TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL
- forever with you

Sony PlayStation Japan
Konami

Remember the days in high school where you asked out girls for dates and got to know them better? Remember the times you and your childhood crush Shiori professed your love for each other before high school graduation at Kirameki High School? No? Well, then you have to play one of the hottest simulation games in Japan! TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL - FOREVER WITH YOU.
Based on the PC-Engine game of the same name, TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL, or TOKIMEMO for short, puts the player in the character of a Japanese high school boy trying to win the affections of twelve different girls over the course of three years. The ultimate goal of the game is to win the heart and love of Fujisaki Shiori, a childhood love.
The player starts out with statistics that he must work on raising by studying, exercising, or just plain hanging out with friends. Dating occurs at such places as the movie theatre, the concert hall, the city park, or the amusement park. Depending on the season, the player can go to the beach, a winter festival, the ski slopes, or to the water slide park. The player communicates with the characters of the game via his telephone. At the beginning of the game, the player knows only three phone numbers, Shiori's, Yoshio's and Rei's.

Fujisaki Shiori is smart, beautiful and the toughest girl to win. If all of the player's statistics are high and he can answer her questions correctly, the player may win her. At the beginning of the game, the player chooses Shiori's birthday and blood type. Depending on what you choose determines what clubs she will join and how she will react to you.
Saotome Yoshio, the player's best friend, is Mr. Information and has the information of all the girls the player will interact with throughout the three year timespan of the game. Yoshio should be called as often as possible since he is the player's only link to how the girls feel about him.
Ijuin Rei is the player's "rival" of sorts; he is the rich, pretty boy of the game and wins all the girls, except the ones the player meets, that is. Lucky for the player, Rei seems like a rich snob, but there are more things about him that the player could find out with enough persistence.
Kisaragi Mio, the smart, frail, bookworm girl, likes books and quiet places. The player meets her in the library where she spends most of her time. She excels in her studies and hopes to get into the best college after she graduates. Mio likes the intelligent and handsome type.
Kiyokawa Nozomi, the athletic, pretty tomboy, likes challenges and sports. The player meets her either in the swim team or as part of his regular exercise routine. Nozomi is happy with an athletic type, but treat her correctly and win her love.
Mikihara Megumi, Shiori's best friend, is just as picky as Shiori is about boys, but she is also very, very shy. The player meets her on Valentines Day in the third year (In Japan, only the girls give guys chocolates) when Shiori introduces her or after a Christmas Party at Rei's mansion. She loves to play with her cute pets and does not mind a cute guy too.
Miharu Tatebayashiis the girl who follows the player around in the background. She is mysterious because the player does not interact with her except through her phone calls. If the player does not win any of the other girls, he wins Miharu. I call her the "default" girl, but the player can lose in this game.

There are eight other girls in the game that you can choose by doing certain things, but I am not going to tell you everything. For even more information, check out the TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL - FOREVER WITH YOU. Web site.
Two of the most important features of TokiMemo are the "smiley faces" and bombs. Smiley faces are found when the player calls Yoshio for information. They range from the Dai Kirai (Great Hate) face to Dai Suki (Great Love/Like). The player should aim for the Dai Suki face and avoid the Dai Kirai one. Bombs are the result of many things: missing a date, forgetting a birthday, giving the wrong gift, and not calling. If the bomb goes off, that girl will gossip to her friends and turn some or all of your smiley faces to sad ones.
TOKIMEMO is very addictive for those who are into these types of games. A typical game lasts at least 5-6 hours, if played constantly. The unfortunate downside for this game is that it is in Japanese. So, the player has to have a good grasp of the Japanese language, both written and spoken. However, a player with just a little bit of Japanese knowledge can probably guess and still win the game. I did it and I only have three more girls to go. Although this is meant for young Japanese boys. I found it entertaining to say the least. It has a killer opening and a lot of neat extras -- a little shooter game and several instances of a role-playing game, very cool.
I recommend it for those who like simulation games and know some or a lot of Japanese. There are rumors of a TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL OAV series in the works. TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL - forever with you is a must-play! Definitely worth it!

--Maria Munoz