Sen-Know [線脳] Game Sample - Arcade
40Sen-Know is on oddity from Kouyousha, which was indeed founded by former Data East member Hiroshi Nakamura. Now...for those who are only somewhat familiar with Data East, you might think that DE is sometimes quite mediocre, if you are familiar with a few of their home console titles/ports. However, Data East did have some solid arcade games back in the day...it was hard to not know of their arcade involvement because some of their home console ports would mention that they were based off of hit arcade games! Anyway, some examples of DE games in general --- Burger Time (BurgerTime), Bump 'n' Jump, Karnov, Nitro Ball, Congo's Caper, etc...Data East was a pretty big name at one point!
At any rate, Kouyousha's involvements in other games include Grandia, Gungriffon II, Super Adventure Rockman, Last Bronx and possibly Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Explorers of Sky (Thanks Alvieao!) --- While not every game from DE was great, it's kind of sad to see how they turned out with the passage of time...and Kouyousha...well, I don't know exactly what to say, but I can say that Kou (for short) isn't as well known as DE. So...Sen-Know does run on the Kaneko Super Nova System (seen on boot-up) which is the same hardware that games like Cyvern, the semi-popular/controversial "Girls Panic" (Gals Panic) games, Sengeki Striker, Mitchell's 1998 arcade game Puzz Loop, and several others. For a list, please visit:
http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=807
As for this particular game...how to describe it??? Well, Sen-Know is actually a play on the word "sennou" (which is what the kanjis represent) and sennou (with the characters used) means "brainwashing". The game requires that the player use "chips" to form "energy channels" that "complete themselves" --- while that sounds a bit complicated, it really isn't when you get down to it, at least, not at first (like any puzzle game). Your entire grid is surrounded with "chips" that encloses the player, so one way to connect chips to erase them and score points is to take a bunch of "horizontal line" chips and have them go all the way across for one row. They can even go from top to bottom, if you use a bunch of "vertical line" chips. You can better understand it just by watching the video...also, as the game's subliminal flashes of information allude to, you can form "rings" to connect with your own pieces without having to use the outside grid, and as such, you can "complete" your own chips. You can also complete your formations with something that connects to the outside grid, but does NOT go all the way to the other corner of the grid.
The idea is that it is harder to connect and complete a formation when you get more blocks; there has to be a start and an end, in order for you to complete a formation. There are different things, naturally...you see how in the video, they demonstrate making a "ring"? You can create a wider ring and have useless junk blocks in it that don't connect, and close the ring off still...and those junk blocks also get eliminated. Personally, I can see the "potential" of this kind of puzzle system...the game is playable, but it just isn't all that fun/interesting for me, unlike a lot of other puzzle games that I have played. I think it is the total package; the game is strange, but not very enticing...it's a mish-mash of randomness, and that can sometimes be good, but not so much for this game. The game doesn't feel as action-packed with its formula...but there are strange cameos, like an Albert Einstein rocker, LOL! Anyhoo, story mode, "evolution" mode (think "Endless"), 1P - 2P mode...it's fairly standard. There is a "線脳Millenium" for WonderSwan that seems to use a similar gameplay premise and another one, shown below:
http://www.vector.co.jp/magazine/softnews/000923/n0009231.html
Without translating the whole thing (I'm not too familiar with a lot of Kanji), the story deals with the "chips" you use and they are important to the use of some kind of robot. One day, while doing R&D regarding the chips and the robot, the network receives a major error...it seems like a corporate rival has gotten into the database and screwed things up. You get to choose from 10 people, each with their own backgrounds. How they tie into the story isn't exactly clear right now, but the girl I used does work at "Saint House", which if I had to guess, is a place where she takes care of orphans or young children. The game is similar to games like "Gorby no Pipeline Daisakusen".
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