Seaman for the Dreamcast made waves back when it was first released in 1999 in Japan and 2000
in North America, and is still well-known and looked back on fondly by gaming fans today...and
if we're going to completely honest, it's mostly because of the uniquely strange look
and personality of the game's star, the Seaman.
But Yoot Saito's bizarre creation is also noteworthy for being the first example of
a really popular video game incorporating voice controls successfully into its core
gameplay.
The fairly positive critical response and financial success of Seaman seems to have
inspired other developers to follow in the odd, evolved fish creature's footsteps, and
many new titles with voice command features began popping up on every major console of
the sixth generation.
Stuff like the Microsoft published Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment, more commonly
known as N.U.D.E., a kind of virtual pet simulation much like Seaman, but with a sexy female robot
instead of a creepy fish man, as well as Seaman dev Vivarium's GameCube offering Odama, a
feudal era Japan-themed tactical war strategy and pinball game hybrid.
But the system that played host to the most microphone-compatible games of the era was
definitely the PlayStation 2, where even the trailblazing Seaman got several upgraded,
unique iterations, as well as its fantastic sequel, Seaman 2.
I've already talked about these with Daniel Ibbertson, aka DJ Slope, on his Complete History
of Seaman video, so check it out if you haven't yet.
Among the many games on the system where the player's voice is used as a controller, those
published by Sony itself stand out as among the best or most interesting to me.
Operator's Side is the one a majority of people most likely know, since it was released in
North America as “Lifeline,” and is a pretty cool action game that's often frustrating,
but mostly gets things right with it's voice command system.
Another is Deka Voice, which remained Japan-only, a cel-shaded noir detective adventure game
developed by Acquire, the team behind the Tenchu and Way of the Samurai series.
But perhaps my favorite game to make use of a microphone on the PlayStation 2 is the subject
of this video, another Japanese exclusive, and you already know what it is—the late
2001 release Yoake no Mariko, or Dawn of Mariko.
Before I ever purchased this game, I used to see it a lot at game stores, and never
really gave it much of a look because of the cover, which I'm not a fan of at all.
I just assumed it was some kind of fitness game, due to the 80s aerobics instructor style
of the two characters here.
But while browsing PS2 titles one day, something on the spine really caught my attention—this
perky gal right here in the tuxedo.
I thought she looked like a character from a Ren & Stimpy cartoon, and after checking
out the back of the box and liking what I saw, I decided to pick it up—it was only
a couple of bucks anyway, so no real loss if it ended up being bad.
Anyway, at this point it's more than apparent, but on that day, I definitely chose wisely.
Yoake no Mariko, as stated before, makes use of a microphone in its gameplay, but in a
much different way from the virtual pet and action games mentioned earlier.
Instead, this game is all about acting, with players taking on the role of one of two actors
over six different stages, each representing a different genre of movie or television production.
If you've ever been to a karaoke box or bar, you'll already know exactly what to do in
Yoake no Mariko, as you simply read lines of dialogue that appear on screen and speak
as the words are highlighted from left to right.
That might sound a little boring, but what makes the experience so fun is its outstanding
presentation and art direction, as well as its colorful cast of oddball actors and actresses.
Opening up the instruction manual for the first time and landing on the two-page spread
of character introductions, I thought that the art style was too similar to Ren & Stimpy
to be coincidence or just paying homage, and although chances were slim that an early 2000s
PS2 game featuring voice acting in Japanese that was also a Japan-exclusive title could
have anything to do with one of my favorite childhood American cartoon shows...well, I
guess I was a bit shocked when the credits section in the back of the manual revealed
that Yoake no Mariko's character designs and direction were handled by Spumco, the animation
company behind Ren & Stimpy, and that its founder, John Kricfalusi, was also personally
involved in the project.
Spumco's unique sense of humor and flamboyant style really add to the experience.
There are four lead actors whom the player has the option to perform as throughout the
game.
