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Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is the second
title in the series to come to Europe courtesy of D3Publisher this
year. Alongside the Xbox360’s Onechanbara:
 Bikini
Samurai Squad, Wii owners will now get a taste of the mindlessly
violent and casually underdressed with Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie
Slayers. As with MADWORLD, Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie
Slayers may seem a little out-of-place amongst Wii’s parade of
bright colours and summer sports titles; but this could very well be
a blessing in disguise.
The premise of the game is pretty much identical to the
Xbox360 release; players must travel through increasingly complex
levels cutting through hordes of zombies, occasionally locating a
key or other object to obtain access to a new area, and felling
bosses. The game is controlled via the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, with
the Analogue Stick controlling movement, A Button for jumping, C
Button to change stance and motion control for those all important
sword-swipes.
Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is aware that
it’s not perfect. There is no attempt at recreating a
swipe-for-swipe system within its controls, and instead has taken
the wise decision of using the players’ motions as representational
controls. At first, the system may annoy the Hardcore – why would
you want to spend twenty hours bashing through zombies waving around
your arm, when a simple button press would suffice? Well, it
wouldn’t. Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is the
 embodiment
of the dream Hardcore Gamers had upon first hearing of Wii: the
subtle variation in movement – a slight angle, a slower pace to each
stroke through the air – will change the outcome of each combo
currently in action. Different movements will initiate one of a
number of stage two attacks, stage three, stage four and so on. This
allows a greater connection between the player and on-screen action
than could be achieved with simple presses of a button.
The same Combo System that exists in the Xbox360 release
is present in the Wii version also, and thanks to the
representational motion controls is infinitely easier to pull-off
stylish manoeuvres. Cool Combos – the greatest attacks in the game –
requiring a stunning amount of dedication to learn both the timing
and positioning to achieve maximum effect, however, the Wii release
provides a much more distinctive feedback for a player correctly
delivering the attack pattern.
The variation in player characters and stances is felt
much greater in Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers than
Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad thanks to the control system,
with Aya’s double-sword stance requiring use of both the Wii Remote
and Nunchuk creating an effect comparable to the Boxing in the
mighty Wii Sports. The enemies don’t offer the player quite
as much reason to attempt all the different available attack options
unfortunately, with the enemy types much more limited; however the
two-player co-operative options will provide the desire to show-off
your flashiest moves.
Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is a stunning looking game
on Wii – clearly ahead of its typical PlayStation2/GameCube quality
counterparts.
 Using
some tidy visual tricks, many would be fooled into thinking it looks
identical to the Xbox360 release due to the gorgeous backdrops and
well presented player-characters. However, the inclusion of fewer
enemy types, fewer numbers on screen (though, it must be said, not
many fewer), the shorter draw-distance and the shorter animation
sequences of this Wii release will be found by those who go looking.
Presented almost identically to the recent Xbox360 release, the Menu
System will be entirely familiar to fans of the series. The same
gameplay options, set-up procedure and level structure,
Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is clearly designed along
with the same philosophy as its bigger brother. And to that end,
there will be no doubt that those owning one version will encourage
friends with the rival system to get involved – and both will
immediately know where they stand.
Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers, just like its Xbox360
sister-release and for all the same reasons, is destined to be
overlooked by many. Taglines such as “Hotties against zombies” will
not suggest a particularly cerebral videogame experience to many,
and they’d be right. Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers may
not be sophisticated, but back in 2006 when Hardcore Gamers’ Wii
dream was still alive, it’s what we all wanted to see on Wii. |
