Hoshi Wo Miru Hito

Last updated

Hoshi Wo Miru Hito
HoshiWoMiruHito cover.png
Developer(s) Another
Publisher(s) HOT-B
Platform(s) Famicom
Release
  • JP: October 27, 1987
Genre(s) Role-playing game

Hoshi Wo Miru Hito [lower-alpha 1] is a 1987 role-playing video game developed by Another and published by HOT-B for the Famicom. It is based on the 1984 video game Psychic City. The game is a science fiction RPG where players use psychic powers to fight enemies.

Contents

Reviewers noted the often confusing and highly difficult gameplay. Japanese gamers have dubbed it "Densetsu no Kusoge" (伝説のクソゲー, lit. '"Legendary Crappy Game').

Development

The game is developed by game developer Another and is based on the earlier 1984 cyberpunk-themed computer role-playing game Psychic City. [1] Psychic City was a 1984 PC-8801 role-playing game set in New York where everyone had psychic powers. [2]

The game's copyright is owned by City Connection Co., Ltd. as of 2016. [3]

Story

The game is set in a cyberpunk-style future world in which the supercomputer Crew III has brainwashed Earth's population into driving themselves to extinction. The only ones who can resist Crew III are those with extrasensory perception, whom Crew III has sent a team of bounty hunters to wipe out. By the time the game begins, only four psychics --- who, incidentally, are the four player characters --- are known to remain: the children Minami, Shiba, Misa, and Aine. The four must journey to Ark City, and eventually, outer space, in order to defeat Crew III.

In the end, however, the party learns that Crew III didn't exist; rather, the humans were being brainwashed by a race of sapient dolphins who, depending on the player's choices, want to either annihilate or befriend the human race.

Gameplay

Hoshi wo Miru Hito is a science fiction RPG [4] infamous for its difficult gameplay and elements that make the game confusing and cryptic. For example, at the beginning of the game, the player is put into the field map without any explanation on any goals, and the entrance to the first town the player needs to visit is not displayed on the field map at all. [4] There is no "escape" command; the player needs to learn a specific ESP skill by levelling up in order to escape from battles. [5] [4]

In the early part of the game, there is only a single way to restore health, which is a single spot within the first town. [5]

Game over occurs when all the players characters reach zero hit points. Early in the game, it's very easy to die due to poor balancing, powerful enemies, and inability to escape from battles, but later in the game the player's characters become strong enough that it's very difficult to kill the entire party. [6]

Release

The game was published on October 27, 1987, for the Famicom home console, and published by HOT-B. [7] [8] The game was only released in Japan. [1] In 2004, a free fan game remake was created, titled STARGAZER. [9]

On February 27, 2013, the soundtrack was released on the compact disc Rom Cassette Disc In HOT-B. The four disc album is a compilation of music from HOT-B's games. The soundtrack was released by City Connection through the "Claris Disk" label. [10] On October 19, 2015, the album was made available for download. [11]

In 2020, it was announced that City Connection would give the game a worldwide release for the Nintendo Switch developed by Empty Clip Studios using the Arsenal emulation software engine. It was released in Japan on July 30, 2020 but was never released elsewhere. [12] [13]

Reception

Reviewers complained about the balance of the game's systems but praised the science fiction scenario. [14] Due to these issues, the game has been listed as a Kusoge game. [6] [15]

Upon release, in the "Cross Review" section of Weekly Famitsu , four reviewers gave it a scores of 4, 5, 6, 4 for a total of 19 out of 40. [16] [17] Readers of Family Computer Magazine voted to score the game 16.08 out of 30 points. [14]

The 2016 mook Nostalgic Famicom Perfect Guide ranked the game as #5 for in its "Impossible Game Ranking" of Famicom games. It suggested the game was impossible without a strategy guide, and when facing the strongest enemies in the game will lead to complete destruction of the player and there's little the player can do to prevent this. [4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: 星をみるひと, Hepburn: Hoshi Wo Miru Hito, "Stargazer"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nakoruru</span> Fictional character

Nakoruru is a fictional character in the Samurai Shodown series of fighting games by SNK. She is one of the series' best known and most popular characters alongside its main protagonist Haohmaru, and has been introduced in the original Samurai Shodown in 1993. Nakoruru is a good-hearted, young Ainu shrine maiden who loves nature and fights evil with the help of her hawk sidekick Mamahaha. She has a younger sister named Rimururu and an aggressive, and bloodthirsty darker side alter-ego known as Rera. As one of SNK's popular mascot characters, Nakoruru has also appeared in many other games and other media.

