Cho Aniki - The Strangest Game Ever? 39
Thanks to NFG Games for their newly-posted detailed look at Ai Cho Aniki for the PC Engine / TurboGrafx, a side-scrolling, bodybuilder-filled shoot-em-up where, as the author explains: "The game starts as many do, in space above some clouds with... floating heads, swords and a strange guy on a half-moon who throws babies at you." The extremely odd graphical presentation, encompassing "burly men, angels, [and] machines with faces", even extends to the game's front cover - and it's not the only version for the PC Engine, even. There's also now a PlayStation 2 sequel, called Mighty Brothers: The Legend of the Holy Protein, due later this year.
Cultural differences in game titles (Score:5, Interesting)
On the other hand, I am interested in the title and its translation.. "Chou Aniki: Sei Naru Protein Densetsu. In English, the title translates to Mighty Brothers: The Legend of the Holy Protein."
Does this title sound as cheesy/campy in Japanese as it does in English? Or is there some element of Japanese culture which makes this title acceptable and taken with a straight face?
I've noticed this with other old-school game titles as well, such as "Space Mega Force." Even modern games with Engrish-sounding titles such as "Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Remix Append Club Version" have me wondering if it's done intentionally or not. I'm sure an arcade game which has probably sucked up millions of dollars in money can afford to hire a person for oh, say, 2 minutes to come up with a somewhat literary translation.
Re:Cultural differences in game titles (Score:1, Interesting)
That's totally normal, if you read it with punctuation. Behold!
Dance Dance Revolution: Second Remix - Append Club version
Look at that, it actually makes sense now. It's an "Append" disc to the Second Remix. You switch to it from the Second Remix version of the game. And it's mostly Club music.
I had this game (Score:3, Interesting)
The play is actually very fun; it's a classic Turbo Grafx shooter in its own right. But the greatest strength is the music. I still listen to it today -- much of the time, it's positively trippy, filled with angry grunting and screaming and what sounds like a band organ gone awry. Other times, it borders on techno. If you get a chance, get your hands on the MP3s (or a whole disc image!) of this one. You won't regret it, so long as nobody catches you listening.