Imagine my surprise when I learned that the Virtual Boy actually had a first person shooter released for it! Equally shocking was when I discovered that this title was horror based and had its share of survival elements as well. This game is Innsmouth no Yakata, and it was released only in Japan. After some hunting I got my hands on a copy, and here are my thoughts.
The game is very vague when it comes to its story and I had to do some internet sleuthing to even figure out what it’s about. You play as a private detective in the early 20th century who must retrieve the book of necromonicon from an inter-dimensional estate located in a haunted forest. Outside of the opening sequence, and the ending (of which there are many based on how you play) there’s no story exposition. Supposedly this game is based on an old story by H.P. Lovecraft.
Innsmouth No Yakata is the sole first person shooter in the Virtual Boy’s library. It however is far from being typical. Gameplay consists of wandering the halls of the Inn searching for items and eventually an exit door to reach the next area. There are forty five levels in total but on any given playthrough you’ll only see thirteen. That’s because this game features branching paths and the route you take is based off of how you play the game.
This doesn’t play like a typical first person shooter. The environments in Innsmouth No Yakata are tile based. Think the dungeons from Phantasy Star. You view the action from a first person perspective and pressing up moves you forward one tile. Left/right allow your character to turn, and down backs up. This set up makes it feel more restrictive than a typical FPS game.
You aren’t alone in the halls of this mansion; monsters are also present and are hungry for your flesh. You’re not totally helpless though. Your character brought his gun to the mansion. What’s interesting is that Innsmouth no Yakata uses a unique dual analog sort of set up, but with directional pads. You use the left d-pad to move and turn, and the right one controls the on-screen cross-hairs. Pressing the shoulder button fires a bullet, but avoiding combat is what you’re going to want to do.
That’s because the monsters in this game are bullet sponges, and ammunition is pretty darn scarce. You’ll find pick-ups for it but these only give you six additional bullets and that’s about one monster’s worth of shots. What makes things more difficult is that the enemies don’t just stand still and they actually move left, right, and back which makes them unpredictable targets. In the beginning I found myself continually running out of ammo. As I started playing smarter I began avoiding foes and taking alternate paths.
That’s where the survival horror elements come in to play. Ammo conservation is directly tied into success in Innsmouth no Yakata. In addition you’ll also find hearts that replenish your health, a key to unlock the exit in the stage, and two different orbs that unlock different elements of the map. You’ll discover that these items are laying in the middle of the floor in a stage and you need only to walk over them to pick them up.
You would think memorization would be a big part of this game but that’s not the case. While the layout of each stage remains the same item locations are randomized each time. Because you need to track down a key to unlock the exit door this complicates things a great deal. Enemies also appear in different places and it’s not uncommon for them to sneak up on players which can be mildly frightening. I know that I jumped a few times at least.
Innsmouth no Yakata does a good job of keeping you on your toes. On top of the random items, enemies, and limited ammunition you’ll also be dealing with a timer. You only have a limited number of seconds to complete each stage. It differs based on how large the map is but it will generally push you pretty hard. If you want to get the best ending you’ll have to beat the stage before half the timer is depleted. This is almost an impossible feat in some areas.
There’s no battery back up saves in this game. Innsmouth no Yakata instead uses a password system that is thankfully very simple. It’s just short words you’ll need to write down and input to continue. Thing is, if you’re trying to get the best ending, you can’t continue even once. It’s more than a little annoying for the completionist in me, as was playing through multiple paths to see more of the stages. They’re all pretty similar with almost no new scenery and just different layouts though.
Innsmouth no Yakata is a pretty underwhelming game. As far as the graphics are concerned this could easily have been done on the Super Nintendo with minimal sacrifices. Really, you’d only be sacrificing the stereoscopic 3D effects. There’s very little animation as you’re moving throughout the stages and the scenery is very sparse. The creature designs are the highlight but they too have very few different frames. The game is pretty disappointing visually, and the soundtrack doesn’t fare much better. There are only a few different songs. They set the mood but aren’t anything special. The graphics and music could have been so much better.
It doesn’t take advantage of the hardware in any meaningful way, but Innsmouth no Yakata is pretty awesome actually. It isn’t the kind of game you would expect to see on the Virtual Boy, but here we are. It’s no wonder this title was never translated to North America. The disappointing thing is that, while the game could have been ported to just about any system out at the time, the Virtual Boy is the only place you can find it. This one screams re-release, and the fact that they never did is a shame. If you’re a collector like me then having this one is a novelty you can’t pass up.
