Bishi Bashi
Bishi Bashi (ビシバシチャンプ Bishi Bashi Chanpu) is a series of Konami video games for arcades, mobile phones, PlayStation and Windows. All games in the series comprise playing through a wide variety of competitive minigames against other players. The arcade games support 1 to 6 players[1] and the PlayStation game allows 1 to 8 players; the game will provide computer opponents if there are not enough players.
Arcade games
The arcade games released so far include:[2]
- Bishi Bashi Championship Mini Game Senshuken, or Bishi Bashi Champ in 1996
- Super Bishi Bashi Champ[1] and Handle Champ in 1998
- Hyper Bishi Bashi, Gachaga Champ, Step Champ and Hyper Bishi Bashi Champ[3] in 1999
- Anime Champ in 2000
- Salaryman Champ in 2001
- Great Bishi Bashi Champ in 2002
- Bishi Bashi Champ Online in 2005
- The★BishiBashi in 2009
The arcade game controls are very simple; each player has a red, blue and green button, positioned left, right and centre respectively. Each minigame explains its controls before play commences. Some titles of the series, however, make use of a lever, steering wheel or dance pad for the controls instead of the 3 buttons.
The★BishiBashi uses the yellow button (start button) in most mini-games to finish the mini-game before time runs out or to score additional points.
PlayStation games
Some of the minigames from the arcade games have been ported to the Sony PlayStation and released under the name Bishi Bashi Special (ビシバシスペシャル).[4] Salaryman Champ has also been ported to the same console.
- Bishi Bashi Special was released in 1998 in Japan[5][6]
- Includes the minigames from Bishi Bashi Champ, Super Bishi Bashi Champ and Handle Champ.
- Bishi Bashi Special 2 was released in 1999 in Japan[7]
- Includes the minigames from Hyper Bishi Bashi Champ and Gachaga Champ.
- A European edition titled Bishi Bashi Special was released in 2000 and compiles Bishi Bashi Special 1 and 2 on one disc, retitled Super Bishi Bashi and Hyper Bishi Bashi.
- Bishi Bashi Special 3 was released in 2000 in Japan only[8]
- Includes the minigames from Step Champ.
Unlike the arcade game, the ported minigames do not always use the red, green and blue buttons of the PlayStation joypad; "button bashing" minigames allow the player to use the analog sticks or the shoulder buttons as well as the regular buttons.
- Salaryman Champ: Tatakau Salaryman was released in 2001 in Japan only (Developed and Released by Success)
Mobile Phone Games
- Bishi Bashi Champ in 2001
- Shout! Shaberin Champ Mobile in 2007[9]
- Intuition! Bishi Bashi Champ Mobile in 2007
- The Bishi Bashi! e-AMUSEMENT in 2009
- Min'na de bishibashi in 2014
Examples of minigames
(The first name is the arcade name, and the second is the name from Bishi Bashi Special)
- Happy Wedding Athlete/Hyper pie throwing
- A bride, with the groom holding her train, must run from the altar of a church down the aisle to where the wedding guests are seated. The faster the player mashes two of the game buttons, the faster the bride runs. Once she reaches the front row, the player presses and holds the third game button (much like the javelin event in International Track & Field, or indeed in Bishi Bashi 3), which allows them to pick an angle for the pie's trajectory. Letting go of the button unleashes the pie, which flies several rows back and hits one of the wedding guests. All wedding guests, except the pied victim, stand and applaud. The game is judged on how many rows the pie flew, and the winner is whoever threw their pie the furthest.
- Super Cola can that goes to space/Shake the can into outer space!
- Players mash all the game buttons to shake a soft drink can. After a fixed period of time, all cans are placed on Space Shuttle launchpads, and launched into space with their pent-up fizz. The winner is whoever's can flies the furthest from Earth. If the player is particularly good, their can will be powerful enough to slam into the moon.
References
- 1 2 (Japanese) 業務用パーティーゲーム「ハイパービシバシチャンプ」発売
- ↑ bishi bashi championship mini game senshuken at arcade-history: video games, pinballs, slot machines, etc
- ↑ (Japanese) 〜コナミ、人気業務用ゲーム機シリーズ「チャンプシリーズ」〜 「ハイパービシバシチャンプ」(汎用筺体版)発売
- ↑ (Japanese) KONAMI エンタテインメント
- ↑ Bishi Bashi Special Info - Bishi Bashi Special Information - Bishi Bashi Special Release Date
- ↑ Bishi Bashi Special for PS - Bishi Bashi Special PlayStation - Bishi Bashi Special PS Game
- ↑ Bishi Bashi Special 2 Info - Bishi Bashi Special 2 Information - Bishi Bashi Special 2 Release Date
- ↑ Bishi Bashi Special 3 Info - Bishi Bashi Special 3 Information - Bishi Bashi Special 3 Release Date
- ↑ Official Shout! Shaberin Champ Mobile web page in Konami Japan