The titular Mariko, a budding action actress known for starring in dangerous roles, sexy
boy Rolly, a rising star whose real gender and age is a mystery, the senseless Idaho
potato man Cap, a Hollywood has-been who's a physical force on screen, and Jackey, the
childish man actor with 30 years of experience of being far too old to play the parts he's
cast as.
In addition to the leads are a hodgepodge group of four misfit supporting actors, Barbara,
Jerry, Branco and Tony.
While each of these actors have their own unique personalities, they all play different
parts in each of the productions they appear in.
The team behind development would eventually become known as Lindwurm, which was officially
established in 2006, five years after the release of Yoake no Mariko.
This game was the second they worked on, at least according to their official webpage,
and after Mariko, the team would go almost in the completely opposite direction and create
the PS2 cult classic horror title Siren.
Sadly, it seems like they're only doing mobile games these days, much like other devs from
the time period.
Well anyway, the bulk of gameplay is found in Single Mode or Doubles mode, the former
for solo performers and the latter for acting duos, which takes place over the six following
stages.
First is the western-themed stage, starring Mariko and Rolly as gunslingers chasing down
outlaws in all the familiar places you'd see in those kinds of films.
After that, the setting switches to feudal Japan, where Cap and Rolly take up swords
and duel to the death in the jidaigeki stage.
The tone shifts to a lighter one in the comedy stage, where hilarity ensues as Rolly brings
home the strangest men imaginable to introduce to her disapproving father, Jackey.
The result?
Slapstick violence like in the good old days of television, of course.
The fourth stage brings the horror, featuring Mariko as a hapless high school scream queen
running for her life as she's pursued by the relentless killer Pigman, played by Cap.
Stage five returns to the far east for a kung fu flick, in which the martial arts apprentice
Mariko must avenge the death of her master Tony, murdered by the villainous Jackey.
And the final production in Yoake no Mariko is the story of two high school lovers, Cap
and Mariko, who come from two different worlds much like the film Grease...and much like
that film, it's a musical.
I will not be including raw audio of me playing this level.
You're welcome
Before a stage, you'll get to choose which of the two actors you'd like to perform as,
who are introduced by Jerry in his weird Engrish accent.
Each of the six stages are typically broken up into three to five separate acts, which
are broken up further into several smaller scenes.
The game ranks your performance during each scene according to the tone and volume of
your voice, and the timing of your reading of the lines.
As stated earlier, if you've ever done karaoke, you'll know exactly what to do here—basically,
just read the words as they're highlighted.
Above each line is a meter that indicates the correct volume you should be speaking
at, and you can see volume levels in real time.
As far as the right tone goes, that's mostly up to your own interpretation, however, before
the stage begins, there are descriptions of the story and characters that you can read
to get a better idea of how to play your role.
And on the very left side a picture will indicate which performer is to read the line, which
is handy in doubles mode, although the color of the text box indicates this as well.
The announcer will let you know after each line how you're doing, with an audible exclamation
of “boo,” “bad,” good,” or “excellent.”
The game will rank your performance at the end of each scene, and as long as everything
averages out to an “OK” rating, you can move on to the next scene.
If not, you'll have to replay that scene from the beginning until you're ranked high enough
to proceed.
This system is pretty well-implemented, but it's far from perfect, as there were several
times that I didn't read a line right or fast enough but still got a high ranking, and vice
versa, and if your voice isn't picked up by the mic well enough, expect to see a lot of
“boos” as you play.
Ahem, it's important to check your microphone settings and make any necessary adjustments before
you begin, and speaking of microphones, let's, uh, speak more about microphones.
There are many different ways you can play this game, first and foremost is the way it
was intended to be played, with the ASCII USB MIC headset made for the PS2 and Windows,
which could be acquired separately from the game or as a pack-in with the special Performance
Pack edition of Yoake no Mariko.
You can also use ASCII's line of Seamic controllers that they designed for use with the Seaman
games, as advertised on the box and in the manual, however, I find they're a bit less
reliable than the headset.
You can also just use some other PS2 compatible mics, such as these Jaleco-branded ones designed
for the Dream Audition series.
