1987 · Rhythm · Shoot 'em up

Otocky

Nintendo exclusive

Otocky can be described as a musical side-scrolling shoot 'em up. The player's spaceship has a ball for a weapon, which can be fired in eight directions; each direction corresponds to a different musical note. The note plays when the player presses the fire button, and is also quantized in time so that it matches the beat playing in the background. By using the weapon selectively the player can improvise music while playing.

Released: 27 March 1987
Platforms: Famicom Disk System Family Computer Disk System
Genres: Rhythm Shoot 'em up Shooter
Developers: —
Publishers: ASCII Corporation
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Country: Japan

About

Otocky (オトッキー) is a musical video game developed by SEDIC and released by ASCII Corporation in 1987 for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan. The game was conceived and designed by Toshio Iwai. Natsuki Ozawa endorsed the game.

Keywords

shoot 'em up
flight
side-scrolling
boss fight
music and rhythm
music creation

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The ball is used to destroy enemies by touching them, and also to catch various types of objects:

Legacy

Otocky is notable for being one of the first games that include creative/procedural generative music, as well as developing the concept of the "musical shoot 'em up".

Otocky is a precursor of Rez, Tetsuya Mizuguchi's 2002 Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 game exploring similar themes of player action and musical evolution. Jake Kazdal, the only North-American member of United Game Artists, has confirmed that while the team did become acquainted with the Disk System game during the process of creating Rez, it has not been much of an influence in fact.