Well before their Elf All Stars Datsui Jan series, Elf released this mahjong game in the early 90s'. Developed during their RPG period and just before Doukyuusei, it has that distinct early PC-98 style that will immediately appeal to some people. Beyond that, it's a pretty basic game.
You play as a "professional" mahjong player. A sketchy job for a sketchy character since he starts the story pursued by the yakuza. Running away, he bumps into a poor office lady and to trick his pursuers, he kisses her to make them look like an unrelated couple. The girl obviously complains and gets caught by the two idiotic yakuza dudes who think she's his girlfriend. Meanwhile, our "hero" runs away and leaves town.
He comes back two years later, up to his usual shenanigans. The main character quickly learns of a new mahjong "dojo" that opened during his absence: a strip mahjong establishment where you pay a pretty substantial sum of money to get the chance of stripping down young women (and maybe more).
That's it, that's the story.
There are at least two issues you can see from the summary alone: first, the "plot" by itself is pretty dire; secondly, the main character is a completely idiotic asshat with no redeeming qualities whatsoever beyond knowing how to play mahjong.
Gameplay is more complex than your usual strip mahjong video game. You move your character on a small city map, reminding of the one in Doukyuusei in a much smaller scale. On that map, you can access various mahjong parlors, shops and hotels to replenish your health. Because, yes, you've got a health gauge, and also a "spirit" gauge. It looks a bit like a RPG at first, but the game system is actually very simple.
The main interest of Jan Jaka Jan is the actual mahjong. You have two types: one-on-one duel like in most strip mahjong games, and traditional 4 players game (it's a Japanese game, so it's all Japanese riichi mahjong, of course). The mahjong dojo duels have a special rule where you start at zero point and risk going home at the first defeat, but on the other hand, you only need to win three times to beat the girl. Mahjong gameplay is unsurprising. Sadly I found the difficulty very uneven and RNG-dependant, even for a luck game. You either roll over the opponents, or you get rolled yourself. Tense battles where every hand is important are rare, you're better off reloading the game until luck is on your side to win. Another issue is the "spirit" gauge mechanic: when you get hit directly (ron or tsumo, doesn't matter), you lose willpower. And the less willpower you have, the worst starting hands you get. So it can basically start a losing spiral (fun!). At least you can use items to heal (and there's also cheat items if that's your thing).
One final word (warning) on the mahjong: it's not a game for beginners. The reason is that the game will let you chombo. Press riichi by mistake? Be ready to eat a 8000 points penalty! If you don't know when to open your hand, or how furiten works, then don't bother with this game at all.
The general flow of the game is making money at the various parlors in town, then using this money to heal and to challenge the girls, repeat until you've beaten everyone. It's very simple and grindy. There's also story events along the way (you get your money stolen three times during the story, by the way) (yeah, more grind). Well, I guess, the main point is the mahjong anyway.
If you want to point a good reason to play this game, it's the beautiful art (I especially like the character designs of the four parlors owners). It also has a funny (but obvious) plot twist at the end (don't get me wrong, the story is still crap).
Overall, it's a barely above-average mahjong game.
You play as a "professional" mahjong player. A sketchy job for a sketchy character since he starts the story pursued by the yakuza. Running away, he bumps into a poor office lady and to trick his pursuers, he kisses her to make them look like an unrelated couple. The girl obviously complains and gets caught by the two idiotic yakuza dudes who think she's his girlfriend. Meanwhile, our "hero" runs away and leaves town.
He comes back two years later, up to his usual shenanigans. The main character quickly learns of a new mahjong "dojo" that opened during his absence: a strip mahjong establishment where you pay a pretty substantial sum of money to get the chance of stripping down young women (and maybe more).
That's it, that's the story.
There are at least two issues you can see from the summary alone: first, the "plot" by itself is pretty dire; secondly, the main character is a completely idiotic asshat with no redeeming qualities whatsoever beyond knowing how to play mahjong.
Gameplay is more complex than your usual strip mahjong video game. You move your character on a small city map, reminding of the one in Doukyuusei in a much smaller scale. On that map, you can access various mahjong parlors, shops and hotels to replenish your health. Because, yes, you've got a health gauge, and also a "spirit" gauge. It looks a bit like a RPG at first, but the game system is actually very simple.
The main interest of Jan Jaka Jan is the actual mahjong. You have two types: one-on-one duel like in most strip mahjong games, and traditional 4 players game (it's a Japanese game, so it's all Japanese riichi mahjong, of course). The mahjong dojo duels have a special rule where you start at zero point and risk going home at the first defeat, but on the other hand, you only need to win three times to beat the girl. Mahjong gameplay is unsurprising. Sadly I found the difficulty very uneven and RNG-dependant, even for a luck game. You either roll over the opponents, or you get rolled yourself. Tense battles where every hand is important are rare, you're better off reloading the game until luck is on your side to win. Another issue is the "spirit" gauge mechanic: when you get hit directly (ron or tsumo, doesn't matter), you lose willpower. And the less willpower you have, the worst starting hands you get. So it can basically start a losing spiral (fun!). At least you can use items to heal (and there's also cheat items if that's your thing).
One final word (warning) on the mahjong: it's not a game for beginners. The reason is that the game will let you chombo. Press riichi by mistake? Be ready to eat a 8000 points penalty! If you don't know when to open your hand, or how furiten works, then don't bother with this game at all.
The general flow of the game is making money at the various parlors in town, then using this money to heal and to challenge the girls, repeat until you've beaten everyone. It's very simple and grindy. There's also story events along the way (you get your money stolen three times during the story, by the way) (yeah, more grind). Well, I guess, the main point is the mahjong anyway.
If you want to point a good reason to play this game, it's the beautiful art (I especially like the character designs of the four parlors owners). It also has a funny (but obvious) plot twist at the end (don't get me wrong, the story is still crap).
Overall, it's a barely above-average mahjong game.