<i>Famitsu</i> Line of Japanese video game magazines

Famitsu, formerly Famicom Tsūshin, is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage, a subsidiary of Kadokawa. Famitsu is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the form of special topical issues devoted to only one console, video game company, or other theme. Shūkan Famitsū, the original Famitsu publication, is considered the most widely read and respected video game news magazine in Japan. From October 28, 2011, the company began releasing the digital version of the magazine exclusively on BookWalker weekly.

1986 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario Bros. 2, along with new titles such as Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Castlevania, Dragon Quest, Ikari Warriors, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Out Run and R.B.I. Baseball. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Hang-On in Japan, Hang-On and Gauntlet in the United States, and Nemesis (Gradius) in London. The year's best‑selling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video games in Western markets were Super Mario Bros. in the United States and Yie Ar Kung-Fu in the United Kingdom.

<i>Whomp Em</i> 1991 video game

Whomp 'Em, the North American version of the Japanese game Saiyūki World 2: Tenjōkai no Majin (1990), is a platform game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in March 1991. It is named after Wampum.

<i>Ogre Battle</i> Video game series

Ogre Battle is a series of five tactical role-playing and real-time strategy video games developed by Quest Corporation and is currently owned by Square Enix through Square's acquisition of Quest. There are five main games in the series, starting with the release of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen in 1993.

<i>Famicom Wars</i> 1988 video game

Famicom Wars is a wargame developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Famicom. It was released on August 12, 1988 in Japan. It was later re-released on Virtual Console. It is the first game in the Wars series.

Metal Max is a role-playing video game series created by Hiroshi Miyaoka and his studio Crea-Tech. The first title was developed by Crea-Tech in collaboration with Data East, and was published by Data East in 1991. Due to the bankruptcy of Data East and trademark problems, some titles were released by Success co. under the title Metal Saga. Since the trademark issue was resolved by Enterbrain, some games in the series have been released under the title Metal Max again.

<i>Road Blaster</i> 1985 video game

Road Blaster (ロードブラスター) is an interactive movie video game developed by Data East featuring animation by Toei Animation, originally released exclusively in Japan as a laserdisc-based arcade game in 1985. The player assumes the role of a vigilante who must avenge the death of his wife by pursuing the biker gang responsible for her death in a modified sports car. The game would later be ported to a variety of home formats such as the MSX and Sharp X1, Sega CD, LaserActive, PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The Sega CD and Mega-LD versions were released outside of Japan under titles of Road Avenger and Road Prosecutor respectively.

<i>Taiko no Tatsujin</i> Video game series

Taiko no Tatsujin is a video game series created by Namco. In the games, players simulate playing a taiko drum in time with music. The series has released games for the arcade and for console and mobile platforms including PlayStation 2, Advanced Pico Beena, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android and Japanese feature phones.

<i>Twilight Syndrome</i> Video game series

Twilight Syndrome is a horror-themed adventure game series released exclusively in Japan. It was created by Human Entertainment and continued by Spike after Human folded in the late 1990s. The games generally follow high school girls investigating urban legends about ghosts and other paranormal happenings in their school and neighborhood.

<i>The Legend of Bishin</i> 1993 video game

Zoku: The Legend of Bishin is a hybrid racing and beat 'em up video game that was developed and published by Magifact for the Super Famicom in 1993 only in Japan.

<i>Asuka 120%</i> Fighting video game series

Asuka 120% (あすか120%) is a Japanese bishōjo fighting game series developed by Fill-in-Cafe and published by FamilySoft. It is set in a school where members of school clubs fight each other in a fighting tournament. Originally released on the FM Towns home personal computer in 1994, it was released for multiple systems through the years. Masatoshi Imaizumi led development with artwork provided by manga artist Aoi Nanase and music by Keishi Yonao.

