And now a browser game from the Indie Games Blog that could basically describe my current relationship. Save Toshi is a game about guiding a girl to a dancefloor even though she can’t walk, because if she doesn’t dance she will die. Where Save Toshi differs from my life is that in the game you’ll be achieving this using thrown balls, and half the time you’ll accidentally crush her or drop her into some water. God, you know, that sounds like my life again.
I like Save Toshi because your more unfortunate mistakes (catapulting Toshi into space, crushing her with a stone boulder) would dredge up laughter from the saddest of souls, and there’s some really clever puzzles in there. Reasons to dislike Save Toshi include that attempting the same solution for a puzzle twice is capable of producing two very different results, and lots of levels are locked out to us, becoming available in the “deluxe” iPhone edition. Boo. Not that the PC version has a dearth of levels, or anything. Go play!
08/02/2011 at 21:55 Emperor_Jimmu says:
For some reason that screenshot made me think this was a Minecraft mod article for a millisecond.
08/02/2011 at 21:56 Brumisator says:
Fun little game. good thing the sound can be tuned off.
It also complies with almost all of the latest “Do and Don’t” commandments
08/02/2011 at 22:14 CMaster says:
Fun.
Girl sounds russian.
Easy.
Derivative.
09/02/2011 at 00:35 patricij says:
Yeah, she doesn’t sound particularly Japanese…surely they could’ve got some Japanese gal to voice it.
And to be honest solving the puzzles isn’t quite as funny as finding new ways to kill her. My favourite is: She slides from an ice desk to the edge of the platform…*pause*…another ice desk pushes her into the water. SOLID.
08/02/2011 at 22:15 stahlwerk says:
If I don’t dance… I DIE! ^_^
08/02/2011 at 22:41 Lambchops says:
“Use TNT to thurst nearby blocks”
08/02/2011 at 22:50 stahlwerk says:
That was fun, but that may be related to me being a sucker for physics puzzles with a soft spot for japanotrash.
08/02/2011 at 23:49 DigitalSignalX says:
You can dance if you want to. You can leave your physics behind.
09/02/2011 at 11:41 Vague-rant says:
Cos your physics don’t work, and if they don’t work, Well they’re no theorems of mine.
09/02/2011 at 12:04 Harlander says:
We can dance,
Everybody look at your Hans [Albrecht Bethe, Manhattan Project scientist]
08/02/2011 at 22:18 thenagus says:
Actually as fun as it looks! Can’t quite decide if the sound is wonderful or horrifying.
Also, makes me think of the best thing that’s ever happened in history.
link to en.wikipedia.org
09/02/2011 at 08:13 Callum says:
That is incredible.
08/02/2011 at 22:24 Sarlix says:
Lets just pause for a moment while we consider what we’ve just witnessed.
09/02/2011 at 01:38 DarkFenix says:
Something more terrifying than Amnesia.
08/02/2011 at 22:25 geldonyetich says:
From the looks of some of those puzzles, I’m not sure they want me to save Toshi.
08/02/2011 at 22:26 Baines says:
Is Kongregate becoming free advertising for iPhone games? It feels like I’m seeing more and more games there that include ads for “deluxe” iPhone versions.
08/02/2011 at 22:27 Handsome Dead says:
Some kind of horrible anime chipmunk from my nightmares.
08/02/2011 at 22:37 creeg says:
Help me Handsome! XD
08/02/2011 at 22:38 Lambchops says:
Oops Toshi is dead.
No I’m not blind! I just have an irrational desire to throw balls at squeaky pitched anime girls.
Is it just me or is the drowning sound effect genuinely disturbing? Well, marginally more disturbing than the colours and music anyway.
08/02/2011 at 22:56 stahlwerk says:
I found that drowning sound to be more funny than disturbing, especially coupled with her retort on resurrection. Obligatory video link link to youtube.com
08/02/2011 at 22:59 Lambchops says:
“No, it made me want to drown things.”
Damnit, you just made me want to watch Spaced again.
08/02/2011 at 23:05 Sarkhan Lol says:
Oops! Toshi is dead!
Oops, ha ha, it happened again.
Heh.
