UFO Kamen Yakisoban: Kettler no Kuroi Inbou

Overview

UFO Kamen Yakisoban: Kettler no Kuroi Inbou ("UFO Kamen Yakisoban: Kettler's Black Conspiracy") is a brawler featuring UFO Kamen Yakisoban, a character designed to market Nissin's Yakisoba UFO brand of instant yakisoba circa 1993-1995. It understandably features a variety of foodstuffs.

In the game, Yakisoban's bride-to-be Mayumi has been kidnapped by the villainous Kettler who wishes to marry her himself (and of course to destroy the concept of delicious Nissin Brand © instant Yakisoba!). Yakisoban is obviously a bit dense, as he's standing at the altar and doesn't even realize Mayumi is not there until part-way through the ceremony.

Gameplay

The game features standard brawler mechanics for the era. Yakisoban can punch and jump. The player can also make Yakisoban roll around by double tapping forward or backwards; attacking while rolling causes Yakisoban to perform a diving kick. However, these aren't Yakisoban's truly impressive special abilities!

• Sauce Beam: Press and hold down the A button to fill Yakisoban's sauce meter. Let go to fire the sauce beam, both deadly AND delicious!
• Agedama Bomber: Hold down the R button and press attack to perform this. Yakisoban scatters agedama everywhere, causing damage to all enemies on the screen with the tiny bits of fried gluten! This can only be performed so long as Yakisoban has some agedama on him.

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  Aonori Flash: Hold down the L button and attack to perform this. Yakisoban scatters aonori everywhere; all enemies are mesmerized and paralyzed for a period of time by the little green flakes. This can only be performed so long as Yakisoban has some aonori.

After the player advances to a certain point in the game, Yakisoban gets upgraded to YAKISOBAN GREAT, an allegedly even more powerful form for a more powerful hunger! However, gameplay-wise he is pretty much the same. Some of his attacks have slightly better range, though.

Items

There are a variety of items to be found in the game to help Yakisoban defeat the villainous Kettler and rescue his bride-to-be.

• Sauce Gun: Increase the power of the sauce beam by equipping a SECOND one!
• Agedama: More fried gluten balls for the Agedama bomber!
• Aonori: More delicious seaweed flakes for the Aonori Flash!
• Extra costume: An extra life for Yakisoban.
• Super Tent: Refills some of Yakisoban's HP.
• Yakisoban Ichirinsha: The Yakisoban Unicycle! Pick this up to become invincible and trounce any enemies by charging into them.

Characters

Yakisoban: A noodle hero from the planet Men (a planet made entirely of noodles), he fights for Justice and the great convenient test of Nissin's UFO brand© instant Yakisoba. He has a variety of vehicles, all of which resemble the product's package.

Kettler: A supervillain who is opposed to the concept of "instant" noodles. He also has the audacity to DARE to eat them with a FORK. How low can he go? He's kidnapped Yakisoban's fiance Mayumi in an effort to marry her himself; he's also posing as a news commentator for an anti instant noodle campaign across Japan. He's originally from Chicago. Amusingly, he proved to be a more enduring character than Yakisoban himself and was featured in advertisements long after Yakisoban had faded away.

Stages

Each stage is seperated into several segments which are timed by a tea-kettle in the lower right hand corner. Should the kettle reach the boiling point, the player will lose a life. Along the way Yakisoban will have to fight his way through huge numbers of mysterious agents and other Kettler henchmen.

Stage 1, Summer Festival at the Temple: Yakisoban explodes on to the scene at a matsuri at a Shinto temple! Kettler has sent out his minion "Teppan Otoko": a master of okonomiyaki-making with an anti-yakisoba attitude. Some other enemies encountered include roller-skating men with tea kettle masks and flying dragons riding in ramen bowls. SPECTER agents are everywhere... sometimes even in the ground. Teppan Otoko ends the stage by ambushing Yakisoban disguised as a Yakisoba booth.

Stage 2, Davy's Family Restaurant: This time Kettler deploys the vile Mr. Fork to put an end to Yakisoban's fight for justice and instant foodstuffs. It's a shame the food eaten here isn't all instant (or maybe it is...) but peace must be preserved! Yakisoban pummels his way through more hordes of SPECTER agents and the new added threat of pie-throwing chefs wearing kettles on their feet. Mr. Fork waits at the end. Be wary of his sudden diving attack!

Stage 3, the Construction Project: This time Kettler deploys a most insidious minion, Oyuma the hot water demon! Unsurprisingly the area is swarming with SPECTER. Creepy chopstick women and toothpick holder monsters also burst on to the scene to give Yakisoban another taste of eating utensil fury. Wait, what's that kettle doing at the top of this building? Oh no, it's Oyuma! Yakisoban triumphs, but his power is drained... is this the end?

Stage 4, the Amusement Park: Of course not, Yakisoban powers up to become YAKISOBAN GREAT! Now in a bigger container for bigger hunger! Keen to turn public perception against instant noodles, Kettler allies with a fake Yakisoban (his clothing is labeled USO, or "lie", instead of UFO) to tarnish the real deal's flawless reputation. Anyway, what amusement park would be complete without clowns? Clowns AND SPECTER agents, to be precise. Is Yakisoban Great up to the challenge of clowns and the outrageous incredibly offensive fake Yakisoban? Of course!

Stage 5, the UTV Station! The final countdown begins! Yakisoban has tracked Kettler to his hideout in Japan, the UTV station; he's posing as a commentator on a T.V. show to spread his anti instant-noodle views to the public. "Are instant noodles causing a rise in crime?" Fox has NOTHING on this station! Everything Yakisoban has faced in the past is here and ready to stop him; the station must also double as SPECTER's Japan HQ. Can Yakisoban defeat Kettler? Can he rescue Mayumi in time? Will the fight increase ratings if the cameras keep on rolling? Tune in and find out!