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News Pocky & Rocky Reshrined out now on PC, Switch and Playstation (UPDATE: coming soon to Xbox Series X|S)

mazi

picross pundit
Publisher Natsume Atari and developer Tengo Project have released the third official trailer for Pocky & Rocky Reshrined, dubbed the “Character Trailer,” as well as new screenshots and information.

Pocky & Rocky Reshrined is due out for PlayStation 4 and Switch on April 21 in Japan, and this spring worldwide.




you can also see a few new screenshots over at gematsu
 
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Gawd I luv those sound effects 😍

Also, uh thats Ame no Uzume!?

Thanks to SMT the cool design of her with all the fans is what springs to mind when I hear that name:

 
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Guess they're saving Becky for DLC.

Really excited to play this!
 
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Never played the original game(s?), but this looks really really cool. Do we know it's getting localized?
 
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Could someone please explain how Taito operates as a subsidiary of Square-Enix? Natsume is publishing this, but I've seen Taito games published by other publishers in the past and it's just really confusing why Square-Enix isn't handling the publishing duties.
 
Ooo, I’ve been waiting on this one since last year! Hopefully it won’t be too long until it releases world wide!
 
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Could someone please explain how Taito operates as a subsidiary of Square-Enix? Natsume is publishing this, but I've seen Taito games published by other publishers in the past and it's just really confusing why Square-Enix isn't handling the publishing duties.
I honestly have no clue what's the deal.. Square seems very hands off on everything Taito related for some reason; They should capitalize on those IPs more, especially considering they own stuff like Space Invaders.

But in Pocky & Rocky's case, I think Natsume has some stake over the IP? Since the SNES game they have some kind of involvement
 
Goodness the sprite work looks great. I just have a feeling I'll never get to see any of it past level 2 or something because the game's difficulty is too high to handle.
 
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Super excited for this. Been waiting for a new Kiki Kaikai since that failed PS2 game that became Heavenly Guardian.
 
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Not sure if this had been shared? The Pocky & Rocky Reshrined will feature an "extra easy" mode:
sys_extra_easy.png

Rough translation: "Featuring extra easy mode!! Even people not good at action games can play till the end. You may select the mode after collecting certain amount of enemy coins in the game"

I saw a few comments above asking for Becky. Did you know that Becky is based on a real person? When Kiki Kaikai (original arcade game) was ported to Famicom Disk System, Taito hired Miki Ito, a Japanese idol, to promote the port; a 2P character "Miki" was also added.

Miki Ito in the Kiki Kaikai commercial:



Miki Ito in the Kiki Kaikai disk packaging:
m18532095615_2.jpg


Bonus Kiki Kaikai leaflet included in Miki Ito's single record:
1121a77735dac208f348c40dfffd0bcb.jpg


This promotional character Miki was later revived in Kiki Kaikai Advance for GBA, and localized as Becky in Pocky & Rocky with Becky.
 
I honestly have no clue what's the deal.. Square seems very hands off on everything Taito related for some reason; They should capitalize on those IPs more, especially considering they own stuff like Space Invaders.

But in Pocky & Rocky's case, I think Natsume has some stake over the IP? Since the SNES game they have some kind of involvement
Pocky & Rocky as we know it is actually a sequel to a Taito arcade game called KikiKaiKai. Taito licensed the IP to Natsume to release a Super Famicom game, which they also developed internally. Combined with Natsume publishing it outside Japan, it was a massive commercial success and FAR more popular than it ever was in Taito's hands, who continued licensing it to Natsume's developers as a result.

The current game in the series is being produced by many of the same people who produced the original, who are NatsumeAtari employees.
In their own words:
We started work on a sequel with the thought that if we didn’t respond to requests for a remake now, we wouldn’t have the chance in the future considering the staff’s age. While you may think it’s a remake, it’s a completely new title. It’s loaded with new elements.
In order to achieve this, it's likely NatsumeAtari asked to maintain its publishing rights for development of the game and Square Enix and/or Taito opted to undergo the IP licensing route again, since the IP hasn't been worth anything other than for IP licensing to them since the late 1980s anyways.
 
