Uchhannanchan no Honou no Challenge: Denryuu IraIra Bou (Nintendo 64) review "Nerves of Steel"

Utchan Nanchan no hono no Challenger - Kore ga Dekitara 100 Man-en!! was a 1990s Japanese television program hosted by the comedian duo of Utchan Nanchan. As the show's title states, if participants complete a challenge, they will win one million yen. Of course, no game show will easily hand out that much money without forcing contestants to endure some type of grueling trial, and this one was no different. Each episode showcased a variety of interesting and oddball challenges, such as eating sushi off a conveyor belt before they reach an end gate, a "three-legged" race where nearly three dozen school children are tied together, and even a literal Bruce Lee challenge that taxed contenders' strength and speed.

While these and several other segments, older ones being swapped out for newer ones in subsequent episodes, were good enough to entertain audiences, there was one challenge that viewers were eager to watch every week: the maze. Specifically, the goal was to guide a metal rod through a thin upright maze, from left to right, that bends and curves. If the rod makes any contact with the sides of the maze, the rod will explode in sparks, concluding the challenge. The maze was simple yet intimidating, but every time someone actually won, every contestant from thenceforth would endure a brand new maze; each one ended up being harder and more abstract than the prior one. Making the endurance even more stressful was the fact that there's a brief time limit, not to mention an in-studio announcer constantly narrating and screaming the contender's current situation.

Denryu Iraira Bo is a Nintendo 64 game that attempts to recreate the maze segment, replicating as many aspects from this program's portion as closely as possible; whether it's the actual mazes from the show, the menacing countdown visual and sound effects, or even the shrieking announcer adding to the anxiety, the game just stops short of using certain musical cues and Utchan Nanchan's appearances. And unlike the actual segment, you don't have to do the mazes in canonical order and also have unlimited tries. Of course, retrying sends you to the start of the maze, but the devs easily could've been cruel, forcing you to do the mazes in order, have limited continues, and then make you do every maze again when they're all used up. But they thankfully didn't.

All that extra aid is needed because, even though you're doing this in the comfort of your happy place, completing most of the mazes within a reasonable time frame is very unrealistic. As aforementioned, you have to navigate a metal rod through thin corridors which, for the sake of visual simplicity, looks like a roaming dot due to the camera angle. Movement is done through the analog stick and it is very sensitive, both in how hard you move the stick and specific directions. With that said, you're going to hit the sides a lot when adapting to the controls for the first time; with the time limit being your main opponent, learning the sensitivity is vital since you can't piecemeal.

While mazes can be played in any order, it is recommended you start with the first to get the basics down due to its "straightforward" design; every maze going forward, in true video game fashion, is an escalation in difficulty. For example, the maze succeeding the first main one has tighter walls around certain corners, making things worse if you haven't adjusted to the controls by now. Just beyond those compact corners is a spiral that you must travel to the center of and then back outward in order to reach the other side. Graciously, there's a "pause" portion in the middle of this map that stops the timer, allowing for a breather before taking on more stressful corners that require precise diagonal movement.



Other mazes not only incorporate a series of nerve-racking bends and turns, but unique obstacles, including three "revolving doors" moving in different directions and slot machines. If you haven't taken a gander at the box art, then one of the latter mazes involve having to zig-zag through a statue/robot woman; in comedic fashion, the chest area even protrudes. And if you're feeling especially competitive, there's also a two-player splitscreen mode. Here, two players on the same maze attempt as few mistakes as possible, with collisions only pushing a player a little ways back. The winner is decided by having the most points, which is gained based on how well you navigate the maze.

Interestingly, this wouldn't be the only video game release of the show's segment, as there happens to be a Neo-Geo edition called the Irritating Maze and the more infamously-known, due to its name, Irritating Stick for the PlayStation. However, those other two take liberties with maze designs and presentation, so if you want the closest interpretation to the show's actual segment, this Nintendo 64 rendition is the one to chose. As an anxiety-inducing menace, this clearly isn't for those wanting something more easygoing. Denryu Iraira Bo takes the idea of playing a whole game over and over again, and strikes it down to a one-minute-or-less structure. But it's done in such an uncomplicated manner, without any other unnecessary restrictions, that it just works for those wanting a tough, straightforward challenge. It can be a surprisingly rewarding experience if that's what you want.

Community review by dementedhut (August 30, 2023) Now if only I had the foresight to submit this OutRun review a day earlier...