Gamertell

Atlus and Spike’s Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble may not be in stores until November 10, 2009, but Gamertell’s been given the opportunity to test drive the latest quirky PSP game you never would have expected to see localized. To help get you introduced to banchosity and the badass world of the game, I’ll take you through the first day of Takashi Sakamoto’s class trip to Kyouto, Japan.

The game begins with some character customization. You determine where your character is from 47 different areas in Japan, what school he attends and what his name is. I went with the default name, Takashi Sakamoto, and decided to make him from Osaka.

One thing I want to point out right away are the loading screens. Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble has some really amazing loading screens. Instead of saying the typical “loading” message, each loading screen offers a “Bancho 101” informational term explanation. Like, you could learn the definition of kappa, love hotel, sakura mochi and other terms, people or things that may pop up in the game.

Back to the game. It begins with Takashi on a train heading for the class’ week-long trip to Kyouto with his friend Yohei and his classmates Manami and Reito. Takashi really doesn’t see any point in it all, and only attended because his teacher threatened to expel him if he didn’t come along. Manami decides her mission for the trip is to make sure Takashi learns something. Yohei wants to explore/make friends/etc. Takashi gets tired of hearing them talk and decides to take a nap the rest of the trip, and remember what his father, Ryujiro told him before he left. During this part, and all following story parts, you can press the select button to take screenshots.

We then go to the tutorial, which is basically Takashi daydreaming about what his father said. Apparently the key to being a man and manliness to to be strong and be a bancho. So, of course, his father decided the best thing for Takashi to know before heading on a trip is how to kick ass. Here you learn the basic controls for fighting and such. You use the square button for normal attacks, and hitting it repeatedly unleashes combos. The triangle button unleashes a finisher attack. If you want, you can charge up a square or triangle attack to make it stronger. Holding the X and O buttons allows you to recharge your Yankii Spirit, which allows you to unleash special attacks (Local Specialty).

You also learn to unleash menchi beams and trash talk. Before a fight starts, you can try and subdue your opponent by hitting the R button to unleash your menchi eye beams. After a few minutes, you will start trash talking your opponent. You will be given a phrase, like “Time for male bonding.” Then, you will have to piece together said phrase. The screen will show dialogue balloons with bits of the phrase and similar words. For example, the first part could have balloons that say “time for,” “let’s do” or “lets.” Each dialogue balloon will have a button appear in it. You press the correct button to choose the correct word. Time is limited, so you have to piece the phrase together quickly. If you do it right, you get to unleash the first attack in the fight. Since this first attack can sometimes reduce an opponent’s HP to half, it’s worth winning.

This tutorial part is hilarious. The script here sets the pace for the rest of the game. It is also interesting to note that, as you precede through the tutorial, Takashi’s father becomes more exhausted and beat up.

Here’s a good point to mention something very helpful to know that isn’t mentioned in the tutorial. After thrashing some small time banchos in the field, they may drop stuff like money, consumable items, souvenir items, clothing, accessories or weapons. To pick these up, press the L button. Takashi has limited pocket space though, so you won’t be able to carry everything. However, once you’ve picked up a weapon, it’s permanently added to your inventory section back at the inn. So if you purchased and equipped one of the souvenir swords, and drop it during the day in favor of say, a lead pipe, you could always return to your hotel room and re-equip it. You can also use the L button to talk to non-banchos. (Don’t push it near a cop though! You’ll put them in a headlock or hold!)

After all this, the kids arrive at the Kyouto Station. As Takashi and Yohei are walking out, Yohei runs into some guys. One of them claims be the Osaka-area bancho, the strongest and most badass guy in the Osaka area. No way! How dare he! So you enter your first bancho face-off against the guy. After beating him thusly, Takashi is acknowledged as the Osaka area bancho and the imposter agrees to be his peon for the rest of the week. This means, if you call him up and he’s available, he’ll join you and provide backup in fights.

Apparently, EVERY school in Japan is also on a school trip in Kyouto at the same time. What are the odds, right? Turns out this happens every year, and every year there’s a competition to see who’s the ultimate high school bancho in Japan. Takashi decides he wants in. This means he has to hunt down all 46 banchos from the other schools in a seven day period to be considered the best.

It won’t be that easy though. A few minutes later the head Kyouto detective, Gantetsu, emerges and asks if Takashi’s up to trouble. He gives the whole, “I’m the law, watch it, I catch you, you’re gone” spiel and heads off. Then Manami, Reito and the teachers come up, and it’s off to the hotel.

You get your first free period then, though you only have from 12:00 to 19:00 to start looking around. In the hotel lobby you meet Yoshio Chiba, who pretty much appoints himself your informant. He’ll be sending you text messages throughout the game to help you out. Like, for example, he’ll let you know what areas Gantetsu will be in that day, give helpful gameplay information and so on. You learn right away that all the banchos will be following their schools’ itineraries. The only way to catch up with and fight them all is to get the itineraries to know where they’ll be.

This means, you guessed it, random battles! When you walk through areas of Kyouto, you’ll see other bancho punks roaming around. When you beat them up, they may drop their schools’ itineraries. You can then use these to plan your days. If you want to be a good bancho, you pick a fight by unleashing menchi eye-beams and talking some trash. Then, you beat the other guys senseless. You can use weapons if you want, but a real man uses only his fists.

Since you have so little time Yoshio suggests staying around the City Hall area. Not too far from the inn you’ll discover your first bancho boss fight. It’ll appear as sort of a white ring on the ground, with a guy standing in the center. You beat him up to start your reign of domination. There are three banchos in that initial, immediate area. So if you stick around City Hall, Shinkyogoku and Yasaka, you’ll be off to a good start.

I’ve only just begun playing Kenka Bancho, but once you get your hands on your own copy, I recommend spending your first runthrough exploring and gathering intel. Beat up everyone you can. Explore Kyouto. Collect phone numbers. Try to avoid cops. Collect itineraries. Buy up souvenirs and outfits. Dress Takashi up as Banana Man before he heads out on the streets. Then, use your second playthrough to attempt becoming the ultimate bancho. There are also multiple girls the main character can end up with and a journal full of events to collect and complete.

Be sure to keep an eye out at Gamertell in late October, when there’ll be a full Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble review and a Kenka Bancho ultimate itinerary!

Site [Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble]