OneChanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad zombie killer whale Aya VS Olga

The over-the-top Japanese video game series Oneechanbara has finally made it overseas with releases for the Xbox 360 (OneChanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad) and Wii (OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers). The bikini-clad cowgirl, Aya, teams up with her little sis Saki, whose default outfit is not a bikini. Is it really a bikini samurai squad if only one of ’em is wearing a bikini?

Fortunately, that’s easily fixed thanks to the highly customizable dress-up option that allows you to change everything from their clothes to their skin tone. Unfortunately, unlocking those upgrades is a bitch. Beating the game on normal difficulty unlocks less than 1/2 the goodies. Also disappointing is that the default outfits are not available when you start customizing. Initially, any customization is limited to the bare essentials – bra & panties! It’s almost as if they don’t want you to clothe these girls. But why not leave the default clothes available for mixing & matching at least. Without the cowboy hat you just feel . . . well, naked.

But enough about the girls. You don’t want to hear about scantily dressed girls running around covered in warm sticky blood. No, you wanna know about the zombie killer whale!

Swimming in zombies

The zombie virus hasn’t only affected humans. In a truly epic boss battle, you fight a killer whale named Olga. You can only attack when the whale leaps over a sea wall reminiscent of the movie Free Willy. But what’s really out of this world is Olga’s special attack. It has a second mouth that’s a smaller killer whale like in the movie Alien.

It’s worth buying this unusual video game, if for no other reason than to encourage more Japanese imports. But this is one of those games you’ll either love or hate regardless of what any review says.

Tips & Hints:

  • You need to press up on stage selection to play on easy. It’s easy to miss the small arrow that merely suggests it (d’oh!).
  • Saki and especially Anna are mostly optional characters, but there are several stages that require them so use ’em or you could get stuck and have to do some monotonous leveling.
  • Stage 5 you ride a motorcycle that’s E-X-T-R-E-M-E-L-Y frustrating. Avoid hitting cops (no matter how much you may want to) it increases the amount of dogs that chase you. Once you clear the crowd, go ahead and unleash your road rage. A zigzag pattern works best to take out the remaining dogs; it also helps to fulfill the Hit & Run quest.