellent but bleak story.

    Cave Story has been translated and ported to Windows, Mac, and Linux.

    It’s hard to tell the story of Cave Story without spoiling much. As an example, the protagonist’s name is a spoiler in and of it itself. The game drops you completely confused: you witness a scientist retrieving what looks like a crown surrounded by two bubbles containing statues. Then, you witness an online conversation between what looks like a scientist and another girl named Suzie. After that…you wake up in a cave. No memories, no idea where you are, no nothing. Yet, that starting point becomes the strength of the game: as the details pour in, the first two scenes start to make sense. You learn who you are (and that itself will surprise you), what Suzie is, why a guy was trying to chat with her in the first place, and what that crown was about.

    For its bizarre story, Cave Story has a simple and straight-forward gameplay. Much like old-school shoot’em-up, the protagonist can jump from platform to platform, and shoot his gun (which has limited range) up, down, left or right. Defeating enemies either gives you health or XP: experience points upgrades your weapon with more power and longer range, while being hit by an enemy reduces your experience points. The joy, of course, of discovering new guns is finding out what they do at their highest levels, level 3. One gun grants you the power to fly, while another acts as your shield. Learning to use which one, in what situation is one of the charm in this game.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Prisman Holiday (de Blob 2)

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    New week, new music. We’ve been talking about PC games for the last 3 weeks, so let’s go back to colorful (pun-intended) console music. Here’sPrisman Holiday from de Blob 2, composed by John Guscott and performed by The Bamboos. It’s a soothing music to compliment the artful game.

    de Blob 2 starts when Papa Blanc rigs the general election at Prisma City, so he can win. As his name implies, the new president wipes out all the colors from the city, turning it gray and more gray. Cue De Blob to the rescue, as the ink-absorbing character spreads color back to the city.

    de Blob 2 plays like a 3D puzzle-platformer. As De Blob, you must first absorb color inks, then slap you body onto a surface. Frequently, there will be missions that requires De Blob to mix different colors before coloring a certain object. As an example, to color a museum purple, De Blob first needs to find a blue and red ink before slapping himself to the building. Occasionally, De Blob will find secret corridors that will act like classic 2D platforming stages, which has its own set of switch-hitting puzzles.

    de Blob 2 was released by THQ in 2011. It’s available on the Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS.
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  • Strange Free Games: Unmanned

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    Taking the words right out of Metal Gear Solid 4, “War has changed.” Here’s another game from La Molleindustria that brings this topic to light. It’sUnmanned, and as its title implies, is a short flash game about unmanned aerial vehicles used for war.

    Unmanned can be played right on your browser, or downloaded on Windows or Mac at La Molleindustria’s website.

    Unmanned is an eery, disconnecting visual novel that employs split-screen to convey dialog. You guide Chris, an unmanned aerial vehicle pilot set to spy on a suspect at a middle-eastern desert. His life is probably the most accurate depiction of a soldier’s life in combat: it’s boring. Even when you accomplish your mission, it’s unceremonious.

    Yet, the game makes you think. It contrasts from the first-person shooters, making it clear war isn’t glorified or fun at all. It makes you go through the typical documented procedures, then makes you consider whether that procedure is too loose or not. Perhaps most scariest of all, it questions Chris’ sanity as a pilot, with the excellent intro depicting his xenophobic tendencies.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Vinelle Island (Fantasy Earth Zero)

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    New week, new music. A few weeks ago, I’ve mentioned a Flash-based MMORPG with excellent music. This time, I’ll talk about a now-defunct MMORPG that, unfortunately, nobody can play anymore. Here’s Vinelle Island by Hitoshi Sakimoto. It’s from Fantasy Earth Zero.

    Fantasy Earth Zero is a fantasy-based versus game that involves taking over other kingdom (teams). It’s a strange mix of real-time strategy and action-RPG. Like real-time strategy games, the players must collect resources called crystals at designated locations. Collecting enough crystals allows players to create infrastructures or summon units to take control of.

    Like Action RPGs, there’s a controlled level system with a hard limit. Like console RPGs, Fantasy Earth Zero requires that you control your character directly. In addition, attacks must be aimed and executed manually. As such, the game requires immediate attention and reaction to heated battles.

    Fantasy Earth Zero was released by Square Enix in 2006. While it has been released in the US in 2010, the game has been defunct and unplayable for over an year.

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  • Strange Free Games: Super Press Space to Win Adventure RPG 2009

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    About to watch the video? Stop. Play the game. Now. It’s short, don’t worry. I guarantee you’ll like it. Super Press Space to Win Adventure RPG 2009 is the best Flash-based RPG ever created. Play it on NewGrounds

    I’ll let the game explain itself. It’s surprisingly well-thought-out.
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