Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

Dear UYD members.
First and foremost i'd like to say how happy I am to have found you guys. You are really great and exceptional people, I really admire how passionate you are about this comic and I'm positive Sakai-Sensei couldn't have asked for a better bunch of fans. I'm new and this is my first time doing a trivia question so i'll do my very best!
This question I hope will interest the gamers in the dojo

To this day there have been a couple of Usagi Yojimbo Video Games made. And well... with all due respect they've been a little lackluster.

This weeks trivia question is this:

If you were put in charge of creating a new Usagi Yojimbo Video Game what kind of game would it be? Would it be retro style? Modern Graphics? What genre would it be? Fighting? Strategy? Action? Singleplayer or Multiplayer? Go into detail if you want to i'll read it all. I know some of you have probably always wanted a really well done game that does this comic the justice it deserves so let me know your ideas!
There are no right or wrong answers I'll decide the winner based on how creative, interesting and fun the idea is!

Please post your answers here so the rest of the dojo can see as well!

This is a good question!
I'd like to see an open world, Skyrim-style game (Skyrim is the best). That way, we could get great action, but also really capture the "wandering" feel found in UY. Also, you could interact with people using dialogue choices, go on side quests with Gen, Sasuke, Tomoe, etc. and the main campaign would be a longer, epic quest like Grasscutter. Smaller activities like dealing with a demon in a village could replicate the shorter UY stories. Maybe you could switch players depending on the quest (I wanna ride on Sasuke's giant toad!).
I might have more to add as I think of it.

No answer from me.... yet.... but you or the admin might want to change the title to: Weekly Trivia Challenge Dec 7 thru Dec 13

I liked the iOS game but the controls were a little hard (I couldn't shoot the bow well at all ). But my daughters finished the game.

I would like to go "old school" and have a collectible card game, like Magic: The Gathering. Usagi, woodcutters, spot, noodles, Jei, Lone Goat and Kid, etc. I would love a Zato-Ino card. It would be fun to have a yokai expansion pack or fight an army of vegetarian zombies.

As far as video game, I would like a simple street fighter style game with Usagi and other creator owned characters (HellBoy, Sin City, Concrete Park, Milk and Cheese, Beanworld, mind mgmt, blacksad, etc.) fighting each other. The background art could be all the different worlds. That would be mindless fun.

Peace, maka

Super FUN question!!!

I would personally love to see a role playing type game (think AD&D) well developed where you could be any character-type you wanted. I know this is not a "video game" but we have too many of those as it is (in my opinion) and I prefer the imagination based games myself. There could be modules to help guide it along for different adventures but it would be an open world set in the Usagi-Japan time frame.

This way one could use their own imagination to develop the characters and stories within guidelines and have help with the "Hit point" and different abilities and completely make up their own adventures if they liked or use some of the pre-made modules to help it along.

I love AD&D b/c it is so "unscripted" but gives me the limits and "rules" to go by to help it all play out.

The only problem I see would be everyone wanting to be an Usagi character (Kind of like how everyone wanted to be a Ranger in AD&D if they had read The Lord of the Rings!!!)

I'm not a big video game guy, other than the occasional CofD with my kids, but I do remember playing a Samurai Jack game with my kids a few years ago on the Gamecube. I believe it was also available on PS2. Now you know how long it has been since I played
The game, while not perfect, had that wandering feel to it. You could shoot a bow and arrow or throw shuriken as well. It had unlockable swords and when your zen meter was full you could fight in slow motion which made for some cool visuals. On a side note, that slow motion attack was called
"Sakai mode" It also allowed you to save villagers, fight bosses and see other side characters such as the Scotsman and Aku. Voice work was done by the original voice actors from the cartoon, Phil LaMarr and the late Mako Iwamatsu! It would be great to see who was picked to do voice work for an Usagi game.
While the game was not difficult, it was fun and the most important part was that I got to play as my favorite cartoon character, Jack. Ultimately that would be the goal with this game as well. We all get the joy of playing as Usagi. A simpler game like this would reach a larger audience with kids as well as casual gamers.
So here we go...this is the game I want!

