Mister Mosquito Review
Mister Mosquito is a thoroughly original title that brings to a new audience, through parody, a touch of what makes Japanese culture so appealing to so many Westerners.
Originally released in Japan as Ka: Yamada-ke No Natsu, Mister Mosquito: Summer at the Yamada Residence has a pretty bizarre premise. As the rambunctious insect, you must pester the Yamada family for an entire summer, making them incredibly itchy by sucking up their blood and hopefully storing up enough life-giving plasma to survive the coming winter. Mr. Mosquito's innovative qualities come in many forms; by controlling such a diminutive creature, you get a firsthand view at the world from a new perspective, as well as a humorous parody of many of the standbys of Japanese popular culture.
Mr. Mosquito's quest is played out in a dozen stages, each taking place in one of the rooms of the Yamada home and inhabiting one of their endearing family members. The Yamada family is a rather odd bunch, composed of a stereotypical salaryman, his devoted wife, and their trendy young daughter. As your continued efforts send them into scratching fits, the family's relationship begins to break down, and the game descends closer and closer toward the brink of insanity. The voice work accompanying these personalities has been translated to English, although the odd dub-quality pacing has remained--there are plenty of awkward pauses, and the inflections used by the voice actors in their portrayals are a bizarre mix of heavily accented Japanese, European, and American chic. While the entire storytelling process in Mister Mosquito is most definitely odd, it's appealing in the same way that watching classic Japanese monster movies with poor voice-overs can be--the game's ridiculous story and characters are assuredly a conscious decision on the developers' behalf.
Mr. Mosquito, the courageous protagonist of this adventure, is a capable character, able to fly at a steady pace, hover in place, turn smoothly or in quick 180 degree bursts, and also shoot forth with a quick burst of speed--either to bump into interactive environments or reach a prime bloodsucking point on one of the unlucky Yamadas. Areas in each room of the home, or spots on the family's bodies where blood can be sucked, are highlighted by targeting box outlines, much like objectives would be in a standard flight sim/shooter. Pressing the circle button makes Mr. Mosquito dash forward, which can do a number of things, such as turn off a radio, flick a light switch, click a remote control, or land on human skin. Interacting with these objects causes the Yamadas to react, thus exposing tender bits of flesh, where the blood can be extracted. When you're ready to proceed with blood extraction, a secondary window appears on the screen, depicting Mr. Mosquito piercing the skin and sucking up the blood in cartoon fashion. To suck blood, you rotate the right analog stick--but you must rotate it at a specific pace, as depicted by a vertical meter with a moving blue highlight. Stay outside of the highlighted area by rotating too slow or too fast, and you may irritate the victim and receive a killing swat. To let you know whether or not you're safe enough to continue filling up tanks of blood, an EKG meter gives you clear indication of the family member's irritation levels and gives you ample warning to dislodge and flee, although the temptation to suck that last bit of blood can be quite strong.
Mister Mosquito Quick Links
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- GameSpot Scorefair
Player Reviews
Critic Scores
- IGN 7.5 / 10
- Thunderbolt 7 / 10
- Gaming Age C
- Eurogamer 5 / 10
- GameZone 7.8 / 10
- Game Rankings 83 / 100
- TotalPlaystation 7 / 10
- GamersMark 7 / 10
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