Mister Mosquito

"He vants to suck your blood..."

Extremely weird games. We all know of them and some of us even love them, which probably accounts for their lack of overall popularity since most likely the only people who purchase them are those of us who are equally as unusual as said games themselves. Whether or not that's the case, any wacky title is sooner or later bound to make it into my collection, so how on earth could I ever pass up a game where all you do is suck? Suck blood, that is.

Well, I couldn't.

For many people, when they think of mosquitoes they think of nature's little annoyances. The high-pitched buzzing, the bites, the electrical ''pops'' of their frail bodies after flying directly into the bug zapper. Vile would be too kind a word to describe them. Now, how about a game where you play as one of these infamous insects? Now THERE'S an idea! Yes, Mister Mosquito is a unique title indeed, and for a few hours offers an entertaining romp through a household filled with irritated and itchy family members who desperately want to squash your little yellow thorax. Not a bad concept, at least while it lasts...

Story: 6/10

Mister Mosquito in no way features any sort of epic storyline, but that wasn't to be expected. In all actuality, the plot is very simple, but still retains enough humor to prevent any boredom for at least the first half of the game.

The setting: summertime at the Yamada home. A not-so-friendly bug has come to put an end to whatever peace there is within the house. The bug, appropriately named Mister Mosquito is stocking up for the winter, and he's stocking up on human blood. You must guide Mister Mosquito through various rooms and collect all the blood you can from the Yamadas, but unfortunately for you they'll try to swat you every chance they get. With the constant threat of heavy objects, insecticide and mosquito coils, fulfilling your objectives won't be an easy task.

If you've ever dreamed of ruining the lives of complete strangers through the eyes of a minuscule pest, your wish has been granted. As you interrupt the daily routines of the Yamada family, they'll become more and more aggressive towards your presence... just like in real life.

Gameplay: 7/10

Obviously, your purpose in this game is to assume the role of Mister Mosquito and drain your ''victims'' of enough blood to last until the following spring, despite the fact that in reality only female skeeters feed on blood. Ah, but that's why it's fantasy!

After the game opens up with a Resident Evil-esque warning (''This game contains scenes of explicit itchiness'') and a somewhat helpful tip about using insecticide, you're given a brief yet somehow depressing description of your insignificant life. Immediately following, you're thrown into your first mission inside young Rena Yamada's room. One of the first things you'll notice are the green ''crosshairs'' located in front of you and the red squares around certain objects, including the all-important points on your host's skin (known as ''target points''). As you fly in closer the crosshairs will automatically lock-on to the squares, allowing you to successfully land on your human buffet with a simple press of the button. Now, not all is so simple, and the family members' target points for bloodsucking are very sensitive. To keep from being squashed before you've even begun to feast, you must keep a close eye on your subject's stress level, indicated by a small box at the bottom of the screen. If your host becomes stressed they'll most likely notice you, giving you two options: quickly fly away or be reduced to a lifeless speck. Before you can progress to the next stage (or room), you'll be required to suck enough blood to fill a given amount of glass tanks. As you play on, the amount of blood you must suck will increase as well as the difficulty in doing so, and the dangers constantly plaguing our little friend will only become more sinister.

Like any small menace, Mister Mosquito has the ability to confuse his hosts by turning off lights, the television, etc. This will trigger reactions by the family members, and serves more of a purpose other than for kicks. Sometimes your victim's target point(s) will not appear unless they engage in a specific activity or motion, one that you'll have to find out for yourself by messing around with the electronics and other random household appliances. However, if you happen to be in the wrong place in such an event, you may be spotted, which will often result in a ''battle.'' The age old struggle of man vs. mosquito has never been a merciful one, so if you fall within one of the Yamada's view, prepare to fly for your life! During a battle, the single family member inside the room will come after you in a fury of swats with the goal of squashing your little brains out. The only way to win this fight is to pierce the ''relax points'' located on different parts of the host's body. Once you've succeeded in stimulating ever relax point, the family member will return to his/her business as if you were never there. In addition, every battle has a set record time limit which adds sort of a mini-game feel. If you're able to win a battle under the time limit, you'll be rewarded by unlocking a new color each time which you can then use to change Mister Mosquito's appearance with from the main menu.