1. I want to be able to play the entire game with unlockable characters such as Gen, Chizu or Sasuke.
2. I want two player mode where you can play as Usagi/Gen hunting down a bounty or Usagi/Tomoe defending Lord Noriyuki's caravan from bandits.
3. I want a level where you solve questions or puzzles with Usagi and Inspector Ishida
4. Another level where Kitsune has to figure out how to break into a building and steal something and then escape without being noticed.
5. I need Usagi and Chizu to fight their way up a multi level structure full of Neko ninja and when the reach the top level and head out onto the roof where they face a group of Komori(bat) ninja...this is a nod to the Bruce Lee "Game of Death" movie as he fights up different floors of the building.
6. Call of Duty has zombies so how about a fun and mindless(pun intended) zombie level for Usagi!
7. A flashback level where you play as a younger Usagi who finally gets to have a match against Katsuichi with the goal of student beating teacher before heading out on his own.
8. I need a level where Usagi and Yagi(Lone Goat) team up to fight bandits on the road with the goal of keeping Gorogoro(kid) safe as he and his cart roll around the screen during the battle.
9. Animated sequences between each level that play as the next adventure is loading. These sequences could be fun or informative such as a Usagi and Tomoe tea ceremony, Usagi flying a kite or a surprise appearance by the Turtles as they sit down to eat and introduce Usagi to pizza!
10. Ultimately, the game's last level will be an epic battle between Usagi and Jei. The setting is a massive rain storm on top of a grassy hill with thunder and lighting raging all around. Obviously the rain is the most important background of the game
11. The final animated sequence will play after Usagi defeats Jei, it is a teaser and set up for the sequel...the clouds and rain begin to clear and as Usagi looks up he sees a spacecraft from Senso streaking across the sky. As it crashes, we see Stan's trademark tentacles reaching out of the spacecraft...fade to black!

Take my money right now and watch me stand in line at a midnight release party for this game

I'm gonna go a similar route as Lobster Jonhson on this one.

I would see an open 3d world, similar to Skyrim/GTA or the Zelda games. Probably more similar to the later 2 for the game design.

A vast 3D open world, with dozen of cities/villages you can explore, and vast fields and forests between them.
A main quest with political coups to disarm, later transforming in a quest to save Japan from dark occult forces.

Secondary characters unlockable progressively, you can switch between them, and must play each of them to progress in the main story (like how it works in the GTA series).
Plenty of secondary quests to unlock bonuses, new costumes, new weapons (for non Usagi characters).
A random quest generator to randomly generate mini-quests: protect a merchant traveling between cities, gather ingedients from the forest, hunt a criminal and claim the bounty, steal a precious artifact (for Kitsune), push back criminals attacking a village, find a monster killing villagers...

Jizo, temples (outside cities) and inn rooms (inside cities) serve as save points.

Possibility to fish/gather fruits in the countryside to get food.

Usagi/(Tomoe)/Kitsune/Gen/Chizu as playable characters.

Sasuke as a npc, helping you fighting monsters.
Most other characters from the comic also appearing as npc.

I would see the graphics in cel-shading style to remind the fact it's adapted from a comics.

An open world MMORPG is the obvious suggestion here, but I've got a couple of others in my mind...

1) Remember Konami's four player beat em up games from the late 80s and early 90s? TMNT, The Simpsons and so forth? That formula, along with comic accurate graphics, could easily be transposed into the world of Usagi Yojimbo. Choosing from Usagi, Tomoe, Gen and (either) Lone Goat or Straw Dog, you have to fight through enemies, bandit plagued villages, on a mission to recover something from Lord Hikiji.

2) A real time strategy game. Control samurai armies across Japanese landscape, maybe the introduction or final battle can be a recreation of the Battle of Adachigahara Plain, with Lord Mifune and Lord Hikiji on opposite sides.

LenLovecraft wrote:To this day there have been a couple of Usagi Yojimbo Video Games made. And well... with all due respect they've been a little lackluster.

I'll heartily disagree here with the C64 original of the first game by Beam Software in 1989. It's a cracking little title that manages to be very faithful to the source material in general.

