Monday, March 07, 2011

The Great Gaymathon Review #10: Rakugaki Showtime (PlayStation)


Game: Rakugaki Showtime
Genre: Fighting
System: PlayStation
Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Enix
Release date: 1999

On the one hand, I find this Treasure-developed (and Enix-published) title's graphics and premise delicious. On the other, I don't find its Poy Poy-esque gameplay nearly as appetizing. That's not to suggest that this extremely pricey game is bad, but it can be a bit boring--especially if it's played solo. (I've heard the multiplayer experience is much more enjoyable. Unfortunately, I've yet to play it that way.) Still, I can't help but boot it up now and then just so I can gaze at its charmingly rendered graphics--which resemble doodles that have been torn, rather haphazardly, from a child's scrapbook. That's hardly enough to earn it a hearty recommendation, though, is it--especially when you consider that used copies of this game commonly carry price tags of over $100? Given that, I'd only recommend picking it up if you're a total Treasure nut or if you're one of those freaks--or should I say lucky ducks--who regularly throws stacks of $100 bills into your fireplace to keep warm at night.


See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

5 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I am neither of those things. I'll let this one get past, I guess. In other news, I bought Radiant Historia for the DS, a time-travel RPG that's actually pretty good. I'm not much into politics, and the storyline seems WAY political, but the battle system is kind of novel and the time travel stuff is neat.

Bryan Ochalla said...

If you ever get a PS3, Justin, you can pick up this game for about $6 by getting a Japanese PSN account and buying it through the Japanese PSN store. Otherwise, yeah, it's a bit expensive for most people. I bought it way back when it was new, and even then I paid $75 for it.

As for Radiant Historia -- I've heard of it but honestly don't know much about it. It sounds very interesting, though -- maybe I'll check it out sooner or later. Thanks for letting me know about it!

Gaelach Rose said...

Radiant Historia is a good game. I own it, too, but I'm more interested in the 60+ dollars in birthday money that I just blew on FFIV Complete and Dissida 012 FF... Yay for preorders!

It seems cute. Being a girl, I tend to like cute things ~ But gameplay is still more important, and if I'm going to blow 100+ $ on something it's going to be black label FFVII. Not that I have that kind of money. Everytime I get that bit of extra cash I spend it on games, and I just pre-ordered two and then purchased Epic Mickey and a total bargain on Fire Emblem Path of Radiance and Tales of Symphonia. GameStop cannot price anything to save their lives.

Still, it looks interesting enough to add to my 'games I'll get if I ever have the money' list.

Gaelach Rose said...

Typo: Sorry - I was typing far too quickly.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, I'm jealous RE: your purchase of FFIV Complete, Gaelach Rose! I think I'll be getting that myself soon...

Black label FFVII costs $100+? Yikes. I still have to get a copy of that game, but I won't be spending that much on it, I can tell you that. Maybe I'll pick up a cheaper green label version instead.

Anyway, yes, if you like this type of game and you like Treasure this game is a nice purchase if you have the money. I wouldn't feel as though you're missing out on something amazing by not owning it, though -- it's cute, it's fun and it's quirky, but it's not really worth $150+, IMO.