 Let's take a look at another Super Nintendo beat-em-up that never left Japan. In the past I've done videos on games like Ghost Chaser Densei and Undercover Cops, but this one's a little different. It's Koryu No Mimi, a beat-em-up based on an obscure manga of the same name, and as you can see, even at a glance this one's a little odd. What are you, James Bond, kicking people off of motorcycles? I'm playing this one in English thanks to a translation patch made by RPG1, originally created back in 2004, but it recently received a much-needed update to the script along with a few other touches. But bear in mind, the latest patch is a little wonky, and it doesn't work with every emulator. It works fine with the SD2 SNES flash cartridge and some older versions of SNES 9X, and of course the original cartridge is fine too. But on other programs the game will run really chopply, or even freeze entirely, so keep that in mind. Anyway, you play as Netsume, no, not that Netsume. Some rich dude who's due to inherit what's known as the Ear of the Golden Dragon, a ring that gives its bearer all sorts of power, but it also kinda acts as a love potion of sorts. For instance, his ancestor hundreds of years ago wielded the ring to create an empire, but he fell in love, and instead decided to use the ring's power to please his lover. The same sort of thing happens to Netsume, only the person he falls for, Kanako, is involved with a rival clan which creates all sorts of tension, and I'll just leave it at that. Koryu No Mimi is a single-plane beat-em-up similar to games like Ninja Warriors, so there's no pseudo 3D aspect here. It's strictly 2D action which allows you to use fighting game style moves, and perform combos which is pretty cool. There's plenty of weapons here as well, all the usual stuff you'd expect from a beat-em-up of course, but there's also tons of stuff you can snag from the environment around you, like this street sign here, that's always fun. Later on in the game you even get guns, which gives this one a bit of a different feel, especially since you can use both the weapon and keep enemies at bay with your physical attacks at the same time. The further you progress, the more you fill up your secondary power meter, which once filled, you can activate by pressing R to make your character stronger and faster for a brief period of time. I mean you even turn Super Saiyan if you look at the character portrait up there. The combat here is pretty simple, I mean you only have one attack button, but there's a variety of moves beneath the surface, like pressing down and wide delivers an uppercut, down forward and wide does a leg sweep, plus there's different types of jumping attacks that are so ferocious your character's foot bursts into flames. You'll tap down and you can roll the dodge or execute a rolling kick. Press up twice and you do a couple of defensive kicks while jumping backward. Also when you're armed with a weapon, you can press A to deliver a special attack and these are especially satisfying since you just swing from one side of the screen to the next. So yeah the 2D plane may seem limiting at first, but there's still plenty you can do. There's only five levels here and no saves or passwords, but hey it's a beat em up, so it's gonna be a short play through. However if you die once, you go all the way back to the beginning of the level, but there are unlimited continues here. Make no mistake though, the emphasis here isn't on the combat, but on the story. There's tons of ham-fisted dialogue here, with people getting kidnapped and political intrigue and hidden treasure, and yeah okay, this isn't exactly Hamlet. Still I appreciate the different approach, especially considering that it leads to some interesting settings. You're beating up sharp dressed flunkies on a church, on an airplane, and on the rooftop of a temple, on a cool moonlit evening. But yeah, I have to admit the story here, well I enjoy how campy and ridiculous it is, but then I'm the type that loves to watch bad movies, so maybe that's just me. One flaw I can't rationalize however, is how the gameplay can really drag. The action here is kinda slow compared to other beat em ups, and that's kinda disappointing considering this game was made in 1995. I mean, even bullets travel slowly here. Compare this to something like Ninja Warriors, which cuts a blistering pace. The game definitely still plays fine, it's just that, I mean you get to the third level here which takes place on an airplane, and you've got runaway beverage carts coming after you, that's what counts for variety here. Yeah, I can appreciate how silly it is, but at the same time, freaking beverage carts? Really? So yeah, I do appreciate that Koryu Nokemi has a bit of a different presentation compared to most other beat em ups. Instead of street thugs, you're defeating people in finely tailored suits and dresses, and the attempt at a larger story here is pretty cool, even if the story itself is incredibly campy and ridiculous, in a good way in my opinion, but the action here is gonna turn some people away, both that it's strictly a 2D beat em up, and because of how slow and monotonous the gameplay can be. Still, this is one of those weird ones where it's a game I stumbled across and I gotta let everyone know about it because I'm sure for someone out there, it's right up their alley. I enjoyed this game for what it is, but I can totally understand if it's not your thing. And I wanna thank you for watching, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.