Hai no Majutsushi

Game Overview

Konami has not been above using their mascot characters to sell other, unrelated titles. We've already discussed previously the platforming adventure titles of Konami Wai Wai WorldOne of the stranger games released from Konami on the NES, this title features mascots crossover together in a Metroidvania-style adventure. and Wai Wai World 2: SOS! Parsley CastleThe sequel to the crossover mascot title Konami Wai Wai World, this game features less exploration, focusing on linear action and platforming gameplay while featuring a cuter, super-deformed art style quite unlike the first game (and all the games to crossover for this title)., two games that have a much more direct correlation to the Castlevania series, but these weren't the only titles to crossover Castlevania with other games. Over the years, Konami has shoved their various mascots into anything that even seemed the teensiest bit plausible.

That's how we get Hai no Majutsushi, a mascot-branded version of Mahjong. For those of us in the West, the Mahjong we probably know isn't the one that's commonly played back in Japan. Although ours is often called "Mahjong" what we're actually playing, generally, is Shanghai, a puzzle game that uses the Mahjong tiles for a very different, non-traditional experience. Classic Mahjong is a gambling game where four players will sit around a table, each getting one quarter of the set of tiles. They'll play these tiles out, one at a time, round-robin, in an attempt to make points via combinations, a la Rummy.

Admittedly, for someone that doesn't understand Japanese, that might be as far as you get with Hai no Majutsushi as this is a Japan-only title never released in the West. Thus, if you try to play the game you'll have to be able to read the Japanese menus (or just stumble your way through). And you probably will want to have a basic understanding of the game ahead of time as this title won't hold your hand (unless, of course, you can read Japanese). It's a pretty no-frills game, frankly, that wouldn't be special or worth mentioning on this site were it not for the fact that the characters the players play against are mascots from various Konami franchises, Simon BelmontThe first hero of the Castlevania series (by release date), he's been featured in more games, and referenced more times, than almost any other character in the series. included.

If you do understand the classic game of Mahjong and want to stumble your way through this game, Hai no Majutsushi seems like a pretty standard Mahjong experience. It's exactly what you'd expect from that description and nothing more. Even the inclusion of mascot characters is just a coat of paint as they don't really do anything in the game except play Mahjong. It's pretty obvious, then, why this game never made its way overseas.