Pixelation

General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ryumaru on November 25, 2016, 12:53:27 pm

Title: Hidden Gem: Kakurenbo Monster Battle Tactics
Post by: Ryumaru on November 25, 2016, 12:53:27 pm
Hey pix,
As some of you may know, I'm a little obsessed with GBC restriction stuff. Well in one of my random searches a while back, I stumbled upon a gem I had never seen before and would like to share with you guys: Kakurenbo Monster Battle Tactics. The Japan only nature of the game is probably the reason for this, but I'm still surprised at the lack of exposure this game has.

I was immediately captured by the extremely well done portraits, brought to mind Justin Cyr; not many games do low color, 32x32 portraits as well as this one. The variety of characters and powerful instant reads breath a lot of life into this game. Beyond that, the shadow based mechanic of the game is really impressive to be done on a GBC cartridge.

The environment work is more standard rpg, but is very servicable, and the bright colors and crisp shapes definitely lend to a highly polished look. This game being released near the end of the GBC lifespan makes sense, as it often feels more like an early GBA title.

I doubt anything will ever dethrone Star Ocean: Blue sphere in terms of superior GBC graphics, but it's nice to have a new title to oogle at! Below are some screenshots, and at the end, a collection of some of the portraits I put together. I don't have the time to go through the game with it being all japanese, but if some brave or knowledgeable soul wants to take a stab at getting some rips of the later characters, that would be awesome :D

(http://i.imgur.com/bGCsXCz.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/vVAd9FH.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/R224QjK.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/dZcbtBz.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/VKjE7W3.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/DHvxOii.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/rWCEyjh.png)
Title: Re: Hidden Gem: Kakurenbo Monster Battle Tactics
Post by: Prism on November 27, 2016, 04:28:39 am
The dense amount of detail on that first town screenshot is very impressive, and makes me reconsider how much detail can actually fit into such a small resolution. The buildings are all rectangular, so that helps...but it's very effective nonetheless. The portraits are similarly lovely. Lots of subtle facial stuff in so few pixels.

This is something I'd be interesting in looking through! I may give it a go later on. Nice find, Ryu!