alex9234’s Sunday Review

Policenauts was first released for the NEC PC-9821 on July 29, 1994. The PC-98 came in one CD-ROM that included an installation floppy disk. All the cut-scenes were rendered using hand-drawn pixel art as opposed to full-motion video anime. Jul 24, 2014 - Explore Alex Potter's board 'Policenauts', followed by 339 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about pixel art, hideo, 90s anime. Policenauts is a graphic adventure game and the spirtual successor to Snatcher.Some will debate whether graphic adventures and visual novels can even be considered games in the first place, but there is no question that they helped define the PC-98.

Happy new year, and welcome back to another episode of Sunday Review. This time I’m going to review the only Hideo Kojima game that has never seen the light of day in the west. But it’s one that is very popular among Kojima fans, and received a major amount of exposure in the gaming media just a few years ago. The game finally got a fan translation for the PS1 version back in 2009, and it’s been one of the most popular fan translations ever since. It’s so popular that even popular YouTubers like Super Bunnyhop have covered it. SPOILERS! He didn’t like it though:

What game is this you ask? Policenauts, which first came out on the PC-98 in 1994, and was then remade for the 3DO (Yes, the 3DO!) in 1995, and was then ported to the PS1 in 1996. However, I’m going to review the Sega Saturn version of the game, which came out in 1996, and is considered the best version of the game.

The Plot

Policenauts follows the story of Jonathan Ingram, who has been chosen as one of the 5 “Policenauts” – astronauts with Police training – to ensure the safety of the first batch of immigrants to mankind’s first space colony, Beyond Coast, in the year 2013. Among Jonathan in the “Policenauts” crew are Gates Becker from Great Britain’s Scotland Yard, Joseph Sadaoki Tokugawa from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Salvatore Toscanini from the NYPD, and Jonathan’s partner from the LAPD, Ed Brown. While testing out a new type of space suit in a space walking experiment, Jonathan’s suit malfunctions and drifts away deep into space in front of the other Policenauts. And thanks to the cold sleep module on his suit, Jonathan goes into cryogenic sleep, which preserves his youth. He is then found 25 years later and brought back to earth. We are then taken to the year 2040, where Jonathan works as a private investigator in a district of Los Angeles called “Old L.A.”. There, he is visited by his ex-wife, Lorraine, who asks him for his help in finding her current husband, a Japanese man named Kenzo Hojo. The only clues that were left behind by Hojo are a torn leaf, a set of pills, and the word “Plato.” Unsure on whether to take on the case or not, Lorraine decides to let Jonathan think about it for a while and leaves. However, after Lorraine leaves his office, Jonathan looks out the window and notices a man in a black biker suit holding a remote control. He tries to get Lorraine out of harm’s way, but the man presses the button on the remote control, destroying Lorraine’s Rolls-Royce and severely injures Lorraine. Jonathan chases after him, and after firing several shots at him, notices that he was bleeding out white blood. Jonathan then returns to Lorraine, who tells him that her daughter, Karen, is sick, and asks to help her. However, Lorraine then succumbs to her injuries and dies in Jonathan’s arms. He then decides to take on Lorraine’s requests, and heads out to Beyond Coast.

While on his flight to Beyond Coast, Jonathan is sitting next to a strange and different looking human. The man introduces himself as Tony Redwood, and says that he is a “Frozener” – a race of artificially-conceived human beings who possess genes best suited to the environment of outer space, and have artificial white blood. Jonathan finds him to be suspicious, but he leaves him alone – for now. Upon arrival, he then heads to the Beyond Coast Police Department, where he meets up with his former partner Ed Brown, and asks him for his assistance in investigating Hojo’s disappearance and Lorraine’s murder. Though Ed turns him down at first, he eventually agrees to help Jonathan. The two of them go out on their investigation, only to eventually find out that the people who they thought were their friends had become their enemies, and that there may be no way to get out of this investigation alive…

The Gameplay

Policenauts is a point-and-click visual novel, so you can move the cursor across the screen and have Jonathan analyze objects in the area or have him talk to other characters that are with him. In the PS1 and 3DO versions, you can move the cursor by using the controller’s D-pads, but with the Sega Saturn version, you can use the Japan-only Saturn mouse accessory to move the cursor across the screen. You can save at any point in the game, though you can also save at the end of each chapter. Also, this version, unlike the PS1 and 3DO versions, has scenes that are from the original PC-98 version.

Like it’s predecessor Snatcher, there are shooting segments where you aim the cursor across the screen to take out enemies before your health is completely depleted. While you are only given the option to aim with the D-pad in the PS1 and 3DO versions, the Sega Saturn version gives you the option to use the Saturn Light Gun accessory in the shooting segments if you hook it up in the second controller port.

