Game:

Seiya Monogatari: Anearth Fantasy Stories (1995)

Duration: 1:48:59

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Welcome to the Casio Loopy (or "My Seal Computer PV-100") friends, the Japan-only game console marketed towards girls that prints stickers, uses carts similar in size to the Atari Jaguar, and has a massive library of less than a dozen games of the Otome, Simulation and Adventure variety. Its specs are somewhere between the 16 and 32 bit competitors of the time, and had games slowly released for it between 1994 and 1997. Casio has made many electronics over the years (keyboards, watches, cameras, you name it) and the Loopy is their second and final home console (their first would be the 1983 Casio PV-1000). The potential was there for a decent gaming machine, but it couldn't remotely compete with the competition and did not have enough of a focus on gaming (only one controller slot, only supports composite video out the box, etc.). Some interesting names in the industry worked on Loopy titles, who will be mentioned with each title we upload. At any rate, please enjoy this full playthrough of Wanwan Aijou Monogatari (or "Bow-Wow Love Story") with supplemental reading as part of our "Gaming Obscura" series.

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Like many children, Momo is a slightly precocious Elementary School child whose interests come and go with the changing of the seasons. It's her birthday today and her present is her latest and greatest plaything; an adorable beagle puppy by the name of Baku (a play on the sound "Bark")! Mama and Papa are thrilled and Papa teaches Momo a few basic commands and then sends them on their way to play outside and get better acquainted. After a few rounds of fetch, Momo accidentally throws the ball a little too far and Baku jumps into the bushes to retrieve it, only to come back with a doll instead... but it's no ordinary doll; her name is Judy, and she's alive! Not only that, but Momo knows this doll -- it was her favorite toy growing up... but what happens to the things we no longer have any use for? Where do they go? Well, in Wanwan Aijou Monogatari, they become sentient, keep photo albums of your exploits and go to the "Land of Memories"!

Judy and Clock-san (your old wind-up buddy) need your help as your good memories are disappearing due to the corruption of the Yasai (Vegetable) Corps led by the evil King Hakusai (Napa Cabbage). You see, most kids don't like to eat their vegetables, causing "bad memories" which enslave and bully the good memories, and the vegetables are especially revolting here (both literally and figuratively). Fortunately, you have Baku to help, as you've yet to make lasting memories with him and the two of you go on the journey of a lifetime to save your memories, preserve your childhood, and overcome hardships which have been distorted to include quiz games, old folktales, stealth, combat, old friends, swearing, and even a little animal abuse (no real animals were hurt of course).

Your allies also include Momo's old bike (Momo #1), a fluffy Old English Sheepdog (Captain), your grandpa, Ganbot (a toy given to Momo by a boy who liked her) and a teddy bear (Muku). As for antagonists besides the big bad himself, you have the Kyuuriman underlings (the Japanese cucumber), Potato Bon-Bon, the Hallo Pumpkin (short for Halloween), Miracle Lemons and "Big The Cabbage". Each character is intended to teach Momo and the player different life lessons, though the quizzes are the hardest part of the game as the questions and answers are randomized to include general knowledge questions and events that play out through the game and you need five consecutive correct answers to proceed, barring people without basic Japanese knowledge.

For what it's worth, the story is simple and cute with a few funny moments, what little sound the game presents is adequate, and there are a few really slick pixel animations in here (especially of our beagle friend, Baku). The game was developed by the great Alfa System of all companies (who brought us games like "Psychic Storm", "Linda Cube", "Project: Horned Owl", "Elemental Gearbolt", "Gunparade March", "Shikigami no Shiro" (Castle of Shikigami), "Tales of the World", "Phantasy Star Portable", and many more) with a few notable mentions. The script was written and supervised by Kenji Terada who wrote the first three Final Fantasy games, Dark Wizard, Kimagure Orange Road, and more, programming was handled (in part) by Daisuke Takaki who also worked on "Emerald Dragon" and "Lunar: Silver Star Story - Complete", and sound was handled (in part) by Yumiko Morinaga who would also work on "Exile: Wicked Phenomenon" and "Seiya Monogatari: Anearth Fantasy Stories". The game has save clear data which lets you replay any of the twelve scenes and print stickers of your memories. As evidenced by this video, it's about an hour and a half long, which is short for a game of this type.

As far as Loopy titles go, this is one of the "must haves" for the system, so if you aren't even slightly curious about the system after watching this, I wouldn't bother collecting one. Enjoy.