What's up with Sekuban Deka II?

[grolt]

I popped this in my Japanese SMS today to try to play one of those cool looking action scenes from the back of the box and the opening demo. Unfortunately, once you start you're bogged down by text. The text doesn't look too complicated, but there are a ton of small menus, so I have no idea how to get anywhere right from the start. At least with High School! Kimengumi you could wander around and take in all the fun tunes without reading the text.

Anyway, for those who can speak the language, what's this game all about? What's the story, what all do you do? Is it kind of like SpellCaster in its combination of action and menu-based screens? Is there a lot of text, or is this something that could be easily Anglicized like High School! Kimengumi was? That would be awesome.

Also, where the hell is the first Sekuban Deka?

[Bock]

Sukeban Deka (not Sekuban)
The II refers to the second series of the anime. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukeban_Deka for a bit of the plot.

If you want spoilers you can look here: bto8.smspower.org/segapower/1318/index.html
I'd suggest waiting for an eventual translation that may come in the following year(s).

[grolt]

Thanks to the work done by enigmaopoeia and Hungdongs here I was able to finally play the game in all its English glory. Quite the fun little point-and-click/action hybrid. It's got a similar presentation to SpellCaster for the point-and-click scenes, but plays out more like High School! Kimengumi with all the school stuff and the three quarter isometric view for action scenes. The story isn't as crazy Japanese as I was hoping for (I don't think anything will be able to match the WTF factor of the Kimengumi opening) but the story was surprisingly well told considering the limitations of 8-bit.

Some of the inferences and discoveries you have to make in point-and-click mode are very hard to predict without the use of a guide, but there are many bits, particularly at the end, that show both creativity and good game design in referring back to hints left prior. The music note bit followed by the blank block puzzle are particularly notable.

Presentation-wise, this is SEGA in pretty top form, with a catchy soundtrack of a handful of songs (which even get individual names in the end credits). The action sequences, which are essentially single isometric scene, really control well. Solid hit detection, responsive control and a really gratifying weapon attack accented with good sound effects. As fun as the point-and-click bits are, I was always hoping for a little more action. All told there are around five or so boss battles throughout. Not a lot, but most have two stages, and considering the game runs pretty short at 2-3 hours, that's not bad.

Also of note, you can tell this is the game where SEGA laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the 3D dungeons of Phantasy Star. These ones don't animate, instead just refreshing screens like old PC games would, but it's still an impressive effect for the time.

Perhaps most enjoyable of all, Sukeban Deka II is bustling with that cute SEGA intertextuality that often defined their earlier work. Plenty of nods to Alex Kidd, as well as a few cameos from Teddy Boy and Opa Opa highlight the exploration scenes.



All in all, it's a polished game that provides fun and a gaming experience we never really got on this side of the Pacific. It almost makes me want to explore the Sukeban Deka animes just to be able to truly understand everything that's going on. Still, the stellar translation work makes it easy to follow regardless.

So...

Get the ROM.
Read the FAQ.
Have some fun!

[grolt]

May 7, 2010 8:35:21 GMT grolt said:

Thanks to the work done by enigmaopoeia and Hungdongs here I was able to finally play the game in all its English glory. Quite the fun little point-and-click/action hybrid. It's got a similar presentation to SpellCaster for the point-and-click scenes, but plays out more like High School! Kimengumi with all the school stuff and the three quarter isometric view for action scenes. The story isn't as crazy Japanese as I was hoping for (I don't think anything will be able to match the WTF factor of the Kimengumi opening) but the story was surprisingly well told considering the limitations of 8-bit.

Some of the inferences and discoveries you have to make in point-and-click mode are very hard to predict without the use of a guide, but there are many bits, particularly at the end, that show both creativity and good game design in referring back to hints left prior. The music note bit followed by the blank block puzzle are particularly notable.

Presentation-wise, this is SEGA in pretty top form, with a catchy soundtrack of a handful of songs (which even get individual names in the end credits). The action sequences, which are essentially single isometric scenes, really control well. Solid hit detection, responsive control and a really gratifying weapon attack accented with good sound effects. As fun as the point-and-click bits are, I was always hoping for a little more action. All told there are around five or so boss battles throughout. Not a lot, but most have two stages, and considering the game runs pretty short at 2-3 hours, that's not bad.

Also of note, you can tell this is the game where SEGA laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the 3D dungeons of Phantasy Star. These ones don't animate, instead just refreshing screens like old PC games would, but it's still an impressive effect for the time.

Perhaps most enjoyable of all, Sukeban Deka II is bustling with that cute SEGA intertextuality that often defined their earlier work. Plenty of nods to Alex Kidd, as well as a few cameos from Teddy Boy and Opa Opa highlight the exploration scenes.



All in all, it's a polished game that provides fun and a gaming experience we never really got on this side of the Pacific. It almost makes me want to explore the Sukeban Deka animes just to be able to truly understand everything that's going on. Still, the stellar translation work makes it easy to follow regardless.

So...

Get the ROM.
Read the FAQ.
Have some fun!