In Japan, this game was called Gonbee I’m Sorry. In the West, it’s more commonly referred to as just I’m Sorry. But really, it has nothing to be sorry about whatsoever.
Because it’s wonderful.
Not to play, necessarily. I’ll be honest, I’ve never played it. But just as a thing, as an idea, it’s amazing.
The name doesn’t actually refer to any kind of apology; it’s a play on words, as Sori (首相) in Japanese means Prime Minister. And that guy with the enormous head you see running around in the video below, that’s Kakuei Tanaka, Japan’s PM from 1972-1974. Who was, by all accounts, a very shady man, involved in everything from listing business transactions in his geisha’s name to taking bribes.
In 1985, then, we got this, a political satire video based on the man, released the same year he suffered the stroke that would drive him out of politics, which was either a sad coincidence or some mighty distasteful marketing on the part of developers Coreland (later Banpresto) and publishers Sega.
The aim of the game was to run around collecting gold bars (because, you know, bribery), all the while avoiding (or punching) the men in black out to get you. Also in your way were barrels. And gates. And buxom women who looked like Marilyn Monroe. And, um, Michael Jackson.
And that’s not even when it gets a little strange. It gets strange when the suits (or celebrity bosses) got their hands on you. Michael Jackson, for example, was actually vampire Michael Jackson, who would bite you in the head while blood pours from your eyes. And the suits, well, they’d strip off to reveal S&M gear, strip you to your underpants, and start whipping you ferociously.
See? It’s wonderful, in a way that only Japanese games from the 1980s could get away with. To see more on the game, including hot gifs showing the hot S&M action, head to the link below.
GONBEE NO I’M SORRY [VGJunk]
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