Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou

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The Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou (爆笑!!人生劇場?) series were a popular Japan-only Famicom series of life simulator games that were based on the Japanese board game Jinsei Game. This game series from Taito spanned from the 1980s to the 1990s and introduced unique concepts like a randomly chosen career, opportunity for radical hair cuts, and the occasional cameo from Tokyo Disneyland. In addition to all this, developing the avatar's intellect, social skills, and strength are major factors in landing a good paying career that pays the player as much money on "pay day" squares as possible. Depending on the game, the character underwent constant change in his avatar and/or his avatar's face. Most games begin with the player as a toddler and end with the player reaching retirement and senior citizenship.

Contents

[edit] Games in this series

  • Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou
  • Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2
  • Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 3
  • Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou
  • Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Dokidoki Seishun
  • Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Ooedo Nikki
  • Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Zukkoke Salary Man Hen

[edit] Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou

Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou (爆笑！！人生劇場?) is a Famicom life simulator game that simulates life from the toddler years to senior citizenship. The player must go to elementary school, junior high school, and high school. However, the player can elect to either go to university or start a career immediately. University requires players to pass a "test" in order to graduate and gain access to the better jobs in the game. Unlike the Super Jinsei Game series for the Super Famicom, the computer assigns the proper career for the player based on his avatar's intellectual, social, and physical skills.

This game was released exclusively in Japan on March 17, 1989 and requires Japanese literacy to play successfully. While it lacked in the sophistication factor when compared to other games that are based on the Jinsei Game board game, the success of the game eventually lead to Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2 and Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 3. Various elements that would be added to sequels with the series included the event squares and opportunity for radical hair cuts. Social interaction with other players (computer or human) is possible. However, the player's "parents" can take money away from players entering the next level in the game if they feel that they have too much money. This event is seen exclusively in this video game and it is not seen in its sequels or any of the games in the Super Jinsei Game series. Another feature not passed on to later games is the job interview. In order to get a job in this game, the player must do an interactive miniature game and "audition" for the new career. Failing the miniature game means not acquiring a job and succeeding means acquiring a paycheck and having job-related events appear on rolls of the dice.

[edit] Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2

Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2 (爆笑！！人生劇場２?) is a Famicom life simulator game that was released on March 22, 1991 and requires Japanese literacy to play. Like all games in the series, an occupation is chosen for the player regardless of whether he goes to university or not. The concepts of going to prison for crimes and gambling in a casino are introduced in the series for the first time. These events are only experienced by players whose characters have become adults. Even with this limitation in mind, it is next to impossible to find a new career after being released. This is because the player loses their job after being sent to prison and must collect unemployment insurance after being released when he lands on a paycheck square.

By reaching certain squares on the "career" game board, the player can temporarily escape to either an underwater realm or to outer space. However, players can be "plucked" out of the realm by an unsuspecting fisherman and be forced to return to the "normal" game board. Mini games include a Whack-a-Mole clone and a Space Invaders clone that can earn the player valuable game points as well as even more valuable self-esteem (will) points. Even though this game can be considered light-hearted and whimsical at times, there is partial frontal nudity in certain parts of the game. Fortunately, the genitalia are censored and only the other parts are shown. There is no rating on the game, although enough of the genitals are covered up to allow for teenagers to play independently (or for young children to play with parental guidance).

Before the game starts, players must customize their faces using three spinners to create a random face. Possible careers include game designer, construction worker, and military officer. Unlike its sequel and like its prequel, there is no separate board for attending university. The only difference between going to university and skipping to career mode is that the university graduating player will receive more choices and a higher salary. Careers and other aspects of adult life however can be manipulated by a series of stars and events.

Yellow stars help the player either acquire a job or change to a different career. Red stars are beneficial events to a player's career while blue stars lead to events that are harmful to a player's career. When the player sees themself on top of a mountain, that means they have been promoted in their career. A spotlight on the player means demotion to a lower pay bracket within the career. Children can be taken away in special "scandal" squares that show the unfit parent holding the child on the television news. At the end of the game, God goes through everyone's financial moves and the most prosperous player becomes the winner.

[edit] Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 3

Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 3 (爆笑！！人生劇場３?) is a Famicom board game that was released on December 20, 1991. The game is about a toddler who goes through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and eventually senior citizenship. There are decisions to make (dating, marriage, telling the truth, whether or not to peek at Christmas presents) and sometimes an elderly figure that represents God intervenes to help players determine their best path in life. Turns can be lost due to illness and bad weather and gained when the player buys an automobile for 15,000,000 yen. This money can be earned back much later in the game at a casino if the player decides to go on a vacation. Once all players reach the "finish line," God tells individual players about their destiny after retiring from work and into the life of a senior citizen. Things that could happen include: the loss of a spouse, becoming a world traveler, becoming terminally ill later in life, and striking oil in the desert.

Marriage almost always results in children but divorce occurs randomly just in real life and is symbolized by a falling leaf. As the player gets older, the female characters' faces get wrinkles and the male characters' faces get facial hair and the shape of the face become more chiseled. Tokyo Disneyland is included as a cameo role in one of the squares that the player can land on near the beginning of the game. The game decides whether the player gets lost in Tokyo Disneyland or not, either adding to or subtracting points from the avatar's intellectual strength. In addition to the standard game boards, there are also game boards for vacations, leaving the parents' home by either airplane or train, and incarceration.

