Natsume has announced that you can now pre-order the newest entry in the beloved multi-directional shooter series, Pocky & Rocky Reshrined, in America and the UK!
Controlling Shinto shrine maiden Pocky and her tanuki companion Rocky, this is the first new entry in the Kiki Kaikai series in nearly 21 years and pre-orders for the physical versions have gone live on Amazon — ccheck out these pre-order deals at the bottom of the page.
Long-time fans of the series, and collectors, will also have a chance to secure a Limited Edition from Strictly Limited Games. These aren't open yet, but keep your eyes open.
Pocky & Rocky Reshrined launches in Japan on 21st April, with an English release date yet to be revealed, although the US Amazon listing carries a 31st May release date — whether that's just for the physical versions is unclear at present. We presume you'll get to wield your ofuda and gohei sometime before the summer arrives.
We can't wait to return to the shrines and save them from the demons lurking about. In the meantime, check out the latest trailer at the top of the page, and let us know whether you'll be snagging a physical release of the game!
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Comments (42)
I've already pre-ordered a JP import that supports English language option, so a bit late I guess.
We've already seen from trailers that the international release of the game will be censored, if that's something that may influence your decision. It doesn't bother me much, I'm just really looking forward to playing this one.
@RupeeClock Censorship strikes again!? Well, that's a hard pass for me. Pocky & Rocky is a good game, I know it, but censorship... I hate censorship in Japanese videogames.
@Vyacheslav333
To be clear, to my knowledge it's just the amount of cleavage a new character called Ame-No-Uzume is showing, in certain artwork.
You can see it in the official trailer when Ame-No-Uzume is on screen at the 34 second mark.
@RupeeClock Well, it's sounds like a minor thing, probably... But not to me. I'm hope that the Japanese eShop release supports English language option.
Day 1 digital buy from me!
@Vyacheslav333 hard pass?! Really? Surely you can find your cleavage fix elsewhere on the internet!
Nice, always enjoy the first three games on the Super NES and GBA back in the days. Will definitely try this 4th one. Not sure why people complain about this being censored though, these games were meant for kids. Not sure in Japan if was meant for some other people but originally in the west these were never rated higher than a K-A or an E rating which is for everyone including kids.
The art seems..different somehow, especially some (one) of the characters art, lol.
Man I though only sony that like to censor and nintendo is different now. Oh well the game looks good so I'm still buying it, but now not on day one though.
@wiiware Well, you think that the game is censored by Nintendo? Hm... But, Rocky & Pocky is not an Nintendo exclusive game, if I don't confuse... So, why game will be censored by Nintendo?
omg, so cute and I love the music in the video. I want.
@Vyacheslav333
Sony might've required a level of censorship on their own platform, but Nintendo would've allowed it.
However, ratings bodies in different regions might have been the reason for changes internationally. PEGI or ESRB might've wanted changes that CERO did not, depending on the ratings that Natsume or ININ want.
The game is rated PEGI 7 in Europe, and it would be silly if the PEGI rating had to be increased to 12 or 16 because of a bit of cleavage and nothing else.
Never played any Pocky & Rocky, how big a game can I expect from this, because I've been waiting for this since it was first revealed as it looks great and the Day 1 price is pretty tempting, so I'm guessing it's a short-lived affair...?
@Specter_of-the_OLED
The first one for SNES is actually like the 2nd or 3rd game. The original is Kiki KaiKai in the arcade and an expanded version for Famicom disk system.
Will this new game have dual stick controls? I like the old games, but I think they would be more fun if they weren’t using that outdated control scheme.
@Vyacheslav333 🤣🤣🤣 Let me get this straight. You'll pass on a fun game that you may have otherwise played... because of some character art that no longer has over-the-top cleavage... when in fact, if you look at the trailers the in-game pixel art appears to be unaffected?
Come on, man... I just can't.
