Original Release: Hacker International, 1988, NES
A wet T-shirt / clothing destruction game that plays by very weird rules
Kobayashi Hitomi no Hold Up (Famicom, Hacker International, 1988)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: coming soon!
Review by: Master-B
My sight-unseen impression of Hacker International has always basically been the stereotypical smelly otakus in a basement on a shoestring budget, but apparently they had it together enough business-wise to strike deals with some of the biggest Japanese Adult Video (JAV) stars of their time.
We previously looked at their odd blackjack/dating game with Hayama Reiko, but they really landed the big fish of their era with a couple of games featuring Kobayashi Hitomi. Honestly I had no idea who she was prior to this review, but cursory research reveals she is considered the “Queen of JAV”, basically the first major breakout star for the Japanese porno industry as it became a more mainstream thing in the 1980s VCR era, moving from weird 70s theaters to home consumption.
The game doesn’t really convey any of that, though, it’s just a weird cross between Battleship and a wet t-shirt contest. Each “level” has Ms. Kobayashi hitting you with a pose, initially it’s a bit inexplicable but you have eight water gun shots and the goal is to find two or three “magic pixels” to shoot that make a big chunk of her outfit disappear.
Unless the moon runes are conveying tips this is all just total trial-and-error, only made bearable by the “weak spots” appearing to stay the same each time. Accompanied by an insipid looping snatch of music to drive you up a wall. And the art isn’t even anything worth looking at. Really, the only good part of the game is the cute cowgirl-themed load screen.
Links
Game box and pack-in materials
Videos