Over the many years that I’ve been following games, I’ve always heard about a very niche Japan-only series called Boku no Natsuyasumi (which translates to “My Summer Vacation) which from what everyone who talks about it agrees is a charming as all hell day-to-day sim where you play as a little kid enjoying his time in the Japanese countryside. Up until now, I never got a chance to play those for myself, but thanks to Shin Chan: Shiro and the Coal Town, it finally happened!
Based on the hit manga/anime franchise that’s been around for decades, the game has you in the role of Shin Chan as he and his family are spending some time in the rural side of the Akita prefecture in Japan, thanks to Shin’s dad’s job taking him there. It gives the little spurt a chance to hang out with his grandpa, a big kid himself, and the local folks who are all eager to chip in on our hero’s crazy antics.
Shin Chan might only be five years old, but he’s a very, well, precocious little kid, as anyone who’s familiar with the source material can attest. In the game, though, his more in-your-face crude humor is played down a bit as the kid that he is is free to explore the little town and engage with everyone around him. Activities at first boil down to fishing, bug catching, finding all manner of crops and playing with the local preschoolers as time flows by before he has to go to bed.
That is until Shiro, his dog, starts doing some exploring of his own and discovers a mysterious train tucked in the bushes near where the family is lodging. Shin Chan loses no time and boards it, ending up in the titular Coal Town, where the bulk of his adventure takes place. There he’ll figure out puzzles, do trading with the miners, and most importantly, race in carts!
All the while, you’ll be doing increasingly more in-depth exploring of the countryside, filling out your handmade encyclopedia that keeps track of just about everything you do, from the bugs that you’ve collected and crap you found lying around. As they say, a man’s trash is another’s treasure, and that’s certainly true in Shin Chan: Shiro and the Coal Town, let me tell you.
While I wouldn’t go out of my way to call this game complex or anything of the sort, that doesn’t mean it lacks any merits. Its inherent charm is hard to overlook, not only thanks to the routine you’ll fall into as you live the cozy summer days as Shin, but also thanks to its beautiful presentation and hilarious writing. The colorful yet simple character designs pop against the strikingly gorgeous hand-drawn backgrounds, as our adorably weird nugget pops around Coal Town and its surroundings. The dialog is ridiculously silly in a very naive way as even the adults tend to behave like infants and tend to be equally adorable in their dealings with Shin Chan.
There won’t be a moment in this where you’ll not be smirking, whether it’s the quirky way he runs around at the press of a button, hanging up his butt cheeks in the air and making alien noises, to the unique looking character designs that stray far from your run-of-the-mill anime standards. They are weird but lovingly so!
For returning fans of the comics or the cartoon, this feels like a natural jumping point in all regards, and thanks to the ease of play here, there are no hurdles to be dealt with even for those who have never touched a videogame before. Shin Chan: Shiro and the Coal Town is a breezy game that won’t blow anyone away with its gameplay, but makes do and much more with its charm and humor that is sure to especially please Shin Chan maniacs.
