Planetokio (video game)


 * This is a fan-made article about the game that would have come out in America and Europe. If you're looking for the official game in real life, click here.

Planetokio, known in Japan as Tokyo Wakusei Planetokio (東京惑星プラネトキオ, lit. "Tokyo Planet Puranetokio"), is a third person adventure game developed by OutSide Directors Company and published by Fox Interactive (Asmik Ace Entertainment in Japan). Designed by Osamu Sato, it was originally released in Japan on August 26, 1999, and was later released in North America on December 21, 1999 by Fox Interactive. It was also included in the Sony Greatest Hits line-up. In 2007, it was re-released as a downloadable game on the PlayStation Network, and XBLA on Xbox 360 and its remastered version was released for the iOS on November 1, 2009 to coincide with the game's 10th anniversary.

Planetokio is the first installment in the Planetokio series, chronicling the creation of the main character Iken at the hands of the antagonists Collect Aliens. The game's story follows when Iken loses his delivery by a thief. During his adventure he will meet many interesting characters to react and also he will have to fight with alien robots.

Planetokio received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the game's graphics and unique visual style, but criticized its controls.

Gameplay
The player controls Iken, who must go around the town talking to the characters and getting new items to advance to other parts of the game. In some places, there are some TVs that explain the invasion that is happening during the adventure. There are places in the game when Iken have to avoid being caught by robots, and the battle parts are turn based RPG since Iken can choose between his items to use which one wants to use in each turn to attack the opponent.

Characters
The playable protagonist character is Iken, a young delivery boy who works in a ramen restaurant. The main antagonists are Collect Aliens, a group of alien robots who are trying to invade the world. Iken's love interest is Naomi, a girl who is the father of Dr. Canbell. Helping Iken in his journey is Boro, Iken's artificial, intelligent robot assistant. The scientist is Dr. Hokin, who lives in the bottom of the ramen restaurant and the inventory of the energy ball gun.

Setting
The game takes place in a near future and more specifically in Planetokio. Planetokio is a number of floating cities full of life like the old Japan. The city is attacked by the Collect Aliens that got a personal shield that allow them to receive no harm.

Story
The story begins when Iken is talking to Dr. Hokin in his basement laboratory (that can be accessed using the refrigerator that is in the restaurant). Hokin shows him his new invention a gun that fire energy balls. Soon, his boss, Lai Lai tells him to deliver a meal. As soon as Iken arrives at the deliver point, a man collides with him and stole the delivery. The game begins then.

More coming soon!

Development
Coming soon!

English distribution
During the post-production of Planetokio, Geo G., the creator of Geo Universal, said that an English version of the game was in the works. Fox Interactive, an operating unit of 20th Century Fox, is set to publish the game in all countries. Geo has a close relationship with Osamu Sato, though Geo couldn't understand Japanese in the original game during the Japanese dialogue that much so he decided to make his own English dub in scratch, trying to understand the game's theme. Geo was also interested to hire voice actors who previously starred in Geo's show Geo TV to provide the voice of the characters in the American version.

The game's English voice actors were cast and directed by Geo. It features the voices of Debi Derryberry as Iken, Lauren Tom as Naomi, George Takei as Dr. Hokin, Maurice LaMarche as Dr. Canbell, and Corey Burton as Boro. Additional characters are voiced in English by Tom Kane, Carlos Alazraqui, Rob Paulsen, Michael Gough, Tress MacNeille, Fred Tatasciore, Phil LaMarr, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Kath Soucie, Danny Mann, Laraine Newman, and Frank Welker respectively. The cast features several voice actors who starred in Futurama, including Tom, Takei, LaMarche, MacNeille, LaMarr, West, DiMaggio, Souice, and Welker. Coincidentally, both Planetokio and Futurama are set in the future.

The game was released in North America on December 21, 1999. This was followed by its European release on March 18, 2000.

A Nintendo 64 version was in development and scheduled for release in summer 2000, and a Dreamcast version in late 2000. Both were cancelled. A version for the Game Boy Color was proposed, but never materialised.

Differences between the Japanese and English versions
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Reception
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Legacy

 * Further information: Planetokio (series)

Trivia

 * "Planetokio" means "Planet Tokyo" or "Tokyo Planet." Also, it can be a combination of "Planet" and "Tokyo".