Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō (Black Panther: Like a Dragon New Chapter),and Kurohyō 2: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura hen (Black Panther 2: Like a Dragon Ashura Chapter) are pair of PSP games released in 2010 and 2012 respectively. As the name suggest, Kurohyō is a spin-off of the Ryu ga Gotoku/Like a Dragon series (know simply as 'Yakuza' in the west); the games are known as Yakuza: Black Panther by western fans. While the original Yakuza series mainly focuses on over-the-top battles against multiple opponents, Kurohyō takes a more realistic, 1-on-1 approach.
Considering how the Yakuza series is experiencing a "golden age" here in the west, it would be a good idea to talk about these games in a Region Locked episode, I'm sure it would atract a very good amount of viewers. I know the games were briefly mentioned in the Region Locked episode on Yakuza Ishin, but I'm not talking about just a mention. I'm talking about a whole episode for these two games.
The game was developed by Syn Sophia (formely AKI Corporation), the same studio behind the Def Jam games.
EDIT: something I forgot to mention is that Kurohyō 1 recieved a live-action TV adaptation, it aired from October 5 to December 21, 2010.
Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! is another Japanese exclusive spin-off of the Yakuza series.
Yakuza Kenzan is a 2008 PS3 game that takes place in the year 1605 and it stars Miyamoto Musashi. Fans have been begging for a western release for many years now. SEGA has recently considered the idea.
Gameplay is similar to previous entries in the Yakuza series. The main difference is the setting and the heavier emphasis on sword fighting.
There's also Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!, which already has its own video on Region Locked.
This video was released in 2017, back when the Yakuza series was not as popular as it is now in the west.
Garōden or Garouden is a series of Japanese martial arts novels by Baku Yumemakura. They have been adapted as a feature film, two manga by Keisuke Itagaki (of Baki the Grappler fame), and two video games.
These videogames are Garōden Breakblow (2005) and its updated version Garōden Breakblow Fist or Twist (2007) for the PlayStation 2. Featuring Yujiro Hanma from Baki the Grappler series as a guest character. Yujiro is also the most broken character in those games, which makes sense due to how OP he is in his home series (they don't call him "the strongest creature on earth" for nothing!).
Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned (July 2004) and Virtua Fighter 5 R (July 2008) are two arcade exclusive (AND Japan exclusive) updates for Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution and vanilla Virtua Fighter 5, respectively.
Virtua Fighter 5 R is notable for bringing back Sumo wrestler Taka-Arashi (the only character who was removed from VF4) and introducing Karate to the series via newcomer Jean Kujo. Yes, you read that right. Contrary to popular(?) belief, Akira Yuki's fighting style is NOT Karate. His fighting style is actually Bajiquan/Hakkyoku-ken. It was the VF5R newcomer Jean Kujo who first introduced Karate to the series!
VF4FT Official website:
https://web.archive.org/web/201102120030....jp/vf4ft/
VF5R official website:
https://www.virtuafighter.jp/vf5r/
EDIT:
"Pretty sure everyone already knows Akira Yuki is not a Karateka" - No, not really. I've seen a few people who actually believed that. The fact that one of his main costumes is a white gi doesn't help either.
Many titles in Atlus' Power Instinct / Gōketsuji Ichizoku series are Japanese-exclusive. Among these include:
- Purikura Daisakusen (プリクラ大作戦) (1996; Arcade/Saturn). This is a spin-off game starring Kurara Hananokoji (known as Kurara Apricot in this game). The game is a Shooter/Platformer.
- Gōketsuji Ichizoku 3: Groove on Fight (1997; Arcade/Saturn). This game featured a 20-year timeskip and almost all the characters from the two previous entries were replaced by newcomers, with the only remaining characters being twin sisters Oume and Otane Gōketsuji. The game takes places in the year 2015 (some fighters are time-travelers from 2115, however), meaning that timeline-wise this is the last game in the series. Unlike previous games in the series which were comedic (the series is a parody of the fighting game genre), this game featured a more serious tone with little comedy. The game's final boss, Bristol-D, can summon many demons from the Megaten series as part of his moveset.
- Shin Gōketsuji Ichizoku: Bonnou no Kaihou (2006; PlayStation 2). This is an updated version of Power Instinct 4: Matrimelee (the game that returned the series to its comedic roots). Both Matrimelee and Bonnou no Kaihou were developed by Noise Factory. The game's final boss is Bobby "Strong" Ologun, based of the real-life TV personality of the same name.
- Gōketsuji Ichizoku Matsuri Senzo Kuyou (2009; Arcade). AKA Power Instinct 5. Co-developed by Atlus and Noise Factory. This is the last game in the Power Instinct series. Matsuri Senzo Kuyou is NOT an updated version of Matrimelee like Bonnou no Kaihou was. It's a sequel.
