I’m playing the Japanese version of Hudson’s Job Island: Hard Working People (or Help Wanted if you live in the US). The confusion over its title is not the only baffling thing about the game. Even by Japanese standards, this is completely off its box, and easily the maddest minigame mash-up on Wii since Taito’s Furu Furu Park.
The idea is that the planet is facing imminent doom in the form of a comet. You - playing as one of two androgynous siblings whose hair has curiously been styled into a spanner shape (though that’s nothing; there’s an old man who has a lightbulb at the end of his ponytail) - have to take on jobs to earn money, which is used to purchase items from a TV shopping channel which can either buy you more time or help destroy the incoming Extinction Level Event. You can also buy new uniforms which unlocks more jobs for you to tackle, though you’re best specialising in a few roles rather than spreading yourself too thinly, as you can level up each job to earn more money (though the games get harder as you progress).
The jobs themselves are wide-ranging - there’s a fun fishing minigame which sees you steering a boat with the analogue stick and casting your net with a remote flick (there’s a slight lag, so timing is everything) while another sees you taking photos of a skydiving team as you plummet towards the ground. Another sees you steering an injured man around a busy hospital on a gurney, tilting to guide him around wandering patients and picking up doctors who’ll help you pick up the pace. You can get bonuses for completing the tasks in hand within the time limit or by earning a certain amount of money, while the game throws you a few curveballs by giving you specific jobs to do on certain days, with success rewarding you with extra time before the comet hits, or bonus points to buy more items which can assist you in your daily tasks.
While the in-game graphics are fairly rudimentary, the cartoonish presentation is charming and entirely bonkers - once you’re rid of the first comet, you get a larger asteroid headed your way, which I got the old man to fend off by whacking a magical golf ball at it, which I purchased from the shopping channel. The asteroid was replaced by a gigantic bowl of ramen, which in turn is followed by an alien with a planet-sized Afro. The minigames themselves are hit and miss - as you might expect - but there are some thoroughly enjoyable tasks to complete, and you’re rarely forced into doing a job you’re not keen on.
I’ll bring you a full review soon once I’ve played some more, but I’ve quite enjoyed my time as a Hard Working Person and am looking forward to seeing what apocalyptic danger I’ll be facing next. It’s released in Europe on 31st March, with no concrete release date for its US debut.
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