3RRSS Tenchi Tokou

If the words "Tenchi Muyo" do not instantly bring to mind images of
spending countless money on the franchise and loving every second of
it then this "game" is not for you. My friends, this "game," as it is put
very lightly, is truly for the hardest of the hard-core Tenchi Muyo fans:
the few who have bought the anime, the manga, the posters, toys, and
anything else with the Tenchi name on it. For it is only these few who
will find any love in this title because only they would be daring (or is it
foolish…) enough to buy this import. So what the heck is this then?

Tenchi Muyo Tokou Muyo (otherwise known as "Tenchi Muyo no need
for school") is an adventure game that features the popular Japanese
anime Tenchi Muyo characters in an all new adventure. An adventure
that you, the player, have some limited control over. Yep, that's right;
it's a choose-your-own-adventure, Tenchi style. If you're still reading
and don't know who Tenchi is, here's a brief rundown. Tenchi Masaki
lives on Earth, but from a series of events he has the company of a
handful of beautiful alien women living with him, all vying for the kind
man's attention. Tenchi, being the nice guy he is, cannot give his love
to just one of the girls so they constantly fight over him and much
hilarity ensues. The show is a blend of sci-fi, romance, martial arts, and
everything else really. If you are a fan of anime I highly recommend it.

So, in this Saturn game the girls, particularly Ryoko, the space Pirate,
and Aeka, the crown princess of Jurai (don't ask), decide that they
want to go with Tenchi to his school. Now obviously this is not an
entirely new concept, as this also happened (kinda) in the first Tenchi
movie. But this is much more lighthearted. Sasami goes as well, only in
the form of Tsunami the adult Sasami. Confused? Well Tenchi fans will
feel right at home. Oh yeah, Washu the mad scientist and Ryoko's mom
is Tenchi's new teacher (after putting Tenchi's old teacher in a creepy
vortex).

The game comes on two discs, and most of disc one is just seeing
what happens when the gang is at school. This game also apparently
takes place in Tenchi Universe time, as first class detective for the
Galaxy Police, Kiyone, makes an appearance (but with Mihoshi, they
don't really do much this time out.) But eventually there has to be a
larger story at work right? Correct! Once disc two starts, we learn that
three female bounty hunters are after Ryoko so they head to Earth to
go get her. Will Ryoko be able to stop these crazy cuties or will she be
taken away? Maybe the help of a certain other character from Tenchi
Universe will step in :)

Get some popcorn out and ready before you sit down for this game, as
the controller doesn't really require much action. You simply read text
and every once and a while you have to have Tenchi make a choice on
what he wants to do next. Here's an example: Ryoko, Aeka, and
Tsunami have all made Tenchi lunch for school. Which one will Tenchi
choose is up to your own preference. Other choices consist of where
he wants to go in school. It looks like there is only one ending, so that
kind of stinks. But saving is possible whenever Tenchi can make a
choice, so that's nice.

The cool thing about this game is that it feels just like a lost episode of
Tenchi! In fact it sounds like all or most of the original Japanese Seiyu
(voice actors) play their parts in this game! Sweet! Also take in to
account that there is a really nice deal of anime scenes spread across
both discs. The animation quality is a little grainy and cheap in that
there is rarely much animation to them, but they still look cool. The
graphics are all very good. The still pictures look very nice and
detailed, and the characters have little boxes come up with their
pictures when they talk. Oddly enough, game play pictures are
nowhere to be found on the case, or even in the manual.

I think that there are ten different music pieces in this game, so be
prepared to hear the same up beat tunes over and over. The music is
not very memorable, sans the opening intro music. The rest of the in
game music was rather forgettable. But the voice actors makes the
sound quality score go up. Only, the voices sometimes sound kinda
bad, like in some other Saturn games. This only happens a few times
when characters start screaming, but other then that no real
problems.

I think I beat this game in about two hours, so unfortunately, it is short.
But once you beat it, you unlock omake (bonus) mode form the main
menu. Here you can view ALL of the artwork in the game; it just kinda
scrolls through each one, all of the anime scenes, all the music, and
play a quiz game. The quiz game is a series of questions from Washu
about the entire Tenchi franchise. Depending on how many you get
right (and maybe which ones you get right) you then get to view a
Tenchi picture. Some of these are just box covers from the anime, but
a few even I had never seen before. Interesting. Also you could play
through the game again and make different choices to see how that
would affect the flow of the story.

For more incentive for Tenchi fans to try and find this, the instruction
manual has a four page Tenchi comic in it about what the Tenchi gang
thinks would make a good game. Following this is sixteen pages of
Tenchi artwork, most of which, I have never seen before. For those
that wish to know, this Tenchi game is a "Green label" like Tenchi
Muyo puzzle. This means that it is safe for a general audience. Tenchi
muyo mimiri onsen (future onsen) is a yellow label adventure game
that features some Tenchi nudity, and Tenchi Muyo gokuraku is a red
label quiz game that must also feature some nudity. Just so you know.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the purchase of this game. A fun story
with the characters I have loved for many years now, and I had wanted
to import these games for a long time now. In fact it was with the idea
of getting these that I went out and got my first job at a movie theater.
And everything has been worth it with import games now coming in
about every week. A quick plug has to go out to thewestexit.net. This
is the best import site to buy from if you want sweet Saturn games at
almost dirt cheap prices. I have ordered from them a few times and
everything has come in fast and cheap! Big props to that site!

So there you go Tenchi fans, that's what this game is all about. For
those new to Tenchi, I wouldn't say this is the best place to start, but if
you know what you're getting into, then this short but sweet adventure
is for you.

Review by: Orochi Sonic

Note: Non-Tenchi die-hards please remove 30 points from each set of
criteria.