Jake Hunter

Jake Hunter, known in Japan as Tantei Jingūji Saburō (探偵神宮寺三郎, "Detective Saburō Jingūji"), is a mystery adventure game series originally developed and published by Data East in 1987. The property would later transfer to WorkJam, and has most recently been acquired by Arc System Works, who are its current owners.[1]

Jake Hunter
Genre(s)Adventure game
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Artist(s)
Writer(s)
Composer(s)
  • Seiichi Hamada
  • Katsuhiko Nakamichi
  • Tomoyoshi Sato
Platform(s)Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Virtual Console, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Steam, DMM GAMES
First releaseShinjuku Chūō Kōen Satsujin Jiken
April 24, 1987 (1987-04-24)
Latest releaseDaedalus: The Awakening of Golden Jazz
December 13, 2018 (2018-12-13)

Despite its popularity in Japan, the first of its games to receive an English language release was Tantei Jingūji Saburō DS: Inishie no Kioku, retitled and released in North America on June 11, 2008 by Aksys Games in truncated form as Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles. The game was re-released on May 26, 2009 as Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past, containing the originally localised three cases with new translations, plus three further cases, and a large number of unlockables including comics. No further releases would be announced until July 1, 2017, when Aksys Games revealed they would be bringing over Tantei Jingūji Saburō: Ghost of the Dusk in 2018.[2] A prequel game, given the branding Alternate Jake Hunter internationally, was localised internally and released in 2019 with original character names and settings preserved.

History

According to Enterbrain's Famitsu, the Tantei Jingūji Saburō franchise had sold over 2,220,000 units at the time of its twentieth anniversary,[3] making it one of the longest running and best-selling Japanese adventure game series in history. The number of main series entries currently stands at nineteen, complemented by a 25-game mobile sub-series and various examples of tie-in media. A persistent series tradition has been to use titles from songs and albums as names for installments, with most frequent reference made to the works of Kenji Sawada.

Family Computer

The first game of the series, Shinjuku Chūō Kōen Satsujin Jiken (新宿中央公園殺人事件, Shinjuku Central Park Murder Mystery), was released in 1987 by Data East for the Family Computer Disk System, featuring advanced graphics, sound effects, and distinct hardboiled scenarios to set itself apart from other contemporaneous adventure games. The series employed a number of advanced game mechanics, developing techniques which would later find popularity in the industry at large. Time played an important role in the games, with each command selected by the player causing a certain amount of in-game time to elapse; failure to solve the mystery during the allotted time period resulting in a bad ending. This time system would feature in all four of the original games, and would later be revived in the series' 7th installment. The fourth game would also introduce the ability to switch between independent playable characters at will, allowing for more diverse and idiosyncratic methods of play. The scenario for the series' 3rd and 4th installments was written by a fledgling Kazushige Nojima.

Fifth generation consoles

Production was halted after the 4th installment, but would be revived internally when Data East took on series fan Tatsuya Saito. Saito would become scenario writer for the 5th game in the series, directed by Eiichi Nishiyama, who would become series producer from the next installment, and released on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996. This fifth entry would see several developments on the original games made possible by the use of the CD-ROM: an overhaul of the series' graphics and sound, including an opening movie featuring an animated prelude, voice acting for the first time, 3D-rendered mini games, and the inaugural installment of a sub-series known in Japan as the Mystery Casebook games (Jake Hunter Unleashed in English releases), featuring super-deformed caricatures of the main trio encountering small-scale mysteries involving extra challenging gameplay, which would be included alongside mainline games.

Most of these features (barring the use of polygonal gameplay) would become standard for the series, with the 6th installment, written by Hirotaka Inaba, replacing the previous game's stylised character design with a painted realist style produced by original character designer Katsuya Terada, and adding a new "password" mechanic, involving hidden codes in the main game which could be used to unlock bonus content. Both this game and the next, released exclusively for PlayStation with the newly christened series subtitle "Detective Adventure Game", would feature opening movies directed by Shimako Satō.

Sixth generation consoles

In 1999, a financially troubled Data East licensed out the series to WorkJam, to which Nishiyama's "Team Jingūji" would transfer when Data East went bankrupt in 2003. With previous scenario writers unavailable, writing duties for the series' eighth installment, developed for PlayStation 2 in 2002, fell to WorkJam founder Yutaka Kaminaga. The series continued with a further game for the PS2 and reimaginings of the Famicom games released as mobile phone applications. The transition between studios marked a shift in game design: storytelling became more linear and perspective shifts scripted, setting the formula for later games in the series. The final game of the generation, co-developed by Marvelous Interactive for the Game Boy Advance, marked the series debut on handheld platforms.

