ometimes, you don’t know what you are getting into when you pick up a new game. Cover art may be misleading. Crafty editing skills can play up one aspect of a game while taking the focus off of others. A review might not align with your own tastes. The fact is that many games are presented in a way that could be considered ambiguous – intentional or otherwise.

Onechanbara is not one of those games. With the title “Bikini Zombie Slayers,” you know exactly what you are getting into from the very beginning. The game approaches gratuitous fun in a completely unabashed way – laying everything out on the table from the moment the title screen loads. There is something undeniably fun about a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (Nintendo Wii)

Premise
If you are new to the Onechanbara universe, the game stars “Super Sexy Sisters” Aya and Saki. The pair takes it upon themselves to defend Tokyo from an unending zombie infestation. Aya – described as “the legal one” by D3Publsiher reps – is an 18-year-old hellcat who wields double swords. She prances around in a bikini complemented by a scarf and cowboy hat. Her younger sister, Saki, is only 15 but has equal prowess with a single blade. Saki – being so young – dons an “innocent” schoolgirl outfit and long pigtails.

Brought to us by D3Publisher and Tamsoft, Onechanbara comes in both 360 and Wii flavors. Originally released in Japan, both titles are now being remade for North American audiences. The 360 title – Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad – is a prequel to the Wii iteration – Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers. The 360 title allows you to switch between Aya and Saki on the fly and includes a custom clothing editor. The Wii iteration relies heavily on motion controls for taking on legions of undead. Both games feature single and co-op play, story mode, free play mode, survival mode and quest mode. As one would expect, the 360 version is more impressive on the visual front, but the Wii version takes on a more hands-on approach to fighting.

Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (Nintendo Wii)

Surprisingly, there is a story behind all the blood and skin. In addition to saving mankind from an undead fate, the duo attempts to uncover the history of their ancestry. Stricken with a hereditary curse called the “baneful blood,” both Aya and Saki go into an unstoppable rage triggered by moments of intense aggression. This unstoppable rage comes in handy when fighting legions of killer zombies, but slowly drains the life out of each sister until they purify themselves. You can see why finding more information on the curse would be in the forefront of their minds.

All and all, the back story is quite similar to that of the original Japanese game. In fact, the whole experience is very similar to the original game. D3Publisher intentionally left the voice acting in Japanese – although they did try localizing it at one point – because they felt it helped to keep the integrity of the original game intact. The dialogue, a rough translation to English via subtitles – is amusing to say the least. The campy discourse is entertainment in its own right, and more often than not uses broken English phrases such as “points get.” Taking this route would be a risk in most mainstream titles, but it somehow feels appropriate in this particular game. It reminds you again not to take the whole experience too seriously. Just sit back, relax and take it for what it is.

Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad (Xbox 360)

Gameplay & Impressions
Onechanbara is a pure action title at its core. Aya and Saki have a wide arsenal of moves and combo attacks that allow them to take on zombies at a distance, at close range and even in the air. Each sister’s fighting prowess is commendable, but when they go into a rage they become unstoppable. Rage Mode is initiated when the girls become covered head to toe in zombie blood. When in Rage mode, the sisters have more power and agility, but their health slowly dwindles. As mentioned before, this will eventually kill them if they are not purified.

We had some hands-on time with the Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers. As you would expect from a Wii title, you can use the Wii remote to slash, swing and thrust your way through zombie hordes.

We started out as Aya and eventually got some play time in with Saki. We were told that unless playing co-op, the characters split up to play different levels, find each other and split up again – leaving you bouncing back and forth between them. We were told that a total of four characters were unlockable in the game.

Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad (Xbox 360)

Gameplay is similar to Devil May Cry or any other hack and slash title, except it has some specific twists. As you fight, Aya or Saki’s blades become coated in blood. If you don’t step back from the action before the blood completely covers the blade and wipe it off, the blood will cause the blade to stick into the next zombie, leaving you vulnerable for attack. The dirtier the blade, the more time it takes you to execute attacks, making the game a bit more complicated than mindless button-pressing or remote-waving.

Levels were broken up into both urban and rural settings, and threw both boss creatures and traditional zombies our way. We were able to get by using standard attacks for most of our playtime, until the baddies started to get a bit harder. Then defense began to play a much more integral role.

At the end of our hands-on time, no particular feature stood out as exemplary in its execution. The graphics were average, the sound was standard and the gameplay was conventional. However, when thrown all together, the game becomes a bit of a guilty pleasure – and is worth checking out.