Welcome to another review of a few of the new Kairosoft titles. This time around, we reviewed two titles; Pocket Arcade Story & Tennis Club Story! So if you always dreamed of owning your arcade of starting a tennis club? Kairosoft has you covered! Let’s dive in.
Kairosoft made a change, a big one. I already noticed it in the last games I reviewed. Kairosoft is moving away from the old structure and implementing a new way of depth. It’s moving away from the pure idle gameplay settings with which they became what they are, and are more and more focusing on real-time strategy decisions combined with ingame activities to increase engagement. Both titles offer this implement differently, and I’ll explain them in detail below. Let’s start with the arcades.
Pocket Arcade Story:
In the Netherlands, we did not have many arcade parks of luna parks (the name often heard in Belgium). In Japan, however, it’s a common sight, and they are often popular with all ages. They were ranging from the pure Donkey Kong and Pac Man machines to the more gambling style Pachinko parlors. These arcade halls are often featured in anime and manga, with some of the most well-known accounts ranging from High Score Girl (on Netflix) and Kaiji – Ultimate Survivor (one of my favorite manga/anime to date).
Arcade Madness
In this entry, you’ll open a small little game center/arcade/luna park. This time we get to build our very own gaming paradise packed with heaps of game machines and more! The main challenge is to become the most popular arcade in the region. But there’s a twist – not only are you on route to become the best arcade, but you’ll also have to crush them in fighting tournaments as well. While running your arcade, its key to make some of your customers regulars. This way, you can test their mettle in fighting game tournaments. Crush the competition with crazy combos and knock out your opponents with a flurry of fists! If you rise from the fray victorious, more and more customers will pile into your arcade! During these fights, you can help to deliver the finishing move in an old-school arcade setting.
While you’ll start with just a few machines, ranging from platformers to shooters and eventually the claw-machines, you will unlock more games during the road. And luckily, you can fine-tune and tweak your arcade as much as you want, with everything from racing games to dance tournaments, photo booths, and food stands! This feature helps to create themed areas in your arcade, increasing fun and enthusiasm, which will result in even more money. To increase enjoyment or the experience gain of your customers, there’s the option to adjust the strength of your crane games’ claws and the rate at which prizes are won. Sames goes for the other games – do you want a fun game with fewer experience points? Or do you want to challenge your customers with the hardest quizzes found in this game? Utilize all these features and customize to your heart’s content!
Five Star Fever
All these aspects help with just one goal in mind – to create a 5-star arcade that pushes all the right buttons! Each star-level comes with its purposes, like building a certain amount of games (yes, you develop your arcade games), holding mixers (friendly gatherings in which people can meet new friends, popular in Japan), or winning at a certain level of the fighting tournament. Keep in mind, just leveling on of your ‘players’ is not the key to victory. Some of the competitions are only available to a specific customer (high schoolers, kindergartners, etc.), so try to build a diverse community of regulars. I did find this one to be one of the more dreadful entries in the sense of time management. It took a long time to unlock specific machines and aspects while I leveled my fighters way beyond the requirements for the next level. Altogether, another excellent entry and less niche than some of the other entries.
7.5
Tested on the Nintendo Switch.
Tennis Club Story
I have never been much of a tennis fan. Mostly because I don’t have the coordination to hit the ball and land it where I want, due to this, I enjoyed games like Mario Tennis and the sorts, so I was happy Kairosoft thought about bringing the Tennis to the Kairo. And boy, did it deliver. As I already mentioned above, Kairosoft made a change in its game development. Tennis Club Story is one of the prime examples of this change since it features in-depth gameplay and a lot of customization options not found in other Kairosoft titles.
Grand Slam:
In Tennis Club Story, you aim for the ace position of tennis club prestige! Your leadership decides if players make it to the big time or bust! Customize your training menu to focus on power or technique, molding players as you please for competitions, fame, and snazzy sponsors! It’s much more than a tennis game. You’ll have to negotiate with sponsors, since they will fund hard-working athletes with big bucks, in addition to providing top-notch gear, items, and more. When you unlocked individual sponsors, they might even build you a hot springs spa or restaurant! Something I found out early ingame that’s it lucrative to sign with a variety of sponsors and live the good life! At the end of each year, you’ll gain money, items, and specific options I won’t spoil from sponsors, and you will need them to progress at a productive rate.
Another feature added to Kairosofts Tennis Club Story is the option to buff up the service for patrons of your tennis school. When hosting barbecues, training camps, and other fun events, you will increase motivation and fame. This leads to your tennis club being a fun one, and that’s good for business. More customers mean more training options and more options in the games you’ll play. Since it’s not only management this time around, you’ll have to play a few sets of Tennis as well. Luckily there’s an unlimited amount of other tennis clubs in the area (for some reason) which you can challenge in singles and even doubles (and team competitions). All of these factors will determine your star rating – are you going for a five-star rating with a Grand Slam in your pocket? I sure am.
Conclusion:
If Tennis Club Story is the future of Kairosoft, then it’s a bright one indeed. The game works on every level and it bugged out only once; sadly this forced me to restart the game. So, if you tend to upgrade your facilities, be wary not to upgrade them while there are customers inside! Even if you are not into tennis, this game brings everything to the table for an enjoyable simulation with deeply layered management elements. Another great addition.
