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遊メイズ
©Taito Corp. 1988
Release: 1988-10-28 (¥3300)
DiskCard TFD-UMZ
Action / Puzzle game
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Yuu Maze is the conversion of Taito's arcade game Raimais which was also
released in 1988. It can be quickly described as a sort of Pac Man on wheels.
The game takes place in 2088 and the hero's brother has be kidnapped by
the evil Dr Morito and he embarks on a journey
to rescue him. The player takes control on a fast futuristic car and the goal of
the game is to collect all the capsules (colored dots) scattered around each
maze. Other cars obviously tries to stop our hero and the game is a constant and intensive
race, pushing the player to take sharp curves without colliding with other vehicles.
Special icons can be collected to upgrade the vehicle or
trigger special actions. This way the car can be protected by a shield or use
a laser-gun. Other icons will clean all capsules on screen (only one level though)
or create special warp-doors beaming the player to special bonus stages. A two simultaneous player
mode is also available, thus a friend can ride his own vehicle and help the player to clean
up each stage. Finally, the game progression can be saved onto the DiskCard and
an editor allows the player to create, save and play five different mazes.
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The original arcade game, called Raimais, was released by Taito in 1988. However, graphics are, as you would have
guessed, better. It also counts many more cut scenes and the main character,
a girl, can be clearly seen in the introduction sequence. The layout of the mazes is also very different
and, when a maze is completed, the player is given the choice of four exists
instead of two. Finally, the arcade game also count insectoid bosses (pictured on the left) sadly
missing from the Famicom game . Curiously, both arcade and Famicom versions
feature the weird goblin looking guy giving you some advice every ten stages
or so. The game was also included in Taito Memories Vol.2 released
in 2005 for Sony's Playstation 2. A simple and black & white version of
Raimais was also released for mobile phones in 2002.
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
O
V
s
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It was a strange feeling to play Yuu maze for the first
time. Not really for the game itself but because, as a kid, I
used to play Raimais in the arcades with my dad.
And I completely forgot about it. The
music was probably the first element that made these memories
surface again. Anyway, I won't let nostalgia blur my vision. Yuu maze
is actually a very entertaining game and you do not have to save your
girlfriend for a change, but your brother. Graphics are not amazing
and are, like it is often the case with Famicom games, more colorful
than the original arcade game. Yet, the two selectable exits at the end of every
maze is a nice feature and it certainly adds a lot to the replay value.
Everything seems to be about choice in this game,
even the ending. But I won't spoil it here. Nostalgia probably
influences my opinion about this one but I nevertheless
highly recommend it !
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