Incredible Crisis (PS1) Playthrough
213A playthrough of Titus's 2000 action game for the Sony PlayStation, Incredible Crisis.
The name Titus instills fear into the heart of many a gamer, but fear not! They only served as publisher here, and the Incredible Crisis is far better than Superman 64.
Incredible Crisis is one of those games that is so Japanese that you'd never expect it to be picked up for a western release, but I was happy to see this one be an exception to that rule.
The story follows a day in the life of an ordinary Tokyo family. Grandma Hatsu has asked everyone to be home on time for dinner to help her celebrate her eightieth birthday, and if the game's title is any indication of things to come, her request is going to be a tall order to fill.
Incredible Crisis is split into four sections, each chronicling the events of a family member's day leading to their return home that evening:
Taneo, age 47 (3:58)
A balding salaryman, husband, and father shows up to the office where he's dragged into a dance competition before being thrust into a series of life-threatening situations. After escaping he takes a breather to cheat on his wife before he finds himself fighting the Navy in an effort to protect a UFO hovering over Tokyo Bay.
Etsuko, age 40 (28:43)
An underappreciated housewife and mother gets caught up in the middle of a bank robbery on her way to buy ingredients for grandma's birthday dinner. The robbers force her to help them raid the bank's vault, but she manages to escape and somehow stumbles into a military base where she comandeers a jet fighter and saves the city from a rampaging teddy bear.
Tsuyoshi, age 9 (45:50)
The youngest member of the family is playing in the back garden when a giant teddy bear suddenly appears in the distance and zaps him with a laser that shrinks him down to the size of an insect. In a series of events that were *ahem* "inspired" by Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, he has to survive the long and dangerous trek back to the house.
Ririka, age 17 (56:55)
A spirited, independent teenage girl who decides to cut class to go shopping. She ends up befriending a lost baby UFO that messes up her photo booth session, and once she returns it to the mothership, the aliens help her get home just in time for dinner.
The gameplay is made up of simple, short mini-games that involve things like shooting galleries, rhythm games, obstacle courses, and random button mashing. They lack substance but they're fun ways to push the story forward, and most of them manage to be interesting thanks to how completely absurd they are. (I really wish they hadn't recycled the boat mini-game so many times, though!)
Incredible Crisis's appeal lies entirely in its quirky personality, and I think it succeeds well enough to make the game worth checking out, and the killer soundtrack by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra certainly doesn't hurt matters.
The game's vibe somehow reminds me of Mad Panic Coaster (https://youtu.be/Lop2bkYjLj0), and I'd consider that a major plus.
If you're looking for a silly and light-hearted way to pass an afternoon, you could certainly do worse than Incredible Crisis.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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