Suda51’s done it again! From the unique mind that brought us No More Heroes, Killer Is Dead and Lollipop Chainsaw, comes a short ‘n’ sweet side-scroller titled Ranko Tsukigime’s Longest Day. Like most of Suda51’s games, it’s guaranteed to thrill, titillate and leave every player wondering, “Just what the heck did I play through?” 

The Plot (We Think)

The game opens to a detailed semi-2D semi-3D animated sequence that introduces us to our heroine, Ranko Tsukigime, nicknamed “Meter Maid” since her father owns a massive parking vault. (She herself lives the high-life within a set of highly furnished cargo crates inside said vault.) Like most high school students in modern day Japan, Ranko spends her after-school hours working part-time...as an assassin.

Did I mention this is a Suda51 game?

And by assassin, I mean a magical warrior who fights the forces of evil while sporting a variety of designer outfits that most people would wear to a costume party. Ranko’s latest target is her own father, so she ducks out of a would-be karaoke play date and instead launches off with violin-style rifle in tow. Thus she embarks on her quest to put a bullet or ten into her old man’s cerebellum.

And no, this isn’t where it gets weird. This is actually the sane part of the game’s storyline. Her quest itself takes her to unexpected places. Dare I say, strange places. With evil spirits, motorcycles, luchador masks, galactic invaders, and even a Canis Ex Machina. You really need to experience it for yourself. Words fail.

The Gameplay

I really dug the action of the game itself; plot aside, it’s pretty straightforward. At its most basic, Longest Day is a side-scroller that takes several cues from the “endless runner” genre. The player’s main goal in a good six of the game’s ten stages is getting Ranko across the stage to a certain goal line at the far right. As she dashes, Ranko must stay ahead of a horde of evil spirits determined to drag her into oblivion. Of course, there are also environmental obstacles aplenty as well as a small army of enemies trying to gun her down. Don’t worry about taking damage though—enemy attacks just break Ranko’s pace and bring the evil spirits closer.

The game also breaks just about every one of its rules at some point, and that’s usually with the boss stages. At least one of which involves no chasing at all, replacing your momentum with a life-meter. Or that one time where the evil spirits outsource the action and get replaced by…

Actually, just play the game. You REALLY have to see this one yourselves.

For all the screwy-ness, Longest Day feels both simple and unique. The main action of the game is in building momentum, which means finding ways to remove/avoid obstacles without slowing down too much. To do a combo, start by destroying an enemy with a regular attack. The enemy then explodes into shrapnel that makes nearby enemies explode too, and so on. This continues as long as the player follows the shockwave on-screen, assuming that there are still enemies within the shrapnel radius. Racking up combos builds up Ranko’s ammunition gauge—one shot will push her ghastly pursuers back a few meters and buy her more time to escape. Jumping carries you over the speed bumps and pits that get in your way. But don’t just button mash, either! You move slower while you’re in the air than when you’re running, and Ranko hesitates for a few precious moments if any of her attacks don’t connect with the enemy. You’ll need both rhythm and foresight to build enough momentum and make it to the goal.

Short Peace

Yet the crazy doesn’t stop there! When you download the game, you also get a 70-minute anime anthology of four anime shorts with some major anime talent involved, including one by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira). In fact, the whole project is Otomo's brainchild. Fair warning, though: if you go in hoping they hold the key to whatever the heck’s going on in the game itself, then you can go ahead and keep on hoping. Rather than explaining anything or even building a larger plot, each is a simple little story with a Technicolor presentation. The one thing all the segments have in common is that the animation is amazing…and quite loopy! I’d say that these alone were worth the price…but Longest Day still beats them all in sheer dimension and dementia.

Overview

Both Longest Day and Short Peace are actually really, really short. You can finish them both in little over an hour apiece, and taking the time to unlock everything probably still won’t even consume your whole afternoon. That said, this game is definitely an experience, combining fun, addicting game play with an insane plot. In other words, it’s Suda51 at his most Suda51-derful. Don’t try to make sense of it; just save your brain for the gameplay sequences. At least, that’s what I did, and I’m still sane! Mostly!

Hint: If you find yourself stuck in an infinite loop, remember that sliding is the fastest way to get places.

by Chris Turner