Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (Wii) Review

Posted by John Curry on 05.20.2009

Half naked Japanese Sisters who uses Samurai Swords.....what more could you ask for??



Title: Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Developer: Tamsoft
Type: Action
Players: 2
Rated: M for Mature


There are certain games that develop a following more for their campy styling rather than the quality of the game itself. It really seems as if the Japanese market seems to lend itself more to this theory than any other area. One such game is Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers. Bikini Zombie Slayers was released in Japan in 2006 to little recognition and poor reception. The story follows two scantily clad sisters, Aya and Saki, who must utilize their knowledge of the ancient art of Samurai swordsman to counter the invasion of the zombies on their island. Hooked yet? If not, think for a second that you will be able to utilize the full power of the Wii to hack and slash your way through the American release of this game while trying to achieve BLOOD RAGE! Blood Rage is an insanity based attack caused by an ancient family curse. When your character is covered in too much blood she will enter into BLOOD RAGE, which as hilarious as it sounds is extremely fun to play.

The story itself is not a great one as the holes in the plot are extremely evident with very little being brought to the table. The largest contributer the poor plot is the lack of continuity in the progression of levels. While one level ends like it should some levels just come to a complete halt, leading you, as a gamer, to believe that they couldn't think of a decent ending to the level.

You can complete the game as either sister with both stories leading to the almost identical outcome. The game will not win game of the year and will most likely not make anyone’s list of the greatest games ever, but in the end I don’t believe that this game set out to do any of that. What you have here is a game that aims to become a guilty pleasure. A hack and slash game for a system that doesn’t bring very much in the way of “adult-oriented” games to store shelves. In the end that is exactly what this game achieves.

Graphics

Onechanbara is no different graphics-wise than any of the other games available for the Nintendo Wii. While it seems slightly better than the last generation of graphics, it is still not on par with Nintendo’s main competitors. Again, though, it isn’t as if the Wii is trying to revolutionize the world of gaming graphics as much as it is the way we play our games. The blood is horribly done, the characters outfits are not as defined as they should be, especially for a game that is built around skimpy women fighting with swords. While I want to hold that against the producers of the game, it is impossible to make a cutting edge graphic game on a system that cannot support it.

The graphics are smooth and fluid though with little to no hesitation which is more important that the overall graphics quality in a game like this. With every hack and slash and movement, I achieve everything that I set out to achieve without ever having to really repeat the last move. The environments are generic at best and do not really add to the game in any measurable way. The cut scenes, however are not too horrible and do present the story in a much cleaner way than the game play does.

Game Play

It’s a hack and slash Wii game with a little gunfight action tossed in there.. I think is about as much as anyone needs to know. The purpose is to kill zombies while creating combos by successfully attacking your opponents each time. Each girl has their own set of weapons to use and they may be swapped in and out which does add a little more to the game by forcing you to make sure you choose the best method of using each girl to successfully complete the game.

The game does have the traditional fight, fight, fight, boss battle setup that has been in existence since the beginning of gaming. While that isn’t necessarily the worst thing to have, when the game’s story is a little convoluted it makes it hard to understand exactly why this person is fighting this boss.

With that said, this is a fun game. It may not be the most beautiful or most polished game but it is fun. While I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of being up at 3 a.m. hacking and slashing my way around like a Miranda Cosgrove video (see "Feel about you now" care of the freaking Disney Channel), the game itself does play well enough to keep me entertained. In the end I think that is all we as gamers ask of our games.

As with any of these hack and slash styled games, there are issues with the camera. The camera does seem a little reckless until you learn to center yourself almost constantly. If you can deal with the normal Wii game re-centering than you should have no problems with this.

Sound

Not much in the way of sound here. It does appear as if the game has been dubbed from its Japanese counter-part and if that is the case I am deeply disappointed. There has been two years since its release in Japan and in that time the game could have polished this part up a little. The music is fitting but nothing amazing and the cut scenes seem more PS2 than a 250 dollar systems.


Fun Factor

As I stated early, you cannot buy this game expecting some type of Game of the Year candidate. If you buy this game with that in mind, you will be treated to a great night of gaming. I had a great time playing with the slash and kill method. I really didn’t employ much strategy but I had a great time doing it. The game reminds me more of one of those Arcade Samurai games you can find at your local theater occasionally. If those games are enjoyable for you this game is game will be a great rental.

Lasting Appeal

This is the games weakest part is the fact that there is no online play and that only some of the missions are available co-op. I think this speaks volumes to the lasting appeal of this game. Once you run through it once you are done. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to play this again with the exception of those who just want to get up and have a good time for 20 minutes.

The 411

This game is a decent one time rent and due to its low price of purchase a plausible buy. The one thing that I will say is that after you play through this game once, the game will be one of two things for you, a late night party game when you have had too much to drink or a coaster.

Graphics	6.0	Not the greatest but they get the job done.
Gameplay	8.0	This is a personal thing but this game is great and has been bashed more than it deserves.
Sound	5.0	Again, not the greatest but it gets the job done.
Lasting Appeal	2.0	Not good at all. No online play and limited co-op gives this game weak longevity
Fun Factor	8.0	Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy Joy I love slashing things up. The game is fun while it lasts. If you are looking for a great story or cutting edge graphics then dump about five points off of this score.
Overall	5.8   [ Not So Good ]