Presented in Retrovision: Top Shop
As much as I would like to take credit for finding all the games I talk about, I cannot. Much of what I've played over the years I have been exposed to vicariously by recommendation or pure providence. During a period in college, I was living with two friends. One of these friends is what I would consider one of the biggest video gamers I've ever met. He wasn't interested in the more mainstream titles, and between the two of us, I think we have played just about every obscure and abstract game ever created. In celebration of gaming oddities, this week I will be discussing one of the first games he ever introduced me to, KID's Top Shop.
Why Top Shop was created is something of a mystery to me. KID (Kindle Imagine Develop) was a company that specialized in the bishōjo games. These games, while popular in Japan, rarely had much to do with mainstream game play. The general concept of a bishōjo title consists of a series of girls with which the protagonist pursues until they are able to perform sexual acts with their girl of choice. KID had a few successful series in this genre, covering various platforms. At some point, KID decided to create a board game. This is, as far as I can tell, the only game that they have created that doesn't involve the pursuit of women. Even more remarkable, A1 games and Agetec teamed up to bring this game to the US.
Top Shop is a simple game for the Sony PlayStation. The game is similar to Monopoly, wherein players are placed in an empty mall with an initially fixed purse. The malls come in various shapes and sizes, and players must compete for control over the retail promised land. Each turn consists of rolling the dice, moving their player through the mall, and buying stores to suck money from other characters. If a player lands on a store in which they do not own, they are required to buy an item from the store's stock. When a store does not have any more stock, players may buy out that store and expand their own retail chain.
Combined with buying properties and items, players are given the chance to earn points for buying items. These items can then be used to purchase cards or cause other events to happen. Events in the game consist of the ability to restock stores that you could not otherwise access directly or causing another player lose a turn. The game is over when someone amasses a fixed amount of money, or a bunch of other players go bankrupt. Top Shop was not a terribly complicated game.
Simplicity aside, the game is obscenely fun. Top Shop's simplicity lies in it needing only a limited amount of input to play and a minimal amount of strategy to win. As a result, the game was the focus of many nights of drunken gaming. The game's graphics are average, though probably even dated considering the game was created in 1999. The entire interface is created in 2d, and the only on screen animation is an occasional dice roll and cheery, perpetually smiling characters.
I eventually moved, relocating myself across the state, and my roommate was kind enough to leave his copy of Top Shop with me. I still occasionally crack out the video game, enjoying the simple pleasure of crushing the aspirations of a would be store mogul. Sadly, KID is now a defunct company, so it is unlikely that we will be seeing a sequel any time soon. To this day I have yet to see another copy of this title in the wild, which may cause you to question whether the game worth buying. The simple answer is yes, but only if it is found for cheap.
Asterick
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 8 May 2008
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: A1 games, agetec, bishōjo, board game, kindle imagine develop, presented in retrovision, top shop
A buddy of mine turned me onto this game a year ago, and I immediately had to hunt it down. I picked it up off of Amazon.com for like five bucks, and it was the best Lincoln I ever spent.
I love this game so much I even made the Pancake House my blogger head on my IGN Blog "The International Blog of Pancakes." (insert promotional link here >) http://blogs.ign.com/TheNakedGamer
I second the motion that this game MUST be bought.
I have this game, had it for a long time, Paid the full $10 Budget Title price for it. Love it. The random things with the elevators and the points to spend on things to really screw up your opponents... Also, the yiffy wuffie on the splash screen for October. Arooooon! =^.^=
I remember when I bought Top Shop and Battle Hunter. I loved them both, but Battle Hunter the most.