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Mister Mosquito

Score: 8.3/10

When first hearing about this game a year or so ago, I really didn’t know what to think.  On the surface it looked like an interesting new title that was trying to deftly sidestep the status quo in terms of what you’ll usually find in a game, but a little part of me kept on wondering if once I scratched the surface all I would find is a flashy gimmick.  Thankfully after putting a good amount of mileage on the finished product what I found was something that remains both fun and interesting after extended periods of play.  The simplicity of it all combined with just a touch of humor helps make Mister Mosquito a title well worth taking for a spin or three.  

The whole point of the game is as straightforward as it gets.  You control a mosquito and try to suck blood from the Yamada family, slowly driving them nuts in the process.  The challenge comes in trying to get blood while remaining undetected by the family members.  Since they are wearing bug repellent they only have a very small few spots on their body that is left undefended and ripe for the picking, and these sweet spots can sometimes be pretty hard to get at.  Even once you land on one of these spots you must proceed to suck the blood all the while making sure not to go to fast or too slow since this will alert the Yamada member to your presence.  Getting caught though can either result in getting swatted and killed instantly or being chased around the room with each hit taking down your strength a bit.  When being chased, or Battle Mode as it’s called in the game, the game can get a bit redundant just from the sheer amount of time it will sometimes take to maneuver one’s self to hit the points on the family member’s body that will get them to relax and leave you alone.  It’s quite common to have to hit a point in the front of the person and another in the back so moving into position can take a fair amount of time and after a while it can lead to boredom.  The same holds true for waiting 

 

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for the right time to go in and take a bite out of a family member.  You’ll often find yourself hovering in wait, or activating an appliance to distract your target, finally going in for the strike.  Those who don’t particularly care for games that require a good amount of patience will not like this one bit, but anyone else who doesn’t mind playing the waiting game should have no troubles here.  Nonetheless, the simplistic pleasure of sucking the blood and trying to get away Scott free will keep most people occupied a good long time.

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The aesthetics of the game maintain this whole sense of simplicity as well.  The visuals are by no means an overly simplified, abstract affair, but if you’re looking for something of a Final Fantasy X caliber you won’t find it here.  The rooms and the Yamada family look fairly realistic, while your little mosquito alter ego stays decidedly cartoony.  The animation stays very smooth throughout and when entering battle mode there’s an almost anime-like feel to the whole thing, especially when one of the Yamada’s takes a swing at you as the screen throws motion blur at you and starts to rumble and shake from the excitement.  The audio side of the coin is a little more subtle, as there are no real bombastic musical scores in the game, it goes for a more ambient approach with subtle drifting notes as you try to go in for a bite on your hapless victim, only kicking it into high gear when you're spotted.  The voice acting isn’t bad with it’s Saturday Morning Cartoon approach, at least when it comes to the family members themselves, the narrator is a whole other story in crappy voice acting, so you don’t often need to worry about having any nightmares over bad scripting and such with this game.

Really, there isn’t much more to be said about the game.  It is such a straightforward, and very fun little game.  The premise is novel, there is plenty of challenge without it feeling arbitrary, and it’s easy on the eye too, all with smooth as silk controls.  If you’re looking for an interesting and fun diversion from the status quo, Mister Mosquito is a game to seriously consider.

- Mr. Nash

(July 14, 2002)

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