255. Suzuki Bakuhatsu (Sol, Playstation, 2000)

Suzuki Bakuhatsu ("Suzuki Explosion") is a puzzle game about defusing bombs that appear inside of normal objects the day to day life of a young Japanese woman. Suzuki Bakuhatsu has more character and style than games with 100 times its budget. Suzuki Bakuhatsu is what we talk about when we talk about weird Japanese video games, by which I mean it is an experience that:

- Runs with its absurd premise

- Has excellent presentation

- Is focused more on the possibilities of interesting gameplay than making sense

These kinds of video games are the kinds of video games that keep me interested in the medium. And while my tastes are broader than just surreal stuff from Japan, it's an acquired taste that I just can get enough of. I'll always fawn over Playstation 2 games like Mister Mosquito or Katamari Damacy, but even mainstream hits like Super Mario Bros. or Pac-Man fit this description to a T.

Suzuki Bakuhatsu takes place over the course of a day with each level being a different time of day. After you defuse the first two bombs, you can freely select between the rest of the levels. Each level begins with a short story segment, told through still photographs that you have to advance, with the occasional sparse voiceover. These story bits make me feel like i'm watching a foreign art film. The clean, minimal menus remind me of Metal Gear Solid. Every time you successfully dismantle a bomb, the game shows you a victory screen that has every piece of the bomb nicely organized (knolling, if you're familiar), with Suzuki grinning in victory and a nice little jingle, and I live for these.

The actual process of defusing the bombs is honestly the least exciting thing about Sukuki Bakuhatsu for me, though there is enough variety to keep it from dragging. The actual gameplay consists of little more than navigating around with the d-pad and finding spots that you can either unscrew with your screwdriver, inspect, or cut with wire cutters. So it's almost like an adventure game with a time limit, though you are mercifully given unlimited retries, which is especially nice if you can't read Japanese (well). 

While the first few bombs are relatively straightforward in that you have to just locate and remove screws until you can cut the right wire, they quickly get to be more ingenious and/or wacky. One bomb found inside a glass of water has you advance to the subatomic level, and your path through the atoms determines if snipping the wire will cause it to explode. Another bomb found in a hospital lunch just has you eat the lunch until you find the bomb hidden in a single grain of rice.

5/5, a perfect high-concept super stylish adventure puzzle experience