Mister Mosquito

"This century has, so far, brought forth many unique, groundbreaking titles... this is one of them."

I knew that when I saw consoles become more and more advanced that the gaming industry would finally get out of it's 'rut' that it's been in for several years during the PSX-N64 era; I was tired of platformer games and 3D FPS titles being in every nook and cranny of videogame shelves at retail stores, I wanted something new. And fun.

Yes, it's been fulfilled already. PS2 titles such as Grand Theft Auto 3 and Fatal Frame, and GameCube's ''Pikmin'', have given me that need. But now a new game of incredibly original design and sheer -FUN- is in the market, ''Mister Mosquito''. This is a game that caught my eye a looong time ago when perusing local import stores, previously titled ''Ka'' (Japanese for ''Mosquito''), but couldn't purchase it seeing I don't have a Japanese PS2. Now Eidos is taking on a small project to port several bizarre Japanese titles to the states, and as far as I'm concerned Mister Mosquito is a hit, if with a few flaws.

Gameplay - 8/10
You take control of a robotic mosquito who's role is to collect blood from the Yamada family to store as food for the winter. Along the way you encounter hazards and, if seen, must do battle with one of 3 members of the Yamada family; to 'defeat' them you must relax them by striking one or more relaxation points, different places depending on which stage you are on. In order to advance levels, you are given a goal amount of blood to suck (the first several levels require you to suck 2 tanks of blood from 1 point, later on you are required to fill 3 tanks from 2 or more points). Needless to say, it gets progressively difficult... very difficult. One stage requires you to draw blood from Mr. Yamada's lower lip in a Japanese Room, though he is surrounded by the smoke of deadly mosquito coils -- along with that, the randomly-activated air conditioner will blow you and the deadly smoke around the room, all the while trying to land on Mr. Yamada's lip. This WILL take you several, if not MANY, tries to pass.

Once you strategically maneuver yourself towards a blood-drawing point, then sucking blood is another field altogether. Once landed on a human surface, press R3 and then, once in, rotate the right analog stick in a speed that keeps the ball in a blue shade in the left-hand status bar. The right status bar shows amount of blood drawn, and the heart-pulse-looking graph to the lower-right of that indicates how aware the victim is to your presence. But it's not as easy as keeping the ball in the blue shade - once at level 3, you must pay attention to a victim's movement patterns. Several times I got smacked by Mr. Yamada while drawing blood from his bald head, even though I kept the ball in blue. This is when I realized I have to learn a family member's movement patterns; when they scratch their head, when they itch their toes together, when they turn over in their sleep. It takes getting used to, and that's a good thing for those wanting challenge and observation in their games.

We need difficult games like these, and even on the first level it's never truly 'easy'. Fortunately you have strategy on your side if you wish; some levels allow you to change certain things, requiring a Yamada member to move around. This can be a light switch, a TV remote, a button on a stereo system, etc... you can either do this to aggravate them into battle mode or get an alternate blood-sucking point vulnerable for a short period of time. This adds a little more depth to the game, which is always a plus.

Graphics - 6/10
The graphics look very N64-ish, but perhaps understandably so. Much the same reason Grand Theft Auto 3 has N64ish graphics to compromise for a most breathtaking draw-distance, Mr. Mosquito does the same. Rooms are HUGE compared to your small size; heck, even Mrs. Yamada's pinky-toe looks like a giant fleshy boulder compared to your size. The graphics aren't bad, per se, and they get the job done. I just have a feeling they could have been better, without sacrificing it's already perfect framerate (I've seen NO SLOWDOWN at all so far). PS2 developers still have yet to be 100% fluent in the PS2's architecture, and considering it's complexity, it's understandable and forgivable.

Regardless of the somewhat blurry textures, the rooms are believably detailed, and the environments have enough nooks and crannies for an added exploration value to the game (which often result in a reward, such as fruit or extra blood tanks).

Sound - 7/10
Not bad. The Yamadas speak to themselves during a level, and their footsteps rumble like a cyclop when they walk past you. The environments are detailed with decent sound, too. Boiling water ''blurp-blurp''s, air conditioners whirrr, machinery hums.

Nothing to complain about here, but I must make fun of something. The father talks like a Japanese stereotype (''I'm-a firring rith rage!'' when you anger him, for example), the mother talks with a heavy British accent, and the daughter talks like a California Valley schoolgirl (like totally!). This had to be on purpose, Eidos knows the prime audience of this game will mostly be admirers of Japanese weirdness, including a cheesy dub like that of almost every Japanese monster film you've seen.

Music - 9/10
Very nice. Jazzy funk, guitar rock, J-Pop, even porny music (wakka-wakka-chow-wakka-choka-wow). Sure, it's not as thought-out as Craig Connor's music (GTA3) or as mood-inducing as that of Bobby Prince's (Doom), but it gets the job done, especially considering the cartoony and fun mood of this game. Mr. Mosquito's music is good enough that you won't find yourself looking for your remote's mute button.

Longevity - 8/10
There are only 12 stages, but by the time you're at the 5th stage it becomes increasingly difficult. Despite the few stages, this game is not short, especially if it takes you a while to get used to the controls.

Problems
1) The title screen sometimes forces you to sit through the long voiceover intro, even if you have a savegame. It's a long voiceover, too, so it can be an annoyance, especially if you just want to play the game and couldn't care less about it's mediocre story. Press start as soon as possible after pressing start the first time to avoid this, otherwise it'll ignore your button commands.

2) You cannot customize controls, and some people may find Mr. Mosquito's control scheme less than desirable.

3) Clipping problems during Battle Mode... sometimes you'll be nowhere near a family member's point of impact when they attempt to strike you down, and you'll be counted as 'hit' anyway.

Clarifications
Camera movement has been described as quirky and odd by many review sites. However, I must point out it never hurts your gameplay (like the way State of Emergency's camera control would often do so), and I personally don't find it ''quirky and odd''. So no need to worry about that.

Overall - 8/10
Despite the fact that the premise of the game -sounds- shallow, it certainly isn't shallow by any means. This should provide many hours of fun (and perhaps hair-pulling from difficulty of later stages) for gamers looking for something both unique+original as well as challenging and difficult. Some people may think $50 is too much for a 12-stage game about a mosquito, so rent it if you must. I, however, made a blind purchase, and I've had lots of fun with this game. A recommended buy, but rent it if you're still unsure.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/27/02, Updated 03/27/02