@Xiovanni But the thing is, if you look at the in-game art, that hasn't changed between the two trailers. So as far as 'censorship', it's character art/possibly packaging at the most. I just don't get how that's an issue in any way
@RupeeClock Ah, okay...
When I was a kid we had a Japanese language version of this game but was compatible with our (PAL) SNES via an adapter. We never knew the name of the game until much much later but spent a long time playing this u forgiving game barely getting past the first few stages.
Loads of nostalgia for the original game despite it handing our ass to us so many times. Definitely gonna get it for old times sake and might even get a limited edition copy.
Looks fun!
The censorship is unnecessary. Boobs are great and everyone loves them!
Just preordered.
If all the censorship talk related to a little hidden cleavage in the box art (which I rarely even look at), no skin off my nose. I'm just ready to get back into this insanity like it's the SNES era all over again.
The price bit steep but I do love this series.
Digital day 1 here also! So excited!!
@Tsusasi It's got to be up there with the dumbest reasons not to play a video game, right? Censorship sucks right - I'm sure we can all agree on that. But this is so minor it doesn't even deserve to be mentioned...
@Jacoby they certainly are great!!
First reaction: I've never heard of this game but I kind of like remakes.
Sees trailer: OMG I had a flashback to my ten year old self playing this in co-op at my friend's house! I had no idea what that game was called but it was super fun!
This looks rad!
Never heard of this series but it looks like a good time waster during your lunch break.
@Nermannn Wondering the same thing, it really needs twin-stick controls.
Somehow I missed playing any of these Taito Kiki Kaikai games till now, but this looks like a fun remake!
I believe the arcade original game is on Taito's Egret II mini console, so I'll look forward to trying later this year.
@Teksetter the Arcade original is also on Switch via Hamster’s Arcade Archives, if you enjoy chasing high scores (don’t think the Egret II Mini will have anything resembling online leaderboards for the games afaik).
Looks awesome. So, since I'm new to this franchise, it looks like there are 3 games in the series and this is just a remake of the first one. Is that correct?
Infinity lives, please!
@Rafa78
To my knowledge there is an unlockable easy mode.
You unlock it using points earned through gameplay, I think it's there to encourage you to make the effort to play the game as it was originally intended.
Ughhh! Strictly Limited Nooooo! Hopefully will appear in stores
@HamatoYoshi It isn't about that, it's about not being the original version of the art, plain and simple. It doesn't matter if it's cleavage or a rock being shaped differently. Obviously all games have localization, but it seems like such a minor and pointless thing to change. Not that I will boycotting or even notice it at all, that's a ridiculous overreaction, but I don't like this puritan nonsense one bit.
...you people realize the switch is region free, yes? and very easy to make an alternate country account for if you don't want to import? and that kiki kaikai isn't exactly a text-heavy game?
i get a feeling @RupeeClock is on the dot with the "we're not raising the game's rating for some very minor art's cleavage" assessment
@WaveBoy it's not about wanting "precious plastic" things to line our shelves, some of us care about things like consumer rights and the ability to own something we purchase 🤷🏼♂️
@DashKappei
Thank you - I didn’t realize the original game was one of Hamster’s Arcade Archive releases! It’s easy to lose track when they release something every week.
I haven’t been a high-score chaser since I was a kid in the arcade (and then, only on the games and pinball tables I really liked and excelled at) so I’ll just wait for the Egret to arrive. It cost me a small fortune and I’ve got to get my money’s worth out of it! 😅
@Vyacheslav333 Martha is dead isn't playstation exclusive but it's still censored on sony console (uncensored on pc). Although maybe in this case the game is censored to get lower ESRB/PEGI rating.
Sweet! It's about time.
@RupeeClock What a strange thing. What is it with media not wanting to acknowledge that us chicks have cleavage?
@RupeeClock Huh. I didn't know it had an easy mode?
Here's hoping we get a port/ remaster of Pocky and Rocky 2 as well. I loved all the neat, new pals they introduced in that one.
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