Budget PSone shooters disguised to look like other genres

[Atari7800]

I've noticed a couple of instances (not quite a trend) where an older Japanese PSone shooter is repackaged for the American market with cover art that trys to make it look like something else. Do shooters attract such a small audience that they need to be disguised to be sold? I'm glad they are making it to our shores, but I wonder if the unsuspecting souls who buy these games are disappointed with what they get with their $9.99.

Sol Divide: The cover depicts a female warrior-type welding a sword on a beastie. The back of the CD case describes a game that is more RPG than shooter, with tiny screen shots that seem to be trying to hide that fact that this is a straight horizontal shooter (and not a very good one at that.) At least they kept the original name. Imagine a cheap gamer expecting some sort of Dungeons & Dragons side-scroller or even an action RPG popping in the CD and getting a second-rate 2-D shooter with rendered graphics and slow gameplay?


Mobile Light Force: This is the worse of the two... the cover depicts three Charlie's Anegls-type girls running with guns in their arms. First of all, the picture isn't very professional and the girls aren't even attractive... I thought videogame vixens were supposed to have huge breasts? Again, the back cover gives puny screen shots and bad descriptions. The title screen is the same bad artwork with the three badly-drawn Charlie's Angels rejects, then the game switches/blinks over to the oh-so-Japanese character select screen. None of the available characters look REMOTELY like the chicks on the box... very anime, very whimsical, very Japanese. The game is actually GUNBIRD, a cute little vertical shooter that had a sequel for the Dreamcast under its correct name, Gunbird 2. I'm confused now. Imagine the confusion of a cheap gamer expecting an overhead action game (perhaps like the PSone Contra games) or even a Tomb Raider clone like Danger Girl (bad!) and instead getting a pretty good but totally Japanese vertical shooter with cute characters and the original Japanese voices.


At least Gekioh: Shooting King (called Shienryu in its original Sega Saturn guise) featured cool artwork on the cover that hinted as to what the game was all about (shooting the crap out of stuff.)

I miss the old days... x_x

[den68]

Interesting theory but I don't imagine there was any intent to disguise the true nature of the game. I've got all 3 games you mentioned as well as several other of the "budget" PSOne titles. Most of the package art on these titles appears to have been hastily cobbled together from generic images.

For what these games are being sold for it's a pretty safe assumption that no time or effort is being devoted to creating attractive or even coherent package art.

[Captain Wrong]

I dunno...I think Moble Light Force was a pretty blatant attempt to package a shmup as a Charlie's Angels action game. If one wasn't paying attention (and for some reason didn't flip the case over) they'd have no way of knowing this game didn't have chicks on foot with guns.

Urrrgh. Moble Light Farce. Just when I'd forgotten about that atrocity...

[Atari7800]

Oh, come on... Mobile Light Force?





what do these three chicks have to do with anything in the game? This cover art is also the TITLE SCREEN, which then BLICKS into the Japanese version. It's a pretty blatant attempt to dupe unsuspecting gamers into buying the game.

[Atari7800]

Here's a cover done RIGHT... three chicks (again) but much better artwork and huge boobs. The game is, in fact, much worse than Mobile Light Force in my opinion, but at least this game gives you what it advertises... straight-up T & A in a 3-D action/adventure game.

[Sotenga]

Oh, come on... Mobile Light Force?





what do these three chicks have to do with anything in the game? This cover art is also the TITLE SCREEN, which then BLICKS into the Japanese version. It's a pretty blatant attempt to dupe unsuspecting gamers into buying the game.

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

THERE IS NO MOBILE LIGHT FORCE. ONLY GUNBIRD.

[Atari7800]

Well, at least they spent a lot more time on the so-called sequel (which really isn't Gunbird 2 at all)... check out the substantially upgraded box art for the crap PS2 game!



The Dreamcast could have Gunbird 2... why not Gunbird for the PSone? At least we still get SOME shooters...

[jaydubnb]

Mobile Light Force is the Robotech of gaming. I wonder which other shooter is gonna fall victim to this "series"....?

[RetroYoungen]

Here's a cover done RIGHT... three chicks (again) but much better artwork and huge boobs. The game is, in fact, much worse than Mobile Light Force in my opinion, but at least this game gives you what it advertises... straight-up T & A in a 3-D action/adventure game.

Which one's the Danger Girl?

[Captain Wrong]

7800, thanks for that. I've been trying ever since MLF came out to remember what game art they ripped off. Danger Girl must have been it. Striking resemblence.