Update: This is an April Fools Joke for 2013.
When I first got my Wii, I was begging to get anything good on the system. Sure, I had Super Mario Galaxy, but I was leery of that Fire Emblem and Tales of Symphonia stuff. (What kind of title is that, anyway?) But that all changed in 2009 when I came across a title from little-known Japanese developer Starfish-SD called Saint.
For those who don’t know, Saint is a take on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West (and possibly the best version ever, way better than that hack job manga/anime that Akira Toriyama came up with). You play as Son Goku as he travels around the world, meeting friends and taking on enemies.
There are a number of memorable missions in this game. One that comes to mind is saving Kuririn from falling down an endless well created as a trap by the evil Popo. Quite the epic battle.
And there are also the more humorous levels. One in particular involves finding all of Buruma’s panties. This leads to the hilariously drawn one-eyed banjo-playing redneck bandit named Yamucha.
And all of this culminates in a climactic final level, where you need to destroy a nuclear meteor. Get a high enough score throughout the game, and you’ll end up as the new Emperor of Japan.
Story aside, this game showed me so much about what a game could be. The music was a breath of fresh air in an industry that was feeling stale with predictable instrumentations and epic themes that felt trite and pointless. The gameplay took the shooter genre to a whole new level, bringing fresh and unique ideas to the table.
This is truly a game that opened my eyes to what gaming could truly be. If you’re someone who needs a shot of creativity in your gaming library, you can’t go wrong with Saint.
