Tokyo Crash Mobs Preview

WarioWare levels of weird on the streets of Tokyo.

Say you're lining up for lunch at a popular Tokyo cafe and not sitting in your underwear reading GameRevolution right now. Just... try to imagine you're there. You've got your stunning blue duds on and you're ready to pick up all the ladies.

That is, until another blue clad scenster comes flying out of the air, hits you in the head, and scatters a chunk of the crowd waiting in line across the pavement. Now imagine you look up and protagonists Grace and Savannah enter the cafe before you. Guess the ladies aren't interested today. This is Tokyo Crash Mobs. This... is really f***ing weird.


Developed by Mitchell and published by Nintendo for 3DS, Tokyo Crash Mobs banks on the insanity of WarioWare and the addictive nature of games like Bubble Bobble or Bust-A-Move. That may seem like a oversimplified description, but if I really tried to explain every aspect of this downloadable oddity, we might be here all day.

Players select a level and play as either Grace or Savannah. Both are totally sick of the lines in Tokyo and the scenesters that get in their way. Using the stylus, you'll toss or roll like-colored scenesters into the crowds on the top screen to blow past them. Alternating between throws and rolls lets you hit deeper sections of the crowd but ultimately it'll come down to how quickly you can clear the level.

The setup is frankly quite simple, but the presentation screams strange. When loading a level, Grace will twirl her finger as "Delusion Now" scrolls across the screen. As another level explains the objective ahead, Tokyo Crash Mobs asks itself, "Why?"


"I don't know," the screen responds. Who really cares? The addictive marble-style puzzles and action are reason enough to get excited about Tokyo Crash Mobs. Puzzles are organized into days of the week with boss battles taking place on Sundays.

That's more than enough content for the bite-sized 3DS eShop. Even if you've never bothered with the online marketplace, Tokyo Crash Mobs might just have the spark and Japanese sensibility to make it worth your while. We'll bring more on Grace and Savannah's battle against the scenesters of Tokyo in the lead up to its 2013 release.

For more on each week's new downloadable games, check out The Download.