Shen Mue gameplay information

[05.04.99] » Tokyo's Network Jungle show reveals numerous new additions to the "gift to the children of the 21st century."

   Information on Yu Suzuki's "Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment" epic is gradually leaking out. The latest flow came courtesy of the Network Jungle show, held from May 1st to 3rd in Tokyo, Japan. The show exhibited numerous games and other technology-industry products, but the unquestioned star was Shen Mue.

   The title occupied the show's largest booth, stocked with videos, development sketches, clay busts of the characters, music CDs, and playable demos. 12 new VMS characters could also be downloaded, bringing the total up to 28. Several other mini-games appeared in the playable demos, including a darts game and replicas of some of Yu Suzuki's arcade classics, such as Outrun and Space Harrier. The games all begin at a low difficulty level, and gradually become harder as the player continues to succeed.

   Shen Mue has been heavily rumored to contain a second, fighting-game style battle system, and it was at last confirmed. The demo included one instance of the Free Battle System, in which the hero, Ryo, fought numerous thugs in the woods. The analog and digital pad are used to turn, and also to run when combined with the trigger. The buttons on the right-hand side of the controller activate Ryo's array of fighting moves -- throws, punches, blocks, special attacks, and even the ability to throw barrels at his foes.

   The demos also showed another impressive feature, the daily schedule that many characters follow. For example, Haru the cigarette shop owner begins each day by sweeping her shop. She then takes a walk before returning to the store to wait on customers. When night falls, she goes shopping, eats dinner, and finally goes to sleep. Should you need to locate her or one of the characters on such a schedule, you'll have to show up in the right place at the right time.

   Yu Suzuki was also on hand to explain some of his goals for the series, to be released sequentially as several "chapters." He noted that the story had expanded to around ten times its original size, mandating that it be released as more than one game. Suzuki also showed some brief clips of shifting facial expressions -- although changing facial expressions will not be used in the game, they served to demonstrate that the Dreamcast hardware is not as inferior to Sony's Emotion Engine as widely reported.

   Seeing is believing, so also take a look at 42 photos from the Network Jungle show.