Tag: Matters of Import
Where's our diploma in slime-slicing?
Ancient — the family company of VGM composer Yuzo Koshiro and developers of everything from Sonic The Hedgehog’s debut Game Gear outing to Gotta Protectors for the 3DS — released Royal Anapoko Academy in Japan on 16th December 2021. Like much of its output in recent years, this light-hearted RPG is an...
Matters Of Import Fuuraiki 4 Is The Perfect Holiday For People Who Can't Go On Holiday
A write good ride
Fuuraiki 4 is a recently released “travel adventure” for the Switch (and PlayStation 4), and the latest entry in a series that debuted on the original PlayStation all the way back to 2001. The game casts you in the role of a writer travelling around the Gifu region of Japan during the summer, aiming to outperform your peers in...
Matters Of Import Banging The Drum With Taiko no Tatsujin On Switch
Ahead of the western release, we go hands-on
It's incredible to think that despite the amazing success and fame of the Taiko no Tatsujin series, only one entry has been released in the west up to now – 2004's Taiko: Drum Master. Thankfully, that will change later this year with the Nintendo Switch release of Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun,...
Matters Of Import Finding The Secret Of Mana In Seiken Densetsu Collection On Switch
Mana from heaven
While Square's Seiken Densetsu series continues to this very day, it's the two SNES / Super Famicom outings on which the franchise built its enviable reputation. Seiken Densetsu 2 - better known in the west as Secret of Mana - is arguably one of the finest RPGs ever made, while its sequel has only been held back from wider acclaim...
Matters Of Import Fusing Classics In Puyo Puyo Tetris On Nintendo Switch
We go hands-on with the import version ahead of the western release
Tetris is a pretty significant title in the history of Nintendo - had the company not been able to license the seminal Russian puzzler back in the late '80s then it's likely that the Game Boy wouldn't have been the massive global success it was. Long seen as the game which sold the...
Matters Of Import Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives 3: Final Stage
The end of an era
While Sega has been curiously reluctant to update its existing Wii Virtual Console catalogue for the Wii U and 3DS, it hasn't entirely forgotten its past glories this console cycle. Courtesy of emulation experts M2 we've had some amazing updates of vintage Sega games on the 3DS, each one blessed with auto-stereoscopic visuals and a...
Matters of Import The "Perfect" Super Famicom Compendium
Perfect in every way
If you didn't know, Nintendo celebrated its 127th birthday recently. With so many years of history, there are naturally going to be retrospective books that pop up from
Matters Of Import 3D Gunstar Heroes Is Hyperactive Run And Gun Action At Its Finest
Another classic to treasure on your 3DS console
Gunstar Heroes charged onto the Sega Mega Drive in 1993, significantly marking the début of quirky developer Treasure, having been formed from ex-Konami staff wanting to go it their own way. Often seen floating near to the top of many 'best game ever' lists, Gunstar Heroes is a bona-fide classic of...
Matters Of Import Fire Emblem (Sort Of) Exists On The Sony PlayStation
A look at Shouzou Kaga's forgotten classic
For various reasons we now live in an era where developers breaking away from their parent companies to make similar-but-different pseudo-sequels to dormant, dead, or defiled game series is now a relatively commonplace occurrence, with Koji Igarashi's Castlevania successor Bloodstained being the latest to...
Matters Of Import Take A Guided Tour Of Super Potato, The Ultimate Retro Gaming Paradise
Japan-based Brit David Coyles explains the appeal of this legendary shop
"I don't know where to start! I'm so excited" blurted out in an enclave of retro gaming memorabilia, and a phrase which saved me from my own funk in a number of ways. Japanese store Super Potato has a certain uplifting effect on most of the people who visit – be it one of...
Matters Of Import Cleaning Up The City In 3D Streets Of Rage 2
Bare those knuckles
Streets of Rage 2 - or Bare Knuckle 2 as it is known in Japan - is widely regarded as one of the best side-scrolling fighters ever created, so the fact that its announcement as part of Sega's burgeoning 3D Classics range caused such excitement should come as no great shock. This is one of the defining games of the 16-bit era, and...
Matters Of Import Collectible Badge Centre Brings A Personal Touch To 3DS Customisation
Gotta catch 'em all, quite literally
Nintendo is in something of a quandary at the moment. Their handheld business is obviously doing very well, but at the same time the company can’t help but glance over at the millions made from cheap smartphone apps and their "free" alternatives and long for a slice of that lucrative revenue stream. So, with...
