Tail Concerto
| Tail Concerto | |
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| Developer(s) | CyberConnect2 |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Artist(s) | Nobuteru Yūki (character design) |
| Composer(s) | Chikayo Fukuda Seizo Nakata |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure, Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) |
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| Media/distribution | 1 CD-ROM |
Tail Concerto is a 3D anime-style action-adventure and platform game developed by CyberConnect2. It was published by Bandai in Japan on April 16, 1998 and by Atlus in North America on August 31, 1999. Bandai would later release it in France in the same year. The game scenario revolves around a anthropomorphic canine police officer named Waffle Ryebread and his adventures while obtaining magical crystals for the purposes of an investigation into their use.[1] The game was featured as a playable demo in original Japanese form on the "Winter '98" edition of the PlayStation Underground Jampack disc series.
The game is the first of the Little Tail Bronx series, along with Mamoru-kun[2][3][4] and Solatorobo: Red the Hunter.
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[edit] Gameplay
The majority of the gameplay involves controlling a semi-humanoid mecha. The basic abilities of the mecha include jumping, hanging onto ledges, hovering, firing bubbles, and grabbing objects. In a single area of the game's world, the player is also given the ability to fly with a jet pack. Near the end of the game, the mecha's bubble-shooting ability is replaced with the ability to fire homing projectiles. Up until this point, bubbles are used in order to capture kittens; however, due to a change in the overall scenario, this task is no longer necessary - hence the replacement of the bubbles with the missiles.[1]
[edit] Plot and setting
Tail Concerto is set in the same timeline as both Solatorobo and Mamoru-kun, being in a Post-Apocalyptic Earth where humans have finally gone extinct and beast people started living in floating islands. The story's setting is in Prairie, the world in which the game takes place, where is inhabited by anthropomorphic dog-people and cat-people.
Before the events of the game, the two races were said to have been at war — a war in which the dog people were ultimately victorious. Despite their past altercations, the two races seem to be mostly at peace with each other during the events depicted in the game itself. Prairie consists of a floating archipelago; due to this unique geographical configuration, its inhabitants mostly commute by way of airships. The game begins with the main character, Waffle Ryebread, getting a call from the chief of the police department which he works at. A gang of cats, mostly kittens, are attacking the city of Resaca. He is instructed to investigate these attacks. Upon the player's arrival in Resaca, Waffle recognizes one of ringleaders of the cat gang as Alicia Priss, a childhood friend of his. Alicia has a hatred for the dog-people, and is trying to find five magical crystals in order to secure what she believes is the liberty and pride of the cat-people. Waffle learns that the crystals could be used for destruction, so he starts an investigation into the crystals to prevent them from being used for anything harmful.[1]
[edit] Audio
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Tail Concerto's background music was composed by Chikayo Fukuda and Seizo Nakata, who would later again collaborate on the .hack//Infection soundtrack[5] and again on Solatorobo: Red The Hunter.
The opening theme to the Japanese version of the game, "For Little Tail," was fully vocalized by singer Kokia. The opening theme was replaced in the western versions by a different instrumental composition. The original, however, is retained in the French release of the game.
The English version features voice acting from talents such as Amanda Winn Lee and Lani Minella. The French release of the game retains the Japanese dialogue.
[edit] Reception
Tail Concerto was published in June 1998 by Bandai in Japan to little fanfare.
In North America, the game was previewed by magazines with slightly more anticipation. By the time it was released, however, most of the hype had dissipated.
[edit] Sequel
According to an interview by Christian Nutt of GameSpy, CyberConnect2 is restricted from making a sequel by Bandai due to the relatively low sales.[6] CyberConnect2 tried to pitch Tail Concerto 2 to Bandai in 2003 and 2004, but Bandai rejected the project because they believed the game wouldn't sell.[7] However, the company did indirectly return to the world of Tail Concerto in 2005 when it designed the image character "Mamoru-kun"[8] for Fukuoka Prefecture's disaster-warning email program of the same name.[9] The promotional materials for the program reveal that Mamoru-kun and his friends live in the country of "Nipon," which, along with Tail Concerto's Prairie Kingdom, is part of a larger world called "Little Tail Bronx."
On June 28, 2007, CyberConnect2 released a promotional artwork that could be easily related to the characters in the game, by the fact that there are humanoid figures that look like dogs sitting on robots, in a reference to the Tail Concerto world.[10] The same artwork also showed the words "Nintendo DS - New Project - Coming Soon", causing speculation that a sequel to the original PlayStation game will be released to the Nintendo DS portable gaming system.
Present in the same piece of artwork is a character dressed in a costume that resembles the character Kite from the .hack multimedia franchise. CyberConnect2 is well known for its work on the .hack games, and the addition of this character to the promotional artwork could be a way to attract people's attention to the new title.
In another reference to the .hack franchise, the artwork also shows the words "To The World!!" right below the "New Project" section. The World is the name of the game in which all the events of the .hack franchise occur. Some websites also speculated that there could be a fusion of both the .hack and Tail Concerto franchises in the new DS game.[11]
On March 11, 2010, the promotional artwork was replaced with a countdown. the famous Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu, reveals Solatorobo: Red The Hunter on a March issue, as the game shares similar concepts, making it a Spiritual Sequel.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c CyberConnect2. Tail Concerto. (Atlus). (1999-10-25)
- ^ http://www.bousaimobile.pref.fukuoka.lg.jp/en/
- ^ http://www.bousai.pref.fukuoka.jp/mamorukun/
- ^ http://www.cc2.co.jp/mamoru/index.html
- ^ "MobyGames". Game Credits for Tail Concerto. http://www.mobygames.com/game/playstation/tail-concerto/credits. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ "GameSpy". .hack's creators speak. http://archive.gamespy.com/e32003/interview/ps2/1002226/. Retrieved November 10, 2006.
- ^ "The Lost Tail Concerto 2 Pitches". http://www.siliconera.com/2010/09/03/the-lost-tail-concerto-2-pitches/. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
- ^ "まもるくん" (in Japanese). CyberConnect2.jp. http://www.cyberconnect2.jp/mamoru/top/top.html. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
- ^ "まもるくん" (in Japanese). Bousai.pref.fukuoka.jp/. http://www.bousai.pref.fukuoka.jp/mamorukun/. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
- ^ "CyberConnect2's New Project". 2007-06-28. http://www.cyberconnect2.jp/new2/index.html.
- ^ "Tail Concerto, clássico de PlayStation, deverá vir para o DS" (in Portuguese). 2007-06-28. http://www.wii-brasil.com/?sub=noticias&id=6590.
[edit] External links
- Tail Concerto at IMDB.
- Tail Concerto at IGN.