Seventh generation consoles

Beginning with a special 20th anniversary release for the Nintendo DS, WorkJam would work with Arc System Works in development of console games, now released exclusively on handheld platforms in the form of the Tantei Jingūji Saburō Detective Story line and an additional PlayStation Portable release. WorkJam licensed a series of PlayStation Game Archives releases of the original Data East games to Expris, and continued their mobile game line, featuring contributions from writers such as Kazutaka Kodaka, to a total of twenty-four releases before it was retired.

Eighth-generation consoles

In 2011, WorkJam began to wind down production, with full responsibilities for the ongoing development of a special 25th-anniversary game for the Nintendo 3DS falling to Arc System Works. Several WorkJam staff, including Nishiyama and planner/scenario writer Mitsue Kaneko, would form a new studio, Orange, while rights to various company properties including the Tantei Jingūji Saburō series passed to Expris. For the next five years the series would remain largely dormant, aside from Game Archives rereleases of WorkJam's two PS2 games from Expris, and a cameo by the title character in Inuwashi Urabure Tantei to Ojou-sama Keiji no Ikebukuro Jiken Fairu, a mobile game developed by Orange and scored by longtime series composer Seiichi Hamada.

In 2017, Arc System Works announced that plans for a 30th-anniversary revival had led to its obtaining of exclusive rights to Expris' WorkJam-inherited properties at the end of the previous year. Since then, the company has worked with Orange and Neilo to publish several titles for handheld and home consoles, while exploring new avenues for PC delivery and reviving the mobile line for smart devices.

Characters

The main character of the series is Jake Hunter (known in Japan as Saburō Jingūji (神宮寺三郎, Jingūji Saburō)), a thirty-something (29 for the first five installments) private investigator who operates a detective agency in the Tripudio district of the fictional American city of Aspicio (Kabukichō, Shinjuku in the Japanese original). He was born the third son of a wealthy business enterprise owner, but chose to travel to New York City during his youth to work as an assistant detective. He is a heavy smoker, and often assembles his thoughts with the help of a Marlboro cigarette. According to his in-game profile, his favorite alcoholic beverage is cognac, and he drives a green Mini Cooper.

Hunter is persistently accompanied in his investigations by Yulia Marks (known in Japan as Yōko Misono (御苑洋子, Misono Yōko)), his polyglot assistant, and often collaborates with his old friend Scott "King" Kingsley (known in Japan as Sanzō "Kuma-san" Kumano (熊野参造, Kumano Sanzō)), a middle-aged inspector with the city police.

Voice acting

Voice acting was first used in certain game scenes in the 5th installment, and has been implemented in most subsequent releases, excluding those released for mobile, GBA and DS. Jingūji has been voiced by Yukimasa Kishino, Akio Ōtsuka, Jūrōta Kosugi, and Kaoru Katō; Yōko by Tsumugi Ōsawa, Yōko Saitō, Fumiko Orikasa, Kazue Nakamoto, Seiko Yoshida, and Mamiko Noto; and Sanzō by Fumihiko Tachiki, Kōji Ishii, Masaaki Tsukada, and Naomi Otome. Current cast are in bold.