Here's a trailer for Gōketsuji Ichizoku Matsuri Senzo Kuyou.
Crows: Burning Edge is an action-adventure video game by Bandai Namco. It was released on October 27, 2016 for the PlayStation 4. The game is based on the manga series Crows by Hiroshi Takahashi. The game was made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Crows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjZx58ge9qg
https://youtu.be/rOy3xN45nhU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnAAmhLEut8
Speakin of Crows, have you heard or watched the movie Crows Zero? In case you don't know, the movie is a prequel to the Crows manga. The name pretty much tells you this (ya know, Crows Zero, as in Chapter Zero), sure. But there are people out there (mostly in Asia) who never heard of the Crows manga yet watched Crows Zero.
The Rumble Fish is a duology of fighting games developed by Dimps, the same studio who later worked on Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V.
The Rumble Fish 1 was released on the arcade (2004) and the PS2 (2005) while its sequel is still an arcade-exclusive (the sequel was also released in 2005). At least when it comes to official ports, as both games recieved homebrew conversions for the Dreamcast. The games are notable for having 2D sprites that look like 3D models (the opposite of the modern Guilty Gear approach).
Here's some gameplay footage:
The Rumble Fish.
The Rumble Fish 2.
Many video games have been made on the GeGeGe no Kitaro series. GeGeGe no Kitaro is a manga series created by the late Shigeru Mizuki.
Here's the full list of games from Wikipedia.
- Gegege no Kitarō: Yōkai Daimakyō for the Famicom (1986, Bandai)
- Gegege no Kitarō 2 for the Famicom (1987, Bandai)
- Gegege no Kitarō: Fukkatsu! Tenma Daiō for the Super Famicom (1993, Bandai)
- Gegege no Kitarō for the Game Boy (1996, Bandai)
- Gegege no Kitarō: Gentōkaikitan for the Sega Saturn (1996, Sega)
- Gegege no Kitarō: Yōkai Donjara for the Super Famicom (1996, Bandai) (requires Sufami Turbo)
- Gegege no Kitarō: Noroi no Nikuto Katachitachi for the PlayStation (1997, Bandai)
- Hissatsu Pachinko Station Now 5: Gegege no Kitarō for the PlayStation (2000, Sunsoft)
- Gegege no Kitarō for Microsoft Windows (2003, Unbalance)
- Gegege no Kitarō: Ibun Yōkaitan for the PlayStation 2 (2003, Konami)
- Gegege no Kitarō: Kiki Ippatsu! Yōkai Rettō for the Game Boy Advance (2003, Konami)
- Gegege no Kitarō: Gyakushū! Yōkai Daichisen for the PlayStation (2003, Konami)
- Gegege no Kitarō: Yōkai Daiundōkai for the Wii (2007, Namco Bandai)
- Gegege no Kitarō Pachislo slot machine made by Sammy
- Gegege no Kitarō: Yōkai Daigekisen for the Nintendo DS (2008, Bandai)
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood is a game for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2006, it was made to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the series.
All Star Battle was concieved partly thanks to this game
Man, why I never bought up this game on this specific thread before? Oh well.
EDIT: Here's some gameplay footage.
Not exactly a Japan-only exclusive since it was also released in South Korea, but there's this game called Taekwondo (aka Taekwon-do) for the Super Famicom. It was made by Human Entertainment, the same studio behind Fire Pro Wrestling and Clock Tower.
The game is a pretty realistic Taekwondo simulator, following the tournament point structure and having no magic or ki. Just standard Taekwondo.
Race Lagoon for the PlayStation. Released in 1999 by SquareSoft, this game is a street racing RPG. The game is notable for it's script featuring "lagoon speak", where characters spoke poetically and used random English words.
A fan translation of the game was released recently and it was done in just 6 months.
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/how-the-fan-t...-6-months/
Kakuge Yaro: Fighting Game Creator is a PlayStation-only Fighting Game by IPC Software. There are seven characters that you can customize to your liking. You can edit their colorr palette and their movesets (normals, specials, ect). This game is basically a predecessor to MUGEN.
There's this video by GuileWinQuote gives a more in-depth look into the game.
The King of Fighters: Kyo is an RPG/visual novel and a spinoff of the KOF franchise. The story takes place between KOF '96 and KOF '97.
I believe it should be featured in an episode of Region Locked.
You know Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble for the PSP? Well, it turns out that is actually the THIRD game in the series. There are a total of six mainline Kenka Bancho games and three(?) spinoffs, with only the third mainline game being released outside of Japan.
![[+]](images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Garouden gameplay footage