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The Lowdown
Pros: Lots of references and characters from both series.
Cons: Initial game is a bore when playing alone and mediocre in
comparison to other party games.
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
 Purchase
at Lik-Sang
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Unless you're already a fan of them you probably haven't heard of Enix's
Itadaki series. The easiest way to explain Itadaki is that it is a
variation of the classic board game Monopoly with tweaks to make it more
interesting. Originating on the NES Enix's moderately successful Itadaki
series spanned four titles. Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki
Street Special is the fifth game and in some ways a revival of the
series.Enix's Itadaki games haven't gotten too much attention. Often
overshadowed by juggernauts titles like Dragon Quest the Itadaki games
were never part of Enix's million sellers. Instead of releasing any old
Itadaki game Square-Enix chose to use their mascot characters to star in
the title. We all know games that have used this approach to push sales.
Super Smash Brothers Melee, Sega Superstars and Chocobo Racing all come
to mind. While this does make Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy Itadaki
Street Special more interesting for all those Square-Enix fans out
there, the game is still the same old thing.
If you've been following either series there will be plenty of game
references that you'll remember. First there is the cast of characters,
all drawn in a super deformed style. On the Dragon Quest side players
will be able to pick from Bianca (DQ5), the Prince Of Midenhall (DQ2),
the unnamed hero from Dragon Quest VII and everyone's favorite blue
slime. Some of the Final Fantasy characters you can choose from include
Cloud (FF7), Yuna (FFX-2), Squall (FF8), Vivi (FF9) and the traveling
moogle from FFXI. Initially the character list is small, but you can
unlock characters by competing in tournaments against this computer. This
way you'll be able to play as the hero from Dragon Quest I, Gilgamesh (FFV),
and even the huge King Slime. One thing that will disappoint some people
is the lack of pre-Playstation Final Fantasy characters. Besides
Gilgamesh the only other pre FF reference is the Onion Knight from Final
Fantasy 3. Instead of featuring old characters Square-Enix included two
stars from Final Fantasy XII, Vaan and Ashe.
Most of the references from the older games are seen in the game's
music and chance cards. When you land on a question mark square you can
pick up a chance card. These cards can give you extra gold, allow you to
upgrade your buildings at a discount or teleport around the board. One
of the cool things about these cards is that they have pictures from the
16-bit and even 8-bit games. You'll see scenes like using the Canoe in
Final Fantasy 1 to battling a boss monster in Dragon Quest 3. There is a
diverse selection of music that will also please all fans. With over
fifty tracks you'll get to hear everything from the battle theme in
Dragon Quest 2 to J-E-N-O-V-A from Final Fantasy 7. One thing about the
music is that it isn't as sharp as it could be. Some of the older tunes
aren't remastered and it is unclear whether this was for nostalgia or not.
If you neglect the fusion with both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest
this game is pretty basic. You start out by picking a mascot character,
which has no effect on the game. Then you select one of a number a
different boards to play on. Of course these boards are throwbacks to
both series so you can choose to play on the Gold Saucer or inside a
castle. Each board is really different besides the theme. The length of
the board, the placement of expensive property and the location of the
four level up items vary. Having different boards does increase replay
value a little bit, since Square-Enix does have a decent amount of
boards to choose from. The goal of the game is to achieve a certain
amount of net worth. Whoever gets the amount select first is the winner.
Similar to Monopoly you can make money by purchasing land and then
collecting gold from unfortunate players that land on what you own. Once
you own some land you can increase the value of it by building more
expensive inns on the property. Unlike Monopoly you can upgrade your
land at any time, you don't need to own a block of property in a row.
Another strategy to earn some money is to invest in a block of land at
the bank. Buy purchasing stock in a land you'll receive a portion of the
profits each time someone else upgrades the area you own. Buying stock
in land you own is a good way to get a rebate on hotels or you can
invest in your opponent's land so you'll make money when they are
spending it.
One big difference with this game opposed to Monopoly is that you
don't automatically collect gold when going around the board. If you
want free money you need to collect four items (a heart, spade, clover
and diamond) and return them to the bank to level up. With each level up
you'll get bonus gold and at times even win more gold from casino
challenges. If a player lands on a casino challenge you'll enter a quick
mini game. Mini game might not be the best way to describe these events
because some of them you don't play. One of the challenges is a Chocobo
race, but you can't control the Chocobo you pick. Instead you make a bet
and watch the race. Another mini game that has little interaction is a
16 bit battle. One player will roll a set of dice to determine the HP of
the monster and the other three players will roll a pair of dice to deal
damage to the monster. If the players can deal more damage than the
amount of life rolled you'll win gold. Even this game all you are doing
is rolling dice, the action is minimal. Even the games where you do
something are pretty limited. A single spin of a slot machine, a short
treasure hunt and a romp through a castle looking for items aren't
enough to make this a party game. Instead Itadaki Street Special is a
more relaxing multiplayer title than the action packed Mario Party
games.
However, moving your moogle around the board is interesting for only
so long. Half way to the target Itadaki Street Special starts to drag,
like an endless game of Monopoly. Games against the computer can easily
last hours. If you're playing a tournament game you can save your
progress so you can eventually finish it. When you're playing with more
intelligent human players games take even longer. Since friends will
trade land and even utilize the option of stealing land at a higher
price from other players. A three player game can easily be an all night
affair. Even though Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy Itadaki Street Special
is much more fun with other people you're more likely to turn it off
after a few turns in favor of a faster party game.
Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy Itadaki Street Special is different from
other games out on the market now. It's a game that most people can pick
up and play. Yet when the game was conceived it was designed with fans
of Square Enix titles in mind. Instead of improving on the Itadaki
formula, the game makes its mark mainly because of the mascot
characters. As a party game Itadaki Street Special doesn't fare too well
because a match feels like a marathon.
A menu based game with all Japanese menus, isn't the most import
friendly game around. You can figure out some of the game with trial and
error, but to appreciate it you'll need to have a very good knowledge of
Japanese.
US Bound?
Even though none of the Itadaki games have left Japan there is a
decent chance for this title to come over. Enough people out in the
states will pick this up just because it has Final Fantasy and Dragon
Quest characters in it.
Overall
Most Square Enix fans shouldn't hesitate to pick this up. Seeing
all of the different characters in SD form plus seeing all the game
references is pretty neat. However, the main game won't hold interest
for very long.
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