(This was played using a Fan Translation done by LIPEMCO! Translations. Thank you to all the talented and wonderful people for making this translation!)

Japanese exclusive games have always been an interest for me mostly because it feels like you’re in a new realm of what’s available. I always wondered what was out in this realm that could be fun to play. I’ve experienced many things like getting into the Puyo Puyo series, Anime games like Sailor Moon games, and so much more. One of the games I wanted to try was Idol Hakkenden, a Famicom text adventure game made in 1989. Idols are something I enjoy, I think my first experience involving any of that was maybe Love Live? I had a liking to watch those kinds of Anime for over 5 years at this point. Idol Hakkenden looked like it could be a winner but I just didn’t play it for the longest time. In fact the thing that got me to play it was just because the Famidaily series of videos at the time had its episode for that game uploaded and I told myself to play and finish the game before watching. Last year I actually played and finished it and gave it an 8/10 and gave a short review. I wanna say a little bit after that, I got obsessed with the main character and just the game and I couldn’t stop thinking about it to the point it became a top 10 game for the system. I’d recommend playing the game before reading if you’ve had interest in playing it. While I don’t really expect anyone to read it, I won’t really care because I wanna write this out of passion. Here are my thoughts on Idol Hakkenden.

This game was published by Towa Chiki which might raise flags for some as that name is associated with kusoge like the Famicom game, A Week of Garfield. Once you turn on the game, you’ll see it was developed by a relatively new company named Natsume. At this point they had only made another text adventure game called Touhou Kenbun Roku. They would be later known for many good games like Abadox, Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain, Power Blade, Mitsume ga Tooru, Wild Guns, Kiki KaiKai: Nazo no Kuro Manto, and The Ninja Warriors Again. Though it seems a lot of the staff for this game never really went on to do much. There is the Producer/Music guy named Kiyohiro Sada who worked on some other Natsume games along with two programmers named Kou Ohira and Satoshi Yoshikawa though it should be noted Kou’s only other works are the two Palamedes games. I do find it interesting Natsume was a text adventure developer for their first two outings but it never really stayed that way. Not sure if it was because the genre was dying on the console and was being put on stuff like PC Engine instead but regardless let’s talk about the game now.

Idol Hakkenden stars a girl by the name of Erika who is going to be an up and coming idol. The game starts with the mother being on her deathbed and the daughter with the best reputation would inherit her fortune. Erika with no special talent is told she could make it big with her great singing. Oddly this fortune stuff is never really brought up again but I like to see it as more Erika caring more about singing to everyone then money which is respectable. Your goal is to find 7 other people to help you get farther in your career though there is still many things Erika will have to conquer like trying to find the music and lyrics to a song called “Kimi wa HoeHoe Musume” and even having to fight off a person named the Kooky King that’s trying to get her on his side to take over the world and make everything Kooky.

Unlike some text adventures, it’s a very linear type of game and it’s impossible for the game to be unbeatable when going through it so don’t be afraid of that ever happening. It doesn’t really do anything innovative for the genre with your standard options like “Look” “Talk” “Take” “Use” and “Move” but it does have an “Erika” option to do a few things like singing, dancing, smiling, and even acting dumb. There’s also a “Friends” option for talking to anyone you have with you as they can help you out. The game is divided into 5 different acts that use a password feature so make sure you write them down as they are pretty short. The game also isn’t that long, it took me less than 2 hours to finish this game on my 2nd playthrough. In some ways the game reminds me of something you’d see in an OVA series. If you like these kinds of games, you’ll feel right at home.

Stories are always a thing I struggle to write about, I think the only time I ever felt passionate about writing one in a game review was with Blue Reflection Second Light. I just for some reason suck at writing about them, I can’t even remember character names most of the time because well I’m just dumb probably. A lot of the story goes more on the comedy side. Watching that Famidaily video, I remember the guy said it was rather mixed with what Japan thought of it. Some think it’s actually funny but some would also tell you it’s pretty corny. For me I enjoy it a lot but it’s very easy to please me. This game has some really funny scenes like a guy at this concert trying to end his life with a bomb only for Erika to sing and then give a nice big smile to have him just stop. There’s also a part where Erika dances to an old man thinking it’s the only way to speak with him only for him to say he was messing with her. Erika’s expressions also really help the scenes. In fact a lot of the art feels purposefully drawn to look crude or funny. I always wondered if some of it being “ugly” was intentional but I’m pretty sure it is.

