I’ve never been a shmup (shoot ’em up) purist. The ones which appeal to me always have a distinctive gimmick and are usually horizontal, which is a sin depending on who you ask. I’d pick Boogie Wings (1992) over DonPachi (1995) any day.
But Taito’s KiKi KaiKai is neither a vertical nor a horizontal shmup – it’s both.
The game stars the shrine maiden, Sayo-chan, one of gaming’s earliest female protagonists, debuting two months after Metroid (1986)‘s Samus. She is tasked with rescuing the Shichifukujin (Seven Lucky Gods) from a gang of yōkai.
If you’re curious, the game’s title roughly means “Strange and Mysterious World”. Kai rendered as both 怪 (mysterious) and 界 (world), while KiKi (奇々, strange) is repeated twice for emphasis.
KiKi KaiKai is similar to Commando (1985) in that you can move freely in eight directions, with the screen only moving when you choose to advance. Sayo-chan can fire her ofuda in all directions, which requires a bit of forethought as she must always fire in the direction she is moving in. Thankfully, the game is designed around this limitation, and you can master what I call “snaking” (wiggling left and right while moving forward) to give her attacks a wider berth.
Sayo-chan’s secondary weapon is a gohei which can be waved to repel enemies and projectiles. It is short-ranged but covers a wide area, even a substantial portion of your back. While this weapon is instrumental in KiKi KaiKai‘s sequels, it’s a fickle tool in this game and best used as a desperation manoeuvre or to defeat pesky Obariyons. It is reminiscent of the deflection mechanic in Nazo no Murasame-jou (1986) which released a few months earlier.
You can also pray that the Game Over screen gives you an extra life if you’re lucky enough (the last three digits of your score must match three randomised numbers). I wouldn’t count on it, though.
KiKi KaiKai‘s first home release would be to the MSX2, which is faithful but suffers from the MSX’s choppy scrolling. It was later released on the Famicom Disk System as KiKi KaiKai: Dotō-hen (1987) — the subtitle loosely meaning “Raging Wave Chapter” — a tremendously watered down version that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone. In Dotō-hen, you can play as Miki-chan, a character based on the former idol Miki Itō, who is featured on the game’s packaging and was hired to sing the game’s theme tune.
The version I am most acquainted with is the PC-Engine port. While still challenging, it is considerably more forgiving, thanks in no small part to the TurboPad’s rapid-fire setting. The success of this port probably contributed to the series’ revival in 1990 by Natsume.
But before we talk about the game’s legacy, let’s take a look at the game’s colourful bosses. Like the enemies, they are all derived from Japanese folklore. Just for fun, I’d like to list them all:
- Scene 1: Mamegashira (Bean Head) — An azukiarai, which is normally depicted as a grotesque man found washing beans. This cuter version resembles a Daruma doll and you can even pop its eyes.
- Scene 2: Raiden-O — A take on Raijin, the god of thunder. Rather than beating his numerous drums, this version simply waves his drumsticks at you.
- Scene 3: Senzan (Mountain Sage) — A tengu. Like its inspiration, it carries two large fans to stir up great winds… except they’re quite small here.
- Scene 4: Sanba (Mountain Hag) — A yama-uba, which is a cannibalistic, old crone. By far the hardest boss in the game, whose numerous projectiles will make even seasoned danmaku fans break a sweat.
- Scene 6: Mabikon (Demon-Tailed Fox) — A nine-tailed fox, which is a familiar yōkai to Westerners. Curiously, this is the only boss whose name doesn’t appear on-screen. This is likely a programming error.
- Scene 5: Soujusou (Bead-Wielding Monk) — A giant monk with prayer beads that it flings like a whip. Possibly based on the Ōnyūdō but could be an original invention.
- Scene 7: Manuke (Idiot) — Yes, idiot. It’s actually a pun which could also mean “Demonic Servant Transformation”. This is a tanuki which copies your appearance. He is the leader of the yōkai and is easily defeated.
Peculiarly, the game doesn’t end after rescuing all of the Shichifukujin. The eighth stage is a looping maze which requires you to find three scrolls to complete the game. As is typical for the era, there isn’t much fanfare for doing so.
The series laid dormant until it was licensed to Natsume, who created a sequel for the SNES — KiKi KaiKai: Nazo no Kuro Manto (1992) — better known overseas as… sigh, Pocky & Rocky. This is a much-improved sequel, featuring far more nuance and gameplay variety. Manuke, the idiot tanuki, has now been reformed by Sayo-chan and acts as the second player. The villain this time is Black Mantle, a Western yōkai trying to conquer Japan, and the final stage is set in a European-style castle.
It had a few sequels since then, with the most recent (as of writing) being Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (2023), a reimagining of Kuro Manto. I opted for the English name here because the Japanese version simply uses the original title. If you ask me, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Sayo-chan again, but she deserves to be remembered as one of gaming’s icons.
Another oddity worth mentioning is Mo Jie Qi Bing (2003) for the Game Boy Advance, a bootleg Lord of the Rings game which takes more than a little inspiration from KiKi KaiKai, although executed very poorly. I suppose one could draw a parallel between Sayo/Miki/Manuke and Frodo/Sam/Gollum… best not to think about it too hard.
A final bit of trivia: the very first Touhou Project game, Highly Responsive to Prayers (1997), is a marriage of KiKi KaiKai and Breakout. The series protagonist, Reimu Hakurei, has a very similar sprite to Sayo-chan, possesses both of her signature attacks, and even has her sliding dash from Kuro Manto.
