Software:Rami-chan no Ōedo Sugoroku: Keiō Yūgekitai Gaiden

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Rami-chan no Ōedo Sugoroku: Keiō Yūgekitai Gaiden
Rami-chan no Ōedo Sugoroku cover.jpg
Developer(s)Victor Interactive Software
Publisher(s)Victor Interactive Software
Director(s)Yasushi Endo
Satoru Honda
Designer(s)Teruhito Yamaki
Artist(s)Naomasa Kitatani
Nobuyuki Ikigame
Koji Noguchi
Writer(s)Satoru Honda
Composer(s)Tsukasa Tawada
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • JP: September 17, 1998
Genre(s)Party
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Rami-chan no Ōedo Sugoroku: Keiō Yūgekitai Gaiden (蘭未ちゃんの大江戸すごろく慶応遊撃隊外伝, Rami-chan's Big Edo Sugoroku: A Keiō Yūgekitai Sidestory) is a 1998 video game for the PlayStation. Developed by Victor Interactive Software, it is the third and last game in the Keio Flying Squadron series, and was released only in Japan.[1] While the first game is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up and its sequel, Keio Flying Squadron 2, is a platformer with shooter sections, the third game is a party game.

Like the first two games, the third game refers to Japanese culture, both ancient and modern simultaneously.

Plot

After the first two battles with Dr. Pon Eho that did cataclysmic damage to Edo, things are starting to look normal again, and Rami Nanahikari, Pochi and her grandparents go to the beach, following a hot lead on more sacred treasures. Rami and Pochi swim off the beaten path to an abandoned shrine. After blowing up the ground and reaching the disclosed location, they reach a door with a powerful seal that they can't open. Just when they think that they are empty-handed, Pochi finds a ring with the same seal as the one on the locked door, which turns out to be one of King Solomon's Treasures, with the rest hidden somewhere around Japan. Rami now travels around Japan to go through all the leads on the rest of Solomon's Treasures, with Dr. Pon tracking her every move.

Gameplay

Rami-chan no Ōedo Sugoroku: Keiō Yūgekitai Gaiden is a party video game featuring eight playable characters and two secret characters: Rami Nanahikari, Pochi Nanahikari, Himiko Yamatai, a King UFO, and newcomers Tekkannon Dash, Princess Frog, Oyabun Saru, Airin, Daizō Hino and Yao Bikuni. The gameplay is similar to Monopoly: players roll a die to advance around a board, purchase property that they land on and earn money when opponents land on the player's property. The goal of the game is to raise more ryō than everyone else and build and buy food stalls for different festivals. Every stall and zone that the player owns counts as capital to help them win at the game's end, even if they do not have it in play. Expensive stalls that have been upgraded repeatedly will net the player massive points over really cheap stalls in play, so they must have as many valuable properties on the board as they can. The course of time is indicated by "Year" and "Month". Beginning from April, the order is each turn is one month elapsed. In January, it changes to the next year. In March, there are annual property taxes and year-end financial results. Each season doubles the value of food stalls in each of the four quadrants.[2] Rami-chan no Ōedo Sugoroku includes multiplayer compatibility for up to four players with the use of the PlayStation Multitap.[3]

Minigames are held at special street stalls. A cash award is paid to the winner of a minigame. There are 4 minigames in this game:

  • Toge Jizō - This memory game requires 2 players: the player who lands on the square and the designated player.
  • Sumo Wrestling - The player wins by pushing the other players from the arena with body blow attacks. If the match drags on, the arena will shrink.
  • Lottery - This requires participation of all players. Players have to guess the location of Kaian the Kappa, hidden somewhere in one of 16 boxes.
  • Mouse Race - This requires participation of all players. Among five mice, players predict the combination they think will come in 1st and 2nd place.