Thx Mazi for making this thread for me. So yeah, I'm actually crazy hyped for this game. I only discovered this series in the 2010's and still, the snes game became one of my favorite game of all time. Can't f** wait. Btw the goddess girl seems to be a crazy homage to Snow Battle Princess Sayuki aka what was supposed to be Pocky & Rocky 3 or something.
 
Pocky & Rocky as we know it is actually a sequel to a Taito arcade game called KikiKaiKai. Taito licensed the IP to Natsume to release a Super Famicom game, which they also developed internally. Combined with Natsume publishing it outside Japan, it was a massive commercial success and FAR more popular than it ever was in Taito's hands, who continued licensing it to Natsume's developers as a result.

The current game in the series is being produced by many of the same people who produced the original, who are NatsumeAtari employees.
In their own words:

In order to achieve this, it's likely NatsumeAtari asked to maintain its publishing rights for development of the game and Square Enix and/or Taito opted to undergo the IP licensing route again, since the IP hasn't been worth anything other than for IP licensing to them since the late 1980s anyways.
You seem to know a bunch. Do you know what was the reason the ps2/Wii game was turned to Snow Battle Princess Sayuki when it was originally developed as a P&R game with the same characters? So Taito and Square didn't wanna license the IP anymore or something?

Edit: Omg, I'm rattata. What an embarrassment lol
 
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You seem to know a bunch. Do you know what was the reason the ps2/Wii game was turned to Snow Battle Princess Sayuki when it was originally developed as a P&R game with the same characters? So Taito and Square didn't wanna license the IP anymore or something?
I'm sure that @Terrell will something to add. What I heard is that SE canceled the license to Starfish-SD (developer of Kiki Kaikai 2) when they took over Taito. IMHO SE made the right call. Starfish-SD is known for making shoddy low-budget titles (take a look at their games), and the Kiki Kaikai 2 info that they released at the time didn't inspire confidence either:

Does the design look like Pocky & Rocky at all?
Dxb9qjfUcAUzzBz


And they just had to put Pocky in a maid costume and tiny swimsuit...
XSleRYH.png


For those masochistic enough to want this game, Snow Battle Princess Sayuki is available on the Switch eShop.
 
I'm sure that @Terrell will something to add. What I heard is that SE canceled the license to Starfish-SD (developer of Kiki Kaikai 2) when they took over Taito. IMHO SE made the right call. Starfish-SD is known for making shoddy low-budget titles (take a look at their games), and the Kiki Kaikai 2 info that they released at the time didn't inspire confidence either:

Does the design look like Pocky & Rocky at all?
Dxb9qjfUcAUzzBz


And they just had to put Pocky in a maid costume and tiny swimsuit...
XSleRYH.png


For those masochistic enough to want this game, Snow Battle Princess Sayuki is available on the Switch eShop.
You actually know more about this than I do.

@xV_twist My knowledge extends to how incredibly and oddly chummy Taito and Natsume were back in the day, because of how the exact same scenario happened earlier in 2019 with the release of The Ninja Warriors Once Again, which was also a Taito-owned IP originally released in the arcade, which Natsume made an SNES game from the IP license. It was developed by the same team as both Pocky & Rocky and Wild Guns (though Wild Guns is a fully Natsume-owned IP).

This is what I think of when people talk about being confused by the Fatal Frame or Bayonetta IP rights, this is my go-to mental reference. LOL
 
Pocky & Rocky as we know it is actually a sequel to a Taito arcade game called KikiKaiKai. Taito licensed the IP to Natsume to release a Super Famicom game, which they also developed internally. Combined with Natsume publishing it outside Japan, it was a massive commercial success and FAR more popular than it ever was in Taito's hands, who continued licensing it to Natsume's developers as a result.

The current game in the series is being produced by many of the same people who produced the original, who are NatsumeAtari employees.
In their own words:

In order to achieve this, it's likely NatsumeAtari asked to maintain its publishing rights for development of the game and Square Enix and/or Taito opted to undergo the IP licensing route again, since the IP hasn't been worth anything other than for IP licensing to them since the late 1980s anyways.
I knew the franchise was licensed out for Natsume for the previous titles, but being a Taito IP (now a Square branch), I thought they'd handle things for now on.. But it's cool that the new game is by the team that made the SNES games!


