Famicom Mukashi Banashi: Yuuyuuki

Famicom Mukashibanashi: Yuuyuuki (ふぁみこんむかし話 遊遊記), often simply titled as Yuuyuuki (遊遊記), is a text-based adventure game developed by Nintendo and Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo exclusively in Japan for the Famicom Disk System. The driving force behind the series, Tatsuya Hishida, was responsible for directing the game, creating the characters, and crafting the story line. The game consists of two disks, released on October 14, 1989 and November 14, 1989 respectively.

Yuuyuuki is the second of two text adventure games in the Famicom Mukashi Banashi series. It shares many similarities with its predecessor Shin Onigashima: Both games required two disks that were released separately, both feature an innovative "main character switch" feature that allows the player to switch from two playable characters and both are based on ancient Far Eastern literature. In Yuuyuuki's case the literature in question is the ancient Chinese novel Journey to the West.

The player controls Goku (Sun Wukong) and Chao (an original character) who are travelling separate journeys to meet up with each other. True to the novel, Goku is also accompanying the monk Sanzo (Tripitaka) and his other followers Hakkai (Pigsy) and Gojo (Sandy), though these three characters have been comedically reimagined as lazy and greedy.

Yuuyuuki would be the penultimate game developed by Nintendo for the Famicom Disk System. It was also the last game for the peripheral to receive any sort of TV advertising. While Shin Onigashima has been rereleased on more recent Nintendo platforms, such as the Game Boy Advance, Yuuyuuki remains exclusive to the Famicom Disk System.

Gameplay
Yuyuki is an adventure game played by choosing from several text commands shown on screen. It resembles its predecessor, Shin Onigashima, in its implementation of the "Change Character" command, usage of traditional Japanese fairytales, and general screen layout and appearance. The story-line is a parody of the Chinese novel Journey to the West, where two main characters, Goku and Chao, embark upon separate journeys to find one another.

In Yuuyuuki, the "Change Character" command can switch between a maximum of five different characters. However, there are very few points in the game where it can actually be used to such extent. Its main use is to switch between Goku and the others accompanying him. Like Shin Onigashima, the character in use can greatly affect the descriptive text shown on screen, and the significant increase in number of characters allowed for more variety in each scene. It is possible to enjoy the game by viewing the reactions towards choosing completely unrelated characters or commands in certain situations.

While Shin Onigashima demanded rather complex puzzle-solving abilities, Yuuyuuki mainly focuses on having the player carefully read and understand the story-line. Puzzles are solved easily in this game, and very few choices actually lead to a "game over" screen. Easy trivia questions and simple action gameplay emerge at certain points, and players may find themselves searching for the obvious answer on screen more often than thinking hard to solve the puzzle at hand.

Main changes in gameplay from Shin Onigashima include the implementation of the "Ittaisan" command, which saves progress at any point during the game, and faster animation of game text. The shortening in load time after choosing commands, and an overall decrease in difficulty allowed Yuuyuuki to run at a much quicker tempo than its predecessor.

Plot
Once upon a time, a little girl named Chao lived in a small village in China. One night, a meteor fell near Chao's home, which burst open to reveal a monkey inside. Chao named the monkey "Goku," and took care of him for a while. However, Goku is led away and imprisoned by Oshakasama for the various crimes he has committed, and Chao sets off to find the "Gavel of Light" in order to save him. Several years later, the world is put under peril at the hands of the bull-monster Gyumaou, and Goku is called upon to save the world...