The Fanservice (LOL)

You know what? Fuck it. Believe it or not, this game has A LOT of fanservice, which is very unusual for a Kojima title. There is tons of cleavage, and there are scenes where Jonathan will say very sexual things about the female characters that you encounter throughout the game. Here…are…some examples:

Moving on…

The Characters

Jonathan Ingram – Age: 30 – The main character of Policenauts. He was one of the original five “Policenauts” who were assigned to protect the first batch of immigrants to mankind’s first space colony Beyond Coast in 2013. However, due to his space suit malfunctioning, he fell deep into space, and entered a state of cryogenic sleep until he was discovered by an exploration crew 25 years later. He now works as a private investigator in Los Angeles, often taking on cases which involve victims of drug and organ smuggling rings.

Ed Brown – Age: 55 – Ed was Jonathan’s former partner during his LAPD days, but now he is the chief of the Beyond Coast PD’s Vice Unit. He was also one of the original five “Policenauts” who were assigned to protect the first batch of immigrants to mankind’s first space colony Beyond Coast in 2013. He is also a single father and has two children – his daughter Anna, and his adopted son Marc. He eventually teams up with Jonathan once again and is determined to help him find out who killed Lorraine and investigate Hojo’s disappearance.

Policenauts Pc 98 English

Karen Hojo – Age: 26 – Karen is the heroine of Policenauts. She is the daughter of Lorraine and Hojo, and bears a striking resemblance to Lorraine. She is an anchorwoman for a news station on Beyond Coast, and a rather popular one as well. She is diagnosed with a rare type of cancer called secondary aplastic anemia, and in order for her to be cured, she requires a bone marrow transplant from a matching HLA type.

Tony Redwood – Age: 23 – Tony is a member of Beyond Coast PD’s SWAT team called the Advance Police Unit. He is a so-called “Frozener” – a race of artificially-conceived humans who possess genes best suited to the environment of outer space, and carry artificial white blood. He pilots one of the EMPS (Extravehicular Mobility Police Suit), and is Beyond Coast PD’s ace pilot, which got him the nickname “Mr. Goddard”, after the EMPS model used by AP. Jonathan and Ed view him as suspicious, and keep a close eye on him in the second half of the game.

Gates Becker – Age: 56 – The chief of Beyond Coast PD. He was originally an officer from Great Britain’s Scotland Yard, and was one of the original five “Policenauts” who were assigned to protect the first batch of immigrants to mankind’s first space colony Beyond Coast in 2013.

Joseph Sadaoki Tokugawa – Age: 60 – The head of the Tokugawa Corporation in Beyond Coast. He was one of the original five “Policenauts” who were assigned to protect the first batch of immigrants to mankind’s first space colony Beyond Coast in 2013. He was an officer for Beyond Coast PD for a short time, but then took over the Tokugawa Corp., following his father’s retirement. Tokugawa is the most powerful man on Beyond Coast, and pretty much controls the colony’s media.

Salvatore Toscanini – Age: 58 – Head of security at Tokugawa Corporation’s Moon Plant. He was a former NYPD officer, and was one of the original five “Policenauts” who were assigned to protect the first batch of immigrants to mankind’s first space colony Beyond Coast in 2013. Like Tokugawa, he was also a former Beyond Coast PD officer for a short time, but then went to work at Tokugawa Corp., and is now the head of security at their moon plant.

Meryl Silverburgh – Age: 24 – An officer for Beyond Coast PD’s Vice Unit and one of Ed’s subordinates. She was once a member of FOXHOUND, but after FOXHOUND was disbanded, she went to Beyond Coast and joined Beyond Coast PD’s Vice Unit to satisfy her desire for action. And as you all know, she serves as the basis for the same Meryl Silverburgh in the Metal Gear games.

My Thoughts

Well, this game blew me away when I first saw it. I first saw footage of this game in World of Longplays’ Policenauts walkthrough on YouTube, and I said to myself, “I WANT THIS!” I tried to burn myself a copy of the PS1 version, only to find out that I needed a chipped PS1 or a PS1 boot disc that could let me played burned PS1 games. I now have a chipped PS1, but when me and a friend of mine tried burning the PS1 version with the english patch, it wouldn’t work on my chipped PS1. So if anyone can help me in that area, please comment below.

Anyway, when I got a Sega Saturn a few years ago, I picked up the Saturn version, using the script from the PS1 version to help me play through the game, and I enjoyed it very much. The game has tons of great ideas, and is very creative. The plot was solid, and it leaves you guessing the whole way through, with a massive load of plot twists as well. The cast of characters were also decent and some are very likable too, especially Jonathan, who has a lot of hilarious lines when it comes to the scenes with fanservice. Speaking of the fanservice, though there is a lot of it, it’s actually tolerable. There isn’t anything that’s too excessive or oversaturated, like in modern ecchi animes like Rosario + Vampire, Highschool DxD, etc., just some scenes where you make Jonathan touch some boobs or listen to Jonathan talk dirty about the women he encounters throughout the game. Moving on, the gameplay is very good, the point-and-click interface was well integrated and a lot better than the menu interface in other visual novels, and the shooting scenes were also well integrated and provide a fair degree of challenge. The character designs and animation were also very well done too. Overall, Policenauts is an excellent visual novel with tons of replay value, and you should totally check it out if you’re looking for a great visual novel.

