is a video game
developed by
SNK Playmore for
Nintendo DS
The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
. The player assumes the role of a junior high school student who is asked by an angel to locate a
witch
Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...
that has snuck into his school. In order to find the witch, he must search the suspects' bodies for a "witch mark." The preferred method is by using touch (using the
stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to En ...
to guide his hands). A sequel titled ''Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 Duo'' was released 31 July 2008, and a third game titled ''Doki Majo Plus'' was released on July 30, 2009.
Characters
; Akuji Nishimura (Voiced by
: Miku Ozaki)
: He is a junior high student hard at work on finding witches.
: He is proud to be a bad boy and forced to cooperate by the threat of being changed into a good boy.
; Angel LuLu (Voiced by
: Hiroko Sonoda)
: Apprentice angel. She follows the arch-angel's instruction about Akuji, and helps with the witch search.
Suspects
; Maho Akai
:14 years old. She has long sugar-pink pigtails and very big breasts. She is in a cheerleading squad. Her ability: Energy balls.
; Maria Abe
:14 years old. She wears glasses. Crystal-ball fortune-telling is her unique skill. Unlike most other characters, she is not a witch; she is a normal person. Her "abilities": Medicinal flasks and wooden barriers.
; Renge Oda
:13 years old. She likes retro video games. Her most prized possession is ''
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
'' on the
Famicom
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
(with cassette tape), which is a clear reference to SNK. Her abilities:
Teleportation
Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction and fantasy literature. Teleportation is often paired with tim ...
and a "power sneeze".
; Yuuma Mochizuki
:13 years old. He takes everything seriously and gets injured (and hospitalized) all the time. His ability: Wolf-man transformation.
; Ayame Midoh
:15 years old. She is the only daughter of a Shinto shrine and is also a shrine maiden. Her abilities: Summoning
familiar spirit
In European folklore of the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods, familiars (strictly familiar spirits, as "familiar" also meant just "close friend" or companion, and may be seen in the scientific name for dog, ''Canis familiaris'') w ...
s and
talisman
A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...
.
; Merry Watabiki
:12 years old. She is often seen wearing a rabbit costume. Her abilities: Meteors and explosive decoys.
; Eve Seiya
: 23 years old. The school nurse. Her ability: Energy balls.
; Noel Seiya
:The archangel. Sister of Eve Seiya. Her abilities: Energy balls, summoning holy slugs and holy swords.
Other characters
; Chiyo Daisen
: She is in a cheerleading squad; the same one that Maho is in. She has light blue hair.
; Reverse-Panda
: The color of this type of panda is quite opposite to a usual panda. It hides itself in 100 places throughout the game. The number obtained at the end of the game reveals more episodes in the "Extra Episodes" mode.
Release
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History ...
asked an
SNK spokesperson if the game would be released in the US, and the response was ''"...this title is only for Japanese market. We do not have any plan for localize to the other versions."'', despite the game originally having official sites in English, Chinese, and Korean. These were taken offline when the Japanese language site was rewritten to focus on the upcoming sequel game.
A manga adaptation was published in
Akita Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita in 1948. As of May 2023, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. The company is known for publishing the manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Champ ...
's "Champion Red" starting in September 2007. It was illustrated by
Ken Yagami.
Reception
According to online retailer
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
, the game is the best selling pre-order game in Japan, and is more popular than ''
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass''. However the actual numbers show that the game met with minimal sales and as of 2009 has only sold 50,000 units.
Although the game was never commercially released in North America, it was the subject of a number of webcomics and internet shows. These include:
*A ''
Penny Arcade
''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...
'' comic in April 2007.
*Two ''
Dueling Analogs'' comics, one in March 2008. and another in December 2008
*Used as an example of "child molestation" games in a list of bad types of video games and also mentioned to highlight the cultural differences between the west and Japan in the popular videogame reviews, ''
Zero Punctuation''.
The import review in ''
NGamer'' (like its predecessor ''
NGC Magazine
''NGC Magazine'' (''N64 Magazine'' until October 2001 (issue 59)) was a British magazine specialising in Nintendo video game consoles and software. It was first printed in 1997 and ran until 2006. It was the successor to '' Super Play'', a mag ...
'', famous for comical reviews of particularly bad games), was so disturbed by the game that it abandoned its normal percentage scoring system and awarded it a 'score' of simply "NO" in every category. In a later issue (18) it "awarded" it "The
Superman 64 Award For Worst Game (of 2007)" (for years, the magazine considered ''Superman 64'' to be the worst game ever made), remarking "There are bad games - technically flawed and conceptually lazy - and then there are ''bad'' games. Evil bad. ''Doki Doki'' a.k.a. ''
The Meh Witch Touching Project'', is one such title." The sequel, however, received 40%, an actual score.
Sequels
''Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 Duo''
is the
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the Japan-exclusive ''Doki Doki Majo Shinpan!''. A third game titled ''Doki Majo Plus'' was released on July 30, 2009.
Similarly to the first game, players determine whether
female
An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...
characters are witches by touching their bodies with the
stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to En ...
. But the sequel also exhibits new features, such as an enhanced witch-check touching system and
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...
input.
The game resumes with Akuji, the main character of the first game, this time in
high school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
.
The game is rated D (17 years and over) in Japan by the
CERO because of the nudity and sexual references presented in the game.
''Doki Majo Plus''
''Doki Majo Plus'' is the third game in the ''Doki Doki Majo Shinpan!'' series. Despite being billed as the third game in the series, it's really an enhanced retelling of the original DokiMajo game, featuring a revised soundtrack and a new character. The game was released only in Japan on July 30, 2009.
References
External links
Official site
{{SNK
2007 video games
Adventure games
Fighting games
Nintendo DS games
Nintendo DS-only games
SNK franchises
SNK Playmore games
Japan-exclusive video games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games about witchcraft
Single-player video games