Yuu Yuu Hakusho Dai-San-Tama

"A Very Original and Innovative Game"

Yuu Yuu Hakusho Dai-San-Tama is the third installment of the Yuu Yuu Hakusho series for the Game Boy. This game is unique because, unlike the other games, this isn't a fighter. This is a side-scrolling action RPG, which makes for one heck of a game.

Story: 4/10
If you're reading this review, you've more than likely watched the anime or read the manga. The story itself is very good, but the downside is that, this game is in Japanese. So if you can't read Japanese, the story will mean absolutely nothing to you. I'm one of those people. But, I'll try to do my best in explaining the story here:

The game starts just after Yusuke has won the Spirit Tournament. He goes to his high school and finds that there are enemies from the spirit world there. He eventually fights his way up to the top of the school, where he finds his rival, Kuwabara. They fight, and afterwards, Kuwabara joins the party. Soon after, Kurama and Hiei join the party as well. From this point on, you go to the different areas and fight the different bosses. As you progress through the game, you find out that a former Spirit Detective (Sensui) is trying to link the Living and Spirit Worlds. You then continue on in fighting bosses, until you eventually get to Sensui, and (hopefully) defeat him and complete the game.

Like I mentioned earlier, if you don't know Japanese, the story will mean absolutely nothing to you unless you know the story by heart and you can tell what's happening. So, this means that once you've beaten the game, you may not gain the sense that you've accomplished anything, which, at least in my opinion, is a big part of video games.

Controls: 9/10
Being a Game Boy game, the controls are very simplistic, which can be great for some people, while maybe boring for others. On the map (which is an overhead view), you simply move with the D-Pad, and you talk to others with the A button. In the actual side-scrolling levels, you move using the left and right arrows. You crouch with the down arrow, jump with A, use your physical attacks with B, and you unleash your spirit attack by pressing A and B simultaneously. These controls make combat simple, yet make it fun and challenging at the same time.

Gameplay: 8/10
The gameplay in this is so great that it deserves more than a ten. With four different characters to choose from, and great fighting mechanics, among other things, are what make this game just so... awesome.

One major part of gameplay is that you have all four characters (Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei) to use at all times. They all have their own different strengths and weaknesses, which also adds an element of strategy to the game in choosing who you'll use to fight for each boss. For example, Kuwabara is a bit slower, but is very powerful, whereas Hiei is extremely fast, but has weaker attacks. Each character also has their own special spirit move which changes and becomes more powerful as you level up, which forces you to think on whether you'll use your spirit attacks right away, or if you'll conserve them for the boss.

Another part of the game that sets it apart from the other titles in the series is that the game, along with being a side-scrolling fighter, is an RPG. Like most RPG's, as you progress through the game, you level up. Naturally, as you gain levels, you become stronger and gain abilities. For example, once you gain a certain level, you might add an extra move into your fighting combo, or your spirit attack will change and become much more powerful. Another RPG element in the game is increasing your stats. There are various mini-games that you participate in (arm wrestling and rock-paper-scissors, to name two) once you level up where, depending on how you do, you'll get a certain amount of stat points that you can add on to three separate categories: Health, Strength, or Spirit. The Health and Spirit stats increase your health and spirit gauges, respectively, while the strength stat, obviously, makes your attacks stronger.

With all of the good things in the game, there ARE bound to be a few, right? The biggest downside to the gameplay is that, although there are four characters, and various attacks you gain throughout the game, it can get somewhat repetitive. You run up to an enemy, punch away at it until it dies, maybe occasionally use a spirit attack, and wash, rinse, and repeat. This does get repetitive for the regular enemies, but another upside to this is that when you get to the boss, things get exciting. Each boss fights in a completely different way, and you have to come up with some kind of strategy to beat it.

The other negative in the gameplay department can be said about all RPG's, and that is the time it takes to level up. At the beginning of the game, you level up rather quickly, and getting new combination attacks and spirit moves becomes very exciting. But, as you progress in the game, you have to get ridiculous amounts of experience to level up, and for the last bosses, if you don't level up high enough, they can be impossible to beat.

All in all, the gameplay can become very repetitive at points (especially nearing the end), but the differing characters and attacks, along with the difficulty of bosses, allows you to stick to the game and beat it.

Graphics: 10/10
Being a Game Boy game, you might expect the graphics to be lousy, and for not too much to be going on, in combat or in the background, but this game has to have some of THE best graphics for the Game Boy. Characters are detailed very well, and the backgrounds differ greatly between one another, but what absolutely amazes me in this are the graphics for the spirit attacks. While Yusuke's and Kuwabara's finishers may be very basic, involving the Spirit Gun and Spirit Sword, Kurama and Hiei's spirit attacks look astounding. Nearing the end of the game, Kurama has a beautiful spirit attack where hundreds of rose petals fly around the screen, attacking enemies. Hiei, well... one of Hiei's best spirit moves is where a black dragon shoots from his hands and flies throughout the screen, destroying all enemies in it's path. My descriptions may seem exaggerated, but these graphics must be seen to be believed.

Music: 6/10
In this game, the music was average. Nothing stood out to me at all. While the music does vary greatly from level to level, and isn't repetitive at all, it just didn't seem to be anything special. I think the only word you can use to describe the music in this game is just plain average.

Saving: 3/10
While in most cases, saving would most likely not be reviewed, in this game, it's a necessity. In this game, the password system is used. Since there are so many variables with levels and abilities, the passwords are, and I emphasize, very, VERY long. The passwords are about four lines of text, which may not seem bad, but you need to remember that this game is in Japanese, and many letters look identical, which means you need to copy the password down perfectly, or else you're just going to have to start back over from the beginning. I recommend that, rather than saving, you just try to beat the game in one sitting, because the whole password ordeal is just too much of a hassle to bear with.

Replay Value: 7/10
While obviously the game is very linear, and nothing changes, I believe that after you've beaten the game, it's still fun to start over from the beginning again. Possibly trying to level up your characters to the maximum, or only using one character throughout the whole game as a challenge can help to put new life into a beaten game.

Overall: 8/10
The story may be confusing and meaningless for those who don't know Japanese, but the pure fun of the gameplay helps elevate this game to make it, in my opinion, one of the best side-scrollers on the Game Boy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/06