Disney’s Tsum Tsum is a worldwide hit and one of Japan’s biggest mobile games—which is why it’s not surprising that someone at Konami decided to take a giant touch screen, turn it sideways and make Tsum Tsum into an arcade game.
The arcade in general plays exactly like the mobile app. You make a line on the touch screen connecting three or more Tsums (circular-shaped Disney characters) and they pop, netting you points and coins.
But that’s not all there is to the arcade version, however. There are four major modes of play. The first is the standard game—like you’d play on your mobile device. The second has you pop balloons instead of Tsums. The third mode rotates the stage as you play, constantly shifting the Tsums around.
The final mode is a versus mode where you try to outscore a friend while playing the same stage.
But the really unique thing about the Tsum Tsum arcade is the built-in gatchapon dispenser. While a single round is technically 100 yen (about 80 cents), you can spend 500 yen (a bit over $4) to activate the gatchapon machine in addition to playing a single round. The prize is a cell phone strap of one of the Tsums. If you wave this strap over the arcade’s sensor, it can then scan this Tsum and import it into the game to be your leader Tsum.
Personally, I had more fun with the arcade version than I did with the game on my iPhone 5—as I found the cell phone’s screen a bit too small at times. Having the Tsums on a giant screen made it so much easier to play.
And while I played Tsum Tsum at my local arcade here in Japan, a Western version of the arcade is currently doing location trials in the US. So even those of you not located in Japan may get a chance at trying this one yourself.
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