Doki Doki Majo Shinpan!
Encyclopedia
is a game developed
by SNK Playmore
for Nintendo DS
.
A game journalist from the gaming blog Kotaku asked an SNK spokesperson if this game would be released in the US, and the response was "...this title is only for Japanese market. We do not have any plan for localize to the other versions.", despite the game originally having official sites in English, Chinese, and Korean. These were taken offline when the Japanese language site was rewritten to focus on the upcoming sequel game.
The player assumes the role of a junior high school student who is asked by an angel to locate a witch that has sneaked into his school. In order to find the witch, he must search the suspects' bodies for a "witch mark." The preferred method is by using touch (using the stylus
to guide his hands).
A sequel titled Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 Duo
was released 31 July 2008, and a third game titled Doki Majo Plus
was released on July 30, 2009.
: Miku Ozaki)
Angel LuLu (Voiced by: Hiroko Sonoda)
Maria Abe
Renge Oda
Yuuma Mochizuki
Ayame Midoh
Merry Watabiki
Eve Seiya
Noel Seiya
Reverse-Panda
, the game is the best selling pre-order game in Japan, and is more popular than The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
. However the actual numbers show that the game met with minimal sales and as of 2009 has only sold 50,000 units.
Although the game has not been confirmed for a North American release, it has been the subject of a number of webcomics. These include:
The import review of the game in the UK publication NGamer
(like its predecessor NGC Magazine
, famous for comical reviews of particularly bad games), felt so disturbed by the game that it abandoned its normal percentage scoring system and awarded it a 'score' of simply "NO" in every category. In a later issue (18) it "awarded" it "The Superman 64
(a reference to what the magazine considered for years as the worst game ever made) Award For Worst Game (of 2007)", remarking "There are bad games - technically flawed and conceptually lazy - and then there are bad games. Evil bad. Doki Doki a.k.a The Meh Witch Touching Project, is one such title." . The sequel, however, received 40%, an actual score.
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
for Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
.
A game journalist from the gaming blog Kotaku asked an SNK spokesperson if this game would be released in the US, and the response was "...this title is only for Japanese market. We do not have any plan for localize to the other versions.", despite the game originally having official sites in English, Chinese, and Korean. These were taken offline when the Japanese language site was rewritten to focus on the upcoming sequel game.
The player assumes the role of a junior high school student who is asked by an angel to locate a witch that has sneaked into his school. In order to find the witch, he must search the suspects' bodies for a "witch mark." The preferred method is by using touch (using the stylus
Stylus (computing)
In computing, a stylus is a small pen-shaped instrument that is used to input commands to a computer screen, mobile device or graphics tablet...
to guide his hands).
A sequel titled Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 Duo
Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 Duo
is the sequel to the Japan-exclusive Doki Doki Majo Shinpan!. A third game titled Doki Majo Plus was released on July 30, 2009.Similar to the first game, players determine whether female characters are witches by touching their bodies with the stylus...
was released 31 July 2008, and a third game titled Doki Majo Plus
Doki Majo Plus
is the third game in the Doki Doki Majo Shinpan! series. The game is set on a south island during a holiday break. The game was released only in Japan on July 30, 2009....
was released on July 30, 2009.
Main characters
Akuji Nishimura (Voiced by- He is a junior high student hard at work on finding witches.
- He is proud to be a bad boy and forced to cooperate by the threat of being changed into a good boy.
Angel LuLu (Voiced by
- Apprentice angel. She follows by the arch-angel's instruction about Akuji, and helps with the witch search.
Suspects
Maho Akai- 14 years old. She has long sugar-pink pigtails and very big breasts. She is in the cheerleading club. Ability: Energy balls
Maria Abe
- 14 years old. She is a meganekkoMeganekkois a Japanese word which translates to "glasses girl"....
. The crystal-ball fortune-telling is her unique skill. Ability: Potions and barriers.
Renge Oda
- 13 years old. She likes retro video games. Her most prized possession is 'AthenaAthena (video game)is a platform arcade game, produced and published in 1986 by SNK. It was later ported to the NES, developed by Micronics. The NES version was the only one released in North America. Conversions were done also for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC in 1987 by Ocean Software under their...
