Tokimeki Memorial

Tokimeki Memorial (ときめきメモリアル, Tokimeki Memoriaru, lit. "Heartbeat Memorial") is a dating sim by Konami and the first game in the Tokimeki Memorial series.

The first game in the series is particularly notable for its "bomb" feature, where neglected, infrequently-dated girls would eventually become angry and gossip to their friends, severely reducing love meters across the board. In the middle of the game, when the number of known girls was high, these "bombs" became the primary concern of the player, forcing careful planning and strategies like round-robin dating. Although the feature was still present in the later games, it was considerably reduced in importance and the difficulty in avoiding it.

Screenshot of the original PC Engine game showing the statistics integral to the gameplay.

Release history

Tokimeki Memorial was first released for the PC Engine on May 27, 1994. It was remade as Tokimeki Memorial: Forever With You on the PlayStation (1995), Sega Saturn (1996) and PC (1997) with a new opening video, improved graphics and sound, and new minigames.

In 1996, it was ported to the Super Famicom as Tokimeki Memorial: Densetsu no Ki no Shita de, and although drastically reduced in graphic and sound quality (the only voice clips were available during loading), included an exclusive CD with a radio drama and new arrangement of the ending theme, "Futari no Toki", this time sung by the majority of the girls, instead of just Shiori Fujisaki (the heroine of the first game).

In 1999 the game was ported again to the Game Boy Color in two versions, Tokimeki Memorial Sports Version: Kotei no Photograph and Tokimeki Memorial Culture Version: Komorebi no Melody, dividing 10 of the characters between the two games and adding three new winnable characters, Patricia McGrath, Naomi Munakata, and Kyoko Izumi. The Game Boy Color versions also featured a Beatmania mini-game, compatibility with the Super Game Boy, a screen saver mode, and a two-player versus minigame.

In 2004, the game was ported to mobile phones in Japan, and in 2006, was ported to the PlayStation Portable portable system, which is virtually identical to the PlayStation version. In 2009, the PlayStation version of Tokimeki Memorial was released in Japan on the PlayStation Store to celebrate the franchise's 15th anniversary.^[2]

Characters

Shiori Fujisaki (藤崎 詩織, Fujisaki Shiori)

Voiced by: Mami Kingetsu

The player's childhood friend. She was once a good friend of the protagonist, but drifted apart prior to high school. Both intelligent and beautiful, Shiori is cute and popular. To win her heart, the player needs very good stats all-around. She is never seen without her trademark yellow headband. Shiori is one of the first three phone numbers the player obtains early in the game.

Saki Nijino (虹野 沙希, Nijino Saki)

Voiced by: Sachiko Sugawara

Manager of the school's soccer/baseball team (it varies).

Ayako Katagiri (片桐 彩子, Katagiri Ayako)

Voiced by: Masayo Kawaguchi

An art student who has a habit of using English in everyday speech. She is deathly afraid of water.

Yūko Asahina (朝日奈 夕子, Asahina Yūko)

Voiced by: Yōko Teppōzuka

A cheerful girl who's very active and sociable. She does poorly in school, though. She is often seen with her childhood friend, Yoshio Saotome.

Yukari Koshiki (古式 ゆかり, Koshiki Yukari)

Voiced by: Ayako Kurosaki

A polite, soft-spoken girl who's the daughter of a wealthy family.

Mio Kisaragi (如月 未緒, Kisaragi Mio)

Voiced by: Akiko Sekine

A shy librarian almost never seen without her glasses on.

Yuina Himoo (紐緒 結奈, Himoo Yuina)

Voiced by: Tomoko Naka

A mad scientist of sorts of the school. She is terrified of koalas.

Mira Kagami (鏡 魅羅, Kagami Mira)

Voiced by: Rei Igarashi

A beautiful girl with the looks of a model and a fan club, though she is conceited and hard to talk to.

Nozomi Kiyokawa (清川 望, Kiyokawa Nozomi)

Voiced by: Ayako Sasaki

A tomboyish girl who loves swimming, as well as flowers.

Megumi Mikihara (美樹原 愛, Mikihara Megumi)

Voiced by: Mikiko Kurihara

Shiori's best friend. She is very shy and soft-spoken.

Yumi Saotome (早乙女 優美, Saotome Yumi)

Voiced by: YOSHIKIKURIN

Yoshio's little sister, Yumi is energetic and playful. She enters Kirameki High during the player's second year.

Miharu Tatebayashi (館林 見晴, Tatebayashi Miharu)

Voiced by: Shiho Kikuchi

A hidden girl who seen now and again, but can't officially date in the game. She loves koalas quite a bit.

Yoshio Saotome (早乙女 好雄, Saotome Yoshio)

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda

Often seen around school usually with other girls, Yoshio provides the player with information on the available girls, including their phone numbers, blood type, and various things they like earning him the nickname "Info Otaku". Yoshio's phone number is one of the three phone numbers the player receives in the beginning of the game. If certain conditions are met, Yoshio will become a rival to the player at the end of the third year, attempting to win the heart of one of the girls. The girl he ends up with are limited only to those the player has met and will depend on the player's own success with the girl he has chosen; however, he does not directly fight for any girl the player has chosen. In the spin-off gameTokimeki no Houkago ~Ne Quiz Shiyo~, Yoshio is a winnable character although the player does not actually end up with him; instead, the player and Yoshio make a pact to both find girlfriends. This makes him the only male character (prior to Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side, in which the main objective to end up with are male characters) where the main character can end up with him.

Rei Ijuin (伊集院 レイ, Ijūin Rei)

Voiced by: Narumi Tsunoda

The most popular guy in the school, Rei is the oldest child of a rich and powerful family who makes countless products. However, he has a huge secret he can't reveal to anyone, until which is found by the protagonist that he was a "she". Her little sister, Mei, is a datable girl in Tokimeki Memorial 2. Rei's phone number is one of the first three numbers the player obtains early in the game.

Drama Series only

Minori Akiho (秋穂 みのり, Akiho Minori)

Voiced by: Sakura Tange

Suzune Misaki (美咲 鈴音, Misaki Suzune)

Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima

Tokimeki Memorial Pocket

Kyoko Izumi (和泉 恭子, Izumi Kyōko)

Voiced by: Saki Nakajima

Patricia McGrath (パトリシア・マクグラス, Patorishia Makugurasu)

Voiced by: Masayo Kurata

Naomi Munakata (宗像 尚美, Munakata Naomi)

Voiced by: Yui Horie

Reception

Tokimeki Memorial was voted as the 23rd best video game of all time in a 2006 reader poll by Japanese magazine Famitsu.^[3]

References