Totally Rad, known in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 as , is an action-adventure game

Action-adventure game

An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...

 published and developed by Jaleco

Jaleco

is a Japanese video game publisher and developer established in 2006.The original Jaleco Ltd was founded in 1974. In 2006, it decided to become a pure holding company by renaming itself Jaleco Holding and splitting its video game operations into a newly created subsdiary that took its former name...

, and was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

 in 1991.

Story

Jake is hired as an apprentice magician by Zebedia Pong. He is training when some strange people attack and kidnap his girlfriend, Allison. Jake goes on a quest to find out where they came from and why they wanted Allison. Afterwards, Jake discovers Allison's kidnapping was a feint to force Allison's father, a renowned scientist, out of hiding. Jake must not only save Allison's father, but ultimately battle an evil king who plans to lead a group of underground-dwelling people in a battle against the people of Jake's world.

The Japanese and American versions of the game are mostly the same, except for the characters. In the original Japanese game, the main characters are John and Yuu, two anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

-style preteen friends. In Totally Rad, the main characters are Jake and Allison, two Californian teenagers who constantly talk in an '80s "surfer" lingo.

Manual

The instruction manual for Totally Rad is filled with surfer talk

Valspeak

Valleyspeak or Valspeak is a common name for an American sociolect, originally of Los Angeles, California, in particular Valley girls. This stereotype, which originated in the 1970s, became an international fad for a certain period...

 and lingo, in addition to comical picture breaks and comments about the author's "babe

Babe

Babe is generally a slang term of endearment, but may also refer:-Entertainment:* Babe, the title character of the Dick King-Smith book The Sheep-Pig** Babe , a 1995 Australian film based on the book...

" and how attractive she looks in the picture he put of her in the instruction manual.

Gameplay

• Multiple boss fights ranging in complexity
• Special summoning abilities
• Side scrolling platform game

External links

• The Rad Project - A comparison of the original Japanese version with the Western revision.
• Totally Rad Game Review (With Cut Scenes) - A complete transcript of the game's cut scenes and storyboard side-by-side with a game review.
• Magic John at Jaleco
• http://www.flammie.net/vse/things/rad/TotallyRad.pdf - The Totally Rad instruction manual