When flying around rooms, you'll not only find many places to explore but many things to collect as well. Among these, hearts and heart rings are the most important as they grant you extra lives and increase the number of lives you can have at a time. Collecting extra tanks (or ''EX tanks'') allows you to continue sucking blood even after you've sucked the required amount. By doing this, you'll be able to live all the way into a second year. Finally, bits of food are scattered around in the most unlikely places, and to be even more odd, they give you small hints and tips when collected.

There are quite a few downsides to Mister Mosquito, and some are far more noticeable than others. The controls, while unique in their setup, can also be very confusing at first and possibly even dampen the appeal of the game for some. Luckily, they are responsive enough, but becoming accustomed to the configuration may take a greater amount of time than what's reasonable. Another unfortunate problem is the lack of variety from stage to stage. Before long, you'll realize that you're only repeating the same exact task over and over again with the only obvious changes being the atmosphere. Clearly you can't do much more than suck blood, being a mosquito and all, but as the repetitiveness drags on the game begins to lose its initial shine.

Graphics: 7/10

Graphically, Mister Mosquito is very clean though nowhere near superior, but it doesn't really need to be. The pudgy little mosquito you play as does not consist of much detail, but by being small and quickly flying around almost nonstop, that doesn't really seem to matter. The members of the Yamada family look quite goofy despite being realistically designed, but judging by their actions in the game that was probably intentional. The rooms are not overly detailed, but the type of furniture and arrangement in each stage makes it clear what part of the house you're currently in. Because of your size, each area of the house is huge, giving you ample room to do some exploring.

The character animations are fluent, but do lack variety. Since your host is usually spending his/her time doing a less than strenuous activity, like watching TV or looking for a lost pair of glasses, it's understandable that there isn't a large assortment of movements. There is a considerable amount of humor that's prominent mainly during the cutscenes in addition to some of the family's more lively actions, like Rena's friend blindly smacking her head into a cabinet and Mrs. Yamada cooking dinner, ninja style.

Towards the later stages of the game, heavy slowdown can occur frequently due to more objects such as insecticide fumes being on-screen. This isn't usually a problem since it does not last more than a second or so, but can become annoying the longer you remain in the stage(s).

Sound: 9/10

As the proboscis wielding insect whom everyone wants to kill, it's no surprise that the majority of the music you'll hear is a little on the creepy side. In some stages more than others, the quiet instrumental melody sounds like something straight out of a horror movie. In the heat of a battle, the music quickly shifts to a louder and more intense sound, letting you know you're in danger.

The sound effects around you are amplified to suit your small size, like the thundering footsteps of one of the Yamadas walking past you. Even music from a stereo or speech from the living room TV can be heard. The voice acting other than that of the narrator is almost laughably bad, but I must admit that it does fit the game and its style of weirdness. None of it is bad enough to make you writhe in disgust, but the repeated phrases by your host in each stage does become old after a short while. Other than that, the audio is nearly flawless.

Replay: 3/10

As previously mentioned, the game tends to wear out before it's even completed. If this is the case for you, odds are you won't go through it a second time right away, if not for a very long time. After the initial playthrough, the challenge seems to fall like a rock and the motivation to continue on lacks severely, a combination which brings the game down quite a bit. You can always try to unlock all the colors or find all the EX tanks as an added challenge, but otherwise the will to play again after the end is virtually absent.

Overall: 6/10

Whether you love or hate mosquitoes, Mister Mosquito deserves a chance by anyone who has ever wondered what it's like to be one of the tiny pests. Well, even if you haven't wondered, if you're interested in a mixture between flight sims and... err... bloodsucking, then this might be worth your time. It might be less than what you expect, but it should provide at least a few hours of comical entertainment. In the end, Mister Mosquito is one of those quirky titles which proves that even the most peculiar ideas can turn into good games, but not necessarily great ones.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/03