Unlike some of the other games mentioned earlier that feature voice controls, though, this
game also allows you to play using only a standard game pad, turning gameplay into a
simple d-pad and face button pushing affair to get your actor to perform his or her lines,
kind of like a rhythm game but without audio prompts.
Using this method, you're ranked on the accuracy of your button presses, and while it's nice
to have an extra way to play, particularly for those without mics, controller play turns
the game into a kind of cheap interactive movie that's nowhere near as fun.
I also ran into problems in this mode with garbled audio coming from the character's
voices at some points, but I'm not sure if it was just a temporary glitch or not.
After completing all acts and scenes in a stage, you'll receive your final marks and
a ranking from A to E, followed by a trailer of the movie you just acted in made up of
your voice work.
These movies are a blast to watch and are cut together in a way mimicking the style
of trailers from their respective genres.
Each of them also feature some pretty great music tracks...in fact, the music in this
entire game is very well done, a collaborative effort from dozens of artists and musicians,
such as prolific anime and video game composer Yasuharu Takanashi, famed violinist, musician
and composer Eric Gorfain and legendary Japanese rock group Guitar Wolf.
Back to the movie trailers, you have the option to save the video to watch again in Replay
Viewer mode on the main menu, but at a big cost--a little over 1500 kilobytes per clip
on your 8 meg memory card, meaning you'll only be able to save up to five per card,
max.
When the end credits roll, a new mode opens up, Stage Select, which obviously lets you
do just that.
It should be noted that all stages are playable with a mic, however, only the first five can
be played via a standard controller, as the final musical stage is grayed out on Stage
Select when no mic is detected.
Aside from the main game, there's a Vocal Exercises mode that allows you to practice
a character's lines from any act and scene from the game, often giving you the chance
to listen to the actor's line the way it was intended to be read and then having you repeat
it yourself.
The Options Mode features most of the standard game settings for the player to tweak—three
difficulty settings, audio volume and output options, sound tests, and turning controller
vibration on and off, but of course it also lets you adjust microphone volume and tone,
if necessary or desired.
I played through the game solo on normal mode and breezed right
through it without any problems, achieving all A and B rankings for the stages and in
a little over an hour.
Playing in singles mode is fun, however, it only provides roughly half the story per play,
and to get the full experience, you'll have to play the stages again as the other actors
or in the best case scenario, with another person from the start in Doubles Mode.
Either way, though, Yoake no Mariko is a ton of fun and something I can recommend to people
who want something unique for their Japanese PS2 collection.
Although the menus are all in English for the most part, obviously you'll need to speak
Japanese to play the game.
But even beginners in the language can have a great time with Mariko, as most of the script
is displayed in simple kana characters, and many of the lines consist of sound effects,
screaming, laughing, and the like.
Because of that, Yoake no Mariko is a great game for people who want to enjoy a Japanese
video game while brushing up on their reading and speaking skills at the same time...or
for people who just enjoy weird and wacky import games, whatever.
Yoake no Mariko is an incredibly cheap and easy to find game in Japan and online, with
or without the USB headset, as it's considered by many to be “kusoge,” or simply, a shit
game, a sentiment I obviously don't share, ha ha.
I mean aside from its short length and a few technical hiccups, there's not much fault
I can find with it.
The game was followed up about a month later with a second entry, the early 2002 release
Yoake no Mariko: 2nd Act.
This sequel plays much like the game that came before it and involves many of the creative
forces behind the first, but focuses more on creating a party or social experience with
its new mini game and karaoke modes.
2nd Act is also pretty damned good, and perhaps I'll talk about it in more detail sometime
in a future video.
The series had its own website as printed on the box art and manual, but sadly, it's
no longer up, and media and information on Yoake no Mariko is quite scarce, which is
a shame, because it's a pretty unique title in the PlayStation 2's huge library of games.
Anyway, that's about all I've got this time—thanks for watching this 38th episode of Import Gaming FTW.
This is Jimmy Hapa—take care!