3RRSS Ojousama

Now here's an import game that I knew nothing about going in and
really didn't have high expectations for. Ojyousama Express is a later
Saturn release that really surprised me with its addicting qualities and
overall pleasant gaming experience. All the cool little touches in the
game really make it an unsung hero. So get ready to hop aboard the
express because this train is going places!

You play a young male who is taking a trip across Japan by the
Ojyousama Express, a train that is run by women-and consequently,
used by women. Hey that's not a problem! The thing is, though, you're
going all the way from northern Japan down to farthest southwestern
part there is; thus, the trip is gonna take some time. You start your
journey on August 1st and your estimated time of arrival is August 16.
So can you find love while aboard the train? Or are you just walking on
hollow train tracks? I like the story. Trains have always been a major
facet of Japanese history, and this is just a reflection of that. It's
simple, yet nice.

Being one of those adventure dating sims we all love so much, how
about the girl selection? There are 13 different girls for you to woo, all
of which have their own personalities: Helen, the American tourist who
likes to videotape things; Kazane, the cute young nature lover; Mirai,
the troubled idol star (a common theme in Japan); and Mami, a gifted,
but shy, young artist. As you can see, very distinct; but still, once
you've played these games for a while you've seen these character
archetypes before, but the ones here are all very unique. Character
designs aren't as distinct as say Doukyusei or Pia Carrot, but they are
all nicely done. From cute little girls, to ditzy girls, to nerdy girls, shy
girls, and fun loving girls, this game probably has at least one girl
character for you.

As for gameplay: you get up in the morning and you are given a menu.
From here you can check the calendar for upcoming dates with girls,
configure the options, read information on the tourist sites you can
stop by, or move to a different train car. Also you see the time graphic,
which is a cute little sun that changes as time passes (which is does
as you go from room to room). The different places in the train are: the
captain's car, the lodging car, the shop car, and four different
passenger cars. Following those are the dining hall-where you can
treat some ladies to some food-the arcade, and the lounge car. So, in
the train there are a fair amount of places to go and the girls are
always at different places at different times.

However, as the train keeps chugging along, you pass certain
Japanese cities, and the train will stop at these cities for you to get
out and enjoy the sites. Each city has a different amount of tourist
places to go to that range from ramen shops to the space shuttle
launch. Busy cities and malls, to temples and beaches. The thing is
though, that you only get so much time to visit some of these places,
thus you can not visit all of them. This was probably done to increase
replay so when you play it again you go to different places in the cities
to see what happens.

Now then, I mentioned there was an arcade on the train. Here you can
play poker, black jack, slots, and sano arm. I tried my hand at the slots
and card games, and they were fun, but sano arm is the best game. It's
a cool little 2D shooter where you pick one of two robots and try to get
as far as you can in the level with three hits. Lots of enemy robots to
shoot down, and bullets to dodge. A little slow, but as a cool, little,
bonus game it's a very nice addition. Playing the arcade games seems
to win you coins which can be traded in for prizes, I think. I'm not sure
though, as you need a lot of coins to win prizes.

The graphics are very nice. Well done hand drawn backgrounds and
crisp clean characters. Mouths and eyes don't move, but the poses
change quite frequently, so it's okay. There are some very short anime
sequences sprinkled across the two disks and they are nice little
touches. Menus are easy to navigate, and overall it's not that hard to
play. Also of note is that saving the game can only take place at the
end of the day. It is here that you can also check the love meter for all
the girls you have met, save the game, and sleep. The CG in the game
is very well done, and there is quite a lot of it. It is a green label game
so it's safe for all ages, however there were a few sexual related
humor bits here and there, like when one of the girls fell over her
suitcase flew open and you picked up her panties, or when two of the
girls are fighting over you and ask you who has the larger chest size.
But overall, clean stuff. Also of note are the 3D backgrounds that whiz
by as you travel on the train. Sure they look a little primitive, but it's a
cool touch to add some motion to a mostly time-motionless genre.

All of the girls have full voiceovers, so hurray for that. They each have
their own theme music as well; however, most of the time you will hear
the train's generic music. It's all quite poppy. Later on in the game
some of the later cities had very cool techno beats and my foot was
tapping to the music. The ending J-Pop theme song was very well done
and I rather enjoyed it. So if you like fun happy music, you'll like the
music in this game.

Replay? Well there are like sixteen game days, and each day can take
up to a half hour to play. So it took me a short while to beat the game.
However, I am pretty sure I got the bad, generic ending as I didn't end
up with any of the girls. Also when you beat the game it opens up the
bonus omake mode on the main menu. It was a little disappointing as it
only included short character profiles spoken by the voice actresses
and, what I'm assuming are the good endings for the girls. However,
you have to obtain them to get them. Still, you could replay the game
to get with them, I had most of the girls in the good friend level on the
love meter, but none of them had hearts.

So after my short trip on the Ojyousama Express I walk off the train to
my destination. Memories of all those that I had met on the train, still
linger on in my head. The pain of a lost love burning in my chest, was
this how it was meant to be? Only you can decide as you take a ride on
the most romantic train this side of Japan. Just make sure you don't
leave the train alone.

Review by: Orochi Sonic