Lobster Johnson wrote:This is a good question!
I'd like to see an open world, Skyrim-style game (Skyrim is the best). That way, we could get great action, but also really capture the "wandering" feel found in UY. Also, you could interact with people using dialogue choices, go on side quests with Gen, Sasuke, Tomoe, etc. and the main campaign would be a longer, epic quest like Grasscutter. Smaller activities like dealing with a demon in a village could replicate the shorter UY stories. Maybe you could switch players depending on the quest (I wanna ride on Sasuke's giant toad!).
I might have more to add as I think of it.

This sounds really good! I'd love to have a game with that wandering feeling. Especially if they captured the surroundings and backdrop of Samurai Era Japan.

Mayhem wrote:An open world MMORPG is the obvious suggestion here, but I've got a couple of others in my mind...

1) Remember Konami's four player beat em up games from the late 80s and early 90s? TMNT, The Simpsons and so forth? That formula, along with comic accurate graphics, could easily be transposed into the world of Usagi Yojimbo. Choosing from Usagi, Tomoe, Gen and (either) Lone Goat or Straw Dog, you have to fight through enemies, bandit plagued villages, on a mission to recover something from Lord Hikiji.

2) A real time strategy game. Control samurai armies across Japanese landscape, maybe the introduction or final battle can be a recreation of the Battle of Adachigahara Plain, with Lord Mifune and Lord Hikiji on opposite sides.

LenLovecraft wrote:To this day there have been a couple of Usagi Yojimbo Video Games made. And well... with all due respect they've been a little lackluster.

I'll heartily disagree here with the C64 original of the first game by Beam Software in 1989. It's a cracking little title that manages to be very faithful to the source material in general.

A four player beat em up would be incredible. When you say comic accurate graphics does that mean you'd like to see it in Black and White? or in Sakai Sensei's mixed media watercolor style?

As for your second Idea it sounds really cool too. Theres a game called Shogun 2 Total War where you can do that but with the accurate Japanese warlords however a mod that could turn the soldiers/generals/characters into the ones from Usagi would be fantastic.

Trevis Woods wrote:I'm not a big video game guy, other than the occasional CofD with my kids, but I do remember playing a Samurai Jack game with my kids a few years ago on the Gamecube. I believe it was also available on PS2. Now you know how long it has been since I played
The game, while not perfect, had that wandering feel to it. You could shoot a bow and arrow or throw shuriken as well. It had unlockable swords and when your zen meter was full you could fight in slow motion which made for some cool visuals. On a side note, that slow motion attack was called
"Sakai mode" It also allowed you to save villagers, fight bosses and see other side characters such as the Scotsman and Aku. Voice work was done by the original voice actors from the cartoon, Phil LaMarr and the late Mako Iwamatsu! It would be great to see who was picked to do voice work for an Usagi game.
While the game was not difficult, it was fun and the most important part was that I got to play as my favorite cartoon character, Jack. Ultimately that would be the goal with this game as well. We all get the joy of playing as Usagi. A simpler game like this would reach a larger audience with kids as well as casual gamers.
So here we go...this is the game I want!

1. I want to be able to play the entire game with unlockable characters such as Gen, Chizu or Sasuke.
2. I want two player mode where you can play as Usagi/Gen hunting down a bounty or Usagi/Tomoe defending Lord Noriyuki's caravan from bandits.
3. I want a level where you solve questions or puzzles with Usagi and Inspector Ishida
4. Another level where Kitsune has to figure out how to break into a building and steal something and then escape without being noticed.
5. I need Usagi and Chizu to fight their way up a multi level structure full of Neko ninja and when the reach the top level and head out onto the roof where they face a group of Komori(bat) ninja...this is a nod to the Bruce Lee "Game of Death" movie as he fights up different floors of the building.
6. Call of Duty has zombies so how about a fun and mindless(pun intended) zombie level for Usagi!
7. A flashback level where you play as a younger Usagi who finally gets to have a match against Katsuichi with the goal of student beating teacher before heading out on his own.
8. I need a level where Usagi and Yagi(Lone Goat) team up to fight bandits on the road with the goal of keeping Gorogoro(kid) safe as he and his cart roll around the screen during the battle.
9. Animated sequences between each level that play as the next adventure is loading. These sequences could be fun or informative such as a Usagi and Tomoe tea ceremony, Usagi flying a kite or a surprise appearance by the Turtles as they sit down to eat and introduce Usagi to pizza!
10. Ultimately, the game's last level will be an epic battle between Usagi and Jei. The setting is a massive rain storm on top of a grassy hill with thunder and lighting raging all around. Obviously the rain is the most important background of the game
11. The final animated sequence will play after Usagi defeats Jei, it is a teaser and set up for the sequel...the clouds and rain begin to clear and as Usagi looks up he sees a spacecraft from Senso streaking across the sky. As it crashes, we see Stan's trademark tentacles reaching out of the spacecraft...fade to black!

