Game:

Tokimeki Memorial (1994)

Duration: 9:53

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Original Air Date: August 11th, 2009

I should start by saying you should most certainly not confuse this with THE Tokimeki of all Tokimeki games (Konami's Tokimeki Memorial). Tokimeki Mahjong Paradise: Koi no Tenpai Beat (ときめき麻雀パラダイス　～恋のてんぱいビート～), has something to do with tender love and passion for Mahjong and the rules associated with Tenpai in Reach (or Riichi) Mahjong, if you couldn't guess by the title. What all of that boils down to here at the end of the day is strip-mahjong based on Reach Mahjong rules, which is what most strip-mahjong games' rules are based on from my understanding.

Now with that being said, if you walk into this expecting it to be the next Idol Janshi Suchi Pai or Super Real Mahjong, I would have to politely ask you not to get your hopes up; This game is "okay" on its own, but doesn't even compare to either of those series, but it is surprisingly good for Mahjong beginners like myself, as you can learn various functions as the game points them out explicitly (unlike many Mahjong games) and holds you by the hand almost every step of the way, though you call the shots. This game's artwork looks like it was done by the same people who did the artwork for both Nage Libre and Kat's Run, two Super Famicom games (which I own both), and one being developed by the same people who developed this. I need to research the matter.

Being and developed by Sonnet Computer Entertainment and Varie (who did Nage Libre, an all-girl strategy game about school girls from another world who gain powers through cosplaying), it only seemed natural for them to go this route with their large fascination with a largely female cast. This game pits you, an ordinary individual, against five girls in a game of strip mahjong. Their names (in order of appearance) are Ayame Satsuki, Yayoi Tougetsu, Mina Suzukure, Seika Uzuki, and Hatsuki Kagura. You start out on a date with each one until you eventually impose the proposition to play a game of Mahjong, to which each agrees and each happens to be a skilled player. The game only has a Date Mode and a Free Mode (besides the options), and the only difference is Free Mode is short and each person starts with lots of points to bet. The Date Mode is the "meat & potatoes" and you play against one girl numerous times, each time getting her to take off more clothes and become a little harder to beat in the process.

I wrote a pretty scathing review for this a while back, but after playing this again and thinking in retrospect, I was probably being slightly harsher (?) than need be, but that's about it. The presentation is pretty simple, though the FMVs are nice enough because they take up the majority of the screen. The music is simple and relaxing. The gameplay is bare bones and devoid of the stuff that make games like Suchi Pai and Super Real Mahjong stand out, and computerized Mahjong needs all the perks it can get (IMO) because it doesn't top the real thing. The game has pretty limited options and no ability to save, but there are two hidden options show in the manual that I don't know how to access.

One seems like it might be an art gallery and the other translates or is romanized into "Omoide" or what one can call "Recollections", which may be an FMV viewer. The only way I know of to view the FMVs is through a Saturn movie ripping tool on my comp, but unlike other games, this game's FMVs are cleverly dissected into about 100 tiny clips, making it very hard for people who haven't played the game to know the order of events. The reason I mention this is because it's dumb otherwise to have to play this game over and over and isn't really worth the effort. Oh well. Each character has an attract mode of sorts, which isn't really any different from their introductions. This game can actually be more or less played with little editing, but I doubt I'll LP this game ever :P

There is one thing in particular I should point out about this game. While the Sega Saturn is known for having mild adult titles, this game is a bit more "interesting". In this game, over half of the girls are under the age of 18 (17) and the game comes with a second book depicting all of the females topless, though the game was made for folks 18 and older. Interestingly, the characters age was taken out of the Attract Mode, but left in the manual. This would partially explain the game's scarcity, even if "consent" is younger than 18. A "special" version was made for 3DO, but I don't know what's different about it. This video goes from the title to partially "beating" Ayame.

Oh, and if I get any posts regarding the moves in this video, you will be blocked-- no questions asked. There's a reason it's called a sample and not a demonstration.

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