Like other games in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou series, university education is a completely optional path that leads to all career paths being enabled. Career cards have to be chosen in certain squares in order to represent a successful or a failed venture within the career. However, university education has a mandatory interactive quiz that must be done successfully in order to enter university. Failing this quiz twice will result in the player being bumped into career mode. Since the questions are in Japanese, there is no possible way for a non-Japanese reader to play the game without skipping university and straight into career mode. Choosing this path will offers limited choices and lower pay unless a career book is purchased later in the game for 300,000,000 yen. Only this important tool allows a choice of multiple careers either with or without a university education.

[edit] Career Options

  • professional wrestler (indentifiable with traditional wrestling tights)
  • military officer (indentifiable with officers' uniform)
  • entertainer (indentifiable with white leisure suit and matching hat) - has a random chance of drawing a scandal card (he goes to jail by telling the truth and loses one point from his statistics for lying)
  • fast food worker
  • computer programmer (indentifiable with button-down shirt and khakis) - can make another player lose a turn by forcing them to repair computers after arriving on a random square
  • businessman (indentifiable with men's business suit) - male version of office lady career
  • office lady (indentifiable with ladies' business suit) - female version of businessman career
  • teacher (looks similar to businessperson or office lady except for the book) - similar attire to businessman except that the avatar is holding a book
  • physician (indentifiable with traditional doctor's uniform)

[edit] Tools of the Trade

  • Cupid's arrow - enhances romance of player's significant other
  • voodoo doll - brings an illness to a rival player which causes him or her to lose a turn and some attributes
  • will power notes - increases player's will power (self-esteem)
  • career book - allows the player to choose a new job regardless of education
  • vanity drink - increases strength, intellect, and will by 5 points

[edit] Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou

Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou (大爆笑人生劇場?) is a life simulator for the Super Famicom. The player starts in infancy and must progress through the school years, and to a rewarding career. The final stage is senior citizenship where the goal is to retire as wealthy and as skilled as possible. Steps with hearts on them increase the player's statistics while steps with sad faces decrease the player's statistics. Up to four players can play and the game has anime-style graphics. Toys can be purchased at a handsome sum that knocks a player back 6 squares, makes an opponent's wheel spin slower or faster, creates lightning, among other things. Lightning caused the victimized player to lose a turn and one of the major differences between this game and other games based on Jinsei Game is that the individual "boards" function more as a race than an actual simulation of life. The player who gets to the goal square first in the game gets a generous amount of money and all players advance to the next level regardless of how well they developed their characters.

[edit] Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Dokidoki Seishun

Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Dokidoki Seishun (大爆笑人生劇場 ドキドキ青春編?) is considered to have a different style of game play than most of the games in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Geikjou series. Instead of moving in a linear fashion in order to reach the ultimate goal, the players move in a circle. During the simulated months of game play, new buildings are eventually constructed and the railway system reveals new areas for travel as the players progress through the months of the year and mature. However, incarceration and sickness are included in the game. The circle-style game board would later be used in Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou - Zukkoke Salary Man Hen, depicted the rut of the workday.

Original elements that are used in this game include meeting the opponents' mother, enhanced mother-child interaction like a mother forcing her daughter to wear a long skirt to school, knowledge of what square the player will land on before making the spinner come to a complete stop, and cut sequences that cannot be controlled by the player (with the exception for answering questions). Occasionally, a school uniform inspector comes to the players and gives them marks on how closely they match the proper Japanese school uniform. Certain non-conforming items like a long skirt (instead of a short skirt) can cause the female avatar that was forced to wear the outfit by her mother to be penalized. However, bonus points are assigned as long as certain features are similar to that of a Japanese school uniform.

While traveling is initially restricted to railroad travel and city bus in the beginning of the game, eventually an airport is constructed as the players evolve in maturity and experience. Traveling to new places in the game constantly increased in cost as players are forced to use more of their in-game currency in order to maintain a balanced character. Eventually, the player must balance traveling "far away" with academics and spending time in the "local area." There is no formalized year system in the game, the players simply go from January to December and back to January again. The only difference is that new ideas and concepts added during the months help create an illusion of the players growing older, wiser, and more mature in their outlooks. This game can be played with one to four players with computerized players being completely random. Using a similar system that used to name the player's avatar in The Sims and The Sims 2, players must create a given name and a surname in either hiragana or katakana.

[edit] Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Ooedo Nikki

Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Ooedo Nikki (大爆笑人生劇場 大江戸日記?) is a game in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou series that takes place during Japan's Warring States era and not the 20th century unlike most games that are based on Jinsei Game. The object is to live the life of a peasant in feudal Japan and try to advance socially in the medieval climate of samurai and ninja. Expertise in certain skills might bring curiosity from travelling Europeans in random events. Like in all games in the series, being as wealthy as possible and having a successful life leads to victory. After getting married, children either be sold into prostitution or kept in the family. Land can also be purchased in order to gain profits from taxes.

[edit] Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Zukkoke Salary Man Hen

Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Zukkoke Salary Man Hen (大爆笑人生劇場 ずっこけサラリーマン編?) is a game in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou series. Players who play this game become white collar workers who must find a career. Eventually, they must balance work, leisure, and romance. Once the player has employment, he must raise his earning potential then he must find a mate to become his trophy wife or her trophy husband. Heterosexuality is the only option in this game and there are many corporations to impress in order to land that job. However, players can get promoted, demoted, or even fired by certain events on the board. Public relations and relations with the employer can be improved by playing golf at the country club.

[edit] References

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