Take my money right now and watch me stand in line at a midnight release party for this game

Duude. This sounds incredible. Also you made me want to hunt down that Samurai Jack game bigtime! I have a question, who would you want to voice Usagi? Or would you want it to be text only?
Your level ideas sound so good, my favorite is the mystery solving with Inspector Ishida I really loved him. Your ending was really great as well I know you've thought about this before haven't you?

BuckRogers wrote:Super FUN question!!!

I would personally love to see a role playing type game (think AD&D) well developed where you could be any character-type you wanted. I know this is not a "video game" but we have too many of those as it is (in my opinion) and I prefer the imagination based games myself. There could be modules to help guide it along for different adventures but it would be an open world set in the Usagi-Japan time frame.

This way one could use their own imagination to develop the characters and stories within guidelines and have help with the "Hit point" and different abilities and completely make up their own adventures if they liked or use some of the pre-made modules to help it along.

I love AD&D b/c it is so "unscripted" but gives me the limits and "rules" to go by to help it all play out.

The only problem I see would be everyone wanting to be an Usagi character (Kind of like how everyone wanted to be a Ranger in AD&D if they had read The Lord of the Rings!!!)

I'm a big DnD fan myself! I think a game where you could create and customize your own character for that world sounds pretty fun! Sakai-Sensei's world really lends itself well for a game like this with it's setting, plots and characters. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised at all if someone has a homebrew Usagi Yojimbo D20 game out there somewhere.

My answer is.... not just one answer.

There are so many possibilities, and everyone has just about suggested each of them.

I guess there have already been some computer games, and at least one role playing game, but I've never experienced any of them first hand - so I don't know much about them.

Here are my thoughts...

The idea of a role playing game based on the format of D&D or (AD&D) would be fun. Plus there could be miniatures to go with it!

I like Maka's idea of a collectible card game! I never got the hang of Magic myself, but then I never really tried. The fun part would be Stan and guest artists could do the art.

I like video and computer games, but I don't have much opportunity to play them these days. When I did, I had fun with Tomb Raider, Myst, and... how many of you remember Zork?
There are so many different directions one could take with a video game, but I think I'd like something like the last game I had some opportunity to play (which was a long time ago, and on Playstation 2) - Kingdom Hearts. Put that together with the Coral Cave (http://thecoralcave.com/) and some Edo Superstar (http://edosuperstar.com/) mix well, and you'd have the ultimate Usagi Yojimbo game. Single player or multi-player, that is the question. The game could go either way. That's for the design team to decide...

I'm kind of old fashion and tend to like my games that way as well. I was "going" to say that and then say that LenLovecraft was going to have a hard time trying to pick a winner out of all these great idea, then the idea of a Usagi Yojimbo chess set popped into my head unbidden, so I guess I need to suggest that as my entry. Usagi and Tomoe as the king and queen for one side, Lord Hikiji and Hebi for the other. You could have Sanshobo as the white bishops and Jei san as the black bishops, Sasuke on his giant toad as the knights for Usagi and Komori Ninja as the opposing knights, and little Japanese style castles for the rooks, and samurai vs ninja for the pawns.....

(technically, I am not the first to throw out the "video" game requirement)

A feature I think would be neat would be to have the ability to stealthily listen to enemy samurai or ninja discuss what's happened in the game so far and what they think of Usagi. A similar feature is found in the latest Metal Gear game, where you can listen to enemies discuss the "one eyed demon" that keeps attacking them. Would they think of Usagi as a "long eared demon"?