Yūyūki

Infobox VG
title = Yūyūki


caption = Disc 1 box art (left) and Disc 2 box art (right).
developer = Pax Softnica
publisher = Nintendo
designer = Keiji Terui (director) Soyo Oka (sound composer)
released = FDS ^JPN Disc 1: October 14, 1989
^JPN Disc 2: November 14, 1989
genre = Adventure
modes = Single player
platforms = Famicom Disk System
media = Floppy disk

nihongo|"Yūyūki"|遊遊記 is a video game title developed by Pax Softnica and released by Nintendo for the Famicom Disk System in 1989.

The game consists of two disks, released on October 14, 1989 and November 14, 1989 respectively. The game's full title is nihongo|"Famicom Mukashibanashi Yūyūki"|ふぁみこんむかし話 遊遊記|"Famicom Fairytales: Yuyuki", and the game is the second of the Famicom Fairytales series after "Shin Onigashima". The game was never released outside of Japan.

Gameplay

"Yuyuki" is an adventure game played by choosing from several text commands shown on screen. It resembles its predecessor, "Shin Onigashima", in its implementation of the "Change Character" command, usage of traditional Japanese fairytales, and general screen layout and appearance. The story-line is a parody of the Chinese legend "Journey to the West", where two main characters, Goku and Chao, embark upon separate journeys to find one another.

In "Yuyuki", the "Change Character" command can switch between a maximum of five different characters. However, there are very few points in the game where it can actually be used to such extent. Its main use is to switch between Goku and the others accompanying him. Like "Shin Onigashima", the character in use can greatly affect the descriptive text shown on screen, and the significant increase in number of characters allowed for more variety in each scene. It is possible to enjoy the game by viewing the reactions towards choosing completely unrelated characters or commands in certain situations.

While "Shin Onigashima" demanded rather complex puzzle-solving abilities, "Yuyuki" mainly focuses on having the player carefully read and understand the story-line. Puzzles are solved easily in this game, and very few choices actually lead to a "game over" screen. Easy trivia questions and simple action gameplay emerge at certain points, and players may find themselves searching for the obvious answer on screen more often than thinking hard to solve the puzzle at hand.

Main changes in gameplay from "Shin Onigashima" include the implementation of the "Ittaisan" command, which saves progress at any point during the game, and faster animation of game text. The shortening in load time after choosing commands, and an overall decrease in difficulty allowed "Yuyuki" to run at a much quicker tempo than its predecessor.

Plot

Once upon a time, a little girl named Chao lived in a small village in China. One night, a meteor fell near Chao's home, which burst open to reveal a monkey inside. Chao named the monkey "Goku," and took care of him for a while. However, Goku is led away and imprisoned by Oshakasama for the various crimes he has committed, and Chao sets off to find the "Gavel of Light" in order to save him. Several years later, the world is put under peril at the hands of the bull-monster Gyumaou, and Goku is called upon to save the world...

Characters

The links labeled "see also" are articles for each character in "Journey to the West". Descriptions given here may differ significantly with that of the actual novel.

The player has the option of choosing different names for Goku and Chao at the start of the game. The "Change Character" command can be used with the first five characters listed below.

