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Sometime in the 23rd century, fossil fuels have
gone the way of the dinosaur and man relies solely on nuclear power supplied by
reactors on the moon. A relay satellite system transmits the crackling energy to
Earth and civilization's survival hinges on the off-world power source. This
exclusive reliance proves to be man's downfall when the system fails and shuts
down - cutting power to the majority of humanity. One lone satellite spins
around Earth, dutifully transmitting power to Asia where the people revert to a
communal existence. To test the mettle of the survivors, an evil megalomaniac
hatches plans to destroy the last satellite and sink the final remaining bastion
on Earth into darkness.
That won't do.
Enter J-Pop star Gackt Camui who plays the part of main protagonist Wang-Yu Liu
whose mission is to foil the evil plans the satellite destroyer. Opposing him is
Koichi Yamadera (the voice of Spike Spiegel - Cowboy Bebop) in the role of Shen-Long
Lei who has set plans in motion for the final blackout.
Fusing swordplay with a futuristic dystopian scenario to fight within, Bujingai
marks Taito's 50th Anniversary celebratory release with design contributions
from Toshihiro Kawamoto of Cowboy Bebop fame and Yousuke Kuroda of Trigun renown
and Onegai Teacher notoriety. Gackt's Wang-Yu performs mighty sword slashes,
whirling dervish attacks and aerial strikes with his ability to jump up and stay
aloft for inordinate amounts of time. Artistic flourishes during battle are
evident where all movements have an almost elegant fluidity to them. Woo-Ping
Yuen and his wire-work crew appears to have inspired the buoyant feel and action
in the game. Controls are fairly simple with stylish attacks, jumps, double
jumps and short glides where light trails glimmer off Wang-Yu (the gliding looks
like a Jehuty in flight). There's also the ability to wall-walk to scale tall
towers that would be out of reach for mere humans. Smashing out a succession of
attacks is called a combo and a large number of hits may be pulled off with
Gackt's spinning attacks when foes are in close proximity. Along with the blade
action, magic attacks may also be shot out for local area pyrotechnic light
shows. It's all very impressive and Famitsu gave Bujingai a 31/40 in last week's
issue which is good enough for Silver.
Gackt claims that he's over 400 years old (yes, really) so playing the part of a
fighter in 22XX AD might not be that much of a stretch. For those not familiar
with Gackt, he's a Japanese idol who tests hundreds of hair hues in videos,
concerts and appearances with colors ranging from stark white to coffee-colored
tresses. The red 'do in Bujinjai makes him look even more effeminate than usual
and he bears some resemblance to Brigitte Nielson's Red Sonja (1985). Androgyny
is also big with Gackt and unsuspecting citizens might mistake him for a her. He
for a she. Since he's a mega J-Pop star, legions of fans in Japan will pick the
game up just to check out his sword fighting technique, listen to the music,
memorize his lines and maybe get around to playing the game after paying the
proper adulation to the game cover and instruction manual.
For those Gackt fans who refuse to purchase Bujingai just because he's in it or
because a Japanese PS2 console is not in their futures, there's always the free
online
Gackt
Shopping game where the J-Popster deftly trundles a shopping cart in order to
catch falling foodstuff. The rain of meat appears to consist of ham hocks or
some other pork mishmash... We don't understand the guns though. Enjoy.
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