Mister Mosquito is easily one of the strangest games that exist on the Playstation 2. It's off the wall, weird, and unclassifiable but very distinctly Japanese. Playing as a strange combination of stealth action and arcade flight-sim, Mister Mosquito doesn't take itself too seriously even though it centers on the gory concept of blood sucking. You play as the title character, flying around the Yamada family house during the summer in an attempt to suck down enough blood from each of the family members to last you through the winter. In experience that mirrors so many others in real life, the trick is landing on your target and sucking at just the right speed. Guzzle down blood too quickly and you'll get smacked, too slowly and you won't be able to stay alive.

Let's get familiar with some of the "targets" that you'll be dealing with throughout your quest for survival. First up, you have the patriarch of the family, Kenichi Yamada in a signature sweatsuit that thankfully doesn't reveal too much. Next is Kaneyo Yamada, the family's matron and photobug. Finally, you've got jazz fan, Rena Yamada, Mr. and Mrs. Yamada's only child. Through out each of the levels you'll encounter each of the Yamada's going about their everyday business, Dad relaxing on the couch, Rena taking a lazy afternoon nap, and Mom cooking up tasty treats for her loved ones. In its own bizarre way, the game peaks at these tender moments with a sense of humor as each character will reveal personal information about themselves through spoken dialog. At first it may seem unnatural or uncomfortable, but the tone of these one-sided conversations quickly removes any creepy sense of voyeurism. As you get to know these characters and suck their blood for life, a real symbiotic relationship builds, as if Mister Mosquito is a therapist for the quirky family.

What makes Mister Mosquito particularly fascinating to me are the striking similarities between it and renowned PS2 classic, Shadow of the Colossus. The two games couldn't be more different in tone and narrative, but the gameplay shares too many parallels to ignore. The obvious thing that will jump out at anyone that has played both games is the sense of scale between your player character and your "enemy." Both games are essentially boss rushes with few environmental hazards and no other enemies to contend with. Each game stresses examining your target for patterns in movement and behavior. With this in mind, it makes you look at the Yamadas and the Colossi in a drastically different light, and allows you to appreciate the unique challenges that each game choose to take on, especially the flying and climbing mechanics. Even if these are just coincidences, every Colossi fan has something new to learn by playing this game.

With a game as unique as this, it's expected that it would commercially tank over here in the States. Not surprisingly, the game did well in Japan, and garnered enough sales to justify a sequel. This Japanese-only release is very similar to this title with a few new gameplay additions to make it a little bit easier and takes the Yamada's on vacation to Hawaii. While it's highly doubtful that we'll ever see the sequel in English speaking territories ever, getting the first game was a something of a small miracle in itself considering the wacky content. Those interested in tracking down this release shouldn't have to go through too much trouble to find it, and the game should be priced reasonably enough to make picking it up worth your while even if you aren't entirely sold on the concept at first.