Usagi: Yasei no Tohai

A riichi mahjong arcade game based on the 1996 mahjong manga of the same name. Play a unique two-on-two variant of the game, with each character having their own supernatural abilities.

Overview

Usagi: Yasei no Touhai, loosely translated to "Rabbit: Fighting Tiles of the Wild", is a riichi mahjong game developed by Warashi (along with Mahjong Kobo) and released by Taito for arcades (using PS1-based Taito G-NET hardware) exclusively in Japan in 2001.

Based on the 1996 mahjong manga of the same name, Yasei no Touhai puts players in two-on-two matches of a slightly-different variation of riichi mahjong. Each of the game's playable characters are part of a group of high school students known as "ZOO", who act as "pinch hitters" in the world of mahjong and have their own supernatural abilities (such as main protagonist "Usagi's" ability to sense tiles in his hand that can make an opponent win).

The game later received two ports for the PlayStation 2, both released by DigiCube:

  • The first one, released on June 27, 2002 under the title Usagi: Yasei no Touhai, is rebuilt with a new engine. Rather than an arcade mode, this version includes a dedicated story mode that chronicles part of the original manga from the beginning. Much of the arcade version's visuals and audio have been reworked.
  • The second one, released on March 27, 2003 under the title Usagi: Yasei no Touhai - The Arcade, is a straight port of the arcade game.

Both ports were later bundled together as part of the Simple series on December 9, 2004, under the title Simple 2000 Series Ultimate Vol. 22: Stylish Mahjong - Usagi: Yasei no Touhai & Usagi: Yasei no Touhai The Arcade - Double Pack.

The game received two sequels: Usagi: Yasei no Touhai - Yamashiro Mahjong-hen and Usagi: Yasei no Touhai Online.

Characters

Unlike most mahjong games, players choose two characters: their player character and their partner character. All characters have their own unique abilities, which activate automatically.

Playable Characters

  • Shun Takeda, "Usagi" - Detects which tiles in his hand can be used by another player to win.
  • Ai Yamaguchi, "Yukihyou" - Receives improved tile draws until her discard is claimed by another player.
  • Kozue Yamane, "Neko" - Receives an improved tile draw after each pon/chi/kan call.
  • Yuko Kato, "Kitsune" - Starts with an improved hand after winning the previous hand.
  • Takashi Takizawa, "Chamois" - Detects which tiles in his hand are unnecessary. Starts with an improved hand after winning the previous hand.
  • Akira Kusaka, "Jackal" - Receives a improved chance of receiving a kandora and/or uradora bonus when winning.
  • Akihisa Sasaki, "Saru" - Receives improved tile draws of a particular color after a pon/chi/kan call.
  • Kengo Baba, "Chapman" - Detects all tile draws when the game is close to exhaustive draw.

Boss Characters

  • Tatsuya Uesugi & Naoki Shinjo - Sub-boss team. Uesugi focuses on making Shinjo the dealer, as Shinjo has improved tile draws while he is the dealer.
  • Masumi Sendoh & Seishun Kashiwagi - Final boss team. Sendoh has improved tile draws in early hands, while Kashiwagi has improved tile draws in later hands.
  • Iwao Kazama, "Enchou" - Hidden mid-boss, who is partnered with one of the main characters at random and is only played in one match per credit. He has significantly improved tile draws.