Matters Of Import Final Fantasy Explorers Fights For Capcom's Crown
The Diet Coke of Monster Hunter
We’ve finally got around to try out the "Lite" version of Square Enix’s new team-based action RPG Final Fantasy Explorers; a playable taste of the early stages that allows adventurers to transfer certain parts of their save to the real thing when it releases in Japan today. Anyone who’s played Monster Hunter or...
Matters Of Import Taking Off With 3D Thunder Blade
Thundering ahead?
1987 was a great year for Sega in the arcades – After Burner II was wowing gamers and the previous year’s big hit, Out Run, was still going strong. But there was another Sega game doing the rounds at the same time with equally impressive sprite scaling techniques, and that game was Thunder Blade. Broadly speaking the game’s...
Matters of Import Opa-Opa Returns In Fantasy Zone II Double
The best port of a port of a remake of a Master System game ever?
Before we start talking about Fantasy Zone II Double, a little history lesson is in order: yay back in 1987 Sega released Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa on the Master System. This was an all-new home exclusive sequel to the previous year’s arcade hit
Matters of Import Genso Suikoden Card Stories - Konami's Other Trading Card Game
Suikoden 2 on GBA? Sort of
Konami is certainly comfortable with the popular and profitable Trading Card Game genre, their Yu-Gi-Oh series reportedly selling in excess of twenty-two billion cards all over the world since it was first launched. The digital equivalents have always been warmly welcomed on Nintendo hardware too, stretching all the way...
Matters Of Import Survival Horror In A Sweet Home
Warning: Home not as sweet as advertised
Videogames made to tie in with movies have never been anything new, not even way back in 1989 when Capcom’s adaptation of Japanese horror movie Sweet Home hit the Famicom. What sets Sweet Home apart from the usual licensed fare is that not only does it vaguely resemble the material it’s based on, but...
Matters of Import Tomodachi Collection
The best of friends?
Tomodachi Collection is more a toy than a game in that very special Nintendo way: your own mad little island full of Miis that you never knew you wanted but you suddenly find yourself unable to live without, and while it may be the five-year-old prequel to the upcoming English language Tomodachi Life, that doesn't mean the...
Matters of Import Sega 3D Classics Races Ahead With 3D OutRun
Is it a Magical Sound Shower or just a Passing Breeze?
Sega’s 3D Classics range just keeps on going — in Japan, at least — with this latest offering being OutRun, one of the biggest hits of them all. Like Super Hang-On and Space Harrier before it, OutRun used Sega’s impressive Super Scaler arcade tech to wow arcade gamers and deliver some...
Matters of Import Ucchannanchan no Honō no Challenger: Denryū Iraira Bō
Down to the wire
The Nintendo 64 is fondly remembered for delivering groundbreaking titles such as Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. However, in amongst the system's relatively small library of games are a few wacky, obscure and out-of-the-ordinary experiences to be had. Sadly, many of us in the West never got to play a...
Matters Of Import Steel Empire Is Flying High On Nintendo 3DS
Chocks away!
First released on the Mega Drive over twenty years ago and then remade for the GBA in 2004, Steel Empire is a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up with a distinctive visual twist. Looking like a cross between Jules Verne’s imagination, a Hayao Miyazaki anime and World War I archive footage; Steel Empire’s biplanes, zeppelins and steam...
Matters of Import 3D Fantasy Zone: Opa-Opa Brothers Powers Up A Sega Classic
This colourful classic is tougher than it looks
Sega’s enthusiasm for the 3DS continues unabated, which means that gamers have another excellent port-with-extras from the technical wizards at M2 available on the Japanese eShop: the twenty eight year-old Fantasy Zone. As we've now come to expect, this 3D remake is a port of the arcade version of...
Matters of Import Prepare To Die In Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
This Super Famicom swansong takes no prisoners
Fire Emblem is a strange series; much loved and well known, yet still a relative outsider when compared to the likes of Kirby or even Star Fox. Released first as a Nintendo Power exclusive deluxe pack in 1999 and then again in more standard SNES packaging in 2000, Thracia 776 has the d
Matters Of Import Wonder Project J2 Brings Masterful 2D To The N64
Making cute robots girls cry
The N64 never did get much 2D love when it was around, but games like Wonder Project J2 — as well as Treasure’s Bangai-O — show that other developers were missing a trick by ignoring the untapped potential of this side of Nintendo’s hardware. First published by Enix in 1996, Josette’s adventures on Blueland...
Matters of Import Protect Buildings in Radirgy de Gojaru
A single screen shocker
We had a quick look at this title before, but now we’ve had more time with it we can finally give the game the full Matters of Import treatment. It looks like a pretty standard shooter at first glance, but you're tasked this time with protecting an unassuming grey building at the bottom of the screen from harm, instead of...
