You heard me right. I loved the first two games... so how did a third installment on the Wii slip past me?

Well, let's just say I kind of stumbled upon a screenshot on the net while looking for something unrelated:



That sure looks familar, doesn't it? Come to find out, that is a Wii game called Kiki Kai World. And it is the successor to Pocky and Rocky. It was going to be a full fledged sequel before some publisher drama went down. Well, it did come over seas to us under the title "Heavenly Guardian."

It supports co-op just like last time, but there is no saving (just like last time). And I don't think any of the previous cast has come back. At least I don't think you play as Pocky or Rocky. Kind of sucks, but I'm sure the overall feel will be right. So while I'm on my way to find this online, enjoy some gameplay videos:

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I'm a bit disappointed at no obvious animal partner to play as, but it does look fun.

OMG! That was one of my favorite games! I never finished any of them either...

Well, they were pretty damn hard games. Seriously. That's why I am glad for save states. Anyway, I got it on order... only cost 12 bucks after shipping. Woot.

I still need to buy P and R 2.

I still need to buy P&R1. Unless it appears on the VC, first.

No, wait, that would still count as buying it.

If they had PaR 1 and 2 on VLC but with online co-op, I would do sexual favors for Nintendo.

Isn't that the game where you could crush enemies under your giant stony tanuki testicles?

The second one, at least. I haven't tried the first one since way back in my childhood.

That was Rocky's special move in 2. You could only play as Rocky, but you could pick and AI to help you... you had three and Rocky was one of them. Each one had a special move that was like your bomb attack from the first game.

Rocky's was turning into a stereotpical Tanuki statue. And an image search in google with tanuki statue will show that majority of these statues are... well endowed to say the least.

@_@
I never noticed THAT!

Okay, I spend a good deal of last night with Heavenly Guardian. And you know what? This is no Pocky and Rocky game. Similar... but I was a fool to claim it to be anything like PaR.

Art style, music, characters, abilities in battl, story, nothing shares anything with the PaR series. About the only thing they have in common is that you shoot sh*t.

But that aside, it's still an okay game. I only payed 12 bucks for it after shipping, and it's worth at least that much. The game "feels" like PaR only in the sense that it's the same style game. There are a few throwbacks to enemies in Pocky and Rocky though... like the first screenshot on the first post. But I have no idea who that character is. She's not in the game... at least, I haven't had the option. Even the second player doesn't look like her... which is sad, because she kind of looks like an adult Pocky.

On that note, I see a dead horse over there, and I have a strong urge to flog it for a bit. So allow me to find a blunt object for just a moment.

<flogging>
You know what I love about technology? It's always changing. And hardware for consoles is not immune from this change... or at least, it shouldn't be. That's why it bugs me so to have rechargable double A batteries in a controller that should run on something more efficient. What I mean by that, is that when I went to play my Wii... the batteries died within the first 5 minutes. If this were the PS3, I'd just slam in a USB cable and keep going. Or if it were Xbox 360, I'd slam in.... whatever proprietary connection you want to call that (just had to make a quick buck by not being able to use a standard USB connection... thanks) and continue gaming. With the Wii? You have to either have an ample supply of batteries laying around, or you just don't play. Some people say you should have more controllers.... but what if it's a multiplayer game? So I actually couldn't play till I got the batteries re-charged. Stupid Wii...
</flogging>

Anyway, back to the game. The game had no controller configuration, no training level, no information on controls in the manual... and there's no walkthrough for it online. So I had no idea how to do the standard melee attack that deflects projectile shots. After messing around, I found out there isn't one. GAY. But they do have way more weapon upgrades. In PaR you only had your spread attacks (powered up Pocky's sutra cards and Rocky's leaves) and your powered up fire attack. In Heavenly Guardian, you get 3 way and Bomb... which are kind of their equivolent. As well as Homing, and Rapid. All of which can get upgraded 4 times (maybe 5 is possible, but I haven't ran across a fith before dying and losing it all). Your nuke everything attack has been nerf'd a bit, but in exchange, you can use it MUCH more frequently. You slash with the Wiimote across the screen, and a blizzard will streak across the screen in that direction, taking up a third of the screen. It'll freeze everything, allowing you to kill most of everything, assuming you can hit it before it defrosts (which builds up a combo). You still have a dash attack that'll make you invonerable for the durration of the dash. Oh, and the boss fights (three of them so far) are pretty epic. And there are unlockables. You can unlock boss battle mode by finding hidden "snow boys" (the game has a snow theme) in every level (10 each) and unlock that level's boss in boss battles. You can also unlock harder difficulties.

Anyway, I think I'm still going to like this game... but I would have liked it so much more if it really were a Pocky and Rocky game.

So, does it come recommended so far? Because I could REALLY use a new Wii title.

If it were at the normal price that normal games come out for the Wii... probably not. But seeing as it's so cheap, why not? I'm actually playing it right now. I've been actively looking for the ten hidden snowboys and have unlocked the first two bosses on Boss Attack mode. And, I am having fun for the most part.

I forgot to mention there are two aiming modes. One which is Pocky and Rocky type (shoot in the direction you are facing) and Geometry Wars type (you can walk freely and shoot in any direction you want, aiming with the wiimote). I'm actually using the later. It really lets you work on dodging without taking your aim off the enemy.

In short, yeah... for 12 bucks (including shipping) go for it. I just wish it were online co-op.