XI [sai] Jumbo
Gigantic jumbo dice appear to make your life miserable!
Developer: Shift
Platforms: Playstation
First Release Date: December 22, 1999
To-do: Make menu guide; Add more info about the story mode.
XI [sai] Jumbo is the Japan exclusive sequel to XI [sai], also known by its English title Devil Dice. I was debating which one to list as my favorite here, and I might flip flop on that later. The original XI is probably a better starting point, because this game adds a lot of new mechanics on top of the original’s base. As in the first game, you control one of five little multicolored devils, called the Aquis, as they roll around on dice to match them together. I think I got some kind of baby fever when I saw these things for the first time. They’re very cute.
After the title, you’ll enter the Aquis’ Room! Clicking on them will have them speak to you, and you can choose what mode to play from there. One button will let you pet them, and another will bonk them on the head, and I never remember which is which, so I’m scared to try either. Good luck! I need to figure out the menu. I really do. I know there's a puzzle mode and a mode where I think you have to complete certain objectives (I haven’t been very successful in that one because I can’t read the objectives). You play as whichever Aqui you click on, which also acts as difficulty selection (for at least some of the modes?). Head to the right of Aqui’s Room, and you’ll find one of the best sound test screens I’ve ever seen. Rossi will play at a turntable and the others will dance to the music. And Kemmei Adachi's soundtrack absolutely lives up to the presentation here.
Connie’s Collectibles: I have one of them.
To play, you have to maneuver the die you’re standing on so that whatever side is face-up matches with what’s next to it. For a two, you just have to match two dice together, for a three you match three and so on. When you make any match, the dice slowly sink into the ground. You can keep adding more dice of that number onto that chain as long as they’re still there, and if you put a one next to the sinking dice it’ll clear all ones on the field. All of that is true of the original game too, but this game adds more movement than just rolling around. You can jump, first of all, which makes it much easier to line up dice without getting stuck. You can also pick up dice, and either place them back down next to you, or throw them to the other side of the board. It’s quite a bit to keep up with, and it can be hard to know what’s best to do at a given moment. You’ll get the hang of it with time, especially if you can remember what’s on the opposite side of each face of the die. As much as there is to keep up with, I find the endless mode really relaxing once you get into the groove of it.
I would not describe the new versus mode of XI Jumbo as relaxing. But I am very fond of it. You fight very abstract looking little polygonal characters, each one introduced in a black void as a heartbeat sound plays. As part of jumping being added, there’s now a second layer on the board. Your board will be flooded very quickly by your opponent, and you’ll have to fight tooth and nail to clear the top layer before it fills up. You also have to deal with giant jumbo dice that take up a 2 by 2 space, and after a few opponents you’ll have to deal with a range of annoying dice types that limit your movement. One of them will just crush your poor Aqui if you get caught under it when it lands! And it counts as a loss! It’s a little bit bullshit, but also pretty funny. Getting through this mode took me many, many continues, and I’m almost certain I actually haven’t seen everything in this mode. I think there may even be a secret boss, judging by a cutscene I saw online, but haven’t found myself. I’d like to get good enough at this game (and at navigating its menus) to learn whatever secrets remain.
The enemies in versus mode- at least the ones I’ve seen- include an angel that looks similar to the Aquis, and what seems to be a girl possessed by her backpack? You get an ending showing this girl waking up and looking out her window after seeing the Aquis. It's very ethereal, and I don't know exactly what happened, but I really like it. I think I have a lot more to discover about XI Jumbo, so I’m hoping to give this page a sizable update in the future. This game's atmosphere really elevates it for me; it's a very fun game by it's own right, but the music and presentation and these strange little devil babies speak to me. I hear them in the dead of night, and one morning I’ll wake up, look out the window, and know that my time has come.
Thank you for reading!
