Yet more evidence that
the Japanese are truly mad. Originally released in
Japan under the name
Tondemo Crisis, this
mini-game adventure for the
Playstation takes you through a highly unusual day in the life of the Tanamatsuri family. It also features a jazzy soundtrack by the awkwardly-named
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.
It's Grandma Tasu's birthday, and she wants everyone to be home early so they can celebrate. And it's up to you to guide the four main members of the clan (father Taneo, mother Etsuko, big sister Ririka, and little brother Tsuyoshi) home. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it becomes increasingly apparent that this is easier said than done, as everything begins to go wrong for Tanamatsuris, plunging each member of the family into one bizzare mini-game after another. A few examples of the madness that awaits:
-After some vigorous mid-day calistenics, Taneo must avoid a giant ball chasing him down the halls of the office building where he works (ala Raiders of the Lost Ark), give a backrub to a mysterious woman who turns out to be a notorious thief, and defend an alien spacecraft from Japan's rather overzealous Self-Defense Force. At one point, he's sent careening the wrong way down a one way street while strapped to a hospital stretcher.
-Etsuko is recruited by a band of crooks to steal a golden pig, and is later forced to enter the secret code that activates the secret weapon hidden inside. She then makes an escape on a snowboard, then pilots a jet fighter in combat against a giant marauding teddy bear.
-Tsuyoshi is shrunk to microscopic size, and must dodge giant insects (like an antlion, a praying mantis, and a spider) while trying to make his own way home.
-Ririka sneaks out of class behind the back of her stressed-out history teacher, goes on a scavenger hunt for cosmetics, and tries to return a little UFO creature to its "mother"ship.
And you thought *you* had bad days.