Japanese culture is a very peculiar thing. It’s something
that so many people across the world have an affinity for, yet very few people
actually understand. There’s a reason the US missed out on most of the Godzilla
films throughout the 90’s. There’s a reason you don’t see very many Japanese
game shows on TV except in parody form. And there’s a good reason a lot of
games considered to be “too Japanese” don’t make it to the states. Which makes
it all the more surprising that Nintendo’s latest eShop game, Tokyo Crash Mobs,
did make it to the shores. It’s easily one of the strangest games I’ve ever
played and it’s a part of a genre that’s never been known for its weirdness;
the puzzle game.
Tokyo Crash Mobs was developed in part by Mitchell
Corporation, the company responsible for the Magnetica games released on the DS
and WiiWare, and they share a lot of the same gameplay mechanics. The big
difference is instead of rolling colorful marbles at other colorful marbles,
you’re two young women throwing Japanese people in colorful suits at other
Japanese people in colorful suits to make chains and score points. Make sense?