' on the Nintendo Entertainment SystemNintendo Entertainment SystemThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(with cassette tape), which is a clear reference to SNK. Ability: Teleportation and 'power sneeze'
Yuuma Mochizuki
- 13 years old. He takes everything too serious and gets injured all the time. Ability : Wolf transformation
Ayame Midoh
- 15 years old. She is the only daughter of a Shinto shrine priest and also its maiden priestess. Ability: Summoning familiar and talisman
Merry Watabiki
- 12 years old. She is always wearing a rabbit costume. Ability: Meteors and explosive replicas
Eve Seiya
- 23 years old. The school nurse. Ability: Energy balls
Noel Seiya
- The archangel. Sister of Eve Seiya. Ability: Energy balls, summoning holy slugs and holy sword.
Other characters
Cawasen Chiyo- She is on the cheerleading club. She has light blue hair made up of 2 small pigtails.
Reverse-Panda
- The color of this type of panda is quite opposite to a usual panda. It hides itself in 100 places throughout the game. The number obtained at the end of the game reveals more episodes in the "Extra Episodes" mode.
Manga
- The Doki Doki Majo Shinpan! Manga will be included in Akita ShotenAkita Shotenis a Japanese publishing company established on August 10, 1948 in Chiyoda, Tokyo. Its main editorial target has always been teenagers , and it currently publishes mostly manga...
's "Champion Red". It has been scheduled for September 2007. The illustrator is Yagami Ken (八神健).
Book
- The Doki Doki Majo Shinpan! Fanbook by Soft Bank Creative is scheduled for sale on July 5, 2007 (ISBN 9784797343472).
- Doki Doki Majo Shinpan Complete best by MediaWorksMediaWorks (publisher)was a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group known for their brand magazines and book labels. These included such well-known magazines as Dengeki Daioh, and Dengeki G's Magazine, along with MediaWorks' main light novel publishing imprint Dengeki Bunko. The company was merged with ASCII...
is scheduled for sale on August 10, 2007 (ISBN 9784840240345).
Soundtrack
- The Doki Doki Majo Shinpan! Soundtrack by Sten Och Flod is scheduled for sale on July 25, 2007.
Reception
According to online retailer Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, the game is the best selling pre-order game in Japan, and is more popular than The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
is the fourteenth game in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series. It was released after The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii and before The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the Nintendo DS...
. However the actual numbers show that the game met with minimal sales and as of 2009 has only sold 50,000 units.
Although the game has not been confirmed for a North American release, it has been the subject of a number of webcomics. These include:
- A Penny ArcadePenny Arcade (webcomic)Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
comic in April 2007.http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/20 - Two Dueling AnalogsDueling AnalogsDueling Analogs is a webcomic by Steve Napierski . The website was launched on November 17, 2005, and new comics are posted every Monday and Thursday. Dueling Analogs is a gaming comic and as such most of the comics take place in the universe of the games discussed...
comics, one in March 2008 http://www.duelinganalogs.com/comic/2008/03/28/doki-doki-panic/ and another in December 2008 http://www.duelinganalogs.com/comic/2008/12/01/ds-i-love-you/. - Used often as an example of bad gaming on the popular videogame review Zero Punctuation
The import review of the game in the UK publication NGamer
NGamer
NGamer is a British magazine which mainly covers Nintendo video game consoles and software, and also to a much lesser extent, Sony and Microsoft consoles. The first issue was released on 13 July 2006...
(like its predecessor NGC Magazine
NGC Magazine
NGC Magazine was a British magazine specialising in Nintendo created consoles; which was first printed in 1997 and ran until 2006. N64 Magazine was the successor to Super Play magazine after it ended in 1996 as it retained many of the staff and the style of that publication...
, famous for comical reviews of particularly bad games), felt so disturbed by the game that it abandoned its normal percentage scoring system and awarded it a 'score' of simply "NO" in every category. In a later issue (18) it "awarded" it "The Superman 64
Superman 64
Superman: The New Adventures, often referred to as Superman 64: The New Adventures or Superman 64, or simply just Superman, is an adventure video game that was first shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 1997 , released by Titus Software on May 31, 1999 on the Nintendo 64...
(a reference to what the magazine considered for years as the worst game ever made) Award For Worst Game (of 2007)", remarking "There are bad games - technically flawed and conceptually lazy - and then there are bad games. Evil bad. Doki Doki a.k.a The Meh Witch Touching Project, is one such title." . The sequel, however, received 40%, an actual score.
External links
- Official site
- IGN page
- GameSpot page
- Famitsu article
- Dengeki Online Article
- Promotional Goods
- SNK on Witching Touching Game at KotakuKotakuKotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
- Various extracted graphics at The Spriters Resource