Matters of Import Dragon Quest Monsters 2 Shows Us How Remakes Should Be Done
A monster masterpiece
Iru and Luca’s (or Tara and Cobi’s, if you prefer) adventure first graced the world with its presence thirteen years ago on the Game Boy Color, had a very brief fling with the PlayStation (Japan only, of course) in 2002, and then lay dormant for over a decade before Square Enix dusted it off and gave it an excellent modern...
Matters of Import Bahamut Lagoon Roars Onto The Japanese Wii U eShop
Here be dragons
Due for re-release on the Japanese Wii U Virtual Console service today, Bahamut Lagoon is (another) one of Squaresoft’s lost RPG treasures, a game that eighteen years after its original release still doesn’t officially exist to those of us living outside Japan. The game most closely resembles a strategy RPG, similar to Shining...
Matters of Import E.X. Troopers Brings The Heat To 3DS
Capcom however, remains frosty
Capcom’s E.X. Troopers may not be the latest or biggest Japanese 3DS game around, but it’s certainly no less worthy of inclusion here than any other game we’ve previously covered on Matters of Import and — as this and its high-resolution PS3 port are the only E.X. Troopers games so far — it is sadly still the...
Matters of Import Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict Joins The 3DS Library
Like a light Shining in the Darkness
Thanks to Sega’s continuing support of the 3DS Virtual Console service we now have all three Game Gear Shining Force games available to buy on Nintendo’s much loved handheld — in Japan, at least. The emulation is so consistently brilliant on the 3DS it’s hardly worth mentioning these days: we’ll simply...
Matters Of Import A Peek Into The Tragically Unobtainable World Of Dragon Quest X
Taking the quest online
In an utterly baffling move, Dragon Quest X — the most recent game in the iconic RPG series — is not only import-only but also IP blocked, meaning the game will refuse to work for all legitimate users trying to play from outside Japan. Luckily, there are ways to get your foreign internet connection to disguise itself with...
Matters of Import Grappling With Attack On Titan: The Last Wings Of Mankind
Or Shingeki no Kyojin: Jinrui Saigo no Tsubasa, to Japanese players
Considering the intense critical and commercial acclaim Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan has been receiving, the emergence of a game based on the events portrayed in the anime and manga series was more of a question of “when”, rather than “if”. The more surprising news is...
Matters of Import Drop Matching And Dragon Evolving In Puzzle & Dragons Z
This 3DS smash proves there is life after microtransactions
Puzzle & Dragons is popular wherever it’s available, but perhaps in its native Japan most of all. GungHo’s cash cow not only has regular tie-ins with big franchises like Monster Hunter, Taiko no Tatsujin and Hunter X Hunter, but has also generated an extensive range of merchandise...
Matters of Import Welcome To The Terrifying Yet Accessible World Of Monster Hunter 4
Something to get your teeth stuck into
Monster Hunter 4 is the latest and greatest in Capcom’s endlessly popular series of wildlife-bothering games, bringing even more areas to explore and new monsters to turn into breastplates and boots. Thankfully hunters come prepared for these new challenges with two new weapon types and the all-new ability to...
Matters of Import Dessert-Based Adventures With Kaeru No Tame Ni Kane Wa Naru
That Zelda-ish game with the frog guy
Twenty one years ago, Game Boy fans were graced with the wonderful Link’s Awakening, an action-adventure classic that has quite rightfully taken its place in gaming history as one of the greatest games in both the Game Boy’s library and The Legend of Zelda series. But a year before that, Japanese gamers had...
Matters Of Import Conflict Is Always On The Cards In Sega's Sangokushi Taisen Ten
Like Magic the Gathering and Dynasty Warriors after a stint in a blender
Sangokushi Taisen is a long-running and popular series in Japanese arcades, its initially strange mix of collectable trading cards and real-time strategy turning out to not only be incredibly good fun but also commercially successful; it has spawning multiple sequels,...
Matters Of Import Welcome To The Bizarre World Of Namco's Numan Athletics
'80s popstar Gary Numan sadly not involved
Nintendo’s Virtual Console service has been a constant treasure trove of classic gaming for many years now, covering hundreds of titles across some of the greatest systems to ever exist. It’s thrown up more than a few unexpected surprises along the way too – including this Japan-only port of the...
Matters Of Import Shining Force Feather
We take a look at Sega's Japan-only DS strategy RPG
Sega's Shining Force series is still well thought of, even if the PS2 instalments arguably got off on the wrong foot by drastically rewriting series canon and deviating from the strategic gameplay found in older titles. Evidently someone was buying these games anyway, as after four entries on the...