I saw a few comments above asking for Becky. Did you know that Becky is based on a real person? When Kiki Kaikai (original arcade game) was ported to Famicom Disk System, Taito hired Miki Ito, a Japanese idol, to promote the port; a 2P character "Miki" was also added.

Miki Ito in the Kiki Kaikai commercial:



Miki Ito in the Kiki Kaikai disk packaging:
m18532095615_2.jpg


Bonus Kiki Kaikai leaflet included in Miki Ito's single record:
1121a77735dac208f348c40dfffd0bcb.jpg


This promotional character Miki was later revived in Kiki Kaikai Advance for GBA, and localized as Becky in Pocky & Rocky with Becky.


THAT I didn't know!.. huh... You think that will prevent Becky of coming back?
 
I'm sure that @Terrell will something to add. What I heard is that SE canceled the license to Starfish-SD (developer of Kiki Kaikai 2) when they took over Taito. IMHO SE made the right call. Starfish-SD is known for making shoddy low-budget titles (take a look at their games), and the Kiki Kaikai 2 info that they released at the time didn't inspire confidence either:

Does the design look like Pocky & Rocky at all?
Dxb9qjfUcAUzzBz


And they just had to put Pocky in a maid costume and tiny swimsuit...
XSleRYH.png


For those masochistic enough to want this game, Snow Battle Princess Sayuki is available on the Switch eShop.
It really was a bullet dodged. I remember when they originally announced it the only thing I was able to see were some screenshots that seemed quite nice from a visual standpoint (high-res 2d and all) even if I didn't care much for the new designs for Sayo-chan and the rest.

But then I played the game as it ended up coming out on the PS2 and damn, what a disappointment that was. So in the end I was kinda glad that game wasn't a part of the series lol.
 
THAT I didn't know!.. huh... You think that will prevent Becky of coming back?
Becky/Miki was a peripheral character therefore it's hard to predict. I noticed that one of the new characters in Reshrined—"Ikadzuchi" the marten thunder beast—is wearing a shrine maiden outfit, which doesn't make sense for a thunder beast. Could she be Becky possessed? The color of the outfit is different, but that could be explained away easily.
chara_illust_ikaduchi.png
 
Becky/Miki was a peripheral character therefore it's hard to predict. I noticed that one of the new characters in Reshrined—"Ikadzuchi" the marten thunder beast—is wearing a shrine maiden outfit, which doesn't make sense for a thunder beast. Could she be Becky possessed? The color of the outfit is different, but that could be explained away easily.
chara_illust_ikaduchi.png
Along with the samurai confirmed to be resurrected warriors from a war torn world in the English trailer
 
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The game is out today in Japan. Hopefully we don't have to wait long in the west. The release trailer reveals another new character (start at 58s):

 
I replayed the SNES version last year, and what a fun game that holds up beautifully. Looking forward to this very much!

The GBA one I didn’t care for too much because something felt off about it. The controls didn’t seem as tight as the SNES games.
 
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MY CHILDHOOD. I love the music in this game so sooo much. The first few notes of the intro are my ACNH island jingle.
 
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I always wanted to play this as a kid but never got around to it- I could only afford 1-2 SNES games a year outside of gifts, and I think it just wasn’t at the top of my list of essentials. Looking forward to finally playing a Pocky and Rocky game!
 
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a little late, but reviews are out
Love all the reviews praising the game. Yet my cynical self can’t wonder how their scores don’t match the actual reviews, which makes me wonder if it’s because it’s not a AAA blockbuster game.

I picked it up, and the game truly is wonderful.
 
this is getting an Xbox Series (and only Xbox Series, no Xbox One port surprisingly. even though the rest of the inin titles revealed alongside this are coming to the platform.) port, completely out of nowhere.
 
this is getting an Xbox Series (and only Xbox Series, no Xbox One port surprisingly. even though the rest of the inin titles revealed alongside this are coming to the platform.) port, completely out of nowhere.

ININ finally bringing most of its catalog to Xbox. Maybe Turrican Anthology is next.
 
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