08/02/2011 at 22:51 DarioSamo says:
I like how in one of the levels, Toshi reached the floor, but a big metal block pushed her to the water. She continued dancing happily it seems…
08/02/2011 at 22:54 kupocake says:
LET’S DANCING!
(Surely?)
08/02/2011 at 23:05 Coins says:
Some levels are just designed to launch her into space/far away. Good fun.
08/02/2011 at 23:06 lukehashj says:
Sounds like a remake of Save Mary
08/02/2011 at 23:10 darthmajor says:
Bloody unity not having a linux client/support…
For shame
08/02/2011 at 23:18 pupsikaso says:
If the guy who made this didn’t use a voice font to create the most annoying and the most insulting and racist comments coming out of that Toshi’s mouth this game might have been more enjoyable.
Or maybe not, I’ve flew through the puzzles in what… 10 mins? None of them required more than a minute of thought.
08/02/2011 at 23:21 Navagon says:
Well, the video gave me a good laugh when the player accidentally crushed her to death. Unfortunately I have a cold and this laughter sparked a coughing fit. I consider this a malicious act by the developer of this title, and in retaliation I refuse to play it.
Edit: Okay since the game has been released I decided to lift my boycott. It was a fun diversion while it lasted.
08/02/2011 at 23:59 The Magic says:
I get that they’re parodying japanese pop culture, but is the engrish really necessary? I mean that’s pretty much just “haha, foreign people talk funny.” Also some of the stuff she says is really kinda racist, like shouting “MANGA” when she flies in the air. I mean it basically lumps japanese culture into one big stereotype.
It’s like making a game about an american black gangster rapper who does drive bys and cant read. And when he gets catapaulted into the air he shouts “WATERMELON!”
Maybe I’m going too far with it, but I was put off by those aspects.
09/02/2011 at 00:25 dadioflex says:
“It’s like making a game about an american black gangster rapper who does drive bys and cant read. And when he gets catapaulted into the air he shouts “WATERMELON!””
I think you just leaked the plot of Saints Row 3.
09/02/2011 at 03:12 bill says:
It isn’t racist to make fun of Japanese people. They speak funny English that isn’t as good as native English speakers!
09/02/2011 at 06:25 simonh says:
So what does discriminating because of language make you? A LINGUIST?
09/02/2011 at 08:14 pipman3000 says:
So what does discriminating because of language make you?
rush limbaugh
10/02/2011 at 08:36 thecat17 says:
Somebody should really hack this game and insert a Super Mario model and sound effects, so that we can learn if the game itself is truly racist.
09/02/2011 at 01:51 SpinalJack says:
OMG my ears!
Should be called Dance Dance Weeaboo
09/02/2011 at 02:06 Springy says:
Toshi sounds like she’s torn from Worms.
09/02/2011 at 03:16 Ryn Taylor says:
I would play if there was a mode where the point was to make her die in the most absurd way.
09/02/2011 at 16:49 phlebas says:
That isn’t the default?
09/02/2011 at 03:28 wonkavision says:
The headline to this article should read: “Adorable Game Marred By Yellowface Voice Acting”
09/02/2011 at 05:10 Hatsworth says:
Come on Toshi!
09/02/2011 at 06:01 bill says:
PS/ Isn’t Toshi a boy’s name?
PPS/ Japanese people would never say “me love to” – they are japanese not cavemen.
09/02/2011 at 06:21 stache says:
The game is basically a rip-off of Boom Blox (a Wii game, pretty good actually). For some stupid reason, the designers shoved in an incredibly annoying fake “haha we so Japanese” vibe that several gullible idiots will undoubtedly believe is authentic. Too bad, the world needs more Boom Blox rip-offs.
09/02/2011 at 12:28 Baggypants says:
I’m stuck on level 1-9. And by stuck I mean obsessively repeatedly catapulting Toshi into the water while giggleing.
09/02/2011 at 12:54 adonf says:
It’s funny because it’s racist
14/02/2011 at 18:04 badvibration says:
oh my god. i just noticed that the pictures on this site have captions if you hover over them long enough. you realize what this means don’t you? there goes my free time.