Characters

  • Rami Nanahikari - The grandchild of an ancient family and a descendant of aliens who came to Earth long ago. She currently thinks of doing some business with the gold she received from her last adventure.[4] Voiced by Miki Nagasawa.[5]
  • Pochi Nanahikari - The Nanahikari family's pet dragon. He is best friends with Rami, and completely recovers from injuries and diseases, now appearing full of energy.[4] Voiced by Etsuko Kozakura.[5]
  • "Grandma" and "Grandpa" Nanahikari - Rami's grandparents and members of the Key Guardian Clan, who have been guarding the Key to the Secret Treasure and Magical Orb for generations. Voiced by Keiko Yamamoto (Grandma).[5]
  • Himiko Yamatai - The 13th Queen of Yamatai-koku. She is always planning a method of raising funds for the restoration of Yamatai-koku, but the day of achieving her ambition is still far away.[4] Voiced by Mika Kanai.[5]
  • Dr. Pon Eho - A super intelligent tanuki who regularly perpetrates malicious crimes, but has taken up ecology as a hobby and loves nature.[4] Voiced by Jōji Yanami.[5]
  • Benten - One of the Seven Lucky Gods from the first game. She appears in the game's opening cutscene, informing Dr. Pon of the location of King Solomon's Treasure and Rami's movements being marked. Voiced by Misa Watanabe.[5]
  • Kaian the Kappa - A turtle-like humanoid creature. He plays a minor role in the game, appearing in its tutorial and the "Lottery" minigame, and running his own shop. Voiced by Kurumi Mamiya.
  • Yoshiko Oroshiya - A girl who takes on the temporary form of an idol announcer in public, and the host of the game.[6] Voiced by Kae Araki.[5]
  • King UFO - A race hailing from an unknown space region that humans have not yet discovered. He has the highest amount of hormone secretion in the universe.[6] Voiced by Kōji Ishii.[5]
  • Tekkannon Dash - A general-purpose transport machine created by Dr. Pon, manufactured in the first year of the Man'en era and equipped with the artificial intelligence "Pon-chan ver1.33".[6] Voiced by Tomohisa Asō.[5]
  • Princess Frog - The second princess of the Kēroggu Kingdom, a small country in Europe. She is under a spell cast by a witch.[6] Voiced by Kurumi Mamiya.[5]
  • Oyabun Saru - A lustful monkey and an onmistu from the Minami Machi-bugyō.[6] Voiced by Tomokazu Seki.[5]
  • Airin - A young oni who had been living near Kawachi. She goes all the way to Edo in search of a marriage partner.[6] Voiced by Kumiko Watanabe.[5]
  • Daizō Hino - A citizen of Edo. Voiced by Dai Sasahara.[5]
  • Yao Bikuni - A legendary nun with perpetual youth who has lived for 800 years. Voiced by Kurumi Mamiya.
  • Narrator - Voiced by Yusaku Yara.

Development

Rami-chan no Ōedo Sugoroku: Keiō Yūgekitai Gaiden was directed and written by Yasushi Endo and Satoru Honda, executive produced by Kazumasa Harada, and programmed by Teruhito Yamaki, with art and graphics by Naomasa Kitatani, Nobuyuki Ikigame and Koji Noguchi, character designs by Hiromasa Ota, and soundtrack composed by Tsukasa Tawada.[5][7][8] Developed between 1996 and 1998, the game was made on a low budget, with focusless images, a choppy framerate, and simple 3D graphics. Like many party games before, it was rigged (in this case, the computer-controlled character is almost impossible to beat in the minigames, finds items constantly, avoids whole zones of occupied property, etc.), and had a lot of basic mechanics.

The game features animated cutscenes produced by Studio Pierrot, who also produced the cutscenes in the first two games. The voices were recorded and directed by Jin Aketagawa at Magic Capsule. Miki Nagasawa and Etsuko Kozakura replaced Miho Kanno and Mika Kanai as the voices of Rami Nanahikari and Pochi Nanahikari, respectively, though Kanai reprised her role as Himiko Yamatai, as did Jōji Yanami as Dr. Pon, Keiko Yamamoto as Grandma, Yusaku Yara as the narrator, and Kae Araki as Yoshiko Oroshiya. Additional voices were provided by Nagasawa, Araki, Tomohisa Asō, Kōji Ishii, Kumiko Watanabe, Kurumi Mamiya, Tomokazu Seki, Dai Sasahara and Misa Watanabe.[5][9]

Release

Rami-chan no Ōedo Sugoroku: Keiō Yūgekitai Gaiden was released on September 17, 1998.[10] Upon its release, the game received mixed-to-negative reviews for its poor graphics, boring gameplay, basic mechanics, and lack of Miho Kanno.[9] Its genre and release on the PlayStation also unintentionally led to the first two games receiving negative reviews at the time for their different genres and releases on the Sega CD and Sega Saturn.[11]

