Bishi Bashi is a series of minigame collection party games from Konami. The series began with Bishi Bashi Championship Mini Game Senshuken, or just simply Bishi Bashi Champ, which was released to Japanese arcades in 1996. After a few sequels, the first three titles were combined and ported to PlayStation under the title Bishi Bashi Special in 1998, with a sequel combining further two arcade releases following in the next year. While a couple of the early arcade machines received international releases, in the west the series is perhaps best known for the expanded re-release Bishi Bashi Special, released in 2000 for PlayStation. This is a combination of the two Japanese Specials, effectively containing the minigames of the first five arcade titles. However, despite gaining a warm critical reception and something of a cult following, the series hasn’t seen an official release in the west since that. In Japan, the series has continued in arcades and also on mobile platforms, with Bishi Bashi Channel from 2018 being the latest installment.
Unlike Nintendo’s Mario Party or WarioWare, the minigames of Bishi Bashi tend to be unrelated to each other, lacking any consistent characters or storylines. Notable exceptions to this are Gachaga Champ and Salaryman Champ, both of which feature anime-style characters as player avatars. Bishi Bashi could be thought of as a video game equivalent of a Variety Show, with the games finding humour in (mainly) Japanese culture, including parodies of other games and TV shows - or just by being plain weird. As is often the case with minigames, Bishi Bashi features very simple controls and easy-to-grasp gameplay mechanics. The basic control scheme consists of three large, distinctly colored buttons. Additionally, some titles have spiced things up with joysticks, steering wheels and even dance pads. With a short tutorial before each round to teach the players how to play, the series is generally targeted towards casual gamers.
- Bishi Bashi Champ (1996), Arcade/Mobile
- Super Bishi Bashi Champ (1998), Arcade
- Handle Champ (1998), Arcade
- Released in North America under the title Steering Champ.
- Bishi Bashi Special (NTSC-J, 1998), PS1
- A compilation of minigames from Bishi Bashi, Super Bishi Bashi and Handle Champ.
- Hyper Bishi Bashi Champ (1999), Arcade
- Released on some western markets, like Europe.
- Gachaga Champ (1999), Arcade
- Bishi Bashi Special 2 (NTSC-J, 1999), PS1
- A compilation of minigames from Hyper Bishi Bashi and Gachaga Champ.
- Step Champ (1999), Arcade/PS1
- The PlayStation port was released as Bishi Bashi Special 3.
- Anime Champ (2000), Arcade
- Bishi Bashi Special (PAL, 2000), PS1
- A European edition combining the first two similarly titled Japanese releases into one disc.
- Salaryman Champ (2001), Arcade/PS1
- Great Bishi Bashi Champ (2002), Arcade
- Bishi Bashi Champ Online (2005), Arcade
- Shout! Shaberin Champ Mobile (2007), Mobile
- Intuition! Bishi Bashi Champ Mobile (2007), Mobile
- The★BishiBashi (2009), Arcade
- The Bishi Bashi! e-AMUSEMENT (2009), Mobile
- Min'na de bishibashi (2014), Mobile
- Bishi Bashi Channel (2018), Arcade
- Additionally, in the early 2000s some minigames were released for PC on a subscription-based service.
These games provide examples of:
- Affectionate Parody: The minigame Dance Stage! is very much like the first DanceDanceRevolution, but with the player avatars actually playing the said game.
- Similarly, Guitar Master! is a parody of Guitar Freaks.
- Anti-Frustration Features: In Hyper Pie Throw!, the player can try again once, if the first try ends in a failure.
- The console ports are fairly generous with which buttons can be used to play the games. This can be especially useful for controllers with some malfunctioning buttons.
- Arcade-Perfect Port: The console ports are generally very faithful to the arcade originals, aided by the relatively simple 2D graphics.
- Partially averted by Bishi Bashi Special, which removes the ability to end the game manually. In arcade games like Hyper Bishi Bashi Champ, the player can win extra points by pressing an additional "finish" button after reaching the maximum score in certain games.
- Big Eater: Quite a few of the minigames involve eating something, usually the more and faster the better.
- Bowling for Ratings: The minigame Knock Down the Pins!! is bowling, but with radio controlled cars.
- Button Mashing: Many, many of the minigames fall into this category. In some cases, if the game ends in a tie, the winner will be decided by this method.
- Combining Mecha: In Robo Docking!!, the player has to combine fighter planes into various large robots. Among those are the standard Gundam expy, a Fembot and one with a drill for an arm.
- Cruelty Is the Only Option: In the minigame Knock'em All Off!!, the objective is to push as many construction vehicles out of the game area as possible. The area in question is the rooftop of a high-rise building.
- Cymbal-Banging Monkey: One of the rhythm games features one. The monkey theme is also continued in another similar minigame.
- Drives Like Crazy: In Mega Speed Race!!, the player gets bonus points for performing risky overtakes on a highway.
- Fictional Sport: In Oh NO! It's Gonna Explode!!, a football player, a basketball player and a baseball player pass a bomb between each other in a boxing ring, complete with a referee. There is also a game where race horses are fitted with rocket engines.
- Henshin Hero: Arrow Basher! has characters performing various martial arts moves on a cliff, before transforming into superheroes with Stuff Blowing Up in the background. Failure results in an Ash Face instead.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: In the earlier releases, the names of the minigames always end in exclamation marks. The Japanese titles may even feature Excited Title! Two-Part Episode Name!
- Large Ham: The announcer, especially in arcade versions.
- Mini-Game Credits: The final stage of Hyper Bishi Bashi Champ, called Fire in the Sky!!, is set to a relaxing background music with the players blowing up fireworks and the game's credits scrolling at the bottom of the screen. In both the arcade's Choose Your Game mode and the console version, this round is treated more like a normal minigame with score counters.
- Minigame Game: The main defining feature of the series is that all releases are made of multiple minigames.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Dodge or Die!! literally starts out as a walk in the park, until the player character starts running into various obstacles, including rolling boulders, missiles and cats.
- Party Game: The games are simple and primarily meant to be played against other players, with some machines allowing up to 4 players at the same time. Bishi Bashi Special adds a tournament system for a maximum of 8 players.
- Player Character: Typically the characters (if any) that appear on screen vary from game to game. In Gachaga Champ, players 1 and 2 are represented by a boy and a girl called Gachami and Gachahiko, respectively. In Japanese-exclusive Salaryman Champ, the three players are represented by three archetypical office workers. For The★BishiBashi, the Gachaga Champ protagonists were brought back as selectable characters, in addition to a host of other characters that had previously appeared in individual minigames.
- Potty Emergency: In Ladder Climber!!, the player has to climb several ladders as fast as possible. The reason? The player character needs to use the restroom on top.
- Rhythm Game: Many of the minigames require the player to press one or multiple buttons in a rhythm.
- Rock–Paper–Scissors: In Judge the Rock/Paper/Scissors Tug-of-war, the player has to spot the winner as quickly as possible.
- Self-Deprecation: The minigame Snap the million $$$ Pic! is about a BEMANI developer taking pictures of anime girls, dubbed by the game as "models".
- Shoot 'Em Up: The aptly named minigame Shoot'em Up! is a parody of the genre, with a mishmash of enemy designs and visuals placing it into Cute 'em Up territory.
- Shout-Out: In Hyper Bishi Bashi Champ, players can choose their names from a list of pre-defined choices. Among some of the more familiar names on the list are Rose, Jack and Big Boss.
