Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou

From Sega Retro

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Osomatsukun MDTitleScreen.png

Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Licensor: Fujio Pro, Kodansha, Studio Pierrot
Genre: Action[1][2]

















Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages:
  • 日本語
  • Release Date RRP Code
    Sega Mega Drive
    JP
    ¥5,5005,500 G-4005

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    Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou (おそ松くん はちゃめちゃ劇場) is a Sega Mega Drive action game developed by Sega R&D 2 and published by Sega. Based on the Japanese media franchise Osomatsu-kun, it was released exclusively in Japan in December 1988, and alongside arcade ports like Super Thunder Blade and Altered Beast, was the first original game developed for Sega's new 16-bit platform. Notable for its overwhelmingly poor critical reception[3][4], the game gained a cult reputation as one of the worst games on the Sega Mega Drive.[3]

    As Osomatsu-kun predates the development of the TradeMark Security System, it will only function properly with Japanese or Asian Mega Drive consoles, or model 1 Mega Drive consoles which lack TMSS and does not have a defective RAM (revisions VA1 through VA5.) or with the Game Genie.

    Story

    Osomatsu-kun's five brothers Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, and Todomatsu have been kidnapped by rivals Iyami and Chibita. Armed with only his slingshot and pachinko balls, Osomatsu-kun sets out to rescue his brothers.

    Gameplay

    The game plays as an action platformer with frequent maze elements, featuring controls that have been unanimously described as "floaty". Osomatsu-kun can jump with C, fire projectiles from his slingshot with B, and has access to various items acquired throughout the game by pressing  START  and using them with A.

    Stages

    Each of the game's three stages is further divided into four segments: the main area, sky area, water area, and underground area.

    OKHG MD Stage1A.jng

    Round 1: Momotarou no Sekai (Legend of Peachboy)
    Sub Boss:
    Momotarou Chibita
    Boss:
    Enma Iyami

    Notavailable.svg

    Round 2: Shirayukihime no Sekai (Snow White)
    Sub Boss:
    Witch Dekapan
    Boss:
    Snow White Iyami

    Notavailable.svg

    Round 3: Kyouryuu no Sekai (Prehistory)
    Sub Boss:
    Smilodon Iyami
    Boss:
    Dinosaur Iyami

    History

    Development

    Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou was originally developed for a 4-Megabit cartridge, but due to chip shortages being experienced by Japan, the game was notably reduced to a 2-Megabit cartridge. To accommodate this, Sega R&D 2 removed the second half of the game entirely, from the levels to the end-game credits.[5]

    Fujio Akatsuka, author of the original manga, was outspokenly critical about video games and considered them to be a problem plaguing Japanese youth. After the release of Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou, the author was so offended by its poor quality that during a meeting with Sega R&D 2, Akatsuka became enraged and threw an ashtray at one of the developers. Confirmed by multiple employees of both Sega and SIMS (which many Osomatsu-kun staff later migrated to), the story of Akatsuka's thrown ashtray spread to other employees within the company, and eventually to the gaming public.[5]

    Quotes

    Sega was thinking about what titles to release with its new 16-bit platform. They ended up losing Tetris, and the titles they did release were just no good. Altered Beast and Osomatsu-kun… the quality of that one was really “shoddy.” They were worthless titles. For Altered Beast, I wanted to use the same large amount of memory as the System 16 arcade version. In that case, it would have been much better. However, when you significantly reduce the memory, the end result is not good. This happened with three or four titles.

    At the time, we held this huge promotional event. We had Seikō Itō [a Japanese celebrity] there. We announced that the 16-bit era had arrived, and we showed off several games. Everybody there was dumbfounded at how bad the games were.

    When I saw this, I thought that I had made a huge mistake in the design of the Mega Drive’s architecture. I thought that the hardware was only capable of putting out games like that. A bit later, I saw the shooting game Thunder Force II, which made great use of the specific functions of the 16-bit platform, such as line scrolling. And this was from a third party developer. When I saw that game, I finally felt relieved that I hadn’t been so wrong in the design of the architecture. Up to that point, the titles Sega had put out were worthless.

    Sega R&D Head and Mega Drive designer Hideki Sato[5]


    Reception

    The game was universally panned for its short length, maze-like gameplay, frustrating controls, abrasive soundtrack, and frequent crashes (only on Mega Drives with the VA0 revision), and has gained a reputation as one of the worst games on the Sega Mega Drive[5] as well as a cult following as a classic kusoge (shit game).

    Production credits

    Source:
    Developer mentions


    Magazine articles

    Main article: Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou/Magazine articles.

    Promotional material

    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in (JP) #0: "Extra issue of Beep!" (1989-04-27)
    Logo-pdf.svg

    Physical scans

    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Score Source
    {{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
    Based on
    0 review
    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Version Score
    (DE)
    64
    [8]
    (JP) NTSC-J
    40
    [9]
    (JP) NTSC-J
    58
    [10]
    (FR) NTSC-J
    75
    [11]
    (JP) NTSC-J
    51
    [12]
    (JP) NTSC-J
    33
    [13]
    Sega Mega Drive
    53
    Based on
    6 reviews

    Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou

    Mega Drive, JP
    OsomatsuKun MD JP Box.jpg
    Cover
    Osomatsukun MD JP CartTop.jpg
    OsomatsuKun MD JP Cart.jpg
    Cart
    Osomatsukun MD jp manual.pdf
    Manual

    Technical information

    Main article: Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou/Technical information.

    External links

    References


    Osomatsu-kun Hachamecha Gekijou

    Osomatsukun MDTitleScreen.png

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