WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL - Keio Flying Squadron

Publisher: JVC Developer: Victor Entertainment Release: 1993

Despite the fact that the Sega CD didn't necessarily set the world on fire sales-wise in any particular region, there were a handful of surprising games localized and released in North America – stuff you didn't normally see on this side of the world. Working Designs can take credit for a lot of those games: particularly Popful Mail, but other games like the very weird Panic!, Time Gal, Masked Rider and Space Adventure also appeared here.

Keio Flying Squadron definitely fits into the same category. This horizontal shooter features a pre-teen girl in a bunny costume flying a dragon and fighting various raccoon-based enemies. Anthropomorphic raccoons run along the ground and hurl exploding rice balls – I think – at you, while raccoons in flying canoes attack along with dogs on flying carpets and giant robots (piloted, of course, by raccoons).

The whole thing is accompanied by appropriately bouncy redbook audio. The soundtrack is nothing to write home about, but it fits the game pretty much perfectly and gets the job done. In fact the presentation in general is quite nice. The full-motion video sequences are well-animated and the in-game graphics are big and colourful and not bad to look at. In fact, that describes the gameplay as well. This isn't the most intense or involving shooter you'll ever play, but it's solid.

The story mixes a feudal Japan setting with more modern elements like robots and mini-marts. The game uses this to pretty hilarious effect in the intro, which starts out extremely seriously, informing the user of an alternate history where Japan begrudgingly allies itself with America in order to put down a rebellion in their country, the Americans having combined Native American shamanism and European alchemy in order to create mechanized soldiers and become a military super power.

And none of that really matters, because the actual story is based around main character Rami and her grandparents, who are the protectors of an ancient treasure which is stolen by Dr. Pon, an evil, anthropomorphic raccoon with an IQ of 1400 (naturally). As Rami was out getting takeout while the key was stolen, her grandmother tasks her and her dragon, Spot, with chasing down Dr. Pon and returning the key.

The animation was done by Studio Pierrot, which anime fans may recognize as the long-running studio behind early Urusei Yatsura episodes, as well as a bunch of the Yu Yu Hakusho and Naruto movies.

Now that I think about it, maybe the fact that this game made the trip across the Pacific isn't all that surprising. When Keio Flying Squadron was released we were only two years removed from the US run of Samurai Pizza Cats, which featured an extremely similar, anachronistic feudal Japan setting, slapstick comedy and anthropomorphic animals. It was also awesome, by the way.