Shaman King Impressions

At its Gamers' Day today, Konami reps showed off its two recently announced games based on the Shaman King license. The anime series is currently running on Saturday morning television and follows the adventures of Yoh Asakura. The mild-mannered student lives a double-life as a spirit-summoning shaman who is trying to become a shaman king. Although brief, the presentation shed a little light on the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2 titles, which are both currently in development at KCEJ.

The Game Boy Advance release is a side-scrolling adventure offering that will put you in control of Yoh. Additionally, you'll be able to take control of spirits to help you in battle. The graphics look good and use detailed character sprites that animate pretty well.

The PlayStation 2 game will feature a marriage of one-on-one fighting, strategy, and role-playing elements. You'll take control of Yoh as he tries to stop assorted enemies from thwarting the upcoming grand tournament for shaman aspirants, which will reward its winner handsomely. The game features a unique strategic combat system that will require you to arrange your forces in an arena prior to a fight, and then you can take direct control of them during the battle.

Both games will make use of an original story and boss characters that have been created specifically for them. Konami will hold a contest later this year to give fans a chance to name the new boss characters. The games are slated to ship during the summer of this year. Look for more on them in the coming months.