List of media

# Title Release date Developer Platform Synopsis
1 Shinjuku Chūō Kōen Satsujin Jiken
新宿中央公園殺人事件
Shinjuku Central Park Murder Mystery
  • JP: April 24, 1987
Data East Disk System The strangled corpse of a popular hostess is discovered at the Shinjuku Central Park. A doctor, a homeless man and someone else may know something.
2 Yokohama-kō Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
横浜港連続殺人事件
Yokohama Port Serial Murder Mystery
  • JP: February 26, 1988
Family Computer The search for a missing girlfriend results in the discovery of hidden firearms, and the police begin to suspect a link with an underground trafficking organization.
3 Kiken na Futari Zenpen
危険な二人 前編
A Dangerous Duo Former Part
  • JP: December 9, 1988
Disk System Jingūji visits a race circuit at the invitation of one of Yōko's friends. A motorcycle racer crashes at the circuit, but a different racer's body is recovered from the crash site.
Kiken na Futari Kōhen
危険な二人 後編
A Dangerous Duo Latter Part
  • JP: February 10, 1989
4 Toki no Sugiyuku Mama ni...
時の過ぎゆくままに...
Let Time Pass By...
  • JP: September 28, 1990
Family Computer Jingūji investigates a burglary at a mansion, while Yōko searches for the home of a young boy. Both cases appear simple, until they become one.
5 Mikan no Rupo
未完のルポ
The Unfinished Reportage
  • JP: November 29, 1996
PlayStation
Sega Saturn
An overseas package sent by a journalist acquaintance of Jingūji's arrives at the agency, containing a small key. Collaborating with a new ally, he sets out in search of a way to uncover its meaning.
6 Yume no Owari ni
夢の終わりに
At the End of the Dream
  • JP: April 23, 1998
Jingūji is tormented by hideous dreams of his past. The mystery begins as Yōko unwittingly decides to investigate a requested case.
N/A Tantei Jingūji Saburō Early Collection
  • JP: August 5, 1999
PlayStation A compilation of the early games released for the Family Computer and Family Computer Disk System
7 Tomoshibi ga Kienu Ma ni
灯火が消えぬ間に
While the Light Remains
  • JP: November 25, 1999
An injured young man suddenly takes refuge from yakuza at the agency, complicating the investigation of two cases, as each of the separate events are gradually woven together.
8 Innocent Black
  • JP: October 4, 2002
WorkJam PlayStation 2 Jingūji is asked to search for the missing daughter of the director of a hospital where he had received treatment. This small case gradually expands to revive a deep and complex mystery.
9 KIND OF BLUE
  • JP: April 22, 2004
Lonely and bored after several months without any cases, Jingūji gladly returns to work when the Kantō Meiji group requests the investigation of a certain individual.
A direct sequel to the previous game.
10 Shiroi Kage no Shōjo
白い影の少女
The Girl with the White Shadow
  • JP: January 27, 2005
WorkJam
Marvelous Interactive
Game Boy Advance When Jingūji attends his friend's funeral, his friend's mother asks him to investigate a missing person, while police inspector Kumano asks him to investigate the urban myth called "Yū-chan".
11 Inishie no Kioku
いにしえの記憶
The Ancient Memory

Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles

Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past
  • JP: July 19, 2007

  • NA: June 11, 2008

  • NA: May 26, 2009
WorkJam
Arc System Works
Nintendo DS Jake is arrested by the police for a crime he did not commit; a young man named Ken seems the only person who might prove his innocence.
This release marks the series' 20th anniversary, and includes the first five games from the original mobile series. Unlike the Japanese version, the initial U.S. version, titled "Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles", only contains the first three cases and many of the extras were cut from the game. The game was later rereleased as "Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past", unedited and retranslated.
12 Kienai Kokoro
きえないこころ
The Abiding Spirit
  • JP: April 24, 2008
Jingūji is asked to investigate the suicide of an elementary school girl from 20 years ago. When he visits her school, he meets the school principal who demands the investigation of another new case...
Also contains five games from the original mobile series (No.6–No.10)
13 Fuserareta Shinjitsu
伏せられた真実
The Withheld Truth
  • JP: March 29, 2009
After finding himself momentarily caught in the limelight, Jingūji returns to his craft when a kidnapper specifically requests the involvement of "Detective J".
Also contains five games from the original mobile series (No.11–No.15)[4]
14 Hai to Daiyamondo
灰とダイヤモンド
Ashes and Diamonds
  • JP: September 17, 2009
PlayStation Portable Looking into an inheritance dispute, Jingūji ends up investigating five seemingly unconnected cases and discovers a conspiracy.
15 Akai Chō
赤い蝶
Red Butterfly
  • JP: September 30, 2010
Nintendo DS Following a fresh wave of violence, Jingūji sets out on the trail of a terrorist known as "Red Butterfly" who was responsible for a series of bombings twenty years ago.
Also contains five games from the original mobile series, previously released as DSiWare (No.16–No.20)[5]
16 Fukushū no Rondo
復讐の輪舞
Rondo of Revenge
  • JP: June 28, 2012
Nintendo 3DS Pursued by both sides of the law, Jingūji finds himself juggling his own survival and his search for the truth.
An atypical game featuring several unique mechanics, released to mark the series' 25th anniversary
N/A Tantei Jingūji Saburō Oldies
  • JP: June 26, 2017
Arc System Works
Orange
iOS
Android
App collecting remasters of games in the original mobile series (No.2-No.20)[6]
17 GHOST OF THE DUSK

Jake Hunter Detective Story: Ghost of the Dusk
  • JP: August 31, 2017

  • NA: September 28, 2018
  • EU: September 28, 2018
Nintendo 3DS The discovery of a dead vagrant in a run-down mansion rapidly spirals into a decades-old investigation.
The title also contains the final four games from the original mobile series (No.21–No.24)
[7]
18 Prism of Eyes
  • JP: August 9, 2018
PlayStation 4
Nintendo Switch
DMM GAMES
A trio of standalone stories starring each of the three series regulars, alongside remakes of ten games from the original mobile series (No.4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19)[8]
SP Daedalus: The Awakening of Golden Jazz

Alternate Jake Hunter - Daedalus: The Awakening of Golden Jazz
  • JP: December 13, 2018

  • NA: May 23, 2019
Arc System Works
Neilo
PlayStation 4
Nintendo Switch
Steam
A young Saburō Jingūji heads to New York prior to joining the Tokyo Metropolitan Police after the death of his grandfather.
A prequel to the series, tying in closely to the sixth game.[9]
N/A Tantei Jingūji Saburō New Order
  • JP: July 31, 2019
Arc System Works
Orange
iOS
Android
App for distribution of games in a new mobile series[10]

Mobile series

The mobile games began development under WorkJam for flip phones in 2003. The first four games were remakes of the original Famicom games, featuring (often significant) reworking of their stories. Following Arc System Works' acquisition of the series in 2017, the original games were collected in a smartphone app, and the line relaunched with a new series beginning in 2019.

# Japanese title English title
01 Shinjuku Chūō Kōen Satsujin Jiken
新宿中央公園殺人事件
Shinjuku Central Park Murder Mystery
The Petty Murder of a Fragile Heart (on DS)
02 Yokohama-kō Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
横浜港連続殺人事件
Yokohama Port Serial Murder Mystery
Seaside City Conspiracy (on DS)
03 Kiken na Futari
危険な二人
A Dangerous Duo
Crash and Burn (on DS)
04 Toki no Sugiyuku Mama Ni...
時の過ぎゆくままに...
Let Time Pass By...
As Time Goes By (on DS)
05 Akai Me no Tora
アカイメノトラ
The Red-Eyed Tiger
The Red-Eyed Tiger (on DS)
06 Rokumai no Hankō
6枚の犯行
The Six Sheets of Crime
07 Bōen wo Sagase
亡煙を捜せ!
Search for the Dying Smoke!
08 Aoi Me no Ryū
アオイメノリュウ
The Blue-Eyed Dragon
09 Kito no Yoru
キトの夜
The Night of Quito
10 Shikaku no Wana
四角の罠
The Square Trap
11 Inu to Yobareta Otoko
イヌと呼ばれた男
The Man Who Was Called a Dog
12 Futairo no Shōjo
ふた色の少女
The Two-Colored Girl
13 Inochi Tatsu Kokugen
命絶つ刻限
Prophecy of Death
14 Takusareta Yubiwa
託された指輪
The Entrusted Ring
15 Shingi no Hazama
真偽の狭間
Between Truth and Lie
16 Tsubaki no Yukue
椿のゆくえ
Whereabouts of the Camellia
17 Akenai Yoru ni
明けない夜に
The Endless Night
18 Kadan no Itte
果断の一手
One Decisive Move
19 Rensasuru Noroi
連鎖する呪い
The Linking Curse
20 Naki Ko no Shōzō
亡き子の肖像
Portrait of a Dead Child
21 Onihimeden
鬼姫伝
Legend of the Demon Princess
Legend of the Demon Princess (on 3DS)
22 Ai Yue ni
愛ゆえに
For the Sake of Love
For Love (on 3DS)
23 Wasurenagusa no Omoi
勿忘草の想い
Sentiment of the Forget-Me-Not
Forget-me-not (on 3DS)
24 Yurameku Hitotose
揺らめくひととせ
One Wavering Year
Four Seasons (on 3DS)
25 Giwaku no Ace
疑惑のエース
The Suspicious Ace

Other media

The series has been accompanied by a plethora of tie-in books, the first of which, a choose-your-own-adventure style gamebook for young adults, was released in 1988. After the series revival at Data East, Tatsuya Saito would pen a prequel novel documenting the first meeting between Jingūji and Kumano. A further novel would be published in 2000, followed by a novelisation of the eighth game. Another prequel, telling a story set during Jingūji's schooldays, was published by Dengeki Bunko in 2004, followed by a brief sequence of releases at Sesame Books, ending in 2007.

Manga adaptations of the third and sixth games were previously made available online, and several game guides were published prior to the series' shift toward handheld platforms.

Several soundtrack CDs have also been released, featuring a range of music from across the series composed by series stalwart Seiichi Hamada and others. A Drama CD featuring three short vignettes was included with early copies of the sixth game.

The first four games in the series were released on the Wii's Virtual Console exclusively in Japan.

See also

References

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