;Goku:The hero of the game. Rough, rude, and often selfish, he attempted to take over heaven with Gyumaou, but was caught and exiled to a far corner of the world by Oshakasama. He learns the importance of kindness and diligence through his travels with Chao (see also: Sun Wukong).;Chao:The heroine of the game. She enjoys reading romance novels, and often dreams of idealized love relationships. Her parents have already passed away, and she begins her journey to save Goku; her only remaining "family" member. She is an innocent and kind-hearted individual.;Sanzo:A lecherous, lazy, and unhygienic monk. He travels to Tenjiku in search of a scroll containing the "Philosophy of Enjoying Life Without Working." He rides on a scooter named "Ryukichi," and has a habit of adding "-nandana" to the end of his sentences (see also: Xuanzang).;Hakkai:A greedy pig youkai with a never-ending appetite. He speaks in Kansai dialect, and has transformation and clairvoyance abilities. He was a petty criminal before being beaten up by Goku. Like Sanzo, he joins the journey to discover the "Philosophy of Enjoying Life Without Working" (see also: Zhu Bajie).;Gojo:A kappa capable of reading minds. He joins the group because he is dissatisfied with his current life. He exhibits a discreet personality most of the time, but is actually an alcoholic (see also: Sha Wujing).;Gyumaou:A cold and ruthless bull youkai bent upon taking over the entire world. He was banished from the Earth ages ago along with Goku, but managed to return and restart his evil plans.;Oshakasama:The peacekeeper of the heavens. Appears on occasion to give advice to Chao and Sanzo on keeping Goku on the righteous path and defeating Gyumaou (see also: Guanyin).;Rasetsujo:Gyumaou's wife. Rumored to be extremely beautiful, but her actual features are horrifically ugly. Wields a fan with magical properties (see also: Princess Iron Fan).;Kougaiji:The son of Gyumaou and Rasetsujo. Arrogant and big-mouthed, but pathetically weak in terms of fighting ability (see also: Red Boy).;Kinkaku & Ginkaku:A pair of thugs that terrorize Onna Village. They are employed by Gyumaou, and lure potential victims into participating in their trivia contest.;Kumojijii (Cloud Geezer):A master of martial arts living on Borscht Mountain in Siberia. Over 300 years of age.;Katyusha:Kumojijii's girlfriend. Kidnapped by Gyumaou and his cronies.;Sunajijii (Sand Geezer):The younger brother of Kumojijii living in Hawaii. Spends most of his life living underneath sand.;Gyudon store owner:The owner of a gyudon store located on the Hawaiian beach. His daughter is kidnapped by Rasetsujo.;Gyudon store owner's daughter:The kidnapped daughter of the gyudon store owner. She is imprisoned in the Gyumaou Hotel.;Dancing people:A deranged group of people dancing in the streets of Tokyo.;Ittaisan:The game's narrator and only returning character from "Shin Onigashima".

Television commercial

An odd commercial for the game was aired prior to its release, featuring real-life versions of the main characters (all wearing sunglasses) visiting various locations by plane in a "Tenjiku Tour" (Tenjiku is the final destination in Journey to the West, located in India). The most striking part was the commercial's jingle; the developers employed a strange song of no particular meaning that ranted the names of the main characters. This was the last FDS game advertised on television.

Port issues

While "Shin Onigashima" was ported to the Super Famicom and Game Boy Advance, no talk of porting or remaking "Yuyuki" for other systems has ever emerged. The explanation given was that the game lacked proper copyright clearance from developers and writers, but this explanation is dubious because "Shin Onigashima" was created by the same company and staff. The FDS's disk rewriting service ended in September, 2003, but rewriting for "Yuyuki" was terminated a year earlier in October, 2002.

Yuyuki and Kirby's Dream Land

Goku and Chao made cameo appearances in the "Kirby's Dream Land" series. The appearances do not add to the game's storyline, but they play key roles in finishing each game.
* Chao appears in "Kirby's Dream Land 2", which was released in 1995. The player's progress is shown in percentage on the menu screen in this game, and the only way to reach 100% is to rescue Chao from a certain mini-boss. The picture shown on the sound test screen is a parody of a scene in "Yuyuki".
* Both Goku and Chao appear in "Kirby's Dream Land 3", released in 1998. Finding Goku and Chao on a certain level awards the player an item needed to defeat the final boss of the game.

References

*cite web
title = Japanese Wikipedia - 遊遊記
url=http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/遊遊記
accessdate = 2007-11-20

ee also

* "Shin Onigashima"
* ""
* ""

External links

* [http://nindb.classicgaming.gamespy.com/fmc-uu1.shtml "Yuyuki" on Nintendo Database]
* [http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/fds/01/63.html Screenshots]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lDQDWTKjLg The television commercial on Youtube]