There are some glaring flaws, but this zany, over the top, hilarious game just loves to have fun, and so will you.
The Bad: It's pretty short; the combat may get a tad repetitive when you go through easy mode; framerate dips; the overworld isn't nearly as fun as the levels.
Suda 51 makes games that are very commonly rated M, as over the top as you're gonna get, and nothing like any game you've ever played before. No More Heroes more than lives up to that reputation, and is one of the best third party titles on the system that isn't a port.
Okami and Resident Evil 4 are fantastic, but this guy's brand new. There is nothing anything like this game, I'm serious. You'll think that the main character, Travis Touchdown's weapon is like a lightsaber at first. But the game isn't about to get sued, because it doesn't relate to Star Wars in any other way, and barely does at that.
Travis was flat broke when he met up with this beautiful girl, Sylvia, at a bar. She paid him for a hit man job, and with Beam Katana (the lightsaber thing) in hand, Travis wiped him out. That's when Sylvia tells him he just killed the tenth ranked assassin in the world, and that he should try aiming for first. He's even guaranteed a ton of money for it.
Travis lives in a motel called No More Heroes, hence the game title, has a cat, broke up with a girl he misses, rents porn videos at the movie store, drives around on the kickass motorcycle, and has no job. And you'll watch him take a dump when you save the game. Unlike every other gaming character, he has to crap at some point... But the point is, he's a cool guy. Except for the job bit, so he seals the deal with Sylvia.
The game opens up with you hunting down the tenth ranked assassin, and you'll be wiping guys out in no time. Many of the easy enemies have baseball bats or wrenches. That's not much of a challenge for your Beam Katana, so it'll be easy to get into it. You hit A to attack, then swing the remote a certain direction for a finishing move. This prevents annoying waggling of the remote, but also keeps it involved.
You can also grab enemies and use wrestling moves on them, which you'll learn more of on the way. These are cool and spice up the combat a little bit, and you're free to battle anyone with the moves or the katana. You can block with the weapon too, and use high or low attacks based on what angle the remote is at.
However, the Beam Katana isn't made of light energy, it runs on electricity. You'll have to charge it up once in awhile, by shaking it up and down- really hard and really fast. Yes, that's definitely the reference you're thinking of.
It's random stuff like that, much of which is way over the top (like the fact Travis will yell F*** you! every once in awhile killing someone), that really puts the fun in No More Heroes. A normal game like this would be solid, but that sense of humor really makes for a stylish, unique, awesome game.
The levels basically just involve wiping out the bad guys, but you'll also be finding trading cards, money and energy for your katana along the way. It's funny, not gruesome somehow, when gallons of blood pour from one or more guys' heads you just ripped off, and coins fall out too. That sounds horrible, but you have to see it to get it. It's so over the top that you won't even think of it being real, and red and gold stuff coming out of their head makes it less... mainstream.
As you go through the game, naturally, your enemies will get tougher. Each assassin is extremely bizarre, but they're absolutely awesome and you'll find yourself excited to meet the next one. Many of them, and even some of the other enemies later on, will carry katanas or guns, so you will have to watch yourself. And hey, if you get to the top, it sounds like Travis is gonna get lucky with Sylvia.
The Wiimote speaker hasn't been implemented in games very much, or not in a very noticeable way. In this game, it's not used during play, but Sylvia will be calling you in each level to talk to you about what's happening. It sounds just as good as the already awesome voice acting from the big screen, and as it's coming from your phone in-game, it's a brilliant stroke from the developers.
Outside of the levels it's a lot different. You can customize your Travis, getting him new shades, shirts, jackets, belts, and jeans. You can increase his strength and stats at a dojo, buy videos for wrestling moves, and get new Beam Katanas as you go along. You can go to the motel to deal with all that and save (take a dump, again) too. There are a few sidequests scattered in there, and there's generally a fair few options as to handle your cash. It's not GTA, obviously, but again, you have choices.
You'll get lots of money from each level, but when you're back out in Santa Destroy (the name of the city in California), you have to pay for a steadily increasing 'entry fee' to get the info on the next battle. Seems like a bit of a ripoff, although you do get more money than you lose. You can spend that on the above customizable techniques, weapons and clothes (that's just for fun, by the way), or you can just blast right on through.
However, you will have to explore the city at least a little. The money you get from the previous level won't be enough to secure your entry into the next, so you have to go get other jobs to pay for the new level and whatever else you'd like to do. Here, you have a ton of options. You can do respectable things, believe it or not, which are fun, weird mini-games. You can mow people's lawns, collect coconuts, clean walls with graffiti on them, pick up trash, or fill up people's cars at a gas station. On the other hand, you can indeed get other hit man jobs. One of the first ones you'll get is going out to kill the owner of a pizza place. There are some where you'll act like a baseball player and hit the balls back at your enemies with your katana. And eventually you can go to certain locations without getting a job and just go on a killing spree. You can't get hurt doing these, but if you do well you'll get some sweet mula.
However, it's still not as fun to be in the overworld as in the levels. The jobs are fun much of the time, and it's nice to be able to customize Travis, but everything's so far apart that driving around gets old. True, the motorcycle's awesome, but it can be a little tiresome. Plus, the motorcycle controls aren't nearly as good as just moving Travis around. The control stick seems to be bad at picking up how much you want to turn. It won't hurt the gameplay but it'd be nice if it were fixed. On the other hand, the camera won't mess up, ever.
Once you're back in the levels, you'll be happier. That's not to say the overworld is just not fun, but the levels are more fun. However, toward the end the combat might get a little tiresome. Not a lot, because it's just so much fun to watch, but you might realize how much you've seen these animations before.
More on the zany side, the voice acting is weird, like the characters themselves, making the plot fun, unique, and well executed. The speaker, again, is used better than I think it ever has been used in any other game. And the music is awesome, and insanely catchy. The sound on all fronts in this game is wonderful.
Now here's what I mean by the game loving being a game. The map is done in 8 bit blocks, as if it were on an NES or something. Travis even falls asleep once and an 8 bit mini-game starts up in his head. It likes video games like you do. Travis even has an N64 in his room. It's a fun little addition that goes a long way.
The graphics aren't like any other game's, kind of like everything else in No More Heroes. It's hard to describe them, except they're stylish. They seem blocky, but it looks purposeful, and the shading is one of the coolest parts. It's not a powerhouse title on Wii like Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime 3 is, but there aren't any complaints to make. It is a bit of a gripe that the game lags sometimes, and noticeably, but it won't hurt the experience.
The game will probably last around ten hours, maybe closer to fifteen if you work on hunting down all the sidequest items and getting maxed out on everything. The most expensive katana is a ton of money, there are a lot of clothes, a lot of stat upgrades, and some collections to track down. And it'll take a lot longer to get enough money to pay for each level if you get all of that, but it's definitely a great experience even in the overworld. Plus, there are three different difficulties, and if you beat it once you'll unlock a secret ending (the first ending is pretty crappy, in a partially literal sense, so you'll want to see it).
As you can see, there are some noticeable ups and just as glaring downs to No More Heroes. Would I suggest it? Certainly. No question. If you're sick of the endless RPGs and action-adventure games in a magical world, sports games, horror shooters, and most infamously first-person shooters that all feel like clones, this'll be a breath of fresh air. It's worth your time and money. It's not what you'd call a killer-app. It's not close to perfect either. But it is an experience like nothing you've ever had before, on any medium.