is a

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

simulation game Simulation video games are a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities. A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such ...

Spümcø Spumco, Inc. (stylized as SPüMCø) was an American animation studio that was active from 1989 to 2005 and based in Los Angeles, California. The studio was best known for working on the first two seasons of ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' for Nickelodeo ...

, a cartoon animation studio founded by ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Dece ...

'' creator and animator

John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, voice actor and former animator. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which was ...

. Artwork and character design were undertaken by Spümcø for both games and music was performed by such notable musicians as

Eric Gorfain Eric Gorfain is an American violinist and founder of The Section Quartet, a string quartet that plays cover versions of rock songs. He is married to singer-songwriter Sam Phillips, with whom he has toured and recorded. Gorfain studied music at UC ...

Versions and sequels

The game was released in December 2001 exclusively to Japan and a Performance Pack was released shortly afterward. Following this, a sequel entitled ''Yoake no Mariko 2nd Act'' was released on 24 January 2002, also on PlayStation 2.
Yoake no Mariko 2nd Act Updates
'.

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

. Retrieved 5 December 2008.

Gameplay

To play ''Yoake no Mariko'', players must provide voice acting to correspond with a movie scene that unfolds before them. There are six levels (or scenes) in the game which include such genres as the western drama, the horror flick, and the Kung Fu action flick. As the background film clip plays, on-screen cues inform players when to deliver their lines and how to modulate their vocal intonations in a manner similar to karaoke games. The spoken lines are then graded by an in-game algorithm and the players are scored on their performance. Specifically considered are the players' timings, volumes, and tones.

References

{{Spümcø 2001 video games Japan-exclusive video games Microphone-controlled computer games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Simulation video games Spümcø Video games developed in Japan Multiplayer and single-player video games