Also, the Sega Saturn version got an English patch made for it by the translation group SaturnAR, based in Argentina.

The team is also working to translate the game into many different languages as well.

My score: 9.25/10

Source: http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Policenauts

Policenauts(ポリスノーツPorisunōtsu^?) is an interactive movie/graphic novel/adventure game with a hard science fiction storyline, written and directed by Hideo Kojima, and published by Konami. It was initially released for the PC-9821 computer platform in 1994, followed by remade versions for the 3DO in 1995, and the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996. The game has never been officially released outside Japan, despite plans for an Englishlocalization of the Saturn version. On August 24, 2009 (in honor of the 46th birthday of the game designer, Hideo Kojima), an unofficial English translation patch was released onto the internet.

Policenauts, like Snatcher before it, pays various homages to previously existing works. An obvious one is Jonathan's and Ed's (the main characters) respective resemblances to Riggs and Murtaugh from Lethal Weapon. The game also pays homage to the ancient Japanese tale of Urashima Taro.^[1] The game centers on a detective who travels to a space colony to investigate the circumstances surrounding his ex-wife's murder and her new husband's sudden disappearance.

• 3Development

Gameplay

The game is set in a primarily first person perspective and uses a point-and-click interface: the player can move the cursor and have the protagonist (Jonathan Ingram) analyze objects around his environment or talk to other characters in the game. Like in Snatcher, the game features shooting segments where the player must defend their character from incoming enemies. The player can use the shooting trainer at the police department to test their reflex and accuracy. There are numerous puzzles in the game, including an event where the player must dismantle a bomb by following their partner's instructions.^{[citation needed]}

The console versions of the game all include support for their respective mouse peripherals. The Saturn version features light gun support for the shooting segments.^{[citation needed]}

Story

The game centers on Jonathan Ingram, one of the five 'Policenauts', astronauts with police training, assigned to ensure the safety of Beyond Coast, mankind's first fully functional space colony in the year 2013. Johnathan tests a new space walking suit, but drifts away into space by accident and is presumed dead by his colleagues. He is found alive and well 25 years later thanks to the cold-sleep module connected to the suit. Three years later, Jonathan (now a private investigator working in the former Los Angeles) is visited by his former wife, Lorraine, who asks for Jonathan's help in solving the disappearance of her current husband, Kenzo Hojo, the only clues he left behind being a torn leaf, a set of capsules, and the word 'Plato'. Jonathan is reluctant to take her case at first, but after Lorraine leaves his office, she is attacked and murdered by a man in a black motorcycle suit. Jonathan, unable to catch the culprit, decides to fulfill his ex-wife's final request and travels to Beyond, where he is reunited with his former partner from his LAPD days, Ed Brown, who agrees to help Jonathan investigate the circumstances surrounding Hojo's disappearance and Lorraine's murder.

During the course of the investigation, Jonathan and Ed learn that Becker and Tokugawa have been involved in running an illegal drug and organ trafficking ring in order to counteract the negative side-effects of being in space for long periods of time. Hojo had been included in the business in order to save his daughter, Karen, and ultimately wanted to leave, only to be murdered. During a stand-off with Becker, Jonathan records Becker's confession about the scheme and has Meryl broadcast the recording live, exposing the scandal to the colonists. Ed saves Jonathan from death, while Meryl and the remaining police arrest Tokugawa. Jonathan donates his bone marrow to Karen upon learning that he is her biological father, and returns to Earth.

Development

Policenauts was first released for the NEC PC-9821 on July 29, 1994. The PC-98 came in one CD-ROM that included an installation floppy disk. All the cut-scenes were rendered using hand-drawn pixel art as opposed to full-motion video anime. Prior to releasing the standard version of the game, Konami issued the Policenauts: Pilot Disk for the 3DO on April 21, 1995. This disc contains a playable demo, an encyclopedia of the game's backstory, featurettes, and information about the game's voice actors and developers. Policenauts: Private Collection was released for the PlayStation on February 9, 1996, featuring much of the same content as the Pilot Disk, adding an earlier version of the game's script as well. The encyclopedia, featurettes and shooting trainer are included as hidden features in the Saturn version.^{[citation needed]}

