Idol Hakkenden

Idol Hakkenden (アイドル八犬伝) is a Japan-exclusive adventure game developed by Natsume and published by Towa Chiki in 1989 for the Famicom. Players take the role of Erika, an aspiring musician and pop idol, who must foil a plot that could ruin her music career. As a Japanese adventure game, players must select through menus of dialogue in order to determine her future. Friends (and sometimes rivals) of Erika give her advice on what to do next. The game's storytelling is remarkable for its hectic and humorous content, which often reflects on the nature of the in-game puzzles.

The game's title and its plot loosely relates to the famous Japanese 19th century epic novel Nansou Satomi Hakkenden (or Eight Dog Chronicles) about eight samurai half-brothers. The game features eight heroines including Erika, all of which are met during the game's story and have varied personalities.

There are six songs in the game; all of them belonging to the J-pop genre. Erika must master them all in order to become the greatest idol in all of Japan. Lyrics are not sung by a voice actor; they are shown on the bottom of the screen instead.

The game is also notable for being one of the earliest projects from Natsume, best known for their Harvest Moon series and a number of well-regarded NES and SNES titles, like 1991's Shatterhand and 1994's Wild Guns. Idol Hakkenden is thought to be their second project, after 1988's Touhouken Bunroku.

Story
Sick and bedridden, the zaibatsu tycoon Tomiko senses that her death is near and must nominate an heir among her three granddaughters. To decide who will receive her whole fortune, she launches a challenge: whoever will give her best in the next three months will be the winner. Shizuka, the oldest granddaughter and owner of several business companies, and Reika, the second oldest and a genius scientist, are sure that it's going to be a battle between the two of them. However, Erika, the youngest, has a plan of her own: using her only talent, singing, she aims to break through as a super idol and to do so, she must first seek the help of seven other companions.

Meanwhile, a mysterious man called Dark Lord Iromono is on Erika's track, plotting to have her join his army and become an iromono talent instead.