I'm Sorry, known in Japan as Gombe's I'm Sorry (ごんべえのあいむそ〜り〜, Gonbē no Aimusōrī), is a political satire arcade game developed by Coreland and published by Sega in 1985. This action game stars a caricature of former Prime Minister of Japan Kakuei Tanaka. The title is actually a play on the Japanese word for Prime Minister, Sōri (総理).[2] I'm Sorry was made after the Lockheed bribery scandals, and satirizes Tanaka's greed by making the goal of the game acquiring gold bars.[2] Despite the game's context in Japanese politics, I'm Sorry was localized to United States arcades.
| I'm Sorry | |
|---|---|
 Title screen | |
| Developer(s) | Coreland |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release | [1] |
| Genre(s) | Maze |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Two players alternating |
| Arcade system | Sega System 1 |
Gameplay
editThe goal is for the greedy protagonist to collect all the gold bars while jumping over or defeating various enemies and obstacles in each maze-like level. Some of these enemies are: Giant Baba (a Japanese wrestler), a moonwalking Michael Jackson, Madonna, Japanese comedian Tamori, Carl Lewis, moving statues (activated when passed by).[2] Some obstacles include: Gates, "fire" hydrants, safes (making it difficult to gain access to the gold), a rolling barrel, conveyor belts, and a swimming pool with platforms ranging in size and strength. When the player collects all the gold in a given level, they must cash it into a building (labeled "out" when the level begins and "in" once all the gold is retrieved) to beat the level. The player can only hold ten bars of gold at once. In later levels there are more than 10 bars of gold, so the player must make multiple deposits.
Levels
editThe game has 4 maps. After every 4 levels the game returns to first map. However, the difficulty of the map is increased by adding one of the following:
- More enemies
- More difficult enemies
- Conveyor belts
- Gates
- Disappearing platforms
- More gold
- Safes
There are 32 distinct levels. Once level 32 is completed, the player returns to level 16.
Reception
editIn Japan, Game Machine listed I'm Sorry on their May 15, 1985 issue as being the most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[3]
References
edit- ^ "ごんべいのあいむそーりー" [Gonbei no I'm sorry]. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ a b c Teti, John; Agnello, Anthony John; Gerardi, Matt; Kaiser, Joe (18 June 2014). "Ninja-demon Batman: 8 character ripoffs in '80s Japanese games". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 260. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 May 1985. p. 21.
External links
edit- I'm Sorry at Arcade-History.com