Rainbow Dodgeball Girl's Youth

Rainbow Dodgeball Girl's Youth
http://www.atlus.co.jp/cs/game/pstation/nijiiro/

Who knows what about this one?

I love dodgeball games...

Uhm, thats about all I can add.

*runs out*

I believe Famistu scored it about 5 or 6 overall. Then again a fair dodgeball game score is a paradox. I think the game was made by Millions wasn't it? *-neo

Great sig, Click.

5 or 6.... out of 40?!

i didn't think they even went that low.

Nijiiro Dodgeball: Maidens' Youth (Atlus) - 6, 6, 7, 7 (26/40)

Pretty average scores for Famitsu, though I don't pay much attention to their scores unless they happen to be really low.

Edit: I can't add.

Sounds like porn.

Alright, I got my copy yesterday from VGD. Here are some impressions:
For frame of reference, the only other dodgeball game I've played is the NES Super Dodgeball.

Nijiiro Dodgeball Otometachi no Seishun
Dodgeball - Playstation
1-2 Players
6800 Yen

What do you get when you cross Tokimeki Memorial with Super Dodgeball? You get a game like this. Assembling a team of 12 different character designers, and as rumor has it, some of the old Technos staff, you have a dodgeball game that plays very similar to the Super Dodgeball game of old, but with every character or team looking vastly different from the other.

The first mode is "Venus League" and here, you are a coach. You will then choose 1 of 3 people to be a manager, and then 1 of 4 teams to coach. This is basically the story mode, and it plays out more like a simulation. There is a lot of dialog here, and the views are set up in typical Japanese adventure game fashion. You'll see the upper half of the person you speak to, and these sections are voiced. But the main part of this is training.

Every team consists of 4 girls, and you can assign them each different types of exercises every week. This is where the Tokimemo aspects come in. Each type of exercise will raise certain stats, and lower others. The best part is, it's an extremely easy to use interface. They lay out all the stats and they are all ranked from A (being best) to E (being worst). Each exercise will have arrows pointing up or down or blank on each stat, so you can just look at what you need to raise and make the changes accordingly. You get to execute trainings every week and sometimes some adventure events will occur where you can raise a specific character's stats that week as well. You will sometimes also be asked some questions from characters, in which you must choose an appropriate response. I think this just directs what characters get more training than others.

And of course, some weeks you'll actually have dodgeball matches.

The second mode is a vs mode, where you can play 1p vs cpu, or 1p vs 2p from any of the 10 teams in the game. You can also use the team from the story mode, since they now have altered stats.

So what about dodgeball?!

Before each match, you can configure a few things. You can set formations for your team, and I believe they will remain in that formation the entire match. You can also choose what order your members are in, so you can place a specific character at a specific position. You have some limited control over the AI of each character when you're not controlling. And finally you may be able to choose what kind of court surface you play on.

Once the match starts, it plays out very similar to other dodgeball games. Here, each team has 4 people in the court, and 3 surrounding the opponent's field. Each individual court player has an energy bar, and when it reaches 0, they're taken out of the game. The team with any court players remaining, wins. It has the same control schemes as well, utilizing mainly two buttons. You can pass, you can throw. You can catch, you can dodge. And pressing them together allows you to jump. Special moves are done by running/running and jumping shots. You'll see everything from out of screen launches, to multiple balls. Every player has their own set of specials. What I've noticed is that there is also an "alley-oop" system where if you hit the L1 button, one of your teammates will run to the center, jump, so you can pass to them and they can throw it at an enemy. There is also an assist-system where you can do a special-pass and then if they throw it immediately after, they'll do a special attack. This is great for mixing in a little strategy to the game.
Overall, the dodgeball game feels a lot like the original Super Dodgeball, with some minor additions.

I do think, though, that it feels stiffer. I'm sure the dual shock has something to do with it, as I've never liked the controller. Also a lot of the characters look the same on the field with maybe some color palette swapping, which is kinda disappointing considering the Playstation is able to handle the basic graphics.

Anyway, the dodgeball game is similar in gameplay and feel to the old games. While it won't blow anyone away with its slight upgrades, it does have a story/simulation mode that may satisfy some people. And if you've never played a dodgeball game, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.

Sweet... sounds like a game I need.

Nice summary. Sounds nifty, but not something I can easily get into.