Yawara 2

~ YAWARA! 2 ~

SOFIX / Hudson Soft

Super CD-ROM

1994

Yawara and the stumblebum journalist who starred in the first game are relegated to supporting roles here, which is fine with me, as I didn't like them much to begin with. But taking their place at the forefront is an awkward, ungainly idiot who's less appealing than, well, pretty much every other video game main character.

She and a bunch of other klutzes train under an old, irascible coach and then participate in a series of boring, predictable judo matches.

There's plenty of dull talking and a hefty dose of whining/crying. There are also bits of "humor," of course, like when a large person falls on a small person.

Hilarious! Almost as funny as the below-average graphics and poor chip music. (I should note that the vocal numbers actually aren't too bad).

The digital comic isn't the only "attraction" here, though. Among the "extras" are a judo mini-game; a quiz mode; some cooking crap; and unlockables that allow you to listen to the game's tunes and partake in othello matches, among other things.

These "added bonuses" still don't make the game worth a look, however.