Look out! Here comes Get Backers! Learn all about this recent Japanese GBA release from Konami. It looks cool but does it have enough broad appeal to be released outside Japan?
There’s not much we can say about Get Backers, except that it looks like a pretty cool game.
Developed by Konami, Get Backers is based on a weekly-serialized comic of the same name that appears in the Japanese comics publication, Kondansha. Although the Get Backers comic is very popular in Japan, this is the first time the series has been made into a game. The game allows you to take the control of and interact with main characters of the series, making it a very interactive treat for fans of Get Backers.
The mechanics of the game involve hanging around with a gang and getting hired by various people to go retrieve captured stuff for customers (hence the name “Get Backers”) kind of like a Repo Man game, with anime trappings. It won’t be easy, since you’ll come across rival gangs in your conquest too all to ready to fight you.
Get Backers looks to be an “urban RPG,” and some screenshots look almost like what a RPG version of River City Ransom would be like. Maybe that’s a stretch but if you see some of the screens ya might know what I mean. Considering most RPGs have you in a fantasy realm of some sort or another, a game playing a member of a street gang seems to be a refreshing concept.
With some tweaking, the game could maybe make the translation to North America. Considering its ties to a popular serialized manga in Japan makes it seem unlikely but like we said before, this game certainly looks cool. Since it probably won’t leave Japan (and seems to have a lot of text) we don’t think this will be one to import unless you speak/read Japanese.
Get Backers was released in Japan yesterday (April 26, 2001) so we’ll probably have more to tell you about this game soon.