On August 7, 2023, Tsukasa Tawada stated that he personally thought at the time that it would have been nice if the series had a fourth installment, a role-playing game.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "蘭未ちゃんの大江戸すごろく 慶応遊撃隊外伝". Marvelous Entertainment. https://www.marv.jp/titles/cs/203/. 
  2. ↑ "Rami-chan no Oedo Sugoroku Japanese Manual Page 9-10". Soaring Rabbit. https://www.soaringrabbit.com/kfs/res/books/rami_img/rami_9-10.jpg. 
  3. ↑ "Rami-chan no Oedo Sugoroku Japanese Manual Page 3-4". Soaring Rabbit. https://www.soaringrabbit.com/kfs/res/books/rami_img/rami_3-4.jpg. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Rami-chan no Oedo Sugoroku Japanese Manual Page 5-6". Soaring Rabbit. https://www.soaringrabbit.com/kfs/res/books/rami_img/rami_5-6.jpg. 
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 "Rami-chan no Oedo Sugoroku Japanese Manual Page 27-28". Soaring Rabbit. https://www.soaringrabbit.com/kfs/res/books/rami_img/rami_27-28.jpg. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Rami-chan no Oedo Sugoroku Japanese Manual Page 7-8". Soaring Rabbit. https://www.soaringrabbit.com/kfs/res/books/rami_img/rami_7-8.jpg. 
  7. ↑ "camelletgo on Twitter: "Hiromasa Ota's Credits in Keiō Yūgekitai"". Twitter. https://twitter.com/camelletgo/status/1364085936309473283/photo/3. 
  8. ↑ "Tsukasa Tawada on Twitter: "現在作曲中の曲の楽器構成が、琴、三味線、エレピ、パーカッション等ということもあってか、昔手がけた慶応遊撃隊シリーズのエンディング曲がフラッシュバックして、ノスタルジックな気持ちに！たしか、夏の花火を背景に蘭未ちゃんが浴衣姿で涼んでいるシーンのために作曲した、しっとり系の音楽。"". Twitter. https://twitter.com/TsukasaTawada/status/1274743277837680645. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "とんがりギャルゲー紀行 第19回：慶応遊撃隊". Hiroyuki Maeda. March 8, 2018. https://maedahiroyuki.com/20180308-慶応遊撃隊/. "菅野美穂さんは２作目の活劇編でも声優を務めましたが、３作目で別の方にバトンタッチとなりました。菅野さんはかなーり棒読みなのでぶっちゃけ３作目が一番イイ演技の蘭未ちゃんボイスが聞けるのですが、菅野ボイスに愛着が沸いていたファンたちには惜しまれていました。" 
  10. ↑ "The PlayStation Vol 112(1998-07-31)". 31 July 1998. https://archive.org/details/the-play-station-vol-112-1998-07-31/page/180/mode/2up. 
  11. ↑ "とんがりギャルゲー紀行 第19回：慶応遊撃隊". Hiroyuki Maeda. March 8, 2018. https://maedahiroyuki.com/20180308-慶応遊撃隊/. "ジャンルが異なるのはスタッフのこだわりゆえのことらしいのですが、これが良い結果をもたらしたかというとちょっと疑問が残るかな......？１人でやりこむのが主なシューティングと、マルチプレイでわいわいやるボードゲームは、同じシリーズで扱うのに向いていなかったかもしれませんね。シリーズ作品すべて別ハードでリリースされたこともあり、シリーズ作品を追いかけるユーザーへ課される金銭ハードルが高いのも痛かった。シリーズのどの作品も決して悪くない内容だっただけに、意図せずユーザーを篩にかける結果になってしまったのはもったいないことです。" 
  12. ↑ "Tsukasa Tawada on Twitter: "慶応遊撃隊はシリーズ3作でゲームタイプがシューティング→アクション→すごろくと遷移していきましたが、個人的には4作目でその時代を舞台としたRPGを作れたらいいな〜と当時思っていました。"". Twitter. https://twitter.com/TsukasaTawada/status/1688535608761982976. 

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