While it is funny, it is a pretty fun plot too as you’ll be traveling to many places seeing the sights and it never really feels boring. In fact I just enjoy the game from beginning to end with the writing being funny and having a likable protagonist. Erika has to be one of my favorite video game characters. There’s something about her design and the writing that appeals to me so much. It probably doesn’t mean much to some but to me I just can’t help but appreciate everything about her. There’s something so funny to how she can solve stuff like suicide, ghosts, and even biker gangs by just doing something as simple as singing or dancing.

Oh right, the singing! That is one really cool thing about this game. Okay so this game has music as you would expect and it’s good stuff though it is oddly hard to find online outside of like one video but I’m not really a fan of that upload. You got some good songs like The Cyber Gong Show, Shougeki no Chest Buster, and Iromono’s Troops. What makes the OST so cool though is that this game has actual vocal songs. Obviously there’s no voices but the music actually plays in timing with the words Erika is saying meaning you could actually sing along to them really adding to the fact that Erika is indeed a good singer. It adds a lot of personality to the game and is one of the highlights for the game. The most famous one has to be the main theme I mentioned earlier. It has its own version when playing the game but there’s a full vocal song for this which makes getting the song through the adventure feel even more worth your time. It’s gotta be one of my favorite songs on the Famicom and it’s a shame it is obscure in the states.

If I had to list one negative for me and this is more just me probably not being good at these games but I’ve always had the problem of being in a situation where I’m just like “QUICK TRY EVERYTHING!” and it can happen a bit for me to notice it. You can also get game overs in this game but don’t worry you just reset the room you were in and these only start happening by the 4th act of the game. That 4th act can actually be pretty intense as you learned the girl that was helping you the entire time was actually a spy that was working with the Kooky King and even the King himself is a relative of Erika which in the game’s comedy points out how this is the game’s big plot twist. Erika will be put into tough decisions which can make it stressful even if you know there’s not really much punishment though maybe being able to see her getting stabbed with a knife was a bit much. Don’t worry guys because I made sure this time it didn’t happen! She’s safe.

There’s something about this game that just never leaves my mind, it’s such a memorable experience. In a way this is a top 10 game for me. Sure it may not be that replayable, it doesn’t have the best writing, and you could argue I’ve been overreacting about this game but to me it just appeals to me in a way barely many games do. I sometimes feel like I’m too afraid to admit when a game is a “10/10” to me because I guess I don’t wanna make people think I’m over praising it. The more I think about it though, the more I think of how much the experience of Idol Hakkenden made me happy. In the end isn’t that all that matters? Idol Hakkenden has an awesome main character, a fun story, funny writing and never really feels dull or boring. The music is one of the most interesting on the entire system and there’s really not much like it. Besides the usual text adventure stuff you see in these games, the game feels pretty unique. I think I wrote something earlier that it doesn't really innovate at all? I guess it doesn't really but the feeling the game gives really does impress.

Idol Hakkenden ends on such a great note too. You’re given time to reflect on the journey as everything is okay and you finally saved everyone from the Kookyness that was going on. There’s even a funny moment where you use the Gallop Horse that was controlling the King leading to a joke bad ending where Erika ran off to continue what the King aimed to do. But once you’re done, you’re given a performance of “Kimi wa HoeHoe Musume” similar to what the opening shows. I guess I never brought up that opening which is one of the best on the console even if the animation is very limited. Here in the ending though you get to hear the whole song and they even give you lyrics to follow along to. All the hard work was worth it as I’m now singing along to the song, easily one of the most memorable endings in a game for me.

Despite never getting a sequel the series kept a legacy in Japan with a remix album happening 2011 and even a sequel light novel happening in 2014. It still has a following even to this day, you might still see fanart of it from time to time. It’s nice to see that fans of it still exist. Would I like to see a sequel to Idol Hakkenden? I’m not really sure, I would probably buy it if it did exist but I’m always afraid of companies screwing it up. Though obviously it will probably never happen as the original game hasn’t even gotten a rerelease ever. The original game is also pretty expensive to get even just the cartridge alone. I’ve noticed this happens a lot with Famicom games with a girl on the cover.

If you somehow read this all the way through, if anyone is even reading this, thank you for your time. This is one of those games I just wanted to write about and this is a game I’ll probably try to play every year. It’s a game that I’ll never forget about, especially the catchy music. It may not have the best story and for some it’s probably just a game they find decent at best but to me it was an experience I’ll never forget. Not sure if I’d recommend it to people on this site because I feel like when I do people just end up not liking it as much as I do. Not really sure how to end this review off...nope I got nothing.