Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!! gets a release date, details

25 October 201625 October 2016 Lite_Agent Akira Sakuma, Konami, Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!!, Takayuki Doi, Valhalla Games

During the latest Nintendo Direct presentation, back in September, Nintendo revealed Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!!, a new entry in the popular Momotaro Dentetsu series (the first one since 2010).

If you’ve never heard of the series before, here’s how Wikipedia describes it:

Momotaro Dentetsu (桃太郎電鉄 Momotarō Dentetsu?, Momotarō Electric Railway) (also known by the abbreviated name Momotetsu) is a long-running board game-style video game series in Japan; in which players travel by rail, ship, and airplane; attempting to acquire wealth through business transactions buying properties; and dealing with rival entrepreneurs and nemeses such as the God of Poverty (貧乏神 Binbōgami?). The game mechanics are often compared to the board games sugoroku and Monopoly.

Today, Nintendo launched a teaser website, providing general details about the game, but also the release date: December 22nd. Nintendo is quite clearly targeting New Year sales here, which can be even better than Christmas for some titles (the latter being more favorable to kids-focused games/franchises).

In Momotaro Dentetsu, the goal of all players is to travel across Japan in order to get as rich as possible. As mentioned above, you do so by buying properties (such as shops, facilities, etc.), dealing with rival entrepreneurs, and more. Naturally, the route you chose during the playthrough will have an impact on your success. After all, if you’re the first one to reach the goal, you will receive financial assistance.

Then every year, in March, the players are ranked based on the total of money they made during the Fiscal Year. The total of money, but also the properties they own (along with their value) are taken into account. Naturally, it’s the player with the most money at the end who wins.

In order to win, chosing the right route is important. But learning how to use one of the 130 cards is equally important: they each have their own effects, and learning how and when to use them is key to victory.

Here’s some examples of cards:

Linear card: you roll 8 dice and move the sum total number of spaces;
Space card: you can go through a special course located in space;
Wall of poo (a new one) card: you can place poo on the tracks to slow down players;
Fart card
Back to Start card

But when playing, other players are not the only thing you should worry about: there’s also the Binbougami (or God of Poverty). Depending on how far your are from the goal, he may possess you. During a game, the God will change:

Minibonbi
Nightmarebonbi
Kingbonbi (the strongest one)

During a game, several (more or less) unexpected events can occur: famous monsters can appear, and historical figures (such as Oda Nobunaga) can appear and help the player.

Finally, Nintendo reveals that Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!! will be playable with up to 4 players, with only one copy of the game (perfect for New Year), via a special game mode. But in order to do so, you will need to download a special software from the Nintendo eShop (similar to Mario Party: Star Rush).

Also, the official website mentions the following in the copyrights:

Nintendo (publisher)
Konami (who co-own the rights to the franchise)
Akira Sakuma (creator of the series, who co-own the rights of the franchise)
Takayuki Doi (chara-designer/illustrator)
Valhalla Games Studio (most likely the developers. Previously worked on Devil’s Third)

Here’s screencaps from the official website: