Thursday, August 09, 2012

Acquisition #140: Flash Koibitokun (WonderSwan Color)

Would you believe it if I told you that this is the game that prompted me to start buying Bandai WonderSwan games (despite the fact that I don't yet own one of these Japan-only handhelds)? Well, it's true.

As for how I became aware of this life-changing game (OK, so that may be laying it on a bit thick): Frankly, I found out about it while perusing one of my favorite websites, Kimimi's Blog.



Late last year, Kimimi published a rather glowing write-up of this Kappa Games-developed title. In particular, this line stuck out at me: "Your small ninja is tasked with making sure precious love hearts find their way across the screen and soften the hearts of the people on the other side." Cute, right?

Just as cute--and just as important in terms of piquing my interest in both Flash Koibitokun in particular and the WonderSwan in general--are the colorful screenshots Kimimi posted of this portable puzzler.



Sadly, I can't yet share any impressions of this acquisition since, well, I still don't have a WonderSwan (or, rather, a SwanCrystal) system. Hey, don't look at me like that. I'll get one soon. Or eventually. I promise.

For the time being, though, I'll just continue to stare at the boxes and flip through the manuals of the handful of WonderSwan I've bought thus far.

See also: Previous 'Acquisition #123' posts

18 comments:

Retr0gamer said...

I bought this game on the strength of Kimmi's Blog's recommendation as well. I have tried it though and it's a lot of fun. It's more reaction based than puzzle based but it gets pretty hectic later on. It also so far seems very import friendly, you won't know what is going on in the story but it's easy enough to pick up how it works. Definitely recommended especially if you own a wonderswan and have no japanese since there aren't many import friendly games on the system.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Whoa. Not what I expected from the write-up. Cute!

Bryan Ochalla said...

That's too funny that Kimimi's post also prompted *you* to pick up the game, Retr0gamer! Anyway, I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed it so far. Sounds like it's more of an arcade-y game than a puzzler, eh? That works for me!

I really do have to pick up a SwanCrystal soon. Probably won't happen until the end of the year or early next, though. Oh, well, it's not like they're going anywhere. And in the meantime I can continue to bolster my WonderSwan game collection :P

Bryan Ochalla said...

Did you click through to Kimimi's site and check out the video she posted of the game, Justin? Or are you just going by the description?

Anyway, yes, it does look completely cute. I really can't wait to give it a try -- and the handful of other WS games I recently purchased :)

Kimimi said...

Nice to see this game getting more exposure, although I'm surprised my little post made two people buy it! Glad you enjoy playing it Retr0gamer, and I hope you'll enjoy it too Bryan once you get around to it :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, you shouldn't be surprised, Kimimi -- your posts can be quite persuasive, I think :) Plus, the screenshots and video of this one just seemed sooooo charming to me. I couldn't resist!

I very much look forward to the day when I own a SwanCrystal (preferably the solid blue one) and can play all of the WS games I've acquired so far :)

Kimimi said...

I'm looking forward to it too! It's a wonderful handheld ^^~

Bryan Ochalla said...

Great! There are still a few games I want to get for it, of course. Sadly, a couple of them rarely seem to pop up on eBay. I'll keep an eye out for them, though :)

Kaze said...

Sounds super cute and I love the art!! XD

I remember a friend of mine had a WonderSwan color years ago when the Final Fantasy 1 and 2 remakes first came out, but I never really had the chance to play around with it much.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yes, Kaze, the art is super cute :)

I'm sure a lot of US gamers bought the WS because of those FF remakes, by the way. Well, maybe not a LOT, but at least a few. They're certainly why I first became aware of the system back when it was released.

I plan on picking up the remakes of the first FF and FF IV at some point, and the remakes of SaGa and Romancing SaGa, too, although I'm not entirely sure when that'll be.

I'm more interested in some of the system's weirder, more unique games at the moment, as I'm sure you can tell :)

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Oh, I read your description and checked out her review. Based on your description, I don't really know WHAT I was expecting, but it wasn't what I saw. I might have to find this somewhere and play it.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ah, that makes sense! Anyway, there are WonderSwan emulators out there, Justin, so you should be able to give this a go w/o investing in the WS hardware if you're so inclined :)

Anonymous said...

Hey! That sounds like a great game! I will have to look it up ^_^
Btw, if you're looking for a nice Wonderswan there's a pink one that is boxed on a Swedish Ebay site called tradera, if you want it I could help you out ^_^ Check it out here:
http://www.tradera.com/wonderswan-pink-rosa-med-box-och-manual-nyskick-auktion_302022_158647162

I've been reading your blog for a while ^^ The last couple of days I've been scanning all my Famicom cartridges and every time I scanned a pink cartridge it made me think of your colourful blog! :D So I made you a little collage with all my pink Famicom carts :D
You can see it here:
http://stopxwhispering.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/pinks.jpg

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, RVG.com! Thanks for the offer to help with the pink WS system. I'm going to pass for the moment, as I'm not quite ready to jump aboard the WS train, but I'll let you know when that changes! (No worries if the system's no longer available at that time.)

As for your photo: Thank you for that, too! I looooove pink Famicom carts. Binary Land, in particular, has been on my 'to buy' list for sometime now. Also, I just bought a loose copy of Banana last week. Not only that, but I talked about the game a bit during the recording of the second Nichiest Blogpost Ever podcast last night. What a fun -- and brain-busting -- game!

Anonymous said...

Oh no probs ^_^ If you ever change your mind I know the seller who always has a bunch of WonderSwan stuff in his store and it's really reasonably priced ^_^ 349 SEK is about 50 USD. So just let me know :D

Binary Land is my favourite too! Such a great game ^_^ I have a boxed mint copy, but also a loose cartridge. If you're just looking for a cartridge of Binary Land then maybe we could trade ^^

What's the second Nichiest Blogpost Ever podcast?
/Heidi

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hello again, Heidi! Oh, yes, Binary Land is a great game, isn't it? I'm actually looking for a boxed copy at this point, but thanks for thinking of me :)

I also need to get a copy of Penguin Kun Wars. I've been eyeing up a few boxed copies on eBay for ages, but just haven't made the move to buy one yet.

As for the Nichiest Blogpost Ever: Actually, I meant to say Nichiest Podcast Ever. LOL. Anyway, it's a podcast that started about a month ago and features myself, Anne of the Chic Pixel blog and shidoshi of GameFan and EGM magazines, Warning! A Huge Podcast and more.

I'll publish a blog post about the next 'episode' as soon as it's ready, so be on the lookout for it (if you want to see what it's all about, of course).

Anonymous said...

I have Penguin Kun Wars boxed as well, but that one isn't for sale unfortunately. I hope you'll be able to find them both for a reasonable price ^_^

ah ok ^^ I'll keep an eye out for it then :D

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, yes, I've seen many boxed copies of Penguin Kun Wars for sale on eBay, so I'm not worried about that one. Even boxed copies of Binary Land come up every now and then. Still, I appreciate your concern. Thank you :)