<i>Star Luster</i> 1985 video game

Star Luster is a 1985 space combat simulator video game developed and published by Namco for the Family Computer in Japan. and adapted for play in arcades via the Nintendo VS. System. Star Luster is set in the same universe as Namco's Bosconian (1981), and the gameplay has strong similarities to Atari, Inc.'s Star Raiders from 1979.

Susumu Matsushita is a Japanese manga artist known for his unique American comic–influenced design. His most famous works are the designing of the mascots Neppie and Ripsea of the Orix Buffaloes, the concept art for the Monkey Magic television series, and video game artwork for Hudson's Adventure Island series (1986), Motor Toon Grand Prix (1994), and Maximo: Ghosts to Glory (2001).

<i>Theatrhythm Dragon Quest</i> 2015 video game

Theatrhythm Dragon Quest is a rhythm game developed by indieszero and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in Japan on March 26, 2015, and was the first game of its type in the Dragon Quest series and the third Theatrhythm game after Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call.

4Gamer.net is a Japanese video game website operated by Aetas Inc. It was launched in August 2000.

<i>Wonder Flick</i> 2014 video game

Wonder Flick was a role-playing video game developed and published by Level-5, which was released for iOS and Android devices. Versions for the Wii U, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One were planned, but these were eventually cancelled upon the shutdown of the mobile version in 2015.

AQURIA Co., Ltd. is a Japanese game developer based in Yokohama, Japan. The company is mainly engaged in software development of console games.

Cattle Call Inc. is a Japanese game developer based in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established by former staff of Data East Corporation and is engaged in developing original console games as well as co-developing and porting games for other game companies.

<i>Cocoron</i> 1991 video game

Cocoron is a 1991 video game developed by K2 and published by Takeru for the Famicom. A version for the PC Engine was announced, but was not released.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hoshi wo Miru Hito – Hardcore Gaming 101". Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  2. ↑ "4Gamer.net". www.4gamer.net. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  3. ↑ 電撃オンライン. "ジャレコの版権を持つシティコネクションに訊く、これまでとこれから。次に狙うのはIPを使ったゲーム開発". 電撃オンライン (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 5, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Nostalgic Famicom Perfect Guide (in Japanese). M.B.MOOK. 2016. p. 28. ISBN   9784906735891. OCLC   961800615.
  5. 1 2 死ぬ前にクリアしたい200の無理ゲー ファミコン&スーファミ (in Japanese). Tokyo: My Way Publishing. October 10, 2018. p. 38. ISBN   9784865119855. OCLC   1051229562.
  6. 1 2 ファミコンクソゲー番付 (in Japanese). Tōkyō: My Way Publishing. January 25, 2017. p. 73. ISBN   9784865116373. OCLC   968201147.
  7. ↑ "星をみるひと [ファミコン] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Gaming Life in Japan". IGN. November 5, 2007. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Stargazer". www5b.biglobe.ne.jp. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  10. ↑ "ゲームメーカー"ホット・ビィ"のサウンドトラックCDが発売決定". ファミ通.com (in Japanese). January 23, 2013. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  11. ↑ Inc, Aetas. "「星をみるひと」のサントラがクラリスディスクのDL販売第7弾として登場". www.4gamer.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  12. ↑ Inc, Aetas. "1987年に登場したファミコンソフト「星をみるひと」のSwitch版制作が決定。ゲームに実装されるイラストの募集もスタート". www.4gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved May 1, 2020.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ↑ "33 Years Later, Japanese Famicom RPG Hoshi wo Miru Hito Is Being Rereleased On Switch". Nintendo Life. May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  14. 1 2 "May 10th Special Appendix Famicom ROM Cassette All Catalog". Family Computer Magazine. Vol. 7, no. 9. Tokuma Shoten. May 10, 1991. p. 174.
  15. ↑ "「Oh, What a Kusoge!!」日本の名だたるクソゲーを紹介する企画にアメリカのハードコアゲーマーたちが熱狂した夜【PAX EAST 2017】". ファミ通.com (in Japanese). March 11, 2017. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  16. ↑ "New Game Cross Reviews". Weekly Famitsu. No. 22. ASCII. October 30, 1987.
  17. ↑ "星をみるひと [ファミコン] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.