Hey guys, I have a slew of lesser known JP games in/coming in, thought I'd jam all my thoughts on these games in this one thread here over the next month or two or so. Maybe you'll find something new you might be interested in. Here we go.

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KERIOTOSSE!

Keriotosse! is like Poy Poy. 4 characters in an arena (sorry no 2 story arenas) where the goal is to be the last person remaining. You eliminate your foes by kicking them out of the playing field, or you can use your designated special move to help knock them out.

Yes, the game is 1-4 players. If you love Saturn Bomberman or "party games" -- it's a safe bet you'll enjoy Keriotosse!

The game's 3D graphics were more than adequate I felt. The characters look OK, but the stages are well done graphically. The sound and music are catchy, especially the bop bop tunes of stage 1. They're not TOO memorable though. But serviceable enough.

There are a total of 21 characters to select and 8 stages with which to do battle. You start out with 5 characters to pick from, to unlock the others you gotta beat the 1P mode. Some characters are anime-esque and range from humans (i.e. girl wearing bunny costume, nurse, businessman, sword carrying Guardian Hero wannabe) to robots to even, a ghost and a baby panda.

"A" does a special move according to your character
(everyone has a different one, and can only be used once per round)
Each character's special move is unique and fits the character's personality.

For example, "BirdBoy" flies in the air and here you can move around for a bit flapping your wings trying to shove the opponent off the field.
The little girl who wants to be a nurse can grab people and inject them to make their characters all goofy. It all adds to the quirky fun. It also makes sure that each character is different and that you want to try each one.

Saturn Bomberman is awesome and my top fave, but having characters stand out with abilities does add some depth to a game. I mean, there's NO difference (other than visually) between white bomberman and Bonk. In Keriotosse! each character is different thanks to their special move.

"B" kicks

"C" jumps

3 wins equals the conquering of that stage. Like Saturn Bomberman you can do any combination of Human-CPU players.

There are also beach balls that drop down on the playing field... and they work like the green shells from Mario Kart fame. i.e. you kick them and they go in a straight line in the direction you kicked it.

In the story mode you play thru the 8 stages as status quo and in stage 9 you battle this huge dragon. I doubt he's unlockable but I duno since I never could beat him.

Some other notes...

-Intro is well done; kinda looks like a high-end PS1 game

-The stages all have their own names, I totally forgot about this. Here they are:

1. Welcome to Keriotosse
Playground complete with swings you can interact on and see-saws. Beachballs at your disposal here.

2. Signing in a Rain
Stage is raining and the water on the ground looks convincing. Get on the water and your character will slide. Big green leaves scatter the stage, one on top kinda skews the playing view if your character decides to try and hide there.

3. What a Wonderful World
This is where the bomb debuts. Once kicked, they'll flash red. After a while BOOM! It's similar to Bomberman Fight's big blasts, but looks more "oomphful." If the blast hits you you fly a good ways.

4. Malfunction
Bombs and beachballs. You battle it out on top of some demonic totem looking creature's head, he'll flip the field to and 'fro every once in a while. Fitting name!

5. Into the Storm
The misty wind pushes everyone depending on the direction it's blowing. There are pillars and they're scattered at the edges of the screen. Might save ya, like it did me once!

6. Winter Wonderland
I like this stage a lot. There's crack marks in the ice just for details and graphic variety, rather than looking at a boring blue playing field. The ice looks thick and convincing. Very colorful! Screenshots don't do this stage justice. The background here is great with picture-esque ice caps in the distance.

7. Volcanoes
Red. Lava on the scene which pulsates. Volcano in the middle of the screen that periodically chucks out molten rocks in four directions. Get hit by the rocks and watch your poor character get pushed toward the edge. Can connect up to 2 times. Since the molten rocks are hazardous enough, there are no beachballs or bombs found here.

8. The Meteor
The battle in outer space. You fight on a clear see-thru circle, in the background meteors are busy descending.

As stated earlier, every character has a distinct special move.

The girl with bunny ears grabs her victim, makes them drink some sort of beverage, and then they are temporary stunned. Ideal for nabbing them when they're close to the edge... easy pickings then.

One guy's special sees him increase in size by about 20 times! It's impressive to see this HUGE polygon running around without the game slowing down.

The ghost becomes invisible except for his shadow.

You can't kill yourself, per se. Like if you go all the way to the edge of a scene, your character will do the whole "whooooa!" thing for about 2 seconds, then from here you can control him/her back to safety. You can, however, jump off the stage and kill yourself instantly. You can change direction in mid-air but it's not that much. But other than that, it's up to the others to eliminate you. So that makes the Ghost's special even better since you don't have to worry about wandering off the scene.

One girl throws out Hadokens. One guy chucks out a red airplane model that chases after you knocking you about. etc.

Keriotosse! likely won't cost you more than 20 bucks, and at that price it's definitely worth a look. Some special moves are definitely more "advantageous" than others, but there's a 1 limit per round.

http://www.markinjapan.com/detail.php?selected=603

Recommended.