The first console version was released for the 3DO on September 29, 1995, consisting of two CD-ROMs. Animated cut-scenes were added to this version along with CG animation, and all the graphics were redrawn. Limited edition copies came bundled with the 3DO mouse and a mousepad. The PlayStation version (January 19, 1996), also on two discs, made further additions by digitally fixing most of the graphics and movies from the 3DO version. The last console version, released for the Sega Saturn (September 13, 1996), on three discs, added support for Sega's Virtua Gun light gun peripheral. Although the home console versions of the game mostly used pre-existing dialog tracks from the original PC-98 version, all of the original voice actors were brought back to record new lines of dialog for the new cutscenes.^{[citation needed]}

The PlayStation version has been re-issued twice. The first time was under the 'Konami the Best' label on September 18, 1997. A second reissue under the 'PSone Books' series was released on August 7, 2003. The game was added to the PlayStation Store's Japanese Game Archives on May 15, 2008, making the game downloadable for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3.^[2]

English localization

The Saturn version of Policenauts was officially announced for a North American release by Konami on May 1996.^[3] A mock-up cover art was produced and featured on a promotional Sega pamphlet packaged with certain games. However, the North American version was never released. According to Kojima, work began on the North American version, but the developers were unable to synchronize the English dialogue with the animated FMV cut-scenes.^[4]

A fan translation of the PlayStation version has been produced, which has gained attention from the video game media. Although the translation of the game content was nearly completed by Marc Laidlaw and Artemio Urbina during the summer of 2007,^[5][6] the translation project could not find a programmer to complete the insertion of translated material into a version of the game and progress stalled.

Reception

GameFan's three reviewers scored it 100, 94 and 92 out of 100. One of the reviewers said 'that Policenauts has one of the best game storylines ever.' Another reviewer said that he 'truly thought adventure gaming could get no better than Snatcher' but Konami 'has outdone themselves in everything from the beyond-beautiful music to the professional quality cinemas.'^[7]

RPGFan rated it 97% for story, 95% for sound/music, 94% for graphics, 80% for gameplay, and 80% for control, with an overall score of 98%. They called it 'a masterpiece' and concluded that, from 'the incredible graphics and soundtrack, to the compelling story, Policenauts is a true classic.'^[8]

The game was notable for being an early example of extensive voice recording in video games.^[9] It also featured a theme revolving around space exploration and occasional full-motion video cut scenes. The gameplay was largely similar to Snatcher, but with the addition of a point-and-click interface and some first-person shooter segments. Policenauts also introduced summary screens, which act to refresh the player's memory of the plot upon reloading a save, an element Kojima would later use in Metal Gear Solid. The PlayStation version of Policenauts could also read the memory card and give some easter egg dialogues if a save file of Konami's dating simTokimeki Memorial is present, a technique Kojima would also later use in Metal Gear Solid.^[1]

References

Policenauts Wiki

1. ↑ ^1.01.1Kurt Kalata, Policenauts, Hardcore Gaming 101
2. ↑'PlayStationStore - POLICENAUTS - (株)コナミデジタルエンタテインメント' (in Japanese).CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)<templatestyles src='Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css'></templatestyles>
3. ↑'Konami: Policenauts for Saturn'. Archived from the original on November 9, 1996.<templatestyles src='Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css'></templatestyles>
4. ↑Policenauts: Official Guide. pp. 118–122. ISBN4-87188-835-5.<templatestyles src='Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css'></templatestyles>
5. ↑Policenauts Fan Translation Project Nears Completion news from 1UP.com
6. ↑Fan-translation of Kojima's Policenauts nears completion - Joystiq
7. ↑Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named gamefan
8. ↑Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named rpgfan
9. ↑Mark Ryan Sallee. 'Kojima's Legacy: We reflect on the influence of Hideo Kojima's 20 years in gaming'. IGN. Retrieved 2009-08-20.<templatestyles src='Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css'></templatestyles>

Bibliography

• Various (September 1996). ポリスノーツ 公式ガイド. 公式ガイドシリーズ (in Japanese). コナミ. ISBN4-87188-835-5.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)<templatestyles src='Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css'></templatestyles>
• コナミCP事業部 編 (September 1996). セガサターン ポリスノーツ―公式完全ガイドブック. コナミ完璧攻略シリーズ (in Japanese). コナミ. ISBN4-575-28640-0.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)<templatestyles src='Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css'></templatestyles>
• 講談社 編 (March 6, 1996). ポリスノーツオフィシャルビジュアルデータブック. 覇王ゲームスペシャル 45 (in Japanese). 講談社. ISBN4-06-329246-0.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)<templatestyles src='Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css'></templatestyles>

External links

Policenauts Pc 98 Translation Free

• Policenauts Official website(Japanese)
• Policenauts PSone Books Re-release Official website(Japanese)

Policenauts Pc 98 Translation Spanish To English